Morning Comes Even to the Yellow Zone
The sun was rising into a clear sky without a single cloud. Trees, sky, ground, streetlamps, and the lot of us — everything was quietly taking on red. There was no wind at all. A strange warmth seemed to seep into my body.
We watched the sunrise for a long while, our breath coming out white.
Then we sent the children back, one after another. Some parents broke down sobbing the instant they saw their child. Other families just stood there, blank, as if they couldn't believe it. The reactions were alike and nothing alike, but the feeling in every heart was the same.
Thank God.
Watching those families weep, I thought of Hana for no reason I could name, and the bridge of my nose stung. She and Seoyun had cried so hard that by the time all five were returned, both their eyes were swollen shut.
"Thank God... really."
Hana sniffled as she spoke. Seoyun looked as if another sob would burst out the moment she opened her mouth, so she only kept nodding.
We had miraculously saved five of the thirteen, but it wasn't over. The remaining missing persons still had to be looked into, and a full-scale investigation of the security team would follow. This place was going to be a mess for a while.
"Jaehee, Hana, you really worked hard. For now, just rest... uh."
Seoyun's slip into casual speech felt oddly off.
"Shall we, then?"
I deliberately answered in polite speech, just to tease her. I wanted to see how she'd react.
"You..."
Her eyes went sharp. She closed the distance in a few long strides and stopped close enough that a stumble would have put our noses together.
"Forget it! Watching you tease me changed my mind. Help me a little more."
Now the casual speech came out clean and easy.
"That's what I was going t—"
I had started to step back when Hana grabbed my shoulder hard and shoved me behind her.
"We'll rest once everything's wrapped up, Seoyun-unni."
Unni? Hadn't she been calling her Seoyun-ssi? She seemed to put extra weight on the word.
"Shall we head back to the security team?"
Hana's eyes were smiling. Her voice was ice.
"Yeah. We should stop by the security team first."
The very tip of Seoyun's bright smile seemed to tremble, just barely.
What were those two doing?
The first time we had come into the security office, five or six people had made it feel cramped. Now there was only one, and the place looked quite spacious.
Vice Chief Cha Youngjun. He was waiting as if he had known we would come.
"Good day. I'm Cha Youngjun, Grade 5, Vice Chief of the Security Team."
The hand he offered, and his face, were deeply lined. Was he simply older, or had hardship aged him past his years?
"I'm sorry I couldn't greet you when you first arrived. I had just come off night duty."
"Not at all. Han Jaehee, Grade 4, dispatched from Headquarters."
There was no strength at all in the hand I held. Even so, it didn't feel unpleasant the way Jeon Taeho's had.
"Seeing that you've come back alive, I take it they lost."
"Please, sit. I'll bring some coffee."
Every motion was formal, purely clerical.
"Yes. Thank you."
He shuffled off toward the pantry, drained of strength. A moment later he returned with coffee in four paper cups.
I slurped a mouthful, popped a cracker in after it, and the caffeine began to move through me. I felt like I might actually live.
I was still savoring the aftertaste when Seoyun spoke.
"Vice Chief, you aren't involved at all, are you?"
"That's right."
He glanced at Seoyun as he answered, then turned his gaze to us.
"Let me be clear, starting with myself."
"I knew nothing about what Team Leader Jeon Taeho and his people were doing, and I had not the slightest thing to do with it."
Listening to him, I felt the strength drain out of me as well.
"As you can see, I have no ambition left. No drive, either."
"You young Librarians may find it hard to understand, but that's just how it is, isn't it...?"
"For an ordinary person, Grade 6... no. Even Grade 7 is difficult to reach."
"So I've simply been living, content with this rank."
He paused for a sip of coffee. A quiet stillness passed through the room.
"I was a thoroughly invisible man. Honestly, I was better off that way."
"You came for the cleanup, and to cooperate with the investigation, yes? I've already prepared everything."
"You can rest easy this morning. I hear the investigation team arrives around three in the afternoon."
He had no motivation, but he clearly hated the nuisance of letting the work turn into a problem. He had arranged it with almost irritating neatness. I was glad things were resolving so easily. Maybe the last of it could pass without a real crisis.
"Seoyun. You worked hard, too."
The vice chief patted her on the back.
"I always thought it was a shame, what was happening to you. Even so, I told myself it wasn't my affair and that I ought to stay out of it."
His half-lidded eyes closed completely.
"But I shouldn't have. I should have helped you myself... I'm sorry."
Seoyun clenched her teeth, holding the tears in.
The vice chief rose and bent deeply at the waist.
"Thank you. I'll see that the follow-up is properly prepared."
Hana and I shot to our feet, flustered. A man old enough to be our father was bowing; there was no staying in our seats.
"Please look after our Seoyun. You've been through a great deal."
"P-please, stand up. We'll talk it through properly!"
I hurried over and straightened him.
Hana read the room, gathered Seoyun up, and took her outside. Buried in Hana's arms, Seoyun's legs were shaking.
"Those bastards helped kidnap the children here, didn't they?"
The vice chief looked at the slogan inside a dust-covered frame.
Justice. Integrity. Service.
A Security Team That Gives Itself
"I watched that young one, Seoyun, struggling with everything she had, and I still looked away."
"A father, with children of my own, and I did that. I'm sick of myself."
"When this is finished, I intend to retire. Please, look after Seoyun."
He bowed again. This time I didn't raise him.
"Of course. A recommendation, or whatever else she needs — I mean to see it done."
"Thank you."
Just before I stepped through the door, I added a few words.
"If we're going to be precise, you have no reason to thank us."
"I'm not recommending Seoyun because you asked."
"I'm doing it because of the effort she's built with her own hands."
The door closed, and Cha Youngjun was alone in the security office. A sigh slipped out of him, thick with a regret that had come too late.
It was about time to go out and meet them. The team leader was supposed to arrive around three.
It had only been a few hours, but sleeping had made a real difference.
The Gwangmyeong 5th Yellow Zone. This village must have had a name of its own once. Did the residents still keep a name they used among themselves — something held like a taboo?
Walking these streets again on a bright afternoon, the feeling was different. I had taken the disorder for nothing but the clutter of people trying to survive. It wasn't that. Rough, unpolished, and still a clutter full of warmth and affection. Untidied, so it could look messy and confused. But inside it there was a clear, pure warmth.
I had been staring out at the scenery without end when, far off, several cars came on, raising a storm of dust.
How many cars was that?
As the black vehicles swept in, flaunting their presence, even the children who had been kicking a ball stopped to watch. A rattle of doors. Whoa. Just how many people were there?
Oh. Little Noona.
Someone wearing a Grade 3 insignia snapped a salute to the team leader. The angle of it was sharp as a blade.
That whole crowd vanished in an instant. The discipline was something else.
Hana broke into a run toward the team leader, grinning wide.
"Team Leader!!"
"You brat!!"
Thwack! A flick cracked square against Hana's forehead.
Huh? The team leader had flicked Hana?
Hana froze.
"Why are you hitting a kid?"
I hurried over and scolded the team leader.
"Why is this squirt's temper so nasty—"
Thwack!!
"Gyaaah!"
My skull felt like it was splitting. How hard had she hit me? What was this, all of a sudden?
"Team Leader... ow, why?!"
"You brats!! Why would you do something that dangerous!!"
Her voice boomed, rolling over the street. My heart lurched. Every resident was staring at us.
"Wh-what? You did that because you were worried?"
Hana rubbed her forehead, awkward, and tried to press her cheek to the team leader's.
"Don't play around!!"
The three of us froze.
"I told you to settle in and run the investigation. Who told you to put your lives on the line...?"
What? The team leader was crying?
Hana being a crybaby, I could accept. But the team leader?!
Seizing the unguarded moment, Hana pushed her cheek in.
"So it really was because you were worried. Our team leader — are you crying?"
"Wh-who says I'm crying!"
"Wow... first time I've ever seen the team leader cry."
I meant it. I was impressed.
"I'm not crying! Go away! I said go away!"
"Come on, you could peel her off whenever you wanted. Peel her off. Don't just tell her to leave."
"Hana, you were sobbing your heart out too, so what's with the act? Cry with her while you're at it."
The team leader looked cornered, so I decided to help her out, just this once.
"Look who's talking! You were about to cry yourself — I saw you pinching your thigh to hold it in!"
Still cheek to cheek with the team leader, Hana shot me a glare.
Wait. She saw that?
"Ah... no? I didn't cry. Ahem..."
"Anyway, we won in the end, so it's fine, right? Praise us a little."
I had felt it since long ago, but Seo Hana was genuinely sharp. If we stayed on this subject, I was the one who would lose. Time to change it.
"That's right. Still, we did pretty well, didn't we?!"
Seoyeong-noona had my back at just the right moment. As always — thank you.
The team leader's face had crumpled. She squeezed her eyes shut so the tears wouldn't fall, and spoke.
"Yes... you brats. You did well."
She really hated letting us see her cry. It was almost funny.
"Don't ever do this again..."
"Don't..."
Her lips trembled, and at last a single tear fell.
"Don't leave me alone again, I said..."
Fat tears kept dropping, one heavy bead after another.
This was dangerous.
Bad thought. Bad thought.
Hana was about to cry again, too.
"Huh? Team Leader, you're crying? Wow, I've seriously never seen this! We need a commemorative photo!"
"Y-you — get off! I'm not crying, you brat!"
The team leader shoved Hana away in a panic and wiped at her tears.
Click.
"Caption: Tears of a Special Grade Librarian. Perfect!!"
Seoyeong-noona's timing was always excellent.
The tears vanished in a blink. Haa — that had been close.
"What...? Delete that, you brat! Hand it over!"
She was incredibly fast.
But Seoyeong-noona, sprinting away, was incredibly fast too. Was she really an Observer?
Watching them, a laugh slipped out of me. Somewhere along the way Hana was laughing as well. The weather was absurdly fine.
"Hyung!"
I turned at the call. The Yongho brothers were there with Seoyun.
"Thank you. Truly!"
He pressed his palms together and bowed, and something like a father's smile rose to my face.
"Noona, thank you too. Really!"
Hana was weak to praise. She was grinning like a fool. How many times today had that girl cried and laughed, cried and laughed? I would have to tease her about it later.
"Hyung! I'm going to become a Librarian, just like you. I can do it, right?"
"Seoyun-noona says she'll teach me properly!"
Yonghyeon clutched my hand and looked up at me, eyes full of admiration.
I had seen the scorch marks on him back then. He had probably awakened his imagery power. He would do well. I was sure of it.
"Of course you can. I'm looking forward to it. You just have to wait for your hyung and noona, all right?"
I drew a hand from my pocket and offered him a fist.
Yonghyeon's eyes began to shine even brighter.
"Yes!"
"Yonghyeon, what's this village called?"
He answered with his fist still pressed to mine.
"Garidae. It's Garidae Village!"
So there had been a name after all.
Seoyun and the Yongho brothers said their goodbyes and headed off. Then, all at once, Seoyun turned and shouted.
"Jaehee!"
She was nothing like the Seoyun I had seen the first time.
"I'm saving my thank-you!"
"When we meet again, somewhere higher up—"
"I'll give it back to you then!"
I answered with a simple wave.
Then I ought to save mine, too. Grade 6 Side-Tail.
The next time I saw her, what grade would she be — and what kind of tail?
I folded that anticipation up, layer by layer, and set it gently in a corner of my heart.
Yes. Morning had come, even to the Yellow Zone. A night that felt as if it would never end still came to an end.
Seoul, or Garidae Village, or a life itself — morning always comes.