SIDE STORY 22

Terms used in this side story:

Katyusha – a Soviet folk-based song and military march that became popular during WWII as a patriotic song in Russia.

SIDE STORY – TO EARTH (15)

Natasha Molotov was standing on a snowfield.

Between morning and noon.

At that time, which was usually called morning, she stood still and gazed at the pure white place.

She actually did not have much time.

She had already spent a lot of time doing stuff, so she only had a few hours left.

But she was not in a hurry.

Standing straight, she viewed the snowy field as the wind blew.

“Alexei.”

No answer came back to her low call.

She knew very well that he would never return.

But she called him again.

As she did when she was young and feeling uncertain, she whispered.

“Help me, Alexei.”

Her futile words scattered.

The cold air penetrated deep into her lungs and chilled her chest.

Alexei was no longer here.

There was still his heir to whom he had left everything, so he definitely existed.

Her ringtone sounded.

Natasha let out a long breath as she heard the melody of Katyusha without any lyrics.

The screen displayed a name she had expected.

Natasha wryly smiled at the fact that her innermost wish was shattered in a short time.

Having such a wish in the first place was just a coping mechanism she had.

[Natasha. What happened?]

As soon as she pressed the Answer button, she heard an urgent voice.

The voice was filled with anxiety and impatience, despite the person suppressing it as much as possible.

So Natasha took another breath.

She spoke in her calmest tone.

“Gino is not coming.”

[Damn it. Natasha. That guy, no way… That’s impossible.]

She could easily guess what Bertrand had held back from saying.

Was Kang Jin-ho scared?

Did he refuse to risk his life for his colleagues whom he left six years ago?

That was impossible.

Not only Natasha, but also Bertrand knew very well of that fact.

[Why?]

So Bertrand questioned Natasha this time.

Natasha replied reflexively.

“Why indeed?”

[Natasha?]

Natasha did not answer right away.

She turned her gaze back to the snowfield and began to unravel her memories on that white field.

“The Gino we know is no longer around.”

[What do you mean? Did he get hurt or something?]

“His senses have died. It has completely rusted. To the point that he didn’t even knew that someone entered his house.”

She did not go in when Kang Jin-ho was not home. She had attempted to sneak in while he was at home.

“It’s been six years. Six years. That’s enough time to rust.”

[…Do you really think so?]

That Gino?

That man who inherited everything from Alexei?

Natasha swallowed her breath.

In fact, she knew it too.

Gino was clearly not the same as before.

His skills were unimaginable in his prime.

But as Bertrand had said, he was a man who inherited everything from Alexei.

With the slightest stimulation, he could return to his former self.

So Natasha nodded.

She agreed with Bertrand.

She acknowledged that he was right.

But what came out of her mouth were completely different words.

“But that’s the reality.”

His quick senses were gone.

Gino could no longer fight with them.

The child born and raised on the battlefield had finally found peace and was living a normal life, so she did not want to destroy it. She did not want to bring Gino back here again.

“Gino is a weak civilian now.”

He fell in love with the girl next door.

Perhaps it was not just love.

Perhaps it was the fated love that only appeared in novels.

Yes, that much made him feel less miserable from the 10 years of hard life that he had spent with them.

No, calling it miserable was too much.

Because that was ignoring his courage to change.

“Or perhaps the time we spent together was too long.”

[Natasha?]

“Six years is too long.”

Natasha skillfully came up with an excuse at her slip of the tongue, and shrugged once as she straightened her posture.

“So Bertrand. Give up on Gino now. It’s just us now. Because we started this in the first place.”

[But Natasha. The one who originally caused this is…]

“Yes, the bad one is Torres. That f*cking b*stard. But we’re the ones who worked with him in the first place.”

Natasha felt tired.

She did not want to talk about Torres anymore.

“I’ll get ready. I’ll join you in three hours.”

[I understand. See you later.]

The call was disconnected.

Natasha shoved her cellphone into her pocket and looked back at the snowfield.

Their situation was simple.

They worked with Organization A.

Organization A stole a very important item from Organization B.

But Organization A pretended to have lost the important item and manipulated the situation to make it look like Natasha and her colleagues had stolen it.

Organization B was definitely not stupid either.

They did not let themselves get fooled by the tricks of Organization A.

But it was clear that they would target Natasha and her colleagues before Organization A.

It was meaningless to complain of injustice.

Organization B never believed in Natasha and her colleagues.

In the end, Natasha and her colleagues had only one option left.

Attacking Organization A.

To return the item Organization A stole from Organization B.

They did not have much time.

Moreover, Organization A was clever enough to know what Natasha and her colleagues would choose as their last resort.

To begin with, the reason why they hired Natasha and her colleagues over the past year was to use and throw them away.

That kind of stuff.

For that one item, they discarded the several years of time and the lives of so many people.

It was truly a ‘f*ck you’ situation.

But it was also a possible enough situation. One could even say that such a situation was commonplace in their field.

And that was why Natasha did not want Gino to return to this field again.

Natasha smiled.

She had ran out of time.

She did not have much time in the first place.

But she stubbornly went to Korea.

She took the trouble of meeting Gino.

“Sorry, Bertrand.”

It was a lie when she said that she was going to convince Gino.

She had a bit of hope, but knew that it would end like this.

Perhaps it was just her last desire.

To see the face of Gino once before she died.

She had endured it for the past six years, so she thought that it was fine to satisfy her desire one last time.

“But I’m glad.”

Because Gino was living well.

That he was living a truly normal life.

That Gino was in love.

And with an opponent he met in a game.

“Is this truly fated love?”

The person he met in his first game.

A person he had been fighting against for six years.

But that person actually lived next door and had secretly admired him in all those years.

Such a thing as coincidence could not exist.

It made her wonder if fate really existed.

“Gino.”

Natasha muttered again and took a deep breath.

After forcibly shaking off her feelings of depression, she stuck her chest out.

The wind blew a letter in front of Natasha.

“Huh?”

Natasha reflexively snatched the letter and let out a surprised voice.

Because her own name was written on the envelope of the letter that suddenly flew in.

[To Natasha Molotov]

Natasha blinked once at the round and pretty letters, and looked around in a hurry.

But Natasha was the only one standing in the middle of the snowfield.

She knew of letters attached to arrows, but never heard of a method to send a letter in an envelope all the way here with just the wind.

Natasha looked up the sky just in case, but there were no drones in the cloudless sky.

How did it happen?

Natasha gulped and made a decision. She took out the knife she always carried around her body, and carefully cut open the envelope of the letter.

Powder did not fly.

There was really only a letter in the envelope.

Natasha unfolded the letter with her hands wearing leather gloves.

[Hello, Natasha.]

[First of all, let me thank you. Thank you for raising Jude well.]

“Jude?”

Natasha narrowed her brows.

Because it was an unfamiliar name.

The words saying that she raised him well was also strange.

The sentence was short, but somehow felt like it was drawing a line.

Like ‘You’re the one who raised Jude. A family like an older sister or a mother.’

[We’ve handled the difficult stuff. So don’t worry now. And though this may be too meddlesome, please consider retiring this time. Jude says that it’s not something that you can say that you want to retire, but you can if you try. Because we’ve roughly prepared on what you need for retirement. We’ve left it to your colleague, Bertrand.]

Natasha raised her head and looked around again.

However, she still could not feel a single presence around her.

[How about living in South Korea? Frankly, the fact that Natasha will live next door is making me uneasy… but I think it will be fine since they’ve already done it. I’m not sure about anything else, but my Jude is certain of that. Yes, that’s right. So I’m sure.]

The more she read, the stranger she felt.

Because she felt like she knew what it was talking about despite not understanding it.

“Yoo Hee?”

She unknowingly thought of the cute girl next door whom Gino had fallen in love with, but soon shook her head.

That girl was really ordinary.

She could not have done an approach like this.

[Jude wants me to tell you that he loves you. I’m saying this for caution’s sake, but it’s love for family and not love between a man and a woman. Yes. I may seem jealous, but what I’ve said is true. Yes, yes. It is like that.]

[Anyway, Natasha. Thank you again. If you have a hard time in the future, please call Jude and Cordelia instead of shouting Alexei. Judelia is fine too.]

[Hmm, okay. I’ll stop here. Goodbye, Natasha. Let’s meet again in the future when we have the chance.]

“Cordelia… August Chase?”

Natasha read aloud the name written on the last line, and began to reread the letter from the beginning  as if she was possessed.

And as if it were in time, Katyusha rang on her phone again when she finished rereading it.

[Na-Natasha?!]

“Bertrand?”

She reflexively replied in a higher tone in response to his bewildered voice.

But instead of calming down, Bertrand shouted with more urgency.

[Do you know who P-Pi-Pink Bomb is?]

“What?”

What bomb?

[Pink Bomb!]

“Hey, Bertrand. Are you…”

[I’m not on drugs! My mind is clear!]

“Then what the hell are you saying? Please explain so that I can understand.”

[So…]

Bertrand swallowed his saliva and narrated everything, while Natasha blinked her eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

Organization A was destroyed in a single day.

Or rather, it was within a few hours and not a single day, as their headquarters was completely robbed.

The leader of Organization A was swept away by the explosion, and the items stolen from Organization B had disappeared.

And a huge amount of gold bars and a letter arrived at the hiding place of Bertrand.

[It said P-Pink Bomb and Black Cloak.]

Natasha furrowed her brows at the seriously terrible aliases, and turned her gaze to the letter she was holding.

Jude and Cordelia.

Cordelia August Chase.

[Natasha?]

“…Maybe?”

[Maybe?]

“I think they’re on our side.”

[Natasha? Do you know anything?]

“I’m sorry. I’ll call you again later.”

[Nata-]

Natasha ignored Bertrand calling her and hung up.

She once again focused on the letter.

“Cordelia August Chase.”

And Jude Bayer.

Natasha folded the letter.

She hardly understood what happened, but strangely felt relieved.

She did not feel anxious that it might be another trap.

“Cordelia.”

Natasha said it aloud again, and smiled without realizing it.

Her face had a bright smile.

***

“Do you think everything went well?”

“I think everything went well.”

Except that Natasha really came to Korea.

And in the same apartment building as Kang Jin-ho.

“You said that it was fine since they’ve already done it.”

“Yes.”

But there’s still a possibility.

Jude smiled at the timid murmur of Cordelia.

He was happy at her showing a bit of jealousy, perhaps because his love filter was too strong.

“Anyway, shall we go back now?”

“Yes, let’s go back.”

She was disappointed that she could not appear in front of her parents.

She was saddened that she could only watch them before leaving.

But Cordelia deeply inhaled and simply smiled.

Earth was where Hong Yoo Hee lived, and Pleiades was where Cordelia lived.

“But I’m satisfied. Yes, I’m satisfied. Because we ended up with each other here as well.”

Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee had fallen in love.

She hoped that they would become a married couple that grew old together.

As Cordelia snorted in delight, Jude grinned and held her waist.

He recalled the past as they stood in front of the gate leading to Pleiades.

Right after they defeated Auriel.

When they set out on an risky journey to close the Hell Gate that Asmodeus had opened.

“But there was two of us back then. It wasn’t that scary.”

Cordelia spoke as though she had read the thoughts of Jude, and he nodded.

In the past, in the present, and in all the future that would follow, Jude and Cordelia would always be together.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

The two smiled at each other and closely walked together.

Like always, the two moved forward in unison.

***

Kim Hye Eun stared at the monitor with narrowed brows before typing on the keyboard.

Romantic Cat: What’s that avatar?

Yellow Storm: A bunny girl set. Isn’t it cute?

Cordelia Chase was wearing a black dress with a white bunny ears headband and a cute bunny tail.

As Hong Yoo Hee had said, it was cute.

But Kim Hye Eun furrowed her brows again. Because it seemed like Jude Bayer, the character of Outboxer009, was restless.

“Hmm, let’s not dig into it.”

She thought that she would only feel salty if she dug into it.

Kim Hye Eun clicked her tongue and grabbed the beer can she had previously opened.

For some really strange reason, the beer tasted salty today.