Chapter 4 Part 5

Unbelieving, he closed his eyes and opened them again, but Shinru was still there, smiling.

Ah, after all, it wasn’t true that only misfortune ever came.

Even if hundreds of men like Rick from the Europe Branch came tonight, he felt he could endure it.

They arrived after dinner, precisely when the clock struck eight.

Jeong Tae-ui pondered when he had ever felt such a menacing atmosphere in his life. Never. Not even the day after he and Kim So-wi had fought to the death, and that fight had escalated into a near-platoon-wide brawl, when they had marched out in full combat gear side-by-side.

When they had finished a short orientation in the large lecture hall on B2 and descended to B6, the atmosphere in the hallway was truly chilling. A dozen or so men, especially those who held a grudge against the Europe Branch, were lined up in the hallway, glaring menacingly and silently at them, and those who had poured down the stairs also glared back with grim faces.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had no desire whatsoever to get involved in that standoff, had already predicted such a situation and planned to stay quietly holed up in his room when they arrived. Unfortunately, he happened to run into them just as he was coming out of the bathroom after his bath.

Seeing a group of unfamiliar men pouring out towards the stairs, Jeong Tae-ui thought, ‘Ah, they’ve finally arrived.’ He then quickly pushed through his colleagues, who were standing firm in front, and headed for a room. Habitually, he was about to go to his own room but turned around, changing direction towards Tou’s room, where he would be staying for a while.

Only Morrer, who shared a room with Tou, was inside. Although they were from different teams, they had seen and talked to each other a few times, so there was no awkwardness.

“They’re here, huh?” Morrer mumbled, engrossed in a puzzle magazine and chewing on a pencil. Jeong Tae-ui replied, “Uh, they’re here,” and went to sit on the bed, running his hands through his still damp hair.

At least this man, Morrer, didn’t seem to harbor much resentment towards the Europe Branch. Tou said it was because he had only been there for a few months and hadn’t had a chance to experience the Europe Branch’s unruly behavior. But Jeong Tae-ui, who had only been there for a few days, found it easier to empathize with Morrer, who only showed a normal level of competitive spirit, rather than Tou, who intensely hated the Europe Branch.

“Where’s Tou?”

“Restroom. He took a comic magazine, so he won’t be back anytime soon.”

Jeong Tae-ui nodded, listening to Morrer’s mumbled answer without taking his eyes off the puzzle.

The guy who had been fully bracing himself, saying, “They’re coming, they’re coming,” was in the restroom when they actually arrived. But even if he was in the restroom, he might immediately run out if he sensed their presence.

Even just being inside the room, he could entirely feel the ominous atmosphere outside. Even if no outright fight broke out, curses and shouts, as if to provoke jeers, could be heard intermittently.

“Oh, come on, if they keep doing that, it wouldn’t be strange at all if a brawl breaks out. What a killer atmosphere.”

“A brawl… I don’t like that.”

“Hmm. I’d like to decline too. …If Tou heard this, he’d jump around in anger, grab us, and give a long speech.”

Jeong Tae-ui glanced at Morrer, met his eyes, and grinned. Morrer also laughed.

“That guy Tou, he really is a good guy, but he’s a bit hot-headed.”

Instead of answering, Morrer shrugged his shoulders, showing agreement, and turned his head back to the puzzle.

Jeong Tae-ui began unpacking his belongings. Speaking of luggage, there wasn’t much. He had almost no luggage from the moment he first entered this branch, so there was no reason to need a lot of luggage when he was only moving rooms temporarily after only a few days. It would have been enough even if he just grabbed it with both hands without needing to put it in a bag.

“Can I use the empty toothbrush holder?”

“Yes, go ahead. Just make sure they don’t get mixed up. Before, the new toothbrush Tou bought was the same color as Tiknat’s toothbrush, so for a while, the two of them fought every day, saying ‘this is mine, that’s yours.'”

Listening to Morrer, who diligently gave steady answers even while engrossed in his puzzle, Jeong Tae-ui glanced to check the color of his own toothbrush and placed it in the bathroom. And when putting his underwear in the drawer, he likewise heard a similar past story and checked his own underwear one more time. He regretted that he had unnecessarily brought plain white underwear that was easily confused.

As he tried to close the drawer, something seemed to be caught inside, and it didn’t close properly. After opening and closing it several times, Jeong Tae-ui frowned and pulled the drawer all the way out.

“What’s caught here that won’t come out?… Oh, wait.”

Jeong Tae-ui took out a piece of metal whose tip was peeking out from between the underwear.

It’s a Beretta.

Feeling the cold, comfortable grip in his hand, Jeong Tae-ui glanced at Morrer. Morrer, who had his back turned diagonally this way, was still engrossed in his puzzle.

Personal weapon possession was prohibited within the Asia Branch. At most, what’s tolerated are knives or guns without lethal capability. Although there are cases of gun enthusiasts secretly carrying a gun, and when caught and it’s confiscated, futilely insisting it’s a toy gun, this feel in his hand was real.

Jeong Tae-ui held the Beretta and lightly tapped its grip a couple of times against his other palm. The magazine was also loaded. If only the safety was disengaged, it could be fired immediately.

Just then, Morrer twirled a ballpoint pen and turned his head without any particular intention. And then he saw it. The Beretta that Jeong Tae-ui was holding in his hand.

His expression changed instantly. He jumped up with a flustered face, rushed over in one breath, and tried to snatch the Beretta from Jeong Tae-ui. Jeong Tae-ui reflexively stepped back.

Slowly, Morrer’s face changed as if he’d bitten into a bug. Jeong Tae-ui mumbled to himself, “Aha!” and grinned.

“Is this yours? This is a weapon possession violation, you know.”

“Give it back, you bastard! I got that model with great difficulty!” Morrer shouted with a pouting face, stretching out his hand.

Now that he thought about it, he vaguely heard from Tou before that the guy sharing his room was a pistol enthusiast and hoarded model guns everywhere in the room.