Geocaching #5: Familiar Strangers

Even with Jaaldi right beside me, an extreme tension fills the air. A group of men in black suits and sunglasses. Is this just an overreaction born from my PTSD?

But the moment I laid eyes on Jaaldi ahead, every thought that this might be an overreaction vanished.

"..."

Jaaldi's expression had stiffened as well.

That meant... she was thinking the same thing I was.

"Lu, lululu. Whew."

I immediately put on an innocent act and slid over to the seat next to Jaaldi. For security, I casually slung an arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear.

"Team Leader... those guys. Don't you think they're Fake Bureau?"

"What kind of nonsense..."

Her response was dismissive. But Jaaldi's demeanor proved everything.

"Ma'am! Twenty servings of the neck and shoulder set and ten bottles of soju over here!"

"Hey! There's a kiosk right there! Order with that!"

"Ah, it's complicated! What's with the kiosk! I don't know how to use that thing!"

"Yes, yes! I'll bring it right over! What kind of soju would you like?"

"Fresh!"

"What the hell is Fresh, you idiot! Give us ten of those red ones like Rudolph's nose!"

"Yes, yes!"

The suited men were shouting orders at the top of their lungs with high energy. Twenty servings of neck meat and ten bottles of the red stuff the moment they walked in?

Wasn't this a little too inhuman...? Yet from that very inhumanity, I felt a strangely familiar normalcy.

Utterly ordinary.

A scene of a male-dominated company dinner that was all too familiar.

"Hey, rookie! Anything you want to eat?"

"Ah, yes! I'll eat anything!"

"I asked if there's something you want!"

"Ah, then Cass! I want beer!"

"Whoa!"

A chorus of jeers erupted.

"Listen to this! The rookie says he wants beer! Beer!"

"Kid's still a baby! A baby!"

"Total girl!"

"Cass it is, Cass!"

"Order Cass too!"

The boisterous dinner of suited men reeked of middle-aged uncles... Listening to this vivid scene made me feel like I was sitting right there with them.

The already bustling barbecue restaurant grew even noisier.

Yet even as I took in the clamor, my heart had grown colder than ever.

"I-I'll mix your soju and beer for you!"

The man they called the rookie...

No matter how I looked at him, wasn't that my soul's adjutant, Jin-seop...?

Song Jin-seop, the one who had joined the Fake Bureau...!

"I think those are definitely Fake Bureau agents."

The 'people' happily dining over there were none other than agents of the Fake Bureau!

What the hell did this mean?

Just what exactly were the Fake Bureau agents...?!

"Get off me first."

Jaaldi's cold voice snapped me back to reality.

"Go back to your seat. Quietly. Act like nothing happened. Grill the meat. Understood?"

"Yes."

I released my arm from Jaaldi's shoulder and returned to my seat. Picking up the tongs, I flipped the pork belly and shoulder cuts.

—Sizzle.

A perfect Maillard reaction. Meat tastes best grilled over high heat, but I lowered the flame.

Before I knew it, Jaaldi had returned to her usual demeanor. She fiddled with her cup while naturally observing the Fake Bureau agents.

"We'll think later. For now, just... listen. Observe carefully."

"Yes. Then I'll proceed as usual."

"Good. Eat the meat first. It would look strange if you weren't eating."

Following Jaaldi's instructions, I began eating.

I picked up a lettuce leaf, added rice, placed the meat on top, added grilled garlic and the wrap, finished with green onions, and shoved it into my mouth.

Delicious.

"Alright, everyone worked hard today too! We don't know when we'll die, but until that moment comes, we give it our all! You all know that, right? Can't say names here, so... cheers!"

"Cheers!"

A thunderous roar.

The Fake Bureau agents cheerfully toasted and drank their soju-beer mixes. I, too, pretended to take a big bite of my wrap while watching their movements.

I didn't recognize anyone besides Jin-seop.

If there were section chief-level agents, Jaaldi might know their faces.

...Song Jin-seop.

My closest junior during the Giant Apocalypse.

I had seen him with the Fake Bureau during the vampire incident. After various events, I managed to send him away ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alive.

From that point on, I began seriously pondering and contemplating the true nature of our Bureau and the real Bureau.

By our Bureau's standards... the Fake Bureau agents were anomalies that suddenly appeared and wiped out everyone connected to supernatural phenomena. I had experienced that firsthand. My hatred for them ran deep.

But there were too many inconsistencies to simply treat them as anomalies.

That was why I suspected this 'Fake Bureau' ghost story might also involve absorbing real humans like Jin-seop and turning them into their agents.

"I'll mix your soju and beer for you!"

Then the Jin-seop over there, pouring drinks for his superiors like a genuine rookie... was he a transformed anomaly?

Was he truly someone kidnapped and assimilated by the ghost story...?!

He didn't look like that at all!

No matter how I looked, he was the same affable adjutant I knew, my soul's partner!

"Calm down. Your hands are shaking."

Jaaldi took my hand.

Of course, she didn't know about Jin-seop. She probably thought I was nervous because I was agitated.

"Right now, you're running an operation with me, the Bureau's department head. Don't worry too much. Trust me. Understood?"

She stared at me with her characteristically expressionless face.

"...Yes. Of course."

I felt genuinely reassured.

Jaaldi was a reliable department head, after all.

—Sizzle.

While continuing to grill the meat, I eavesdropped and observed.

"Anyway... a lot of our guys went down this time."

"Damn it, just thinking about those bastards makes me tear up."

"Haa. Eat and shake it off. If you think too deeply, you can't do this job."

The more I listened, the dizzier my head became.

They looked like completely ordinary office workers.

Even their conversation confirmed it. They weren't mentioning specifics, but it was clearly about losing colleagues and grieving over it.

They looked nothing but human. I couldn't see them as anomalies at all.

I had felt the same during the vampire incident. These people were far too human. They cared about their comrades and carried out their missions even at the cost of their lives. I hated them, but in those aspects, I could even sense a burning conviction.

Thus, Jaaldi and I slowly grilled meat while secretly participating in the Fake Bureau's dinner as observers. It felt like we had become side dishes.

"Ah, we're done eating! Let's pay and go!"

"Ugh, get up! Get up! I need to get some air outside!"

Once the dinner ended, everyone rose swiftly. Male-dominated companies didn't linger. If you were done eating, you just got up and left quickly.

And the rookie, Jin-seop, bustled about collecting his superiors' suit jackets and diligently checking for any lost items.

"Collect the cards!"

"Hey, why are you collecting cards again!"

"Oh, leave the rookie out!"

The man speaking in dialect collected the cards excluding Jin-seop. Then, shuffling them like hwatu cards, he headed to the counter.

"Ma'am! Pick one for us here!"

"Hey, hey! This bastard hid his card at the very bottom! He stacked them!"

"Whoa! This guy! What a cheater!"

The restaurant auntie laughed as she picked the card he had hidden at the bottom by stacking.

"Aigoo! I got caught in my own trick!"

When the dialect-speaking man smacked his own head, a loud burst of laughter erupted. Honestly, watching them made me feel like laughing too.

Thus, the Fake Bureau agents noisily filed outside and began chain-smoking.

Jin-seop ran to the convenience store.

Soon he came back out.

Taking ice cream and hangover remedies from the bag, he distributed them one by one.

Truly... it was an incredibly cheerful dinner.

"Team Leader. Their atmosphere is pretty good, isn't it? It really felt like... ordinary middle-aged men having a company dinner."

"Yeah."

"They seem to take good care of the rookie too."

"It... seems that way."

I couldn't read Jaaldi's expression.

"At this rate, they'll probably go for round two. Should we tail them?"

"Tailing them, huh."

Even as I spoke, I realized tailing would be extremely difficult. They were agents. Even drunk, they might notice if someone was following.

What if they went into a karaoke place? If we followed and booked a room, and some sharp-eyed guy noticed?

These were people who would kidnap and kill without hesitation.

It wouldn't end well.

Their atmosphere was clearly good and human. But I couldn't let myself be deceived. A dinner was a dinner, and work was work. The moment something went wrong, everything would turn.

"Let's head back to the car first."

"Yes."

We paid immediately and returned to the car.

* * *

Sitting in the car, ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we watched the Fake Bureau agents. They were walking as a group, chattering loudly, when they entered the karaoke place up ahead.

"They went into the karaoke."

"Yes."

"Judging by the mood, they'll probably just sing inside. In that case, tailing them wouldn't mean much."

"That's true as well."

"We'll wait here. They'll come out when they're done singing. Then we'll see where they go."

"We'll find out whether they return to their Bureau or go home. One of the two."

"Right."

All we could do right now was surveillance.

In the quiet car, Jaaldi and I continued watching the karaoke place.

And I thought.

Was this a parallel world without the Bureau? Or a world where the Fake Bureau existed in place of ours?

"Team Leader. Could this be a parallel world where the Fake Bureau has replaced our Bureau?"

"That could be possible."

"..."

If not that.

Was this place the Fake Bureau's 'main base'?

They appeared suddenly at any moment. Even the Bureau's technology couldn't track them, which was why they were treated as anomalies that appeared out of nowhere.

But what if they were appearing through some kind of dimensional travel from a parallel world?

That would explain why the Bureau couldn't find their headquarters.

"That building that replaced our Bureau building."

Jaaldi spoke into the silence.

"If those guys go in there, it'll confirm that this is a world where the Fake Bureau has replaced our Bureau."

We hadn't seen them enter that building yet, but I naturally assumed they would.

After all, this barbecue restaurant was right near the Bureau.

It was the perfect place for a dinner.

How much time had passed?

"They're out."

Having sung their fill, the Fake Bureau agents began coming out one by one. They waved and said their goodbyes to each other.

A typical dinner wrap-up pattern.

Several taxis arrived. Some of them got in. A few headed to the parking lot, looked around, grabbed a car, and got into the passenger seat. Were they planning to call a designated driver?

Then the remaining two... started walking without getting into a car.

They passed by our car.

"..."

We waited quietly.

Once they disappeared into the distance, Jaaldi started the engine.

"Are we tailing them?"

"We need to see where those two are going."

"Yes."

Their destination would be the building that replaced our Bureau building.

Jaaldi drove at low speed.

We arrived.

"We wait here."