Han Gyeo-wool
"Shall we take a picture, then?"
"I'd like that. Oppa, I'll take it."
"All right. Gyeo-wool, come over here too."
"Ah. Yes."
Han Gyeo-wool had been watching us. At my words she rose, and the three of us gathered in one place. We started the meal while looking over the shots Hyunji had taken and the ones of all of us together, talking as we ate, and the time vanished before I noticed. So many eyes were fixed on me that anything private was difficult to say. That might have been for the best. The afternoon was already slipping away.
"This place must really be popular."
"It is. Every seat is still full."
Hwang Jiyoung dabbed at her mouth and glanced around, then nodded at what I'd said. Hyunji touched up her makeup a little, nodded as well, and answered. The room was probably still packed because of us. More precisely, because of me. It wasn't vanity. I could still feel a thick, sticky heat of stares on the back of my neck. Just as I'd felt at the department store, the weight of those looks was nothing like a date with only one of them.
"We should get up. I can't talk properly in here."
"Mm. Are you all right, Oppa?"
"It was good. Eating with the two of you matters more to me anyway."
"...Yes."
Jiyoung looked briefly flustered, then answered with a soft smile. Hyunji grinned as if she found the sight adorable.
"So you're going straight there, Jiyoung?"
"Yes. The appointment's at three, so if I leave now I'll be right on time."
"You'll be all right on your own?"
"Yes. A taxi will get me there in no time. I'm really sorry for interrupting your date today."
"Sorry for what? I had a wonderful time. You didn't?"
"...N-no... I just... so this is what a date is, I thought..."
I knew exactly what she was thinking as the color rose in her face. Her idea of a date was shifting under her, and I waved it off as I answered.
"Ah, that's not it. I'm just a little too greedy, that's all."
"...That's why I liked it even more... I don't think I'll ever forget it..."
I watched her fidget and crumple her napkin, looked at Hyunji and Han Gyeo-wool, and got to my feet.
"Shall we head out, then?"
"Yes."
"I'll go ahead and start the engine."
"It's fine. Let's take our time."
"The day is hot. The cabin will be warm, I expect."
"Oh, come on. It'll only be hot for a minute. Come with us."
"...Yes."
She really did fuss over the smallest things. We reached the parked car in no time.
"Call me. You have to. All right?"
"Yes. I'll contact you the moment the move is finished."
"Mm."
"Hyunji, I'll see you later."
"Mm. You really don't need help?"
"Really. And..."
Something like a small resolve settled over Hwang Jiyoung's face as she looked at us. I waited to hear what it was. She swallowed once, then murmured.
"The last of it... I want to settle by myself."
"...All right. I understand."
Hyunji smiled and nodded. Jiyoung looked at the two of us, then slowly turned her back and left the brunch café. The moment she was gone, Hyunji whispered.
"...Oppa."
She took my arm, warm against me, and I turned my hand and quietly drew her in.
"Ah..."
I held the body that sank fully into my chest, met the eyes looking up at me, and stroked her cheek. Her gaze was going soft and hazy. I whispered.
"My Hyunji. You worked hard."
"...N-no, I didn't..."
She shook her head, voice trembling, and she was the Hyunji only I knew again. She had tried so steadily to put Jiyoung at ease. I wasn't blind to that care. I had soothed her a little in the lingerie shop, but still.
"So this is what you're like when you're with your friends."
"...Was I very strange...?"
"No. You were lovely."
"...Oppa."
"I felt it again. Our Hyunji really is grown-up."
"Thank you for noticing..."
"Mm. I'll look after Jiyoung from now on, too. But as always, you matter more."
"...Oppa..."
"Kiss me?"
"...Yes... I... it was so hard to hold back..."
"I know."
I covered her lips, gentle. Hyunji rose onto her toes to meet me and wrapped her arms around my neck, and as the kiss threatened to deepen I slowly drew her back.
"...Hold on just a little longer. All right?"
"...Yes... Oppa."
"Hm?"
"Hold me a little more."
"All right."
At her pleading whisper I pulled her deep into my arms and stroked the slender line of her back. She was so delicate I half feared she might break, and finding the right amount of strength was harder than it should have been. The body fitted against me felt as if simply holding it could unwind every bit of stress.
"I love how you smell, Oppa."
"I love how my Hyunji smells, too."
"...I wish I could stay in your arms like this."
"I can't hold out for long if it's only this."
"Ah, th-that's not what I meant... And I... too..."
"I know. Gyeo-wool's waiting. Shall we get in?"
"...Yes..."
I stroked her flushed face once more and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Hyunji smiled, bright and shy, and we climbed into the car. Han Gyeo-wool watched us in silence, a faint smile on her lips, and pulled away from the curb.
"Unni."
"Straight there?"
"Yes. Please."
"All right."
Alone with Hyunji, her speech had loosened. They finally sounded like sisters. How long had they been this way?
"So when did the two of you start living like sisters?"
"Around the time Hyunji started elementary school."
"I know this is rude, but—"
"Ah. I was in middle school."
"The gap is that wide?"
My eyes went round before I could stop them, and I looked at Han Gyeo-wool in the rearview mirror. Even at the most generous reading she was mid-twenties. I had assumed she was only a year or two older than Hyunji, and that someone so capable at that age simply had talent to spare—though even the talent had never stunned me the way her face did. I had seen more than enough geniuses back in school.
"She doesn't look it, right? Unni's just that pretty."
"Yeah. I really thought she was around her mid-twenties."
Wait. No. She had said middle school. She had not said she had just entered it.
"Then... are you my noona...?"
Hyunji burst out laughing, and a bright smile bloomed across Han Gyeo-wool's face in the mirror. Seeing that smile for the first time mattered. The answer mattered more.
"No. We should be the same age."
"1994?"
"Yes. October."
It was absurd. I almost wanted to ask whether something hot ever rose from her lower abdomen, but if she didn't know about Special Internal Energy, that would be nearly sexual harassment. I only thought it. I had no intention of asking.
"...N-nice to meet you, friend...?"
At the awkward joke she smiled gently, nodded, and answered.
"Nice to meet you."
"...What was that?"
"Huh?"
Hyunji had seen the two of us and tilted her head, perfectly innocent, and I echoed her like an idiot.
"Was that some kind of catchphrase? Unni seemed to know it."
"...You just wounded the two of us."
"Please understand, Mr. Shinwoo. Our Hyunji is simply too pure."
"...From the way you say that, Gyeo-wool, this isn't the first time. Or the second."
"Eh? What are you talking about? Tell me toooo."
"Quiet. I'm hurt."
"Ah, Oppaa."
"They say if you're too pure, it borders on malice."
"I agree."
Wait. Then maybe I didn't need to worry so much about my looks. I would still have to keep up Instagram, of course, as evidence of the changes.
...I don't need to be that rattled, do I? No. More than that.
"You must take incredible care of yourself."
"Oppa. Our unni is unbelievable."
"Hm?"
Hyunji didn't answer me. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Han Gyeo-wool as she asked.
"Unni, what lotion are you using these days?"
"Still that one. The one you bought me after your trip."
"...I bought you that two years ago."
"Mm. There's still some left."
"I told you cosmetics expire once you open them!"
"It's still fine..."
"Throw it out. I'll buy you another."
"No. Too much trouble."
No further explanation was required. Which meant—
"...You were just born that way?"
"Right? It kills me. She'd be even prettier if she took care of herself... I keep asking her to go to the salon with Mom, and she always says she's busy..."
"...Infuriating, isn't it?"
"See? Infuriating, right?"
"That is hardly something for you to say, Mr. Shinwoo."
"Exactly. I've never once seen Oppa put on lotion either. What is this. Everyone's too much."
"Ah. No, I— But how do you know that, Gyeo-wool?"
Hyunji's glare swung onto me, and I faltered. I wasn't diligent about skincare either. It was the energy. I tried to change the subject in a hurry, but her cheeks had already puffed into a small pout.
"...I'll pay attention."
"From now on I'll handle it. Your skin is such a waste, Oppa."
"...All right."
"You mean it?"
"Yeah. Watching Hyesun taught me plenty. But... looking at Gyeo-wool, the motivation just dies."
"...Being born with it is nice, but care really does make a difference. You're already more than enough, Oppa. I just hate to see it go to waste. Really."
"All right."
I wasn't the diligent type either, so I knew only the absolute basics, and even that was scraps picked up from YouTube. Still, I at least used lotion. At home. I was only annoyed that she treated a face like that so carelessly.
"In the military I couldn't even use lotion. This is plenty."
That wasn't right. My generation had come at the tail end of the military reforms, so some unfairness still lingered, but they wouldn't have harassed you just for using your own lotion or toner. Had she been somewhere brutal? Or was the army in this world even worse?
"...Where did you serve?"
"Special Warfare Command."
"...Which unit?"
"The 606 Special Mission Unit."
"Th-that unit still actually exists?"
"Yes."
"...So the monster was right here. Are you allowed to say that?"
"The unit name is fine. It has been more than five years since I was discharged, so the confidentiality obligation no longer applies. The recommendation remains."
"Oppa. Is it that incredible a place?"
"...She's a human weapon. I'd only ever heard of it."
"How do you even know that?"
"...Don't ask. I'm actually going to cry."
"Ah, s-sorry."
I ought to warn Han Gyeo-wool in advance, too.
"If you hit me, there will be no settlement. I'm telling you now."
"That will not happen. Please don't worry."
"But why did you get out? You're not still on a mission or something..."
She smiled softly at that, looked at me as if I were unexpected, and answered.
"...You really are something."
"Of course, Mother's sense for business is so extraordinary that I ended up unnecessary."
"So that's why you left?"
"Yes."
For a moment I nearly fell for the way she said it, so firm. If I did the math, she had stayed until twenty-five. Enlistment would have been the early twenties at the earliest, and Special Forces terms ran long. On top of that it was a unit drawn out of Special Forces, so she had been there roughly five years.
...Ugh. Horrifying.
I had far too many questions. I had happened to hear in the army that it was the predecessor of the 707th, that it actually existed and carried out missions. To think it was real. And after a military life that brutal, she was sharp enough to help with Lee Hyesun's work as well?
"...Is it really that amazing?"
"...Say anywhere that Gyeo-wool is from the 606, and the National Intelligence Service will come find you."
"I-it's that serious...?"
"You've been through a lot. Truly."
Only now did I understand why Kim Do-hoon had been so shocked. It was a long time ago, but this was a unit that had even handled presidential security. I wanted to show off more of what I knew, but wonder still clung to the way she was looking at me, and I had to hold my tongue. Which Special Forces unit she had been selected from, whether the training was truly that vicious—there was too much I wanted to ask. She probably wouldn't be able to answer anyway.