Obsession
Obsession
Lee Seol-ah.
For her, today was the best day she'd had in a long time.
The day she'd shown the entire nation, live, herself and the man she'd set her sights on—Egostic—working together to suppress a terrorist attack.
It had boosted her stagnant public recognition and reputation in a single stroke, and it was also the perfect opportunity to tie Icicle and Egostic together.
On top of that, the attack itself had been flawlessly executed, exactly as she'd planned it with him beforehand, and signs were already showing that her company's stock price would be going up. It was a perfect day.
The only thing keeping it from being truly perfect was that after the attack, Egostic had looked so much more exhausted than she'd expected, which worried her.
Right. It had been perfect, until the moment she was saying goodbye to him—and then her friend Stardus suddenly showed up where she and Egostic were.
"..."
Her throat bobbed.
Lee Seol-ah swallowed involuntarily as she watched Stardus draw closer.
Egostic, who just moments ago had been laughing and chatting with her, was already beating a hasty retreat with his ship.
Lee Seol-ah, meanwhile, was left behind.
She had to deal with Stardus alone.
Moments later, Ha-ru landed right in front of her.
And the expression on Ha-ru's face was...
"..."
Utterly blank.
...And profoundly terrifying.
'...Sh-she couldn't have overheard, right?'
Seeing that look on her face, Lee Seol-ah began to tense up.
It had been years since Lee Seol-ah had become close with Ha-ru.
And even Lee Seol-ah, who'd been at Ha-ru's side all that time, had almost never seen her wear such a cold, blank expression.
But Lee Seol-ah was no amateur.
She was a veteran operator who'd navigated the business and political worlds.
Only a rookie would show signs of panic at a time like this.
So Lee Seol-ah forced a smile, feigning surprise, and spoke to Ha-ru.
"Oh, Ha-ru! What's going on? How did you get all the way here—"
"What were you two talking about?"
Lee Seol-ah's effort, however, was sunk by Ha-ru's curt, expressionless words, cutting her off.
Shin Ha-ru's manner was calm as she asked the question offhandedly, but Lee Seol-ah picked up on the differences from her usual demeanor.
...Her eyes, darker and heavier than usual. And the words, in a tone so icy-cold Lee Seol-ah could hardly believe they came from Ha-ru.
Lee Seol-ah felt herself on the verge of losing her composure, but through a superhuman effort she kept her voice steady and her smile in place as she answered.
"Hm? Oh, you saw that? It was nothing. Egostic was provoking me, so I just gave it right back. Haha... Anyway, Ha-ru, weren't you in Seoul? How did you get to Busan—"
"You were laughing."
And once again, Shin Ha-ru cut Lee Seol-ah off.
"...The two of you were laughing while you talked."
Ha-ru spoke quietly as she looked at Lee Seol-ah, her expression still cold and subdued.
Lee Seol-ah felt like her soul was being shaken out of her, but she barely managed to answer as if it were nothing.
"Oh, that? We were just trading sarcastic jabs and sneering at each other. It was nothing, really."
Lee Seol-ah thought she'd answered pretty naturally.
But seeing the way she twisted a lock of hair by her temple, not meeting her eyes, Shin Ha-ru already sensed something.
"..."
Ha-ru looked down at Lee Seol-ah in silence for a moment, then turned her head to look to the side.
Far off in the distance, where Shin Ha-ru was looking, she could see Egostic's aircraft speeding away.
The moment she confirmed that, Shin Ha-ru turned and prepared to fly after him. To catch up to that ship.
And just as she was about to take flight...
As she pushed off into the air, someone caught her arm and jerked her to a stop.
"...?"
"Ha-ru? Where are you going?"
Lee Seol-ah. She had hastily grabbed Stardus as she tried to go after Egostic.
And in that moment...
Then Shin Ha-ru spoke, her words so cold that Lee Seol-ah could hardly believe they had come from Ha-ru.
"Let go."
There was something almost murderous in that instant, and the sudden shock of it nearly made Lee Seol-ah's hand slip free.
But she held on, standing firm, and kept speaking.
...If she let Ha-ru go and let her meet Egostic, there was no telling what would happen. Really.
With the resolute conviction that she had to stop her, Lee Seol-ah spoke to Shin Ha-ru, keeping her voice calm.
"Ha-ru. Earlier, that bastard Egostic said that if anyone chased him, he'd bomb the rest of Busan. I don't think you should go after him. We have to think of the people down below! R-right?"
She'd started off speaking firmly, but as she went on, the look on Ha-ru's face grew steadily colder, until Lee Seol-ah's voice began to trail off.
And so, with Lee Seol-ah still holding Stardus's arm, an uncomfortable silence settled over them.
After a brief moment passed...
Shin Ha-ru finally relaxed her arm.
"...Yeah? Then I guess there's nothing I can do."
And just like that, Ha-ru's face returned to its usual, untroubled expression, as if it had never hardened in the first place.
Seeing her chance, Lee Seol-ah spoke again and made a suggestion.
"...Well then, Ha-ru, it seems like the misunderstanding's been cleared up, so shall we head back? The people are waiting."
"Sure. Oh, and there's no benefit in me showing my face to the crowd, so I'll head back first. Okay?"
"Y... yeah."
Shin Ha-ru gave Lee Seol-ah a fleeting smile, then pushed off into the air and shot away in the opposite direction, toward the city, disappearing in an instant.
And watching her retreating figure...
Only then did Lee Seol-ah let out a sigh, the strength draining from her body all at once. She nearly collapsed onto the ice platform she was standing on.
"Haa... seriously."
That had taken ten years off her life.
When she'd seen Ha-ru's astonishingly cold, icy expression—the first time in her life she'd ever seen it—Lee Seol-ah had tensed up, sure that she and Egostic had been found out.
If Stardus ever learned that this whole attack had been a staged play cooked up by her and Egostic, Lee Seol-ah couldn't even imagine how she'd react.
But thankfully, judging by how things were winding down, it didn't seem like Ha-ru had figured that part out. She'd probably only seen her and Egostic laughing and talking together.
"...Huh?"
That train of thought brought Lee Seol-ah up short. Something seemed off.
She was giving off that terrifying an aura over just that? Wearing an expression that cold?
...That wasn't like Ha-ru at all.
"Wait... could it be...?"
As Lee Seol-ah's thoughts chased each other in circles, she suddenly realized something, and the corner of her mouth lifted before she knew it.
Could it be... that Ha-ru...
***
Above the sea, where the cold wind blasted across the water.
Avoiding the inland areas where people had gathered, Shin Ha-ru was flying across the ocean.
"..."
From Seoul to Busan.
She'd persuaded the Association President to wake Shadow Walker so she could travel all the way to Busan in a single jump.
What she saw the moment she arrived was
Egostic and Icicle laughing and chatting together just after the attack had ended.
Grit.
As the scene replayed in her mind, Shin Ha-ru ground her teeth without realizing it.
...Why did her blood boil whenever she remembered that sight?
"...Alright."
Some time later, having calmed down a little, Ha-ru took a deep breath and steadied herself.
...She'd overreacted with Seol-ah earlier, too. She'd have to apologize later.
But.
That aside.
She thought again of Seol-ah's face, laughing, fully relaxed.
...No matter how you looked at it, that wasn't the kind of expression you wore in front of a villain.
But still. Fine. Maybe it was possible.
If it was Egostic.
The image of Egostic's face, laughing right back at Seol-ah, also resurfaced.
As she felt her expression hardening all over again without her permission, Shin Ha-ru... felt her memories of every encounter she'd had with Egostic up until now flashing back through her mind.
His voice, calling her out of the blue when she'd given up on everything and fallen into despair, telling her she could do it, saying it as if he believed in her without a single doubt.
The look on Egostic's face when she'd nearly died, the way he'd sacrificed himself to save her, taking her injuries onto himself, the pained, difficult smile he'd worn.
When she'd lost her strength midair and fallen, the feel of Egostic's embrace as he'd broken off from the fight and flown to catch her in the sky, shielding her.
...Right.
Right. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe...
If it had been some other woman instead of her... someone weak, naive, ordinary...
She might have fallen for Egostic.
Just like Icicle, who had barely known him yet smiled at him in a way she rarely even smiled at Shin Ha-ru.
Like a fool, she had smiled without knowing anything about what he was hiding—or perhaps the secret behind why he staged his attacks.
"...Hah."
Shin Ha-ru followed the thought to its end.
Only then did it click.
She finally realized what she was feeling.
Right.
She'd finally understood why she kept thinking about him.
She was the only one who wouldn't be swayed by his tricks.
No matter what he did, she was the only one who could stand firm and lock him away.
Amid all his schemes, she was the only one who could stay unshaken and uncover his secrets.
And so.
He was hers, and hers alone, to deal with.
She was the only one who could deal with him.
"..."
It had been quite some time now since Egostic and Stardus had become entangled.
And now, all the emotions, thoughts, and conjectures she'd felt while meeting him, steadily accumulating over that time, converged at a single point.
A conclusion about Egostic took shape inside Stardus.
"Egostic..."
Egostic. He was...
The only one she could face.
Her own.
Her very own villain.
***
"What the... what's that?"
"What's wrong, Boss?"
As I was fleeing Stardus with my airship, a sudden chill shot down my spine, making my whole body shudder before I knew it.
"No, just a second..."
I had a feeling something had just gone terribly wrong.
What the hell was that?
I shivered, gripped by an inexplicable anxiety.
Lately, I'd been having these sudden, random moments of foreboding...
But today, it felt way worse.
"What is this..."
That was all I could mutter.
And without my realizing it,
the genre of this world, based on the superhero manhwa {Stardust!}, was beginning to change little by little.