Is the National Museum of Korea... Alive? (4)
I came back to the Time River Building, looped my pass around my neck, and stepped onto the first floor.
The lobby was still full of people coming and going. Set into a glass case adorning part of the wall was a memorial portrait of Jung So-hee, smiling with a bright, unguarded ease. A few stems of chrysanthemum and neatly folded notes had been left in front of it, and in a small, pretty incense burner three sticks were lit, lifting smoke as fine and slender as she had been.
I looked down at the white chrysanthemums, half in bloom, glanced once at the photo—which seemed to be smiling at me—then set down the flowers I'd brought and quietly drew back.
Ever since I'd entered the building, Spatial Perception had shown me people stealing glances. Among them were faces that said they were seeing the glass case for the first time.
If it's your first time seeing it, then the next time you come, at least buy some chrysanthemums and leave them.
The procession—was that what they called it? I'd thought about going to pay my respects properly, but we hadn't been close, and hunting down a funeral hall over a bond that had only brushed past me felt like a bit much, didn't it? Better to end it here, with white chrysanthemums. Jung So-hee had seemed kind. Maybe she'd gone to heaven.
Looking at her memorial, the thought that I must not die struck me hard all over again. Die, and it's all for nothing. A thirst for glory, the itch to show off, the hunger to rise in the world—none of that is possible unless you're alive. And more than any of that, I hated that if I died, I would never see Franc and Hwayeon again.
Right now I was no different from a ten-year-old brat clutching a priceless treasure. Let it slip that I had it, or be stupid enough to brag, and some bad adult would snatch it away on the spot. If every ability I possessed came to light, there was no telling what would happen, or what kind of ugliness would follow. What I knew for certain was that I was only early E-Class, and I would be crushed without even managing to resist.
So I had to wait. Until I became an adult like them—a strong adult, one that even other adults couldn't lay a hand on lightly.
I'd come to the Time River Building, but I didn't actually have any business here. Now what. Director Lee Hyeryeong was still in her office, diligently writing across documents and a tablet and signing things. If I went up, wouldn't I just be interrupting her again?
Franc was floating in the air, people-watching, so I casually shifted to a spot beneath her and peered up under the dress. Inside, there was nothing but emptiness.
"Eek! Wh-what are you doing?!"
"What? It's completely empty in there. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
I answered with a slightly sullen face—the view had not been what I expected—and Franc, wearing a really? expression, lifted the hem of her own dress and looked inside. Just as I'd said. Between her legs, under the dress, there was no trace of that triangle of male fantasy. The inside of the skirt was one solid blank, like a cheaply modeled 3D girl.
"Oh my?"
No smooth thighs, no skin, no pure-white panties—nothing at all. And yet the sight of her hiking up her own skirt somehow kicked my imagination into gear, and what rose up instead was Franc in a dress with nothing underneath.
I needed to get my head out from between Franc's legs.
Something about it seemed to displease her; she was frowning faintly. I looked away and thought of my old case officer. They'd said that in place of Deputy Chief Kang Woohyuk and Choi Soohan—both of whom had crashed and burned—Hwayeon had been appointed my case officer, so I needed to report what had happened today. But how was I supposed to do that?
I'd ask Director Lee first, then either head to Iljasan or go home and mess around. Director Lee was sharp. She'd tell me what I ought to do. She looked busy, but I wasn't the one who was busy, so not my problem.
I walked up to the elevator, forever crowded with people waiting, and found a man staring at me with heated eyes. Who was that—oh. Yoon Seong-hyeok. The moment our eyes met, he waved for all he was worth.
That guy was the one showing interest in my sister, wasn't he? Seeing that warm, wholesome smile sit so well on his handsome face, the jealousy—!
"That is the gentleman who was showing an interest in Lady Siha."
"Hmph!"
"Ahaha."
I snapped my head away. Yoon Seong-hyeok scratched the back of his head, looking awkward, and even that suited him. The female staff around him sneaking glances only fanned the jealousy hotter. Why should I have to act like I knew him? If he wanted to harbor designs on my sister, he ought to at least be an ability user ranking among the ten richest men in the country!
Waiting for the elevator, I roughly sketched the conditions a man would have to meet to be worthy of her. First, he'd have to be handsome enough that I wouldn't feel a shred of jealousy. On top of that he'd need to be an ability user more capable than me, rich, from a rock-solid family, kind, deeply understanding, highly considerate, and he'd have to live treating my sister like an absolute queen. Violence, obviously, was absolutely out. No cheating. Eyes for her alone. And he had to be willing to throw everything away for her sake.
Even his life.
Hmm. At that level... did he barely scrape a pass?
"...You have no intention of marrying Lady Siha off, do you, Seoha?"
Huh? Had Franc read my thoughts? I turned to find her staring at me in sheer disbelief, and with a ding the elevator arrived and the doors opened.
I was about to board when a young woman with a side ponytail down to her chest walked out first, so I stepped a little aside to let her pass. I looked her over as I did. She looked incredibly young—a bit shorter than me, with a cute face the side ponytail suited. The tips of her hair were dyed red as an accent, and that, too, matched the cute face almost too well.
And a C-Class fire-attribute ability user, with 1.1 million Phase Power. Ah. So this was one of the team leaders Hwayeon said she'd brought in. The growth rings seemed to add a line with every class. Hwa Joong-kang had been D-Class with six; this woman carried seven.
But the figure... she was a certified bombshell. The chest looked like an F-cup at least, and she wore a black bodycon dress with a white shirt left open down the front, so even without deliberately using X-ray vision, the tight dress was lifting her breasts full and high and blatantly advertising every line of her body. That satisfying chest, those hips that looked ready to break into a smile—my eyes were having an uncontrollably good time.
She went wide-eyed at the sight of me stepped aside, then her gaze dropped to the pass hanging on my chest.
And then she started to glare. Ferociously.
Huh? Why was she glaring like that all of a sudden? The face was cute, so a fierce look like that didn't suit her—and because it didn't suit her, it wasn't scary at all.
"You're Jung Seoha?"
"And if I am?"
Her voice was lively and fresh to match the face. Cute. The reaction was not. Once she'd confirmed who I was, she glared like she meant to chew me up. Had I done something wrong? This was the first time I'd ever seen her.
"I won't acknowledge you!"
"Huh?"
"Remember this! I refuse to acknowledge you!"
With that, she shoved me hard enough to set the gold bangles on her wrist clattering, then strode off. Maybe because the cloth clung to her, the sway of the cleft of her rear and the shift of her hips showed in naked detail, and I was staring blankly after it when Franc fixed the side-ponytail woman with a thoroughly furious glare.
"What is wrong with that rude woman?!"
I caught the wrist of Franc, whose face had gone a little red, stepped into the elevator, and hit the button for the eighteenth floor.
"Attribute ability user. 1.1 million Phase Power. Team-leader level—probably one of the four women who came with Hwayeon."
"Even a team leader is not permitted such rudeness! To withhold her name, burn with one-sided resentment, and shove you—I cannot forgive it!"
Hmm? Franc seemed to be getting angry out of all proportion. Ah, maybe...
"Are you mad because you hate that woman's outfit?"
"...! N-no. I-it is an unpleasant outfit to look at, of course, but..."
She kept stealing glances at me as she said it. Aha. So an outfit that looked designed to hook men didn't sit well with her. And the woman had snapped at me and shoved me besides, so Franc's horns had come out. I felt a laugh coming on.
"Next to you or Hwayeon, she's a lump. I'm not interested. I only stared at her back earlier because I couldn't figure out why she was that angry."
Half of that was true. It wasn't a complete lie! Her chest, her ass, set against Franc's... no. Comparing them at all was an insult to Franc.
"...All right."
Only then did the fury in her ease. She pressed against my back and wrapped both arms lightly around my neck.
But why had that woman been angry? Stranger still, Spatial Perception had given no warning at all, as if there were no hostility.
We arrived on the eighteenth floor and I stepped out of the elevator. People passing by started looking at me one by one, and before long most of the office was sneaking glances. A sigh came out of me. Until yesterday I couldn't understand reactions like this, but now I did. Word of the love scene in Hwayeon's office must have gotten around.
Just you wait, Sophia.
A chime that wasn't harsh on the ears spread through the office, and then Director Lee Hyeryeong's rebuke came over the speaker.
"What do you think you're doing! Get back to work!"
People promptly turned their eyes away and went back to what they'd been doing.
Nice one, Director.
Looking toward Director Lee Hyeryeong's office, I saw her holding a small microphone and glancing this way. So that mic was hooked up to the speakers.
"Director Kim Pyochung of Business Support, please come to my office for a moment."
The chime rang out once more, and I watched Director Lee Hyeryeong send away everyone who had been waiting for her sign-off.
Heading for her office, a man in his forties in a rumpled suit caught my eye, walking ahead of me. Something about him called Dr. Woo to mind. His hair stuck up in tufts, and his stubble was patchy, as if he only shaved when he happened to remember. Thoroughly disheveled—the suit and the man both.
The rumpled figure went into Lee Hyeryeong's office first, and she welcomed him. So this was Director Kim Pyochung?
"Welcome, Director Kim."
"May I ask why you called for me?"
"You were away from your desk last time, so we missed each other. I thought this time I might introduce you. To the man who's been at the center of every conversation, day after day."
"Heh. That kid?"
A kid?!
Disheveled Director Kim had glanced my way as he said it, and a hot spike of offense shot up in me.
"You'd do well not to talk like that near Mr. Jung Seoha. In front of the boss, even less so."
"Isn't that obvious? I'd rather not be strangled to death by the boss, myself."
Rubbing his own neck as he said it, Director Kim went to the coffee pot set off to one side and started pouring himself a cup.
"Word just came in from the Alliance. That ki—hm. I hear Blue Genius pulled something off."
"Blue Genius?"
Aack! Th-that nickname! No!!
I broke into a run for Director Lee Hyeryeong's office. I had to shut that mouth. Don't look at me like that—stop that man's mouth! Leave him like that and the nickname would spread through all of Time River!
"Ah?"
Director Lee, catching sight of me suddenly sprinting, stared with startled eyes.
"Hello, Director Lee Hyeryeong! Director Kim Pyochung!"
I flung the office door open and shouted, and Director Lee greeted me with a slightly flustered smile.
"W-welcome."
"Hm. A pleasure, Blue Genius."
Stooop! Don't go poking my dark history...!
I wobbled over to the sofa and sat, and Director Lee looked at me with worry, as if I might be hurt somewhere. No. I'd just taken psychic damage, that was all.
"Th-that nickname, please don't use it. I genuinely can't take it."
If Sophia ever heard it, the only image that came to mind was her going, "Oh myyy~? Blue Genius?! Ohohohohot!!" and flinging the thing in every direction. I covered my face and suffered, and Director Kim Pyochung snorted a laugh, dropped eight sugar cubes into his coffee, and went to sit beside Director Lee.
Only then catching on, Director Lee gave a wry smile, shifted aside to make room, and opened her mouth.
"According to what Director Kim was just saying... Ah, before that, let me introduce you. This is Director Kim Pyochung of Time River's Business Support Department. He's one of only three directors, myself included."
"A pleasure to meet you."
Director Kim Pyochung bowed his upper body toward me, and I returned the bow as I answered.
"I'm Jung Seoha. I'm begging you—please don't let that nickname get around inside Time River...!"
"Hmm. An impossible request. It's already an official title drafted by the Alliance, so it won't take long to spread across the world."
The world?!
"The Alliance almost never bestows titles, but perhaps as a side effect, once a title is attached it spreads among people without exception. Even if we keep our mouths shut, it will spread from somewhere else."
"Hehe. For the Alliance to bestow a title on a minor ability user who hasn't even begun official activities—that's unusual."
"It is. I was thoroughly surprised when I heard it, myself."
Watching the two directors talk, a genuine sigh escaped me.
"A title-holder. Seoha, how wonderful~."
"Ghhhhh..."
Franc was praising me from behind, but her face was full of teasing. Just you wait when we get home, Franc.
Finding my sulky face amusing, Director Lee Hyeryeong let out a small giggle, then turned to Director Kim beside her and began another introduction.
"Director Kim's Business Support Department has mission-support staff and combat-support staff—collectively called supporters—five hundred of them in all. Do you know about supporters?"
"Yes. I know they enter alongside ability users and assist with everything outside of combat."
"Just as you said. Ability users handle all the fighting, and supporters take care of everything to do with daily life besides that. It sounds grueling when I put it that way, but it's really just cooking, carrying luggage, recovering byproducts from the aberrants they kill, and gathering anything that might be worth money. And the mission-support staff, as the name suggests, collect and interpret all kinds of information back in the real world. From the materials secured by exploration teams, they turn terrain data into analysis of the plants, animals, and insect populations that could exist there."
"So that means it's the most important department in the company."
"What department in a company isn't important? That said, ours is the one closest to the company's direction, yes."
Director Kim put on a sheepish, modest face.
"And I just heard from Director Kim that you pulled something off, Mr. Jung Seoha?"
Lee Hyeryeong watched me with sparkling eyes, plainly dying to know what had happened. Had word already reached them? Hwayeon was my case officer; it might have been passed along to Time River.
"Ah, I went to the National Museum of Korea today, for an outdoor class..."
I told them what I'd been through and what I'd seen, hiding the parts that needed hiding.
"...What I just told you, I secretly watched from a distance with my Detection ability, so it's a secret."
"Krgh. A Soul Reaper, of all things."
Director Kim Pyochung let the groan out like one of the dead in hell.
"A Mid-High Rank Variant showing its face—the media is going to go wild."
"Well. Even if there's an uproar, it'll be the Alliance in an uproar, not us. Heh heh heh. Thanks to you, Mr. Jung Seoha, our company's name will only climb higher."
Watching Director Kim chuckle like that, he struck me as a rather gloomy sort.
"So I heard Hwayeon was going to be my case officer, and I came to tell you about it for now, Director Lee."
"Ah, I heard Her Excellency is taking it on jointly as well. Since the boss isn't in, wouldn't it be better to tell her yourself?"
"Come on... No, Madam is an incredibly busy person. Why was she assigned as my case officer? I genuinely don't get it."
I grumbled, displeased, and Director Kim and Director Lee broke into a cold sweat at the same time and looked away.
"Somehow Madam rubs me the wrong way, so I'd rather not meet her if I can hel—huh?"
H-huh? From the direction of the National Assembly, Spatial Perception caught Madam coming out in the presidential limousine. But the feeling was cold. A nameless anxiety slid down my spine.
...She's heading to the Blue House for work, right?
Or so I thought—and she was coming this way!
"Mr. Jung Seoha? What's the matter?"
I'd stopped mid-sentence, and both directors looked at me in puzzlement. I shot to my feet as I looked at them. Ah, damn. If I left now, I'd probably run into her at the entrance. Right. Hide in the stairwell, and once Madam came into the building, sneak out and run.
I didn't know why I felt like fleeing, but I had a feeling I shouldn't meet her. Something—my instinct—was warning me this was dangerous.
"A-ah, it's nothing. I've told you everything I came to tell, so I'm heading back to the outdoor class now."
I was going home to roll around with Franc, obviously. And I'd seen the new Marvless movie was out on Blu-ray—I ought to pick that up on the way. I said it while Spatial Perception sketched an escape route that would keep me clear of Madam. The two of them looked like they had questions, but they didn't pry.
"Thank you for coming all this way to tell us, Mr. Jung Seoha."
"Don't mention it. Next time I'll let you know by text or phone. And anyway, please don't tell Madam. I'll inform her myself later or something!"
"...Hehe. As you wish."
Seeing me suddenly try to avoid her, Director Lee seemed to have guessed the reason.
And sure enough—Madam's car was coming straight down in a line, as if the Time River Building were the destination. Escort vehicles ahead and behind. Something was wrong. S-so I really was the target? Hwayeon wasn't even here. If there was a reason to come here, thinking it could only be me wasn't just an inflated sense of my own importance, right?
In that short span Madam had arrived in front of the Time River Building, smiling and waving with elegant grace at the citizens cheering and snapping photos the moment they saw her. God. Seriously. Goosebumps shot straight up my arms. Looking only at that, there wasn't a speck of reason to avoid her—beautiful, graceful, the very picture of a virtuous lady. And aside from a slightly different hairstyle and figure, she looked exactly like Hwayeon, like twins, so my wariness kept trying to melt.
I shook hands with both directors and scurried for the stairs, muttering under my breath.
"Dangerous. This is seriously dangerous."
"What is it that's dangerous?"
Behind me I could see both directors watching, puzzled, as I headed for the stairs instead of the elevator. I put them out of my mind at once, opened the emergency-stair door, and went in.
"Madam. I mean—Hwayeon's mom just got to the building! I have a feeling I shouldn't meet her!"
"...Ah."
Right after that I kicked Mana Sieve into acceleration and flew down the stairs. Franc followed with an ambiguous expression, as if she both did and didn't understand. Then she passed through the wall to check the road—but Madam was already waiting in front of the elevator!
Listening to my own footsteps and voice echo through the narrow space, I picked out the bodyguards and Madam with Spatial Perception, and—ugh. The one and only main entrance was being held by the bodyguards, men and women both. People in pitch-black suits were posted at the way down to the underground lot, too! They weren't stopping cars coming in. Cars going out, though, they halted for a moment, asked pardon, and checked the insides.
Yeah. That was exactly what this was.
I was growing certain they'd come to catch me. They were standing watch as if they'd known I would run. Had Madam ordered it? She must have. Of course she had.
Madam, now in front of the elevator, was hard at work on her image—greeting dazzled people, taking photos with them. I studied her expression, trying to read what she really felt, but it was impossible. Reading her was as hard as reading my sister!
Just in case, I looked under her clothes. Nothing like a restraint item—just pretty white underwear and a black garter belt. So she didn't even need tools to catch me?
Around the tenth floor I paused and watched the first floor. Soon the elevator arrived, and I saw Madam board it with five bodyguards. Fortunately there was only one detection-type among them, and he was at the entrance. If I slipped past, would he notice?
Hard to say.
I headed down toward the first floor at an easy pace, keeping track of which floor she got off on, and when I saw her step out on the eighteenth, I was sure. Madam had known I was in the building.
The spy was inside the Time River Building!
Setting aside how she'd found out, I flew down to the sixth floor and slipped onto the level given over to private offices for Time River's ability users. Eighty-four rooms across seven floors, but about half the offices were empty, and the rest held nothing but furniture. Almost no one was around. They wouldn't catch me here.
I reached the elevator at a casual pace, shrugged off my school jacket and held it, tucked the pass into a pocket, and shut off Mana Vision as well. Then I swept my bangs back into a half-slicked style, called the down elevator, and waited, calm.
"Oh, when you sweep your hair back, Seoha, your whole impression changes!"
"Yeah? Do I look all right?"
"You look terribly handsome!"
"...Ah. Sure."
It was a relief to look good to Franc, but as expected, the tint on her glasses was an incurable disease. No—it had better not be cured.
I boarded the elevator that arrived soon after and went down to the first floor. Then, as if nothing were amiss, I walked slowly to the information desk. There. Receptionist Kim Ji-soo.
"Hello?"
"Hello. I'm receptionist Kim Ji-soo. How may I help you?"
"It's me. Jung Seoha."
"Yes, Mr. Jung Seoh—ah?!"
Good. She hadn't recognized me, had she? If even the receptionist, who'd seen me more than once, couldn't tell, I could slip out unnoticed.
"I'd like to leave my uniform jacket with you for a moment. Would that be all right?"
Flustered, Kim Ji-soo looked utterly lost, but she nodded on reflex, so I handed the jacket over quick and walked for the entrance. Five bodyguards, men and women, stood watch there with the detection ability user. As I drew near they gave me a glance, then turned back to checking people in and out.
Yes. Not caught.
So I wouldn't look suspicious, I walked slowly toward the taxis, searching for Madam as I went—and she wasn't on the eighteenth floor. Where had she gone. The roof?
I froze. Stopped dead, and looked up at the very top of the Time River Building. And there, at the railing, I met Madam's eyes.
Our eyes met.
The instant I thought she'd given the faintest smile, Madam launched herself straight off the building.