Chapter 18 – Two Men

“What year is it currently?”

“Currently?”

When Hyun Jae-young answered, the man’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

He bowed his head and began to mutter something. When Hyun Jae-young listened closely, he was saying this:

“My departed youth… my past youth… Ah… Time is like flowing water, and I could not stop it, vainly letting my youth slip away… Who will comfort me? Hye-ya, Hye-ya…”

He was muttering such nonsense.

It could be.

It was fine.

The problem was that this man was currently riding in his car.

When this unidentified man appeared with the Drake, the wheels of the Raider Bureau vehicle that was slowly moving away in the distance stopped.

Anyone could see that this man killed the Drake.

Then where on earth did this man appear from?

“I returned after wandering the world beyond the gate,”

he answered.

Of course, no one believed it. The hypothesis that he was a high-grade Raider who was hiding in the corner of the apartment complex was the most plausible. So the Raider Bureau employee searched his fingerprints.

However, nothing showed up.

He was not a Raider registered in the Republic of Korea.

“Could he be a Japanese Raider?”

It was a decent hypothesis. He had definitely greeted them with “Yo, Hisashiburi!” when he appeared. A native groove was felt from his pronunciation.

If so, was he a Japanese who spoke Korean well, or a Zainichi Raider?

The man protested that he was merely imitating his favorite anime, but that claim was not accepted. So they decided to transfer him to the Raider Bureau to query his exact identity.

One Raider had to accompany this unidentified man.

The man chose Hyun Jae-young.

Hyun Jae-young asked back.

“Why?”

“You have soul.”

“What soul?”

Then the man clenched his fist and shouted solemnly.

“Even if we die, we endure until support arrives! If you want to die, die then!”

Hyun Jae-young hung his head in embarrassment. Although the Raider Bureau employees who remembered that scene all clapped for him, he couldn’t lift his face.

“Isn’t it human nature to want to be with someone who has soul rather than someone who drops their weapon in front of a magic beast?”

Kim Dae-yong and the other Raiders hung their heads without saying anything.

Hyun Jae-young wanted to reject the unidentified man, but even the Raider Bureau support team leader was sending him appealing looks.

“Understood.”

***

For that reason, Hyun Jae-young was speeding down the road in his Ferrari, following the Raider Bureau’s vehicle.

The man said, looking around the car repeatedly.

“Nice car. Is it yours?”

“It’s on installment. It’s an excessive item for a Blue Mark like me.”

“You don’t look like someone who would buy an item that doesn’t fit his circumstances though?”

“That is…”

Hyun Jae-young suddenly glanced at the photo hung on the rearview mirror.

It was a photo of him and his girlfriend.

“To my girlfriend…”

“To your girlfriend?”

“I wanted… to be… a proud… boyfriend…”

His voice grew smaller as he spoke. Hyun Jae-young just shut his mouth.

The man’s pupils were shaking again.

“Hyun Jae-young.”

“Yes?”

“I respect you.”

“…”

“You are quite the romantic.”

“Now I just won’t talk.”

Hyun Jae-young shut his mouth tight. He felt like he was being dragged into the man’s pace the more he spoke.

Even so, the man kept talking by himself without rest.

“I talk a lot, right? Sorry. I wandered alone for a long time in a place where I couldn’t speak, so I was hungry for people and talked to myself a lot. As a result, I naturally talked a lot, and meeting a person after a long time makes me happy, so I feel like saying anything.”

“Yes…”

“Hyun Jae-young, you have a very good impression. I don’t know how to read physiognomy, but looking at you, I can feel a good energy. You are a talent. You are the Raider the Republic of Korea needs. Someone like you should hit Gold Mark and even become Platinum. When I was here, articles popped up on the internet saying that fellows who were different on the inside and outside hit Platinum…”

“We have arrived.”

They reached the Raider Bureau.

The man apologized as he got out of the car.

“Sorry.”

“Yes?”

“The smell will linger in the car.”

It was true that a foul odor came from his body.

“I will repay you later, Hyun Jae-young. I do not forget favors.”

“Yes, yes. Understood.”

The man entered the interview room under the guidance of the Raider Bureau employee.

Hyun Jae-young entered the next room with the employees.

Once inside, the wall was glass, so the interview room was fully visible. It seemed the interview room couldn’t see this room. It was called an interview room, but it was in the form of an interrogation room.

The man sat in a chair, tapping the table as if playing drums.

“Hyun Jae-young.”

The Bureau employee who conducted the raid together approached.

“That man’s words might be true.”

“Yes?”

“That he returned after wandering beyond the gate.”

“What? Really?”

“Let’s listen first.”

The conversation began in the interview room. The one sitting opposite the man was a Raider belonging to the Bureau. To deal with Raiders, other Raiders were usually mobilized.

“Lee Se-min. Is that correct?”

“Correct. It’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Looking at your body, you seem to work out. How much do you lift for the Big Three without aura?”

“Even without aura, I can easily lift six hundred…”

He cleared his throat in the middle of speaking.

“That is not important, we searched your fingerprints, and Lee Se-min is processed as deceased.”

“It would be. In my prime, I also lifted five hundred for the Big Three…”

“Yes, yes. It is recorded that Lee Se-min died in action during military service, specifically due to an accident during an operation. What happened?”

“It seems like a military secret, is it okay to speak? Over in the DMZ, the military unit…”

Suddenly the sound cut off.

Hyun Jae-young looked at the employee. He shrugged.

“You probably know roughly, but it is a secret for now.”

“Yes.”

Hyun Jae-young had also heard rumors. Those with outstanding talent among aura users were drafted into a special unit. Anyone who knew about it knew.

The sound was not opened further after that. However, he could see the expression of the employee sitting opposite gradually changing every time the man named Lee Se-min spoke.

Soon, the interview ended.

Everyone came out.

“Sir, it is true, right?”

“Yes. However, you must wait until we report to the higher-ups and it is processed.”

“Yahoo.”

Lee Se-min shook hands with the interviewer.

“Until then, stay with Raider Hyun Jae-young here.”

“Understood.”

Hyun Jae-young, who was blankly standing, asked back.

“Yes?”

However, the two men reacted as if asking Hyun Jae-young why he was being like that.

“Didn’t you agree to stay with Lee Se-min here for the time being?”

“Correct.”

“With whose permission…”

“Please take care of me.”

The man named Lee Se-min looked at him with sad eyes.

Because of his disheveled hair, his face was not clearly visible, but his eyes were filled with moisture.

“Surely you aren’t going to cast aside someone like me who has no home or family, right?”

“Still, so suddenly…”

“I almost died during national defense duty but eventually returned alive as an immortal, a desperado, a guardian spirit of the Republic of Korea. Who treats such a person so poorly? *Sob sob*.”

“Wait, listen to me.”

“I remember what Hyun Jae-young shouted earlier. You shouted to that weakling like this: ‘If we don’t endure! Civilians will all di—’”

“Yes! I will take charge!”

“Really?”

His complexion recovered instantly.

Hyun Jae-young gave up on everything.

“You went through a lot of trouble today, Hyun Jae-young. Please endure a bit more.”

The Raider Bureau employee tapped Hyun Jae-young’s shoulder.

***

“Jae-young!”

“Yeah.”

“Clothes!”

“Understood. Just a moment…”

Se-min was older than him.

He was one year older.

The two decided to speak casually on the way, and settled on Hyun Jae-young calling him brother.

Se-min went into the bathroom as soon as he arrived. According to him, he hadn’t washed properly since crossing over the gate.

Something black flickered beyond the translucent glass, but Hyun Jae-young decided to just ignore it.

“Brother, this is my underwear, use it for now.”

“Don’t you have a new one?”

“No.”

“Leopard print? Bold. Is that your taste?”

“I, I just received it as a gift.”

“Seeing you give it to me so readily, your ex-girlfriend gave it to you, right?”

“Shut up.”

Se-min walked out of the bathroom.

Hyun Jae-young’s eyes widened.

Until now, Se-min’s appearance was closer to an unidentified freak than a human. Black soot was smeared so his bare skin wasn’t visible, his hair was disheveled, and his clothes were all torn rags.

However, his appearance walking out clean, with his hair swept back, wearing only leopard-print underwear, was cleaner and more handsome than expected.

His body was like a sculpture, and his face was neat.

The freak became a human.

And he became a handsome brother.

Hyun Jae-young cleared his throat due to the disparity.

Then Se-min’s face turned pale, and he covered his body with a towel again. And he began a strange monologue.

“H-Has Hamasaki Aoi’s photo book been officially released? I really wanted to buy it!”

Hyun Jae-young didn’t know what he meant, but it was clear there was a misunderstanding. Hyun Jae-young shook his head.

“No!”

“Is, is that so…?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere became awkward.

Hyun Jae-young gave him clothes. Their sizes were similar, so they fit Se-min.

“Brother.”

“Why, why?”

“You said you were beyond the gate for a long time.”

“Don’t even talk about it. It is hell there.”

“Don’t you have family?”

Se-min smiled bitterly.

“I do.”

“Contact?”

“I must. I will do it later.”

“Then let’s go out first.”

“To do what?”

Hyun Jae-young shrugged.

“Let’s go to the hair salon. You must look like a human.”

“I don’t have money though?”

“I will pay.”

“Though I acted brazen, I am a man who knows righteousness and morals. I feel sorry to keep relying on you.”

“You caught the Drake, brother. That is recorded as my income.”

That was true.

He had hunted the Drake, a high-grade magic beast that Blue Marks couldn’t even dream of. And that income was settled to the raid participants, not Se-min.

A Drake was a precious magic beast with nothing to discard.

It must have been dismantled by auction and sold to various parts of the country already.

Se-min’s attitude changed abruptly.

“Buy me clothes and shoes too. Today’s dinner is Hanwoo beef, ya punk.”

“It’s not much when divided!”

“Shut it. You cowardly hyena.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose either.”

“Let’s go!”

Se-min picked up the car key, threw it to Hyun Jae-young, and said.

“Just kidding. Since I will rely on you for a while, I will teach you martial arts instead.”

“Huh?”

Hyun Jae-young’s eyes widened.

Thinking about it, it was true. Although this man talked a lot, lacked weight, and said hard-to-believe words about returning from beyond the gate, it was a fact that he subdued the Drake.

Only a tiny minority became Raiders, and of those, only a tiny minority reached high grades.

Receiving their guidance was a tremendous benefit.

That was also why Raiders struggled to belong to large corporations.

Most high-grade Raiders belonged to giant companies. Martial arts and techniques were also shared among them. It was the reason why the pyramid of Raider society was gradually becoming solid.

It was an unexpected relationship.

Hyun Jae-young bowed.

“Master!”

“That is my character, so calm down.”

***

“Oh my, customer. Your hair texture is very fine.”

“Your hand is finer, teacher.”

“Oh, hohoho.”

Se-min stared at his hair being cut in the mirror.

The long hair that fell roughly was cut off in a single snip. The hairdresser—no, the head hairstylist in their words—continued her sales pitch.

“Why did you grow your hair like this? I thought you were a rocker. You look much better now. Where should the parting go, this way?”

“Whichever way your hand goes, teacher.”

“Hohoho, looking at the crown, it should go like this.”

She glanced through the mirror at Hyun Jae-young sitting in the waiting area.

“Are you close with Jae-young? A raid comrade?”

“Something like that.”

“I see. It must be hard. Aren’t you scared fighting monsters?”

“I am human, so I am scared. But a Raider must become friends with fear.”

“You say very cool things. Is this length fine?”

The hairdresser shook his hair once, pressed the side hair down with her palm, and looked at the mirror.

Se-min nodded.

“Good.”

“If you are going to come here often in the future, you get a discount if you sign up for a membership. Memberships are half price for a year. Or there’s a frequency pass, ten cuts at a discount price, or three perms or dyes and five cuts…”

Se-min smiled broadly.

“The most expensive one, please.”

He soon washed his hair, styled it, and stood at the counter. The head hairstylist gave him her business card.

“You can look for me when you come in the future.”

“Yes. Understood. Jae-young?”

Se-min called Hyun Jae-young, who was looking at his phone in the back. He lifted his head. Se-min gestured to the counter.

“You must pay.”

“Ah, yeah.”

When Hyun Jae-young stood up, Se-min greeted the hairdresser and quickly left the hair salon.

“What? How much?”

Se-min had left the shop before he called and waved his hand through the glass window. Hyun Jae-young swiped his card with a deathly face.

Hyun Jae-young grumbled as he came out of the shop.

“Brother, why did you even sign up for a membership?”

“Drake.”

“Ugh…”

The Drake settlement money was substantial. Since it was true, Hyun Jae-young nodded.

“Fine. Do everything you want.”

Hyun Jae-young took Se-min to a clothing store. He told Se-min to choose the clothes he liked.

However, his taste was the worst.

Hyun Jae-young jumped up from his seat in shock.

“You want to buy this…?”

“Cool, right?”

Wearing military pants mixed with black and national defense color, a checkered shirt where red and orange crossed, and matching it with a Sukajan jacket where a dragon was gorgeously embroidered, Se-min stood confidently.

Hyun Jae-young looked at the clerk standing behind him. He avoided his gaze as if he were apologetic instead.

“Choose only one.”

“Huh?”

“Choose exactly one thing you cannot give up from there.”

“Why?”

“If you want to look like a human.”

Se-min contemplated at Hyun Jae-young’s cold expression, which he saw for the first time.

Until he enlisted, he only wore tracksuits. Therefore, it was like the first moment he expressed his fashion.

It was said that veterans disliked camouflage patterns, but perhaps because he wore them for a long time beyond the gate, they felt familiar and good the more he looked at them.

What about the checkered shirt? Hot red and orange were mixed, and he felt a geometric beauty.

The highlight was the dragon-embroidered Sukajan.

The Sukajan, which detailed the shape of a dragon with embroidery, recalled the nostalgia of the Japanese biker gang manga he devoured in his childhood. The protagonist always wore a Sukajan and was known as the most violent man on the street.

“I cannot give up anything…”

“…”

Fearing Hyun Jae-young might grab his collar, Se-min chose the Sukajan.

Hyun Jae-young chose the remaining items.

They were just jeans and a T-shirt. He wondered if it was too plain, but since even the clerk shook his hand and stopped him, Se-min decided to just follow his decision.

Se-min took a pose with swag while looking at the mirror.

“Oh, is he someone who knows how to play?”

He just looked like a swaggering punk, but Hyun Jae-young decided not to say anything.

“Let’s go eat now.”

“Wait. One more place.”

Se-min pointed at the sword leaning against the wall.

“Let’s fix that.”

The worn-out claymore.

Hyun Jae-young did not carry a weapon, but Se-min carried a weapon until the end. When Hyun Jae-young asked if there was any need to do so, Se-min gave a textbook answer.

A Raider must always be prepared.

Carrying equipment was a virtue of a Raider, but it was also something that was not particularly kept.

“Alright.”

Hyun Jae-young, who knew what equipment meant to a Raider, nodded.

Although there was a maintenance shop that repaired Raider equipment, Se-min specifically wanted to visit the official repair center of Geoseong Metal Industry.

It was located not far away.

Hyun Jae-young’s Ferrari stopped in the parking lot.

When Se-min entered, the employees greeted loudly.

“The pride of domestic production! Geoseong Metal Industry Repair Center!”

Se-min suddenly recalled the face of Sergeant Jeon Woo-yeon, who had helped him a lot. If not for the sparring with him, Se-min would have died in the north long ago.

“Hello. I came for equipment repair.”

“Which equipment are you referring to?”

Se-min handed over the claymore.

The employee’s face was dyed in shock.

It was a mess.

Here and there the teeth were missing, and the blade was completely blunt, as if it had been swung every day without maintenance for several years.

“Moreover, it is KCL2. A model that has already been discontinued.”

Even if he didn’t perform maintenance, if he used the sword until it became like this, he was a veteran.

The employee scanned Se-min.

The sword looked like an old soldier who had fought a hundred battles, but the user looked like a punk.

“The repair cost will be substantial. It would be better to buy a new one. The successor of this model is also a good item.”

“Still, I want to repair it.”

“If you insist…”

“This fellow is not just a sword, but my comrade. I couldn’t maintain it due to circumstances, but I will keep using it.”

The employee looked at Se-min anew.

He thought some punk had rolled in, but it turned out he was the real deal.

Raiders did not have a great attachment to weapons. When a new product came out, they changed to a good one, and when a better one came out, they changed the weapon again.

Although it was an soulless piece of iron, and although that was the strategy of Raider equipment companies, it was different from the perspective of the artisans who handled the iron directly.

They liked Raiders who had affection for weapons. How long had it been since they saw a Raider who called his weapon a comrade?

Suddenly, his eyes went to the man’s clothing.

It was a Sukajan that was popular in the old days.

This man.

Was old school.

“Is that so.”

The employee’s eyes changed. He was also an old school who didn’t envy anyone. He made up his mind to revive the flame of life in this discontinued, worn-out claymore again.

“You can come in a week. The repair fee is upfront.”

“Of course.”

Se-min winked. Hyun Jae-young’s heart sank upon hearing the repair cost, but he closed his eyes and paid.

“It feels awkward without a weapon.”

Se-min said as they left the repair center.

“It would be. Since you were there for three years.”

“Yeah.”

Se-min spent three years beyond the gate. He kept a sword every day. He had never dropped his sword even while sleeping.

His hands were empty.

He lifted his eyes. It was not the otherworldly jungle where he spent the nights, but a forest of buildings built of concrete.

Suddenly, it felt as if magic beasts would raise their heads and roar beyond the corner of the building, below the invisible wall.

He always had to watch his head.

This peace was rather foreign.

Se-min grinned.

“Let’s go eat.”

***

Se-min urged Hyun Jae-young and went to a Korean restaurant. He devoured various kinds of food he hadn’t tasted in a long time like crazy. He looked like someone who had starved for several years.

“You said we should eat Hanwoo beef?”

“Beef is fine.”

Se-min swallowed a large spoonful of kimchi stew along with white rice and continued.

“I ate a lot of it there too.”

“Are there cows there too?”

“There are no cows, but there is something similar. You won’t want to know.”

“What is it?”

Hyun Jae-young tilted his head. Se-min chuckled and ordered an additional bowl of rice.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a woman entered. She looked around, found Hyun Jae-young, and walked over.

“Oppa.”

She was Hyun Jae-young’s girlfriend.

Se-min glanced at her and buried his head in his rice bowl. He was busy feeling the taste of Korean paste which he hadn’t tasted in a long time.

Putting food in his mouth and lifting his head again, she was sitting beside Hyun Jae-young.

Se-min bowed casually.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“I will rely on Jae-young for the time being.”

“Yes. I heard.”

“I feel like I am in the way.”

“No. I just dropped by because it is nearby.”

She was a beauty.

Se-min drank sikhye as a finish and rubbed his stomach.

“Since I finished eating, spend time together. I will take a taxi.”

“No. Since it is a relationship, let’s have a beer together.”

“Right, brother. You came to the civilized world after several years.”

Though it was a bit uncomfortable, Se-min nodded.

His stomach was full so it didn’t seem beer would go in, but he wanted to feel alcohol after a long time.

They changed locations. It was a pub located nearby.

Under the dim lighting, young people laughed and chatted.

Se-min sat in a seat guided by the server. Opposite him, Hyun Jae-young and his girlfriend, Kim Ye-na, sat.

On the menu, various kinds of alcohol and light snacks he couldn’t know were displayed.

Se-min, who was from a shut-in background and was not used to such culture even before going to the military, pointed at anything.

They said it was beer from far away Europe whose origin he didn’t know. Each chose their own and ordered dry snacks.

Hyun Jae-young took great care of his lover.

“Isn’t your T-shirt too short?”

“Why?”

“Your underwear shows in the back.”

“So what?”

“Cover it with this.”

“You are sensitive.”

He took off his coat and wrapped it around her waist. It was a time when it was still cold, but he endured in short sleeves.

It was a good time.