The Leader (6)
“I feel the same way.”
Jinwoo nodded in agreement with Cho Cheol-woong.
Incompetent officers like that needed to be eliminated before they could harm any more innocent soldiers. That was what Jinwoo believed. He had already seen far too many similar cases.
“Then our interests align.”
Cho Cheol-woong replied in a flat tone. There was no trace of greed in his voice for digging up more information about Hwang Nayeon.
“That’s a little surprising.”
Yubin said, blinking with wide eyes.
“I thought you might scold us. Something like, why on earth would we do something so reckless as kidnapping Hwang Nayeon…”
“Well… if you’re asking for my assessment, it’s true that it’s hard to give it a high score. There were simply too many risk factors.”
Cho Cheol-woong wore a stern expression like a teacher. To think of staging a hostage situation on the ground when several Black Hawks were already in the air—these guys had guts the size of a house.
To be honest, it was hard to believe they were still alive and having this conversation. If the other side had even one competent commander instead of a coward like Captain Lee, these boys would have been massacred that day.
“However…”
Cho Cheol-woong shook his head and continued.
“The operation we just ran to rescue those soldiers at Children’s Grand Park was equally dangerous. What I did at Myeonmok Station—setting down all my weapons and walking toward that Private Park—was insane too…”
When you really thought about it, forming a small team and roaming through Seoul, a city overrun by zombies, was itself an act of madness that ordinary courage and sanity could not sustain. They had simply grown used to it and numb to the danger, which was why they no longer felt the threat. But the risk had not diminished in the slightest. Just like what happened to Master Sergeant Hong today, even the most seasoned warrior could lose everything in a single careless moment, as if it had all been an illusion. Like flowers scattering in a spring breeze—in an instant.
“And anyway… even if you had obediently completed the deal with Hwang Nayeon without pulling that stunt, those men were planning to kill you all regardless. So any evaluation is meaningless. Whether you held her or sent her back nicely, you were bound to get entangled. From the moment that woman fell for some strange trick and made the idiotic decision to come to Seoul herself.”
“Then you have no intention of interfering with her? Like ordering us to release her…”
Yubin asked.
“Release her…”
Cho Cheol-woong mulled the words over for a moment before answering carefully.
“Doing so now would be pointless, and there isn’t really a proper method, is there?”
If he protected her and then sent her back, Hwang Nayeon would undoubtedly seek revenge on the traitors within the group as well as Lieutenant General Park. And Lieutenant General Park, with his supplies cut off and driven into a corner, would choose battle over quietly starving to death. In the end, thousands of soldiers would once again be consumed and die in a meaningless fight. Cho Cheol-woong had no desire to light the fuse on such a tragedy. The issue had grown far too complicated; it required countless deliberations before any action could be taken.
“…And you boys aren’t the type to quietly follow orders just because I tell you to release her, are you?”
Cho Cheol-woong stared intently at Yubin and Jinwoo. Not just the big one—these two were every bit as stubborn as they were bold.
“Who do you think the culprit is?”
At Yubin’s question, Cho Cheol-woong shrugged.
“I’ve met them a few times, but I know nothing about their internal affairs. I’ll have to take time and look into it gradually…”
Cho Cheol-woong dragged out the end of his sentence, then checked his watch with a serious expression.
“That is, if we make it safely back to Busan. For now, it would be wise to prepare countermeasures for how to handle the helicopters that will arrive again tomorrow. Even if they rush, they won’t get here until ten o’clock, so we have roughly twelve hours left. What’s your plan?”
Though he phrased it indirectly, it was an offer to become a shared fate from now on and attempt joint operations. After a brief moment of thought, Yubin asked.
“Would it not work to simply retreat far away and hide quietly?”
Planning operations and fighting alongside the special forces members would certainly be a great help, but it would not completely eliminate the danger. Cho Cheol-woong asked as if the idea were absurd.
“What about those soldiers upstairs? The moment Captain Lee returns to pick them up, your identities will be exposed. Are you fine with that?”
Now that they had revealed their presence like this, they could no longer simply send those soldiers back under Lieutenant General Park. At least one or two would surely talk about what happened tonight, and the enemy’s search teams would cling to them even more tenaciously.
“That could be solved by stripping them of their uniforms and dressing nearby zombie corpses in them. If we do that and they stop responding to radio calls as well… wouldn’t the other side believe they were wiped out in combat? There are already mountains of zombie corpses on that road. As for those soldiers… Lieutenant, please absorb them and train them yourself.”
Yubin offered the simplest solution. It would be a bit of a hassle, but if they moved a little tomorrow morning, it was a way to perfectly fake their annihilation. If they could avoid it, they wanted to avoid clashing with the helicopters at all costs.
“Heh. You’re an interesting one. Well, such a trick isn’t bad, but…”
Cho Cheol-woong stroked his chin and fell into thought. Inside his head, ideas for utilizing this incident more effectively and on a larger scale were rapidly taking shape. With just a few adjustments and some added deception, he might be able to win Lieutenant General Shin’s complete trust and grant the prisoner release these boys wanted so desperately…
At the same time, an intense urge to punish Captain Lee surged up inside him, so strong he could barely contain it.
He wasn’t angry because the man was wicked or selfish. What enraged Cho Cheol-woong was the man’s irresponsibility and incompetence. He could not tolerate the sight of an officer wearing rank insignia who casually threw the lives of dozens or hundreds of soldiers into danger.
“How many of you are stationed in this area right now? Including yourselves, six? Five?”
Cho Cheol-woong, who had been deep in thought, made a rather sharp deduction. The question was asked with combat in mind. Deciding it was safe to trust him, Yubin answered honestly.
“Four. Including the hostage, five.”
“That must be the one, then. So he’s the experienced survivor revived with Terra’s blood?”
Cho Cheol-woong said, tracing a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, that’s correct… Whoa!”
As he answered, the thought of the Witch suddenly hit Yubin and he let out a small yelp. It had been such a continuous string of urgent and dangerous events that he had momentarily forgotten. That woman… had been tied up for nearly five hours now. Since Mingu had to remain on the rooftop keeping watch, he probably hadn’t had any leeway to let her use the bathroom or give her water. And even if there had been an opportunity, as far as Yubin knew, Mingu was not the kind of person to show the slightest mercy or pity toward someone he recognized as an enemy.
“I need to send the Sheriff over right away…”
Yubin covered his face and swallowed a sigh. At this rate, their plan to win the woman’s favor and smoothly extract information might suffer a serious setback.
“Send? Why?”
At Cho Cheol-woong’s question, Yubin answered vaguely.
“Well… he has to take care of the hostage.”
If left entirely to Mingu, that cold-blooded man would clearly leave the Witch tied up hand and foot all night long. If that happened, she would lose her mind before they could even dangle the carrot called the Sheriff.
“Take care of the hostage?”
Cho Cheol-woong smiled in disbelief. They had barely established a stable base here after barely surviving a deadly crisis moments ago, yet they were already thinking of heading back out into the streets. These guys’ boldness exceeded his common sense. And what was even stranger was…
“You’re sending that big guy when combat could break out at any moment? Just to guard a hostage?”
When Cho Cheol-woong asked in a tone that showed he didn’t understand, Jinwoo answered in Yubin’s place.
“Yes. He has things to do… and he needs to go. Since we have a vehicle, it won’t be that difficult as long as we avoid the zombie waves. And… if you’re planning to engage with the goal of preemptive elimination, it would be better to swap the Sheriff for Brother Mingu at that time as well.”
“What do you mean? That we should leave out the big guy if we’re going to kill them?”
No matter how impressive the man with the horizontal scar was, why would they need to deliberately exclude such a monstrous fighter like the Sheriff? If it was because they absolutely needed one person to guard Hwang Nayeon, then the one to leave behind would seem to be this one-armed man…
As Cho Cheol-woong was puzzling over it, they heard the Sheriff’s footsteps approaching after noticing the light leaking into the hallway.
“Ah! Uncle, you were here!”
The Sheriff, who burst through the office door, spoke to his friends in a tone of disbelief.
“Hey! Did you guys hear? That Captain Lee bastard is a complete son of a bitch!”
Eol-!
Samsuk-i, who had been following right behind him, added his own bark. Cho Cheol-woong pointed at the open door.
“Close the door. And lower your voice.”
“We interrogated the two corporals, and their statements were roughly the same. They said Captain Lee abandoned them and returned to Busan alone.”
Sergeant First Class Kim, who entered after him, hurriedly closed the door and reported to Cho Cheol-woong. Cho Cheol-woong nodded and gestured toward the chairs in the back, indicating they should sit.
“Mm. The statement we obtained from the platoon leader on our side doesn’t differ much.”
“He’s a total lunatic, seriously! Because of that bastard, the kids who were on that rooftop earlier almost all died, fuck! A guy like that who isn’t even human should just be beaten to death!”
The Sheriff, who sat down next to Jinwoo, raised his voice as if just thinking about it filled him with irritation. Jinwoo, who had been quietly watching him, muttered in an emotionless tone.
“Even though he speaks so roughly, this guy is on the side that protects people, not the side that kills them.”
“…I understand what you mean. He’s not a vicious one. I see…”
Cho Cheol-woong nodded, then asked with clear interest.
“Then does that mean the scar-faced guy coming in as the replacement is on the killing side?”
“That’s correct.”
Jinwoo nodded. As the two of them faced each other and casually evaluated him, the Sheriff snorted.
“Tsk! What are you two talking about? About me!”
“No, no… Never mind that. Sheriff, you should head back and take care of that… woman.”
Yubin grabbed the Sheriff’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Startled by the sudden mention of the Witch, the Sheriff’s eyes widened as he glanced nervously at Cho Cheol-woong.
“Hey, you crazy bastard! How can you spill a secret like that here? These uncles are all listening!”
“It’s not a secret anymore, Sheriff. We’ve told them pretty much everything about us. Anyway… since they even learned about the serum injection, they would have roughly guessed even if I hadn’t said anything.”
Yubin calmed the Sheriff down. Still looking worried, the Sheriff frowned.
“Really? Well… this uncle doesn’t seem like a bad person. But still, it would have been better not to mention that you’re living with Jenny and Terra. That part’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
“We didn’t talk about Jenny…”
This time Yubin’s eyes widened. No, not just Yubin. Both Jinwoo and Cho Cheol-woong looked surprised. Of course, the one who received the greatest shock was Sergeant First Class Kim, who hadn’t even heard about Terra.
“You guys… live with… Pink Punch?”
Sergeant First Class Kim asked in a tone and expression of utter disbelief. Although they possessed Terra’s blood, he had assumed it had simply been supplied from some high-ranking superior. He never imagined they were close enough to use the phrase “live with”…
“We didn’t mention Jenny, did we?”
Cho Cheol-woong asked again for confirmation.
“Uh, shit… Did I slip up?”
The Sheriff, realizing a beat too late, bit his lip. Yubin shook his head.
“No. It’s not some big secret. We just didn’t mention it because there was no particular need to go into detail. Don’t worry about it.”
After soothing the Sheriff, Yubin turned back to Cho Cheol-woong and Sergeant First Class Kim.
“This guy is right. Jenny is with us too. She’s safe, just like Terra. Please keep this as a secret known only to the 707 Special Mission Group.”
“No… It’s not something I should say to the benefactor who saved Master Sergeant Hong’s life, but…”
Sergeant First Class Kim, who still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock, continued with an apologetic expression.
“You guys… seem to exaggerate quite a bit… We know Miss Terra is alive because Master Sergeant Hong personally rescued her and sent her to the Jamsil shelter, but Miss Jenny… I’ve never heard anything about Miss Jenny. In the military, everyone believes… Miss Jenny is dead…”
It was already unbelievable that Jenny had survived alone in such a desperate situation that she had been separated from her best friend Terra and ended up under these guys’ protection. But what was even more absurd was that the two of them had gone through all that and somehow found each other again. Could such an extreme coincidence really occur?
“Haa…”
Jinwoo let out a light sigh and loosened the chin strap of his helmet. In a situation like this, there was only one very simple way to break the chain of disbelief.
“You can look inside.”
Jinwoo said, removing his helmet and handing it to Sergeant First Class Kim.
“…It’s real! Ahh…”
Sergeant First Class Kim, who had put his head together with Cho Cheol-woong and shone a flashlight into the helmet, muttered blankly as if he were dreaming. It was clearly a brand-new Polaroid taken not long ago. And while still beautiful, the hairstyle didn’t look professionally maintained by a stylist. It clearly showed that the photo had been taken recently—after the world had changed like this.
“This bastard…”
Sergeant First Class Kim glared at Jinwoo with resentment. Of course, this guy’s marksmanship was godlike, but that didn’t mean he deserved to hear “I love you, oppa” from both members of Pink Punch.
“No… That’s just… something you say to a friend. It’s not like we’re actually dating and in love…”
Jinwoo, who instantly recognized the cause of his anger like a true soldier, waved his hands dismissively.
“These bastards… The more I learn, the more interesting they become.”
Cho Cheol-woong said with a chuckle as he returned Jinwoo’s helmet. He could no longer even guess how many more times he would have to be surprised before their full story was complete. A guy who had walked all the way from the southern tip of Samcheok in Gangwon Province to Seoul, now friends with two military presidents… He really was one hell of a guy, Cho Cheol-woong thought. It seemed it wasn’t for nothing that he had fallen for her at first sight and suffered months of unrequited love.
“Right, we’ll be heading out now. Let’s plan the operation after we return.”
In the meantime, Yubin had confirmed through radio with Mingu that the active road was clear. He prepared to head out with the Sheriff and Jinwoo. The distance from Hwayang Intersection to the Gunja Station theater was less than two kilometers. No matter how badly damaged the Gen Coop was, it should be able to handle the round trip.
“I’ll assign eight men, so take the boat. It’s strictly for escort. Not for tailing or anything.”
Cho Cheol-woong ordered. He still hadn’t repaid his debt, and if he sent only these boys and something happened to them, it would be problematic. Of course they weren’t the type to go down easily, but he had no choice but to take every possible precaution.
“Oh, would that be all right?”
Yubin accepted Cho Cheol-woong’s suggestion without resistance. In truth… the fact that Mingu was hiding somewhere nearby was no longer much of a secret anyway. And since they would need to cooperate closely with these people to prepare for the helicopters arriving tomorrow, it made sense.
“Oh right, I forgot to mention this.”
The Sheriff, who had been about to leave through the door, tapped his own head and turned back to Cho Cheol-woong.
“The two soldier kids we called over and questioned—both of them were worried and very sorry. They said it was because of them that Master Sergeant Hong got bitten… They weren’t rude kids at all.”
“Now that you mention it, I still had one more thing to ask. Since the topic came up, I’ll ask now.”
Cho Cheol-woong raised his hand to signal Yubin not to open the door yet, then asked carefully.
“Since you saved Master Sergeant Hong. From now on, if we use his blood, can it produce the same effect as this serum? For example, if special forces members get bitten during an operation…”
“You mean if Master Sergeant Hong donates blood?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“No. The probability of that is… very low. We’d have to run tests to know for sure, but it would be better to consider it nearly impossible.”
After hearing Yubin’s answer, Cho Cheol-woong stroked his chin.
“Tests? This is heading into completely unknown territory. Anyway, then does it become like that immune Mister Bae?”
He meant whether they could become a Philaxis Gene carrier. However, that probability was extremely low. Yubin shook his head slightly.
“It might be possible, but if they get bitten again, the chance that it’s simply the end is much higher. In many cases the second time… even the serum doesn’t work. Even if a vaccine is developed, they must not be inoculated. I was told it causes shock and instant death. Ah, of course this is purely probabilistic, so to know exactly we’d need a blood test.”
“Why are you making such a sorry face? It’s us who owe a life debt… Surviving once is more than enough reason to be grateful.”
Sincerity could be felt in Cho Cheol-woong’s voice. There seemed to be no need to add any warning that the stories shared so far were dangerous secrets that must not leak outside the 707 Special Mission Group.
“By the way, they’re all things I had no idea about. And they don’t seem like lies… Now I think I roughly understand. That the Taeyang Group people actually knew nothing. It turns out that you boys, not us, were the much bigger fish.”
Cho Cheol-woong looked at Yubin and Jinwoo with a curious gaze, pondered for a moment, then asked.
“If I get on the same boat as you boys… can I also learn where all this information came from?”