Rainbow City

Seokhwa was wiping his body with a sponge, generating foam, when he hesitated to scrub his thighs and buttocks and only touched those areas with his hands. However, what is Kwak Soohwan’s obsessive nature? Lost in those thoughts, Seokhwa left the bathroom without properly drying off. When he looked at the shelf, where he had put the shale, there was nothing there. The anticipation quickly crumbled, but since Seokhwa had fainted, there was no way to blame him.Suddenly shifting his gaze, Seokhwa saw a note placed at the end of the desk. Wondering why it had moved there, he examined it closely and found a small piece of paper underneath.Seokhwa moved the stone aside and picked up the note.“I tried, but not a single drop came out. Take care, Doctor. Sorry for poking a hole in your throat yesterday.”Seokhwa spoke for the first time since getting up.“He took off.”The inside of his throat still stung.***Seokhwa squinted his eyes and stared at the back of Dr.Kim’s head.Leaving me and running away alone?It didn’t have that kind of meaning. It was because suspicions about Dr.Kim had arisen. There was no way Yang Sanghoon had Adam’s blood, and the person who had sat next to the boy that day was none other than Dr.Kim.Does he trust Yang Sanghoon more than Dr.Kim? Did his dislike for soldiers play a role? Once again, he became confused, but the only thing certain was that he didn’t trust Dr.Kim. So, even though he wanted to inquire about Dr.Oh’s death, he kept his mouth shut.A week had passed since Kwak Soohwan went down to Gwacheon. During that time, Seokhwa was summoned to the guards several times and had to go through several people to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Yang Sanghoon’s innocence was also proven, but he too was transferred to Gwacheon due to negligence as a supervising officer. The worry about military personnel investigating him became irrelevant as he too went to Gwacheon.Recently, Seokhwa had been systematically organizing information about the 7th Adam. It included the peculiar behavior of Oh Cheongwoon and a few Adams who seemed to act intelligently. If he had gained intelligence, it might eventually be necessary to separate him as a new species, even if he were considered natural enemies of humans.Other than that, Seokhwa’s daily life was unremarkable. He conducted research, studied in his spare time, and sometimes entered the shelter library to read novels. Except during meals, the absence of Kwak Soohwan was not particularly significant. However, he occasionally carried the stone he had given him in his pocket. It was larger and smoother than the pebble he used to carry, providing a refreshing and soothing feeling.Without questioning the higher-ups, he simply carried out the given tasks, and now no one posed a threat to him. He also thoroughly investigated the Serpent.If the Eden Garden had tried to persuade him or if Dr.Oh had revealed important facts, he wouldn’t have set fire to the 13 Red Zone outposts. Of course, there was no certainty that Eden Garden was responsible for the terrorism, but circumstantially, it seemed inevitable to think so.This was an ordinary life, the routine he had been living. However, incessant doubts continued to multiply within.Even Oh Cheongwoon, his son, would not have imprisoned Dr.Oh without researching the 7th Adam. And the time of death was also strange. He knew developing a cure requires a considerable amount of money, but aren’t the higher-ups being excessively passive? Repeating such thoughts, as soon as the clock struck 1 o’clock, he got up like a ghost and went down to the dining hall. Now, there was no one to eat with.The feeling of loneliness seemed to visit only when he learned it. It was fine before, but now, receiving supplies alone and sitting alone to eat had become unpleasant.“Doctor!”Seokhwa heard someone shout from afar. Thinking it wasn’t directed at him, he just lowered his head and sipped the soup.“Doctor! Doctor!”Only then did he raise his head. Major Lee Chaeyoon was tapping the table where the tray was placed.“Major…?”“What’s up? Why are you eating alone? Wait, I’ll get some food for you!”Lee Chaeyoon fluttered her cape and rushed to the distribution point. Cutting in line, she waved her hand at the soldiers in front, telling them to move aside. Anyway, even if Lee Chaeyoon didn’t do that, his subordinates would have moved aside on their own. The restaurant staff already knew her appetite, so they doubled the side dishes and rice.Lee Chaeyoon came running with a heap of side dishes, not spilling a single one.For some reason, Seokhwa felt a sense of relief. Lee Chaeyoon had said she was on the field, but she must have returned not long ago.“Doctor, why did Freak Soohwan and Yang Sanghoon go down to Gwacheon?”Seokhwa thought the conversation might get lengthy, so he took a deep breath before speaking. However, Lee Chaeyoon was much quicker.“I returned today and was surprised. He suddenly appointed me as the commander of the Unit. But I’m terrible at commanding. If I make the wrong judgment and the others get killed, it’ll be my fault.”Lee Chaeyoon complained as she scooped up a spoonful of rice.“Where have you been?”“Yeah, I went there! It’s incredibly cold up there, no kidding. It feels like it’s been a hundred years just waiting for the Jeep to warm up.”It might not be a hundred years, but fearing a potential long lecture, Seokhwa decided to keep quiet. Now, he understood that such expressions were just customary, like the jokes Kwak Soohwan used to make.“They said there was chaos in the Yeouido Shelter, right? The kid brought by Kwak Soohwan turned into an Adam, and there was an Adam inside the shelter as well. Those idiots, unable to find the culprit, are just sending off Freak Soohwan and Yang Sanghoon. But what’s with your finger? Why the bandage? Are you injured?”Seokhwa, overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, decided to answer only the most crucial part.“It’s my fault.”Lee Chaeyoon put down her spoon abruptly.“Why is it your fault? Why bring in a kid whose identity is unknown? And on top of that, the site I visited this time was suspected to be a rebel base. After searching, all the kids had disappeared.”Seokhwa concentrated on her, facing her directly as she rapidly poured out her words.“Those guys made a bunker-like thing underground, you know? But inside it, like your research lab, there were piles of machines. Moreover, there was a strange tree mark engraved in the center…”As Seokhwa approached her to get more details, Lee Chaeyoon made a surprised expression.“Oh! This is a secret.”She pressed her index finger to her lips and smiled mysteriously.“Anyway, I was told to burn it all down, so it took a while.”Seokhwa could hardly take a few spoonfuls, but Lee Chaeyoon had almost finished half her meal while talking. Seokhwa, who often suffered from indigestion if he didn’t chew his food thoroughly, found her stomach incredibly enviable.“Major.”“Yeah?”“Can you give me some of your stomach cells later?”“What? Then I have to cut open my belly and take him out! Doctor., even if I recover quickly, I’ll die if I do that.”Lee Chaeyoon responded somewhat seriously amid her playful tone.“I’d like to ask you a favor for the next health check-up endoscopy.”Soldiers underwent regular health check-ups once a year. Even that was conducted only in a few places like Yeouido or Gangnam Shelter, so one could only roughly guess how poor the conditions were in other shelters.“But, Doctor, what’s this oddly-shaped thing?”She pointed to the stone placed slightly away from the tray. It was taken out of her pocket as it was too heavy to eat with.“It’s a rock.”A robust and beautifully colored, naturally occurring treasure. Seokhwa didn’t go beyond saying that.“Well, who knows. It just looks… Anyway, you know. Doctor, you look really depressed today. Is it because Freak Soohwan is not here?”Seokhwa quickly sipped the lukewarm soup. Meanwhile, he wondered if Kwak Soohwan and Yang Sanghoon were doing well in Gwacheon. They knew many people, and he was full of energy, so he might not be thinking about Seokhwa at all.“I’m fine.”As Seokhwa spoke, his expression remained unchanged.“Is that rock from Major Kwak Soohwan?”“How did you know?”There was no one else besides Kwak Soohwan who would do such a foolish thing.Nevertheless, her blank face and Seokhwa’s appearance, holding only a spoon, lingered in her mind. That’s why she called Doctor even louder.“Doctor, trust only me.”Seokhwa, uncertain of her thoughts, smiled faintly for a rare occasion.“But, Major.”“Yeah?”“Do you happen to know what Major Kwak Soohwan’s obsessive trait is?”Lee Chaeyoon put the spoon in her mouth, mumbled, “I don’t know,” and widened her eyes as if she had never thought about it before.“Do you know, Doctor?”“No…”Seokhwa quickly resumed his meal. Commander Cha, who had stopped by the dining hall to satisfy his hunger, stood still with the tray in his hand. It wasn’t just because Seokhwa, who had gone at the request of Kwak Soohwan, caught his eye; there was something more captivating. There was no way he could have seen it wrong. It was undoubtedly the stone that Kwak Soohwan had picked up in the Violet Zone.Why would he bring such a thing, and did he give it to Doctor Seokhwa? Kwak Soohwan was already someone difficult to understand, but this time, he found Seokhwa even more inexplicable. Anyway, Commander Cha would only watch Seokhwa from afar, following Kwak Soohwan’s orders.***“You darn guy, because of you, I ended up in this mess. Going to Gangnam just because of a wrong saying following your friend.”“What’s Gangnam got to do with Gwacheon?”Sitting in a chair, Kwak Soohwan stretched his legs, propping him up on the desk, and tossed a peanut into his mouth.If Yeouido Shelter was like a city hall, the current Gwacheon Shelter was at the level of a township office. The soldiers in Gwacheon were curious about the two who came down from Yeouido, wondering why he were demoted.Having finished eating peanuts, Kwak Soohwan reached out and grabbed a book from the desk. It was brought from Yeouido Shelter, and he had no intention of returning it.“Tell me honestly.”Yang Sanghoon jumped onto the opposite side of the desk where Kwak Soohwan’s legs were stretched, just like that.“You’re just pretending to read the book, right? You haven’t read a single word, have you?”“Who do you think I am?”[“Hospital Germs, How Far Can We Conquer?”]It was actually a field that he wasn’t interested in, but if Seokhwa was saying something, he wanted to find some common ground, even if it meant reading medical books.Commander Cha said he had been carrying a stone around lately. At first, he thought it might be to reminisce about the memories he had together, but Soohwan concluded that he probably just liked carrying it around.“How are the others?”Kwak Soohwan asked, flipping through the middle of the book.“They seem to improve if trained. The new officers here were all obsessed with the upper ranks, only receiving handouts, and eating like pigs. That’s why the kids end up being more like bullet sponges.”Just by looking at the level of support that came in earlier, Kwak Soohwan knew.“Major Kwak, are you going on patrol again tonight?”“I’ll pass today.”Except for the shelter, Gwacheon had only a few green zones.To pass the time and engage in a few days of Adam hunting with Yang Sanghoon, it subtly helped in organizing the zones. Yang Sanghoon, after spinning the cube on the desk a few times, soon lost interest and left the commander’s office.Kwak Soohwan also closed the book he was reading about hospital germs. He turned on the computer connected to the main server and checked the message that arrived from the second master.[“It seems that Serpent may be the actual leader of Eden Mountain, and the leader known from the photo is suspected to be a fake. Do not assault the headquarters hastily; there is a possibility of deeper concealment if handled carelessly. I hope you can focus more on tracking Eden Mountain now that you’ve moved to Gwacheon.”]Gwacheon Shelter also had a main server called Mother, and there was little difference from Yeouido. Kwak Soohwan permanently deleted the secret message and opened the message sent by Commander Cha.It was a photo of Seokhwa sitting on the rooftop, eating a Choco Bar absentmindedly, and, as Commander Cha had mentioned, there was a stone next to him. It was really hilarious. So, without getting involved in unnecessary rebellious thoughts, Kwak Soohwan advised Seokhwa to listen well.Kwak Soohwan tapped Seokhwa’s face on the monitor. He looked at it for a while and then switched to the second master’s attached file on Dr.Oh.[“It seems that the First Master is related to this case. Although my side also has limited information related to it, here is what I found: Dr.Oh’s time of death is certain to be 5 AM. According to those who saw Dr.Oh before burning the body, there were bruises all over, as if he had been tortured, and there were marks on the thighs and chest resembling whip marks. This is all the information I can find that you.”]Kwak Soohwan pressed permanent delete again. The second master had suffered from polio since childhood and could not freely use his lower body until now. However, since his parents were recognized as Rainbow City supervisors by the Unified Nation, he, as his child, could easily rise to the position of the second master. According to rumors, the First Master’s family was involved in what happened to the Second Master—whether they were poisoned or attempted assassination. Either way, Kwak Soohwan was not interested.Kwak Soohwan opened Seokhwa’s photo once again. Although there was not a single sexy feature, with a chubby expression, he knew how that face changed in bed. Kwak Soohwan chuckled and got up, putting on his cape. Then he picked up the phone on the desk and connected it to Commander Cha’s office.[This is Cha Hakhyun.]“Is Dr.Kim being well monitored too?”[Yes, based on the investigation results from the Guard Division, there seems to be no contact with the rebels yet, but we will continue to keep an eye on it.]After ending the call, Kwak Soohwan took the cube in his hand. He skillfully adjusted the messed-up cube that Yang Sanghoon had twisted and placed it back on the desk.He recalled the man with the white mask that he had faced with Lee Chaeyoon. At least, he was of S-class level.“That guy is called Serpent.”Approaching Seokhwa, who was none other than him, seemed suspicious in itself.***“Hurry, hurry! Why is Dr.Oh so slow like this?”Lee Chaeyoon urged Seokhwa, who was preparing his backpack.Seokhwa carefully packed the necessary water, stones, and snacks into the backpack. Finally, he rolled up a mop and tucked it inside. As he was about to put on the backpack, Lee Chaeyoon came over and snatched it from him.“Can we really go out like this?”“It’s okay. Majors and above can go out at night as long as they report it. Dr.Oh, I saw you taking medicine earlier. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”Lee Chaeyoon worriedly looked around Seokhwa’s modest room.“I’m fine. It’s just a supplement for stamina.”“Do you have such a thing!? Give me some too!”“There’s no point in giving it to you right now, Major. I’ll give it to you after finishing the clinical trial.”“Clinical trial? Doctor.. are you pregnant? Don’t tell me that idiot will…!”“No. I’m not pregnant, and I’m not even a pregnant woman.”Although there shouldn’t be any confusion between clinical trials and pregnancy… When Seokhwa expressed doubt, she jokingly stuck out her tongue.Without further delay, Lee Chaeyoon grabbed Seokhwa’s arm and pulled him out. While doing so, she matched her strides to Seokhwa’s, who couldn’t catch up with her steps. Seokhwa lowered his gaze to check the length of his own legs. Even though he was taller, it was ironic that her steps were faster.Recently, Seokhwa had to report the exact location if he wanted to go out, as he was being monitored even in the Guard Division.In the underground parking lot, after Lee Chaeyoon reported that she would be visiting the Gwacheon Shelter, Seokhwa added that he would also join. When a soldier asked why Doctor Seokhwa was going, Lee Chaeyoon raised her voice in response, “If you’ve separated lovers, you should let him meet again!”Only then did Seokhwa realize why she suggested going to Gwacheon. Perhaps she thought he and Kwak Soohwan were in a romantic relationship and wanted to be considerate.A week had passed, but there was no news from Kwak Soohwan. Even though he were not lovers, Seokhwa wanted to know how he was doing.With gratitude, Seokhwa got on Lee Chaeyoon’s jeep. As soon as she started the engine, she accelerated vigorously from the parking lot. It didn’t take long for Seokhwa’s face, tightly belted, to turn pale.Lee Chaeyoon hummed a tune and turned on the radio. There were only about five radio channels, and only one played music. The rest were promotional broadcasts related to Rainbow City or news-like updates.Although he tuned in to the music channel, the reception wasn’t good. After a few attempts, Lee Chaeyoon soon gave up. This time, Seokhwa started adjusting the radio frequency. He, too, disliked Rainbow City’s promotional broadcasts. He had discovered that the broadcasts sometimes lied. He didn’t have any doubts before, but now he wondered why he had changed so much.[I don’t know how happy it is to be a citizen of Rainbow City. The only place that will protect us from Adam is Rainbow City!]While adjusting the frequency, Seokhwa eventually gave up too. The only reason was that only these kinds of broadcasts came in properly.[A happy city, families filled with love, let’s defeat Adam, our enemy, and find safety and happiness within Rainbow City, woo woo~ lalala lalala.]The city’s theme song, similar to the Rainbow City song, started playing.“Doctor, should we just turn off the radio?”“That’s fine.”Just as Seokhwa was about to turn off the power:[Yes, we have just received an urgent breaking news update.]Both Lee Chaeyoon and Seokhwa were surprised to hear this breaking news. Lee Chaeyoon’s reaction was a bit dramatic, while Seokhwa’s expression was more restrained, almost unsure if it would show.[This breaking news, we… this… what… how…]Crack, crunch, and static filled the radio.“Anyway, this old thing is acting up again,” Lee Chaeyoon said, giving the vehicle’s body a firm punch. Usually, a proper hit would fix it, but this time, only the buzzing noise continued. Trying again with another thump, Seokhwa shrugged his shoulders.“If the machine doesn’t respond, you have to hit it like this. And if it still doesn’t work, you hit it even more. If it’s completely broken, they will replace it with a new one from above.”As if intending to completely destroy it, she was about to strike again.[Hello?]Seokhwa, who was opening his backpack while feeling thirsty, stopped in his tracks. The voice from the radio sounded strangely familiar.[Dear citizens of Rainbow City, we have successfully developed the 7th vaccine, the 7th Eve, ahead of Rainbow City.]Holding a water bottle, Seokhwa felt no sensation. Not understanding what was being said, he focused more on the radio.[We have started distributing the vaccine nationwide, providing it free of charge. We are the Tree of Life, Eden…]Static and interference interrupted again. Seokhwa concentrated more on the radio to figure out what was being said.[…Emergency situation, emergency situation. Inform all external units. Return to your shelters immediately. Repeating, all unit members return to your shelters immediately.]As soon as the broadcast was cut off, the jeep was filled with repeated messages from the radio, like a parrot.“Shouldn’t we… ignore it and just go to Gwacheon?”“Can’t we return to our shelter later?”Seokhwa shook his head, expressing doubt. The voice from the radio was undoubtedly the intelligent Serpent, and it claimed that Eden Oasis had developed the 7th vaccine. Even though he had recently arrived at Yeouido, and there was no official word yet, if Eden Oasis claimed to have developed the vaccine first, it changed the situation.Is it a more systematic and larger organization than he thought? Or is it a lie?“Too noisy. Should we turn off the radio?”[Hey! Major Lee Chaeyoon! If your radar detects that you’re gradually moving away from Yeouido, return immediately!]Upon hearing Commander Jang’s shout through the radio, Lee Chaeyoon clicked her tongue in annoyance.“Anyway, he said something about ghosts. We have to go back. Doctor, hold on tight!”She abruptly hit the brakes and turned the steering wheel more than half a turn. With a screech, the jeep made a U-turn on the empty road, and Seokhwa felt like his internal organs were all about to fly out.“Doctor, if you feel like throwing up, let me know. Got it?”“…Sorry.”Seokhwa covered his mouth with both hands.“Huh? What’s wrong?”“Already…”The water he had drunk earlier was flowing out of his mouth uncontrollably. It was unexpected due to the sudden U-turn.Lee Chaeyoon hurriedly reached into the storage compartment attached to the driver’s seat door, handing Seokhwa a whole pack of wet wipes. Seokhwa, without expressing gratitude, meticulously wiped his hands and lips with the wet wipes. Even though the straight path seemed to improve his upset stomach a bit, the engine’s rough sound filled the vehicle.Lee Chaeyoon worried about the Federation, while Seokhwa stared straight ahead, saying they were okay. Even with the headlights on and running at full speed, the vehicle returning to the Yeouido Shelter seemed to be engulfed by darkness due to its incredible speed.***When Adam first appeared, and the world turned upside down, he conducted human experiments against death row inmates. Not only that, but to fix Adam, he deliberately brought in innocent people, infected him, and even conducted experiments that were too horrifying to mention.Even though the Unified Government knew about it, he turned a blind eye, and the Second Master’s family was the one to expose that secret on a large scale.They reported events within the city to the Unified Government as supervisors of Rainbow City. The revelation was, in a way, a challenge to the Unified Government, but with such strong public support, it was impossible to casually eliminate the Second Master’s family. After that, a newly amended law was introduced.[During vaccine development, humans should not be used as experimental subjects.]Of course, there was fierce opposition. Some argued that in the current situation, where resources were scarce, why not use death row inmates, who were bound to die anyway, as experimental subjects.