Behind Closed Doors
Clack! Clack! Clack!
A dark corridor in the tower.
The sharp sound of heels echoed clearly from around the corner.
The silence that had permeated the interior made the noise resonate even louder.
Soon, Minyoung appeared, turning the corner. She wore a white coat over a black T-shirt and pants.
It wasn't long before she opened the door to a small room and stepped inside.
A laptop with a USB drive plugged in sat on the desk.
She sat down, set aside the binder tucked under her arm, and powered on the laptop.
The papers impaled on the binder were densely filled with handwritten, incomprehensible notes.
As she scanned the contents and typed them in without missing a single character, Minyoung suddenly paused.
She wondered, for a moment, what she was even doing.
Ever since arriving in the safe zone, she'd been trailing after the director simply because she was part of the medical staff, handling miscellaneous tasks.
Her main duties were straightforward.
She monitored the cell samples he gave her, recording any changes or persistence.
That was it. She'd been doing the exact same thing for months.
She knew nothing about these cells, arbitrarily named in English.
Of course, she was aware they were human cells, but she couldn't delve into the fundamentals.
Simple observations, endless organization—and that organization always ended with the USB plugged into this laptop.
Once she'd compiled the daily data onto the USB and dropped it off at the director's room, her work was done.
The document entry resumed and dragged on for quite a while before finally finishing.
As always, she unplugged the USB, closed the laptop.
She removed the handwritten papers from the binder and filed them away in the cabinet by the window.
The mechanical repetition made her movements so seamless that anyone might mistake her for a veteran of years on the job.
Minyoung grabbed the USB and left the room, rounding the corner once more.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The sound of heels echoed through the corridor again.
How long had she walked? She climbed the stairs and stopped before another door.
It was the director's room.
She opened the door slowly. Bookshelves crammed full, files meticulously organized by the director himself— they stretched endlessly.
Was this really the work of one man's hands?
It had been just a few months.
In that short time, the director had eaten only what was necessary, slept the bare minimum, and devoted himself entirely to his work.
The funny thing was, even Minyoung—who saw him every day for months—had no idea what he was actually doing.
All she knew was the "vaccine research" that everyone outside already knew about.
She set the USB on the desk and turned to leave, but her hand paused on the doorknob.
Sometimes in life, a day like this comes along.
When the same old routine breeds boredom, and things you'd taken for granted suddenly feel alien.
Today was that day for Minyoung.
What the hell is this guy even doing?
Her hand drifted slowly toward a file on the desk.
She hesitated there, hand resting on the thick red cover, for a long moment.
Then she scanned the room.
She checked every corner of the square space.
This time, her eyes roved between the computer and the bookshelves.
She was looking for cameras.
Given the director's personality, he wouldn't let people come and go from his room without at least some precautions.
A soft chuckle escaped her.
If he was that kind of person, he'd hide any cameras out of sight—which made her own actions feel ridiculous.
Minyoung slowly withdrew her hand from the file.
Then, as always, she opened the door and left.
Peeking into one file wouldn't change anything.
Seeing a tiny fraction of the countless documents wouldn't reveal much.
And even if it did, what difference would it make?
She shook her head as she stepped into the corridor, heading back to her room.
She planned to brew some coffee and take a nap.
Her work for the day seemed done.
Warm coffee sounds good...
What was that noise?
Minyoung tensed her ankles mid-stride, quieting her heels as she walked the corridor.
A human voice drifted from not far away.
From in there?
The sound leaked from the slightly ajar door of a nearby room.
Minyoung approached slowly.
She didn't know why she was muffling her steps, but instinct told her to eavesdrop.
Right up to the door, she focused every sense on listening.
"Grit your teeth."
By the voice, it was a middle-aged man.
Who could that be?
Curiosity piqued, Minyoung peered through the crack, eyes fixed inside.
For an instant, she doubted her own eyes.
Inside, the division commander—face flushed with excitement—was loosening his watch.
Facing him was his son, the squad leader whom Jaejeong and I-jin had rescued.
Slap!
The moment Minyoung confirmed their faces.
The squad leader's head snapped to the side.
A barrage of slaps followed, then it shifted to his torso.
Thud! Thud!
Fists hammered relentlessly into his sides and gut.
He swung with full force, but the squad leader taking the blows didn't even groan.
They're father and son—how can a father hit his own kid like that...?
Minyoung couldn't close her mouth.
No matter how she framed it, this wasn't discipline or training.
It was pure, meaningless one-sided violence.
And from the squad leader's expression as he endured it, this wasn't the first time.
He looked utterly accustomed to it, as if it were natural.
After a long beating, he finally crumpled to the floor under kicks to his thighs.
"Kuh!"
Only then did a stifled groan escape.
Whether the ordeal was over, the division commander re-fastened his watch and muttered to himself.
"Haa... there, my anger's finally easing. That damn director too—the people in this tower are all useless. You too, when your old man calls, you come running, got it? What bullshit is this, making me wait? You've gone soft without regular beatings, huh? Get up."
"...Sorry, sir."
The squad leader dragged himself upright, his response laced with a groan.
"Hey, you think I want to be stuck here?"
"No, sir."
"Then why piss me off? Why do you keep doing shit that grates on me?"
"Sorry, sir."
"This little shit just spits out the same half-assed apology. Like mother, like son."
"......"
The squad leader hung his head like a criminal, saying nothing more.
Only then did the division commander seem truly appeased, letting out a deep sigh.
"Sigh, son. You know why your dad puts on that nice-guy act, smiling like an idiot in front of those people?"
"For everyone's sake."
"Right. I could be back at base, living like a king. So do better. Don't make me mad."
The squad leader bowed his head again.
"You'll wonder about it still, won't you? But I promise you one thing. That bastard Kwon Jeong-woo—he's got something up his sleeve. How do you think I got this far at my age? I can spot it. He's hiding something from us. Until I figure it out, you play dead. Don't get cocky and fuck up."
"......Yes, sir."
"Let's do this right, for real. The guys under me can't even meet my eyes at their age. But if my own son just mouths off instead of listening?"
"I'll do better."
Only after that final reply did the division commander pat his son's head.
"After me, it's you. No matter when I go, you'll inherit everything—that's my goal. I'm always your shield, so you gotta be my punching bag now and then, right? You're used to it."
The squad leader bowed his head silently.
Gone was the defiant yelling from when he'd woken in the hospital.
He cowered like a lamb before a wolf, a deer before a lion.
But his eyes were different.
Each time his head dipped, the glint in them flickered wildly in the light.
Minyoung, spying from outside where others couldn't see, caught it clearly.
Chills ran down her spine.
He was always kind to everyone, wearing a benevolent smile, ever gentle.
When he'd thrown a fit about sending a rescue team because his son was trapped at the mart, it had seemed like the picture of a doting father.
But this...
This was closer to a demon in human skin.
The taunting tone, the cruel glint she'd never seen before.
Minyoung was certain.
That's his true face.
But Kwon Jeong-woo hiding something? What's that about...?
Without any evidence, she couldn't guess what he meant.
If there was some invisible conflict between them, did that mean the director—Kwon Jeong-woo's closest confidant—was hiding something too?
Minyoung's curiosity, after months of blind work, had reached its peak.
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind.
No. It can't be.
This was the age of catastrophe.
Humanity's remnants barely held the final defensive line against mutated monsters.
In a situation like this, what could there be to hide? To deceive?
What reason would there even be?
Yeah. No need to take the word of some psycho who pretends to be kindly outside but beats his son half to death inside.
Minyoung scolded herself for dwelling on his words even briefly.
Returning to his office from the lab, the director spotted the USB on his desk and plugged it into his computer.
He transferred all the data from the storage device and reviewed each file.
How much time passed?
He deleted everything remaining on the USB, pocketed it, and stood.
As always, he returned the reported USBs wiped clean to the researchers' rooms.
This excuse let him peer deep into their lives.
It was a form of surveillance.
Not that he suspected anyone of ill intent.
He simply needed everything under his control to remain firmly in his grasp.
That was his nature.
Lost in such thoughts as he walked, he passed the central staircase entirely.
There were stairs at the end of the corridor too, but no need to backtrack.
Glancing back, he let out an involuntary chuckle.
Rubbing his bald head, the director wondered if he'd been too scatterbrained lately.
He decided to keep going since he was already on his way.
Heading toward Minyoung's room along the corridor, the director halted.
A familiar silhouette was visible not far ahead.
Minyoung was peeking into a room, crouched like a thief.
Anyone could see she was eavesdropping.
Instead of approaching directly, the director chose to hide and observe.
Who's inside? What is she hearing?
As his patience wore thin...
Suddenly, Minyoung slipped off her heels.
Grabbing them in both hands, she tiptoed away down the corridor.
To muffle her footsteps.
Meaning, no one should know she'd been there.
At least, that's how it looked to the director.
He casually walked toward the room she'd been spying on.
As he neared the door, he veered to an open window in the corridor and reached out.
The moment he extended his hand toward the window frame, the slightly ajar door swung wide.
The division commander leaned out, peering outside.
"Director?"
The director closed the window and turned to face him.
"Just passing by and saw the window open. With all the rain lately, I've been going around the tower closing them."
"Ah, I see. So you just arrived?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
The director adjusted his glasses as he asked.
"Haha, no. Thought I heard something, so I checked. Was anyone here?"
"No, the place was empty when I got here."
"Got it. Well, I have some things to discuss with my son..."
As the division commander nodded farewell and shut the door, the director's sharp gaze turned toward the direction Minyoung had vanished.
Infected People