The Returner

"What are you talking about?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo continued on in a puzzled voice.

The thing was, though, a person dumb enough not to immediately figure out what the Commander General was saying would never be able to hold on to their position of power.

Even then, the sole reason why he pretended to not understand was because North Korea"s thin ice sheet-like political world. As befitting a sly, wily fox who survived such a treacherous landscape, he was trying to shut out the potential headache at its source.

"It"s as the words imply, comrade."

"Didn"t I ask you what they mean?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo now urged on with an annoyed voice next.

The Commander General swallowed back his dry saliva. Just one wrong word here, and everything would come crashing down. He couldn"t even guarantee that he won"t get dragged away to the State Security Department and get branded as a reactionary.

‘I gotta be careful here."

"Honestly speaking, what does someone like me know? We simply follow the commands of our glorious Comrade Chairman, that"s all."

"What did he say, then?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"During the last party caucus, our dear Comrade Chairman told us to learn from those Yankee regional hegemony seekers if there is something to learn."

"That he did." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Since that"s the case, I"m merely suggesting that we simply copy those b*stards" response tactics. Didn"t the Chinese also call South Joseon and ask for their help?"

"Did you just say South Joseon?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Clear droplets of sweat formed on the General"s forehead.

"For the sake of the continued welfare of our Democratic People"s Republic, shouldn"t we use them appropriately?"

"Use them appropriately, is it?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo raised his head, clearly intrigued by the idea.

"That"s correct, comrade. Those fools always harp on anxiously about how we"re all one people and other nonsense like that, don"t they? So, we lead them on by saying, let"s fight together as one people for real."

"H-mm…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo nodded his head.

It was a commendable choice of words, saying that they should fight together as one people - the North"s pride wouldn"t be damaged with that, for sure.

"Still, will those shameless selfish capitalist fools come and fight with us? And, if we were to fight alongside someone else, we should call China or Russia instead. Why should we talk to the South Joseon b*stards?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The facial muscles of the Commander General twitched.

Did this man ask that because he really didn"t know?

"Comrade Chairman of the Standing Committee. Both China and Russia call South Joseon if something happens to them."

"What are you talking about??" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The General quietly stared at Jeong Byeong-Seo.

Could it be that this guy really didn"t know?

This man, Jeong Byeong-Seo, was sometimes referred to as the dog of Kim Il-Sung, for his incredible loyalty resembling that of a dog towards the three generations of the Kim family. Everyone knew that the older generations of high-ranking leaders from the Workers" Party were hard-headed fools, but still, how was it possible for him to hold onto the position of ‘Chairman of the Standing Committee" without knowing a thing about the current state of international relations?

"Well, there is a man named Rhee Ji-Hyuk in South Joseon, you see?"

"Rhee Ji-Hyuk?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"That"s correct, comrade."

"And who the h.e.l.l is this Rhee Ji-Hyuk?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The General spat out a lengthy groan.

It was unimaginable to groan in front of the Chairman of the Standing Committee, but at least in this very moment, he simply couldn"t help it.

"He"s the number one ability user in South Joseon. The rumour goes that he"s a seriously incredible individual."

"Are you suggesting that we reach out to South Joseon just because of that one man? Are you mad?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Comrade Chairman of the Standing Committee. Rather than getting agitated, I suggest that you give the Chinese a call first. Didn"t Rhee Ji-Hyuk show up to help when a giant monster appeared and caused all sorts of mayhem in China?"

"Are you telling me the truth?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"We"re not in a situation where I can freely lie to you, comrade. The truth would be exposed with one phone call, so I"m not crazy enough to mutter a lie to you."

"Well, that"s true…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo tilted his head.

China requested a.s.sistance from South Joseon?

According to his notion of the world, China was a superpower, while South Joseon was, while moderately well-off, a va.s.sal state of the Yankees that always was too busy sucking up to their paymasters.

Yet, China requested help from such South Joseon?

Just because of that b*stard named Rhee Ji-Hyuk?

"Who the h.e.l.l is this Rhee Ji-Hyuk, really?" (Rhee Ji-Hyuk)

"I already told you. He"s the number one ability user in South Joseon. No, make that undisputed under the heavens."

"Are you telling me that the greatest ability user in existence is currently living in South Joseon?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"That"s correct, comrade."

Jeong Byeong-Seo suddenly felt weirded out.

He felt somewhat content, but at the same time, he felt dissatisfied and his stomach ached. While feeling such a complicated mess of emotions, he opened his mouth.

"Is that confirmed already?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Have you been lied to all your life? If I was wrong, then you can throw me inside the re-education centre."

"M-mm….." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

If he was prepared to go that far, then it must"ve been true.

"How come I haven"t heard anything about this matter?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Why are you asking me that, comrade?"

"Mm, well, fine. Got it. So, let"s see. If that Rhee Ji-Hyuk shows up, then this situation will be resolved for sure?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"I heard that there"s nothing he can"t do. So much so that when that crisis broke out in America, the Yankees hounded the South Joseon fools all day long while asking for Rhee Ji-Hyuk this and Rhee Ji-Hyuk that."

"Huhuh. The more I hear it, the stranger it gets." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo slowly shook his head.

"Okay, so what you"re saying is, the best option available for us is to work together with South Joseon and defeat the monsters, is that it?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"That"s correct, comrade."

"What are your thoughts, comrades?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Others quietly observing Jeong Byeong-Seo"s moods until then finally chimed in.

"From what I hear, that comrade from South Joseon is seriously powerful, sir."

"He"s also famous in China, too."

"It"s just that we weren"t allowed to bring it up but well, he must be the most famous person in the whole world right now."

Jeong Byeong-Seo replied in sheer dumbfoundedness.

"What the h.e.l.l? You all knew?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"We hear his name way too many times when we"re overseas, so it"s impossible not to know about him, you see."

"Hmm, fine. Got it." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo nodded his head.

If the opinions of everyone else aligned with the Commander General"s, then the skillset of this Rhee Ji-Hyuk must be a guaranteed thing, at least.

"However…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo spoke in a slightly-unconvinced tone of voice.

"Regardless of what, wouldn"t us reaching out to South Joseon"s ability user be seen as an admission of our inability to deal with this crisis? What will other countries think of us, then?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"It"s not necessarily true that they"ll think of us in a negative way. Well, didn"t China also request for a.s.sistance? It"s definitely not a shameful matter."

"How can us reaching out to South Joseon not be a shameful matter?!" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The General Chief of Staff lowered his head and inwardly clicked his tongue.

This d*mn senile fool was throwing a tantrum again.

This guy, he knew there was no other way, yet just in case things went wrong, he was busy creating an exit for himself and in the process, didn"t even hesitate to throw everyone else under the bus. But then again, he"d been doing this for the past five decades or so, and that was precisely the reason why he managed to survive this hostile environment.

"In that case, why don"t we ask Comrade Chairman?"

"You want to bother Comrade Chairman with something like this? Have you gone insane??" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Then….?"

"He doesn"t even have enough time to look after his health while leading our glorious nation, yet you wish to burden our dear Comrade Chairman with matters like this one, too?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"I was being an inconsiderate fool. Please forgive me."

The General gritted his teeth inwardly.

‘You scheming geezer."

He probably didn"t want to be the one at the pointy end of Comrade Chairman"s ire when this subject were to be brought up. This geezer made it this far and became the one referred to as Comrade Chairman"s right hand man by relying on this very tactic, after all.

‘It"s not the right hand, but a dog, though."

"Realistically speaking, defending Pyongyang will be difficult without this method."

"Are you implying that our glorious North Korean People"s Army can"t handle some weak monsters? You think you"re making any sense right now?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"We can deal with them, sure."

"Okay, what then?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The General drove the final nail in.

"However, if our defensive line is breached in an unlikely scenario and those monsters invade Pyongyang and then, proceed to defile our k.u.msusan Palace of the Sun…."

"You stupid son of a b*tch! What the h.e.l.l are you even saying?! Don"t you dare run off your piehole!" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Even if it"s unlikely, all of our heads will literally roll if something like that happens, comrade. You know this."

"You stinking…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo panted like an enraged bull.

However, the Commander General didn"t miss the fact that Jeong Byeong-Soo"s eyes were trembling ever so slightly amidst all that rising steam.

"Comrade Chairman of the Standing Committee."

"……."

"Objectively speaking, we can"t stop the monsters. If the South Joseon fools don"t help us, we"ll all be purged before they even reach Pyongyang. Shouldn"t we try to survive at any cost?"

"M-m-mm…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

In the end, Jeong Byeong-Soo had no choice but to nod his head.

The grave sin of the k.u.msusan Palace of the Sun being defiled by the monsters couldn"t be washed away with his death. In the Democratic People"s Republic, the failure to defend the k.u.msusan was a crime that couldn"t be forgiven even if hundreds upon hundreds were beheaded.

"….Contact them." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"You mean, South Joseon, comrade?"

"This….." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

Jeong Byeong-Seo gritted his teeth before nodding his head.

"That"s right. Contact South Joseon." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"You"ve made the courageous decision, comrade."

The General stood up and began clapping his hands. That prompted the others to stand and clap, as well.

‘This d*mn b*stard….." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

With this, the responsible party for the go-ahead to contact South Joseon had been set as Jeong Byeong-Seo. He too was acutely aware of this fact so he began gritting his teeth.

‘Once this matter"s settled, I"ll make sure to purge all of you lot."

No one knew of his inner pledge at that moment, of course.

"By the way…." (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Yes, comrade?"

"Where is that comrade Rhee Ji-Hyuk right now?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

"Uh…."

The Commander General tilted his head and replied.

"Well, he"s a comrade from South Joseon, so shouldn"t he be in South Joseon right now?"

"You think so?" (Jeong Byeong-Seo)

The General quietly shut his mouth.

With this, Jeong Byeong-Seo was handed all responsibility for attracting Yi Ji-Hyuk here.

If it was known at a later stage that Yi Ji-Hyuk was responsible for driving all those monsters into North Korea in the first place, then Jeong Byeong-Seo would be met with a truly enormous level of sh*tstorm.

Well, it was the way of North Koreans to keep their mouths shut when things were going well, but start pouncing and biting like a pack of wild dogs under the pretext of finding faults when everything was over. That"s how they operated.

‘Old man, you"ve been at this for far too long."

The General Chief of Staff grinned in a slimy way.

"My burgers!" (Erukana)

Erukana smiled in happiness as she stared at the pile of burgers in front of her. That smile was so seductive that Choi Jeong-Hoon momentarily lost his bearings once more.

‘Oops!!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

A huge mistake!

He quickly placed his hand behind his back to protect himself. A back smash should be coming soon, so….

"….Ng?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Why wasn"t there any impact?

Smack!

"Keuk." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

It was then, h.e.l.lish pain suddenly tore through Choi Jeong-Hoon"s shin.

"Keuh-euh-euhk…" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

He couldn"t win against this severe, breathless pain and while grabbing onto the table, he doubled over.

"Oh, my? You must be feeling tired." (Seo Ah-Young)

"Keuh…." (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Tears welled up in Choi Jeong-Hoon"s eyes.

She had accurately attacked his shin with her high heel.

"What"s the matter with this ahjussi now?" (Jeong Hae-Min)

"Dunno?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk and Jeong Hae-Min, oblivious to it all, tilted their heads in puzzlement. Seeing a dude suddenly double over crying while holding onto the table made them wonder if he was recalling his failed first love or something.

"Darling, this tastes so good." (Erukana)

"I know." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"Try it! Try! Darling." (Erukana)

"….You enjoy yourself first, okay?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

"There, say ah~~." (Erukana)

Burgers rushed into his mouth so he tried to dodge them, but in the end, he couldn"t win.

What a strange feeling this was, Yi Ji-Hyuk thought.

She certainly was looking out for him, sure, but….

Yi Ji-Hyuk knew how big the display of affection this was when someone was feeding you their favourite food first. What b.u.mmed him out though, was the method of affection, and the person expressing it just so happened to be Erukana.

The plus, and also very scary, point about her was that she couldn"t wait to treat him grandly even after seeing each other"s mug for a thousand years when his mother had already grown sick and tired of his antics in a few weeks.

"By the way, is it okay for us to be here?" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon finally managed to raise his head and asked, sounding anxious in the process.

"Well…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk dug his ear and replied.

"They"ll call us if things get hectic." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It wasn"t as if ‘roaming" on their phones was for show only, anyway.

Choi Jeong-Hoon dazedly stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.

‘Didn"t you make that mess in the first place?!" (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Yet you even hopped over to America just to eat a d*mn burger!

But…. It tastes good! (Choi Jeong-Hoon"s inner monologue)

Just as Choi Jeong-Hoon was moved to tears by the exquisite taste of the triple cheese burger in his mouth, his phone began ringing violently.

< 293.="" who="" the="" h.e.l.l="" is="" rhee="" ji-hyuk?="" -3=""> Fin.