WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 439: Stuffed Paradise (1)

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After completing their quarantine period, the fleet returned to San Diego to find a countless wave of people filling the harbor and nearby streets, all there to welcome the service members home. Cheers and shouts mingled in a cauldron of emotion. Their deafening cries became a single feeling, born from all those tangled meanings.

As the military band played a march, the U.S. and Russian presidents came out to the pier to meet them. The service members disembarked while receiving salutes from the two heads of state and their staffs. A superior paying respect first to a war hero was, strictly speaking, an unofficial American custom, but on this day, even President Ignatiev of Russia made the unusual gesture of following an allied nation’s custom.

Gyeoul reunited with Anne in a separate waiting area prepared for officers’ families. None of the words he had prepared in advance were any use. Anne was smiling and crying at the same time as she hugged Gyeoul as if she would die if she let go. She clung to him so desperately it almost hurt.

‘A little pain is good right now.’

Satisfied with that pain, Gyeoul buried his face in his lover’s hair. Then he drew in a deep breath. The scent of the person he had missed made his eyes sting. As he squeezed his eyes shut and drank in her warmth, bright camera flashes went off several times, but he had no room to care about something so small.

“I missed you. I really, really missed you...”

Anne barely managed to whisper, her throat choked.

Gyeoul answered by her ear.

“I did too.”

“I was scared.”

“You have no idea how scared I was that I might never see you again.”

Anne tightened her arms around Gyeoul even more. Even if she had already known he was safe from their call, feeling it like this was on a completely different level. Fear and longing dissolved all at once, sweeping through her in a gentle flood of peace she wanted to surrender to forever.

But there was a fixed schedule.

Large-scale commemorative events followed, moving from place to place. They continued until day faded and night deepened. During all that time, Gyeoul had to struggle to pull himself together whenever thoughts of Anne scattered his attention.

That day, two more decorations were added to Gyeoul’s record. One was the Distinguished Service Cross pinned on him by Kramer, and the other was the Order of Saint George, 4th Class awarded by President Ignatiev. Since 「Roaring Storm」 had been a joint operation carried out by the United States and Russia, there was nothing strange about Gyeoul receiving a Russian decoration. Kramer also presented American decorations and citations to airborne troops (VDV) generals and officers.

Posthumous awards were also given to the fallen.

Major General Kapralov received a posthumous promotion for being killed in action, and the title of Hero of the Russian Federation was added on top of it, so in the end he was recognized at the rank of general. The respect shown to him by the American government was deeply solemn, indirectly revealing how Americans viewed patriots who died on the battlefield.

Only after Gyeoul and Anne had gone through all those events could they finally have a proper reunion. Even then, words were unnecessary. No, rather, there was no time for them. Gyeoul was surprised that he could be this passionate, but soon he forgot even that surprise. The time the two of them spent was less a night of simply making love than a night of confirming, then confirming, then confirming again the very existence of the person beside them.

It was a meaningless comparison, but if one had to say who had it worse, it was Anne. After all, she had been the one left waiting after sending her lover to the battlefield.

“It’s already three in the morning. Think about tomorrow and close your eyes, even if it’s only for a few hours.”

At Gyeoul’s words, Anne, lying face-to-face with him on the same pillow, let out a sweet sigh.

“I should sleep. I know I should... But I just can’t close my eyes. You’re right in front of me. The moment I close them, it feels like such a waste...”

“You can dream of me.”

When Gyeoul answered playfully, Anne giggled and rubbed her forehead against him as if by habit.

“I dream of Gyeoul every day. The problem is what kind of dream it is.”

It meant she had had a lot of nightmares.

“I’m with you now. Tonight’s dream will definitely be a good one.”

“...Do you think so?”

As she asked, Gyeoul gently stroked her cheek and ear. Her skin seemed to grow softer by the day. Truthfully, Gyeoul also found it hard to close his eyes. Even if he carried her photograph with him at all times, it was impossible not to feel deprived of the sight of her.

Under the soft light of the table lamp, Anne had a different warmth from usual. Her smooth hair stood out in gold. Bright dye had been mixed strand by strand into her naturally dull blonde hair, giving it a depth it had not had before. Gyeoul drew that hair close and quietly kissed it.

Anne laughed softly and stroked Gyeoul’s face as well. The ring on her finger glittered. Gyeoul kissed that ring too. Once, twice, three times. Their fingers naturally intertwined, and the already small distance between them narrowed even further. They were close enough for each other’s breath to touch bare skin. The scent of another person grew stronger.

Anne moved her lips in a tiny murmur.

“Now all that’s left for us is getting married, right?”

“Of course.”

“And visiting my parents?”

“Naturally.”

“When do you think we can do that?”

“Well. I don’t know for sure, but we should be able to make time soon, shouldn’t we?”

“I hope so.”

Gyeoul was dreaming too. Of the future Anne had told him about, the days that had not yet arrived. Meeting her parents and talking with them, receiving their blessing for their union, fishing leisurely in the small river said to flow through her hometown, exchanging the kind of vow they would make only once in their lives while many people watched...

“Look at this.”

Anne giggled again.

“This is what Gyeoul did earlier.”

The arm she showed him still bore Gyeoul’s handprint. He had put too much strength into his grip. Even with a body that responded perfectly to his will, mistakes could happen when his mind was elsewhere.

Of course, that was not only true of Gyeoul.

“Do you want to see what Anne made too?”

His were mostly scratches. Anne had been just as frantic as he had been.

After holding a childish little contest for a while, the two laughed together and soon fell quiet. In the pleasant silence, only the ticking of the wall clock stood out.

“We really should sleep now.”

“We should.”

“Should I turn off the light?”

“No.”

It was a repeat of their earlier conversation. Yet Anne’s eyes, blinking every now and then as they looked at Gyeoul, showed no sign of closing no matter how much time passed. Gyeoul found the version of himself faintly reflected in those eyes a little unfamiliar. He had not imagined himself becoming happy in a very long time.

‘How should I answer Bom’s question?’

Seeing as no answer had been demanded yet, it seemed he had to wait a little longer.

He did not know what the Star Child was waiting for at this point, but Gyeoul wondered whether he was ready. He did not know if his answer would be of any use either.

“I don’t think this is going to work.”

Anne sat up. The blanket covering her slid down along the line of her shoulders to her waist. To Gyeoul, she looked terribly beautiful. After sweeping her spilling hair behind her neck, she bit her lower lip slightly, smiled seductively, and placed her hand on Gyeoul’s upper body.

Gyeoul smiled back, a little troubled.

“Now?”

“Now.”

Anne affirmed it and said,

“I think it might be faster to wear myself out and fall asleep.”

Then she asked,

“Is that okay?”

“...How could it not be?”

Right. How could it not be? He was only worried about the schedule and work he would have to get through after daybreak, weighed down by fatigue that would feel almost painfully real. Considering the aftermath of the operation, at least several more days would have to pass even after the official reorganization period before he could formally get leave.

But Gyeoul decided to focus on the present moment.

Anne’s body was as soft as his love for her, and as warm as it was soft.

Just as she had said, she fell asleep pleasantly, almost as if fainting, only around the time the sky slowly began taking on an indigo tint. Gyeoul ended up staying awake all night, looking at her as she slept. But compared to the elation he gained from it, the fatigue he had to endure was nothing at all.

One week later, the White House formally announced the truth behind the Great Plague.

「In the end, it was China that transformed Morgellons into its current form.」

Gyeoul watched the broadcast of the official statement with the battalion officers.

「According to the data obtained from the research base at Ground Zero, the original form of the plague was a symbiotic complex formed over a very long period of time. It was not itself the product of any artificial research or development, nor was it a disease that turned people into monsters as it does now. It was a symbiont that had been passed down for generations, infecting only one Indian ethnic minority with specific genetic traits.」

“...India?”

A murmur spread. In all the discussions until now, India had never once been mentioned.

As if expecting this reaction, the White House spokesperson nodded.

「That is correct. India. India was the first to recognize the existence of the original form, and India was also the first to attempt to weaponize it. Their direction, however, differed from China’s. Based on the symbiont’s trait of enhancing the host’s physical abilities, they appear to have sought a way to improve soldiers’ combat power.」

This was the first time even Gyeoul had heard the full picture.

「China, on the other hand, learned of the original form through intelligence during a border dispute, kidnapped members of that minority, and began developing a new biological weapon based on the samples they secured. Not a disease that enhanced physical ability, but a disease suited to serving as a weapon in itself. That is the true nature of the apocalypse we are now experiencing, the Great Plague, Morgellons.」

“Ah...”

Liu Jianchao, an officer of Chinese descent, sighed. It was probably not out of affection for the motherland, but out of worry over the various disadvantages Liu would knowingly or unknowingly face in the future.

At the same time, there were gazes glancing toward Gyeoul. There was no need to think hard about the emotion within them. Gyeoul and the Independent Battalion were already their firm shelter. Gyeoul’s standards were now their standards, and belonging to the Independent Battalion was a new identity that would completely replace the past.

Gyeoul reassured them with gentle silence.

The announcement continued.

「After belatedly grasping this fact, India sent special forces to infiltrate the Chinese military research base in order to stop the weaponization research and rescue its kidnapped citizens. They disguised themselves as Chinese military personnel. At least, that was what China concluded. Related communication records and warning telegrams remained in the database. Considering that the warning sent to the base came from China’s intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, and that an outline of India’s research existed in the Chinese data, it appears someone among the high-ranking officials of the Indian authorities had been bought by China.」

As evidence, the spokesperson stated that part of the secured data and closed-circuit footage would be released online.

「In any case, the engagement that occurred inside the base at that time was what triggered the Morgellons leak. The Chinese military sealed the base amid the confusion, but the disease had already escaped. It is presumed that at least one or more of the Tibetan political prisoners designated as test subjects that day survived, or else transformed into variants during transport and reached a civilian residential area. What followed was the beginning of the events we all know too well.」

Tibetan political prisoners. It was the moment even the allegations of human experimentation were confirmed.

Gyeoul felt a shadowed premonition. It seemed many painful things would happen from here on.

Footnotes:

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