PASSION Chapter 5 Part 11

Chapter 5 Part 11

When he peeled off the bandage stuck to the wound, an ugly red and bumpy wound was revealed. The raw flesh glistening red in the dim light looked even more horrific. In this case, poor visibility stimulated imagination to produce worse results.

Tae-ui clicked his tongue. After shaking the medicine container he had taken out, Ilay opened the lid and poured its contents over the wound. A sharp antiseptic smell wafted up. Though hard to see, Ilay seemed to know which medicines were where, taking out and laying out several containers without hesitation.

"Tsk... Getting hit by shotgun fragments, it'll get infected. The branch is too harsh just throwing him in prison while injured. It's not like they want the wound to get worse in this underground prison."

"Hmm? There are quite a few who would be happy if my wound got worse and my body deteriorated. They might have hoped for that. ...is what I'd like to say, but to correct your misunderstanding, this place is very different from what you think."

Ilay spoke as if amused. Tae-ui slightly raised his eyebrows and looked around again. The dim, useless light, cold stone walls and floor. Damp air. Looking again, it was still exactly like an underground prison.

"I don't know what you think I'm thinking, but how is it different?"

"For example, a doctor will come in the evening. After all, the organization prides itself internally and externally on responding wholeheartedly to members' welfare. Even for those in solitary."

"Welfare..."

Tae-ui repeated his words. He briefly pondered whether it was this man or himself who misunderstood the meaning of welfare.

"I think discussing welfare in this underground prison is itself nonsensical... I guess the food must be good."

When Tae-ui muttered quite seriously after thinking for a while, Ilay burst out laughing.

"Haha, ahaha. Yes, that's right. The food is very good. That's the most important issue. Well, secondarily doctors regularly visit to check health and they're considerate of the environment too."

"This kind of environment can't be called considerate."

Tae-ui spoke pitifully. It made him think about what kind of environment this man had lived in. Perhaps this man's destructive personality stemmed from an unfortunate environment.

"Does being a weapons broker make life that unfortunate...?"

When he muttered to himself tilting his head at the considerable difference from the reality he knew, Ilay laughed again having apparently heard. He laughed softly for a while, finding something very amusing.

Meanwhile, Ilay skillfully tended to his shoulder wound alone, making it unclear why he had asked for help. As Tae-ui stood blankly holding out the bandages in both hands, Ilay only held out his shoulder after finishing treating the wound.

"Everything else isn't hard to do alone but bandaging is a bit troublesome."

"Seeing how you unwrapped it earlier, you seem good at wrapping it alone too."

"I could do it if I had to, but why go through the trouble when there's someone to help?"

That makes sense too, Tae-ui nodded. Then he started wrapping the bandage with practiced movements. Up close, the wound was quite severe. The flesh was all torn up and would likely leave scars even after healing.

"..."

After finishing wrapping the bandage silently, Tae-ui suddenly grabbed Ilay's upper arm. While wrapping the bandage, he had been newly surprised. Though he had thought him somewhat slight for his height, seeing his bare body revealed he was more built than expected. Plus though his arm muscles weren't prominently visible, they were like steel.

Well, if this monster-like man actually had the slight, weak body he appeared to have, that would be an unprecedented mystery.

Ilay looked down curiously at Tae-ui who was staring piercingly while kneading his upper arm right after finishing the bandage. Then he offered his arm as if saying do as you please.

"No wonder you're called a monster..."

Tae-ui muttered. Ilay murmured "Oh dear" as if regretful.

"My my. I must be quite hated, for you to call a normal person a monster now."

"I don't think I'm the only one who thinks that. Uncle told me not to associate with you."

"Instructor Jung did? How could this be. After all the friendship we've built."

Having somewhat distorted the truth, Tae-ui internally muttered 'Uncle, please consider this much revenge as cute.' He even made excuses that experiencing the feeling of being backstabbed that Tae-ui had felt several times since coming here might be quite helpful in his uncle's long life journey.

But examining it, it wasn't completely a lie so he felt less guilty. He had at least preserved whatever meager friendship might exist between his uncle and Ilay by not directly conveying the words "it's best to simply not get involved with a madman."

"Have you known uncle long?"

Thinking well, he is an injured person, Tae-ui asked casually while putting the medicine box back on the shelf for Ilay - during which process he hit his head on the shelf while getting up and muttered curses about turning on lights first if they wanted to talk about welfare.

After staying silent for a moment, Ilay answered slowly and deliberately:

"Well... Though we first met quite a while ago, I haven't actually been in contact with him for very long."

"Hmm, how did you come to know each other?"

"You could say we're book friends."

Must have planned this with uncle. Then without a doubt, he soon said, "To be precise, your uncle knows my brother." He hadn't particularly asked out of curiosity nor expected an answer that would satisfy his questions anyway.

"..."

Tae-ui suddenly smiled at a thought that occurred to him. Hearing that laugh, Ilay briefly asked "Why?" Tae-ui shook his head saying "No, it's nothing."

Perhaps he truly did consider this man extraordinary. Beyond the ordinary meaning of extraordinary. Thinking about this man having a brother somehow felt very strange. It was like how though accepting Ilay having a brother felt natural, Rigrow having a brother felt bizarre.

Yes, come to think of it, even someone like Adolf Hitler didn't just fall from the sky. He would naturally have had parents, and might have had siblings too. Depending on circumstances, he might even have had children. Yet because he became someone so notorious as to be considered far from human, one couldn't even imagine the fact that he had family.

"You said your brother is a weapons broker."

"Mm. Until a few years ago our father did it, but now he's retired and my brother took over instead. Until father retired, my brother was a relatively ordinary businessman in his own way. He dealt with books. Mainly doing rare book republication business, he lost a ton of business funds but made several maniac book friends."

Tae-ui nodded at Ilay's words. Indeed, he could understand the relationship between his uncle and Ilay's brother. He could understand in a similar context how his uncle and this man were book friends.

"From dealing with rare books to weapons brokering... That's quite a career jump."

"My brother basically knows how to do business. Someone who knows the technique of selling things tends to succeed in business. In that sense, it's the same whether it's a neighborhood store or multinational corporation."

"But you said he lost a ton of money in the rare book republication business."

"Ah, that was his hobby. He had other actual work. Even now he does other things while selling weapons."

Though there was no reason to ask in detail, this man's brother seemed to have had quite an eventful life too. Yes, that level seemed fitting to find aspects worthy of being this man's brother.

As Tae-ui was nodding, Ilay stretched as if stiff. After tapping his neck, arms, and knees, he stood up. Tae-ui looked up at him while sitting. Seen like this, he looked very tall. Though actually standing beside Ilay showed a surprisingly big height difference, perhaps due to his build appearing thinner than reality, he didn't look that tall at first glance. But sometimes, at times like this, Tae-ui became aware of how considerably tall he was.

"Though it's nice in here having relatively free time, not being able to move properly makes the body feel quite stiff. It feels like there's fog inside my body making me uncomfortable."

"So, planning to do a 100-meter dash in here?"

When Tae-ui joked, Ilay smiled slightly. Then he faced the wall at a suitable distance.

"Running ten laps in here would make 100 meters, but jogging would be better than that for exercise. If I run just 10 kilometers, that would be a thousand laps."

"Your head would spin first."

Beside Tae-ui speaking, he gauged the distance to the wall, then suddenly planted his hands and flipped upside down. Then he lightly touched the wall with his toes to support his body. Tae-ui, sitting leaning against the wall, met eyes with him upside down.

"Let's just do an easy hundred. One. Two-"

Watching him doing push-ups while upside down, Tae-ui's face crumpled sharply.

"Hey, stop it. What are you doing with an injured shoulder? Even if a doctor comes in the evening."

"Thanks for worrying. But I'm barely using my right arm so it's fine. I'm also leaning against the wall for balance. Five-..."

Ilay continued counting while speaking calmly without showing any sign of strain. Tae-ui looked at him with a face like seeing a monster. He thought the same thing in his mind. A monster-like guy, crazy in the head and monstrous in body, truly a difficult opponent to face.