Reference Point
I had come up to the third floor and was quietly watching Na Sehee pick out clothes when a soft tapping sound came from the window.
Wondering what it was, I turned around to find a sparrow perched on the outer windowsill, preening its feathers.
"What's that thing doing here?"
At my words Sehee glanced this way, held the clothes she was carrying up to the mirror this way and that, then crooked a finger.
The sparrow slipped in through the crack on its own and promptly settled on her shoulder.
As if she had already given it some kind of order, Sehee nodded to herself before looking at me and holding up her notebook.
Checked. The surroundings. Thought there might be some.
"Some what?"
Originals. None. But.
It's normal. Originally. In big buildings. Like this.
Originals? As in the intelligent ones?
I walked over, took the clothes she was holding, stuffed them into a shopping bag, and said,
"You mean those bald bastards?"
Affirmative. Interesting. That you understand.
"I've picked up a fair bit of intel from the crows. Actually beat the hell out of a few of them too."
How were they?
"How were they? Barely any different from regular corpses."
Not anymore. Not now.
Sehee smiled with her eyes, lifted the sparrow off her shoulder, cradled it in her hand like a hamster and stroked its head while she slowly went back to browsing clothes.
They change. After we arrive.
I narrowed my eyes at the sudden remark, but free information tossed out like that was still free information. I just kept watching the notebook.
She walked lightly for a while, then stopped, toyed with a ruby-studded bracelet, tilted her head, and held it out to me.
Put it on me.
Was the clasp really that complicated? I stared at her, took her raised hand, and fastened the bracelet for her. She went back to wandering the mall, this time browsing shoes, so I threw out a question.
"I get that those things have something like reason now. But what exactly changes more?"
Purpose.
She showed me just that single word, then turned a low-heeled white shoe this way and that.
"They get goals? A bunch of corpses?"
Ambition. More precisely.
"...Ambition?"
I snorted at the sheer absurdity of it. She gave a small laugh of her own, took the shoe off the display, and held it out to me.
Put them on me.
"....."
This damn aristocrat...
Even the chaebol cousins from the dramas wouldn't dare hand her a business card. I took the shoes, sighed, and squatted down.
She leaned against the wall beside me, gently slipped off her worn sneakers, and presented her bare feet.
I spent a brief, complicated moment staring at those white, neat little feet before sliding the shoes on and muttering,
"How the hell is this friendship? This is servant work. Slave work."
You like it. When I ask. Things like this. Usually.
"....."
I almost argued, then gave up, finished putting the other shoe on, dusted my hands off, and checked my watch.
"Whatever. Time to get ready to head back."
Already?
"...What do you mean already? Two hours just flew by."
I ignored the way she pouted with her face instead of her mouth, gave the heavy shopping bags in both hands a couple of up-and-down shakes to gauge the weight, and shook my head.
I'd planned to grab some noodles while we were at the department store. At this rate I wouldn't have a free hand left.
I frowned, thinking it over, then locked eyes with the sparrow still preening on Sehee's shoulder.
...Right. That bastard was here.
That unnecessarily massive frame of his was wasted if only Sehee used it. Time to put it to work.
Grrrrrrrr...
The mutt drooled black saliva and growled. The department-store group members who had come out to meet us stared at the sight with thoroughly sickened faces.
Especially Kwon Jitae, who had been carrying my shopping bags in a desperate bid to salvage first impressions—his legs were shaking so hard they looked ready to give out.
"...W-what the hell... that size..."
"Looks like it got even bigger since last time. Must be my imagination."
I glanced at Sehee. She only shrugged, so I dropped it and spoke to Kwon Jitae.
"Move it already. If you want to stay on my good side, this is the bare minimum."
"Yeah. Lee Sijun's right. Worst case you get bitten once and that's the end of it, right?"
Hearing Do Wangu chime in like that, Kwon Jitae took one look at the size of the mutt's mouth and could only mutter to himself.
Fuck, yeah. One bite and it really is the end. End of my life! Fuuuck.
"You just curse me out?"
"N-no, sir! Big bro! Why would I curse—"
Do Wangu glared at him with that murderous face of his, then snorted and snatched the shopping bags.
"Gimme. I'll do it."
He puffed his upper body out as big as it would go and stomped toward the mutt.
"What a chicken-shit. It's gentle with Lee Sijun, so it should be fine with me too..."
"Oh, for the record, that bastard snaps at me all the damn time too."
"What?"
Before Do Wangu could even turn to look at me, the mutt's jaws yawned wide and lunged for his arm.
"Hrrk!"
A mouth big enough to swallow a decent-sized watermelon whole came down on him. Instinctive terror of death hit Do Wangu hard; he scrambled backward in a panic.
"Y-you crazy bastard! How the hell do you even walk around with something like this?!"
"Not me. She's the owner. That's why it's possible."
I pointed at Sehee and took the shopping bags back from him.
When I handed them to her—who was watching with quiet amusement—the mutt shut its mouth like a switch had been flipped and went completely docile.
Then Sehee whispered something. It whined, finally gave up, and flopped down on the spot.
She secured the shopping bags on its back, glanced at the two men staring blankly this way, and showed me her notebook.
Let's go. Now.
"Go where? We still have to take those two with us."
She wrinkled her nose like she hated the idea, then sat expressionlessly on the mutt's back and started combing her hair with a gem-studded brush she'd picked up at the department store.
Leaving Kwon Jitae behind—who looked ready to start drooling at the sight—I spoke to Do Wangu.
"The two I asked for. What are they doing right now?"
"What do you think? I laid out a full spread, fed them Mongshell for dessert, then topped it off with sugar-loaded coffee. They were about to pass out from pure emotion."
He looked like a corrupt official who squeezed the common folk dry for a living, yet here he was chuckling in pure satisfaction. I gave him a flat look and muttered,
"Makes sense. They've been half-starved since the end of the world, then got treated like that. Want me to give them a few more minutes?"
"What? Weren't they part of your group? If they were traveling with you they shouldn't have had any reason to go hungry."
"We ran into them by chance on the way here from the school. According to the old man, he walked all the way from Gunpo in one go looking for his daughter."
"...Huh. If that's true, the guy's way more impressive than I expected."
I'd thought the atmosphere felt oddly heavy for some reason. Do Wangu stroked his thick, overgrown beard and casually asked,
"Hey. Lee Sijun. Come to think of it—you living okay these days?"
"...?"
Who the hell was asking who right now?
I gave him a look that said exactly that and answered,
"The way you're talking, sounds like you're living pretty well. A few days ago you were bitching about every single thing under the sun."
"Ah, that was genuine. It was really fucking hard back then so I complained. But after you cleaned out the department-store zombies in one sweep, we've got breathing room now. Doesn't mean there aren't problems, though."
He scratched his eyebrow, confirmed that Kwon Jitae and one of the underlings were still listening quietly, then continued.
"Honestly, we're short on people."
"What are you talking about? You've got at least three times our numbers just by looking."
"Yeah, that's just how it looks. No real substance."
He let out a heavy sigh. The uncharacteristic hesitation made me frown.
"So what's the actual point?"
"Let's do a personnel exchange."
"What?"
My brow furrowed even harder. Do Wangu dropped his voice lower still, to a tone Sehee wouldn't catch.
"Hey. You not hungry these days?"
"...You see this?"
I shook the pile of ramen packs I'd practically shaken down from them. He shook his head and denied it.
"Not that side. The lower side."
"...??"
"Ah, for real. Don't you need women?! New women! You son of a—"
He finally lost his temper and was about to drop a full curse when he met my cold stare. His mouth snapped shut into a thin line.
"...Ahem. Of course we'd only do it with consent. Swap a few of your fighters for a few of our women."
Honestly, your side would be fine with just you alone, right?
That last part made me relax my expression a little and think it over.
"That desperate, huh? Coming at me this bluntly."
"Not just a lot—fucking desperate. Asking you for favors won't even fix it. It's an external security problem for this whole department store."
Beyond the windows, people inside the store were peeking our way and whispering. I glanced at them—specifically the women among them—then said,
"It's because of those rumors, isn't it. You're famous among the clams. Especially anything related to that school. They were picturing it like damn heaven."
"What the hell are 'clams'?"
"This. This right here. You know what I mean."
He wiggled his pinky and pointed behind him. I looked once at Sehee playing with the sparrow and the dog, then said,
"The metaphor's so crude I almost didn't believe it. Don't ever say that in front of her. Seriously dangerous."
"Ah, shit. Of course not! You think I'd say something like that to the sister-in-law?"
"....."
"But do I have to call those high-school girls from before 'sister-in-law' too? Or is there more?"
"You want to die by someone other than her?"
"Hahahahaha! Joke! Just a joke! Anyway, let's talk about that stuff! You're not busy, right?"
At that I turned my head toward the windows and looked into the department store.
Most people met my eyes and hurriedly looked away. A few women, though, didn't avoid me at all—instead they stared straight this way with flushed faces. In the end I snorted a laugh and answered,
"Yeah. Not so busy I can't spare a short talk."
A few entertaining ideas floated up and made me smile.
How Yejin and the others would take it, I had no idea. Not my problem anymore. My own patience had hit its limit a long time ago.
Treating them like Barbie dolls, coddling and cherishing them—Sehee included—the kids at the school were more than enough.
Well, if someone talented enough to make me feel the need showed up, that would be a different story. But I honestly didn't expect any woman like that to be sitting inside this department store.
Finally get to sort this annoying sex drive however I want, huh?
Or maybe not.