Please Shoot Me - 13

She could hear the tremor in his voice. She couldn’t read his expression in the dark. She suddenly felt sorry for him, realizing how frustrating it must have been for him to know that she had a secret.

She quickly changed the subject, afraid that continuing to talk about life and death would make him more anxious.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“If you knew what was going on, why did you tell me to go back to headquarters alone?”

When she suggested they go back together, he pretended he didn’t know anything and told her to go alone. Before that, he would have told her to leave his zombified self alone, but when he said it knowing that headquarters is dangerous to her, it took on a completely different meaning.

“I can ask you the same question. Why did you want me to go back?”

Ryung was in a defensive stance as if he was looking at his inner self. It felt like he was trying to decide what his answer would be depending on Yuyeon’s answer.

“I…  wasn’t sure. Honestly, I don’t know where I stand, but I don’t trust headquarters or anyone who is communicating with them right now. My plan earlier was to hide your infection, return to headquarters, and have you processed for discharge, after we’d have to decide where you’d live, but for now… well, it’s your turn.”

As if he sensed she wasn’t telling the truth, Ryung started dodging the original question.

“You know there are those who are meant to lead and those who are used to following. The former requires a bit of a rebellious streak, and from what I’ve seen of you, you’re more of a model student. You’re definitely the latter. If someone like that is stealing from the labs and spying, there would definitely be someone behind you, pulling the strings. I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s someone else you take orders from, maybe within your unit…”

Ryung trailed off, glancing at her to see if he was right.

It was pretty accurate, but was he telling her to trust the team she was in? Given his lack of knowledge about it, it probably was said with good intentions.

“You’re right and you’re wrong.”

“What’s right and wrong?”

“I turned the lab materials over to pay off a personal debt, but even if I had connections, they aren’t as powerful as you think they are. We aren’t close enough to be called a team, they’re just…”

“How many people are there?”

“Two. One inside, one outside.”

He looked a little surprised and let out a small chuckle.

“Two… Now that I think about it, you’re just playing both sides of the same fence, HQ and them. You don’t trust either of them, do you?”

“Yeah because I haven’t decided which one is right yet.”

“What’s the difference between the two?”

“Before I found out what the higher-ups were up to, the difference was clear. A/Z is about killing zombies, and they’re about creating ‘vaccines’ and ‘cures.’ I don’t know which was which, and I still don’t believe they can create a vaccine or cure, but… I do know that I’m now forced to take a chance on that uncertainty.”

She glanced at him and muttered something from within the faint darkness. She heard a faint chuckle.

“I’m the one who made you do that?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m honored.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“Not really, I just like to know that you made certain choices with me in mind.”

The excitement in his voice, barely above a whisper, made her skin crawl. He was surprisingly sharp and mature, but he was also a love-struck boy, which always caught Yuyeon off guard. He stood up and cleared his throat before speaking again.

“You said there were two of you, so the one outside is probably someone I don’t know anyway… Who’s the one person in your unit that you know?”

Without much ado, Yuyeon admitted it, not wanting to hide anything anymore.

“James.”

James was the deputy team leader of the A-team, the one who flew the most missions with Yuyeon, and the one who had enlisted with her.

“James?”

Ryung asked in surprise, showing all his emotions in his golden eyes.

“Isn’t he a loyal dog, kissing up to them…!”

“It’s an act. He’s doing background checks on the executives.”

“It’s not an act. He’s crazy about money, he won’t switch shifts, and I’m working unpaid today…!”

“We need the money. It’s not like we can do the research for a vaccine or cure without it.”

When Yuyeon replied in a calm voice, Ryung calmed down a bit and then lowered his voice.

“I thought he was just money-crazed, but you have some big ambitions.”

“Yeah, if there’s a coup in the unit, he’ll be the one in charge. I’ve been watching the executives since I found out about the human evolution experiment, and James isn’t the kind of guy who’ll idly sit by when he finds out that his men have been sacrificed in a ridiculous experiment.”

“I spent six years with him, and I didn’t realize he had that kind of temperament.”

“He’s extraordinary. He’s one of the most proactive people I’ve ever met, and because of that, he’s also one of the most capable of good…”

“What do you mean?”

“I think that passive, ordinary people become evil. The world we live in is structured so that if you can’t critically think, if you don’t dare to fight, you get swept along. But he’s the kind of guy who can not only stand up for what he believes in but can mobilize ordinary people, too.”

“Because he’s a good speaker?”

“No, because he empathizes.”

Ryung slowly nodded in agreement, as if he understood.

“Well, you can’t move people with logic alone, so he’s got an important skill.”

“Are you really saying this because you agree with me?”

“Yes, I also believe that the essence of a person is in their heart, not their head.”

Yuyeon let out a small laugh.

“I think you’re one of those idiots, too.”

“Me too, I think you’re an idiot.”

The two idiots let out a small laugh together. The more they thought about it, the more ridiculous it was that they were having this conversation in this situation.

“How did you know about the other one?”

Ryung asked about the one person outside. Unlike James, Yuyeon thought for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“Yoo Seonwoo… He was the genius in the lab when me and James enlisted. He invented the special bullets we’re using to kill zombies now, and he was so famous that no one in the unit didn’t know his name. He was only researching how to kill zombies quickly…”

“Something must have happened to him, seeing as he’s not with the unit now.”

“Yeah, he has a younger sister, and she came to the lab and messed with the wrong drug and got infected… He’s been a different person ever since, his research has completely changed, and he can’t even be in the unit because it means something different…”

“So there is a story. Vaccines, cures, it’s all too dreamy.”

Yuyeon bitterly smiled at Ryung’s words and stared blankly into the darkness. So many years had passed that she couldn’t remember smiling. It had happened before Ryung enlisted, so it was already six or seven years ago.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible either, so when he left the unit, he asked me to come with him, but I refused… someone who thought a lot of me, like you… I asked him to give up his sister and stay in the unit, which was basically asking him to kill her, and now that I’m in this situation, I can understand the look on his face…”

“The debt was… a debt of the heart?”

Ryung asked very carefully and Yuyeon nodded.

“I guess that’s the only thing I can beg forgiveness for. I sent him a selection of materials from the lab because I can only do so much research on my own.”

“…”

“Anyway, let’s contact him first thing in the morning. If he permits us, we can go to his lab…”

“He, he…”

Ryung paused, as if about to say something.

“He, what?”

“Did you… go out with… someone…?”

She shook her head at his question.

“Um… no?”

“Then, did you… like… Seonwoo?”

Yuyeon’s mouth dropped open as she heard Ryung’s question. There was no way she could define her feelings now that so much time had passed.

“… I don’t know.”

“F*ck.”

The swear word sounded so clear that even Yuyeon doubted her ears.

“What?”

“That place you’re going to tomorrow is that guy’s lab, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I don’t want to go.”

There was a rustling sound, and his eyes flickered to the side, indicating that he had turned over. Puzzled, Yuyeon half-sat up and asked.

“What? Why are you suddenly not going? Do you want to die like this?”

“If I die, I’m dead. I’m not going.”

“Then why? Who are you to be so frustrated? You were the one who was supposed to have been lamenting after me for six years without a care in the world…!”

At that moment, a pair of golden eyes flashed and shot a piercing glance at Yuyeon. Although he didn’t show any expression, his pupils were filled with a mixture of dissatisfaction and bitterness.

“Now you want me to be the vehicle for your pathetic reunion? I knew it. It doesn’t make sense for a woman like you to spend ten years in a unit full of men and have nothing happen to her. There’s a reason why you broke up, and you’re feeling sorry for him… In the dramas I watched when I was younger, men and women who broke up on bad terms would always use a situation like this as an opportunity to get back together. Sh*t… I’m dying right now and you want me to see another man next to you. I’d rather bite my tongue and die here…!”

With a snarl, he turned over again, as if he didn’t want to hear her answer. Yuyeon stared blankly at Ryung, who was nowhere to be seen. Somewhere over there, a large man was curling up into a ball, his whole body expressing his frustration.

“Hey.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“D*ck.”

“Beep… I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Pouty.”

“I’m pouting, but you need to think about it. If you take me, he’ll be in danger, and if I lose my mind and become a zombie, I’ll chew him up first. They say if you hold a grudge before you die, you become a ghost, and as a zombie, where’s that grudge going to go?”

He still wore his emotions on his sleeve. The vague image of Ryung, fueled by murderous jealousy, murdering Yeonwoo appeared in her mind. Yuyeon was busy searching the dark for Ryung’s eyes.

“Hmph.”

“…”

Ryung didn’t answer, and Yuyeon, unsure if his heart was truly broken this time, knew there was no way to talk to him without crossing over the line.

“Ryung.”

She spoke in a soothing voice.

“… Yes?”

Contrary to her worries, it didn’t take long to get an answer.

Kofi