Offer to Join (before battle)
E. Y.
...Did you call?
That man who keeps clinging to us claiming to be your friend. What's the relationship?
As can be seen, the tie has long been severed.
I don't like butting in, and I hate speaking for long even more...
But I'm telling you this since the smile of that ignorance-feigning scoundrel Dongrang is detestable.
That one desk, one that was even more disgusting than the others because it was clean and empty.
The nametag below it had your name.
……
<He was planning to give Yi Sang that position all along?>
Do you think he's trying to headhunt him? That's supposedly a violation of moral principles between firms or something like that, isn't it?
BAFFLED.
...What's that supposed to be an acronym for?
It's not. I'm just baffled.
Orange hair, you say you used to work on a ship for a long while? As a Fixer?
You have serious delusions about Wings and firms. Did you dump your common sense into the great lake as chum?
Bringing up morality in the world we live in... Pretty amusing for a joke.
Headhunting and changing jobs between firms are done based on interests and efficiency.
Heh, so you're a hillbilly in your own language, eh. Or should I say boatbilly?
Erggh...
<Even if that was the case... This really is strange.>
<He's not taking Yi Sang's thoughts into account at all...>
Pay it no heed. Thoughts are rather meager things.
I am quite used to the life of being taxidermied.
Are you sure you don't mind? Yi Sang, when you joined the company...
No, actually... Didn't all of us receive the same offer?
The job offer.
In my case, I was promised I'd get my aspect carved.
I could barely remember a thing, but as soon as I heard that word, I nodded as if I was possessed.
They acted like they knew my only choice would be to accept it...
If I joined this company...
When I do...
The thing I wished for dearly...
The thing I recited to myself every night...
Yes, the thing I thought would be impossible...
They promised to make it a possibility. Most certainly.
……
How thoroughly did they look into our backgrounds?
Hah... Guess we had our version of wish-granting tales just like that storybook we read earlier.
In truth, even that wish was no more than a futile dream.
What, you weren't that desperate for it? Why did you join, then?
Simply...
I walked for so long that my feet hurt. A shower of rain was pouring down as well.
The bus I saw then appeared rather inviting.
Hah. That can't be it, can it?
We all...
That's enough of it.
Our company rules forbid disclosing the contents of the job contract in detail.
Acting all high and mighty when you're in the same boat with the rest. Foul.
……
Let's proceed.
That's when a thought struck me.
Unlike most other Sinners, Yi Sang wouldn't vocalize his pain.
Because of that, I would often discover his injuries late.
Where has he been holding all that pain?
I was reminded of the void in his chest I caught a glimpse of.
Was he keeping it in... or was it spilling out?