The Mole (2)
Oh Jung-hwan’s face was clearly etched with bewilderment. On the way back to the shelter, the usual nonsense he spouted was nowhere to be heard. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, wrapped in a heavy silence.
“Captain.”
Upon arriving at the shelter, Oh Jung-hwan walked straight into his private quarters without a word. I held back Han Ji-young, who was about to follow him. Even a man with nerves of steel like him needed time to process this.
“Let’s head to the auditorium for now.”
“Yes…”
The search team had yet to return. The spacious main auditorium was deathly quiet, and no one dared to break the stillness. Perhaps we were all beginning to suspect one another. We had been closer than anyone else just moments ago, but a crack had formed between us.
“I can’t stand this discomfort anymore.”
It was Hwang Gyu-nam who finally broke the silence. Han Ji-young and I looked at him quietly. He couldn’t even meet our eyes as he spoke.
“Let’s be clear. Is there a spy among the people here? If you speak up now, we’ll just call it a day and move on. No one’s dead, and the shelter hasn’t suffered any damage. We’re all on the same side, aren’t we?”
“But who else is there besides you, me, and the senior?”
“That’s why I don’t get it. How could there be a spy among us? I can’t wrap my head around it no matter how much I think.”
“Same here.”
The silence we had struggled to break settled back in. I didn’t show it, but I suspected I was the one being doubted the most. I was the one who had discovered Daeheung’s existence, but I had the least amount of shared history with these people.
‘Well, it’s not me, at least.’
If it wasn’t me, it had to be one of the other two. Or, including Oh Jung-hwan, one of the three. ‘Are there no other possibilities?’ The operation we discussed here had been leaked. If there was no spy among the four of us, what other possibility remained?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
“Senior, what are you doing?”
The only remaining possibility was wiretapping. If we didn’t find a bug, this was going to be a real headache. I put a finger to my lips and began to wander around the auditorium. Han Ji-young caught on and joined in, while Hwang Gyu-nam added some awkward acting to the mix.
“Han Ji-young! You’re the spy, aren’t you? Be honest. It’s you, right?”
“Did this old man have too much to drink? You’re the one I’m most suspicious of!”
If there was a bug, it would have been installed where our conversations were clearest. Since we usually held meetings around the blackboard, somewhere around here…
‘Found it!’
I confirmed it was stuck under a small table and signaled to Han Ji-young and Hwang Gyu-nam. They were so startled they stopped talking for a moment.
-President Hwang, you leave first, naturally.
As I wrote the small letters on the blackboard, they quickly regained their composure and started making a scene. If the gap in conversation had lasted any longer, it would have definitely aroused suspicion.
“Damn it! I can’t stay here feeling this uneasy. I’m leaving first. What’s the point of staying here and just arguing?”
“Why? Feeling guilty about something?”
“Tsk! Think whatever you want.”
Hwang Gyu-nam walked out of the auditorium. I used hand signals to instruct Han Ji-young to keep talking.
“Senior, you’re suspicious of President Hwang too, right?”
“Hard to say.”
“Just in case, should I try tailing him?”
“But why are you excluding yourself? Honestly, it could be you. Don’t you think?”
“Wow. I’m really hurt.”
If the bastard had seen our terrible acting, he would have burst into laughter. The thought that even this conversation was being eavesdropped on made it hard to breathe.
“I’m heading off, too. I’m tired.”
“I’m going as well.”
We scattered as naturally as possible and gathered again outside the shelter. We moved to a spot hidden from the sentries’ view; the sign read ‘Eunha Restaurant’.
“To think there was actually a bug… look at the goosebumps on my arms.”
Hwang Gyu-nam still looked like he hadn’t recovered from the shock. Han Ji-young said,
“Then it might not be the search team.”
“Maybe there’s more than one.”
“Are we getting lost in a labyrinth?”
Finding the bug was a blessing in disguise, but the list of suspects had widened significantly. Now, we had to suspect not only the search team but the duty shift as well. Honestly, I felt hopeless.
“Will we be able to find them?”
Han Ji-young asked, her voice lacking confidence. Even I found it skeptical. The only method that came to mind immediately was to use the bug to set a trap—to pretend we didn’t know and leak false information.
‘Will the bastard fall for it?’
We had scattered as naturally as possible, but our tone before and after finding the bug was clearly different. I couldn’t be sure the bastard hadn’t noticed. Above all, since we had tried to deceive him once and failed, he was likely to act very cautiously. If the bait operation failed, we would truly be out of options.
“But Senior, why didn’t Daeheung set a trap? If they had rigged a booby trap, you and I wouldn’t be in this world anymore.”
“It’s one of two things. Either they didn’t have the time, or they didn’t intend to kill us.”
“Hmm… isn’t that a bit strange? If they were eavesdropping with a bug, they would have known our plans from yesterday, so they would have had plenty of time. And Daeheung’s goal is Osori, right? Is there any reason to keep us alive?”
As Han Ji-young raised the question, Hwang Gyu-nam chimed in.
“Or maybe there’s someone among the four of us they don’t want to kill.”
“Ah, because they don’t know who will trigger the trap?”
“Exactly.”
Hearing that, it made sense. As Han Ji-young said, time shouldn’t have been an issue, and Daeheung needed to weaken the Osori Shelter. The abandoned factory was a golden opportunity. Besides, they had a history of setting booby traps. It didn’t mean they lacked the knowledge to set a trap.
“Someone they don’t want to kill…”
“Maybe it’s you, Senior?”
“Why me?”
“Honestly, I think the same. It seems like they were trying to keep Cheonsa alive.”
Hwang Gyu-nam continued,
“You haven’t been with the shelter for long, have you? They must have judged that you could be swayed. And recruiting just you would have been a huge help to the shelter.”
“The people in the shelter call you Instructor or Teacher, Senior. For a small organization like Daeheung, the presence or absence of someone like you makes a world of difference.”
Well, that wasn’t wrong. Even the great Gusan was said to be desperate to recruit Han Ji-young; how much more valuable would a high-ranking Hunter be to a bottom-tier organization like Daeheung?
“If they want to recruit me, they’ll make a move soon.”
“Right. Now that we know about Daeheung, they won’t take their time watching us. There will be some kind of reaction.”
“So, don’t try to find them, just wait for them to approach?”
Hwang Gyu-nam nodded.
“Hmm. That sounds good.”
“How about we intentionally show some cracks? If we pretend we don’t trust each other and that our relationship has soured, they’ll approach us first. In one way or another, definitely.”
“Let’s give it a try.”
“I’ll tell Oh. Let’s all make sure to act well without being obvious.”
We discussed the details further. The situation where we had to deceive and be deceived without trusting anyone felt like walking on thin ice. Who would make a mistake first, or who would let their guard down? The hunter and the hunted. We all had only one chance left.
***
I spent a few days on leave. I judged that it would be better not to show up for a while to make it look like our relationship had soured. It was Hwang Gyu-nam’s idea, and I fully agreed. Besides, between the university and the shelter, it had been a long time since I’d spent time with my child, using the excuse of being busy with outside work. Cheonsa, being the sensible and kind child she was, never complained about such things, but she seemed happy that I wasn’t leaving for work.
“Dad! It’s raining outside!”
“Is it? Shall we play on the rooftop for a change?”
“Really?! Can we go right now?”
“You have to wear your raincoat. You might catch a cold.”
Raindrops were pouring down as if the sky had been punctured. The May shower drowned out the sound of the child’s laughter and the roar of the four generators running at full capacity.
“Dad, look at this!”
Cheonsa splashed through the puddles, her face beaming with joy. It wasn’t as wide as a playground, but for a child trapped in a world of barely 15 pyeong, it was enough space to breathe. The child, who usually walked on her tiptoes, ran around to her heart’s content until her sneakers were soaked through. Do-jin lifted his front paws onto the railing and gazed out at the world beyond.
“Dad! Let’s play soccer!”
“Sure. The loser prepares dinner.”
Empty water bottles were placed on either side to serve as goalposts. Cheonsa was the happiest child in the world with just a soccer ball that had lost its outer layer. The day was drawing to a close.
The 240-minute epic of the first and second half only ended when the shower stopped. “Let’s go inside now.”
“Okay!”
After boiling water on the burner and mixing it with cold water, I washed the child with lukewarm water. After washing Do-jin and finishing my own shower, my whole body felt like it was aching. The child, who had finished a bowl of rice, fell into a deep sleep on the bed, perhaps exhausted.
“Dad loves you so much.”
As I brushed her hair aside, the child wrinkled her brow and then smiled faintly. How adorable she was… The smell of rain seeping through the window felt fragrant. For today, at least, the wailing of the corpses couldn’t be heard.
‘If only we could live like this forever.’
Listening to the child’s breathing, a smile spread across my face. My complicated mind had turned into a blank white sheet. I wish it could be just like today, nothing more, nothing less. The life I desire isn’t all that grand, so why is even this a luxury?
‘I must take her to the rooftop whenever it rains.’
The image of the child happily kicking the ball was vivid in my mind. Come to think of it, how long had it been since I went up to the rooftop? It rained often, so why hadn’t I gone up until now?
Idle thoughts began to pile up. And at the end of that train of thought was the bastard’s face. The reason I hadn’t been able to go to the rooftop.
‘Alpha…’
It was because of Alpha that I had made contact with the shelter, too. I had even obtained sniper equipment a few days ago. Was the bastard still at Enfield Square? Now would be a good time to attempt a shot.
It’s human nature to put out the most urgent fires first. Thoughts I had ignored while focusing on the shelter came rushing in like a tide. I had intended to catch Alpha for the sake of my child, and in the process, I met survivors and became a member of the shelter. I took on the role of an instructor to persuade the people, and while trying to clear out the university, I learned about Daeheung, and…
Thinking about it carefully, the cart was before the horse. My number one priority should always be Cheonsa, but I seemed to have prioritized the shelter for a moment. I felt sorry for the child.
‘Should I go tomorrow?’
To ensure moments like today for my child, I had to eliminate Alpha. Since I was on leave anyway, it would be better to resolve it now.
When I packed my backpack in the morning, Cheonsa was still wandering in dreamland. ‘She must have been exhausted.’ I didn’t want to wake the sleeping child, so I left a simple note and set off with Do-jin. The high-performance scout guided me safely to the sniper point, and I set up my rifle just like that day in the past. It was time to finish the homework I hadn’t completed back then.
“Ah…”
Scanning Enfield Square with the high-magnification scope, I let out a deep sigh. That day, the bastards I saw were swarming around the fountain. I clearly saw the yellow t-shirt among them and had tried to snipe them, only to fail. But.
I clearly saw it.
“…This is insane.”
But today, there was no yellow t-shirt. It wasn’t just that guy. Not a single one was visible. Enfield Square, which had been a zombie den, was as clean as if someone had erased it with an eraser, without a single corpse in sight.