Rainbow City

“Are you speaking Russian?”

“This isn’t Russia, is it?”

As he tightened his military bootlaces, he grumbled about the pointless question. However, in the meantime, his body felt excessively heavy, as if his muscles had atrophied. Wondering if the injured areas were still not healed as Commander Cha suggested, he rubbed his chin, feeling the unfamiliar rough texture on his palm.

“Commander Cha, how long have I been out?”

Commander Cha handed Kwak Soohwan lukewarm water. The tightness in his throat made him sip slowly, as Seokhwa often did, not gulping it all at once.

“You’ve been out for a week now.”

A week since the day the jeep crashed, Kwak Soohwan had been lying in bed without coming to his senses. He didn’t even feel hunger, as if his stomach had been completely cut out when the hunger did come. It seemed to be exactly that state right now.

“I’ve been moving your body around during that time, but you need at least another day of rest before we can leave.”

Understood. Kwak Soohwan wiped his face. He opened the wardrobe door and looked at his reflection in the cracked mirror. White bandages wrapped around his body from shoulder to waist, and his facial wounds were almost healed, leaving only faint scars. But his side twisted every time he raised his arm.

It was usually easier for him to heal wounds than for an average person, but if a week had passed and he was still in this condition, it meant the situation was quite serious. With so much blood shed, it felt like his broken ribs had torn through some organs.

“What about my uniform?”

Commander Cha quickly brought a basket from the corner. The blood-soaked uniform was roughly crammed into the old basket. The coat, soaked with blood and not properly dried, emitted a strong smell of blood. Kwak Soohwan took out his phone from the coat’s inner pocket. It was the second item he had brought from the shelter. He turned it on, but the screen remained silent, either discharged or damaged from being soaked in water.

He threw the phone onto the bed and deliberately took a deep breath, still feeling the discomfort. He wanted to ask about Seokhwa, but if there had been any news, Commander Cha would have mentioned it first. Kwak Soohwan just hoped that Choi Hoeon wouldn’t do anything stupid. His vague hopes felt pathetic.

As if to awaken his body’s senses, he moved his arms and legs lightly and went outside the building. Hasan, which bordered the Korean Peninsula, was an uninhabited city. While wild animals roamed freely, there was no shortage of food supply. However, being instinctive animals, Seokhwa couldn’t roam outside freely. So whenever he left his seat, he always looked out the window, gazing outside quietly. He looked up at the small window, but there was no sign of Seokhwa.

Kwak Soohwan doused himself with water drawn from the well. In the distance, the growling sounds of a few wolves searching for prey could be heard. Even to a young animal, I must seem like an easy target. He stepped into a basin and splashed water from head to toe several times. Just when he felt the presence of two wolves right behind him, bang, a gunshot rang out. It was Commander Cha, who had brought a weapon and fired towards the wolves’ direction. Perhaps he wanted to avoid unnecessary killings, so he simply scared them away instead of shooting to kill.

One of the peculiarities that emerged after the Adam virus appeared in the world was the increase in the population of endangered species. Protected species that escaped from zoos found new territories in the mountains, allowing them to be far from the virus infection route. No matter how hungry they were, the animals did not approach species infected by Adam. It was probably a kind of evolutionary instinct, and the ancestors of those wolves were individuals who had moved to Hasan to escape the Adam virus.

“Commander, even if it’s a commander, a wild animal smelling blood is dangerous.”

“Are you afraid of being killed by a wolf?”

Kwak Soohwan began to shave with the soap and razor handed to him by Commander Cha. When he was with Seokhwa in the mountains, he used a sharp blade to shave. Being from Jeju Island and having access to water in the mountains, Seokhwa considered cleanliness as important as eating. Infectious diseases generally spread better in unhygienic conditions. Of course, there were exceptions like the Adam virus.

After scrubbing off the dried blood with soap, he felt like he had shed a layer of fatigue. But every time he thought of Seokhwa, he wanted to destroy everything in his hands out of sheer anxiety. So maybe he hoped the beasts would attack instead. He knew that excitement could lead to mistakes, but lying in bed for a week felt cursed.

“What about the kids?”

“For now, they’ve been placed in areas beyond the reach of the City Guard. Since Choi Hoeon would be most likely to search for the commander, we came here.”

“The ones who helped me, do you know who they are?”

The soldier, who was setting down the gun while on the radio, didn’t remember seeing them before.

“Yes, after arriving at Hasan, the commander’s condition was so severe that I thought we might have to go into Russia.”

Suddenly, the sound of an engine began to be heard through the narrow alley. Kwak Soohwan put on his clothes without drying himself off. When he looked closely at the approaching military jeep, he saw two familiar faces inside.

One was the guy I saved, and the other was the one who saved me. As they got out of the jeep, they were dressed in ordinary shirts and pants.

“Hey, you bastards.”

Though it wasn’t a dialect, a strange tone could be heard from behind them. Even though it was Korean, it had a strong Russian accent. The old man who got out of the back seat even spat out a phlegmy cough.

“The driving’s fucking terrible.”

Most of the swearing old man spouted he picked up from Kwak Soohwan. Kwak Soohwan looked at the old man curiously after shaking off his wet hair.

“Why is the old man here?”

“I found you. Why the hell were you in such a hurry that you had to break your legs and jump down to the City?”

The old man found me?

“But you didn’t come looking for me either.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Thanks to you, I had less work to do.”

old man, who had contributed greatly to vaccine development, didn’t seem drunk or crazy like before. Rather, it seemed like he had developed a vitality, perhaps from developing the resurrection pill.

“What about your doctor friend?”

old man’s direct question caught Commander Cha off guard.

“old man, can you help me for a moment?”

Kwak Soohwan asked dryly. But if he refused, he was ready to break his neck.

“Tsk, stubborn bastard. Who told you to leave without a word in the first place?”

Kwak Soohwan and Seokhwa descending from Vladivostok to Hasan along the Siberian Transcontinental Railway was very sudden to an old man.

The people in Vladivostok wanted Kwak Soohwan and Seokhwa to stay, so they had no choice but to leave without saying goodbye. As soon as they found out they were leaving, an old man followed them, and it had only been a day since he arrived, leading his old body. Kwak Soohwan had expected them to still be in Khasan, but they had already gone to the City and caused quite a stir.

When the old man saw Kwak Soohwan, who had returned with bloody clothes only a few days after leaving Russia, he cursed him hundreds of times.

The old man pulled out a hip flask he had been carrying on his hip and tossed it to Kwak Soohwan. Inside the silver stainless steel bottle, whiskey was halfway filled.

Before Commander Cha could stop him, Kwak Soohwan put the drink in his mouth, rinsed, and then spat it out on the floor.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! You’re throwing away the drink I gave you like that!”

Instead, the strong alcohol smell sobered him up even more. As a result, the pain in his legs became even more vivid. A stapler was embedded in the thigh that had been torn apart by about a hand’s span, and judging by the excessive bleeding, it was the old man’s handiwork.

“Which side are you on?”

Kwak Soohwan pointed his finger at the soldier he had seen just before passing out.

“I’m Captain Jo Woon, from City Infantry 52.”

He clicked his heels together and saluted, bringing his hand up to his forehead.

“You must have had a reason to save me. The guy next to you must have been dragged all the way here by his neck.”

As the sun began to set, Kwak Soohwan pointed inside the building.

“Come on in for now.”

Even now, with wolves and bears appearing at night, there was enough trouble as it was. As they climbed the stairs to the third floor where Seokhwa had been staying, a few insects were stuck to the stairwell wall.

With transparent wings and a metallic-colored body underneath, they shimmered faintly when they caught the light. Without knowing what it was, Seokhwa had once caught one without fear. He had occasionally startled me with his curiosity. It felt like a test of reason to be brought to the building where Seokhwa had been living along with Commander Cha.

Suddenly, the old man plucked one of the insects stuck to the wall, turned it around, and put it in his mouth. As the crunching sound echoed, the faces of the two soldiers were filled with astonishment. Fortunately, Commander Cha, who was busy checking the door, didn’t see it, which might have been a blessing.

“Hmph, it seems like the City folks have become well-fed. Sometimes you need things like this, whether it’s food or not.”

As he spoke, he grabbed another one and tried to put it in his mouth. The soldier who identified himself as Jo Woon grabbed the old man’s wrist.

“It’s a mosigumja-namsaengi beetle. We don’t need food right now, so please let it go.”

“What?”

“You’re not hungry, are you?”

It was a name so difficult to remember that it seemed to be a bug that even had an insect obsession. But Kwak Soohwan remembered the name, mosigumja-namseangi beetle, firmly in his mind. He planned to tell Seokhwa excitedly that the insect had such a name when he met him.

As soon as they entered the room, Kwak Soohwan threw the old man a cellphone.

“The triumph of civilization! Ah, it’s been a while.”

“Can you fix it if it doesn’t turn on?”

“If you open it, you’ll find out. After all, when there were problems with human organs, they had to be opened up to solve the problem, right? Later, they even opened up to the cells, but that’s another story.”

The old man looked around the cellphone as if it were fascinating. Meanwhile, Kwak Soohwan suddenly took off his pants and sat down in his briefs. He looked at the two soldiers as he removed the stapler embedded in his buttock.

“Thank you.”

Kwak Soohwan expressed his sincere gratitude to Jo Woon.

“No, I just did what I had to do.”

“Wherever in the world is there something you have to do? You’ve become a traitor to the City that fed and raised you. Don’t you regret it?”

“I… I wasn’t from the City.”

Jo Woon seemed a little disappointed.

“Then?”

After checking the door and returning, Commander Cha handed over bandages this time.

“Aren’t these the people the commander recommended? Those who grow when watered will grow, and those who don’t will be left alone.”

As flesh came out with the stone, Kwak Soohwan made a grimace.

There were times when I sent orphaned children to learning centers during the Adam purge, and Jo Woon seemed to be one of them. To avoid unnecessary suspicion from the Masters, I always recommended another soldier as the recommender when sending orphans to the center. Now that I think about it, he must be in his mid-twenties. If we had met when he was in his teens, he might not have remembered.

“Do you really not remember? Didn’t you give him the name?”

“Me?”

Kwak Soohwan glanced fiercely as if wondering if the guy might be a spy. It was something completely forgotten. Nevertheless, his hands did not stop, and he tightly wrapped bandages around his thigh from which he had removed the staple.

“You told me to become like Jo Jarong…”

At that moment, Kwak Soohwan burst into laughter. It seemed to be around the time when he was deeply immersed in reading the Three Kingdoms. Since he couldn’t give him the name Jo Jarong, he gave him his real name.

“I guess it’s hard to recognize. You’ve grown a lot.”

He was a guy who couldn’t leave the room because of his mutated parents and was only discovered on the verge of death. Although he was in his late teens, he couldn’t eat properly and had the physique of an elementary school student. He wasn’t even registered as a citizen of the City, so he remembered sending himself to the learning center with his own money. At that time, he recalled his young self and acted capriciously.

“What are you going to do? If you’re going back to the City, then go.”

Kwak Soohwan gestured at the soldier who stood silently. Judging by his previous fall, his injured ankle didn’t seem to have healed completely, and he limped with every step.

“…Is there really no Allied Forces?”

The old man, who was dismantling the phone, suddenly burst into laughter.

“You ignorant soldiers! When did the Allied Forces disappear!”

Major Kim couldn’t easily accept the truth, having been indoctrinated by the Rainbow City’s education since birth. It might have seemed more plausible that his girlfriend was actually a man, or that his parents were actually enemies who killed his real parents.

“Even if you know the truth, if you pretend not to, life in the City is much easier. So it doesn’t matter if you go back.”

Major Kim, who had been captured in a state of semi-consciousness, had thought about all sorts of things. He had even tried to go back to the City when he had the chance, but he couldn’t be sure if the military would let him go safely. Having missed taking Kwak Soohwan into custody, he could even be blamed for being a rebel and cover up the military’s mistake.

“Was the vaccine… really real?”

“Yeah, get lost, you idiot. You’re too curious for your own good. Are you a dog’s meal?”

In the few days he hadn’t seen him, the old man’s swearing had evolved even further. I realized once again that among the old man’s many flaws, the most unbearable one was his loudness. Moreover, he insisted that he had learned most of his swearing from me, but I had never used such language. Normally, I would have said something, but I didn’t have the luxury to do so now. Kwak Soohwan focused on the phone the old man was holding.

“So, why did the City lie? Why did the Masters… the Generals…”

Major Kim stuttered like a malfunctioning machine due to overload. The old man threw his socks towards Major Kim.

“You idiot, what’s the big deal? It’s because of their own selfishness and superiority complex. People go crazy over power and wealth just as much as they make people look up to them. Once you get a taste of it, you won’t struggle to go down. How can you bear becoming ordinary when everyone used to look up to you? It’s better to kill yourself or become a monster. Well, isn’t the current City full of people who have become monsters?”

While busy talking, the old man didn’t stop his hands either. He dismantled the phone, blew on the chip, and even put it in his mouth.

“Although the old man here was a City person in appearance, why are you in Russia?”

Commander Cha, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked.

“Me? If you think about it, I was also a City person. After the collapse of the Allied Forces, I came over to Russia to settle down behind the City. Originally, I was immune, so I didn’t care whether it was Adam or whatever. But well. This is something both Kwak and Park know.”

Kwak Soohwan approached the old man and sequentially reassembled the dismantled phone.

Although the old man was an accomplice, the only person in the world I trusted completely was Seokhwa. Since I was watching the dismantling process, there was no difficulty in reassembling it. Apparently, blood had seeped into the machine, causing it to malfunction. When Kwak Soohwan turned on the power, the phone began to light up.

“Hey, Kwak. Why would I be immune to the Adam virus?”

To unlock it, you had to press six digits of the password. While trying to guess what the second had set as the password value, I listened to the old man’s words with one ear and let them out the other.

“I’m also a doctor like Park and I’m from Jeju Island.”

The old man revealed his yellow teeth and laughed.

“Don’t you guys know? The monsters created by the City’s doctors are his.”

***

He knew that he shouldn’t tilt his head back when blood came out of his nose, but he couldn’t help it. Even when he tried to force himself to stand up, he collapsed and fell over. The shirt was soaked with blood like a waterfall flowing down. The bright red blood from his nose flowed back into his throat and sometimes even entered through his mouth.

“Huuk….”

With a sudden motion, he shook his head, and the shirt was soaked with blood, flowing down like a waterfall. He couldn’t close his mouth, and the thick blood flowed out once again from his loosely open lips.

“Haah….”

He found it difficult to focus his eyes. With a gulp, as the blood caught in his throat, he coughed. The red blood splattered on the shirt in front of his eyes, gradually spreading.

“Seokhwa.”

The only person who would call him affectionately was Kwak Soohwan.

Although Seokhwa disliked being addressed as such, only the sound of gurgling blood leaking from his throat came out. Choi Hoeon wiped Seokhwa’s lips and nose with a white cloth. Somehow, he felt his hands trembling. He wanted to hold onto the person in front of him, dispersing the pain, but he only gripped the armrest of the chair until his hands turned white. His vision became blurry as if someone was taking away his sight. Suddenly, Seokhwa vomited blood again.

“Why is this happening?”

Choi Hoeon seemed perplexed, as if this couldn’t be happening. Despite receiving a red blood cell transfusion, Seokhwa was still pouring out more blood. As his pupils rolled back and his head tilted back, Choi Hoeon quickly lowered Seokhwa’s head.

Pressing Seokhwa’s nose with his thumb and forefinger, Choi Hoeon inserted his fingers into Seokhwa’s mouth, which was partially closed, to make him spit out the blood pooling in his throat. Seokhwa’s body felt damp as if it had just run through a downpour. But the fever seemed to be so high that it was as if he had just come out of a sauna. The thought that he could die like this made Choi Hoeon face the frightening emotion for the first time in his life.

He undressed Seokhwa completely and laid him in the bathtub filled with ice. Although Seokhwa’s lips cracked instantly, the blood flowing out decreased compared to before. Choi Hoeon sat on the edge of the bathtub and held Seokhwa’s hand. Bringing his weak hand to his cheek, Choi Hoeon looked down at Seokhwa. Seokhwa was his only brother, his savior, and the greatest legacy left by his parents.

, someone knocked on the bathroom door. Choi Hoeon pulled Seokhwa out as if comforting a child. He made his constantly tilting head lean against his shoulder. Blood was still flowing slightly from his nose. The fever, which had been so high that it could melt the ice in an instant, had now decreased to Choi Hoeon’s body temperature.

“Come in.”

Yoo Jungkyung, dressed in uniform, opened the bathroom door, visibly startled. It was because of Seokhwa’s appearance, which seemed almost dead with no trace of color. She seemed to have become an investigator, observing something she shouldn’t have seen.

“Master, I’ve found and dealt with all those who received the vaccine.”

“And what about Major Lee Chaeyoon and Major Yang Sanghoon?”

“They haven’t shown any unusual movements.”

“Well, then were Cho Woon and Major Kim Hoil among those implanted by Major Kwak Soohwan?”

When Choi Hoeon formed the elite forces, he checked everyone’s personal information, but there were no soldiers among them who had contact with Kwak Soohwan.

Or perhaps Kwak Soohwan had prepared a bigger plan than expected for a long time. Or maybe he was threatened by Kwak Soohwan and sent a false radio message before dying…. The reason for leaving all possibilities open was because of the tracking chips implanted in the Majors’ bodies. Their signals were cut off around Yeoncheon, Gangwon Province, not the bunker where Second was located. That story also meant that they had gone beyond the jurisdiction of the City.

“What about Doctor… Is he… alright?”

To Yoo Jungkyung, he seemed almost like a corpse.

“It’s nothing serious. He just had a reaction to the blood transfusion.”

Choi Hoeon brushed Seokhwa’s hair back. Then he put Seokhwa’s feverish body back in the bathtub. Yoo Jungkyung took a step back for a moment. Seokhwa’s face was covered in blood like someone who had fallen into a pool and been pulled out. Choi Hoeon began to wipe Seokhwa’s face meticulously with a wet towel and instead of telling her to leave, he gestured with his chin.

“Master, may I make a suggestion?”

“Go ahead.”

Choi Hoeon’s touch was unusually gentle, as if washing a cherished doll.

Ever since seeing Seokhwa, Yoo Jungkyung had been experiencing discomfort in his fingers. Although it had been a long time since Kwak Soohwan had messed them up, they were still twisted enough to restrict movement. Now that the Master’s elite unit had missed Kwak Soohwan, it was Yoo Jungkyung’s chance.

“May I kill Major Kwak Soohwan?”

“Kill Major Kwak Soohwan?”

Choi Hoeon, who had been unresponsive the whole time, showed interest.

“If you wish, I will capture him alive and bring him here. But if I bring Major Kwak Soohwan here alive, please promise me a position as a controller.”

Ah, interesting.

Choi Hoeon muttered with a tone of complete disinterest.

“Major Yoo is in City Class A, right?”

“Yes, but I believe that in real combat, the brain is more important. If the Master allows it, I can take the elite forces and…”

“Does Major Kwak Soohwan seem inferior to Major Yoo?”

This time, it seemed genuinely amusing.

“He’s just a strong, ignorant fellow. A lawless criminal who doesn’t even follow the rules of engagement.”

“Then Major Yoo won’t be able to capture Major Kwak Soohwan.”

“Excuse me?”

“How do you plan to win against an enemy you don’t know?”

The end of the bandage was protruding from under the rolled-up sleeve. Choi Hoeon grabbed it and secured it again. Seokhwa’s arm, which had been wounded by a gunshot, was still in the process of healing.

“Go out.”

Yoo Jungkyung hesitated to say more and only saluted before turning away. Since being captured and sent to the Gwacheon branch with Kwak Soohwan holding her by the collar, she had given up on promotion halfway, but that was how human affairs went. That clever Kwak Soohwan had become a wanted criminal. Thanks to that, Yoo Jungkyung was able to return to Yeouido and handle all sorts of dirty work for the current Master.

Just a while ago, he thought Seokhwa, who had been captured, would be tortured or executed, but now he had lost his appetite. Was he treating him similarly to how Kwak Soohwan used to? No, perhaps he had been treated as an experimental subject, considering the amount of blood pouring out of his whole body. There were rumors that Dr. Seokhwa was an immune body, according to what he heard.

It was Seokhwa, whom they called their savior, who spread the vaccine in the Eden Garden North Branch.

“You’re doing something pointless.”

Yoo Jungkyung lit a cigarette only after leaving the top floor of the Yeouido Shelter. Vaccines were things that shouldn’t appear in this world. Even a three-year-old would wet himself just by seeing a uniform, but who cares, there shouldn’t be anyone daring to make fun of the military with vaccines.

Yoo Jungkyung sharpened his fist, which wasn’t gripping properly.

***

Although his body felt like it was burning, the skin of the person he was touching felt cool. Seokhwa wanted to soothe his body with that familiar body temperature. But he couldn’t move a finger, couldn’t even open his eyes. Only his sense of smell remained sensitive. A heavy scent wafted from the skin touching his nose. The artificial scent was different from his own scent that I knew. Seokhwa consciously moved his body away from the other person to distance himself. He still couldn’t move as if pressed by scissors.