The 3 a.m. Ghost Tour That Changed Everything
It was a day of steady, drizzling rain.
"Huh? Don't the reserve sortie teams usually pull night watch?"
I'd been looking over today's Guard Duty Manual when the question suddenly occurred to me, so I asked Jeong Seung-a.
"Hmm? I don't think it's really a hard rule or anything."
"Oh, is that so? It's just that I have so many memories of standing night watch whenever we were on reserve sortie duty… Ah! Could it be that?"
"Hmm?"
"Since the reserve sortie team might have to deploy at night, they put more of us on night watch?"
"That could be it. Harang, you're so smart!"
"Aheheh."
What the hell was that sound?
It had come out of my own mouth, but it was a truly disgusting little laugh. If I'd been in Jeong Seung-a's position, I would have wanted to smack me one.
Even so, Jeong Seung-a showed no such inclination. If anything, she seemed to like that I'd made that sound — her hand, which had been stroking my hair, drifted down to my cheek.
"So soft… springy and chewy… how does skin even feel like this?"
"Euh-ah, o-ii?"
I could hear every word of her muttering. Being told she liked my skin was nice, but hearing it right to my face still made me a little embarrassed.
"Ah, sorry. I did that without thinking."
"It's fine."
"Does it hurt? Did I go too hard…? If our Harang's skin turns red, I don't think I'd even be able to sleep from how sorry I'd feel…"
"My heart feels so heavy. Ahahah!"
"Eh."
I'd said it as a joke, but Jeong Seung-a's eyes went round. She looked genuinely startled.
"I… I'm sorry."
"Ah, no! I didn't say that because I hated it or anything — I was just joking around!"
Why had Jeong Seung-a reacted like that? I thought back to a conversation I'd had with my little sister.
'You shouldn't casually talk about weight with a girl.'
'Why?'
'Because it might be a really big deal to her.'
'Ah, I see.'
At the time I hadn't thought much of it, but looking at Jeong Seung-a's reaction now, it seemed like there was something to that advice.
My sister had been talking about body weight back then, but maybe it applied to the heart, too. Either way, I needed to watch my mouth from now on.
"So… you're not feeling burdened, or like you hate it, or anything?"
The way she peeked up at me — that expression, those eyes. Nothing about it looked like a senior. She looked like a puppy that had just been scolded.
…I know! I know it's not proper to think of a senior that way! But what am I supposed to do? That's genuinely how she looks!
"Not at all! If it's Superhuman Jeong Seung-a, I'll welcome anything you do!"
"R-really?"
"Yes. If it's Superhuman Jeong Seung-a, I truly can accept anything. You're the kind, respected senior I look up to!"
At those words, Jeong Seung-a went still. Touched, no doubt. Her direct junior was following her this devotedly.
"I… see? Mmm… still, I should hold back. I'm platonic, after all."
"Platonic, you say?"
"Y-yeah! It's nothing!"
If she said it was nothing, then it was nothing. A senior's word was absolute law.
"From the way you brought up night watch, it sounds like you're on the roster for tonight — is that right?"
"Yes. Third watch."
"Third watch… two to four? That's a really rough slot…"
I'd already experienced that time slot once before. It had been the moment I learned that even as an Awakened, you still needed proper sleep.
Sleep four hours, wake for two, then sleep another two. Just thinking about it was awful.
"Ah! Me too?"
"Yes. Um, if you want to rest, you can just sleep…"
"Come on, I can't do that. I'm basically in the same position as you, Harang."
"Or you could swap shifts with someone else…"
"It's fine. I'm doing it with you."
"Superhuman Jeong Seung-a…!"
Moved beyond words. How could this person be like this?
I sincerely respected her. I was so happy to be Jeong Seung-a's direct junior!
Jeong Seung-a seemed to notice the pure emotion pouring off my face. Looking embarrassed, she flashed her trademark smiling eyes, then quickly pulled out a pen and signed off as if to hide it.
A day of steady rain. With Han Jihye falling asleep early and the TV going dark soon after, I drifted off quickly myself.
"Harang."
— Click.
"Hup— Superhuman Seo Harang…"
A merciless flashlight beam punched straight through my closed eyelids.
I bolted upright in shock. Separately from that, my voice stayed quiet. It was a response drilled into my body.
"Ten minutes until your shift."
"Ah, thank you…"
"Just come to the Situation Room."
"Understood."
"Where's Seung-a?"
"She's right next to me… I'll wake her."
"Mm, thanks."
The senior left the living quarters.
I got up and stretched the stiffness out of my body. Waking in the middle of the night like this, my energy wasn't coming back easily.
But what choice did I have? I had to do it.
I roughly fixed my hair—
Over there, a faint light was coming from Yeon Byeori's bunk.
So faint you wouldn't notice unless you looked carefully. From under the storage rack, in the space where the mattresses were kept.
…What is that? No — no. Right now, waking Jeong Seung-a came first.
"Superhuman Jeong Seung-a."
"Mm…"
She was up.
Without the slightest hesitation she sat straight up, then pressed — gently, firmly — against her eyes. What was that?
"Eye massage."
"…Huh? You heard my inner thoughts?"
"I just had a feeling you'd be curious. Weren't you?"
"I was curious."
"Uhu hu… I'm just pressing a little in case my eyes are puffy. No real meaning to it — just my wake-up routine."
With that, Jeong Seung-a got to her feet.
There was no need to tidy the bedding. We'd be coming back to sleep. Only two hours, but still.
"Let's go."
"Yes, ma'am."
Before we left, I glanced once more toward Yeon Byeori's bunk. From this angle, the light wasn't visible at all.
— Creeeak…
"Here for the shift change."
"Oh? Harang and Seung-a? The rookie duo, huh?"
"Ahahah…"
"Can we head out now?"
"Yeah, go."
"'Yeah, go'… pffft…"
The senior on duty muttered it under her breath.
"You're not right in the head. Yeah, you can go."
"Good work. You too."
With the officer's permission, the two of them left.
Left behind were me, Jeong Seung-a, the duty personnel, and the duty officer — four of us total.
Honestly, even if someone told us to talk, there wasn't much to say. It was two in the morning and everyone was exhausted. Nobody wanted to speak, and nobody wanted to listen.
"Harang."
"Superhuman Seo Harang?"
Or not? The person on duty had spoken up.
"You know what you're supposed to do on night watch, right?"
"Yes. Patrol, report anything unusual, and wake the next watch and the duty personnel ten minutes before the end… as far as I know."
"That's right! Our ace!"
"Euhit, heh."
The second I got praised, my body twisted up. It seemed like these disgusting little laughs came out as a pure reflex. Revolting.
"I'm sorry."
"Hm? Why?"
"Ah, Superhuman Jeong Seung-a. It's just… I thought that might have been a little too gross."
"Gross? All of a sudden?"
"That laugh just now, you know?"
"Why? I thought it was cute."
Cute.
A word that had absolutely nothing to do with me had just come out.
For the record, "cute" hadn't come from Jeong Seung-a — it was from the duty personnel who'd said "yeah, go" earlier and then laughed to herself.
"Harang's just so puppy-like in everything she does that it's cute, you know? Ahh— I want to keep one at home."
"'Puppy' sounds a little weird, doesn't it?"
"Ah? …Now that you mention it, yeah. Sorry."
"It's fine."
It was an affectionate kind of "puppy." I could understand that.
More than that, she just seemed a little out of it, so I figured it was fine to let it slide.
She didn't even seem to understand the things coming out of her own mouth. I was never, ever going to pull duty with her.
"It really feels kind of slow tonight."
The officer tipped her chair back with a creak as she spoke.
"Ah, that's a flag."
The duty personnel beside her waved her hands in protest.
"Come on, I wasn't trying to jinx anything. Want to do a patrol? Check that everyone's sleeping okay. You two are both from Living Quarter 1, right? With the rain, Jihye's mood is probably off, and Heejin's about due for a bad mood herself."
One way or another, the seniors in our living quarters were popular stars. Popular enough that even an officer was reading the room around them.
Of course, if someone really wanted to crack down, they could chew out and nail the seniors just fine — but anyone with half a sense of self-preservation wouldn't.
"Understood."
I stood, and Jeong Seung-a stood with me. Back when I was a complete junior, there had been an unwritten rule that a senior always had to tag along — but that wasn't necessary anymore.
"I can go alone. Superhuman Jeong Seung-a, you must be tired — you can just rest here."
"How could I? Walking around the base alone at night is dangerous."
"Come on, what's dangerous about it? Everyone's asleep."
"Huh? Harang, you don't know?"
The senior who'd been on duty joined the conversation.
"There are a ton of stories about ghosts showing up around here."
I flinched.
My body gave a little shiver. Completely involuntary.
"Ghosts, you say?"
"Yeah. A lot of people have died here, you know? It'd be weirder if they didn't show up."
"C… ome on… there's no such thing as ghosts in this world."
"You don't believe me? Should I tell you a story? Is it okay if we send these two out a little later?"
"Do whatever you—"
"Thanks. So, right? This happened a few weeks after I transferred in. On the path up to the mess hall, you know how…"
Even if I didn't want to listen, I had no choice.
Ghost sighting stories pouring in through open ears. The atmosphere already heavy from the damp morning air. The steady drizzle. And on top of all that, the pitch-black outdoors.
Everything layered together, thickening the eerie mood.
There's no such thing as ghosts.
There's no such thing as ghosts.
There isn't…
"I'm sorry…"
I said it while tightly gripping the hem of Jeong Seung-a's clothes.
I was genuinely mortified. How old was I, acting like this over ghosts? I was embarrassed of myself.
"No, it's fine. I'm really okay. It's okay to be scared. Who in the world isn't scared of that kind of thing?"
"But Superhuman Jeong Seung-a isn't scared… I keep only showing you this side of myself, and it hurts my heart."
"I'm scared too. But you know what? Something even better than that is happening, so I'm okay."
"Something better?"
Jeong Seung-a closed her mouth. Silence settled in at once.
The sound of raindrops hitting the ground somehow started to sound like footsteps.
"Euh… euh, euh… please don't stop talking…"
Squeeze.
Without meaning to, I burrowed in a little tighter. I was already stuck to her arm like a koala.
Disgusting, right? I already know that, so you don't have to say it.
Ah, I can't let it go like this. I really, truly can't.
Jeong Seung-a was exercising superhuman self-restraint.
Her scent is cutting straight through the smell of wet earth…
Seo Harang's body scent, pressed right up against her, swept through her nasal passages.
It was a fresh, sweet fragrance strong enough to wipe out the earthy smell of rain in a single breath.
Everyone's asleep… wouldn't it be fine if I just did it? Didn't Harang already give permission? She's clinging this tightly, this defenselessly.
The perfect harmony of sleep and silence. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say everything was turning for Jeong Seung-a's sake alone.
A hair-trigger situation. Right in the middle of it, Seo Harang gave a little shudder — and Jeong Seung-a's body trembled with her.
It wasn't from fear. It was the combined assault of the body heat, the touch, and the scent pressed right against her side.
"Th-that way…!"
"Mm… mm, there's nothing there. It's okay."
Dangerous.
Just now had been truly dangerous. If not for her own self-control, her eyes would have rolled back and she would have done something unforgivable.
Still, I have to hold on. Because this is platonic love.
Well done. Platonic. She'd managed to keep Seo Harang safe from crisis.
It's still dangerous. I have to spend two straight hours with Harang, don't I?
Ordinarily they spent more than twenty-four hours a day together in the same living quarters.
With this late-night mood, who knows what I might do. I have to be careful.
"P… please, say something — anything… I'm really, really scared…"
Completely unaware of what was going on inside her, Seo Harang once again put Jeong Seung-a's patience to the test.