NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8
<7 episodes>
I called my older brother to go to the bookstore, and I couldn’t help but shake my head when I saw him standing outside after getting off the subway.
Seeing my older brother in beige cargo pants and a blue checkered shirt, I wondered where he got such clothes, and it made me hesitate whether I should pretend to know him or not.
However, since the purpose was to get reference books and his fashion sense was terrible, I couldn’t ignore him, so I called him while he was staring blankly at Gwanghwamun Square.
“Older Brother!”
It suddenly occurred to me that I only told him the time and place, not where we were going, so we went to the bookstore together and looked through the reference books.
Even though it felt like a hassle to find out, I appreciated how he responded to my call and acted like it was his own task to look for the books. Although I couldn’t repay him, I felt bad for not being able to do so given my financial situation.
Since we needed to get the reference books first, I decided to quickly leave the bookstore after looking through them myself. Then, I could do more.
After buying the books and coming out, I noticed my older brother’s outfit again, which I had forgotten about while looking at the books. I couldn’t help but frown, feeling a mix of frustration and the need to improve his fashion sense.
After leaving the bookstore, I bought him some food. It was one of the few things I could do as a thank you since I couldn’t offer much else. I took him to a nearby Chinese restaurant.
“Thank you. I’m grateful.”
Even for something small, my older brother smiled and thanked me, making me think he was indeed a generous person.
Although he seemed a bit awkward, my kind older brother had no complaints, which made me feel even more grateful. Instead of feeling relieved, I felt a sense of guilt for not properly repaying him.
I couldn’t imagine how much tutoring fees would be required to learn from my older brother, who graduated from the world’s most famous engineering university. Yet, I felt both grateful and apologetic for being thankful for just a meal at a Chinese restaurant.
When I ordered food and looked in the mirror at the restroom, I realized I was wearing white clothes today. Even though I hadn’t been particularly busy, I still managed to order spicy seafood noodles while wearing white clothes.
Thinking I should grab an apron, I returned to my seat and found an apron hanging on the chair. My gaze immediately turned to my older brother.
“Will it get dirty?”
“…Thank you.”
Even if it was a minor consideration, it made me feel a little happy that he cared.
“If I can eat for free, I should tell you a lot of things.”
“My pockets will be empty.”
My older brother joked while eating, but I also thought about what if this wasn’t a joke. Knowing the vast knowledge gap between us, I answered half-heartedly.
After the meal, we parted ways, and I went home to look at the reference books my older brother picked out.
The book was well summarized and suitable for my studies, so I immediately opened it and read it, losing track of time. Only late at night did I wash up and go to bed.
From then on, I contacted my older brother more frequently. It was inevitable, as I wanted to verify many things after buying the reference books. However, since my older brother also had work, I couldn’t contact him randomly during the day and had to mark down any questions I had while studying and ask them all at once in the evening.
[What are you doing, older brother?]
[Just waiting. Is there anything you want to know?]
[Do you always know when I send a message?]
When I started messaging and asked him my questions, he replied right away. With his quick responses, the number of messages exchanged increased, and we ended up sharing personal stories.
Of course, most of the conversations were about me.
[I guess it’s because we deal with each other every day. You just sit around.]
My older brother smiled, empathizing with my excessive workload and listening to my concerns. He compared our group assignments to the union’s joint tasks and referred to other part-time jobs.
Since I was unrelated to this side, I couldn’t bring up anything about the union’s work. It was natural not to mention it.
The next day, I took a test. I took the test from morning until afternoon, and besides ‘Advanced Cosmic Technology Theory,’ my older brother helped me with various other subjects, so I continued to receive his assistance. The test felt easier than expected given the short study period.
[I took the test today and it went well.]
[Lucky! Did any of my questions come up?]
[They did. Thanks to you, I did well.]
Whenever I texted my older brother, a smile naturally appeared on my face. Maybe it was because I felt cared for. I felt a sense of ease that I couldn’t experience at school or in the union.
[Then, what else can I get for free?]
[That’s when I get my allowance.]
While texting, time passed, and thinking about studying, I opened my book again. While I enjoyed texting, I couldn’t put off studying for the exam.
I took the exam and succeeded again. I took the ‘Advanced Cosmic Technology Theory’ exam, which my older brother mainly helped with, and most of the questions he covered came up. Even though I knew the exam range, it was still amazing how accurately the questions matched.
[Older brother, are you really not our school professor?]
[What are you talking about? Haha.]
[All the questions you gave came up.]
Tomorrow is the last test, and in the afternoon, there’s a scheduled confrontation, so it’ll be a busy day. Feeling relieved after overcoming a big mountain, my text conversation with my older brother was a bit longer than usual.
[Are you okay for tomorrow’s test?]
[Now it’s time to study.]
Only when my older brother brought up the test did I realize I still had more to study. I hastily began studying, and thinking about the confrontation tomorrow made my mind a bit chaotic.
My older brother didn’t initiate contact, and I only contacted him late at night, so there was no need to talk about what happened during the day. It seemed he was working during the day too.
So, I studied for the exam and prepared for a busy tomorrow by going to bed early.
The final test wasn’t successful. It wasn’t a complete failure, but I felt worried because the results might not be satisfactory. After leaving school, I headed straight to the union headquarters.
We arrived almost at the confrontation time and rode motorcycles to Namsan Park with the team members who were already there.
Spacystro had already arrived and prioritized evacuating civilians before the confrontation. There were kindergartners present, and Spacystro, despite being invaders, made sure to keep the children away from the confrontation area.
We don’t know the names of the teams we’ve faced repeatedly. They are generally referred to as Spacystro, and we’ve faced other teams a few times, but none were as fierce as this one.
Even though our team has always won due to individual abilities, the branch manager’s mindset of celebrating victories is hard to understand.
“Yaaah!”
Rushe, an enemy officer, wielded a staff I had never seen before, clashing with my sword. Thinking I had blocked it easily, I was pushed back by a shockwave.
“Why are you bringing strange weapons?! Blue!”
When I requested support from Blue, he aimed his gun at Rushe from afar and pulled the trigger.
A quick flash flew, but Rushe deflected it with the shockwave from the staff. Realizing this weapon was troublesome, I resolved to destroy it.
When the soldiers around Rushe fell, our team’s attack focused on Rushe. Despite attacking a single opponent, there was no room for cowardice. If we lose even once, Seoul and Earth will fall to them.
“Isn’t it time to surrender?!”
As I clashed swords with Rushe, the fallen Spacystro soldiers stood up and faced our team.
During the power struggle while holding swords and staffs, I felt a shockwave, but I braced myself and endured it.
One of the soldiers who stood up threw his sword at me. I barely avoided it, but the staff shattered under the sword’s impact.
The delayed sword grazed my helmet, and as soon as it was thrown, I punched the soldier who ran towards me.
Despite the shockwave weakening my body, I mustered all my strength to end it in one hit. Seeing the soldier fly far away and Rushe, who looked bewildered with the broken staff, I approached.
“Retreat!”
I heard the voice of a Spacystro soldier, and the standing soldiers carried the fallen ones and Rushe away from the confrontation site.
“…Let’s go back.”
Exhausted from enduring attacks, I had no energy left to do anything else, and hearing the suggestion to return, my teammates turned their motorcycles around.
Back at the union headquarters, everything was normal. Blue and Green had already left, and Yellow and Pink finished their tasks and left. I was about to leave due to pain throughout my body.
“Red, the branch manager wants to see you.”
“Suddenly?”
According to protocol, daily reports were supposed to be submitted to the team leader, not the branch manager. I felt uneasy when the branch manager called right after I reported to the team leader.
Knocking on the branch manager’s door and entering, I saw the white-haired branch manager calmly reading documents.
“You called me?”
“Yes. I heard you won today’s confrontation.”
“Yes.”
Why are you saying such nonsense?
Please stop talking about those achievements.
“There was a new enemy weapon today, right?”
“It wasn’t exactly a new weapon, but it was something we hadn’t seen before.”
I reported about Rushe’s staff, and just talking about it drained all my energy. It felt like my muscles were exhausted after continuous shockwaves.
“Why didn’t you secure it?”
“Pardon?”
This was something I had heard since joining the Earth Defense Union. Securing tools or equipment used by the enemy. But this was only applicable when the conditions were right for securing.
“If it was a new enemy weapon, it should have been secured.”
The purpose of securing Spacystro’s items was to analyze their technology. However, in the past 20 years, the Earth Defense Union had never successfully secured any Spacystro items.
Though I don’t understand the technology, the secured items disappeared quickly, and the cause of their disappearance couldn’t be identified, leading to stagnation.
Many scientists had attempted to solve this, but the overwhelming technological gap meant current brains and technologies had limits. It seemed many scientists had quit out of despair over the tech gap.
“Securing is only done in environments where it’s possible. Securing could increase the risk of defeat or injury, causing significant damage.”
The branch manager, who had been reading documents, sharply looked at me. I hated those eyes.
“Aren’t we a winning team? Where does the possibility of loss exist?”
I wanted to throw the branch manager in front of the Spacystro enemies to show how formidable they were.
As the branch manager said, we won every time, but we never became complacent. Spacystro were invaders aiming to conquer Earth, enemies, and villains. But it was true that they approached with genuine intensity for their survival.
Does the branch manager understand the fatigue we feel facing them every time? Or does he even want to understand?
“Failing to implement a goal is a sign of underperformance.”
I couldn’t stand hearing such nonsense. Every time I heard it, I felt disgusted and wished someone would do something about this person.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why am I fighting with all my might for Earth and returning victorious, yet having to listen to this?
“If you have nothing more to say, you may leave.”
I had countless rebuttals. I knew I should speak up, but I didn’t want to say anything to someone so obsessed with achievements.
I felt fatigue weighing down on my shoulders.
For the first time, I realized that even if I had perfect means to refute someone for a filthy act, the disgust I felt at seeing them as human made me give up on conversation.
“I’ll go.”
I hurt. Was it physical pain, mental pain, or overall pain? I couldn’t pinpoint where it hurt.
Trying to identify the source of pain made it shift to another spot. My mind became cluttered, and my body heavy. I wanted to rest somewhere I could relax.
“Yubin.”
Wandering aimlessly, I heard a familiar voice as I approached home. I slowly lifted my gaze, which felt like it would sink into the ground.
“Older brother?”
There he was. Was he just out for a moment? He was in comfortable training clothes with his hands in his pockets, looking at me.
“Oh, hi.”
I didn’t expect to meet him here. We usually buy food at convenience stores, so why did he come here now?
“What a coincidence meeting like this on the street.”
“I was out to buy something after finishing work.”
It seems my older brother’s work is done too. I should remember to keep this in mind for future texts.
“Won’t you go to a convenience store today?”
Maybe he wants something different from convenience store food? While convenience store food can fill your stomach, it’s better to eat something with better nutritional balance for health.
“Why would I go without you?”
……
I felt my eyes widen as I looked at my older brother. This level of surprise was new to me. My older brother casually responded while looking at a sign, and I couldn’t meet his gaze.
“…If you have time, let’s eat together.”
The desire to go home and rest vanished as if it never existed.
Even though I usually don’t text first or suggest eating, why is my older brother doing this now?
When I’m struggling, why is he making such a comment with a smile?
The physical and mental stress instantly disappeared, and I couldn’t hide the smile forming on my lips.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“I’ll pay. Let’s go.”
My older brother walked ahead, and I joined him, walking side by side to the restaurant.
While waiting for our order, I noticed my older brother rubbing his cheek.
“Did you get hurt?”
It wasn’t a place that could easily get hurt, so how did this happen? Such a clumsy person.
“Yeah, I bumped into something while spacing out.”
“How do you bump into something like that?”
Seeing my clumsy older brother in such a situation made me laugh involuntarily.
“Just a moment.”
I had grabbed a disposable ice pack before heading out. Though the ice was mostly melted and liquid, it was still good for applying to the injured area.
“Do you carry something like this around?”
“It’s disposable, but I brought it just in case and didn’t use it.”
I handed the ice pack to my older brother, who started applying it to his cheek. He began staring at me intently. Was something wrong? His gaze made me nervous.
“Yubin. Near your eye.”
“Huh?”
Was something stuck? When I checked with a compact mirror from my bag, I found a small cut. It wasn’t large enough to be noticeable, but it had a small scar.
“Huh? When did I get this?”
“Just a moment.”
My older brother suddenly stood up, went to the counter, and returned with ointment from the shop owner.
“Apply this to the wound, and this.”
He then took out a flesh-colored bandage from his pocket.
“Do you carry something like this around?”
“I get hurt often because I’m clumsy.”
Seeing his clumsy expression as he talked about bumping into things made me laugh again.
“What’s so funny?”
Unable to hold back my laughter at his puzzled expression, I couldn’t resist.
“Just, I somehow feel like I understand why you get hurt often because you’re clumsy.”
“Huh? Do I come across like that?”
I vividly recalled his hesitant movements while shopping at the convenience store. The image of my older brother, who had been visiting the convenience store for over a month, flashed in my mind.
“Because, older brother, you always hesitate when choosing items at the convenience store.”
“I don’t think I’m clumsy.”
Finding humor in aspects he didn’t notice himself was amusing. Being with someone I’ve known for just a week felt more comfortable than people I’ve known for years.
“No, no, I’m not.”
I tried desperately to hold back my laughter but couldn’t. Playfully teasing him, we continued our conversation until the end of the meal.
“Then, I’ll go in.”
“Yeah, take care.”
After finishing our meal, we said goodbye at the restaurant. I wanted to talk more, but I felt it would be rude to hold him back due to my own desires.
Watching my older brother walk away, I turned toward home.
While the stress and irritation from earlier weren’t completely gone, meeting my older brother improved my mood significantly.
“Ah, that was fun.”
Walking home alone, I felt lighter. Thinking about how to contact my older brother tomorrow, I remembered it was his day off for the convenience store job.
“Already Friday.”
Would my older brother come to the convenience store at the usual time tomorrow?
Ah, I can’t wait to meet him.