Ringg…
“Who could that be at this late hour… Huh? What’s going on?” Dongchul asked, seeing Jaehwang as soon as he opened the door.
The guy walked through the door and said, “I need you to come with me.”
“What’s going on?”
Jaehwang suddenly showed up at Dongchul’s door in the middle of the night and said that he needed to take him somewhere. Dongchul looked at the uniform he was wearing. Nothing about him had changed. He was dressed in his gear full of weapons and it seemed as if he was going on a raid.
“Come in.”
“I can’t, we have to get going right away.”
“Where are we going all of a sudden?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain.”
Dongchul then realized that it was most likely something important so he decided to go.
“How long will this take?”
“It won’t be long if we go now.”
“So, would I be able to come back?”
“I’m not completely sure,” He couldn’t tell him too much beforehand so Dongchul was a little lost.
It was currently 11 PM, he also considered that maybe Jaehwang was acting so weird because he might have been drinking earlier.
“How about we talk about it tomorrow? It’s getting late.”
Jaehwang expected to get an answer liked that. However, Dongchul didn’t want to leave him hanging. Maybe he could have set up this plan in advance, it’s just now couldn’t have been just a spontaneous time.
“So, how do we get there?”
“By airplane,” Jaehwang answered and Dongchul looked quite shocked. If they were taking an airplane, then maybe it couldn’t have been as dangerous as he initially thought.
“Are we going overseas?”
“…”
“Is there anyone else coming with us?” Dongchul continuously asked. His friend clearly had something crazy in mind.
“Where are we going?”
“To Yalu… We might also pass through Baekdusan.”
“What… you must be crazy,” Dongchul said as soon as he heard where they were going.
His friend decided to come over without a warning and asked him to go to the one of the most dangerous raid spots among all the places that they have known. North Korea tried to team up with China to explore this area before but none of their people returned home ever since.
However, Jaehwang wondered if he could find anyone in Baekdusan. The only downside was that that place was a monster’s paradise.
“Why the heck would you want to go there?” Dongchul cried.
“There’s something that I need to find…”
“Gosh,” His friend was going to risk his life and he’s asking him to go along. There were no words to describe how crazy Dongchul thought it was.
“Will you come with me?”
“Fine. I have to tell my girlfriend first.”
He then went to tell his girlfriend that he would be leaving but then, he turned around and asked, “Are you sure you need me to come with you?”
“I wouldn’t bother you unless I really needed to,” Jaehwang replied.
“Fine. Let’s go,” Dongchul agreed.
“Great. Be sure to wear a lot of armor…” Jaehwang warned him before he left. Dongchul then closed the door and opened a can of beer as he sat on the sofa.
Click…
He finished the can instantly and crushed it with his hands.
“I can’t believe this…”
There was no way that Jaehwang would have taken a no for an answer. Dongchul was angry but he also felt ashamed.
He was a strong person and a great hunter so people around him always called him for help. Although he wanted to be proud of that and help his friends when they needed him, he did not want to go to such places.
That’s the reason why he was angry. He then threw the crushed can into a nearby trash bin without even getting up.
“He will never be a burden to me. No one will,” Dongchul promised to himself. Jaehwang was his friend but he didn’t want to risk anything because of him.
He thought of choosing that way in the beginning but he just couldn’t choose it because he was scared. He was scared of what would happen.
‘I have to do this,’ Dongchul said to himself.
***
After a three-week preparation, Dongchul was finally ready to meet with Gwanjae.
It wasn’t an easy decision but he had enough time to think it through. He wanted Gwanjae’s help to get himself stronger and braver so that he won’t be worried.
After talking for a while, Gwanjae looked at Dongchul and asked, “Okay, how strong do you want to become?”
Gwanjae seemed to have agreed to train him but he was still worried about what he would think after he answered his question.
Dongchul hesitated but then, he answered, “I… I wanted to be stronger than Jaehwang.”
“Wow…” Gwanjae was shocked after he heard his answer. His answer piqued his curiosity.
“You wanted to be stronger than Jaehwang?” Gwanjae said with a bit of a laugh.
Dongchul immediately felt angry as soon as he sensed his sarcasm but he chose to ignore it. He had a strong feeling that he could succeed. There was a little doubt left in him but he placed that aside. He was ready to receive the training and work hard to achieve his goal.
“I’m ready.”
“Are you strong enough to do it?” Gwanjae asked. His training was harsh and hard to handle.
“I am determined!”
“Okay. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort. You have to be very dedicated. But if you are willing to do it then I will help. I will train you until you are stronger than Jaehwang.”
“Wow, T-Thank you.” Dongchul was a little surprised that he agreed and believed that it was possible. It was time. He was going to be better than who he envied for so long.
“Shall we begin tomorrow?”
“Yes, thank you so much!” Dongchul replied with a thrilled tone, with his sweat still streaming down on his face.
“Tomorrow would be great! I’ll be sure to be prepared to work hard,” Dongchul said with a voice full of determination. After agreeing to go to that dangerous place with Jaehwang, he thought that those past three weeks would be his last for sure. But now, he was happy that he agreed to it.
“Great.” Dongchul then left Gwanjae’s office. His legs felt so weak due to all the nervousness that moved through him. Although he couldn’t relax, he was excited on about what was to come.
“I can’t believe this… I won’t give up. I can’t give up.” He said, encouraging himself. If he were to give up now, then there was no way he could save anyone in the place where he and Jaehwang would go. He wanted Jaehwang to trust him.
He then went towards the training center to prepare himself.
“What are you doing here?”
“Huh?” He heard a very familiar voice. However, it wasn’t coming from anywhere close by.
He turned his head and saw something, he then recognized who it was.
“Hello?…” It was a face that he saw three weeks ago. It was the one who knocked on his door in the middle of the night, it was Jaehwang.
“W-What are you doing here?!”
“I have returned.”
“You…”
“I went to Baekdusan,” Jaehwang calmly replied. Dongchul couldn’t believe what he heard. He had already gone to Baekdusan without him. But how could that be? He said that it could take a few months or even a year.
“You’re back already?”
“Apparently it didn’t take as long as I thought it would.”
“Oh, wow. it only took you three weeks…” Dongchul said, feeling quite disappointed. However, after a few seconds of silence, Dongchul exploded in anger.
“Are you crazy!!”
The Successor, The end.
