EP 18 – Welcome to Korea (3)
As I packed up all kinds of gifts and entered the hospital entrance, someone called me.
“Oh! Mr. Han!”
Even looking back, the owner of the youthful voice is nowhere to be seen. As I was about to enter the building with a mysterious expression on my face, someone tapped the top of my head.
When I looked up at the sky, I saw a little girl floating around.
“Long time no see!”
“Hey, Jiyoon. how have you been doing?”
“Aww. drink your words I’m busy with life, so I just…”
* * *
Hororok!
Gam Gam-yoon sucked up the yogurt she bought for 6,500 won from a passing by Yakult lady.
He was dressed in a simple hoodie and jeans, and his shoes and clothes were full of dirt.
I told the guy.
“Come on, Jiyoon. Hurray- do it.”
“Aren’t you just asking me to raise my hand?”
“Saki. It’s rough.”
Gam Ga-yoon raised her hand while pouting her mouth, and I asked, wiping off the dust on Ga Ga-yoon in the corner of the park.
“Our Jiyoon. What have you been up to today? Did you even roll around a ball of dust?”
“Yes. I just hit the Geumgang toolkit!”
“……Who are you hitting?”
“Ah no, monsters are coming along the Geumgang River in North Jeolla Province. He said he came to touch the water upstream of the river.”
It seems that you have been carrying out a large-scale civil engineering work and have been covered with dirt like this.
“I also touched the seawall on the Saemangeum side of the island… Let’s go in and catch some flying monsters…”
“Hey, are you really busy? Did the military men say thank you?”
“Gorum! Gorum! I even got pork and ate it!”
Ga Ji-yoon was excitedly running around the room, smiling bashfully and holding my hand. I went to the hospital with him and talked about a riot.
Ga Ji-yoon unraveled the tide of the construction site.
“You put an apartment in the river bed, and there’s a fish the size of an after-hour under it?”
“fish?”
“Monster.”
“Aha.”
“I put it on a deserted island and chopped it up, so the magic stone came out and I ate it!”
Ga Ji-yoon looked noticeably brighter.
Actually, it was because I saw people brutally dying when the first gate was opened.
“Anyway, the sea man magic stone is so good for the body…”
“Better than Bacchus?”
“It’s better than wild ginseng…”
It seems to be a lot better these days. On the contrary, Pi Chae-won still has a little bit of after-effects…
Anyway.
I stroked her hair and patted her on the back in front of the women’s restroom.
“You’re here to see Mom, aren’t you? Please wash your hands.”
“Sorry.”
“Pregnant women who have just given birth and newborn babies are very vulnerable to germs. So, Jiyoon should wash her hands before going.”
“It’s been two months.”
“When you come to wash your hands, my uncle will buy you a snack.”
“I’ll come with soap!”
That’s what I’m doing, boy.
Before he could say that, Gam Ji-yoon flew back and forth and went into the bathroom.
The boy’s hand was wet with moisture when he came back.
“Are you okay?”
Gam Ji-yoon wiped away the water on my trousers, and held out a soft hand to hold my hand.
I smiled and took his hand.
“okay. Now let’s go see Dr. Cheon Hwaran.”
“My mother is not a doctor.”
“You are smart.”
“I forgot where I put my cell phone every day these days.”
“Everything happens when you get older.”
Gam Ji-yoon and I took the elevator to the 7th floor of the hospital, and a small boy was sitting gloomy on a chair in the hallway of the hospital room.
“…Oh, hello… Uncle…”
“Yes. Shiho, long time no see?”
It was Kang Si-ho, Kang Seok-ho’s younger brother, the now missing aide’s friend.
I looked at Kang Si-ho’s gloomy and haggard appearance and thought about his wretched life.
After Kang Seok-ho, who lost all of his siblings except for Si-ho, fell into alcoholism and assaulted Si-ho, Yang Il-ho and Lee Ho-jeong took over the child and raised him.
But in fact, I had to work overtime for them every day, so Gamja-nim raised them instead, and to make matters worse, even Kang Seok-ho disappeared during the Uijeongbu incident.
So this child is kind of
war orphan
The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became, so I decided to stop thinking about it.
“…….haha.”
As I got older, the imitation of laughter that didn’t even exist inside me increased, so I smiled softly and patted Kang Si-ho’s head.
“Shiho, long time no see? Would you like to go have a snack with your uncle later?”
“……it’s okay.”
“It’s because my uncle wants to eat.”
“……no.”
“okay? Shiho, I’m not hungry-“
“Because it’s okay!”
As he roughly slapped my hand on my head, Gam Ji-yoon, who was holding my hand, shouted.
“If you buy it, eat it, you bastard!”
“…!”
“I don’t know where rice is precious, and the grown-ups don’t give me a haircut, Inomu bastard- oops…! Ugh…!”
As soon as Ga Ji-yoon’s mouth was shut, Kang Si-ho contorted his face and ran away somewhere.
When his back figure disappeared somewhere in the hospital hallway, I finally opened Gam Ga-yoon’s mouth.
“ah! I need to change that little habit! I get nervous about my mom and dad every day!”
“Ji Yoon-ah.”
“Oh my gosh-”
“When a family member dies, everything is like that.”
“……”
Gam Ji-yoon kept her mouth shut. I patted him on the top of his head.
“My uncle lost his parents early, so I know that.”
“You didn’t die.”
“……What?”
Ga Ji-yoon had a complicated expression on her face.
“…every day, he complained that he didn’t die.”
Gam Ga-yoon walked in the direction where Kang Si-ho disappeared.
*
When I entered the luxurious hospital room supported by a large corporation that wanted to look good to me, I saw a cold-jaw in the living room watching the second child’s steps.
The newborn baby, wrapped in a swaddling bag and carrying it, is starting to walk. Years are so free
And the cold is now the Inspector General.
“Aww. Your baby has grown so much!”
“Oh! Minister! What’s going on here…?”
“I came here to see if our Dr. Cheon was okay. Are you sleeping now?”
“I’m feeding my baby for a while.”
I put the gift bag on the table and spoke to the second, who was just about to start.
“How’s our season?”
“Abubu……”
“Uh huh, uncle was doing well too.”
“Uh… Minister?”
“yes?”
The cold smiled awkwardly.
“I am Gam-cheol, and he is Gam-seok.”
“……ah.”
An extremely awkward silence lingered between the cold and me while the toddler fell and rolled around.
The one who broke the silence was Hwaran Cheon, who came into the living room holding the newborn baby.
“Oh, Minister, are you here?”
“Ahh! Dr. Chen! Are you all right?”
“Boo-wook- rested and now comfortable-”
Cheon Hwaran shook her head and sat down on the sofa.
“Even if Han Sako is okay, the minister who lives anywhere airlifted the medical staff from Samsung Hospital. For two months, I did all the good things. Now, my body is aching.”
“It seems that the minister knows how to look for talented people.”
“Oh my…!”
Hwaran Cheon carefully held out the third baby of Mr. Gam to me. I accepted the gentleman.
Of course, as soon as I accepted it, the baby started crying, so I quickly returned it to my mother.
“Did you name him?”
“Well… not yet…”
“How about a flagstone that tells you to be a big success later?”
Hwaran Cheon looked at me with a rotten expression, and the cold person who was sitting on the sofa sullenly added.
“This time, I will name the minister in two letters so as not to confuse the minister.”
“Yeah, really…”
*
The youngest second and third, wrapped in swaddling clothes, were left with the caregiver for a while, and the adults sat around the table and chatted.
As the conversation matured, I took a sip of the cocoa I had been served and opened my mouth.
“By the way, did you hear about the establishment of the Superhuman League?”
“Ah yes.”
“Actually, Korea has benefited a little in the process.”
“Isn’t that a little bit?”
“Haha, yes. I got rice from China and some potion technology from the EU.”
China usually has some people who die of starvation, but China is the country where food is scarcely left without exports.
And, no matter how Korea makes stimulants or anything else, Europe is the center of the traditional world and is the birthplace of science and technology where many countries have gathered.
On the other hand, in Korea, a severe food shortage is predicted right now, and there is a strong tendency to rely on geniuses such as Dr. Cheon and Dr. Do for research.
“That part has gotten better now.”
A cold pierced a sharp corner.
“…was America just looking at it?”
“I do not know. It’s quiet and a little unsettling, but I don’t think it’s dangerous.”
An anti-American alliance called the Paranormal Alliance was formed.
But interestingly, we can get support from China and Europe as well as the US.
This is because, unlike China and the EU, which have been at odds with the United States, Korea still maintains close cooperation with the United States.
“Are there any US forces in Korea?”
“ah.”
“It is inconceivable that we are at all hostile to the United States. With the 7th Fleet in front of you…”
“Are you going to have to look into that?”
“It has to be our eyes. When the US Forces Korea or the 7th Fleet crosses the Pacific Ocean again, it means that the sea monsters tell them to catch me.”
“…is isolated?”
“After all, the 7th Fleet is stationed in Japan. USFK is in Korea. The problem is that Japan is also on the verge of a civil war with the Yakuza, so Korea is the only country that can be trusted.”
Korea was America’s last bridgehead in East Asia.
To be precise, Korea was the only place among the relative pro-American beauty in East Asia.
In fact, there are few places in the world where the national system is running smoothly. China, Russia, and the United States were also hacked.
“Anyway, we played in the middle.”
The situation in which China and the U.S. and the United States are both trying to attract Korea as an ally has been completed.
is the flow of time.
“Because we are not only the safest country in the world, but also the only country capable of producing superhumans. Actually, the second one is the biggest.”
relative stability. and superhuman production.
That’s what made us greedy for superpowers.
And, the most necessary thing to maintain this composition is-
“It is you.”
“…we?”
“yes.”
First of all, Dr. Hwaran Cheon.
“You will be working as a senior researcher in the stimulant and pharmaceutical divisions at the Jeju Research Center. In particular, you will lead the stimulant research team.”
“Ah yes. thank you.”
“Importantly, the moment the stimulant technology leaks, the Republic of Korea loses its greatest weapon. Of course, all kinds of industrial espionage will be entangled in the future. Of course, in any case, I will guarantee the best treatment…”
“All right.”
“good.”
and the Inspector General.
“Our Hunter Association is in charge of the number of stimulant screening personnel. Of course, there are committees under the Superhuman League, but in reality, our Hunter Association is in charge.”
“…Is that going to happen as well?”
“We are the ones holding the stuff. Well, most of the time I’m going to do some sorting based on the list you sent me, but the important thing is to not let the Hunter Association do anything wrong. Taking bribes, making flattering greetings, or doing things that go against the national consensus…”
“……The national theory?”
“Anyway, the person who has to crack down on it is the cold person. You must prevent foreign influences or the temptation of money and power from permeating the Portrait Management Department and the Hunter Association.”
That’s why I put the Gamsi couple into key positions. There are many experts, but few trustworthy people.
I was a little worried about the excessive sense of justice, but what would a yangban with his wife and children do?
And the scariest thing is Jung. Between them and me, there was a spirit of ‘We are Nami’. I’m not going to put a knife in the back of my head recklessly.
“……Anyway, I wish you all the best in the future.”
I gave them Jeju Island house documents.
Of course, it was provided by the yangban-seok.
The older I got, the more I seemed to be doing politics in that yangban style.
*
After the basic negotiations for the Superhuman League, only coordination among the working-level staff remained.
In addition, human resource management to maintain the current system has been completed.
So on the way home, I got a sudden request for dinner.
And I had a meal with Noah Lumière at a fancy French restaurant in Haeundae overlooking Dongbaek Island off the coast of Busan.
I sat by the window and looked at the world, and the dazzling light of the city flashed across the dark sea.
Our civilization was still shining brightly and illuminating the dark night.
As a civil servant, I smiled with such pride.
A French chanson was heard from the store speaker in harmony with the sound of the cello, and wine and steak stimulated a uniquely luxurious flavor.
There, the magical energy of Noah Lumière’s hair lit up the table like a candle, so it couldn’t be more romantic.
I smiled lightly and said to her.
“Nice to see you again. I thought you came home early.”
“I can’t forget the taste of this restaurant’s wine.”
It was translated through an ear communicator, but in her French, there was a subtle loneliness.
I listened to her and took a sip of wine. I don’t know what’s delicious, but I hit it right the first time.
“I don’t know much about wine, but first I know that it is really delicious.”
“It’s a place where people from my hometown do it. I had been there on my last visit to Korea, but it seems to remain in my memory and I will come back.”
“Ah, is this where the French do it?”
“Côte d’Or. It is the heart of Burgundy wine.”
“Ahh. Is this a traditional wine?”
“Now it has been turned into a monster land, and it is also a place that cannot be visited again.”
I don’t know if it’s a mistake or what, but the bitter taste of the wine suddenly intensified. The taste of alcohol was gone, so I put down the glass and cut the meat without saying a word.
“…I’m sorry.”
“no. You said something inappropriate to the situation where you came to ask for it.”
“Please?”
Noah Lumière was smiling sadly.
“The EU is trying to put bomb collars on hunters.”
“Hey, the last thing I talked about was speculative. Perhaps the public-private conflict is more severe than I thought-”
“It’s not a parable.”