WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 354: A Splendid Invitation (6)
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Wasn’t that a bit much?
Several people enjoyed watching Gyeoul’s expression fall apart. Among the cheerful laughter, Gyeoul picked out one voice he had longed to hear with his own ears.
“...Anne?”
She looked so different that he almost failed to recognize her. Dressed in a pitch-black suit, Anne had come to meet him with several control agents in similar attire and local police personnel. Because the troops were making such a commotion, he was late to notice the line of vehicles stopped some distance away.
A fresh, clear breeze softly stirred her hair as she approached. A smile rested on her lips. When she saw that Gyeoul made no attempt to hide how glad he was, that smile deepened even further. All the while she walked closer, she seemed to be struggling to hold back steps that wanted to grow faster.
“Gyeoul.”
After calling his name in a slightly trembling voice, Anne was briefly choked up. Ahem. She cleared her throat, brought her hand neatly up, and saluted Gyeoul.
“It is an honor to see you again, Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul.”
“...?”
“As you are aware, I am Agent Joanna Gibson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assigned to your security detail and liaison duties. If you have any requests during the tour schedule, please tell me right away. I will do my best to handle them. I look forward to working with you until the day you return.”
Gyeoul blinked, then realized a beat late that others were watching and returned the salute.
“Yes. I look forward to working with you as well, Agent Gibson.”
That kind of slow reaction did not suit Gyeoul. Anne’s lips curved up as far as they could go. Pulling down her dark sunglasses with one hand, she winked playfully, full of affection.
“Too many eyes. Our reunion can wait.”
Her whisper was quiet enough to barely reach Gyeoul right in front of her. For a moment, her eyes looked red. Anne fixed her sunglasses, stepped back a few paces, and waited for the second transport plane to land on the runway across from them. With her back to everyone else, she wiped one cheek. She pretended to be composed, but the way she kept rising onto her heels and lowering herself again gave away what she was trying to hide.
“Company! Fall in!”
The moment Park Jin-seok stepped onto the runway, before the engine noise had even died down, he scowled.
“Hey! What are you, elementary schoolers on a field trip?! Huh? Move, move!”
His growl sounded like he might eat them alive. The soldiers gave small oohs as they lined up in rows and columns. Gyeoul watched without saying anything. Truthfully, even though he had known Jin-seok would lose his temper, he had not controlled the people who got off first. It was a position Gyeoul, Jin-seok, and the soldiers would all have to get used to.
After a brief headcount, Jin-seok reported to Gyeoul that there were no issues.
“That’s what he says.”
Gyeoul looked at Anne, and Anne nodded to Gyeoul and Jin-seok.
“Then we will move now. Students, please follow the airport security personnel this way and wait at the terminal for your connection. Members of Alpha Company, 201st Independent Battalion, please divide by platoon and board the four buses waiting over there. Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul... will come with me.”
The Gyeoul Alliance scholarship students said tearful goodbyes to Gyeoul and the company members. On the plane, only a few of them had sniffled, but now every last one was crying.
Perhaps the sight made his heart ache, because one soldier raised a hand.
“Company Commander! May we give the kids some pocket money?”
Jin-seok answered with an angry face.
“Do it!”
Anne burst out laughing.
“Over there, hold on a moment. Please wait.”
While she asked the airport security personnel for understanding, the company members, moved by the scene, each pulled out their wallets and collected cash. Troubled soldiers appeared here and there. They were the ones who had not prepared cash in advance. Gyeoul also put in five hundred dollars. After receiving a fair amount of money each, the students kept looking back and waving even after the soldiers finished boarding, all the way until the buses departed.
Gyeoul boarded a separate bulletproof vehicle. It was a heavily armored wagon, thick even on the inside, with a roof designed to open in two sections, front and rear. And in the front section...
“...A minigun?”
The heavy weapon mounted inside the roof left Gyeoul bewildered. In an emergency, the armament would deploy through an automated hatch. From the outside it looked like an ordinary vehicle, but it had enough firepower built in to shred most mutant hordes in an instant.
“It’s built to similar specifications as the security vehicles used by the Secret Service.”
Anne explained in a lowered voice.
“Thanks to that, it’s hard to see the rear seats from the driver’s seat. Rear observation is handled by cameras instead.”
As she said that, she gently placed her hand over Gyeoul’s.
“It’s a little disappointing, but I suppose we have to settle for this until we arrive.”
When she asked, “You don’t dislike it, do you?” Gyeoul answered by lacing his fingers with hers. Since the front and rear of the vehicle were not completely separated, Anne lowered her head. It seemed to be a joy too difficult for her to keep off her face.
“Where are we going now?”
When Gyeoul asked a little later, Anne took a deep breath and lifted her face.
“Ahem. To get through the schedule, we need to drop off your luggage first. The Bellagio Hotel agreed to provide lodging. Your room is a suite, Gyeoul. You’ll only stay one night before leaving, but I think you’ll be satisfied. I checked it in advance for security reasons, and the city view overlooking the lake was truly beautiful.”
“Mm, isn’t it too expensive?”
“Not at all. The hotel agreed to provide it free of charge.”
“That’s burdensome in its own way.”
Anne giggled. Today, she laughed often.
“Burdensome? You wouldn’t say that if you knew how many tourists poured into this city after hearing you were coming.”
“...”
“From the perspective of Paradise’s mafias, who have been barely enduring deficits for nearly a year, Gyeoul’s visit is practically a turning point in city management. You could call it the signal flare announcing their revival. After the festival, they’ll be able to expect a steady influx of tourists.”
Las Vegas’s weakness was that it was too close to the quarantine front. At the end of the century, plenty of people would seek pleasure and gambling without thinking about the future, but practical risk was another matter.
Anne folded her fingers one by one as she counted the benefits they gained from offering Gyeoul perks.
“You also have to consider the advertising effect. The room you stayed in will carry a premium afterward... That’s why the hotels started competing too. It was along the lines of, if they were allowed to host you, they would donate a certain amount to the defense donation fund. I don’t know the exact figure, but I heard it was substantial. Bellagio Hotel probably bid the highest.”
“The Department of Defense is short on money, after all. No matter how small the amount is.” Anne added that at the end.
Without passing through the terminal, the vehicle procession left the airport by going between the parking lot and the fuel storage facilities, went north on Paradise Boulevard, then turned west. On the opposite side of the airport grounds, north of the road, countless people had gathered and were cheering. There were so many of them that they nearly filled several kilometers of roadside.
After they arrived at the hotel, Gyeoul sighed.
“I’m scared to get out.”
Anne laughed brightly.
“You’ll have to get used to it. From now on, you’ll experience it until you’re sick of it.”
The moment the door opened, the cheers became noise with no sense of distance or depth. Every direction seemed to rumble. As if her laughter from moments ago had been a lie, Anne controlled the situation with a cold, expressionless face. Far more of the people forming barricades under orders were civilians than police. They seemed to be the ones who had originally handled public order in this area. In other words, a legalized mafia organization.
Although the road continued all the way to the hotel lobby, the drop-off point was the southern entrance to the large artificial lake. It showed signs of a compromise between security and publicity. Vehicle entry onto the road had been blocked off ahead of time. Under the cloudless sky of the Nevada desert, with fountains sparkling in the sunlight behind him, a varied crowd of greeters went wild.
“Han! Ha-an! I love you! Marry me!”
The shout felt strangely familiar. When he looked back, women in wedding dresses were waving bouquets. Their eyes met, and it was awkward to ignore them, so Gyeoul gave them an awkward wave.
The hotel lobby was crowded too, though not as much as outside. The interior, with its ceiling splendidly decorated in colorful glasswork, was impressive, but there was no time to pass through at leisure.
Yura let out a groan.
“Ugh... I’m sure they said I only had to wear it at night!”
It was because of that tiger-skin cape. Perhaps conscious of the strict-faced public affairs officer in charge, she grumbled in Korean while keeping a bright smile on her face.
Gyeoul and the company split up in front of the elevators. Jin-seok left him with a farewell.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yes. Let everyone relax a little at the lodging.”
“I’ll manage them so they don’t cause trouble.”
Even if he did not show it, Jin-seok must have been feeling unsettled too.
Only after refusing the hotel staff’s help and entering the room did Gyeoul finally catch his breath. Anne, who had followed him in, covered her mouth with one lightly clenched hand and said,
“You worked hard.”
“...Aren’t you enjoying this a little too much?”
“Kuh-kuh. Did you notice? I wanted to record it as photos... no, as video.”
She joked like that, but somehow she felt tense.
Once the room grew quiet and only the two of them were left, the mood turned a little awkward. Anne clasped her hands behind her back and moved only her eyes here and there, then began saying whatever came to mind.
“Um, the agents who came with me, and personnel from the public affairs office and related agencies, will be waiting in the room across from yours. It’ll be the same in every city we visit from now on. There will be someone on duty at night too, so if you need anything, don’t hesitate to tell us. Going out privately is something that needs to be reported first, and...”
“Anne.”
“Yes?”
“I missed you.”
“...”
A moment later, Anne took off her sunglasses and let out a long breath.
“I heard you say that a few times over the phone... but hearing it like this feels new again. My ears are tingling.”
She pointlessly folded and unfolded the temple of her sunglasses. Gyeoul looked at her quietly, then said,
“You looked so different earlier that I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“Well, before, I didn’t dress up at all. Is it strange?”
“Not at all. I meant you became so pretty it was hard to recognize you.”
“I’m glad...”
At the direct compliment, Anne blushed faintly and swept her hair behind her ear.
“I practiced a lot. It had been so long since I really dressed up.”
“I would have been fine if you looked exactly like you used to.”
“I thought you would say that. Still, look. Not bad, right?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Kuh.”
Anne’s gaze had now grown steady, and she spoke in a serious tone.
“This might be a needless worry, but I want to say it clearly in advance.”
“What is it?”
“About the fact that you can’t return my feelings right now... I don’t want you to feel even the slightest burden over it. If my love for you ever feels burdensome to you, even for a moment, there would be nothing I hated more.”
“...”
“You did feel a little sorry after all, didn’t you?”
It would have been a lie to say there had been no anxiety. As Gyeoul closed his mouth, Anne gave him a gentle smile.
“Gyeoul. I have a lot of experience failing at important things because I got impatient and rushed. Looking back, I think it was especially true in relationships. With you, I don’t want to make that same mistake. To me, you are... far too precious a life for me to ruin by acting in haste.”
“Um...”
“Look at your face.”
Anne giggled briefly, then continued.
“Just as you are my happiness, I want to be your happiness. I just want you to be happy. If that happens, then one day the day I hope for will come... Do you understand what I mean?”
“I’ll try.”
“Yes. That’s enough. Considering your personality, it will be difficult.”
Gyeoul took in Anne’s gentle expression, then stepped toward her.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Ah...”
Gyeoul kissed her on the cheek, then pulled her shoulder into an embrace. The warmth of one whole person filling his arms felt good. Gyeoul spoke by Anne’s ear.
“Thank you. Truly.”
“...Yes.”
Anne wrapped her arms around Gyeoul’s back too.
Footnotes:
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