Reference Point
"Nice to meet you, hyung-nim! I'm Hwang Minjun, just arrived two days ago! Looking forward to working with you!"
"...Uh, yeah?"
After clearing out every last corpse that had piled up around the parking lot over the past few days, I walked over toward Do Wangu, who somehow looked like he was in high spirits, shaking the blood off my crescent blade. Out of nowhere a man bent his waist into a full 180-degree bow, leaving me puzzled, but I returned the greeting anyway.
But looking forward to working with me for what? It wasn't like I lived here.
"You put him up to this?"
I looked past the man, who was tense as a drawn wire, and fixed my eyes on Do Wangu instead. He just shrugged.
"We're gonna keep running into each other either way. Better get the introductions out of the way so we don't have a repeat of last time."
"Doesn't really matter to me. Crossing the line or not is on the individual."
"Yeah, until half my people end up dead at your hands and then we're screwed. You're gonna need someone managing this department store for you too, right?"
That much was true. I slid the cleaned crescent blade onto my shoulder and gave a small wave. The rest of my group, who had been waiting quietly behind me, stepped forward.
Last of all, Na Sehee rode up on the dog that had been popping zombie heads like cherry tomatoes and came to a stop at my side. Do Wangu hesitated for a few seconds, clearly unsure what to say.
"...How come every time you show up the lineup's different? And they just keep getting weirder."
He stared hard at Sehee's eyes, then slowly dropped his gaze to the tiny sparrow and the dog, muttering in disbelief.
"...Beast zombies only just started showing up, and you've already tamed a couple and started walking them around? Wait—were they even tameable in the first place?"
"Call it part of her ability. The eyes are basically a side effect."
"...I see. Still, I can't let those things inside the department store. Even if I cut you a hundred breaks, maybe just the sparrow..."
"You heard the man."
Sehee tilted her head at my words, then seemed to accept it and hopped lightly down from the dog's back.
She took my hand and gave a little glance. The dog and sparrow, which had been glaring at me with burning eyes, suddenly drooped and trudged off toward a corner of the parking lot.
"...Popular guy, aren't you. With the high-schoolers too. And that one—eyes aside, her looks are no joke."
"Yeah. Though I still have no idea what she actually thinks of me."
"...?"
Whether Do Wangu was floating a question mark or not, Sehee kept a firm grip on my hand and looked around the department store with open curiosity before asking something.
When do we go? Shopping?
"...We came to look at clothes first. Mind if we head up?"
Do Wangu read the notebook, fell silent for a beat, then nodded.
"...Sure. Have fun."
The envious look from earlier was gone; now he just looked pitying. I almost said something with a frown, then let it go.
This was pure give-and-take. Don't treat me like some boyfriend being dragged around shopping by his girlfriend.
Kang Yundo and Shin Sujeong trailed after us into the store, looking awkward the whole way. Last of all Do Wangu greeted the man on guard duty, and the back door shut behind us.
"...Whew. My legs were shaking like crazy."
The man muttered to himself and swept his eyes once over the cleaned-up parking lot.
Face, build—everything about him looked like an ordinary civilian... but after seeing the scene right in front of him, the man realized the rumors hadn't been exaggerated at all. If anything, they'd been understated.
Dozens of zombies lay scattered like they'd all suffered industrial accidents—limbs severed, bodies twisted at wrong angles. He just stared blankly, speechless, until a sudden gaze made him slowly turn his head.
His eyes locked with the zombie dog. It wasn't growling; it simply stared straight at him. The pressure was nothing like a normal zombie. He swallowed hard.
...It's not gonna charge me, right?
He kept one foot ready on the back door just in case he needed to bolt.
"...I heard that guy's here?"
"What? For real? Where?"
"Over there. Getting a personal escort from the boss himself."
"Oh damn, it is him. But the woman next to him—did he swap her out again already?"
"Her looks are insane. Skin's pure white. She's basically an elf."
"...But what's with those eyes. Am I seeing things?"
The men whispering and sneaking glances at Sehee flinched hard and scrambled backward the moment she flicked her eyes their way.
They started fretting about ghosts or whether she was some woman on the verge of turning into a zombie, but Sehee of course paid them no mind and calmly took in the interior.
I spoke to Kang Yundo and Shin Sujeong, who were trailing after us.
"You two wait on the first floor. Have you eaten?"
"...Ah, we're fine. This much is—"
Kang Yundo tried desperately to refuse, but I ignored him and turned to Do Wangu.
"Just let them grab a quick bite. We cleaned the parking lot for you, so it's fine, right?"
"Of course. Free of charge even. I'll settle that debt separately later."
For reference, clothes apparently didn't even register on the books no matter how many we took.
But how many did he think we were going to take?
More precisely, I had no idea how many Sehee actually wanted.
An alien aristocrat who understood luxury. Of course I couldn't predict it.
With that thought I looked down at her holding my hand. Just then, halfway up the escalator, she stopped and pointed at something.
There. Clothes. One. I like it.
Problem was, the place she was pointing was back down on the first floor, and there wasn't even a mannequin or anything. I was confused for a second.
She let go of my hand, walked over to one of the people watching us, and before the woman could even back away in panic, Sehee grabbed the collar of her clothes and looked back at me.
This. I want it.
"...You can't just pick something someone's already wearing."
The woman looked completely lost, glancing back and forth between us—more precisely between Do Wangu and me. Do Wangu scratched the back of his head.
"...Yeah, this girlfriend of yours is a whole new level of special."
"You looking to die?"
"Can't even joke around. Anyway, forcing it off her is no good. You two sort it out yourselves. I'm gonna go feed these two."
He started to give my shoulder a playful shove, then seemed to remember how the crescent blade could vanish without a trace. He froze, waved awkwardly, and led the pair off toward the sample corner.
I watched his back for a moment, then turned and met Sehee's eyes. She was still clutching the woman's clothes and staring up at me with bright, expectant eyes. I sighed and headed down.
If my family ever saw me playing errand boy like this, I wondered what they'd think. It was a little depressing.
"Eat as much as you want. Lee Sijun's people are basically my people."
"Th-thank you."
"Ah, you don't have to use formal speech with me, old man. You look about my uncle's age."
"...Even so..."
"Hey, if I say don't, then don't."
In the end Kang Yundo nodded, staring blankly at the table that had somehow already been loaded with food. Do Wangu suddenly bellowed.
"Hey, you sons of bitches! Move your asses and bring more! These people haven't eaten in days!"
"I-it hasn't been days exactly..."
Meanwhile Sujeong sat beside the flustered Kang Yundo, mouth shut tight even with food right in front of her, staring at one spot.
"...So this isn't like a mannequin display. She just owns it."
...? ...??
"Yeah. Maybe it worked that way on your planet, but not here. This person isn't a slave."
The woman named Na Sehee was making completely unreasonable demands, and the other woman—who was clearly nothing more than entertainment staff for this department store group—was floundering, glancing only at Lee Sijun for cues. Sujeong took it all in.
...She really is disgustingly pretty.
Sujeong herself wasn't someone who lost out in looks wherever she went, but honestly she had no confidence against that woman. Especially since she hadn't been able to wash properly for over a week and looked like a mess, while the other one practically glowed—lips, skin, everything sparkling like she'd done a full face of makeup.
"Is that another one of her abilities or something."
"...Hm? Sujeong, what did you say?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
She shook her head at the puzzled Kang Yundo and chewed her lip.
Of course he's not interested in me when a woman like that is hanging off him cooing. Fuck. I can't let this happen...
Even when she'd been barely clinging to life at Kang Yundo's side, she had never felt the absolute sense of safety she'd experienced in that parking lot. She couldn't forget it.
The way he'd left her behind him and, without any help at all, single-handedly swept away the swarming monsters.
No matter what, I can't fall behind. The place I need to be is at that man's side.
From the snatches of conversation she overheard between the man called Do Wangu and Kang Yundo, it sounded like Lee Sijun was living somewhere far better than this place. The way Do Wangu kept saying how envious he was of everything made that clear.
...Gulp.
She kept thinking about it until she finally couldn't hold back the hunger, grabbed a piece of bread from the table, and kept sneaking glances toward that man.
It wasn't just the woman currently being held hostage by Sehee—every other woman in the department store seemed to know about his power too. The way they hovered around, clearly dying to strike up a conversation, made it obvious.
And Sehee seemed to know it as well. After finally giving up and stepping back, she pointedly took Lee Sijun's hand and swept those terrifying eyes around the area once.
When her gaze met Sujeong's, Sujeong's body instinctively shrank and she had no choice but to look down.
...That bitch for real.
Trying to monopolize a man like that all by herself. Even if she had special abilities of her own, wasn't that a little too greedy?
Just wait. The second I see an opening, I'll...
Sehee stared expressionlessly at Sujeong, whose face was an open book as she averted her eyes, and muttered to herself at Lee Sijun's side.
These women here really have no sense of their place, do they?
She tightened her interlaced fingers around his even harder and kept glaring at every woman who looked like she was coveting what was hers.
And someone who had no idea what that look meant finally frowned at the way Sehee kept glancing around and spoke up.
"Look, there are way more clothes upstairs than down here. You can keep eyeing them all you want—I'm not giving them to you."
Fine. Still. Don't have. Their eyes.
"...What the hell are you talking about?"
I had no choice but to furrow my brow even deeper.