Chapter 23: The Unforeseen Sacrifice

Cheche placed her hand on Yeosu’s crown, as if she had expected that answer.

‘Yeosu, your name is like that too.’

‘My name too?’ Cheche, who had a somewhat lonely smile for the child tilting her head, continued her written reply.

Her mother communicated easy things with her lips, and long or difficult things by writing, so Yeosu waited patiently until she finished writing.

[Someone has to remember the language. So that even after a long time, everyone knows that ‘Earth’ was called ‘Earth.’ Until now, I remembered. And now, Yeosu, it’s your turn.]

Yeosu’s lips pouted slightly. The words ‘your turn’ felt burdensome. Why did it have to be her? The child, who still preferred playing with her mother, learned of the world’s unfairness for the first time.

‘Above all… to avoid their eyes, we have to use a language they don’t know…’

Cheche mumbled, a somewhat somber expression on her face. It wasn’t clear, so Yeosu couldn’t interpret her lip movements. She simply thought her mother had repeated what she had written in her reply.

[Yeosu. So you have to live long, very long. Until then.]

That was the last written reply. Just then, a knocking sound on the tent made both mother and daughter turn towards it.

Finally, someone’s urgent voice was heard through the slightly parted tent flap.

“It’s serious, Jojo! The guards ‘again’!”

Jojo was the name her mother gave herself after moving to this shelter. It was an easy-to-call name, commonly used by unregistered individuals.

Her mother had many names, but Yeosu didn’t know which one was her real name. She simply adapted to the changing names each time.

At the mention of ‘guards,’ Cheche’s face became serious. She instructed Yeosu to get under the blanket, then buried the books she had obtained from the Wanderer in the firewood pile behind the brazier.

“Jojo!”

The voice from outside urged her. Cheche glanced at Yeosu, who had quietly hidden herself under the blanket, then quickly opened the tent flap.

“Damn it, those guys came all the way here. We have to be quiet now!”

The person who entered Cheche’s shelter was Kustik, a maiden her age. She had encountered the guards on her way back to her own shelter from the exchange and knocked on Cheche’s closest shelter.

Cheche inserted a thin tube into a small hole in the tent to assess the situation.

Through the small hole, four guards were visible. One more than last time. They had gathered those who hadn’t managed to escape and were smoking in front of them.

“You filthy refugee bastards. Because of scum like you, the trash in the incinerator isn’t decreasing at all!”

“Ugh! Argh!”

The guard, dropping his half-smoked cigarette onto the man’s thigh, kicked him in the stomach as if enjoying it. Another guard joined in, finding absurd excuses to punch people.

If they resisted here, they might draw knives. Therefore, the refugees endured the violence without a proper fight.

Eventually, someone fainted. As the guard lifted his head to look for another victim, Cheche hastily covered the hole.

“Jojo, it’s those guys again, right? The ones from last time!”

Cheche nodded. The ‘guys’ Kustik referred to were criminals who, a month ago, had come to this incinerator, picked a fight with three shelter residents they coincidentally encountered, and ended up setting their bodies on fire.

Despite their cruel acts, they had legitimate jobs. A job called ‘Autonomous Public Security Guard.’

Mainly lower-class residents took these jobs, and among themselves, they called themselves ‘prospective Juseong military,’ proudly boasting that they would one day become human soldiers.

However, in reality, they were nothing more than wanderers, moving from place to place under the pretext of ‘public security.’ Although there were indeed a few who caught the eye of Juseong’s military and became human soldiers, they were a minority.

But because such cases were not non-existent, their arrogance grew day by day.

This was starkly evident in the violence unfolding before Cheche’s eyes today. They engaged in more heartless and violent acts than any guard Cheche had ever seen.

“Refugee, do you want to die? Why aren’t you looking up?”

“[Pl-please save me. I didn’t do anything. Really.]”

A voice, excessively strong in tone for the common language, flowed from the old man who was being held. Cheche, holding her breath and listening to the situation outside, trembled.

It was a barbaric language. It was a language she hadn’t learned, but it was definitely not the common language. Not only her, but the guard also noticed it.

“This b*stard, he was a barbarian?”

Thwack! Without a chance to dodge, the beating continued. The old man helplessly fell to the ground, screaming as if gasping for air. The guard, chuckling and kicking until the screams stopped, then looked around as if something had just occurred to him.

“A refugee camp where barbarians openly roam… Could this be a den of impure breeds?”

His words, spoken as if a joke, also influenced the other guards who had been silently watching. Chuckling that it might be so, they finally claimed that they should initiate a search and filter out the impure breeds to offer to the military.

Cheche clenched her teeth. Yeosu, watching her mother, also bit her lip tightly.

Strictly speaking, ‘impure breed’ didn’t refer to everyone who spoke a barbaric language. Rather, true impure breeds would hide their barbaric language tightly, never revealing it in front of others.

Therefore, that old man must have simply been unable to recall the common language well due to his old age and was not an impure breed. Instead, the impure breeds they were looking for were right here.

Those who called Earth ‘Earth,’ taught barbaric languages to their descendants, and ultimately rebelled against Juseong, never submitting to the colonial system.

Yeosu finally got out from under the blanket. Yeosu also knew that the ‘impure breed’ they were talking about was Cheche.

Yeosu ran and hugged Cheche’s legs. Mom shouldn’t go out. She absolutely had to hide.

“From now on, there will be an impure breed inspection! Everyone inside come out! Ordinary refugee bastards don’t need to be scared. We’ll send you back right after a simple interrogation.”

The guards spoke sternly, then chuckled among themselves. They intended to catch one and take him to the military, hoping to be recognized as official human soldiers.

Soon, they scattered and began to go around the closed shelters. Cheche’s shelter was no exception.

The sound of boots was heard nearby. Both Kustik, who was crouching under the table, and Cheche, who was hidden behind the tent, simultaneously held their breath.

At the same time, the guard’s footsteps also stopped. All three, holding their breath, knew that one of the guards was checking for signs of life here.

Kustik couldn’t hold it any longer and exhaled the breath she had been holding. At that moment, swish, the tent seam tore apart.

They were discovered. It was then that Cheche’s face turned white. Yeosu, letting go of her mother’s leg, screamed in front of the seam before it completely tore apart.

“I’ll go out! It’s only me!”

Cheche, flustered, tried to grab Yeosu’s arm, but Yeosu went out of the shelter first. Kustik covered her mouth and shed tears. She couldn’t stop thinking it was her fault.

Cheche tried to follow, but Kustik shook her head, restraining her with her eyes. Meanwhile, Yeosu was desperately explaining her parents’ absence to the guard.

“Mom went to the exchange. She went to get drinking water, so she won’t be back until evening. Can I just have the inspection… done on me first?”

The man tilted his head and peered through the tent flap. Cheche was hidden behind him, and Kustik was curled up under the table, so the shelter looked as if it were empty.

“Hmph, follow me.”

The man turned around. Just as Yeosu let out a sigh of relief, the tent visibly shook. It was Cheche.

When the man, sensing something suspicious, stopped walking, Yeosu immediately closed the tent. Her small hands trembled from how much force she was using.

“What is it?”

“I’m afraid… that a thief might break in…”

Fortunately, the man only narrowed his eyes and did not suspect anything further. Yeosu quickly followed the man, afraid that Cheche might follow.