to where i am

August 2nd, Seoul south korea, 14:03 P.M.

The summer heat felt like an oppressive dictator, the sun itself look tired from overworking like a Japanese salaryman

It's been quiet some time since my last mission, and by quiet I mean alot

In a circle we sat, like an unenthusiastic cult

Ha-joon, Jae-wook and Sun-Young

On my lap layed the cat I rescued from Asan, it's grown slightly in the time it's been with me,

『Maybe i unknowingly adopted it』

Sun-Young called it Hyeokgeose, as in the the founding monarch of Silla

Me personally, I stuck to pudding

"I don't get the kid, are you a parent now?" Sun-Young asked me with a roll of her head like a bobble head

"Of course not," I scoffed. "If I were, I'd be dodging child support right now."

Seon-woo who had no understanding of financial obligations simply stared at us

The kaiju exterminator's HQ allowed me to keep Seon-woo and pudding without any questions

『Not that surprising, they wont even check if you are dead』

So we sat there simply staring at eachother with no conversation in mind, until Sun-Young spoke

"Ill be leaving for New York in two days, you know... training" she wasn't that excited about it from the tone or her voice. It was all for training.

New york had the biggest kaiju exterminator's HQ in the world, a floating giant two times the size of the city

"I wanna go to! I wanna try American hamburgers!" I whined like a little child, making Seon-woo look at me like i had some sort of disability. Kids are too curious sometimes

"Dont worry, we will probably go there too someday Jae-wook" Ha-joon reassured me like a parent reassures their child.

[A NEW MESSAGE HAS APPEARED]

[OPEN?]

[YES] [NO]

the notification appeared right before my eyes, i swiftly looked at the yes and chose to open up the message

[MESSAGE FROM DAE-HYUN

KAIJU EXTERMINATOR NUMBER ■■■■■! IF YOU AREN'T AWARE, OUR TEAM ALONG WITH 30 OTHER TEAMS FROM KOREA ARE VISITING AMERICA, IM SORRY FOR REACHING OUT THIS LATE, BUT IVE BEEN BUSY. IN JUST TWO DAYS WE WILL BE LEAVING THE KOREAN PENINSULA AND HEADING TO NEW YORK]

Ive never been outside the country, so i was slightly nervous, just slightly though.

『My first time outside korea...』

"Did you get that message too?" Ha-joon asked me

"Yup, couldnt be more early huh" after a long exaggerated sigh i got up from my seat like a machine and scratched the back of my head

"Hey noona, how did you get those eyes?" Seon-woo stared at Sun-Young's eyes for a while

"I bought them for 11,615,035 won" she said with a straight face while staring down at Seon-woo and he stared back at her akwardly

『Looks like someone had to flex their wealth.』

"T-they are pretty"

"I know they are"

She grinned at the poor child that stared up at her. I saw Seon-woo reach out a finger like he was about to press a button

『What is he-』

Boop

Thats when i realized it, there was something between 'her' legs... a button that shouldn't be touched by anyone or be revealed to the world.

"You fucking brat!" Sun-Young grabbed the light Seon-woo by his ankle and spun him around like a helicopter. I couldn't keep mt eyes off the button between 'her' legs that was buried under 'her' pink shorts

"Sun-Young... dont tell me" i gulped down, true fear taking over my trembling body as though i witnessed a murder

"You've ever heard of a trans woman?" Sun-Young hurled Seon-woo at the moon without hesitation, probably towards the luna resort

「Simple brained idiots」

Sun-Young clearly thought from her mind

"Hey Jae-wook, why do humans villainize everything? We villainize aliens, ghosts, AI and everything else... is it that we are afraid of something as smart as us? Is it the fear of losing? For the longest time aliens have been made out as monsters that will take over our world and enslave us, why does it have to be that way?"

I understood what he meant, Kyung-sook said something similar to me once after all. She said it many times though

"I want to know, whats good and whats evil. I joined the kaiju exterminator's because my uncle told me it was the right thing, to serve and die for my country... is it that im fighting for pride?"

Meanwhile Seon-woo and Sun-Young were still going at it in the background and messing around. I sat back down on my chair and listened to Ha-joon's speech. His arms were crossed as he stared up into the ceiling

"Am i a good person for killing kaiju's? They want to live too, they feed of humans and other living creatures. Is it that we all want to survive? We struggle each day just to survive, some people though arent strong enough to struggle, so they just give up"

Struggle. Since ive joined the kaiju exterminator's ive been struggling, the training was rough, the constant degrading from the superiors wasn't to be brushed off either. That injured kaiju exterminator from asan for example quit last month, the training regiment was too much for him he said

『If Ha-joon is trying to figure out whats good and whats evil... then what am i searching for?』

『There are so many questions in life』

Purpose, i wanted to find a real purpose. Right now being a kaiju exterminator was a distraction, a distraction so that i wouldn't have to search for a purpose and instead have it handed down to me on a silver platter

『No, i do this to save people, so that they dont have to suffer like i did. Yes thats right』

I could hear ringing noises coming from both ears, it felt as though my brain was being tickled so i scratched with urgency.

It was that emotion dampening chip doing its work. An implant that removed trauma, anxiety, fear and stress from a person.