Black Badger

"No."

Ye-hyeon answered simply.

"I've never met you in person."

I fell silent.

It took time to suppress the emotion I couldn't quite name. I had no idea why that flat response twisted my insides so much.

I must not have hidden my poor expression well, because Ye-hyeon's gaze softened.

"But it's a good question. If I'd answered yes, things would have wrapped up neatly for you."

He was right.

If I had encountered Ye-hyeon before, it would have confirmed I'd been staying here, and it would have made sense why Jae-yeon specifically mentioned December 26th. It would also have explained why Ye-hyeon had information about me.

But with a no, my speculations circled back to square one.

I felt a bit down. Not because I couldn't unravel the mystery of the message.

I was just disappointed.

"Jae-yeon's reason for hating me has nothing to do with you. He's probably just thinking it's more efficient to screw over two people at once. Hilde, don't get all down about not understanding Jae-yeon."

"Yes. No, it's not that I'm down because of that."

Ever since that day I ran into Ye-hyeon sleeping on the sofa. Ever since he said he'd hand over his sword to me, I'd been hoping for something.

I just...

"I was just hoping that the old me had some connection to you, Commander."

Ye-hyeon looked at me with a surprised face.

Silence settled over the office. It felt like everyone was stunned into speechlessness.

Suddenly, the hum of the computer sounded loud in my ears.

I regretted spilling my true feelings a little.

"What kind of talk is that?"

My mentor broke the silence, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Why would something like that come up in this context?"

"No, it's just... You're a good person, Commander..."

"So why bring that up?"

"Why say that to the kid?"

Ye-hyeon looked flustered as he glanced at Yoon. Meanwhile, Ska chuckled with his arms crossed.

The aide, with his dazzling silver piercing, spoke up, having completely erased the anxiety from his tone.

"It makes sense, so why not. I might think the same—if a forgotten connection turned out to be with Ye-hyeon instead of Jae-yeon."

Yoon snorted.

I stared at Yoon's snort with a sullen look. As we gazed at each other indifferently, the brown-haired man, who had seemed quiet, spoke to me for the first time.

"Rookie, you're getting along okay with Yoon, right?"

Ska burst into laughter.

Ye-hyeon also relaxed his businesslike expression, letting a faint smile slip. I saw Yoon raising an eyebrow at the brown-haired man and answered politely.

"I'm managing with Choi Ami's help."

"I've been too soft on you. You're getting cocky."

"I'm learning a lot under a mentor who's beyond my league."

Ska let out a small laugh at the quick shift in words.

The brown-haired man also wore a faint smile. I watched the people smiling gently, then turned my gaze to the Supreme Commander.

The city outside had grown darker. The view beyond the window looked like it was past midnight. It would have been smart to end it here, but I didn't want to wrap up the conversation yet.

There was one more thing I wanted to ask.

"I'm sorry for dragging this out, Commander. I just have one more question."

"Ask as much as you want. I'll answer as much as I need to."

"Is Jae-yeon a badger?"

The office froze.

The faint smiles lingering on people's lips vanished like ghosts. Even Yoon's face, which had taken my joke in stride, lost its indifference.

Ye-hyeon just stared at me steadily.

"You always hit the nail on the head."

I bowed my head slightly at the quiet response.

"Thank you."

"What do you think?"

The question came back at me. It seemed like he wanted to hear my answer and judge based on that.

Fortunately, I had the answer I'd thought of, so I didn't panic.

"I don't think so."

"Why?"

"You've been talking about Jae-yeon's whereabouts being mysterious so far. Ricardo said badgers are managed like guns with serial numbers. My hiring was already questionable in that context, so I figured a place that handles each employee so thoroughly wouldn't have a malicious, unaccounted-for staff member."

"Spot on."

Ye-hyeon praised me flatly.

I slowly closed and opened my eyes. I didn't think it was some brilliant deduction. It was just facts anyone could figure out with a little thought.

And since becoming a Black Badger, I'd thought a lot about badgers. I'd mull over the stories Ye-hyeon, Ricardo, and Yoon had shared with me—someone who knew nothing—before bed.

That was about the extent of memories I had to mull over anyway.

"So, what do you think Jae-yeon is?"

From here on, it was just a one-sided string of my speculations.

But I couldn't not answer when the top boss at work was asking.

I just spat out what I'd been thinking, honestly.

"Assuming he's human, I think he's an augmented body owner. You said it would be hard for me to escape on my own."

"And?"

"And if that's the case, it means there's someone with an augmented body who's not a Black Badger, but from here on, this is really just wild guessing on my part..."

I tried to organize the thoughts I'd had while people debated where to implant the location tracker.

As I sank into thought, my senses dulled. I rubbed my chin with my hand.

"I think it's one of three cases. First, a rare success in illegal augmented body implantation. Second, there's an official group keeping tabs on Black Badgers, and Jae-yeon belongs to it. Third, this might be me letting my imagination run wild, but aging suspension and superior recovery? It's too tempting. Things humanity has dreamed of forever. So, maybe there's an elite class secretly implanted with augmented bodies, enjoying immortality away from society's eyes..."

"Stop."

The firm voice snapped me back.

My blurred vision sharpened. The distant sounds grew clear again.

I widened my eyes, dazedly taking in the flood of sensations. Silence pounded my ears. The office was dead quiet, like a tomb. No one moved, no one made a sound.

Unconsciously, I lowered the hand that had been stroking my chin.

Ye-hyeon stared at me with an inscrutable expression.

"You went too far."

"...I'm sorry."

"Be careful. Once you leave this office, there are ears everywhere."

I shut my mouth.

My heart started beating faintly. My hands felt strangely numb, so I clenched and unclenched my fists.

For the first time since entering this office, something worried me. I couldn't explain exactly what was making me uneasy.

But if I hadn't completely missed the mark,

If I wasn't just being oblivious,

Then Jae-yeon wasn't the first case or the second,

No matter how he got my contact info, it wouldn't be strange...

"Can I implant a location tracker?"

The Supreme Commander asked in a calm voice.

I blankly stared into the eyes of the refined man before me.

"Yes? Yes. Of course, sir."

"Alright, then let's do that. You probably know this already, but don't tell anyone about what we discussed here."

"Yes."

"Not even Choi Ami or Ricardo."

"Understood."

"Good."

Ye-hyeon lowered his gaze to the desk, as if about to write something.

Then he slowly stood up. I watched in a daze as the Supreme Commander rose from his seat and stepped out from behind the desk. Ska and the brown-haired man followed, standing from their desks.

Were they heading out? It was late.

Should I just go back to my room now?

"Good work."

Ye-hyeon gave Ska brief instructions, then turned to me.

He smiled gently. It reminded me of the sleepy-eyed smile when he'd handed me the banana pudding.

"You're doing well. Impressive."

"...Me? Thank you. I don't know what I did, though."

"Go rest. Sorry for keeping you so long."

I would hear tomorrow's schedule from Yoon. To his soft voice, I just nodded vigorously. And as the three high command members prepared to leave, I stayed frozen in place.

Ye-hyeon gestured for Ska and the brown-haired man to go first. The two seniors said they'd worked hard and headed out of the office. I greeted them as they left and waited obediently. I planned to follow once my mentor went.

As the Supreme Commander stepped away, Yoon moved too. Ye-hyeon's farewell marked the complete end of the meeting.

It was a greeting so intense it blew away all thoughts of Jae-yeon.

"Get better soon. You need to head out of the core."

I squeaked out a "Yes."

*

Hilde returned to his room.

He could hear Samuel grumbling and lecturing. Hilde's cheeky pleas followed in a shameless tone.

Yoon quite liked Samuel. He also enjoyed teasing the white-haired rookie assigned to him. So if nothing was up, he'd have happily watched his cheeky junior get chewed out by Samuel, exchanged a few words with the doctor, and gone home.

But he wasn't in the mood right now.

He stopped as he watched Ye-hyeon walk toward the car.

"Stay inside a moment. I'll smoke one with Aide Ska and be back."

Ye-hyeon paused while opening the passenger door.

He looked at Yoon with wide eyes.

"You're just trying to talk behind my back."

"Yeah. Sharp as ever. Lock the doors and wait in the car."

Ye-hyeon got in the car obediently.

Yoon pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket as he passed the car. He didn't respond to Ye-hyeon's words as Ye-hyeon closed the passenger door.

Ye-hyeon spoke in a low voice.

"Don't worry too much. It won't be as bad as last time."

Instead of answering, Yoon put a cigarette in his mouth.

He climbed the stairs in the corner of the underground parking lot and stepped outside. The city was past midnight. A cool chill brushed his cheek.

In the settled darkness, the flickering cigarette light caught his eye. Yoon cupped his hand against the wind and lit his cigarette.

He inhaled the acrid smoke and walked over to the aide leaning against the building wall.

Ska turned to Yoon as he exhaled smoke.

"Hilde did well."

He said to Yoon.

"I've heard from people he's a good junior, but I didn't know he was that sharp. Raise him right, and he could be one of ours."

"He was never ordinary."

Yoon replied in a rough, dry voice.

"No ordinary human could get tangled with Jae-yeon and survive."

Ska put his cigarette back in his mouth.

The silence was an affirmative. The night wind filled the surroundings. The two smoked in silence for a while. It was a smoking area with little foot traffic even normally. The cigarette embers swayed in the pre-dawn darkness, following the wind's flow.

Ska was the one who spoke first.

"I have no intention of just watching Jae-yeon run wild either."

Yoon turned his head to stare at Ska.

Ska looked down at the cigarette in his hand, then crushed the butt in his fist.

"I'll support the Commander well, so you keep a close eye on Jae-yeon's movements, Yoon."

"Yes."

"Take good care of Hilde too."

Yoon raised one eyebrow.

At the expression like "Why bring that up now?", Ska gave a wry smile.

The aide opened his palm over the outdoor ashtray.

"Anyway, he's a rookie. We don't know his background, but he's likable, and your first disciple too..."

"He'll be out of my hands for a while, so what do you want me to do?"

Yoon replied dryly as he lit a cigarette.

"I have no plans to leave the core."

"Yeah. I figured you wouldn't. We need researchers to watch the core, and people who can stop Jae-yeon. The HR Director will assign suitable ones."

"Choi Ami won't go out with him? Among those who know Hilde's situation, only Sordi and Choi Ami are usable, but Sordi's stuck patrolling inside the core for now."

"Right. Probably Choi Ami, and maybe Walker. Depending on the situation... Richard Green might ask for Hilde, but depending on rotation, Tvain could be assigned. Aki's a possibility too..."

Ska muttered to himself, then slightly furrowed his brow.

After a moment of thought, he expressed sincere pity for the unique rookie.

"He's in for a rough time."

Yoon affirmed with silence.

Silence returned. One cigarette shortened quickly, and another turned to black ash that fell into the ashtray.

No conversation happened until the embers burned out.

Yoon and Ska had always kept a proper distance. They didn't share personal stories, but they never brushed off what the other said.

Finally, Yoon finished his cigarette and walked to the ashtray.

He stubbed it out and said flatly.

"If the greenhorn comes back alive from outside the core, I'll take a good look."

Ska answered with a hearty laugh.