Chapter 70

42. Paradise (3)

“What? A health check-up? What’s that?”

“A medical check.”

“Oh. Is it possible?”

Among my neighbors, the mother and daughter who are snipers are the ones whose health is questionable.

I persuaded her to take a health check-up together.

“Camp Dutchess.”

Rebecca muttered, looking at the old U.S. military base with a sad expression.

“What kind of place is it?”

An air force base that stores tactical nuclear weapons.

That’s the rough information I have.

As soon as the war started, the U.S. military quickly withdrew, recovering strategic assets.

“It’s where my husband was.”

“Your husband?”

“I was in Daegu. My husband was here.”

“Where did your husband go?”

“He probably went to the U.S.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I’m trying to find him online.”

Her eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night, but she looked determined and showed strong will.

She quietly added, holding her daughter’s hand.

“I don’t want to raise a fatherless daughter.”

I understand what she means.

Looking at her, I said sincerely,

“I hope you find your husband.”

Rebecca and her daughter entered the U.S. military base with me.

Now, the base is occupied not by the U.S. military but by Park Chul-ju’s people.

They were quite surprised to see me bringing unfamiliar foreigners.

“What, what is this?”

“Foreigners? But they’re wearing U.S. military uniforms?”

“What about the child?”

Amid the murmurs, a man approached me.

He is Park Chul-ju’s son-in-law, Goo Sung-jun.

“What is this? Who are these people?”

“They are my relatives.”

“Relatives?”

Kim Pil-sung tilted his head, looking at Rebecca.

“Are they really relatives...?”

“She’s my sister-in-law, so she’s my sister-in-law.”

“Shouldn’t we call her a sister-in-law?”

“Oh, I’m a bit international, so I’m not familiar with family relations.”

Goo Sung-jun’s expression suggested he didn’t see the relevance, but he didn’t say it out loud.

I let him think I was ignorant.

“Please come this way.”

Goo Sung-jun led us into the U.S. military underground facility.

The facility was relatively clean and one of the rooms was set up as a decent medical room.

The medical room had a hospital bed, an IV stand, and medical instruments neatly arranged on a silver tray.

Rebecca, who had been somewhat dissatisfied, firmly held her daughter’s hand upon seeing the medical room.

The neatly arranged medical instruments seemed to give her a sense of trust.

“Where is the doctor?”

I asked, and suddenly Goo Sung-jun put on a white coat, turned on the medical lighting, and put on a reflex hammer and stethoscope.

“I’m the doctor.”

Goo Sung-jun showed me his past self on his phone with a wry smile.

He was a university hospital doctor, a professor.

“Let’s start.”

The check-up began.

He drew blood, opened my mouth to touch my tongue with a cold metal, measured my blood pressure and vision, and tapped my knee with a strange hammer.

Goo Sung-jun looked at me with a hint of surprise.

“I heard you live in a harsh environment...”

“I live a life with nature.”

“Is that so? But most people who live in nature end up dying.”

That’s a correct observation.

If I were just thrown into nature, I would die too.

“What about me?”

“You are very healthy. As healthy as our chairman.”

My turn was over.

Next was the mother and daughter snipers.

Rebecca complained a lot, but Goo Sung-jun spoke fluent English and had a talent for calming people down.

I was worried she might make a fuss, but as long as she used English, she didn’t make any mistakes.

Soo, who is uncharacteristically American, had trouble understanding a few of Goo Sung-jun’s difficult terms.

Each time, Rebecca stroked Soo’s head and whispered the meaning in her ear.

It was a nice sight.

I felt I had brought them to a good place.

After Rebecca and her daughter’s check-up, Goo Sung-jun approached me.

“Your sister-in-law and her daughter are relatively healthy. They are average for this era. There are concerns about chronic malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. We’ll know more once the blood test results come in.”

Goo Sung-jun stood up.

“The blood test will take about a day.”

A day.

It feels like it will be a long time.

Pretending to adjust my belt, I casually asked,

“Are you going to Jeju Island with us?”

“Huh?”

He looked at me.

“Are you going to Jeju Island with Chairman?”

“No, I’m not going.”

“But the plane is nice, isn’t it?”

“A Gulfstream. A toy for the world’s wealthy.”

“Who’s flying it?”

“There’s a pilot. Our chairman has a pilot’s license from his younger days, but... I also have a license. A U.S. private pilot’s license.”

Talking about the plane, a smile appeared on Goo Sung-jun’s face.

“Is your wife going with you?”

Goo Sung-jun’s smile faded, and he shook his head.

“She died in the last bombardment. Along with my child.”

He spoke the terrible fact with a face devoid of emotion, making it sound like someone else’s story.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s a reality we can’t avoid. Many people have suffered much worse.”

Goo Sung-jun sighed.

“If you have nowhere to go, ask Kim Pil-sung. He’ll find you a good position.”

“A good position?”

“You know the Legion, right?”

“Of course.”

“They are always looking for skilled hunters. The person in charge is a junior of Kim Pil-sung. You might know each other.”

“A junior?”

“Yes. A woman.”

“What’s her name?”

“I’m not sure. She’s short, around your age, but a bit younger. Definitely not in her early to mid-20s.”

At that moment, a woman entered the examination room.

“Professor, Mr. Kim Pil-sung is looking for you.”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment.”

Goo Sung-jun asked for my understanding and left.

Before leaving, he turned to me and said,

“Oh, the blood test results will be ready tomorrow. Please come back. It’s close by.”

After he left, I joined Rebecca and her daughter.

They looked quite satisfied.

Soo was holding an ice cream, and Rebecca, bending down, took a big bite from her daughter’s ice cream.

Soo tried to scold her in English, but Rebecca, with a mouth full of cold stuff, couldn’t respond properly and clutched her head, possibly due to a brain freeze.

“Mom, stop it.”

After the commotion subsided, the mother and daughter looked at me simultaneously.

“Thanks, Skeleton.”

“Thank you.”

I sent them off first.

They rode their bicycles together, slowly heading towards the green meadow.

Watching them disappear, I fell into thought.

“...Huh.”

Who could the person in charge of the Legion that Goo Sung-jun mentioned be?

Could it be Kim Daram?

Now, she’s out of contact, and I can’t get any news. Even my radio was taken by someone else.

Kim Daram is a good kid.

We got along well, she was quick-witted, and had excellent social skills.

Of course, she has her flaws.

She’s overly concerned with favors.

Especially, she never forgave anyone who wronged her.

The reason she always called Lee Sang-hoon “Mr. Lee” was because he had wronged her.

That grudge never healed, even when they were treated the same at work.

There’s a good chance she joined the Legion.

If she’s alive,

it would be a good thing.

But why?

This chilling feeling.

The object I saw yesterday, which I suspect was a nuclear bomb, is still on my mind.

Most importantly, during the questioning, Goo Sung-jun inadvertently revealed the truth.

When I asked if he was going to Jeju Island, he said yes.

This is completely different from what Ji Young-hee said.

J