#107
When they arrived at Baekgukdo, it was already well past lunchtime. Perhaps because it was an island, the air was humid and intense sunlight struck the ground directly. From what he’d heard, this place was originally just a small island, but as tourist products had been developed rapidly over the past few years, the number of tourists visiting here had increased considerably.
<Welcome to Baekgukdo, the island of calm seas!>
In front of the pier where they disembarked was a sign that looked like it had been made recently. Among the excited-looking tourists, Do-hyeok and Ha-seong also safely got off the boat.
“Should we go to the factory where he worked first?”
“Good.”
The two immediately headed to a nearby bus stop. Perhaps because it was an island village, the bus schedule was terrible, but as if their luck from the pier would continue, fortunately there was a bus arriving in 10 minutes.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Mm. Not really. We ate at the rest stop.”
Though he thought of food only as something to eat just enough not to die, having no appetite, Cha Do-hyeok was secretly attentive to Ha-seong’s meals.
Soon the bus arrived and the two got on together. The bus, with only one or two elderly people aboard, was small and quiet. They went to seats where they could sit side by side together. The bus immediately departed, and Ha-seong stared blankly out the window before slightly opening it.
A gentle breeze blew through the open window gap, brushing past Ha-seong’s hair. He had once thought about it. On the day he’d quit his job, he wanted to come down to a calm and quiet village like this and live peacefully. Well, he hadn’t known he’d end up coming here for a completely different purpose.
“Hyung sometimes.”
Just then, Do-hyeok, who had been staring intently only at Ha-seong’s profile, opened his mouth.
“Has extremely complicated expressions.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Right now too. And when you got in the car earlier.”
When he got in the car? What had he been doing then? He didn’t think he’d been thinking about anything in particular.
“When you said your situation was similar to the pig’s.”
Ah, he meant when he’d recalled his past through the pig. But he hadn’t known he’d made such a complicated expression.
“Sometimes you say incomprehensible things too.”
“Did I?”
Ha-seong responded strangely.
“When I think about it, it seems like I don’t know much about hyung.”
What Do-hyeok knew was Do Ha-seong’s name, age, occupation, grade, and his grand plan toward being a rich unemployed person. That was all. About his past or why he’d specifically chosen purifier work. Why Ha-seong’s existence hadn’t been revealed to the world despite being an S-rank superior to himself. He knew nothing about such things.
At first, since he’d only wanted Ha-seong’s abilities, he’d thought he didn’t need to know such things. After all, they’d made a contract because they each wanted something, and as long as it didn’t interfere with that work, it didn’t matter what his past was like.
But now he was curious. What kind of life Ha-seong had lived. He wanted to fill in the unknown blanks that he hadn’t filled until now.
“If you put it that way, there’s a lot I don’t know about you too. You didn’t tell me about your past either. Woo-bin-ssi told me.”
The story about being caught up in an artificial gate. That too wasn’t something he’d heard directly from Do-hyeok’s mouth, but only fragmentary pieces from Woo-bin. Ha-seong responded like that, deliberately trying to change the direction of the conversation.
“It’s not a story that would be good to hear.”
“My past is the same.”
It was just such a past—working like crazy, helplessly watching colleagues die, and then going out on raids again the next day, tedious and monotonous with some wounds mixed in. Days filled with colorless routine. Even if he told such things, there would be no emotion or interest.
“…Somehow, we’re quite similar.”
“We are.”
Ha-seong had thought so too. When looking at Do-hyeok, the only S-rank.
<This stop is Samcheon Intersection.>
After running for about 20 minutes, they arrived at their destination. When the two got off the bus and followed the path they’d found in advance, going inside, a large site appeared. There, two big buildings stood side by side.
When they entered the factory that appeared to be the main building, employees in work clothes were busily working. Just then, an employee who spotted the strangers approached the two.
“How may I help you?”
“We’d like to see the boss here. We have some questions.”
When Do-hyeok said this, the employee looked at the two with a somewhat uncertain expression, then told them to follow him inside.
“Please go in.”
When they entered the room the employee had guided them to, the factory boss greeted the two with an equally bewildered expression.
“How may I help you?”
“Sorry for visiting so suddenly. We have some questions about an employee who used to work here.”
When Ha-seong spoke, the factory boss’s complexion worsened. He seemed to have realized they’d come to ask about Baek Sa-jin, who had made the world noisy. He sighed deeply and pointed to the table.
“With all the noise on the news, I thought people would come looking someday.”
“We won’t take up much of your time. Do you know anyone Baek Sa-jin-ssi met frequently, or have you ever seen Baek Sa-jin-ssi meeting with outsiders?”
First, what they needed to find out was Baek Sa-jin’s accomplice. The person who had shot Ha-seong with a gun that day. Clues about that person.
“Hmm, well.”
The boss stroked his chin with an uncertain expression.
“He was a very quiet employee. I’ve heard other employees say that he only worked on weekdays and only exercised on weekends. I’ve never seen him actively meeting anyone or having acquaintances visit from outside.”
With that, the boss personally left the room, saying he’d ask other employees too. When he returned a few minutes later, unfortunately, he said that the other employees didn’t know anything either.
“Let’s go look around where he lived.”
“Yes.”
The two, who hadn’t gained much, quickly left the factory. Due to the island’s circumstances, boats going out didn’t run until late either, so they had to act quickly. Ha-seong and Do-hyeok took the bus again and ran for 10 minutes to enter a quiet neighborhood.
A housing complex with a run-down atmosphere. The house where Baek Sa-jin had lived was the blue-roofed house at the very back.
A rusty, old green door. The house with all its paint peeled off was shabby and poor. The two began inquiring at the houses around the area.
“You mean that bachelor next door? The one who was even on the news… My goodness. I never thought that bachelor was that kind of person…”
“Have you ever seen that person meeting with outsiders who aren’t from this neighborhood?”
“Well. I don’t think I’ve seen that. He lived so quietly like a dead mouse that honestly the residents probably weren’t very interested in that house either. I wouldn’t know. Recently it seemed like he wasn’t even coming home.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
They went around five houses in the vicinity, but the residents’ stories were all the same. He was a quiet person, so they hadn’t seen him meeting anyone in particular. Some residents flatly refused to say more, saying they got goosebumps knowing that bachelor had been a murderer and didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Perhaps because he had no presence, Baek Sa-jin seemed to have received little attention even when living here.
“Hyung, I think we should search that guy’s house too.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Just from walking around a bit, time had passed quickly. The sun would set soon, and then the last boat would be cut off. The two entered Baek Sa-jin’s house they’d seen earlier. Though the exterior was old, the interior was quite clean. No, rather than clean, it might be more accurate to say there weren’t many household items.
Baek Sa-jin’s house was quite desolate. Only things necessary for survival were equipped. As if he had no attachment to life.
The two split up and searched through the main room, living room, kitchen, and bathroom, looking for anything that might be a clue he’d left behind, but there was no particular harvest.
“It’s not easy. I thought we’d be able to find out something.”
Ha-seong, who had come out to the yard with no choice, sighed deeply. Since they’d come all this way, he’d wanted to take back at least one meaningful piece of information, but unexpectedly there was too little to show for it.
Just then, he felt an instantaneous gaze from somewhere. Ha-seong quickly turned his head and stared through the gap in the open gate. It seemed like he’d felt some presence.
“…”
And what came in through the open door was a black cat.
“Was it a cat?”
Ha-seong stared at the cat that came in meowing with an uncertain expression.
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
Just then, Do-hyeok, who had finished his search and come out, stood next to Ha-seong.
“Just lamenting. Did you find anything?”
Do-hyeok shook his head slightly.
“I think we should go back for now.”
The sun was already about to set. Ha-seong fell into thought. Perhaps because it was an island village, there were limits to transportation means, so finishing the search in one day was indeed not easy.
“Cha Do-hyeok, let’s have just you go back today. I think it would be better for me to stay and search more until tomorrow.”
Going back like this was indeed regrettable. This wasn’t a distance he could come to frequently like a neighborhood supermarket, and since he’d come, he had to take something back.
At Ha-seong’s suggestion, Do-hyeok fell into thought for a moment. Perhaps thinking it was indeed forced for a Guild Leader to be away for two days without clear reason, just as Do-hyeok was about to nod his head.
Plop-
Something fell on Ha-seong and Do-hyeok’s shoulders. After falling drop by drop like that, heavy rain began to pour down.
“…”
Ha-seong stared blankly at the rain pouring down fiercely as if through a hole. If it had just been rain, that would have been fortunate, but suddenly thunder and lightning began to roar loudly too.
“I don’t think I can go either.”
“…Seems like it.”
Unintentionally trapped on the island, the two stood in the yard in dismay.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
