Impersonating Lee Seohyeok
It was the hour when every last child had been picked up from the kindergarten.
The remaining teachers, too, hurried home the moment their shifts ended, and just like that, another day at Bada Kindergarten came to a close.
But I alone was not allowed to leave. There was still work left to finish.
"Hmm... Well then, shall we head to the office and get ready?"
Following Kang Howon, I found myself walking back into the office of Field Team Na, which I had visited once before.
As you can see, there was no one inside.
"Ah, Seohyeok got called out on a personal assignment just a little while ago."
While I stood there awkwardly, Kang Howon bustled off somewhere, began rummaging through a box tucked into the corner.
Digging through it, he pulled out something like a black cloth bundle and handed it to me.
Clothes?
Unfolding it, I found a two-piece work uniform — a set belonging to the field team.
And not just any set: the exact same design as the one Kang Howon was wearing right now.
A black short-sleeved shirt that covered the neck entirely, paired with utility pants studded with pockets.
"......"
...Why are you giving this to me?
As I stood there staring blankly at the clothes, Kang Howon flashed a playful grin and added an explanation.
"Seohyeok ordered the wrong size and just shoved it in there — it's not dirty or anything. Still, I figured it's better if you at least look like you belong here instead of some outsider. Can't be too careful."
So that's it. That thought hadn't even crossed my mind.
If we're sneaking into places only company personnel can access, the least we can do is show a little sincerity about it.
"Honestly~ he was being so picky about it — said he wouldn't wear anything but long sleeves — that he just buried it in there. Good thing it's finally getting some use. You can change behind that partition over there."
I hurried into the uniform behind the partition Kang Howon pointed to. Thankfully, the work clothes fit me well enough.
Though this is secretly kind of uncomfortable.
As I shuffled back out from behind the partition, fidgeting in the unfamiliar outfit, he handed me a black balaclava-style mask this time.
"Give it a try."
"...How do I look?"
"At a glance, someone might actually mistake you for Seohyeok..."
"Really?"
"Nope. Nope, looking again, not a chance. Even with everything covered, you still look like a teacher."
Only a few strands of hair and my eyes were barely peeking out, and he says I still look like me.
Just as I was spiraling into a serious crisis of identity, Kang Howon shrugged, scooped up a bundle of keycards from the desk, and said,
"But you'll be fine. The underground dungeon is pretty dark, you know? Even if you brush past someone, nobody notices unless you actually talk to them. Nobody."
"...Well, that's a relief. I suppose."
And so we headed down toward the underground dungeon. I kept turning Kang Howon's advice over in my head as I moved my legs briskly along.
-Seohyeok's the kind of guy who thinks this place is the army. No matter who calls out to you, just stick to the '-danakka' military politeness and you're golden.
We passed through the lobby and boarded an elevator that only went down. Oddly enough, every button on this elevator was labeled with letters of the alphabet.
He pressed a button without hesitation.
The elevator lurched and began descending, endlessly, into the depths below...
-Ding!
-Floor E.
...With that chime, the doors slid open. At the same moment, the corridor unfolded before us, its gloom a stark contrast to the bright elevator interior.
Faint, hazy lamplight dim enough that I could barely make out a person's silhouette.
From the elevator, hallways branched off like the veins of an anthill.
Finding our way around here would be a chore in itself.
But Kang Howon strode in without a moment's hesitation, his footsteps confident and familiar.
Every so often, we passed through walls blocked by dual-security systems, clearing them one by one with a keycard and then an iris scan.
All the while, only the occasional sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor; no human figures ever came into view.
So there aren't many people passing through after all?
The moment I relaxed at that thought, someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind.
"Hey, Lee Seohyeok. Where are you going?"
"...!"
Looking ahead, I saw Kang Howon had also stopped in his tracks and was watching me.
I did my best not to turn my head — and didn't react at all.
"Didn't they say no overtime today? You were smiling so happily about having dinner with the twins.... What, is it a lot of extra work? Want me to do it for you?"
What do I do.
Kang Howon, apparently unable to identify the person gripping my shoulder either, was approaching with a furrowed brow.
"You're covering the paperwork again because your team leader and the seniors hate doing it, aren't you? I keep telling you, they only do that to mess with you. Honestly, those lunatics."
If this silence drags on any longer, he's going to get seriously suspicious!
"Hey, why aren't you answ—"
"That's quite all right. My senior has offered to help."
So I just took the gamble and blurted it out.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I had copied, word for word, the speech style and voice of Lee Seohyeok that I'd heard during that meal with Team Na the other day.... I had no idea if it would work.
Maybe it was a voice-mimicry buff or something, but impressions were the one thing I was confident in. Of course, the longer the sentences got, the greater the risk of exposure, so the trick was to keep everything as short as possible.
Please just walk away. Please.
.......
"...Is that so."
"......."
Did it work? Or is he unconvinced?
But despite the words coming out of his mouth, the grip on my shoulder was steadily tightening. It felt like he was about to spin me around at any second, and I involuntarily froze up—
Thump. At that very moment, Kang Howon's heavy palm came to rest on my other shoulder.
"Well, well~ If it isn't the one and only friend our Seohyeok has at this company?"
What? Seohyeok's friend?
Hold on, aren't we completely screwed now?
...Didn't I just use army-style formal speech on this guy who's supposedly his friend?
But whether my throat burned or not, the conversation pressed on without me.
"...So it was you, Senior Howon."
"How come you can't recognize me but you can recognize Seohyeok?"
"You're the only person on the field teams who walks around with a wing patch on his pants, sir."
Wing patch?
Only then did I notice it: on the pocket of the utility pants, a patch glowing in fluorescent blue letters — BOND.
So these really are Lee Seohyeok's pants, huh?
Now that I looked, both Kang Howon and this man were wearing the same patch on their right shoulders.
"Ah~ right, right, now that you mention it. So THAT'S why our maknae has been acting so weird and stubborn lately? It was all so he could see his friend, was it?"
"...Yes, sir."
"Friendship truly brings a tear to the eye. Right, right. Anyway, we've got work to do, so we're off~ You should hurry home too."
"...Yes sir. Hey, Seohyeok — see you tomorrow."
"Yes."
Tap, tap, tap. I held my breath until the sound of those footsteps faded completely from earshot...
No way. It actually worked.
A short while later, having double-checked that the corridor was empty, Kang Howon tapped my shoulder and said,
"Nicely done, Teacher."
"Hardly.... That was harder than I expected."
"For something so hard, you did a great impression. For a second there I actually thought you'd turned into Seohyeok. Scared me."
The praise is excessive, really.
If he knew the full range of thoughts I'd cycled through in those few short minutes, he might just take it back.
In any case, after clearing that one crisis, nothing else happened.
And so, quietly, without a soul knowing,
we arrived.
-Disabling the security of 'Safe-Grade Dungeon E0815 — F Rank.'
With the automated announcement, Kang Howon passed through the security device, pushed open the iron door, and stepped inside. I followed quietly behind him.
At the end of a dark corridor not far off stood a gate.
"Just hand me the Elumis, and I'll go in and release it real quick."
"Yes, one moment."
At his words, I searched through my bag in the darkness and pulled out a single small glass jar.
...I'm sorry. No matter how I thought about it, an insect cage seemed far too conspicuous, so a strawberry jam jar was truly the only option.
Beneath the shimmering glow of the gate, I could see the Elumis inside the jam jar, sunk deep in what looked like utter resignation.
I really am sorry.
Before handing the Elumis over to Kang Howon, I lifted the jar to eye level, gave it a gentle pat, and spoke.
"You've had such a hard time these past two days.... I'd like to apologize for the terrible thing the child did to you. I'm truly sorry."
Then, a moment later, a weak voice drifted up through the lid of the jar, which had been left slightly open for air circulation.
-...Spare me. If you knew the horrific things that tiny human did to me, you would not be able to apologize so easily. And besides.... to imprison me, again and again, in this cramped, clammy little cell — there is no humiliation so profound, no disgrace so complete.
Yeah. We're in trouble.
It seems forgiveness is off the table... but what am I supposed to do about that?
...If Taejae ever runs into this Elumis again, it's going to be chaos.
Determined to salvage Taejae's image however I could, I pressed on.
"But thanks to him, you did obtain the unicorn feather and the pearl, didn't you? I was only hoping you'd acknowledge that the child helped you somewhat along the way."
-Now that I look at you.... you are every bit as deranged as the rest of them.... No — how did I fail to see it! I thought you might be different, a creature capable of speech!!
Uh, hold on—
"No, that's not what I—"
-Silence! You are the maddest human of them all! The abduction was your doing from start to finish, wasn't it? What else were you scheming to extract this time! It was you who ruined the Fairy's Oath — had things gone as planned, that wretched little human would never have flown into such a frenzy!!
"......."
-The day we meet again, you alone shall be lured into our sanctuary, where your limbs shall be—
"Terribly sorry to interrupt such an intimate farewell, but if this drags on any longer, we're going to look suspicious."
Snatch.
Kang Howon intercepted the jar right out of my hands....
"Alright, alright — bye-bye, monster! Bye-bye, Teacher!"
And with that, he vanished through the gate in the blink of an eye.
Watching the Elumis disappear beyond the gate in Kang Howon's hand, I stood rooted to the spot.
"......."
I think this one is well and truly botched.
Hmm... About a minute or so had passed, I suppose.
Kang Howon came bursting back out through the gate, nearly sliding on his feet.
"Done! The moment I cracked the lid open, it shot out of there like a rocket? It came lunging at me trying to stab me with a stone axe, so I hightailed it out of there."
...Whew. If I'd gone in with him, that would have been a disaster.
"I'm glad it made it home safe, at least."
"Right? And thankfully it doesn't seem to be depressed, either."
Brushing off his hands with a grin, Kang Howon laughed — and I laughed along with him, utterly drained.
Either way, I'd protected it. The ten million won....
Protected. My spotless criminal record....
Well... it seems the Elumis has me thoroughly marked, but I doubt we'll ever cross paths again, so it should be fine.
I just pray Taejae never sets foot in this place again.
The tension had fully drained away, and I thought all that remained was the trip back.
"Shall we head back now?"
"Yes."
And indeed, we were on our way back.
Or so I distinctly believed.
...So then, why?
I forced my eyes open, which had squeezed shut from the shock.
At some point, my body was sprawled across the floor of the underground dungeon corridor.
For a moment, let's rewind a few minutes....
After closing the iron door that led to the Elumis's Sanctuary, we emerged back into the underground corridor.
We walked in silence down the frigid, heatless passage, but my heart felt light enough to soar — weightless, exhilarated.
Having confirmed the corridor was empty in both directions, I finally let out the breath I'd been holding and spoke up.
"Howon, thank you so much for today. Even if you insisted it would be easy, I know it couldn't have been."
Fair enough, it was his own company and a place he could come and go freely — but the time and effort Kang Howon had poured into this were undeniable.
Which is why I'd love to get him a little something in return...
I still couldn't understand why he'd insisted on some arbitrary 'condition' in exchange for such a trivial favor.
...Wait. Don't tell me he deliberately brought up a 'condition' because accepting a gift outright would feel awkward to him?
So I wouldn't feel indebted?
In that case, I feel even worse.
"Howon, really, thank you so much — next time, let me at least treat you to a meal—"
-Clunk.
-Disabling the security of '■■-Grade Dungeon E0915 — ■ Rank.'
The sound of an iron door sliding open.
The instant I turned my head toward the noise behind me, someone seized me by the collar.
"......?!"
Before I could even flounder, both my feet left the ground — and my entire body was hurled, without mercy, into the darkness.
-KABOOMCRASHCRASH!
"...Ugh!"
The moment I hit the floor, pain shot up along my spine, and even as I winced through it, I lifted my head to get a grasp on the situation.
Gasping, I frantically scanned my surroundings.
Where am I?
Looking around... this appeared to be another corridor leading to a different dungeon?
When did that door even open?
No — before that, who attacked us? Is that why Kang Howon threw me in here? To protect me?
...But the only person nearby was Kang Howon?
Is Howon okay?
Straining with everything I had to arrive at an answer, I tried to pull myself up off the floor.
But there was no need.
-Thud.
Because the person closing the iron door behind him and stepping inside was none other than Kang Howon.
"There — crisis averted. So, Teacher... shall we have ourselves a nice, serious chat now?"