#064
Mountain weather is unpredictable. The sun might be shining, but hours later it would often start raining. Every time this happened, work would stop.
Yoo Seong-woo looked up at the sky through his sunglasses. It was still clear, but since the weather forecast robot had requested work stoppage, it was probably right to stop.
While following others to the dormitory in his dirt-covered work clothes, he changed direction and went off alone.
Pushing through undergrowth into an area with no path, Yoo Seong-woo went deep until he found a massive oak tree. There were subtle knife marks on the trunk. They were barely noticeable, and even upon closer inspection, they looked like marks made by animals.
Sitting down beneath the tree, he cleared away the fallen leaves, revealing a small, obviously man-made mound. Yoo Seong-woo carefully dug through the soil with his bare hands. Before long, Popo’s round body appeared.
“…Just wait a little longer, Popo.”
After gently tapping Popo, who was half-buried and in power-saving mode, Yoo Seong-woo covered it with soil again and then with fallen leaves before standing up. His eyes were sharp as he surveyed the surroundings. He had carefully inspected this place every time he came, and there were never any signs of people, so Popo was unlikely to be discovered.
He took one last look at the tree before walking away. On the back of his work clothes, large letters spelled out:
‘Mount Jiri Recovery Team.’
As he emerged from the deserted undergrowth, he saw a line of people moving toward the dormitory. Yoo Seong-woo naturally slipped in among them and moved together with the group.
***
Mount Jiri Recovery Team. He first learned about it while looking for smuggling routes at the beach. Yoo Seong-woo had carefully considered a notice stating that Mount Jiri, still in recovery from the aftermath of war, needed manpower.
Many people were trying to erase the traces of war that remained on Mount Jiri. Citizens of the Republic of Korea volunteered to help with recovery efforts.
The problem was the toxic gas from the mines. The places where black moonstone had been buried were very deep, and the deeper they were, the more toxic substances were released.
Equipment for handling toxic substances was deployed, but there was a limited number. And in some cases, it was better to have people work in protective suits.
There were quite a few people who risked their bodies for money and jumped into toxic underground areas, but they were only a fraction of what was needed, so there was always a shortage of manpower.
Yoo Seong-woo applied there. Though it was dangerous, protective suits were provided, and above all, the pay was high—enough to quickly secure passage for smuggling.
After his first day of work, while vomiting black fluid, Yoo Seong-woo felt a contradiction. He was earning money to live, yet the place where he earned it threatened his life.
But aren’t human lives full of contradictions? Rather, this aspect seemed to make him closer to humans.
Still, after about a week, he seemed to adapt and no longer vomited black fluid. And today too, after safely finishing work and returning to his quarters, he showered and lay down.
The room had just a bed, a small table, and barely enough space for one person to sit, with no windows, but this was sufficient.
Lying on a bed so narrow his shoulders stuck out, Yoo Seong-woo closed his eyes to try to sleep. After all, for this body made to resemble a human’s, sleep was the most effective way to recover from fatigue.
He had been working here for two weeks already.
Fortunately, there had been no signs of malfunction for a while. Except for the headaches.
Apart from the occasional severe headaches that interfered with his work, things were fairly good.
Was Yeon Tae-soo still looking for him?
With this sudden thought, Yoo Seong-woo opened his eyes. The ceiling, visible even in the darkness with its mold stains, filled his vision.
Yoo Seong-woo had come all this way with all his might, to the point where “escaping with every ounce of strength” would be an appropriate description.
If he hadn’t learned how to erase his traces from the mercenaries, it would have been difficult. The self-defense techniques he’d learned from them had also been quite helpful.
If Yeon Tae-soo knew, he would probably be furious. There’s a limit to how much you can repay kindness with enmity.
‘…I should leave the mountain sometime soon.’
Thinking this, Yoo Seong-woo closed his eyes again. When he put his hand in his pocket, he felt the camellia flower—the one he had been carving when he first met Yeon Tae-soo. It had come along with the items Popo gathered from the animal hospital when they escaped.
That night, he dreamed of Eden. No, since androids can’t dream, it would be more accurate to call it imagination.
From a third-person perspective, he saw himself playing a white grand piano in a golden corridor. He wasn’t wearing a mask.
The version of himself playing the piano looked happy. If he could “truly” feel the emotion of “happiness,” perhaps it would look like that.
Yoo Seong-woo absorbed this image of himself that he would never see again for a long time.
***
As soon as the notification for a new email appeared, Yeon Tae-soo opened his tablet.
Even though the Military Police had already sent the same answer three times, he immediately opened the email with lingering hope for this fourth time.
And the answer was, as expected, the same. The Military Police could not privately provide troops to search for a civilian.
‘Is it still impossible even if that civilian is connected to the Minister’s corruption, even if he’s connected to the mass disposal of androids at Mount Jiri that I witnessed?’
According to the materials provided by Kim Ji-heon, Yoo Seong-woo, or more precisely, Yoo-hyun, had connections with an android manufacturing company.
‘Yacheon Technology.’
That company had sponsored Yoo-hyun. It was also the manufacturer of the numerous training androids that died on Mount Jiri.
But the Military Police remained firm. First, he needed to prove the allegation that Yacheon Technology had mass-murdered androids.
And currently, there was no material evidence for this. Only the testimonies of two former mercenaries who were Yeon Tae-soo’s close associates.
Yeon Tae-soo twisted his lips into a smile and carelessly threw the tablet aside.
‘Is this how you repay me after telling me to find evidence on my own?’
He rubbed his rough cheeks. His empty stomach was starting to burn.
He could guess how terrible he looked without needing a mirror. His eyes were dry, and his body was stiff. Muscle pain wasn’t the issue. He hadn’t slept, and he vomited everything he ate.
Despite this, Yeon Tae-soo never gave up on maintaining a neat appearance. Even without sleep, he shaved every day, showered thoroughly, and put on a suit. He never knew when he might find Yoo Seong-woo again.
Since looks were the only thing he had going for him, he had to maintain them properly.
Because he couldn’t understand why Yoo Seong-woo had run away, he was convinced it was a kidnapping.
‘The culprit is definitely the Department of Defense.’
Was it that bastard Minister who took him? But there was one major flaw in this theory.
If the Minister had indeed taken him, he would have made contact to negotiate for Yoo Seong-woo’s return. But there had been silence.
Three weeks had already passed.
Even if it wasn’t the Minister but someone else who had kidnapped him, there would have been some response by now.
Even if it wasn’t a kidnapping, there was still a problem. Hadn’t they said that Yoo Seong-woo looked exactly like Yoo-hyun, who had been popular once but disappeared? If so, there would be countless people who would want to exploit that fact.
While thinking about this, he received a call from Xinyan.
“There’s no one in District 19 who has seen him either. I checked around the area, but again, there’s no trace. It seems he hasn’t come here.”
After so many failures, most would give up, but for some reason, Yeon Tae-soo couldn’t.
“…Right, good work, Xinyan. I’ve deposited your payment into your account…”
“No, as I said before, payment isn’t necessary. Neither Nikita nor I are doing this for money. We’re just worried about Mr. Yoo.”
Yeon Tae-soo closed his mouth. Yes, Yoo Seong-woo had quickly become friends with them too. Even without his looks, he was someone who gained everyone’s favor.
“But there is one thing I’m curious about.”
“…What is it?”
“Why are you so obsessed?”
Yeon Tae-soo couldn’t immediately answer Xinyan’s question.
“Nikita and I are worried about Mr. Yoo too, but we think there’s a high possibility that he deliberately erased his traces and ran away. That means…”
“I know. That he disappeared voluntarily.”
Nodding as he replied to Xinyan, he acknowledged a fact he had reminded himself of many times. It was also the most likely possibility.
“The Mr. Yoo I saw isn’t someone who would be helplessly captured by anyone. If he wanted to ask for help, he would have done so already.”
He agreed with that as well. But why was it so hard to accept?
Even after ending the call with Xinyan, Yeon Tae-soo continued thinking about Yoo Seong-woo. How nice it would be if he could just stop thinking about him.
He had invested everything in finding Yoo Seong-woo, but with no results. Thinking he might have left the country, he had checked all smuggling routes, but no one had seen a face resembling Yoo Seong-woo, or rather, Yoo-hyun.
‘It’s like he’s disappeared into the ground.’
Should it be this difficult to find someone? He may have learned how to evade tracking from mercenaries, but without exceptional willpower…
With this sudden thought, Yeon Tae-soo furrowed his brow.
Could it be that he left because he despised me that much?
Though Yeon Tae-soo knew he was being pathetic, he couldn’t completely give up. The reason was that Yoo Seong-woo hadn’t directly said goodbye to him.
So it wasn’t over. He dared not end it.
The phone rang again. Suppressing his mounting fatigue, Yeon Tae-soo pressed the call button. Naturally, this would again be a report of another failure.
But contrary to his expectation, the burly man who called was trembling as he said he had found a new clue.
“B-Boss, I think we found something.”
