Stalker (4)
The security guard at a building entrance had a simple job: keep anyone without business there from coming inside.
If a visitor showed up, the guard was supposed to stop them first, confirm their identity, and then let them in only after checking whether they had an appointment with a staff member or the representative.
Dong-dong opened the employee roster Jake had handed her. She memorized the faces and names in the list, which had barely a dozen people on it, until she could recite them in her sleep.
She already knew the members’ faces, so all she had to remember now were Jake’s and the staff’s.
Mm! Not difficult at all!
Jake had spent the rest of their money reinforcing the security setup. He’d installed a machine at the entrance that would open the door only after a fingerprint scan or a mobile employee pass.
But machines could malfunction at any time. To be absolutely safe, Dong-dong still had to double-check everything herself.
When an outside visitor rang the bell, Dong-dong would confirm their face over the intercom at the desk and speak to them there.
Since the desk stood right next to the entrance, she could also verify visitors through the glass door, which let people inside see out but not the other way around.
Dong-dong remembered Jake’s instructions.
— If some peddler or suspicious person keeps ringing the bell and demanding to be let in, just call the police right away.
— Yes, sir!
— When the staff order delivery or takeout to the company, we’ll have them let you know in advance, Ms. Mun Dong-dong. But there may be times when something arrives that we didn’t order.
— Huh?
— In that case, contact me immediately and I’ll take care of it. And if it’s mail, tell them they don’t need to be let in—just leave it in the mailbox on the left side of the building.
Why would something we didn’t order arrive?
At the time, Dong-dong hadn’t fully understood what Jake meant. But not long after she started the job, she realized exactly what he had been talking about.
Ping-dong—
“Yes. Who is it?”
— Delivery!
“Please wait a moment!”
Dong-dong called the office to check whether anyone had actually ordered food. The answer came back no.
“They say no one ordered anything.”
— But the address is right. Seven chickens, delivered here. The delivery memo says, ‘My singers, eat well and stay strong.’ Looks like it was sent by a fan!
“Huh?”
— I’ve got another stop to make, so I’ll leave it here by the door!
The deliveryman dropped off seven whole chickens and vanished in a flash.
When Dong-dong called Jake, he sent a staff member down to throw all the chicken away.
Dong-dong asked the employee, who was dumping the food into a trash bag, “Why are you throwing out perfectly good food?”
“Because we can’t know for sure whether it really is perfectly good. Our company policy is not to accept fan gifts.”
“Fan gifts?”
“Ah, gifts fans give celebrities are called fan offerings. Plenty of fans support their idols in healthy ways, of course—but gifts sent to the company might not actually be from fans.”
“If not fans, then who sends them?”
“A lot of people. Stalkers, antis, that sort of thing. Some of them even hide cameras or listening devices inside dolls, and sometimes they mix strange things into the food. It’s hard to tell what’s safe and what isn’t, so we just throw everything away.”
The employee cinched the trash bag tight, then looked back at Dong-dong with an awkward expression.
“It does seem a little excessive, even if it’s company policy, right?”
Dong-dong nodded.
“Still, you mustn’t make exceptions. If you brush something off as harmless and someone eats it, they could end up in danger. Keep the receipts, find out who sent it, warn them, and if they keep sending things, report them and put them on the blacklist.”
The employee stacked the emptied boxes neatly.
“Of course, not accepting fan offerings isn’t only because of that. A lot of fans buy luxury gifts for idols, and if we accept those, other fans might feel pressured, like they have to buy expensive gifts too.”
The employee tucked the receipt that had been stuck to the bag into a pocket. Then, carrying the pile of boxes and the trash bag, he stood up.
“And when too many gifts come in, it becomes hard to store them. So our policy is to accept nothing except letters and message books.”
“Then how do so many gifts keep getting sent? Don’t the fans know the company policy?”
“We posted the notice on Flux’s website, but they might not have seen it… or they might have seen it and sent them anyway.”
The employee went on, almost to himself.
“We’ve been so busy with everything lately that I haven’t been able to keep up, but I should post the announcement on Jjokbit’s official social media too. We still haven’t even made the Outdo website since we split the label….”
With that, he muttered that things had been chaotic lately and hurried off.
Even after that, a few more unauthorized packages and delivery meals arrived. Some people stuck advertisements to the door and left, while others rang the bell out of nowhere and told her to believe in Jesus.
Ugh! Who even are you people?
There were also peddlers trying to sell diet juice or cosmetics at bargain prices. On top of that, cultists came by now and then.
— We’ve come to share some good news~ Please open the door~
“I’m not buying! I’m not listening! I believe only in the Dragon King! If you don’t leave within five seconds, I’m calling the police!”
Within half a day, Dong-dong was already fed up. She glanced down at the bag full of homemade potions from the Sea Witch and sighed.
And I haven’t even started the thing I actually came to do yet! Ugh!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Jake returned, and Jjokbit plus some of the staff moved into the old office building on the morning of November 20. That night, stalkers broke into the dorm.
The complaint filing and miscellaneous paperwork were handled under the name of Outdo, the multi-label under Flux, on the afternoon of November 21, and the hiring notice for the security guard was posted then. Dong-dong interviewed and was hired the following morning, November 22.
That afternoon on the twenty-first, after the job posting went up, the Sea Witch came to Won Hasin’s house looking for Dong-dong. Dong-dong opened the front door with suspicion, startled by the sudden visit.
“Dongdoro-dong-dong.”
“D-don’t call me that! It’s insulting!”
Dong-dong yelped and bolted inside, hiding behind the dining table.
The Sea Witch laughed as she kicked off her shoes and came in, then set a heavy bag on the table.
“You’re going to work at the prince’s company.”
“Pardon?”
“Building security. In other words, they’re hiring a gatekeeper, and you’re going to take the job.”
“What are you scheming? A gatekeeper?”
Dong-dong couldn’t hide her wariness at the sudden command. But the Sea Witch ignored the question and said only what she had come for.
“Get a job, and take this with you.”
The Sea Witch pushed the bag toward Dong-dong. Dong-dong carefully unzipped it and peeked inside. It was full of glass bottles containing a clear pink liquid.
“What is this?”
“You don’t need to know the details.”
The Sea Witch slapped the table and leaned toward her.
“Seems the news already leaked that the members of the prince’s group moved from the new office to the old one. The stalkers have started hanging around the old building one by one. They’ve even been ringing the dorm bell and peeking in the windows to scare them.”
“……!”
“Seems the prince has been more worried than usual because of them.”
“T-that’s awful!”
To think they were burdening the prince, who was already so busy, with worry! And with the Dragon King’s matter weighing so heavily on him already, too!
Dong-dong’s eyes widened. As a loyal subject, she couldn’t simply stand by. And as the guard who had come to protect the prince’s safety, even less so.
The Sea Witch leaned close and whispered softly into her ear.
“If you do this, you’ll be helping the prince. It isn’t hard.”
“What do I do?”
“Take charge of building security and apply this medicine to the bodies of any stalkers who try to get into the office—or who loiter around waiting until the kids come out. It’s enough if it gets on their hands or hair.”
The Sea Witch took out one bottle and gave it a shake.
“Just wear gloves so it doesn’t get on your own hands. That’s all. Simple, isn’t it?”
As she said, it did sound simple. But… Dong-dong eyed the bottle in the Sea Witch’s hand with suspicion.
“And what happens then?”
“The stalkers will decrease. The effect won’t be obvious right away, but… I guarantee it. As time passes, fewer and fewer of them will show up.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
And so Dong-dong put in her résumé at Outdo at once. At first, Jake suspected that Dong-dong, who had applied for the building security position, might actually be a fan of Jjokbit.
— Are you sure you didn’t apply with some impure motive to get close to the members?
It was a reasonable suspicion. After all, the application had come in the moment the posting went up, as if the person had been waiting for it. And besides…
— In Korea, most people working as guards or building security tend to be middle-aged men. In many ways, you have to understand that it’s hard not to be suspicious of your motives, Ms. Mun Dong-dong.
Dong-dong replied flatly, “I’m a fan of Myeong I-dam, sir! Under heaven and on earth, only Myeong I-dam can make my heart race! There is not a speck of possibility that I’ll become a Jjokbit fan, so you can rest absolutely, completely, entirely assured!”
It was a relief in the middle of an urgent hiring situation that the applicant wasn’t a Jjokbit fan or a stalker, but Jake still looked oddly displeased, his expression sour.
— Not even a speck of possibility? What’s wrong with our members? They’re outstanding talents, every last one of them. How can you be so certain?
— Pardon?
— Ah… no, never mind. This isn’t the time to be nitpicking. That was a slip of the tongue. Right. Ahem. So, what’s your reason for applying?
— Ah! Well, the truth is, I know Prince… no, Lord Gal Neoul. I happened to be idle recently with no work to do, and when I heard you were looking for a gatekeeper, I applied.
— You know Neoul?
— Surely one cannot entrust such an important job as guarding the door to a complete stranger with no trustworthiness. It seemed more reliable to leave it to someone he knows, so I applied in hopes that everyone would feel more at ease if I took it on.
Jake, despite being in the middle of the interview, immediately called Neoul. Then he asked whether he knew a person named Mun Dong-dong. Neoul naturally said yes.
— She’s my guard… no, something like a bodyguard.
— Whaaaat? A bodyguard? Why didn’t you put something this important on the résumé?
Thanks to that, Dong-dong passed with flying colors, carrying both the Neoul connection and the bodyguard bonus points.
And now, Dong-dong was simply waiting for the right moment to try out the medicine the Sea Witch had given her.
She’d waited with solemn determination, but the target never seemed to appear, and only odd people kept coming around. Yet by evening, people began gathering near the building.
They weren’t standing blatantly in front of it. At first, Dong-dong thought nothing of it when people who’d just passed by wandered back again at a leisurely pace.
But after the same people kept strolling back and forth more than twenty times, even Dong-dong noticed something strange.
At first there had only been three or four of them wandering around, but soon the number had increased enough to be obvious. Some went into the building across from the company and sat there waiting, while others seemed to have endless stamina as they circled around the office without a hint of fatigue.
Those are the stalkers!
She had heard from Won Hasin that Myeong I-dam had stalkers both when he was in the hospital and when he was at the company. That was what he’d said.
Dong-dong had once seen sharkmen who had been splashed by the Sea Witch’s broken potion turn into stuffed animals. If she sprayed this, wouldn’t those humans turn into something too?
Since the effect wouldn’t show immediately, maybe they’d become frogs or anchovies after some time passed.
Good. You lot! Receive the Sea Witch’s curse!
With triumphant confidence, Dong-dong tucked two bottles into her pocket and stood up.
Just then, a van pulled up and stopped in front of the company.
Ah, Manager Kwak’s here.
It was Manager Kwak Yuk-pal, who had gone out to buy dinner and energy drinks for the members.
The moment the van stopped, the scattered stalkers rushed toward it all at once. Dong-dong stared at the scene, startled.
There are… more of them than I thought?
Her original plan had been to coat her gloved hand with the medicine and shake hands with the stalkers one by one. But with that many people, doing it that way seemed impossible.
Fine! I’ll just spray the whole lot of them!
Dong-dong grabbed two more bottles, snapped the caps off, and headed up to the second floor. She opened the window on the second floor and flung the liquid at the crowd gathered below.
“Ah, it’s cold.”
“What is this? Is it raining?”
“Huh?”
“Rose perfume…?”
A thick scent of roses burst through the air in an instant. By the time the startled people looked up, Dong-dong had finished her work and slammed the window shut again.
“You’re not allowed to come looking for people here! It’s dangerous, so stay away from the cars!”
Even Manager Kwak, who had opened the window and was shouting while stretching his arm out, had one droplet of the medicine land and soak into his hand.