Reunion and Formation (2)
Once the broad outline of the official investigation team had been settled, the tension lingering in the visitation room began to shift. Until moments ago, everyone had been absorbed in the case itself, but now that the investigation was about to move forward in earnest, the real work was deciding who would be allowed in, under what qualifications, and to what extent. Yu-jin tapped the table lightly with her fingertips.
"The general framework is in place, so we need to decide how far we'll open the door to external collaborators. In this case, even a single minor connection we overlook could end up playing a surprisingly large role later. If there are any unrelated individuals or civilians who might get dragged in by chance, speak up now."
The remark was clearly directed at Ha Yul. Yu-jin remembered the two female college students who had been near Ha Yul at the university. Ha Yul had no intention of hiding them either, though she had to choose her words carefully. Yoon Chaewon and Lee Sumin weren't directly involved in the incident, but they had already seeped into her daily life, and more importantly, they had already grasped some of what was happening. After a brief pause, Ha Yul spoke in a tone that didn't try to embellish anything more than necessary.
"I'm not sure if they qualify as external collaborators, but there are two students—Yoon Chaewon and Lee Sumin. They're both college students, not exactly the kind of specialized personnel we'd bring onto the investigation team, but they're not people who would fail to follow the surrounding details of the case. Chaewon's major is in the life sciences, so she can keep up with concepts like blood essence or mutations, and while Sumin's field is different, she has a good sense for reading people's reactions and atmospheres. I don't think we need to completely exclude them if we ever require civilian cooperation."
At that moment, Ga-ram's expression shifted ever so slightly.
"You said they're college students. Which university?"
Ha Yul gave the name. Ga-ram's gaze wavered slowly.
"That's my alma mater. The one that hosted the seminar last time."
After saying that, she immediately asked to confirm Chaewon's major. When Ha Yul answered, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Ga-ram's lips.
"How nostalgic. It brings back old memories. Especially since the major is similar. There's something strange about how vividly those lab atmospheres stay with you even after years have passed, isn't there?"
The words naturally turned toward Se-a. It wasn't an explicit address that couldn't be ignored, but it was clear enough that no one else could comfortably claim it. Se-a didn't avoid the gaze. She looked at Ga-ram after a short, truly brief pause, her eyes carrying a complicated mix of emotions.
"That's true," Se-a said shortly, though it wasn't a light agreement. "The atmosphere from those days lingers for a long time. Sometimes longer than the people who were there with you."
Yu-jin watched the two women's gazes linger for a few more seconds before steering the conversation back on track, afraid the mood would veer off course.
"All right, save the alma mater talk for later. Let's finish sorting out these students first. Ha Yul, how exactly did you end up getting close to them? Given your usual lifestyle, I can't picture you quietly attending lectures as an auditor."
Ha Yul met Yu-jin's eyes and gave the slightest shrug.
"Well, one thing led to another. There wasn't any grand reason. We just happened to meet, and then we kept running into each other afterward. It wasn't because of the case, and it wasn't a relationship where either of us approached the other with some calculation from the start."
It wasn't a lie, but it was heavily glossed over, and that very vagueness gave Yu-jin even more answers. Yu-jin had long known Ha Yul's patterns. She knew what Ha Yul used to cool the heat inside her after a hunt, how accustomed she was to spending a single night with a stranger, and that such encounters rarely led anywhere. So what truly surprised Yu-jin wasn't that Ha Yul had a one-night stand with two college students—it was that she had continued meeting and staying close with those same one-night partners afterward.
The feeling that rose in her at that moment was something she couldn't immediately explain even to herself. She and Ha Yul weren't that kind of relationship. They were longtime colleagues, partners who broke through scenes together, and nothing more than that had ever been named between them. Yet strangely, it bothered her. No one had taken anything away, and it had never been hers to begin with, but the fact that others were claiming Ha Yul's time first, that there were people other than herself waiting for her when she returned after a hunt, scratched at her nerves for no reason.
Yu-jin didn't let the subtle emotion show directly on her face, but the brief silence after her question was telling enough. Ha Yul noticed the change but pretended not to. Explaining further would only make things more awkward, and she saw no need to clarify anyway.
Just as the atmosphere in the room threatened to grow awkward, Se-a naturally brought up another name.
"If we're expanding the team anyway, we should reach out to Seolhwa as well. She's already worked with me on blood essence sample analysis, and her expertise in toxicity and blood qi reactions would greatly broaden our interpretive range. More than anything, if she finds out later that we were discussing things among ourselves, she'll definitely feel left out given her personality. She tends to be sensitive about that sort of thing."
"The more experts, the better. I'll leave the persuasion to you. I can handle the Moorim Agency procedures."
While listening to that exchange, Ga-ram's eyes twitched ever so slightly. She knew who Dang Seolhwa was—a martial artist from the Dang family who wielded poison arts, someone who possessed both analytical ability and combat prowess, and whose appearance and background were already widely known. She stood out in this world both for her skills and her personal presence. But what bothered Ga-ram wasn't Seolhwa's reputation itself. It was the familiar way Se-a had spoken her name. That casual distance only came after a certain level of closeness, not between mere colleagues. And that realization immediately summoned an unnecessary comparison in Ga-ram's mind—her past self and Se-a, once so intimate in their conversations. She tried to keep her expression in check, but a subtle irritation stirred inside her.
There was nothing strange about Se-a being close to anyone. They had each gone their separate ways, and it was natural for capable people to grow closer in a research field. Still, it felt uncomfortable. That discomfort couldn't be neatly organized by logic. It was similar to the strange sense of loss that came when someone else's expression and manner of speaking—once something only you knew—were now being shared naturally with another person.
Yu-jin found herself occasionally glancing toward Ha Yul without realizing it, while Se-a and Ga-ram used more refined speech than necessary except when required. That only made their mutual awareness more obvious.
Finally, the meeting ended and the attendees began rising from their seats one by one. Yu-jin gathered her terminal first and gave Ha Yul a look suggesting they leave together. Ha Yul stood as well. Se-a also slowly organized her tablet and documents. Just as Se-a finished tidying up and was about to step out of the visitation room, Ga-ram's voice came from behind.
"Se-a."
At that single word, Se-a's footsteps stopped. The time when everyone had addressed each other with titles like Director, Researcher, or Team Leader in front of others suddenly revealed the past with that one name. Se-a turned around half a beat late. Ga-ram stood beside the head seat, her voice lower and more personal than before.
"Have you been well?"
They roughly knew each other's recent histories, and they could have confirmed each other's well-being indirectly through interviews or collaboration documents anytime. Yet she had to ask now, in that tone. Se-a smiled. The smile held fatigue, sarcasm, and a will not to waver all at once.
"Thanks to you, Director, I've been busy."
On the surface, it was a perfectly ordinary answer. Her eyes, however, told a different story. They carried the remnants of time passed, emotions still unresolved, and the weariness of knowing exactly why the other woman was asking such a thing now. Ga-ram didn't back down even after hearing the reply. Instead, she took another step closer, though her voice remained perfectly composed.
"Why don't you stop by the research department before you go? You used to be in charge there, after all. Plenty of people still remember you. Most of the company's research direction back then moved according to your designs, and honestly, a fair amount of what we have now still rests on that foundation. Just because someone left doesn't mean everything they left behind disappears. It wouldn't be strange for you to come take a look."
Se-a's hand tightened ever so slightly around the tablet. The company and lab she had left, the reasons she had no choice but to leave, and the time she hadn't been able to completely discard even after leaving—all of it was contained in those words. She lowered her gaze for a moment before looking back at Ga-ram.
"What face could someone who left back then possibly show up with now?"
Her answer was phrased that way, but her tone was closer to holding herself back than a complete rejection. If she had truly felt nothing, she would have cut it off more coldly. But Se-a couldn't do that. And Ga-ram caught that tiny crack in her emotions—the lingering attachment in her eyes, the unresolved tremor, the feelings that hadn't fully closed. It didn't take a long conversation to confirm that she wasn't the only one dragging things out.
Se-a eventually turned her back without saying anything more. Yu-jin was standing in the hallway, pretending to wait for no reason, while Ha Yul leaned against the wall with a face that claimed she understood nothing—yet both of them had clearly sensed what kind of time had passed inside that room. When Se-a walked out, Ga-ram didn't try to stop her. Instead, she watched her retreating figure for a moment before slowly exhaling. The regret of not holding on longer, of not talking a little more, remained. But at the same time, there was also satisfaction in confirming that things weren't completely over. Se-a had only been pretending to be unaffected; she hadn't been able to sever the past either. And now there was also the pretext of the investigation team. They would have to keep meeting for official reasons, reviewing the same materials and walking toward the same conclusions until the case was resolved. Ga-ram didn't deny the strange sense of anticipation that fact gave her.
Thus, the official investigation team was formed. On the surface, it was an alliance to track the blood essence incident. In reality, it was closer to a loose coalition bound together by different pasts, interests, unresolved emotions, and memories. No one yet knew how the tangled threads of emotion would unravel.