The Trash Wants to Live - Chapter 81

PR: Xashaha

“Jae-hyuk hyung?”

I sat down again, wondering what she meant. My heart raced, wondering if they had found out something by any chance.

According to Rachel, the U.S. government considered the gates as uncharted territory, and when Kwon Jae-hyuk single-handedly conquered the first gate, they thought, ‘Oh, so it must not have been that difficult.’

Another reason for such underestimation is because those of us who directly experienced the gates are all quite young, and Kwon Jae-hyuk isn’t omnipotent, making it seem as if the gate could be easily cleared. If a man who hadn’t received military training attacked the gate by himself…

Meanwhile, public opinion might say, ‘He must be Superman’ rather than, ‘Wasn’t the gate just easy?’ and may have preceded…’

Also, there were speculations that our testimony might have been exaggerated due to our fear of the unknown, and that we came out completely unscathed.

‘My goodness! I see that now.’

I remembered that the people who entered the gate together didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they were probably even more relieved because they weren’t in a world where horrifying creatures like the Tyrannosaurus were alive.

“That’s why we asked our gifted people before entering this gate.”

When Rachel asked if other gifted people could do what Kwon Jae-hyuk did, and if they could survive and escape from a dimension without information, and even in the wild, there was one person who said ‘yes’. Rachel thought I knew who he was.

“That’s Chuck, right?”

“…Yes. He’s a former Special Forces soldier, and he’s got an otherworldly ability so he said he thinks it’s possible.”

If Chuck said so, the upper management would have dismissed Kwon Jae-hyuk’s achievements as nothing special.

That’s why when a gate was discovered, they decided to attack it without hesitation, and the anxious defence minister brought us in just in case.

“I thought that would have been a godsend… No one could have predicted that such a monster would appear.”

If there was no CCTV footage left from the attack, they wouldn’t have known about Dietrich’s formidable power.

‘People want a fantasy that differs from reality, but when such a situation actually occurs, they’re forced to face the wall of truth.’

Perhaps Rachel’s superiors realised that it was beyond their imagination only after watching the video, leading to Kwon Jae-hyuk’s existence becoming a threat to them.

“If it had been during the Cold War, would  they have… assassinated Kwon Jae-hyuk?”

“…”

“Anyway, for this reason, we were curious about his strength, so we did a little research on Mr. Kwon.”

“What?”

“Because we never know when a force that is not ours will aim a sword at us.”

Rachel, who said, ‘Of course, they don’t send assassins these days’, smiled bitterly.

Perhaps she was ordered by his superiors to appease Kwon Jae-hyuk to come to the United States? I speculated.

Rachel then took out some documents from her bag and began to read them.

“Kwon Jae-hyuk. 20 years old in Korean age. Born on the 2nd of January.

After being discovered in a baby box at a church as a newborn baby, he grew up in a nursery in Youngil and moved to Sungwoon at the age of three. He met Ki Yoon Jae for the first time when he was nine years old. He is currently attached to no one but Mr. Ki. He is smart and spent his school days easily. His grades are pretty good… hmm. That doesn’t sound very good to me. I’ve heard a lot that Korean entrance exams are like war, but Mr. Kwon’s grades seem to be pulling ahead of everyone else’s.

The document she showed me was Kwon Jae Hyuk’s high school record book. His grades were written on the document with a picture of a more youthful Kwon Jae-hyuk, with no numbers other than 1.

‘It’s amazing.’

Isn’t he real main character material? He’s handsome, intelligent, and strong… I can’t understand why he’s wasting his life on someone who is lacking ambition.

‘Since this is a male-oriented harem novel, all the women will fall for him just by looking at him…’

It’s ridiculous, but I’m strangely proud of it… but I can’t figure out why.

“On top of that, he entered Sungwoon University’s law department as the top student. Since it is a private university, it is evaluated as inferior to the national university, Korea University, but Sungwoon University is also prestigious in Korea.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“So, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether Kwon Jae-hyuk is really a safe person?”

Rachel’s compliment makes me smile, but then I get taken aback by what she says in the following sentence. I’m so stunned that I was unable to control my expression, and she waves her hand.

“Of course Korea is a friendly country and Sungwoon is our ally. But Kwon Jae-hyuk… how should I say this…”

“…”

“The feedback I heard from people who worked with Mr. Kwon in the attack team was consistent. He was kind, very helpful, strong, andt humble without being arrogant. But everyone shares a common sentiment about him. He feels a little distant.”

Somehow, I knew it. Kwon Jae-hyuk was always friendly and smiling, but he wasn’t the type of person to approach others.

He was different from the main character. They both had friendly smiles, but Jang Eui-yeol was really friendly and ended up being taken advantage of by many people. Hmm… It was hard to imagine Kwon Jae-hyuk being taken advantage of like that. However, Kwon Jae-hyuk didn’t stop people from approaching him, but rather than being welcomed, he made the person feel awkward and go back…

‘But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, though?’

I made a sour face because I didn’t like her suddenly labelling Kwon Jae-hyuk as an untrustworthy person, and Rachel laughed. It wasn’t a sneer, but it was a reaction that held a little bit of a surprise.

“I find it kind of fascinating that Mr. Ki can’t  hide his expression, but it’s also a little reassuring. From your point of view, Mr. Kwon is not a bad person, right?”

“I admit that Jae-hyuk hyung is not a friendly person, but… I can’t accept it if you’re saying he’s a dangerous person just because of that.”

“That’s right. That is not the only reason I judged him to be dangerous.”

“Then?”

“He… Has Mr. Kwon ever done anything he wanted to do?”

“Yes?”

“No, let me correct myself, was there anything he has accomplished that he’s done for himself?”

“That…”

I couldn’t answer it. Has he ever acted on his desires? I couldn’t fully know his past, but as far as I knew it, he never did.

‘It was because of me that he went to the law department and studied hard because I wanted to go to the law department. And he became a gifted person for me as soon as his ability was awakened, even though he could have lived as an ordinary student.’

I’m ashamed to say it, but if Kwon Jae-hyuk had any desires, they were all related to me. All his choices so far have been in my favour.

“All of his desires are directed towards Mr. Ki. The person he is attached to is also Mr. Ki. It sounds romantic at first glance, but… The biggest problem is that there is no substitute.”

“Substitute…”

“That’s right. It’s just… if he was a normal person, we could dismiss his intense affection as nothing more than that, but… he’s the strongest at the moment. The superiors are afraid that they don’t know the extent of his ability and don’t know any other way to control him.”

People have various desires, ranging from small to big, from altruistic to selfish, and the number of them is infinite. Since most people have at least one desire for themselves, those in power can control people to some extent by using it as a condition. However, there are limits to how much people can be controlled by their desires.

‘Kwon Jae-hyuk’s passions are related to me, so I’m the only one who can control him.’

‘Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation, what if I were unfortunate enough to be kidnapped? While this is unlikely since only a limited number of people know about Kwon Jae-hyuk’s strength, I’m afraid that America could make that happen.’

Let’s imagine an even more extreme scenario. What if I die? Of course, this is impossible due to the contract, but let’s set that aside and imagine. If I were to die, regardless of the cause, whether I was hit by a car, shot, or died of a heart attack on the street, in a location in the United States, who would Kwon Jae-hyuk blame for the death of someone he’s attached to? Wouldn’t he resent and hate America itself?

T/N: Sorry for late post and next update probably will be late too, still adjusting at my new workplace. Thank you and sorry for the inconveniences 🙏❤️