Jeong Taeui sighed, sadly recalling those forgotten
memories. He was discharged from the army four months ago and is currently an unemployed
young man. He still feels a sharp pain in his knee every time it gets cold, but
his leg has healed and his body has fully recovered so he is planning to find
something to do.

“Oh well. Why do you suddenly need your son? Where
are you going to send it?”

Hearing Jeong Taeui’s question, Changin smiled
again.

“Boys can be anyone. Anyway, I still need someone.
Not long ago, when there was a conflict with people at the European branch, our
side lost many people. We need to balance the numbers.”

“…..”

 

“….it’s just an excuse. The truth is I need
someone lucky.”

The uncle stopped for a moment, Jeong Taeui silently waited
for his next words. He doesn’t need to tell him to know that balancing the
number of people is just an excuse. Judging by the number of people frantically
lining up to get in, the matter of numbers is just a simple thing, there’s no
point in coming all the way here. However, if we talk about luck, Jeong Taeui
is even more unsuitable and his uncle must know that well.

“In half a year, the head of your branch will move
to the headquarters in America. So the two deputy ministers are secretly
competing for that position. Originally, even a small alley would be divided
into factions, so I had to help my immediate superior become governor. In other
words, in the next half a year there will be fierce fighting within the branch,
and there will also be many despicable tricks taking place. That means I need a
lucky subordinate who can survive to the end.

“I’m not very lucky.”

“Uhm—- even if it’s not a phoenix, it’s still a
chicken. How?”

“How is how? Who would be happy to hear that I am a
chicken and not a phoenix?”

Jeong Taeui replied back relaxed, but the words
themselves didn’t make him feel hurt at all. If you call an incomparable genius
like Jeong Jaeui a phoenix, you’ll feel proud as a chicken. Jeong Jaeui is a
special person. As for him, he could only understand half of the comments he
just said. And half of that is, ‘If you get caught up in this story, you will
have a headache’. Arguments between friends, whether it was a place with notes
or other military environments that he didn’t want to bump his head into again.

“Are you from the Asia branch?”

“That’s right.”

 

“If you want someone luckier and more capable than
me, then maybe you can find as many people as there are stars in the sky.
Please take any of them and bring them in there.”

“I’ve told you all the secrets inside the
organization. After listening, how can you throw me under the bus like that?”

“What secret? Anyway, that’s not strange. Please
fight well yourself and get promoted safely.”

Jeong Taeui shook his uncle’s hand as if wanting to
end the conversation here. He stood up and began to clean up the empty dishes.
But the uncle grabbed Jeong Taeui’s wrist tightly, and he clicked his tongue.
Looking at his face, it seemed like he was very serious. If so, it would be
hard for Taeui to refuse.

“Uncle….Do you know why? I can’t.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered. The uncle asked
seriously again.

“Tell me why you can’t. If it’s a legitimate reason,
I’ll find someone else.”

“You know that too.”

“Tell me…?”

Jeong Taeui didn’t know what this man was thinking
to be so stubborn. If it’s just through his words, there’s no reason why the
person he needs is Jeong Taeui. Compared to Jeong Jaeui, aren’t there people
like Jeong Taeui everywhere in this world?

“Uncle. First of all, I hate the army. I have had
enough of being in that closed place of authority.”

“This organization is not a military. Just physical
exercise is a little harder. The distinction between ranks and the atmosphere
inside are also completely different from the military. Occasionally, cases are
handled secretly, so I don’t know if it can be said to be closed in that
regard, but at least it is not exclusive. If you enter now, your superiors will
be a governor, two deputy ministers and six officers. But normally, there is
almost no need to interact with the governor and deputy minister. The rest are
all equal colleagues. Now, is there any other reason?”

“…. My body is also very weak.”

“I know your boy has completely
recovered.”

“It’s just that I don’t need to go to the
hospital anymore, but I still have knee pain and body pain every time the
weather changes.”

“There’s no one there who isn’t like that. All of
them had been shot once or twice and had several broken bones. Another reason?”

“I also don’t fit the conditions you want. Luck is
normal, ability is also normal.”

Then, he squinted his eyes at Jeong Taeui
meaningfully for a moment and then slowly spoke.

“I need someone who can survive as long as possible
while doing the required job well. Even so, I appreciate you, Jeong Taeui. I
feel like I have some grasp of you, but even so, I still looked through your
records from the time you were at the military academy until now. You have
something very important to be able to survive safely.”

“What is it?”

“Sense.”

“….”

Jeong Taeui thought his uncle was being serious, but
an inaccurate word popped out. He was listening intently to see what his
uncle’s compliment was, but he lost all his strength by it.

“You… you said senses…. that is…”

“Why do you look so disappointed?”

“Rather than saying disappointed……— Yes, more than
disappointed.”

Jeong Taeui shook his head and muttered in
frustration. Changin smiled in a low voice and said.

“There’s nothing to be disappointed about. A boy
with special luck like Jeong Jaeui is different, but for normal children, what
is needed to survive is acumen. In other words, sharp senses. Live or die.
Depending on the situation, those senses work a little better than others.”

His uncle’s voice was a little deeper. Jeong Taeui
has never had to go through the crossroads between life and death like he did.
The fact that he almost died was not in such a harsh environment. It’s just an
accident that anyone can encounter. However, it seemed like he knew what the
feeling his uncle was talking about was.

“So what’s next?”

“What?”

“Is there any other reason?”

Changin waved his hand to signal Taeui to speak if
there was anything else he wanted to say.

But the reasons he gave were all refuted without
loopholes. Jeong Taeui silently looked at him. His uncle also just looked at
him quietly without saying anything more, slowly waiting for Jeong Taeui to
open his mouth.

Sometimes Jeong Taeui is still surprised by his brother.
It’s not about his luck or his genius but that he knows Taeui better than he
knows himself.

Although each person’s lives are not always
intertwined just because they have grown up together for a quarter of a century
– they probably know enough about each other. And Jeong Jaeui easily captures a
person’s essence.

At this point, his uncle is just like him.

Taeui had never said such things and didn’t see him
often, but Changin seemed to know clearly what he was going to say and refute
it without missing anything. Or, even if he didn’t know in advance, he wasn’t
surprised at all when he heard those words from Jeong Taeui.

“….It’s dangerous to enter a place where only men
gather like that.”

Jeong Taeui muttered sadly. Looking at his gloomy
face, Jeong Changin raised his eyebrows, and the next second he laughed like
something funny.

“Who?”

Jeong Taeui momentarily did not understand his
uncle’s question.

“Is it you who is in danger, or is it the others?”

“If I have to tell the truth, of course it’s me.”

“You? Why? Do you think they will come over and
‘attack’ you?”

Jeong Taeui stared at his uncle when he heard his
voice as if he was talking about something interesting. Finally Taeui clicked
his tongue as if he had given up.

“I’m afraid I’ll ‘attack’ the people there, okay?”

“I didn’t know your defense range was so wide. If
you want, and if you can, attack as much as you want. It’s a society ruled by
force, except for your superiors.”

“…If I’m strong enough, I can attack anyone around
me?!”

Jeong Taeui exclaimed incredulously, he immediately
opened his arms and smiled. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if this man was joking
or serious. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and scratched his head nervously,
then glared at his uncle.

“You already know, but you still pretend not to
know?”

“Well, in this context, all I can guess is that you
tend to be sexually attracted to people of the same sex, but what else?”

“That’s enough. I’m tired.”

“So when you attacked a colleague in the same unit
and had to be discharged from the army, were you tired?”

Jeong Taeui glared at his uncle fiercely, then
sighed tiredly and leaned his head against the wall. Look ( ◔
ʖ̯
◔
) , he finally knows everything. He had already guessed it, so he wasn’t too
surprised.

The uncle took a cup from the table within reach,
grabbed the kettle and poured water into it. He drank white water and looked
like he was enjoying a delicious cup of tea.

“Jeong Taeui. Regarding that issue, I have a
different perspective.”

“Another perspective? What is that?”

Jeong Taeui replied droopingly, his uncle
immediately smiled and said as if he were joking.

“For example, I’m afraid others will ‘attack’ you.”
< 😀 >

“Uncle, that joke is not funny at all….”

Jeong Taeui sighed, but what his uncle said next
didn’t sound like a joke at all.

“Alright. Is there any other reason?”

Jeong Taeui sighed deeply again. After that, he was
silent for a while and finally muttered as if he had completely given up.

“… …Half a year, right?”

Then, he saw him smiling extremely happily.

“That’s right, half a year. Until the next governor
is decided. After that, just do as you please. It’s okay to quit your job. If
you’re satisfied with life there, you can continue working. In addition, even
if you quit your job, you don’t have to worry about unemployment because job
applications will flood in as soon as you quit. If you are worried about where
to go, becoming a member of our organization is a brilliant career.”

“Yes. Probably so.”

Jeong Taeui seemed to have completely lost all
strength and leaned back on the chair. He felt like he had just finished a
marathon in the middle of a hot summer, although he felt no sense of pride in
his results. However, the clock hanging on the wall caught his eye. It was time
for everyone to start their day’s work.

People say it’s impossible to predict the future,
but he really didn’t expect a sudden change like this.

That’s right, he’s had a bad feeling since this
morning. In the end, things turned out like this. If you look at it that way,
the uncle’s words about having a good feeling about Jeong Taeui that’s why he
took him away might be true.