Drone 4
After receiving Yeong-ju’s ordinary yet strangely menacing self-introduction, Sim Geum-a seemed to sense something. She stopped trying to cling to me and quietly took a seat across from us.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sim Geum-a.”
Then, in a calm, businesslike voice completely different from before, she spoke.
“Choi Eun-ji.”
Before anyone noticed, Choi Eun-ji had taken her place behind Sim Geum-a and gave a light bow as she introduced herself.
“First of all, the reason we came here today is to discuss changes to how we’ll handle future trades…”
“Hold on a second.”
Sim Geum-a cut Yeong-ju off gently just as she was about to launch into business.
She gestured toward Choi Eun-ji.
“If it’s about the trade, why don’t you talk it over with her?”
Choi Eun-ji started walking toward our side the way she always did.
“No. Just listen from right there.”
Yeong-ju stopped her with a casual wave of her hand.
Then she smiled faintly and looked straight at Sim Geum-a.
“Hmm? Why? On our side, we usually handle the practical stuff separately.”
Sim Geum-a tried the “you’re the boss, so leave the petty work to your subordinates” approach, but Yeong-ju no longer even glanced at Choi Eun-ji. She kept her eyes locked only on Sim Geum-a and repeated herself, quiet but firm.
“Just listen from there.”
Inside the conference room, the tense standoff between Yeong-ju and Sim Geum-a filled the air with a silence cold as ice.
“…I’ll say it again. We handle trade opinions and coordination at the working level, separately.”
Sim Geum-a fought desperately to keep her expression from cracking and spoke with forced calm.
“Is that so? Well, this doesn’t need any trade opinions or coordination.”
Yeong-ju answered with the same easy smile she had worn from the start.
“This is just a ‘notice’ about a new way of trading.”
Sim Geum-a still tried to hold on to her composure, but behind her, Choi Eun-ji flinched hard enough that her body visibly trembled. Yeong-ju’s words had been that absolute.
“Is a ‘notice’ even possible when it comes to trade? Trade is a two-way street based on mutual need. That’s basic common sense, isn’t it?”
Sim Geum-a kept her relaxed expression and slipped a cigarette between her lips.
“I don’t particularly need to respect your common sense, do I?
I have my own common sense, so don’t worry about it.”
Yeong-ju crossed her legs, leaned deep into the chair, and continued.
“I don’t feel like dragging this out… From now on I’m going to deliver the notice, so if you don’t want to hear it, just leave.”
“…You do realize this is our territory and our building, right?”
Sim Geum-a finally failed to hold back her emotions and spoke sharply, but Yeong-ju no longer even reacted to her words. She simply kept talking.
“We’re going to create an almost perfectly safe route between our Shelter and your zone.
No—since we already laid down all the drones on the way here, you can consider it already done.”
At that, Sim Geum-a stopped whatever she had been about to say next. Cigarette still in her mouth, she froze solid with a quiet “…What?”
Yeong-ju paid her no mind and continued.
“So from now on, instead of us making the hard trip back and forth, you can move the goods yourselves and handle the exchange.
You’ll be able to move a lot more cargo. It’s efficient, right?”
Yeong-ju glanced at me for a moment, then looked back at Sim Geum-a.
“Actually… now that I think about it, it might be good if you came over to our side with us today.
It’s the route we’ll be using for trade from now on. Better to check it out in advance, don’t you think?”
Then, as casually as if she were discussing the weather, she “invited” Sim Geum-a, and the smile she wore was denser and more alluring than any I had ever seen on her face.
From where I sat, the board of this game had already been completely flipped.
“Please wait a moment!”
At Yeong-ju’s bold, one-sided invitation, Choi Eun-ji—who had kept silent until now—sensed the danger and stepped forward in a hurry.
“Having our leader suddenly go alone into your territory is completely out of the question.”
“Why? Is our ‘invitation’ that strange?”
Yeong-ju asked with an innocent look.
“Of course it is! For the head of one organization to enter another organization’s territory without any prior consultation is…”
Choi Eun-ji trailed off when Yeong-ju pointed a finger at me. Her gaze shifted to me, and she closed her mouth.
She had perfectly read the silent pressure: Our boss came into your territory too, didn’t she?
“And this is only an ‘invitation,’ so if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to.”
Yeong-ju put deliberate weight on the word “invitation” once more, driving the nail in.
After a long stretch of thought, Sim Geum-a finally stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray and spoke slowly.
“…You want me to come alone? Or does that include the people who’ll be using this route from now on?”
“Hmm? Good point… Then how about five people, including you?”
At Yeong-ju’s words, the rigid expressions on both Sim Geum-a and Choi Eun-ji loosened just a fraction.
They exchanged a look, held a silent conversation, and then Sim Geum-a spoke.
“…Give us a moment. We need time to prepare too.”
With that, she left the room with Choi Eun-ji.
The door closed, and once again only Yeong-ju and I remained inside.
Remembering the breathless scene that had just played out, I couldn’t help letting out a deep sigh as the tension drained from me.
“What’s with the sigh? Why were you the one getting tense?”
Yeong-ju laughed when she heard it.
She really was an incredible woman.
The moment Sim Geum-a and Choi Eun-ji stepped out of the conference room, they bolted into the nearest empty room without either of them needing to suggest it.
Only after they shut the door and locked it did they finally manage to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Holy… fuck…”
Choi Eun-ji slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor, gasping.
“I’ve never thought I couldn’t beat another woman before—except for you. That one just now was the first.”
Sim Geum-a let out a hollow little laugh.
“I didn’t think I could beat her either. It felt like looking at that big madam who was around when I first got into this business…
She looks younger than me, but every single word has bones in it. Felt like I kept getting tangled up.”
She finished speaking and suddenly started bustling around.
“What do we do? What should I wear? Who should I bring to stay safe?
Ah! Eun-ji, you’re coming with me no matter what! Got it?”
“What? You’re actually going? Weren’t we supposed to decide whether to go or not first?”
Choi Eun-ji asked with a look of pure disbelief.
“What are you talking about? Of course we’re going! What kind of ‘invitation’ was that?
That was basically a threat. How are we supposed to refuse?”
At Sim Geum-a’s words, Choi Eun-ji laughed hollowly again.
“Why are you just standing there? You think too! Figure out how we can come out ahead!”
When Sim Geum-a shouted urgently, Choi Eun-ji slapped both her own cheeks hard enough to make a sharp crack, as if trying to snap herself out of it.
Then she shot to her feet.
“I’ll pick the three people who come with us, so stop thinking about stupid shit like outfits! If we’re going, don’t make them wait any longer—get back in there and tell them we’re going!”
She yanked the door open and sprinted outside.
“What the hell is wrong with that bitch… suddenly slapping her own face like that?”
Left alone, Sim Geum-a could only mutter with a baffled expression.
On the surface they had looked strong, those two.
But right now they were just two ordinary women, pushing each other forward as they tried to get through this together.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry! Had to hit the bathroom real quick!”
Less than ten minutes after leaving, Sim Geum-a returned to the conference room looking completely different—back to her usual lively, confident self.
“Of course we accept that ‘invitation’ from earlier. Right?”
She sat back down across from us and smiled easily.
“Do you? …Then when should we leave?”
Yeong-ju looked mildly surprised by how fast Sim Geum-a had switched gears, but she quickly recovered her composure and asked.
…Was she just testing the waters?
While I was thinking that, Sim Geum-a continued.
“Eun-ji’s picking people right now—mainly the ones who’ll be running this route from now on. Should be decided any minute.
Then we can leave right away!”
She spoke as if Choi Eun-ji had already gone to select the team, casually emphasizing that she herself was ready to depart at any moment.
Yeong-ju locked eyes with her for a short while.
Then, as if they had planned it, both women curved their lips into the same meaningful little smile at the exact same time.
A suffocating atmosphere.
Watching them, I found myself rubbing my throat from the sheer pressure—when the conference room door opened at just the right moment.
“It took a little longer because I selected people at the squad-leader level for the round trips.
They’ve also finished filling the vehicles with gas, so we can go now.”
Choi Eun-ji spoke, deliberately shifting the mood.
Hearing that, Yeong-ju and Sim Geum-a rose from their seats without ever looking away from each other.
“You made up your mind pretty fast.”
Yeong-ju spoke first.
“Is it really a decision? I just accepted an invitation.”
“The decision to accept that ‘invitation’ was fast. Honestly, I’m a little surprised.”
“Oh? Should I apologize for surprising you?”
“Oh? If I told you to, would you actually do it?”
“As if!”
The two of them traded sharp, rapid-fire remarks like that as they walked out of the conference room.
Left behind, Choi Eun-ji and I looked at each other, let out the tiniest simultaneous sighs, and had no choice but to follow after them.
Where exactly was this bloody, bizarre companionship headed? An unnameable anxiety wrapped around me.