Chapter 43 - Banishment Order (3)

“No,” Yehyeon answered simply. “I've never met you face-to-face.”

I kept silent. I needed time to suppress an emotion I couldn't quite name. I had no idea why that flat answer upset me so much.

I must not have managed to hide my expression, because Yehyeon's gaze softened.

“But it's a good question. If I'd said yes, that would have neatly tied things up from your perspective.”

He was right. If I'd encountered Yehyeon before, that would confirm I'd been here, and explain why this Jaeyeon had specifically mentioned December 26. It would also make clear why Yehyeon had information about me.

But his denial put my speculations back at square one.

I felt a little down. But my spirits hadn't sunk because I'd failed to solve the mystery of the messages.

I was simply disappointed.

“The reason Jaeyeon hates me has nothing to do with you. They probably just think it's efficient to screw two people over at once. Hilde. Don't be discouraged because you can't understand Jaeyeon.”

“Yes. No, that's not why I'm discouraged.”

Ever since I'd found Yehyeon sleeping on the sofa that day—ever since he'd offered me his sword—there had been something I'd hoped for.

I just...

“I was just hoping that my past self had known you, Commander.”

Yehyeon looked at me in surprise.

Silence fell over the office. A stillness that made it feel as though everyone had been stunned speechless. Suddenly, the hum of the computers sounded loud in my ears.

I regretted being so honest about my feelings a little.

“What's that supposed to mean?” My training officer broke the silence, arching an eyebrow. “Why would you say that in the middle of this conversation?”

“No, it's just... The commander is a good person...”

“I'm asking why you're bringing that up.”

“Why are you giving him a hard time?”

Yehyeon turned to Yun, looking flustered. Meanwhile, Ska stood chuckling with his arms crossed.

All the unease had vanished from the tone of the Aide with the gleaming silver piercings as he spoke.

“It's perfectly understandable. Leave him alone. I'd probably wish the person I'd forgotten knowing was Yehyeon rather than Jaeyeon too.”

Yun snorted. I stared sulkily at him. As we exchanged unimpressed looks, the seemingly taciturn brown-haired man addressed me for the first time.

“You are getting along with Yun, aren't you, new recruit?”

Ska burst out laughing. Yehyeon's businesslike expression relaxed into a faint smile too. I watched Yun raise his eyebrows at the brown-haired man, then answered politely.

“With Ami's help, we're managing fairly well.”

“I've been too soft on you. You keep getting cheekier.”

“I'm learning a great deal under a training officer far better than I deserve.”

Ska gave a small laugh at my instant change of tune. The brown-haired man smiled faintly too. After watching their gentle smiles, I turned my gaze to the commander-in-chief.

The city caught my eye, darker now. The view outside suggested it was past midnight. A junior who knew how to read the room would wrap things up here, but I didn't want to end the conversation yet.

There was one more thing I wanted to ask.

“I'm sorry for getting sidetracked, Commander. I'd like to ask just one more question.”

“Ask as much as you like. I'll answer only as much as I need to.”

“Is this Jaeyeon a Badger?”

The office froze. The faint smiles lingering on their lips vanished without a trace. Even Yun's face, which had taken my joking in stride, lost every hint of indifference.

Yehyeon regarded me steadily.

“You get to the heart of things every time.”

At his quiet response, I bowed my head slightly. “Thank you.”

“What do you think?”

He turned the question back on me. He seemed to want to hear my answer and assess it. Fortunately, I'd already thought of an answer, so I wasn't caught off guard.

“I don't think they are.”

“Why?”

“You've been speaking as though Jaeyeon's whereabouts have been unknown. Riccardo said each Badger is managed like a gun with a serial number. My employment is potentially problematic for the same reason. I didn't think a place that keeps such strict track of every employee could have a malicious employee whose whereabouts are unknown.”

“Exactly right,” Yehyeon said in matter-of-fact praise.

I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again. I didn't think it was any great feat of deduction. Anyone could figure those things out with a little thought.

And ever since becoming a Black Badger, I'd thought about Badgers often. Before bed, I would mull over what Yehyeon, Riccardo, and Yun had told me when I'd known nothing.

Those were about the only memories I had to mull over anyway.

“Then what do you think Jaeyeon is?”

From here on, it would be far too much of a parade of my own unsupported deductions. But I couldn't refuse to answer the highest-ranking person at work.

I simply told him honestly what I'd been thinking.

“Assuming they're human, I think they have an enhanced body. You said it would be difficult for me to escape on my own.”

“And?”

“And if that assumption is correct, it would mean there are people who have enhanced bodies without being Black Badgers. What follows is really just wild speculation on my part...”

I tried to organize the thoughts I'd had while everyone debated where to put my tracker. As I sank into thought, my senses dulled. I rubbed a hand around my chin.

“I was thinking it might be one of three possibilities. First, a rare case of a successful illegal enhanced-body transplant. Second, there's a separate official group that keeps the Black Badgers in check, and Jaeyeon belongs to it. Third—and this may be letting my imagination run far too wild—arrested aging and exceptional healing are incredibly enticing prospects, aren't they? Things humanity has always longed for. So there could be a privileged class who have secretly received enhanced-body transplants and enjoy the benefits of agelessness out of the public eye—”

“Enough.”

The firm voice brought me back to my senses. My hazy vision sharpened. The sounds that had been receding became clear again.

My eyes widened as I dazedly took in the flood of sensations. Silence struck my ears. The office was as quiet as a grave. No one moved. No one made a sound.

I lowered the hand that had been unconsciously stroking my chin.

Yehyeon watched me with an unreadable expression. “You've gone too far.”

“... I'm sorry.”

“Be careful. There are ears everywhere outside this office.”

I shut my mouth. My heart began to flutter faintly. My hands felt strangely numb, so I clenched and unclenched them.

For the first time since entering this office, I felt worried about something. I couldn't quite explain what was making me uneasy.

But perhaps, if I wasn't completely off the mark—if I wasn't misreading the room—then this Jaeyeon was neither the first case nor the second.

Someone for whom no method of obtaining my contact information would be surprising...

“May we implant a tracker?” the commander-in-chief asked calmly.

Dazed, I stared into the eyes of the handsome man before me. “Pardon? Yes. Of course, yes.”

“All right. Let's do that, then. I'm sure you already know this, but don't tell anyone what we've discussed here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Not even Ami or Riccardo.”

“Understood.”

“Good.”

Yehyeon lowered his gaze to the desk as though about to write something. Then he slowly rose. In a daze, I watched the commander-in-chief stand and come around the desk. Ska and the brown-haired man were rising from the desk after him.

Were they heading home? It was late.

Was I supposed to go straight back to my hospital room?

“Good work.”

After giving Ska a brief instruction, Yehyeon turned to me. Then he smiled gently. It reminded me of the way he'd smiled as he handed me banana pudding, his eyes heavy with sleep.

“You're doing well. Impressive.”

“... Me? Thank you. Though I'm not sure what I've done.”

“Go back and rest. I'm sorry we kept you so long.”

“Yun will tell you your schedule from tomorrow onward.” At his gentle words, all I could do was nod vigorously. Then I stayed frozen in place until the three members of senior leadership had finished getting ready to leave.

Yehyeon gestured for Ska and the brown-haired man to go ahead. The two seniors left the office, each telling me I'd done well. I said goodbye and waited quietly, intending to follow my training officer out.

When the commander-in-chief started walking, Yun moved too. Yehyeon's farewell brought the meeting to a definitive close.

It was a farewell powerful enough to drive all thoughts of Jaeyeon out of my head.

“Get well soon. You need to head outside the core.”

“Yes, sir,” I squeaked.

* * *

Hilde returned to his hospital room. Samuel could be heard grumbling and scolding him, followed by Hilde's shamelessly ingratiating pleas for forgiveness.

Yun quite liked Samuel. He also liked teasing the white-haired recruit assigned to him. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have enjoyed watching his cheeky junior get chewed out by Samuel, exchanged a few words with the doctor, and gone home.

But he wasn't in the mood right now.

He stopped as he watched Yehyeon walk toward the car. “Wait inside for a moment, sir. I'll have a cigarette with Aide Ska and be back.”

Yehyeon paused in the act of opening the passenger door. He stared at Yun with his large eyes.

“You're going to talk behind my back, aren't you?”

“Yeah. Sharp of you. Lock the doors and get some sleep.”

Yehyeon got into the car without protest. Taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, Yun walked past the car. He didn't answer what Yehyeon said as he closed the passenger door.

Yehyeon spoke quietly. “Don't worry too much. It probably won't be as bad as last time.”

Instead of answering, Yun put a cigarette between his lips. He climbed the stairs in the corner of the underground parking garage and stepped outside. The city was past midnight. A cool chill brushed his cheek.

A flickering cigarette ember caught his eye in the settled darkness. Cupping a hand against the wind, Yun lit his cigarette. He inhaled the acrid smoke as he approached the Aide leaning against the building's wall.

Ska turned to Yun, exhaling smoke.

“Hilde did well,” he said. “I'd heard from all sorts of people that he was a good junior, but I didn't know he was that sharp. Train him well, and we could even make him our successor.”

“He can't have been an ordinary guy,” Yun replied in a dry, rasping voice. “No ordinary human would have survived getting mixed up with Jaeyeon.”

Ska put his cigarette back between his lips. His silence served as agreement. The sound of the night wind filled their surroundings. For a while, the two smoked without speaking. The smoking area saw little foot traffic even at normal hours. The cigarette embers wavered this way and that with the wind in the predawn darkness.

Ska was the one to speak. “I don't intend to stand by and watch Jaeyeon run wild either.”

Yun turned to look at him. Ska looked down at the cigarette in his hand, then clenched his fist and crushed the butt.

“I'll make sure the commander has my support. You keep a close eye on Jaeyeon's movements, Yun.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And take good care of Hilde too.”

Yun raised one eyebrow. At his expression, which seemed to ask why that was suddenly coming up, Ska gave a wry smile. The Aide opened his palm over the outdoor ashtray.

“He's still a new recruit, after all. We don't know who he really is, but he's a likable kid, and your first pupil...”

“He'll be out of my hands for a while. What's there to ask of me?” Yun replied dryly, putting his cigarette between his lips. “I have no intention of going outside the core.”

“Right. I don't expect you will. We need a researcher to keep an eye on the core, and someone who can stop Jaeyeon. The head of HR will find suitable people to assign to him.”

“Won't Ami go with him? Of the people who know Hilde's circumstances, only Sordi and Ami are any use, and Sordi's assigned to rounds inside the core for the time being.”

“Probably. They'll assign Ami, and likely Walker. Then, depending on the situation... Richard Green will ask for Hilde, but Tvein might be assigned, depending on the rotation. Aki's a possibility too...”

Ska murmured as though to himself, then his brow creased slightly. After a long moment lost in thought, he voiced genuine sympathy for the unusual recruit.

“He's going to have a rough time.”

Yun agreed in silence.

Quiet settled over them again. One nearly full cigarette rapidly grew shorter, while another fell onto the ashtray as blackened ash. Neither spoke until the longer cigarette had burned all the way down.

Yun and Ska always maintained a certain distance from one another. They didn't discuss personal matters, but neither dismissed what the other said.

At last, having finished his cigarette, Yun walked to the ashtray. Stubbing it out, he said matter-of-factly, “If the rookie comes back alive from outside the core, I'll keep a good eye on him.”

Ska answered with a hearty laugh.