Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12 THE ACCEPTANCE

K and A walked quietly through the forest. The gate vanished behind them as they continued. A kept staring at the dried blood on his hands, his movements unfocused.K looked at him and said, "A, I told you it's not our fault."A gave no response.K asked, "Is it because of your past?"A turned to him with a scared look. "Why do you keep bringing up my past?""Because you are still holding onto it," K replied. "I know you still remember everything clearly."A covered his ears as the voices returned. K placed a hand on his shoulder and said gently, "You can't run from it forever. You have to accept it. The more you run, the more it hurts."A slowly lowered his hands, looked down at the ground, and spoke in a low voice, "You knew it from the start. I… I can't. Not after everything."K replied, "Every coin has two sides—love and hate, war and peace, strength and weakness, sadness and happiness. You still have a lot to learn before you meet the Master."A continued staring at the ground. "Why? Why is this Master acting like a coward? If he claims complete possession over humans, why doesn't he stop them from going to war? Why?""Like I said before, it is meaningless," K answered. "No matter how much he tries, at the end of the day he is still human. I already told you why he never gets involved. It is pointless because no one understands what he has seen. Maybe you will understand it later."A stayed silent. They walked quietly until a large city appeared in the distance. The people there were celebrating. A watched them laughing happily. A banner read: VICTOR.K said, "This is the city belonging to the country that destroyed the previous one."A glanced at K, then back at the celebrating crowd."Like I said before, every coin has two faces," K continued. "This is the second face of war. Look at these people celebrating their victory over another country. They are simply rejoicing."A observed the scene. It was the complete opposite of what he had seen earlier—here was life full of joy, while the other place had been filled with death and sorrow. He stood frozen, not knowing how to act or speak. His expression was blank.K walked toward the city entrance. A quietly followed. Inside, everyone was celebrating. Posters of political leaders covered the walls. A saw army personnel—some injured—happy to be back alive. He watched a little girl hugging her father, who had lost an arm in the war.K spoke calmly, "A, this is the second face of the coin. Yes, both countries lost a lot, but victory is all that matters. Do you want to see something even more fascinating? Come with me."A followed K into a building. No one stopped them; it was as if they were invisible. They entered a meeting room where several people were discussing business.The first person said, "So the war is over. The weapon market will go down and profits will drop now."The second person replied, "Don't worry. Construction and pharmaceutical industries will reach maximum profit."The third person added, "Oh, and don't forget household goods. We'll have to lower prices since the war is over. I heard the other country is giving out contracts to rebuild the destroyed cities. How about we start making profit from that too?"The first person smirked. "I already took five contracts from them.""As expected from you," the third person said. "This is how we maximize profit. And don't forget about the bribery. Last time we barely escaped the charges."The first person continued, "I already have news that they are secretly planning retaliation."The second person laughed, "If that happens, we'll earn even more profit. I can't wait."The third person suggested, "I'm thinking we should increase production of cheap medicines and sell them at high prices."The first person concluded, "Soon we will be earning money with both hands. War is a boon for people like us."A tried to speak, but K cut him off. "Well, this is also one side of war. Some lose, some earn. For people like them, it's profit. War has many faces. It depends on how you see it."A finally spoke in a low voice, "They… they are talking about money when innocent people died… when their lives…"K looked at him. "For them, money matters more than anything. This is human greed, which can never be satisfied."Suddenly, a siren blared. One of the men shouted, "Oh boy, looks like they've started already. We'll continue our talk in the bunker. Let's go!"They all rushed out. A ran toward the exit, hoping to warn others. The sky lit up with jets engaged in dogfights. People screamed in panic as they fled toward public bunkers. A tried to help, but no one could see him. A missile struck nearby, and everything went black.When A woke up, the city was completely destroyed. K stood nearby, looking at a piece of paper. A was unharmed. He walked over to K."What happened to all the people?" A asked.K handed him the paper. It was a child's drawing covered in blood. A stared at it silently. The life in his eyes had vanished. He dropped to his knees. The drawing fell to the ground as the sun began to set.K said, "Two cities. Same fate. Still, this is not the end."A broke down into tears. "Why do you keep doing this? Why are you still doing this? I don't want this. I… I can't do this anymore." His voice cracked. "Please let me go home. Please let me go. I… can't do this anymore. You keep bringing up my past. It's killing me from the inside. My home… my fami…"A went silent.K replied calmly, "You are still trying to run away, still carrying the same guilt. It's not your fault, A. Let it go."A gave no response. A door appeared in front of them. A looked at it and said in a broken voice, "I have no power left to see more of this."K replied, "Well, you still do not truly understand the meaning of 'let it go.'"A looked at him, his voice shattered. "You still think it's easy to let it go? It's easy for you to forget the bloodshed of my past." He stood up, legs still shaking. "It's not easy for me to forget those…"K opened the door. A few strands of his hair had turned white. "That's why I'm talking about moving on. You are still stuck in the past, A. That day was not your fault. Now come, we have to leave."This time, A moved forward almost as if against his own will. His face was completely expressionless. They walked through the door. As K turned to close it, he glanced at the bodies A hadn't noticed earlier because of his breakdown. They had no faces. K closed the door. As it shut, the world outside began vanishing once again.As K closed the door, A asked, "Where are we going now?"K replied, "We are going to follow this route and see where we end up at the end of the day."A said, "I don't need jokes right now. Tell me one thing—what we just watched, was it real or just your creation to play with my mind?"K answered, "Well, maybe. Or maybe everything was real. A, look—I understand you still regret what happened that day, but this guilt only leads you to more suffering."A door appeared behind K. "Think about this deeply until I return."A said nothing as K left him alone. Once alone, A began speaking to himself, "Only if I had been early that day… everything… I can't. Those eyes still haunt me every time I sleep. He is doing everything on purpose."A started remembering that day from one year ago. "That day, like normal, I missed the train… and that tragedy happened. Only if I had been early… those last words…" A tear fell from his eye. "All because I was late on my duty."A began punching the floor again and again. "All because I was late! I was late! I wa…"Blood started coming from his hands, but he didn't stop. "All because of my fault. How can I forget those blood-soaked floors? Those screams—I can still hear them. How can people kill each other so easily? Why can't they live happily with their families? Why don't they care about other people's lives? Why those words… 'I… I don't want to die. Please save me.'"Meanwhile, K returned to the garden. Faceless creature bodies fell into the lake of red liquid.K said, "So it looks like you got a lot of blood for your garden today, Executioner."The shadowy figure bound in chains replied, "Well, today's target is complete. So it looks like you are here to give me an update on A's progress."K placed his palm on his mask and shifted it slightly, revealing one eye and a smile. "You are predictable, Executioner. So, where should we start? Project 22 is performing well, and soon I will bring him here too."The Executioner turned toward him, laughed, and said, "I will be waiting for that moment.". — END OF CHAPTER 12 —