Red Dot - 71

Exiting the department store, Junseong looked up at the sky, which had darkened a bit since he entered. Even though it was still midday, the sky was filled with thick clouds, giving the feeling that the sun was setting.

As Junseong remembered, on this 5th day, it had been cloudy over Inhansi for a long time, and it wasn’t until evening that rain fell. The rain, which had been falling throughout the night, momentarily stopped by noon the next day, only to pour down again soon after.

Knowing this, Junseong had chosen a time without an umbrella, allowing his hands to be free when coming to the department store this time.

“Now, let’s go back and…”

Junseong looked up at the sky, recalling the tasks to be done later, when suddenly he widened his eyes at the sound of a helicopter coming from somewhere.

“Is that a helicopter?”

Hanseo also heard it and turned his eyes to the sky where the sound was coming from.

The noise of the helicopter’s propellers was getting closer.

Junseong was quite surprised by the unexpected sound of a helicopter.

As far as he could remember, he had never heard such a low noise from any helicopter nearby, except for the rescue helicopter that arrived at the Inhan Hospital on the 2nd day. He had occasionally seen military helicopters scouting from high above, as if looking down arrogantly, but never had he heard such noise.

Especially on the 5th day, they hadn’t even seen reconnaissance helicopters, so the sudden appearance of this noise was alarming.

Junseong, listening to the approaching noise of the helicopter, pulled Hanseo towards him.

“Come here. Let’s hide.”

Although Hanseo made a questioning expression, asking why, he obediently followed.

With a stiff expression, Junseong hid between the sculptures and flower beds near the entrance of the department store. Thanks to the dark sky and the shadows of the sculptures, their figures were barely visible from above. If by any chance they were recognized by the helicopter amidst a horde of zombies, things would get complicated, so hiding anywhere was a matter of course.

Not long after he watched the direction of the approaching noise, the helicopter revealed itself.

“That’s…!”

Junseong was surprised once again.

What appeared was not the reconnaissance helicopter they had expected, but a rescue helicopter. It looked exactly the same as the one that landed at the helipad of the Inhan Hospital on the 2nd day.

‘What’s going on?’

A rescue helicopter suddenly appearing when they weren’t even expecting a reconnaissance helicopter was beyond comprehension.

Junseong searched his confused mind frantically.

‘No matter how I think about it, a rescue helicopter didn’t appear on the 5th day, not even once. That means…’

The helicopter, flying low enough to see its shape, was about to cross the department store. Junseong stared at the helicopter, feeling tense.

“A variable…”

Hanseo, hearing Junseong’s murmuring, asked while watching the helicopter.

“Is that him?”

Junseong nodded silently.

At this moment, there was no other explanation than that.

The person referred to as ‘Hyungnim’ by members of the long-term trade organization.

A precognitive person with abilities similar to Junseong.

Unless that person had moved, there was no way to explain the helicopter.

Junseong looked up at the helicopter passing over their heads, heading somewhere.

While they couldn’t be sure who the precognitive person was, if it was indeed that person who had ordered his subordinates to kill people and extract organs using their precognitive abilities, they couldn’t trust the apparent ‘rescue’ purpose of the helicopter.

“That helicopter.”

Hanseo, who had been watching the helicopter moving away, said to Junseong, who was deep in thought.

“We saw the helicopter.”

“What?”

Junseong looked at Hanseo in surprise. Until then, Hanseo had been closely examining the back of the helicopter.

“There’s a registration number on the tail of rescue helicopters.”

“Registration number?”

At Hanseo’s words, Junseong quickly looked at the tail of the helicopter. Although the distance was significant, he could still discern that there was something written there, even if he couldn’t make out the details.

“HL-9498.”

Hanseo murmured.

“It’s the same registration number as the rescue helicopter that came to Inhan Hospital.”

Junseong gritted his teeth with a stiff expression.

Thinking of the rescue helicopter that had smoothly escaped from the helipad at Inhan Hospital, Junseong involuntarily covered his mouth with one hand.

It seemed unnatural for the ‘boss of the organ trafficking organization’ and a ‘rescue helicopter’ to be intertwined like this.

No matter what method was used, the rescue helicopter, which had carried many people, had fallen into the hands of the boss of the organ trafficking organization. Considering that the pilot and firefighters who had been seen in his dreams every time were the same this time, it seemed more likely that they were hijacked rather than having a pre-existing connection.

The organ traffickers had planned to take the organs they harvested from within the hospital and board the rescue helicopter. During the journey, they intended to kill or threaten the driver and others to head to their hideout.

Since they had all failed to board the helicopter, Junseong had naturally thought they had escaped smoothly. However, now it seemed that was not the case. If everything had gone as planned, the rescue helicopter wouldn’t have appeared again after the dream sequence.

The only ones who could bring about a different pattern from the consecutive repetitions in dreams were those who could change their options because they knew the ‘future.’

That is, himself and the boss of the organ trafficking organization.

They were the only ones.

“Are… Taehoo’s father and his friends safe?”

Junseong shivered with the thought of unknown and malicious organ traffickers.

If he had originally led his brother and his friends to Inhan Hospital and sent them on the rescue helicopter as planned on the 2nd day?

As soon as he had that thought, his fingertips turned as cold as ice, and his mind hardened.

It could have been a situation where they unknowingly handed them over to the ruthless organ traffickers.

With a grim imagination, Junseong saw the helicopter landing somewhere. Although the distance was considerable, it was close enough to hear the faint sound of the propellers.

But he couldn’t see exactly where it had landed.

“Let’s go back.”

As if to prevent Junseong from thinking further, Hanseo grabbed his waist and stood up together.

“There’s nothing good to face.”

“…Yeah.”

Junseong nodded in agreement with Hanseo’s words.

Their opponent was the merciless boss of the organ trafficking organization, accompanied by ruthless subordinates, and moreover, a person who had experienced the same dream world as himself. Facing such a person could lead to unpredictable consequences. At least for now, there was nothing they could do with just the two of them.

“If we leave Inhansi… Let’s start by checking on Taehoo’s father and the survivors at Inhan Hospital.”

He repeated this mantra to calm his tangled mind like taking deep breaths.

“It’ll be okay. The rescue helicopter that departed from Inhan Hospital didn’t stop anywhere else and went straight to the shelter. So, everyone should be safe.”

Junseong, trying to calm his anxious heart, suddenly stopped in his tracks, struck by a thought. He looked back at the direction where the helicopter had landed, furrowing his brows.

“No way… It can’t be, right?”

Thinking of a certain place in the direction the helicopter went, Junseong shook his head soon after.

“No, that can’t be. What does the organ trafficking organization have to do with Director Jang?”

He forcibly suppressed the creeping anxiety that cautiously peeked out as he cautiously raised his head. Although for a moment, he thought about the boss of the organ trafficking organization knowing a part of his dreams, he shook his head even at that thought.

“The encounter with Director Jang to reach a solution was the first and last time. Even if the opponent knows who Director Jang is… they probably wouldn’t know him.”

Yet, the anxiety that had stealthily spread didn’t seem to be quelled easily.

Shortly after heading towards the container office, even before the two reached it, they had to hide in a narrow alley once again because of the sound of another helicopter. Junseong faced an even greater anxiety as he saw a helicopter similar to before heading somewhere.

“That direction…”

The busy rescue helicopter seemed to be heading towards Inhan Hospital and the place where ‘it’ was located. As he realized this, an overwhelming sense of anxiety began to well up on his face. However, even if he wanted to rush towards ‘that place’ just based on the direction the helicopter was moving, there was nothing he could do immediately. Unless they went to ‘that place’ with the ‘Director,’ who could only be rescued on the 6th day, they could only stumble futilely in front of the firmly closed door.

Junseong reassured himself, thinking that he was just surprised by the sudden change.

However, Junseong’s anxiety turned into reality the very next day.