Chapter 83

“Because Team Leader Cha has been going off the rails too much lately. Like someone desperate to die.”

So, this was a sentence I did not understand at all.

Cha Si-eon was among the most coldly rational people I knew.

He had been a little ignorant on the 「Island」, but that had been, well, because he was sleep-deprived.

……Or was it not?

Thinking about it again, even after sleeping for a while, Cha Si-eon had been strangely reckless.

Jumping straight into the passage the crow had opened.

Trying to secure a fragment of 「Big Cat」 alone.

Those were certainly actions far from cold rationality.

“That is why Manager Kwon was already sharpening his blade. But with what Team Leader Cha said to the Deputy Manager yesterday, and the contents of the report we received this morning being such a spectacle, he finally lost it.”

Ah, so that was what Kwon Mu-seop had shouted earlier.

“You out-of-your-mind bastard. Where do you get off using someone else’s name?”

This was him scolding Cha Si-eon for what he had said to Yoon U-jeong near the very end on the 「Island」.

Cha Si-eon had said, “Manager Kwon Mu-seop would permit it,” and had been yelled at by Deputy Manager Yoon U-jeong too.

And the report.

The exploration report Cha Si-eon had uploaded at dawn today had not yet finished approval.

But since I too had been one of the exploration participants, I could read it.

So I had just read through it earlier, and, hm.

It was written very honestly according to the five Ws and one H.

Fortunately, Cha Si-eon’s attack on me and my feeding Cha Si-eon medicine had been tactfully omitted.

But his flexibility ended exactly there, and our tight sequence of actions was described in full in the report.

So to the eyes of a manager like Kwon Mu-seop, it must have been obvious.

That Cha Si-eon had acted while putting his own life on the back burner.

Yes, if a subordinate acted like a moth flying into flame, it was something a superior should get serious and scold him for.

“But the timing is a little…… What if Team Leader Cha really moves to Apophis like this?”

Most office workers live with a resignation letter in their hearts.

Then one day, they grit their teeth and draw it like a hidden dagger.

Public servants were probably not that different.

But on the very day one gets hit by a superior, a scouting offer for double the salary comes in as if it had been waiting?

That was basically heaven opening a road.

I said this because I thought Team Leader Cha really might change jobs.

But Kim U-in returned an unexpected answer.

“That is why he is doing this. To send him away.”

“Pardon?”

“How do you think that gangster Mun Ho-san got all the way into the hospital room? He got in because Manager Kwon permitted it.”

Ah, right.

This was not a civilian hospital.

There was no way an outsider could come for a hospital visit however he liked.

Then Kwon Mu-seop had beaten Cha Si-eon, then deliberately let Mun Ho-san in?

Oh…….

So that was why Cha Si-eon had been more serious.

I had wondered why he had been in a worse mood after Mun Ho-san’s visit than immediately after being hit by Kwon Mu-seop.

This was practically pressure to resign. No, almost pressure to clear out his desk and leave.

“If he was going to scold him, that should have been enough. Why go that far…….”

“Do-un, the person who will have the hardest time if Team Leader Cha leaves the Bureau is Manager Kwon.”

When I muttered as if I did not understand, Kim U-in spoke bitterly.

“You saw it, did you not? What the Field Division atmosphere was like when Team Leader Cha went missing. Who would be happy about tearing out the main pillar of their own house?”

This was also true.

Just a few days ago, the Field Division atmosphere had been like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

And more than half of that boiling tension had been because of Cha Si-eon’s absence.

If they had been despairing over losing colleagues and failing the mission, the Field Division atmosphere would have sunk darkly.

But what the Field Division agents had revealed was blatant aggression.

That sharpened attitude then had been something like a reaction to crisis.

So Kim U-in’s description of Cha Si-eon as the Field Division’s main pillar was not simply an exaggeration.

Then why was Kwon Mu-seop trying to push Cha Si-eon out?

“Is it because the rescue operation was delayed?”

If the target of the rescue was Cha Si-eon, “canceled” would have been more accurate than “delayed.”

But I chose the slightly softer word, and even at my consideration, Kim U-in let out a long sigh.

“That is part of it, yes. How could it not bother him?”

It was obvious.

The Bureau had accepted Cha Si-eon’s death.

And that fact had been exposed very starkly through the comparison group called Seo Do-un.

So of course it would bother him.

“But it is not as if they gave up that easily, the way Mun Ho-san babbled. Manager Kwon was the one who kept sounding out and coordinating with those mercenaries when they said they could not go.”

“The Manager?”

“Yes. The reason Apophis agreed to receive hazard pay was because Manager Kwon persuaded them, and that negotiation was already complete before Do-un was dragged into the 「Island」.”

“Then why did they only enter the next morning?”

“Because the people above sat on it. Those old men who only talk too much. Though they have trauma from the full-scale war too, I suppose.”

In the past too, they had searched for the missing Lee Seop, and it had escalated into full-scale war and even the total-war period.

Was it because of that?

The Bureau’s upper leadership obstructed Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s decision.

The question of whether it was truly reasonable to conduct an operation on this scale to rescue one agent.

The concern that this exceptional measure could create an issue of fairness.

The rebuke that a commander must not give special treatment only to his own close aide.

Even the irresponsible pessimism that it would already be too late even if they went now.

All kinds of words pressed down on Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

“In the middle of that, Do-un got dragged into the 「Island」 too, so Manager Kwon went directly to the old men. Only after he crashed into them like that did the rescue operation finally proceed.”

The Manager had gone through a lot.

Fortunately, looking only at the result, there was nothing bad about it.

Cha Si-eon had, in any case, returned alive safely with me.

Even the delayed deployment caused by gathering the mercenaries again had instead led to the result of securing fragments of 「Big Cat」.

The result was as good as could be, but it was also true that the picture had become very strange.

I fitted Kim U-in’s words together like puzzle pieces.

And by doing so, I reached one conclusion.

“The Manager must care a great deal about Team Leader Cha.”

So the conclusion had become, “My kid, who only suffers and gets treated poorly, should at least be driven out somewhere that pays him a lot.”

At my words, Kim U-in nodded.

“Because he brought him in and raised him himself. That is why he gets angry and even lays hands on him.”

Saying he hits him because there is affection is a very outdated statement.

Oh, come to think of it.

“Does that, by any chance, happen often?”

“Hm?”

“Not long ago, Team Leader Cha had a wound on his face too.”

“……When the Nuruk Two alert rang?”

When I nodded, Kim U-in snapped the lollipop he had been quietly holding in his mouth until then.

Kim U-in stayed still for a moment, then answered while crunching the candy.

“No, that was because of a contaminated person. One Team Leader Cha manages.”

“Ah.”

“Do-un, Manager Kwon is not the kind of person who habitually assaults subordinates…….”

“Of course not. Hahaha.”

At Kim U-in’s groan-laced words, I laughed haha.

Usually, he tore into and harassed Manager Kwon Mu-seop so much.

But now that his image was about to really be ruined, he was covering for him diligently.

Kim U-in threw the completely chewed lollipop stick into the trash can.

Then he looked at the clock and muttered,

“But why is this person not coming back?”

Come to think of it, Team Leader Cha had been away too long.

Surely he is not crying somewhere, right?

Perhaps unable to wait any longer, Kim U-in finally stood up.

But as he was about to leave, he asked me again,

“Do-un, how would you feel if your case officer changed?”

“I would not feel much in particular.”

“That is a relief.”

“But would the other employees not be a little flustered?”

If, as Kim U-in said, Cha Si-eon was the pillar of the Field Division.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, for one, seemed certain to be hit hard.

At my words, Kim U-in turned back again and answered apathetically.

“Still, it is better than sending him to the otherworld.”

---

I learned the truth through Kim U-in.

The thing Mun Ho-san had said to me earlier.

That it had been “New (New!) Patjwi.”

Ha, how regrettable…….

If this were a word that appeared in the manuscript of the author I was in charge of, I would have begged them desperately to please take it out.

I can say with certainty that this is an expression that failed completely.

Because it was impossible to understand easily, and after barely understanding it, one had to ask back like this.

“So what is New Patjwi……?”

It was fortunate that the kind doctor was beside me.

Thankfully, Kim U-in carefully explained the etymology to me.

“Team Leader Cha’s nickname when he was new was Kongjwi.”

“When he first came here, he had strict military discipline drilled into him under Kwon Mu-seop. Since he worked and ran around all day in that state, the other teams teased him by calling him ‘Kwon Mu-seop’s Kongjwi.’ Saying he was tilling the fields and carrying water alone.”

Oh dear, Team Leader Cha…….

Of course, that nickname was no longer used now.

A new recruit Cha Si-eon might have been one thing, but there was no longer anyone bold enough in the Bureau to call Team Leader Cha Si-eon that.

“So calling Do-un Patjwi was sarcasm. Saying you have it easy beside the mistreated Kongjwi.”

See, this is why I say it is a failed expression.

He did say something sarcastic, but none of it came across.

Even the explanation is too long-winded.

Still, there was also an impressive part to this Kongjwi and Patjwi nickname.

“Then what is the ‘New’? Do not tell me there is an original Patjwi?”

“That is right. There is.”

“Who is that?”

“Is it not obvious?”

“……?”

“Do you think people who can be Team Leader Cha’s counterpart are common?”

“…….”

“And Patjwi is the one doing the tormenting too?”

“……!”

“It is probably correct. The person you are thinking of now.”

No wonder.

Those two had seemed strangely awkward for people from the same team.

They had lived as Kongjwi and Patjwi in Kwon Mu-seop’s team…….

In that way, I solved the mystery after half a day.

And with that, I reached two conclusions.

That New Patjwi truly was a failed expression.

And that the condition of the person once called Kongjwi was not ordinary either.

Cha Si-eon, who had gone out in the morning, only returned to the hospital room late in the evening.

Then he said nothing until lights-out.

He was originally a taciturn person, but he had not been quite this bad.

I was lying down, thinking he must have a lot on his mind, when what Kim U-in had said during the day suddenly came to mind.

“Because Team Leader Cha has been going off the rails too much lately.”

“Like someone desperate to die.”

Ah…… hm…….

With eyes accustomed to the darkness, I looked toward the bed beside me.

I could see a large thing lying there silently.

“Team Leader Cha.”

I called him quietly, but there was no answer.

Had he already fallen asleep?

“Team Leader.”

“…….”

“Team Leader.”

“…….”

“Kongjwi?”

Thwack—

At that moment, something flew onto my bed.

A tissue.

As expected, he was not asleep yet.

Putting the tissue Cha Si-eon had thrown back on the drawer, I asked,

“Where were you all day?”

“Working.”

“Why is a patient working?”

“Because there is work.”

“It is not as if you are the only person in the Bureau who can work, Team Leader.”

“……Are you not sleeping?”

As always, Cha Si-eon grew prickly once the conversation exceeded three lines.

Hm, very normal.

After confirming that Cha Si-eon was fine, I opened my mouth again.

“About what you asked yesterday.”

“…….”

“I kept thinking about it, and I still do not think I would blow up the bridge.”