Expansion
"...! ...!!"
Soeun was grunting as she hauled a box stacked with firewood when a commotion rose from the main building entrance, drawing her head around in curiosity.
"Looks like Sijun oppa's back."
"He's later than I expected. That little brat must've dragged things out forever picking clothes."
Yejin answered Soeun's sharp remark with nothing more than a bitter smile, then shook her head and murmured,
"Don't say things like that. Whatever else she is, she came here to help us."
"Help that reeks of ulterior motives doesn't leave much room for gratitude. Though... those two who came in with her this time, we do owe them something..."
"Then be grateful together. We're the same group now. And later on, you might need her help yourself."
"...I'd rather just die. Owing that girl my life and having to tiptoe around her? One relationship like that is plenty — Oppa's enough."
Soeun shuddered theatrically, finished shoving the box into a corner of the hallway, then took the remaining firewood from Yejin's arms and grasped her hand.
"Come on. I don't like that girl one bit, but we can't put off greeting Sijun oppa."
"...I don't think that oppa cares much either way. But fine."
Stronger than most men and newly armed with an ability that let her keep pace with Yejin through every odd job around the place, the two women had grown considerably closer.
Walking the corridor hand in hand, Yejin hesitated, then asked carefully,
"How's Chaeyeon been lately?"
"Her? Same as always."
"Hmm. Since yesterday, maybe — she seemed like something was weighing on her."
Yejin stared at a bloodstain on a painting hanging in the hallway, a mark that refused to scrub clean no matter how hard they tried, and went on.
"Whatever she's thinking about, she barely answers when you call her. Today, while Sijun oppa was out, she just kept training for hours straight. Didn't even eat lunch."
Something happened, right?
At Yejin's question, Soeun couldn't help but recall the conversation she'd had with a certain someone not long ago.
Having that kind of power and still not making a move on you... I can tell how much he cares about you.
If that man were even a little less special, the relationship between you all would've fallen apart a long time ago.
Without realizing it, Soeun bit down hard enough that her lip went white.
Yejin looked at her with concern, but didn't press further — only sighed inwardly.
Like she knows anything... acting all superior...
The words Na Sehee had driven in like a blade still sat buried deep in Chaeyeon's chest — and Soeun's as well.
Pathetic things who value their purity more than their lives.
In a ruined world, are you going to hide behind old-world excuses about being minors and look away from that suffering? From the person who saved your lives?
A woman couldn't help but know. Not really.
The way Chaeyeon always clung to him. The way Sijun looked every evening when Soeun and Yejin came out of the bath — how hard it was for him.
Not like Kang Haejun, panting and staring like some shameless dog. No — he crushed that desire down inside himself, afraid of making them uncomfortable.
Honestly. No shame at all. Far too little.
The image of Na Sehee writing that in her notebook, expressionless except for the slight curl at the corner of her mouth, was still vivid.
Soeun ground her teeth with a fury and confusion she couldn't name, forgetting Yejin was right beside her.
But the moment they reached the main entrance and her eyes met a gaze she had never imagined seeing again, every tangled emotion vanished at once.
"Wh... what?"
The great Im Chaeyeon herself was wrapped in a middle-aged man's arms, half in tears as she spoke with him.
Soeun was still holding Yejin's hand; it was the only reason her buckling legs didn't give out completely.
"Soeun! What's wrong? Are you okay?!"
"....."
"I-is it because of that man? Do you know him?"
"....."
Pushing past the roaring in her head, Soeun's eyes finally met the man's.
"...That's my dad. Our dad."
Yejin's eyes went wide as saucers. Soeun let go of her hand and sprinted toward Kang Yundo with everything she had.
"You were alive... you really were."
Tears of pure gratitude and overwhelming relief were already streaming down Kang Yundo's face.
A short while later, once the miraculous reunion one man had made possible had settled somewhat, Chaeyeon — who had slipped free of Kang Yundo's arms — wiped the tears she had finally stopped holding back and looked around.
"But... Uncle, where's Sijun oppa? You said you met him and came here together."
"...Ah. That person. No — that gentleman..."
Kang Yundo could only hesitate.
Sijun had planted them at the school gate, told him to explain things himself, and then vanished somewhere. How was a man who knew nothing of the circumstances supposed to account for that?
When he laid out what little he knew, Chaeyeon's brow furrowed hard — then she whipped her head around and fixed Na Sehee with a glare.
"Why didn't you stop him?"
"Kya-u?"
The way Sehee tilted her head, as if asking why she should have stopped him, made Chaeyeon's blood surge.
"You went with Sijun oppa alone today! You should've reined him in if he was about to do something reckless! The sun's already starting to go down — what kind of sense does it make for him to go off somewhere by himself?!"
Action? Reckless?
Sehee kept tilting her head, then lifted her notebook.
Where?
"...You little bitch—!"
Chaeyeon finally snapped, drawing her blade and closing in. Kang Yundo lurched forward in alarm to hold her back. At the same time, the zombie dog that had been lying with its eyes shut cracked one open and let out a low growl.
Pinned by the arm, Chaeyeon still spoke in a voice thick with killing intent.
"She threw a fit about wanting to go clothes shopping, and now she comes back alone without giving a damn whether Sijun oppa is in danger or not? Crazy bitch..."
"Kya-ua-u. Kya-ua."
"If you're going to talk, talk so people can understand you!!!"
But Sehee paid her no mind at all. She shrugged, muttered something, then tore a sheet from her notebook.
She walked right past Chaeyeon thrashing in Kang Yundo's grip and handed the paper to Yejin. Then, making a show of covering her mouth for a yawn, she headed upstairs with the dog.
"...What's this?"
He wrote it. That man.
Yejin stared at the paper for a long moment, then simply stood there in silence.
"Unnie? What does it say?"
Sensing something wrong, Chaeyeon pulled free of Kang Yundo and asked. Yejin's hands were trembling. Then she dropped the paper entirely and squeezed her eyes shut — and Chaeyeon snatched it up in a rush.
A moment later.
"...At this hour. Alone. He's going to raid a cannibal hideout?"
At that muttered line, everyone else's eyes went wide — including Soeun, who had been trying to steady a heart still reeling from seeing family she thought she'd never see again.
For the record, I didn't say anything because I already knew how you'd all react. I'll be back soon.
"This oppa, I swear..."
The paper in Chaeyeon's hand crumpled into a tight ball.
Time passed. Present moment.
I dug a finger into an ear that itched for no good reason and glanced back toward the school.
...I'm a little worried about the fallout.
But there hadn't been a choice. If I'd told them before leaving, they would've kicked up a storm and dragged everything out forever.
Im Chaeyeon especially. She might've flat-out refused to let me go without taking her along — maybe even thrown herself on the floor.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Good thing I slipped out.
Whatever. They could handle the introductions and dinner on their own.
I turned back to face forward.
"...You wanted to see me?"
An old man sat slumped in a battered wooden chair, staring quietly in my direction.
The frail build, the wrinkled face, the cloudy eyes — nothing about him looked like the head of this insane outfit.
Still, no matter how you slice it, the gap between appearance and reality can't be worse than mine.
I scratched my eyebrow at the thought. However far his insides diverged from that exterior, it couldn't top a man who walked around in human form and didn't die with a hole through his heart.
Glasses Guy, who'd picked up on at least a fraction of that fact, was whispering something beside the old man. I couldn't hear it — but the slight tightening of the old man's brow suggested my point had landed.
Whether they were suspicious or not wasn't my problem. I'd put my ability on full display for one reason only.
"I'd like to ask for some cooperation. And while we're at it — settle a debt."
"I've taken more than a little abuse from your people."
"...Whoa. Is this guy insane?"
As if I'd be more insane than you lot.
I answered the muttering of a man posted against the wall by the entrance, then locked eyes with the old man.
An unreadable expression. An unreadable gaze.
But there was one other look that kept snagging my attention.
What's with that woman.
The way her eyes sparkled as she stared at me felt uncomfortably like looking at Im Chaeyeon before I'd met Na Sehee. And with it came a strange, creeping chill.
"At the very least, he seems worth talking to. What do you think, Jimin?"
"...I think so too."
What's with that flush. The red in her cheeks as she looked at me was somehow deeply, thoroughly unsettling.
Just what the hell did that glasses bastard introduce me as?