Jeong Tae-ui looked at him suspiciously. Maybe all crazy guys are like this by nature.

Morro finally let go of Tae-ui’s hand. After nearly an hour, when his hand was freed, Tae-ui let out a long sigh of relief. His hand felt sticky. Just as Tae-ui bent down to briefly dip his hand into the grass waving beneath his feet, he couldn’t accomplish it. Morro, who had let go of his hand, grabbed Tae-ui’s shoulder instead.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The grip on his shoulder was sharp, and Morro’s eyes flashed intensely as he stared at Tae-ui. Tae-ui briefly thought about grabbing this guy and dunking him into the grass. If only his ankle was strong enough to support him, he would’ve done it already, he thought, glancing regretfully at his cast.

Annoyed, Tae-ui brushed Morro’s hand off his shoulder. But just as it seemed Morro would release his grip, the moment Tae-ui’s hand moved away, Morro grabbed his shoulder again.

This guy… since his ankle was already broken, maybe he should just get up despite the pain and throw this guy down. Throwing him into the pond would surely cool him off. It seemed like the humane thing to do for this jerk.

Tae-ui grabbed Morro’s collar, smiled faintly, and then, with Morro still half-crazed, spun him around and threw him.

Morro soared in a wide arc through the air and crashed into the pond with a tremendous splash. A plume of water shot up instantly.

But even rotten fish has its value.

Morro was a promising member of UNHRDO. He was a competent talent who had passed several strict tests to enter.

Just as Tae-ui threw Morro into the pond and thought his hands were free, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his collar pulling him upward.

Ah, damn…

He clicked his tongue but it was already too late.

Held tightly by Morro, Tae-ui dove headfirst into the pond right after him. Almost simultaneously, a second massive splash erupted.

"…"

Like a ghost, Tae-ui shot straight up through the water. Morro surfaced immediately after, slightly behind Tae-ui.

“I really hate you, Morro…”

“Yeah, me too…”

They both thought for the first time their feelings matched, and they quietly fell silent.

The pond wasn’t very deep. On the opposite side, the water was about two meters deep, but where the beach bench stood, it was only about chest-deep when Tae-ui stood. Tae-ui gazed down. Through the clear water, he could see his casted ankle.

“Damn it. You soaked my cast. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Why are you blaming me for this? You were the one who tried to throw me into the pond first!”

“Then why didn’t you let go when I told you to?”

Tae-ui and Morro argued loudly for a while. They even threw a few punches at each other, splashing water away with their fists. Hitting faces underwater was actually more painful. Tae-ui thought to himself this must be the principle of water boxing.

After exchanging several blows, they realized it wasn’t doing any good and Tae-ui, who had thrown the first punch, pulled back first. Counting on his fingers that they both landed three punches each, and confirming he got hit fewer times, Morro stopped too.

Morro clicked his tongue and left the pond. Although it was a hot afternoon and not cold, his whole body was drenched. Water was leaking from the cast. Tae-ui pondered whether to just leave it in the sun to dry or go to the hospital to have it removed and reapplied. Sitting on the beach bench, he stared at his blue, wet foot.

“By the way, what did you mean when you said to ask Ilay?”

Morro, coming out of the pond after Tae-ui, wrung his clothes out and asked sulkily. Tae-ui felt relieved inside that Morro had somewhat come back to his senses and answered him with the same sulkiness.

“Ilay is the son of this house. Didn’t you know?”

“I know that, but what good would it do to ask him?”

“Why? From what I heard before, if you like a prototype the company makes before public release, you can try it out in advance. So basically, you can get it early.”

At Tae-ui’s nonchalant remark, Morro glared sharply but then seemed to think seriously. Tae-ui narrowed his eyes and stared at him intently. It was a joke, but apparently, Morro didn’t take it as one.

After thinking for a while, Morro looked seriously at Tae-ui and asked again.

“But wouldn’t it be difficult to ask that crazy guy to hand over a gun?”

“Of course it would be… You really want that gun, huh?”

Tae-ui murmured pityingly. Usually, Morro was perfectly sane and avoided dangerous situations, but he must have liked that gun so much to even consider sticking his head into a tiger’s mouth. Tae-ui clicked his tongue and gave him some more realistic advice.

“You’d better try to persuade Kyle somehow. Even though it’s a prototype, you’re going to have it anyway, right? You’re not going to leak it outside.”

“Of course! Who would let that lovely and delicate thing fall into someone else’s hands? That’s absurd!”

Morro shouted angrily at Tae-ui’s words. Tae-ui thought that Morro was the one who needed to get punched harder by water boxing and glared at him.

“If you’re going to keep it personally anyway, then try persuading Kyle that way. Grab his pant leg and cling to him. That’s a hundred times more likely to work than talking to Ilay.”

“No… it’s the opposite.”

At Tae-ui’s grumble, Morro shook his head gloomily. When Tae-ui looked at him suspiciously, Morro tore his hair out with a desperate expression.

“I already tried that… seven years ago, before Sonya was released, I did everything I could because I fell in love with her at first sight. I lay down in front of the company for a week without moving—even when the guards dragged me away, I kept going back. I camped out in the living room, clinging to Kyle and crying whenever I saw him. I even threatened to kill myself and cut my wrists in the bathroom here… Still, he wouldn’t give her to me.”

Tae-ui didn’t know who Sonya was but assumed she was a gun from what Morro said. He was shocked by Morro’s next words. This guy was really insane. But Kyle was amazing for having endured Morro’s madness for so long without flinching. Tae-ui suddenly felt like smoking and rummaged through his chest pocket. A soaked pack of cigarettes rolled out.

 

The fact that it was summer didn’t help. Moreover, this year’s abnormal weather made it especially hot.

The sunlight beating down overhead was so intense Tae-ui felt dizzy. He tried to walk only in the shade but still sighed from the heat. His ankle throbbed painfully as usual. That morning Kyle had offered to prepare a car, but since the hospital wasn’t far, he declined. Now he slightly regretted that decision. …Although, if he tried to say so now, he doubted they would change their mind. Despite the heat, the hospital was just about a 20-minute walk.

After having his cast removed and reapplied at the hospital, Tae-ui limped home, sighing.

It was his own fault. He shouldn’t have tried to throw Morro into the pond… But if he’d had to listen to Morro’s rambling nonsense any longer, his head might have gone crazy.

He changed clothes after leaving the pond but had no choice but to keep the wet cast on. It was soaked, but he thought he could just let it dry well. Sometimes drying it in the sun, sometimes moving it to shade, he vaguely recalled in elementary school art class they had been told to dry plaster or clay projects in the shade, so he hurried to move his foot accordingly.

By evening, the cast was mostly dry. The inside was damp and sticky but not unusual. He thought it was fine to leave it like that rather than the hassle of removing and rewrapping it. That thought changed this morning—not because Tae-ui changed his mind, but because Rita forcibly changed it.

“Doesn’t it smell at home? And you’re still wearing it soaked like that? That’s unsanitary. Go to the hospital immediately and have it redone.”

Rita said sharply the moment she woke Tae-ui from a deep sleep on the bed. Tae-ui, dazed from the sudden waking, looked up at Rita. Only then did he realize his foot smelled somewhat. Not only was it wet, but considering it was summer and people tend to be oblivious to their own smell, if his nose caught it, it must have been quite pungent to others.

Scratching his head, changing clothes, and heading to breakfast, Tae-ui saw Kyle, Morro, and the new face he met yesterday sitting together. Come to think of it, although guests came and went, the number was pretty steady. Was this some sort of reservation-based lodging?

When Tae-ui sat down in his usual seat, Morro suddenly winked and grinned.

“Heard the smell came all the way to my room. They say your cast stinks. Heh, you should get it redone at the hospital. They say it’s brutally hot today; dragging that injured leg around must be tough.”

Kyle, who was talking with the new face, turned back and kindly offered:

“Sounds tough. I’ll tell Peter to give you a ride there.”

Tae-ui twisted his healthy foot back and lightly stepped on Morro’s foot sitting across from him, smiling and waving at Kyle.

“No, it’s close. I can walk there quickly enough, no problem. I’ll consider it exercise.”

“Okay, but let Peter know anyway. If you change your mind, just tell him anytime.”

“Thanks,” Tae-ui smiled, quietly pulling his foot away from the twitching Morro’s instep. Looking at the kind landlord who smiled generously, Tae-ui suddenly recalled what Morro said last night—

—He even threatened to kill himself and cut his wrists in this house’s bathroom… but he didn’t get her.

Thinking again, Morro really was a hopeless guy. But what was unexpected was Kyle.

Of course, Tae-ui had sensed that Kyle had a sharp, cold edge. To run a company of this size at such a young age—he was still in his forties—he couldn’t just be kind and gentle like he seemed. Moreover, falling for the childish threats Morro made would be absurd. Still, Kyle had never shown such a face to Tae-ui, so it felt surprising.

Well, setting everything else aside, if he’s been friends with Uncle for over 20 years, that says it all.

Tae-ui thought this, wondering if his uncle would get angry if he heard it, and tore off a piece of bread to eat.

 

“By the way, Morro.”

While Tae-ui was chewing plain bread, Morro, who was hugging a tub of butter and spreading it on his bread, looked up when Kyle called him. Morro, who had spent the whole previous night fretting about “how to get that girl into my hands, how to make our love come true,” looked exhausted. Yet when Kyle called, despite knowing the answer wouldn’t be positive, he turned back with hopeful eyes.

He may be a pervert, but seeing him look so puppy-like like that makes me feel a bit sorry for him...

Tae-ui thought while chewing his bread. Then he gave Morro a sideways glance. Normally, Morro didn’t like butter on his bread and didn’t need it, but Morro was already clutching the butter all to himself. Tae-ui wasn’t so much afraid Morro would steal it but was making a childish gesture of “You don’t eat this.”

Eat it all yourself. Gain some weight on that butt of yours.

Tae-ui snorted and tore off another piece of bread, eating it with gusto. But just as he was enjoying it, the bread suddenly got stuck in his throat.

“Someone who used to be in the UNHRDO Asia branch, do you happen to know a person named Jeong Tae-ui?”

He barely managed not to make a sound.

Suddenly, his throat felt completely blocked by the bread. Tae-ui forced himself to maintain a calm face and quickly grabbed a glass of water. He swallowed hastily, pushing the piece of bread down his throat.

Feeling the lump move down his esophagus, Tae-ui pretended to be interested in the unexpected topic and looked at Kyle with curiosity. Actually, he was very curious why his name suddenly came up from Kyle’s mouth. Morro, who was mid-butter smear, blinked blankly and slowly turned to look at Tae-ui.

This clueless guy, how can he be looking at my face right now!

Tae-ui wanted to shout inside his head and stared at Morro intently. “Huh? Why?” Morro tilted his head in a curious manner. Then Morro carelessly offered the butter dish.

“No… well, you kept looking at me as if you were starving to death just now. —Who did you say? Jeong Tae-ui? Oh, I know him. Not on the same team, just know his face and name.”

Morro calmly handed Tae-ui the butter dish — with less than half a teaspoon left — then turned his head back to Kyle.

Tae-ui pretended not to know and gingerly smeared the scant butter on his bread, trying to calm his queasy heart. Still, Morro didn’t seem intent on clumsily ruining Tae-ui’s hopes here, nodding appropriately as he answered Kyle’s question.

“About that young man, was there anything unusual or something like that?”

“Well… I only heard rumors, so I don’t know much. But since there were no particular incidents, I guess he was an ordinary guy. If I had to pick what made him different from other members, it’s that he was the nephew of Instructor Jeong Chang-in. Oh, and the younger brother of Researcher Jeong Jae. But that guy was very ordinary. So ordinary that it made me doubt if he really was the brother of that famous genius. He was stupid sometimes, had a nasty temper, and didn’t appreciate how precious guns are…”

Morro’s voice became increasingly emotional as he rattled on. Tae-ui chewed his bread feeling like he had bitten into a bug.

But why was Kyle suddenly asking about him? More precisely, he was probably trying to learn about the Jeong Tae-ui who was in UNHRDO, not the Kim Young-soo ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) sitting here.

If it’s about Jeong Tae-ui who was in UNHRDO, then Kyle probably knows the information Morro does—perhaps even better. Family relations, age, alma mater, and so forth. So Kyle probably wasn’t interested in that.

But Kyle didn’t seem serious and appeared to have just thought of the question on a whim. He nodded casually and after a moment, asked again.

“I heard that young man was Ilay’s assistant instructor. Did he have any trouble with your younger brother?”