Please Shoot Me - 18

Yuyeon had mixed feelings about this, but she knew James was their last hope out of this situation. Ryung felt the same way and climbed into the backseat of the vehicle before Yuyeon could say anything. James started to drive off with everyone in the vehicle before the door could close.

“We have to go to the iron gate.”

Yuyeon shouted before she was even seated, but their driver didn’t respond. His blonde hair stood up on the back of his head, confirming the officer’s report that he had overslept. James turned the wheel in the opposite direction of where she wanted him to go.

“Hey, you crazy assh*le!”

As if their escape wasn’t urgent, the car backed up into the narrow alleyway and was driving alongside the pursuing cars. Ryung and Yuyeon flattened themselves in surprise at the vehicle on either side of them and muttered to themselves.

“Is this guy really on your side? He told us to get in but he’s going to them.”

“Crazy assh*le, crazy assh*le…”

“I told you, he’s just a money grabber.”

“This is how you repay my 10 years of loyalty…”

The driver, who had been listening to the disgruntled runaways, finally chimed in.

“I’m not deaf.”

Looking out the window at the tightly packed traffic, Yuyeon lifted her head just enough to direct her fury at James’s pierced ear.

“What are you doing? Do you want them to catch us?”

“When I lead, I’m asking you to follow. We should blend in so we don’t cause suspicion. Haven’t you ever heard that the eye of the storm is the calmest?”

The laid-back tone of his voice contrasted with the urgency of the situation. On most days, James was bold and had a big heart, but in Yuyeon’s eyes, he was just a thoughtless assh*le.

The culprit, Yuyeon, couldn’t say anything more but continued to curse him with her eyes. James took the piercing glare and stride and laughed. Then, he adjusted the rearview mirror to look at Ryung. Feeling his gaze, he slightly lifted his head and locked eyes with James.

“Oh, your eyes have turned amber. That’s unusual.”

James was more concerned with the change in appearance than he was with the fact that Ryung was still sane. When Ryung’s eyes narrowed in disbelief, James nonchalantly rattled off some more of his thoughts.

“You could sell your eyeballs for a lot of money.”

The tone of his voice didn’t indicate he was joking at all. James’s blue eyes glimmered with greed, and Ryung, who felt like he was about to get his eyeballs plucked out while still alive, moved closer to Yuyeon. Whether or not this was an expected reaction, James, like an uncle having fun teasing his nephew, continued.

“Well, you said you wouldn’t die from being shot, so why would you die from having your eyeballs plucked out?”

Luckily, Seonwoo must have sent him a message about their current situation.

“Anyway, you don’t show up when I need you.”

“You’ve got to be careful what you say. When you needed me the most, I miraculously appeared.”

“I can’t even put it into words.”

James didn’t scold her for waking him up. He came to help her in a moment of crisis.

As traffic began to disperse at a major intersection, James began to drive toward the gates. Once the military vehicles were out of sight from the window, Yuyeon and Ryung stretched their stiff necks and backs and sagged into the seats.

“Drink up. I was in a hurry, so this is all I had.”

He reached back with his hand, keeping his eyes straight ahead, and handed them two bottles of water. They hadn’t sipped water since yesterday, and for a moment, James seemed like a messiah. Yuyeon and Ryung quickly emptied the bottles and exhaled.

“I can only take you home, you know?”

At his words, Yuyeon nodded through the rearview mirror. It was a clear violation of the rules for A/Z to change schedules without orders. James would, at most, get a slap on the wrist for changing his schedule yesterday.

Now that Yuyeon had left the organization, James was the only one who could see what was going on inside. He was the only one with access to the labs and the inner workings of the organization, so there was no way he was going to be dragged into anything that would ar*use suspicion.

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, of course you are.”

“I’m just sorry for everything. I’m sorry for you, Ryung.”

James’s voice was flat as he stared at the closing iron gates. Ryung shook his head and shrugged.

“Don’t feel sorry for me. I asked you to change your shift, and now I’m convinced that she needed you more than I thought, so I’m really glad I went.”

“Did Yuyeon tell you that?”

James asked, glancing at Yuyeon. It was a secret he’d been keeping close to his chest.

“Well, I got the vibe. You’re the de facto leader, right, James? Not only in terms of research but also in terms of a possible coup…? At least I know you’re closer to justice than the current leaders, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that your wishes are fulfilled while I’m alive.”

Both Ryung and James scratched the back of their necks at the awkwardness of such serious words coming between their usual jokes.

“Well, you talk like you’re going to die right now.”

“It’s true, though. Who knows how long this state will last.”

“Hmmm… I don’t know, but I think you’re going to live. I think you’re staying sane more because you are ‘you’ than because of a successful experiment.”

“Why me?”

“Because you just have more energy than anyone else? More like experience?”

Ryung’s brows crinkled at the combination of words, which sounded like something you would hear at a temple.

“Sunbae, you’re a foreigner and you believe that?”

“I told you not to call me a foreigner. Even if I’m not legally Korean, I’ve lived in Korea since I was three years old. I barely speak English.”

From his perfect Korean pronunciation to his eating habits and demeanor, he was a Korean in a foreigner’s skin.

“His pronunciation was terrible. If they were going to do that, they should’ve just given you a Korean name.”

“I have a Korean name.”

“What is it?”

“Jaesu.”

“…”

Yuyeon, who had been listening to their conversation, asked.

“Really?”

“Uh-huh.”

They wondered how their parents had come up with that name, then realized he was an orphan and decided to remain silent. James was probably the only one with even a slight skill in picking names.

James pulled up in front of an alley near the iron gate. The gate was heavily guarded with CCTV cameras everywhere because it separated the safe zone from the rest of the city.

James clicked his tongue as he watched the two deserters prepare to go out, their only weapons being pistols around their hips. The guns they were taught to value more than their own life were left lying in the abandoned car.

“Aren’t you guys going to die as soon as you get out? What kind of soldiers leave their guns behind?”

“Dude, you really don’t have to say anything else considering how urgent the situation was earlier…!”

“What? You want mine?”

James held up his own gun, which was lying on the passenger seat, but Yuyeon immediately shook her head. Gus were the property of the organization, and if they were lost, they would be traced back to where they came from, and the punishment would be severe.

“Forget it, just stay out of this. Without you there, our plan is screwed.”

“… I’m sorry.”

She was the team leader, but James had more responsibility than she did. Yuyeon waved her hand in front of his quickly darkening face.

“Stop trying to burn my image into your brain, I’m not dead yet.”

“I was just trying to get a feel for the atmosphere.”

“Anyways, you go back to the others. I’m sure they’re freaking out. The guy we worked with turned into a zombie, and their team leader deserted…”

Yuyeon let out a deep sigh as she remembered the confused look on her teammates’ faces until the last minute. Despite her bad temper, they still trusted her as their team leader.

“Okay, I’ll… try to calm them down.”

“Okay, please.”

“Do you have a plan…?”

James turned serious. It was virtually impossible to open the door without authorization from headquarters, and with all the commotion outside, security would naturally be tightened. The only thing left to do was to “climb” over the wall as quickly as possible.

“I don’t know, maybe a ladder.”

Yuyeon looked at the training rope ladder set up on one side of the wall and let out a bitter smile. She learned how to climb a rope ladder during her enlistment test, but she never actually used one. She was still staring at the wall when Ryung pointed to the control tower.

“If you don’t have any other options, do you want to go to the control tower?”

Yuyeon looked up at the control tower on top of the wall. It wasn’t a bad idea, since if we got to the top of the wall, they would already be halfway there. The only thing was there were men up there now, so Yuyeon shook her head.

“Don’t think they’re still on our side. I’ve already radioed in.”

Ryung checked the time on his watch and spoke up.

“The ones on duty today, they’re my junior, the ones I taught…”

“No, didn’t you hear me? It has nothing to do with that…”

Ryung got out of the car without warning, yawned, and continued.

“There’s no patrol at this hour, so I taught them to sleep.”

“… What?”

“They don’t even listen to the radio.”

Yuyeon, who would have normally been furious at the laziness, followed him out of the car and added a comment.

“Good.”

James opened the window and waved, which was not so much of a “goodbye” rather than a “hello.”

“I see, a junior follows their senior.”

“He’s my immediate subordinate.”

“There are always exceptions.”

Yuyeon and James softly laughed as they said their goodbyes.

“Now go.”

Yuyeon slapped the side of the car, urging him on, and James added as he started the car, as if in regret.

“It’s always exceptions that bring opportunities. They’re special just by being.”

Kofi