Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: War Orphans
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I followed the Father to a secluded corner inside the church.
The Father kicked aside an old floor mat, revealing a wooden door underneath, and grabbed its ring handle.
“Father…”
“It’s alright.”
He reassured the worried nun and cautiously opened the door.
A stone staircase leading down to a basement came into view, the space below surprisingly bright.
“This church is quite old. This basement has been in use since it was built.”
The Father gestured for Kanghyeok to enter.
“Gabriel is resting. If she is asleep, please do not wake her.”
Kanghyeok nodded to the Father in thanks and descended the stone steps.
*Step, step.*
The light and humidity were moderate.
The air was warm.
The scent of rubbing alcohol mixed in the air gave it the feel of a hospital.
Following a winding corridor, Kanghyeok came upon a wide space with ten beds.
*Thud.*
Kanghyeok headed for a bed where the covers were raised in a mound.
An IV stand with several IV bags hung by the head of the bed.
*Creak.*
Kanghyeok pulled over a bed from the opposite side, sat down, and took a breath as he looked at the person lying there.
Without the mask and combat suit, it was hard to believe this was really Gabriel.
“Hmm.”
Sensing his presence, Gabriel rustled and opened her eyes into slits. Her sleep-filled gaze met Kanghyeok’s before her eyelids closed again.
Then her eyes flew wide open.
“Agh!”
Gabriel shot up in bed, groaning from the pain that flared up all over her body.
“Are you okay?”
“How are you here…”
“Stay down.”
Gabriel leaned her head back on the pillow and let out a long breath.
“Damn it, I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
Kanghyeok looked at the blanket covering Gabriel’s body and spoke calmly.
“So you were a woman.”
“…You didn’t know?”
“I guess not.”
Kanghyeok had seen Gabriel’s bare face before.
At the time, he’d only thought she had a youthful face.
He had just assumed that the strong lines characteristic of an adult man hadn’t developed yet because she was still young.
But thinking back now, her features could certainly have been seen as those of an androgynous woman.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t.”
Despite her words, Gabriel pulled the blanket up, completely covering herself below the neck.
“Did you meet the Father?”
“He pointed a pistol at me.”
“He’s very cautious. But that’s how much he cares for us.”
“It seemed that way.”
The deciding factor in changing the Father’s mind was the promise to provide suits and weapons someday.
Both were means to protect the children the Father trained, like Gabriel and Amos.
“How did you change his mind?”
“I told him I’d provide the suits. Not right away, but eventually.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“I can’t promise when.”
“That’s more than enough. I’m always in your debt.”
It was probably because she wasn’t wearing a mask.
Gabriel’s expressions seemed more vivid than before.
It made him wonder if she had always been this expressive.
“I saw you get shot. Even though we were on the same side, it was chilling. At the same time, I was envious. Are all the people at your company like you?”
“It’s just me.”
“Heh, you’re joking.”
“Don’t put too much faith in the suit. In the end, it’s just a tool.”
The bulletproof suit.
It was a powerful tool.
But ultimately, it only stopped the bullets; it couldn’t block the impact of them hitting the body.
If you took too many bullets, you’d die all the same.
You would just die from blunt force trauma instead of blood loss.
“We don’t even have that. That’s why I’m grateful for your promise. But did you come alone?”
“Is someone else needed?”
“That boy you mentioned, Yohan. I don’t see him.”
“I left him behind.”
“That’s a shame. I was curious what kind of kid he was.”
Kanghyeok gave a bitter smile and rubbed his chin to hide his expression.
He hadn’t shaved all day, and the rough stubble made a rustling sound against his fingertips.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“It’s not that. It’s just.”
Thinking of Yohan always brought one of two emotions to the surface.
He was proud of how hard the boy trained, but the fact that Yohan’s growth was progressing by leaps and bounds, far beyond his natural talent, weighed heavily on his mind.
“You said you were training him, right? Is his progress slow?”
“No, the problem is that it’s too fast.”
Gabriel opened her mouth, then closed it.
When she finally spoke, her words somehow felt like a comfort.
“You can smoke in here.”
Kanghyeok took a cigarette from his pocket, placed it between his lips, and lit it with his Zippo lighter.
But he only lit it, not inhaling.
The bluish smoke, unable to enter his lungs, curled and spread around them. Gabriel lay in bed, silently staring at the ceiling.
Because they both knew what Yohan must be feeling when he pulled the trigger.
“All the kids here are war orphans.”
Gabriel continued in a low, mumbling voice.
“We don’t force them to pick up a gun. We leave it up to them. The ones who do, they grow fast. Every single one of them.”
Kanghyeok nodded, the cigarette still between his lips.
“I know why.”
“How could you?”
“I know what loss is.”
Gabriel smiled bitterly and let out a deep sigh.
The reason for Yohan’s rapid improvement?
It was likely because he had nightmares every night.
Just as Gabriel and Amos had, just as the other children here had.
The moment they lost their parents is etched into their memory forever, robbing them of sleep. They wake from nightmares, clutching their racing hearts, feeling guilty for having survived.
To focus on something else.
And to avenge their loved ones.
In the hope that there would be no more children like them.
For all sorts of reasons, the children of this church took up arms, training as if to grind themselves into dust, and their skills grew by leaps and bounds.
“That boy, Yohan. Take good care of him.”
Kanghyeok took a drag from the cigarette filter and answered with the smoke.
“I will.”
“Bring him by sometime, if you get the chance. We can help look after him.”
“Yeah, if I get the chance.”
Kanghyeok replied in a bitter tone, and Gabriel clicked her tongue softly.
Then she asked.
“Where’s Amos?”
“He’s not here. His injuries weren’t serious enough to need treatment.”
“Then?”
“He went to conduct a post-mortem investigation.”
*Crackle.*
As Kanghyeok took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes flashed for a brief moment.
“Any news?”
“So that’s why you came.”
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s understandable.”
Gabriel let one corner of her mouth curl into a smirk and continued.
“He said they found a large number of bodies.”
“The ones who escaped from the cruise ship?”
“That’s right. Said the bodies reeked of the sea. They were probably executed as soon as they were pulled from the water.”
Kanghyeok’s eyes shifted as he thought of a certain person.
A man whose death he had not been able to confirm.
The man who held command over the men on the cruise ship.
“Was there a body of a man who was being protected by his subordinates?”
“No? You killed him, didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t confirm the body.”
“Then he’s probably sleeping at the bottom of the sea. Eaten by fish until only bones are left.”
Kanghyeok neither agreed nor disagreed.
A part of him hoped that was true, and circumstances suggested it had to be.
But he had a feeling that man wouldn’t have died so easily.
It was just a feeling.
“If it’s bothering you, I’ll ask him to check again.”
“Please do. And is there any other news?”
Gabriel fell silent for a moment, thinking, before she spoke.
“I’m not sure, but he said it seems like their command structure has changed.”
“The basis for that assumption?”
“Their movements have been drastically scaled back, as if something happened internally. It’s apparently made it difficult to track their activities.”
Gabriel studied Kanghyeok’s face, then reached out her hand.
She took his hand and continued.
“Don’t worry too much. They could just be laying low because of what we did. Their commander wouldn’t be replaced so easily.”
Kanghyeok didn’t reply.
He had no regrets about sinking the cruise ship and the drugs.
He would do the same thing again without hesitation if time were turned back.
The only thing that bothered him was the enemy’s sudden change in behavior.
“As soon as I recover, I’m going to join Amos. It’ll be much easier to track them with the two of us, so just wait until then.”
“Thank you.”
Having provided all the information she could, Gabriel cautiously opened her mouth.
“Are you leaving now?”
“I should.”
“There’s still something you need to do.”
Kanghyeok, who had been about to stand, met Gabriel’s gaze.
“Give me your contact information. And tell me your name.”
“My name?”
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
Gabriel’s grip on Kanghyeok’s hand tightened as if to say she would not be denied his name this time.
Kanghyeok let out a soft laugh and revealed his name.
“It’s Kanghyeok.”
“Kanghyeok, Kanghyeok, Kanghyeok.”
Gabriel mumbled his foreign-sounding name a few times as if to memorize it, then the corners of her mouth lifted.
The two then exchanged contact information.
They even promised to contact each other immediately if they learned anything that could be of help.
“Get home safe. I’ll let Amos know you stopped by.”
Kanghyeok nodded and stood up.
Gabriel’s gaze followed him. Even after he had completely disappeared from sight, her eyes lingered for a while on the spot where he had been.
***
*Whump-whump-whump-whump!*
A helicopter landed, pushing the heavy Middle Eastern air away in all directions.
Armed men of Middle Eastern descent watched the helicopter, while from a nearby building, Dive took a drag from his cigarette and cast a sharp gaze.
‘Just one?’
He might be a shadow of his former self now, but he was once a mercenary of some renown.
Dive was.
He was displeased that only a single helicopter had come to meet him.
And the moment he saw the people disembarking, the space between Dive’s eyebrows tightened even further.
“Iron Mask isn’t here.”
He had never met him in person.
But he knew the man was old.
The ones who got off the helicopter, however, were all young men.
*Squeeze.*
Dive clenched his fist so tightly his nails dug into his palm, and he irritably pulled out another cigarette.
‘Who the hell do they think I am.’
*Click, fwoosh.*
Dive lit his cigarette with a flick of his wrist. When it had burned down about halfway, a knock came at the door.
“Dive, your guests have arrived.”
“Let them in.”
*Click.*
Dive glared at the four men entering through the door, quickly sizing them up.
What a bunch of intimidated-looking fools.
Still, their somewhat cowed expressions soothed Dive’s ego a little.
*Thump.*
Dive arrogantly crossed his legs and jutted his chin toward the sofa opposite him.
“Sit.”
The men, clearly uncomfortable with Dive’s behavior, sat down on the sofa.
“It was a long journey. You must be tired. So, who’s in charge here?”
“We are all representatives, Dive.”
“Hmm.”
Dive accepted the tea his men brought him and drank it, barely wetting his lips.
A cup was placed in front of each of Iron Mask’s men, but none of them touched theirs.
“It’s a fine tea. Drink up.”
“I’d rather talk business than tea.”
“I’ve read the message you sent several times. You have a proposal for me?”
Dive laced his fingers, rested his hands on his knee, and his eyes gleamed as he looked at Iron Mask’s men.