Rainbow City

The woman shot Kwak Soohwan a sharp glance and spat, but he dodged faster.

When they reached the top of Mount Wuryongsan, he happened to spot this woman. With three bodyguards distributing food to people, he had a hunch that she held a high position in Eden Valley, and he was right; she was even more important than he’d thought.

Kwak Soohwan had checked Choi Hoeon’s parents’ photos when he was investigating. It didn’t take him long to figure out who the woman was. If he didn’t find a clue on Mount Wuryongsan, he planned to search for her according to this Major’s coordinates. Without any need for haste, he waited for them to finish distributing supplies and then picked them up in the jeep.

Stubbornly refusing to reveal her hiding place, he threatened to slice one of the bodyguards’ arms and carve the rest if she didn’t cooperate. The woman, who hadn’t blinked once, finally opened her mouth only when both men had their arms sliced.

Originally, it was easier to use others than to directly threaten this kind of person. After all, just the fact that she distributed food to the believers showed her altruistic nature. But the serpent had released Seokhwa more easily than expected. Of course, the serpent hadn’t anticipated Seokhwa leaping from the second floor, but the man’s words about expecting the future lingered in Kwak Soohwan’s mind.

“Dr. Seok.”

Kwak Soohwan, lost in thought, spoke up.

“Did you give birth to Dr. Choi Hoeon?”

Seokhwa threw a strange question at the woman without even waiting for an answer.

“Are you Dr. Wonho’s wife?”

Seokhwa’s words seemed out of context, as if he’d been brainwashed by the serpent.

She seemed to want to say something, but her pupils, strained from enduring the trunk, struggled to focus. Seokhwa touched her forehead in surprise and checked her breathing. As his warm touch reached her, the woman exhaled deeply as if she had been rescued and closed her eyes. Fortunately, she seemed to have only fainted from exhaustion, so there didn’t seem to be any major issues.

“Why did you kidnap her?”

“I had my reasons. Besides, she’s not a good person anyway. You believe me, right?”

Kwak Soohwan, making excuses, held Seokhwa’s hand. Instead of pulling away, Seokhwa held on tightly, radiating warmth. Kwak Soohwan led Seokhwa into a relatively clean room, closed the door, and stood him in front.

“Dr. Seok, do you know how to summarize?”

Seokhwa hesitated for a moment before nodding. Before launching into a long explanation, he swallowed once, his throat dry.

“Dr. Choi Hoeon… He’s Dr. Wonho’s son.”

“What?”

This seemed too condensed.

Seokhwa wrapped his arms around Kwak Soohwan, who seemed oddly anxious, and gently guided him to sit down. In truth, it seemed more like an action for him than for Kwak Soohwan. Leaning into his shoulder and feeling his whole body relax brought a sense of comfort. Kwak Soohwan, who hadn’t anticipated Seokhwa’s actions, awkwardly raised his hand for a moment before finally enveloping Seokhwa’s body.

“My mother, Major Kwak Soohwan’s parents, and Dr. Choi Hoeon’s father, Dr. Wonho. The four of them conducted genetic editing research together. They experimented on embryos to create mutations… And we were one of those experiments. It was all ordered by Rainbow City, and in response, they created Eden Valley.”

According to Lee Chaeyoon, Seokhwa dropped a photo when he was being kidnapped by the serpent. The serpent couldn’t have been that careless. Perhaps he intentionally left it there, knowing he had dropped it, so ultimately, it was a new apology.

That photo raised suspicions for him, and on my way to Busan, he considered a myriad of possibilities. The hypothesis even extended to the theory that the short-haired woman in the photo was Seokhwa’s mother and a researcher, and that she had been in the same lab as his parents.

“So, the defects in the mutants are due to genetic editing? Then, does that mean all the mutants in the city are experiments?”

“Probably.”

The Second Master was just as interested in Seokhwa as the serpent was. Was it because he was not only an immune, but also a child born through genetic manipulation?

“If Choi Hoeon is Wonho’s son, then that woman wouldn’t be his biological mother.”

The man executed by the woman’s push wasn’t Dr. Wonho.

“That’s what Dr. Choi said. Even though she wasn’t a citizen of the city herself, she came to the city to meet us.”

Seokhwa raised his head abruptly. Kwak Soohwan’s lips were close as he looked down at him. Kwak Soohwan also tightened his grip on Seokhwa’s waist.

“Originally… Major Kwak was supposed to join Eden Valley.”

“Don’t stay here, go to Hwasun Hall. The living should stay alive. Just say it’s my recommendation.”

Kwak Soohwan remembered the one-eyed man who died long ago. He was the adult who rescued him and was going to send him to Hwasun Hall, where the rebel forces were. However, through a broker, Dr. Oh Yang elevated Seokhwa to citizenship, diverting his path from the rebels.

Could it be that the forces at Hwasun Hall back then were Eden Valley?

Suddenly, Kwak Soohwan smiled as if to say it was all fine. He had no intention of taking the Serpent’s words at face value, and even if they were true, it wouldn’t change anything.

“Seokhwa.”

His smooth lips parted, and a soothing voice flowed out.

As their cheeks met like people who had been apart for a long time, they felt the texture of each other’s skin once again. When Kwak Soohwan kissed the still bruised area around Seokhwa’s eyes, he instinctively squinted at the ticklish sensation. The slight movements of their lips touching seemed to intensify the thirst for more. Kwak Soohwan nibbled on the bridge of Seokhwa’s nose and then gently pressed his lips against Seokhwa’s, but they remained tightly shut.

“Open up.”

“Outside, town.”

Pushing Seokhwa further against the door, Kwak Soohwan delved inside with his tongue. Seokhwa, who had been embracing his back, turned his shoulders back and wrapped his arms around Kwak Soohwan, encasing him up to his shoulders.

As the kiss deepened, Seokhwa thought Kwak Soohwan’s muscles felt even harder, like stone. When he felt short of breath and tilted his head back, Kwak Soohwan followed him, peppering kisses all over his face.

“Hah, Rainbow City, whatnot, should we run away?”

“Dangerous town, it is.”

“Why would it be dangerous with me here?”

As if Kwak Soohwan were sucking the essence of life itself, he sucked on Seokhwa’s lips and licked roughly inside.

Although the aftermath of their previous encounter hadn’t entirely disappeared, Seokhwa somehow shuddered at the back. Whether Kwak Soohwan knew it or not, he squeezed his buttocks. Unable to bear it any longer, Seokhwa lifted his body abruptly, and Kwak Soohwan looked up at him from below as Seokhwa cupped his cheeks.

“If you cross the line, Major Kwak will be safe. It’s because of me that he’s wanted.”

“How did you know I’m wanted?”

Kwak Soohwan bit his lip hard.

“If you were going to cross the line, do you think I would have come all the way to Busan?”

It’s mine, Dr. Seok is mine. No one else is going to have him. Dr. Seok jumped into my arms by himself.

“Major Kwak.”

Whether he had read his mind or not, the tone was unexpectedly serious.

“I didn’t cross the line. It’s huge.”

Seokhwa, perhaps conscious of people outside, whispered and then descended from his embrace.

Pushing away from his chest, Kwak Soohwan hugged Seokhwa from behind, who was trying to escape.

“It seems like it did. Doctor, please take a look.”

Seokhwa shook for a moment at Kwak Soohwan’s playful antics. Sensing it as if by magic, he whispered in his ear.

“Huh, what?”

Kwak Soohwan’s hardness met Seokhwa’s buttocks. The silhouette of his erection showed prominently through his uniform pants.

“There’s someone outside.”

“Just be quiet.”

Describing being unconscious as sleeping. Seokhwa barely managed to erect a barrier against the overwhelming tide of lust that threatened to flood over him. If he didn’t cut it off with a swift blow here, it felt like it would overflow.

“I… don’t want to.”

Even the sigh he let out tickled his throat, making his body recoil.

“There’s someone outside, and there’s a person who’s unconscious to consider.”

Having sex with a person unconscious behind a door went against Seokhwa’s sense of decency.

“Dr. Seok has been quite vigorous in bed so far, but I’ve never had a chance? How long do I have to keep my semen stored? If my balls burst, Dr. Seok won’t be the one most saddened, will he?”

Seokhwa’s face, which suddenly turned red as he quickly turned around, puzzled as he rarely showed any embarrassment.

“Didn’t cum.” 

“You did.” 

“I didn’t.” Seokhwa retorted firmly. Kwak Soohwan glanced at the bed where Seokhwa was lying.

“Shall we try again?”

Walking over, he cleared the sheets, revealing a clean one underneath. Kwak Soohwan took off his suit coat and laid it on the sheet. He gestured with his index finger, indicating for Seokhwa to lie down.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why, you said you didn’t cum. Then you won’t cum now even if we do it.”

Standing awkwardly in front of the door, Seokhwa finally opened his tightly shut lips.

“I… came.”

Kwak Soohwan couldn’t help but burst into a bewildered laugh. Though rare, knowing Seokhwa’s stubbornness, even pushing further here wouldn’t likely change his refusal.

“Come and lie down.”

Kwak Soohwan grabbed Seokhwa, who was still standing stiffly. His eyes were full of disbelief, as if he only knew how to force things. Kwak Soohwan even dragged the dusty pillow to the floor.

“Get some sleep. We need to move first thing in the morning.”

“What about you, Major?”

“I’m fine for now.”

Kwak Soohwan hadn’t slept a wink until he found Seokhwa, but if they both fell asleep, who knew what might happen.

“I’ve rested, so Major Kwak, you should rest a bit too. I’ll keep watch.”

“Trust Dr. Seok to keep watch and sleep?”

With a look that seemed to agree, Kwak Soohwan pushed Seokhwa down onto the suit coat.

“If you really get sleepy, don’t worry, just ask, and I’ll take over.”

Even though Seokhwa had slept briefly, he was still feeling the strain on his stamina. His physical endurance had improved compared to before, perhaps due to not just being confined to the laboratory as before but also from moving around.

“I’m sorry.”

Seokhwa lay flat, placing his hands on his chest. Kwak Soohwan, noticing his empty hands, rummaged through his pants pocket and pulled out a small pebble. It was an oddly shaped stone he had picked up from Mount Uryong. It was made of basalt and was small enough to fit in the palm, resembling a marble. Seokhwa rolled the rough surface of the stone in his hand, seemingly fond of it.

“Do you like the stone that much?”

“Yes.”

Considering he was born with genetic mutations, it wasn’t unusual for him to have peculiar obsessions. Even the genetically modified pigs Kwak Soohwan knew about tended to grow larger in size but had deteriorated eyesight and hearing, fixating only on food.

Kwak Soohwan leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, waiting until Seokhwa fell asleep. Seokhwa might not be accustomed to sleeping in such a dusty room, but fortunately, he breathed evenly. After confirming that there were no abnormalities with the iron bars on the window, Kwak Soohwan slipped out of the room.

The woman registered as Choi Hoeon’s mother in the city was still in a dazed state. Kwak Soohwan brought the radio from the kitchen and monitored her while tuning in to the frequencies. Since there wouldn’t be any important news on regular radio broadcasts, he searched for military encryption broadcast frequencies.

Currently, only static noise was heard, and there was no broadcast at all. Kwak Soohwan turned up the volume to the maximum and took out a can of pineapple from the kitchen. He opened the canned pineapple with a jackknife and chewed on the flesh that fell off the knife.

Strangely, the timing of Second Master’s order to bring Seokhwa and the moment Serpent kidnapped Seokhwa seemed similar. He briefly suspected they might be working together, but Serpent hesitated when he told Seokhwa to go to Udo.

Kwak Soohwan pressed his eyes with the hand holding the knife. He had often pondered countless reasons why his father turned into Adam. He wondered if his father had a mental issue and injected Adam’s blood himself, or if someone had contaminated the insulin solution. If so, whose doing was it?

The jumbled cube seemed to be moving slightly. Perhaps it was retaliation from the parents who created Eden Park, or retaliation from the city that discovered it.

“They wouldn’t have experimented with just one or two embryos. It would have been a large number, and children with physical defects were probably all disposed of. Kwak Soohwan speculated why Seokhwa’s mother retired from her research position.

Wasn’t Seokhwa, born with low stamina, one of the candidates for disposal? And now he could understand why their parents had secretly hidden their siblings. There might have been an older sibling born before him.

It’s a suspicion that there were genetic defects, leading to disposal, and since the parents couldn’t afford to lose another child, they sent them outside the city.

“…On the day the tree of life knows good and evil, salvation will come.”

Kwak Soohwan sat on the sofa, his gaze lowered. The woman, now sober, looked up at him and murmured.

“Madam, snap out of it. There’s no such thing as salvation.”

“Poor child. Eventually, violence and power submit to salvation. You still have the tree of life with you, so you’re safe.”

It seemed that the tree of life this woman was talking about was Seokhwa. Kwak Soohwan took another bite of pineapple.

“Oh yeah? Your tree of life needs a helicopter, and does Madam have a helicopter?”

The woman looked at him with a puzzled look.

“Didn’t Dr. Seok just mention it?”

“The social status of the tree of life doesn’t matter.”

Choi Hoeon seems to have brainwashed her well.

“Anyway, if Dr. Seokhwa needs a helicopter, shouldn’t we help? If you want salvation, you should impress the savior, shouldn’t you? But isn’t it strange to call their leadership ‘Serpent’? Serpent is the one who expelled Adam and Eve from Eden Park.”

“The snake is a creature of wisdom. Having known good and evil, isn’t it another form of salvation? Child, don’t just look at what’s in front of you.”

“I may not understand having blind faith in religion in such a fucked-up world, but isn’t it a bit much for you to believe and follow Eden Park like that? And isn’t it that two of the elders who created Eden Park are our parents? It’s not like our parents had great faith, so there must have been some kind of mutual understanding. Isn’t it unreasonable for you to ask me to believe in such a religion? Isn’t Choi Hoeon your own son?”

“My child is correct.”

“Child embraced with the heart?”

Asking with a deep tone, the woman slowly closed her eyes and then opened them. Kwak Soohwan flicked away the fruit juice stuck to the knife.

“You were also involved in rebel activities, so why did you push your husband?”

“Because I was ignorant. I believed in Rainbow City, and truthfully, they said it would save my husband. I didn’t push him; I was coerced to push him. And then my husband was executed.”

It seemed that the past was still vivid for the woman as her eyes welled up with tears.

“So you found a place to put your heart. Since there’s no savior like you people talk about, you gave up on futile hope.”

“Why? You’ve been saved too.”

Startled, Kwak Soohwan froze with the knife in hand.

“That’s why you followed us all the way here, to get it in your hands.”

He glared at the woman with fierce eyes.

“That’s right. But I’m not your savior, I’m my own savior.”

“Child, you can’t possess anything in vain.”

Is this how reading between the lines works? Kwak Soohwan chuckled and leaned back against the sofa.

“If you need a helicopter, I’ll provide it. If you need a passenger ship, I’ll provide that too.”

“And release you?”

“Join us then. I can be your mother.”

“Sorry, but my family consists only of Dr. Seok.”

“A tree that’s too big to embrace alone.”

“That big tree will wither and die without me.”

“Weren’t you living well without me? Meeting you only brought danger and made things difficult like this.”

“Well, that stings a bit.”

Kwak Soohwan closed the blade of the knife and tucked it into his back pocket.

“It seems the serpent doesn’t have to be Choi Hoeon, it can be the old lady.”

“Kwak Soohwan, Kwak Jihwan.”

“Shut your mouth.”

“We were like a new river embracing you. Even the Oryang Dr. Seok who took you eventually was influenced by us. Didn’t I reveal our hideout because of your threat? You too were embraced by us.”

[Rustling, rustling, Baekho Mountain trek, Buzzard 35, Resuming tracking]

The encrypted broadcast began on the radio. Baekho referred to Kwak Soohwan, and 35 indicated Busan Green Zone. Although it seemed like they had already caught up to Busan, removing the tracking device from the jeep meant it would be like finding a needle in a haystack on the sandy beach. Still, they decided to allow themselves just two more hours of leisure.

“You were the guide leading the Tree of Life for us. Other emotions are unnecessary.”

This was something he couldn’t simply brush off.

Looking back, the reason he went to the Red Zone where Dr.Oh’s mansion was located was to investigate Eden Garden. He had almost gone to Brig  to deceive his activities as a controller and ended up taking on Seokhwa’s security instead of being pardoned. If that wasn’t a coincidence, it meant there was someone from Eden Garden in the upper ranks. And they were very adept at understanding the cause and effect.

Kwak Soohwan’s mood plummeted suddenly. Being someone’s pawn was out of the question.

“Damn it. So how does Dr. Seok save you?”

“That existence is salvation. We realized that our beliefs and faith were not wrong.”

“Ah, an antibody? But how? Dr. Seok’s blood is still infected with the Adam virus.”

“But we prevailed. The tree that has gone through adversity and suffering is the true savior.”

Think what you want. Kwak Soohwan gave up on mixing words further. He roamed around the house, loading canned goods and remaining water into the car, lighting a cigarette and waiting for dawn to break.

There, there, cough, an Adam who could barely walk was wandering around the neighborhood. If left as it was, it seemed his body movements would soon cease altogether.

Seeing Kwak Soohwan’s cigarette, Adam made strange noises, wriggling his body as he approached. Though grotesque with skin peeled from mouth to ears, revealing gums, it wasn’t threatening. Kwak Soohwan considered smashing him as he approached, but he walked up first and kicked the odd body away. Then, he opened the back door of the jeep and took out spare leather gloves, putting them on his hands. He grabbed the approaching Adam’s head, which was trying to bite him, and slammed it on the ground, shattering it all. Kwak Soohwan flicked his finished cigarette next to him.

He immediately grabbed the guy’s neck and dragged him into the house. Upon seeing Adam, the woman who had been calm all along began to visibly tense.

“You said there’s a savior in that room. Even if I’m bitten by this guy, the savior will save me, right?”

“I… have no doubt in my faith.”

“Impressive.”

Kwak Soohwan laid the struggling Adam on the floor and said without enthusiasm.