TL: Skye
Anna Mitchell.
I first met her two years ago, a year and a half after I'd arrived in San Marcos.
At the time, I was exhausted from living in this hopeless, dreamless country. When I heard that an American from Texas was being specially recruited as a presidential bodyguard, I went to find him. I wanted to warn him to get out while he still could.
'N-nice to meet you. I'm Choi Yu-jin, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism.'
Well... I got so overwhelmed by his presence that I just exchanged greetings and left.
That was my first encounter with Javier.
Time passed, and bonding over our shared experience as foreigners, Javier and I quickly became close. We started meeting up for beers now and then.
About a month into our friendship, Javier brought Anna along to one of our drinking sessions.
'Oh my! You're already a minister at your age? That's really impressive!'
A cheerful beauty. That was my impression of her at our first meeting.
Looking back now, I might have had feelings for her.
I'd met a fellow American I could actually communicate with during my exile abroad, and she happened to be beautiful.
But I never made a move.
I planned to leave for Korea as soon as my ministerial term ended, and I didn't have the courage to approach her anyway.
Just a bright, beautiful woman. That was all Anna was in my memories.
But.
"...Anna?"
The woman I met again was nothing like the one in my memories.
Libertad Military Hospital, VIP ward. After passing through the tight security of SIA agents, I walked into a hospital room reeking of disinfectant and found Anna lying there. I was speechless.
"......"
The Anna in my memories had healthy bronze skin and vibrant blonde hair. She was like the Texas sun itself.
But what lay before me now was a person so emaciated that "skin and bones" didn't do it justice.
Her forearms, visible below her hospital gown sleeves, were so thin they looked ready to snap. Her once lustrous golden hair had become dry and brittle, breaking off in patches.
"Try to focus."
I approached her as she sat there and met her unfocused eyes.
Then.
"Eek!"
Anna trembled violently as if she'd been electrocuted.
"Anna, calm down. It's me. Yu-jin."
She didn't recognize me. She shook like a terrified animal.
I knelt down to meet her eye level while keeping my distance.
"Anna. Look at me."
"......"
"Don't you remember me? Javier's friend, Yu-jin."
"...Yu... jin?"
At the familiar name, her convulsive trembling subsided just slightly.
Slowly, very slowly, I extended my hand and placed it over her bony one.
It was cold as ice.
"......"
Only then did her hollow eyes slowly turn toward me. Her hazy pupils began to focus, ever so slightly.
"How did you... get here?"
"What do you mean how? I brought you here."
Her voice was cracked. The moment she recognized me, tears began falling in heavy drops.
"Hnngh... hk..."
Was it relief, or was it sorrow? She gripped my hand so hard it hurt, then collapsed with a soft thud.
"Oh no! Anna! Stay with me! Doctor! Doctor!"
At my shouts, the agents rushed out and brought back a doctor.
The doctor examined Anna and administered some treatments.
"It appears to be a temporary loss of consciousness from a combination of fatigue and malnutrition. I've given her nutrients, so she should regain consciousness if she rests."
"......"
After the doctor left, I went out to the corridor to find Lucio.
"What the hell happened?"
"We found her homeless in Florida."
"Homeless... ?"
"I don't know the details myself. But let me explain how we found her..."
Lucio's explanation went like this:
To find Anna Mitchell, he decided to enlist his cousin in Florida rather than dispatching agents. His cousin had an extensive network, and Florida was the most likely destination for someone escaping San Marcos in a small fishing boat.
Months passed. Then one day, Lucio's cousin heard that a woman from San Marcos was living on the streets in the Keys.
Being from San Marcos himself, the cousin went to help her. And what do you know? Her face looked familiar.
After racking his brain, he realized she was the woman Lucio had asked him to find.
He contacted Lucio immediately. Lucio then secretly brought her back to San Marcos, completed her identity verification, and reported to me.
"A series of coincidences made it possible to bring her here."
"It wasn't coincidence. It was your connections and sharp judgment that made it possible."
"...Thank you."
I nodded, thinking to myself.
Whatever the case, I'd have to wait until Anna woke up to learn what really happened.
*
I returned to Anna's room the next morning.
Unlike yesterday, she had regained consciousness and could look me straight in the eye.
"Anna."
"Yu-jin."
She flinched when she saw the agents.
"Wait outside for a moment."
Once I sent the SIA agents out, she let out a small sigh.
"Thank you. They scared me a little."
"Don't mention it. Of course."
"......"
After a brief silence, Anna asked.
"Um... you weren't hurt, were you? I heard the explosion was huge..."
A question about the attack. I shrugged.
"Got lucky. I was in the backyard. Why? Disappointed?"
"N-no. I'm just relieved..."
"I'm joking."
The slightly dark humor lightened the mood.
"Is my brother's grave..."
"He was too close to the blast center."
At the implication that his body couldn't be recovered, she squeezed her eyes shut and sighed.
"I figured as much."
"It's a tragedy."
"......"
Facing the difficult question, her eyes trembled as she spoke.
"I know. I know what he did. Even if he'd survived, he probably would have been executed."
"...I know it wasn't entirely Javier's fault."
Of course, his crime of causing dozens of deaths was unforgivable. But in terms of culpability, in my judgment, those who orchestrated the attack bore more guilt than the one who carried it out.
Moreover.
"It all happened because of me. So... please don't hate him too much."
In this case, Javier was also a victim.
"I know this is hard, but can you tell me what happened?"
Anna's eyes turned cold.
"About a year after I came to San Marcos, I became friends with a woman named Catarina Costa."
"Catarina Costa?"
A name I'd never heard before.
"Was she from San Marcos?"
"I'm not sure. But she knew things that only a local would know."
"So either she did thorough research, or she was a local. How did you two become close?"
"We just... did what friends my age do. Went to the beach, had meals at nice restaurants."
She said she met Catarina about a year after arriving in San Marcos. Add six months to that, and it would have been just before the attack.
"One day, I got an invitation. In her usual tone, she asked if I wanted to come over for wine."
"And?"
"I said yes without thinking. She was a friend I'd known for half a year. The moment I walked into her house, there were men I'd never seen before. They overpowered me before I could even think about running."
"Were they gang members? Or soldiers?"
"No. They didn't feel like either."
"Why not?"
"The atmosphere was completely different. They weren't rough. They seemed very calm. And they spoke polished English."
Men in San Marcos who spoke refined American English.
It was definitely not a normal situation.
"The two men who grabbed me called my brother and threatened him. They handed him a bag with a bomb and said if he didn't do as they said, they'd kill me and send him my dismembered body."
Just as I'd expected.
"What were the terms? They wouldn't have done this without offering something."
"If it succeeded, they'd give us new identities and send us to America. Along with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."
Anna continued in a sorrowful voice.
"On the day of the explosion, a man named Smith came to me and said my brother had botched the job. He said everyone was supposed to die, but someone survived. I didn't understand what he meant at the time, but later I found out the survivor was you."
"...What happened after that?"
"The two men tried to kill me. If Catarina hadn't protected me then, I really would have died."
"The perpetrator... protected you?"
"Yes. I don't know why... I think maybe she felt guilty."
That made sense. They'd been together for almost half a year, long enough to develop real attachment.
"When Catarina refused to back down, the two men finally lowered their guns."
"In a two-against-one standoff, the side with more people gave up... So how did you end up in America?"
"Catarina took me there. She said if I stayed here, something terrible might happen to me."
"Do you know where Catarina is?"
I asked because she might know who was behind the attack. Anna shook her head.
"I fell asleep while we were traveling by boat. When I woke up, she was gone. You know the rest. I ran out of money, started picking through trash and living on the streets, then got caught and brought back here."
I placed my hand over Anna's.
"I understand. I'll take it from here. You just focus on recovering."
"What about me... Yu-jin?"
"Yes?"
"Am I going to be executed now?"
"What?"
I couldn't help but scoff at the absurd question.
"Why would you be executed?"
"I'm connected to the case. In a way, I'm a perpetrator too."
"You're not a perpetrator in this case. If anything, you're a witness the state needs to protect."
"But my brother set off the bomb..."
"San Marcos law doesn't have guilt by association. Javier took his sins with him, so you can rest easy."
Only then did she seem relieved, letting out a sigh.
"...You're much kinder than I'd heard."
"What did you hear?"
"That since you took power, you've purged over three thousand people..."
"No."
So that's why she fainted when she saw me? She thought she'd be executed?
'At this rate, people would think I'm some heartless dictator.'