It was exactly three days later that they went to Berlin.
Jeong Tae-ui, who had spent those three days almost confined to bed, resting his body, packed the passport that Ilay had somehow procured — though it didn't seem great, as Ilay mentioned it wasn't something that would last long. It seemed similar to the type Jeong Tae-ui had previously asked his uncle for. Together, they headed to Berlin.
It wasn't until the morning of the day they were leaving Johannesburg that Jeong Tae-ui, who barely had any luggage to pack, asked Ilay:
"Where are you going?"
Ilay didn't answer. Frowning since the morning, with displeasure evident on his face, Ilay only cast a dissatisfied glance in response to Jeong Tae-ui's question. With a mixture of feelings somewhere between disappointment and relief, though perhaps leaning slightly more towards disappointment, Jeong Tae-ui went to the airport with him.
It wasn't until they arrived at the airport that Jeong Tae-ui, seeing Ilay getting his ticket from the same counter, looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Berlin? ...Are you planning to transit there to go somewhere else?"
"No."
Ilay answered bluntly. From the morning, he had seemed visibly irritated.
Jeong Tae-ui stared at him for a moment, muttering to himself and briefly pondering before slyly asking:
"Are you going home too?"
Ilay didn't answer. The moment he heard that question, his face flared with anger, and he crumpled the ticket in his hand.
Ah, I see. As expected.
Jeong Tae-ui guessed the situation and decided to keep quiet. Then, he let out a small laugh. It seemed this man really disliked Rita's nagging.
"If you're frowning so much about going, why don't you just get a place somewhere else, like you said before?"
"You said you were going to my family's house in Berlin."
"Well, yeah, I am."
There was no response again. The already crumpled ticket was crumpled further.
Before safely leaving Johannesburg airport with the help of a corrupt cop whose phone number his uncle had provided, Jeong Tae-ui contacted Kyle. When he mentioned that he and Ilay were about to depart, Kyle was momentarily at a loss for words but soon regained his composure and said he'd send Peter to the airport.
So after arriving at the Berlin airport, they were waiting for Peter, who seemed delayed by traffic.
While waiting for Ilay, who had gone to the restroom, Jeong Tae-ui wondered when Peter would arrive.
Recalling Peter's punctual nature, he figured that if Peter was stuck in traffic, he was probably feeling quite anxious by now, and that thought made Jeong Tae-ui chuckle.
It would have been nice if he could call, but Jeong Tae-ui had lost his phone long ago. Ilay had his phone, but the battery was dead, so he had turned it off.
"You don't realize how convenient modern conveniences are until you don't have them..."
Jeong Tae-ui briefly considered getting a new phone, but soon shook his head. From now on, he'd be living quietly in seclusion at home. What use would a phone be? For the time being, a watch would be the only modern convenience he'd need.
Jeong Tae-ui glanced at his watch. 30 minutes had passed. While he was patient enough to wait for someone, simply standing around doing nothing was dull.
