GB 16

“Sniff. Sob.” Haero sniffled as he crinkled the hamburger wrapper.

Yoon Moo-hwa, who had been drinking coffee with his chin resting on his hand, reached out and unwrapped it for Haero. At the same time, Haero continued to sob pitifully.

Seeing how neatly Yoon Moo-hwa had unwrapped it compared to him, Haero felt pathetic, wondering if he couldn’t even do this. So he closed his eyes, whimpering, and started pulling at the vegetables peeking out from the bun.

“Hey, what are you doing!” A startled Yoon Moo-hwa raised his voice louder than ever before.

Caught off guard by having his wrist grabbed and hearing the loud voice, Haero stared blankly at Yoon Moo-hwa before bursting into full-blown tears.

The customers in the fast-food restaurant, mostly families of military personnel or those related to the military, all turned their attention to Yoon Moo-hwa and Haero. Some even recognized Yoon Moo-hwa. 

Yoon Moo-hwa sighed awkwardly  and signaled with his hand for those who were about to stand up to skip the salute, then sat down next to Haero.

“You should eat everything, not be picky.” A small sigh could be heard in Yoon Moo-hwa’s muttering voice.

* * *

After learning that hamburgers should be bitten into all at once, Haero got hiccups and couldn’t eat for a while. 

Yoon Moo-hwa, worried that the bun might have gotten soggy, asked if he should buy a new one, but Haero shook his head.

Even if it was soggy, the bun was delicious. After crying, Haero felt awkward and embarrassed, and since crying and expressing emotions had taken so much energy, Haero was very hungry.

After eating half of the hamburger, Haero tried to express his feelings with his limited vocabulary, “I was taught by the adults that all navy people are monsters. That they’re scary and we should never get close to them.”

Yoon Moo-hwa smiled bitterly. It was an explanation tailored for children, but still, wasn’t it too mean and black-and-white? Even the military doesn’t use such extreme ideological education these days.

“But I’ve seen it now. Since I’ve seen that it’s not true, can’t I think that all navy people will be like Yoon Moo-hwa even after I go back to the adults? Then there won’t be any need to fight.”

Even if you pretend to be an adult, even if you might swim better than most adults, you’re still a child, and even haven’t received any formal education at that.

Yoon Moo-hwa’s long fingers slowly tapped on the table.

Haero is smart and precocious, but at the same time frustratingly innocent, making him difficult to deal with.

How can I easily explain that I’ve captured all those adults of yours and that piracy is a serious crime under international law?

“No, I’m not saying I’ll go back. It’s not that,” Haero said dejectedly, unaware of Yoon Moo-hwa’s deep contemplation.

Then, alternating his gaze between the half-eaten hamburger and Yoon Moo-hwa, Haero finally asked his honest question, not knowing how else to express it, “But why do you talk like that…?”

“Pfft!”

Laughter erupted from behind Haero. Yoon Moo-hwa with his eyes widening at Haero’s innocent question, turned to see two familiar figures attempting to suppress their amusement.

Haero looked back and forth between two people behind him and Yoon Moo-hwa with confused expressions because of Yoon Moo-hwa unfamiliar expressions.

“Lieutenant Gu Ye-jin, Sergeant Seon Ik-hyeon. What a coincidence to meet you here.”

In a monotone voice devoid of any pleasure or surprise, Seon Ik-hyeon coughed and stood up. Then, with a grin, he saluted, “Sergeant Seon Ik-hyeon. Victory!”

Haero hesitated before finally getting down from his chair to stand beside Yoon Moo-hwa. Only then did he realize how big and tall the saluting man was. When their eyes met, that man winked at Haero.

“Hey there, kid. We meet again.” Lieutenant Gu waved her hand lightly.

Swallowing a sigh, Yoon Moo-hwa took Haero’s hand and introduced Seon Ik-hyeon.

“This is Seon Ik-hyeon.”

What should he say? He’s a friend but not a classmate, and not from the Naval Academy either.

After a moment’s thought, Yoon Moo-hwa explained in his still gruff manner, “He’s my sidekick.”

Lieutenant Gu burst into laughter again and Seon Ik-hyeon cheerfully responded, “Hi? I’m Ik-hyeon, the biggest sidekick here.”

* * *

The two ended up sharing a table with these unexpected visitors.

Lieutenant Gu and Yoon Moo-hwa began a serious conversation, and naturally, Haero started playing with Seon Ik-hyeon.

Seon Ik-hyeon had a friendly personality and cheerful sociability. Above all, he had a big thing in common with Haero. Seon Ik-hyeon rolled up his sleeve to show his forearm. There was a crudely drawn dagger tattoo.

“I’m also from a pirate island.”

Haero’s eyes widened. “How did you know I’m from a pirate island?”

Yoon Moo-hwa raised an eyebrow when Haero’s formal speech reached his ears. Hearing that, it seemed Haero could use formal speech when that kid wanted to, but didn’t use it with him, probably because of their first meeting. 

Yoon Moo-hwa feels that it wasn’t unpleasant, just interesting. He turned his attention back to his discussion with Lieutenant Gu.

“There were some rumors. That Yoon Moo-hwa brought a child, even ready to face rebellion.”

Yoon Moo-hwa couldn’t ignore it anymore, so he turned his attention again while chewing on ice as he answered coolly, “It’s not rebellion.”

“Barging into the admiral’s office isn’t rebellion?”

Despite Seon Ik-hyeon’s teasing, Yoon Moo-hwa calmly corrected, “It’s a family meeting.”

“That’s one intense family meeting.” Seon Ik-hyeon, who had been joking, rolled down his sleeve again. “Many people cover this up, but I just leave it. I want to show that even those from pirate backgrounds can live well.”

“Do people from pirate backgrounds usually not live well?”

“There’s still some discrimination, especially on the base.”

Since most people relied heavily on sea life, pirates were public enemies. The distance to the sea had become incomparably closer before and after the Great Flood. Piracy was now a close and disgusting crime, like drunk driving.

“Not all of them have tattoos like this, but most pirates use this method to distinguish their group from others.”

Sadly, this branding also had the effect of making people return even if they escaped, or preventing them from thinking about escaping in the first place.

But Seon Ik-hyeon hid these dirty adult matters and gently asked Haero, “Can I see yours too?”

Haero glanced at Yoon Moo-hwa, who was holding his almost empty cup and looking at him. A single blink seemed to mean it was okay, so Haero carefully lowered the neck of his clothes.

Seon Ik-hyeon glanced beyond and nodded. “Maybe our hometowns were close to each other.”

Seon Ik-hyeon, who had joined the military through special recruitment, was in charge of education and had been classifying and organizing pirates with upper body tattoos. Judging by the tattoo location on the arm and shoulder, and on the same side, they were likely from neighboring islands.

Seon Ik-hyeon showed a sea map that was still being updated and would take a long time to be fully constructed. When he pointed to and enlarged one area, it didn’t increase in resolution beyond a certain point. The analysis was incomplete. “This sea is where I came from and I think you might have come from here, a bit further away. Is that right, Lieutenant Yoon?”

Yoon Moo-hwa answered without looking, “It’s military classified information.”

“No, it’s not.” Seon Ik-hyeon giggled.

Haero found it hard to understand their conversation and  just stared at the map with wide eyes. “Was I here?”

“Not too far from here.”

“Can you zoom in more? Can you see people inside?”

Seon Ik-hyeon shook his head. “We haven’t fully figured it out yet. So we can’t zoom in too much. Islands appear and disappear every day. Sometimes an island that wasn’t there during the day appears at night. It’s not a ghost island, it’s because of the tides.”

Many pirates hid on these so-called ghost islands, even though they weren’t actually ghostly. Taking advantage of the difficulty for naval ships to harbor, they lived on small islands and hid in the winding mangrove coasts, often escaping even when they seemed caught.

Also, the constant emergence of new plundering methods using these unpredictable sea conditions was a problem. For example, some would disguise barges as reefs, send distress signals, and then raid approaching fishing or merchant ships. This was a particularly troublesome method for the navy, who couldn’t ignore distress signals.

“There are also many uninhabited islands. Islands without people, I mean. So I’m not sure exactly where you came from. I don’t know the details of how you met Lieutenant Yoon, but it’s a very, very rare occurrence. Almost a miracle.”

Yoon Moo-hwa agreed with that statement.

Even with the high-speed boat half-destroyed, it had somehow drifted to an inhabited island, and he had survived, even been found by Haero, hidden, and then escaped. It was impossible without a considerable miracle. Moreover, if he hadn’t been the admiral’s only son, he wouldn’t have been rescued. Haero might not know, but even eating hamburgers leisurely here was actually a miracle.

“Nothing in life is easy, but if things ever feel particularly tough, feel free to contact me anytime. The lieutenant will teach you how to contact me.” Seon Ik-hyeon said confidently while thumping his chest.

Yoon Moo-hwa neither confirmed nor denied. He just looked at the back of Haero’s small head as he stared intently at the sea map.

Haero was confused. The navy people he had been told were monsters all his life were actually people who looked just like him and weren’t even scary. But in their words, all pirates were bad people and he had come from where these pirates lived. So was he a pirate too?

Haero looked at the tattoo on Seon Ik-hyeon’s forearm and then touched his own shoulder. He shuddered at the thought of the tattoo of three stacked shin bones that would be there. All his life, he had thought it was natural to have it because everyone on the island had it. To Haero, this was more like a birthmark than a tattoo, a part of his body.

Haero’s complexion started to turn cold. Seeing this, Yoon Moo-hwa jumped up from his seat. Just as Haero covered his mouth with his small hand, Yoon Moo-hwa picked his up and ran to the bathroom.