You're Looking Pretty Pathetic Right Now
We entered the third-floor hallway first.
These barricades are a joke.
All they'd done was shove a wooden desk into place and stack a few chairs on top of it. That wouldn't stop a zombie for a second—it looked like they'd just thrown it together for show.
I cleared the junk out of the way, climbed over the desk, and once So-hye was across, I tossed the chairs back into a half-assed pile.
"It's… quiet up here."
"Yeah."
The corridor was almost unnervingly clean. The contrast made So-hye tremble; when I glanced over, her lips were pressed into a hard line.
I took her hand. The fury that had been burning in her cooled, just a little.
"It's still too early to jump to conclusions."
"…Right. Let's hurry."
We hadn't even known who lived next door to us, so there was no way we'd know where Ha Min-gi or An Ga-hee lived. That meant knocking on every single door until we found them.
Knock knock knock—
I started with 301. Sounds came from inside, and a moment later the door opened.
"What is it this ti— Seong-won?"
The tenant of 301 was Kim Min-ho. The second our eyes met, his went wide and his mouth fell slightly open.
"Why so surprised? You look like you've just seen something you weren't supposed to."
"…Honestly, I never expected to see you again. I thought you'd left the building for good."
Kim Min-ho cleared his throat as he answered. His breathing was a little rough, but nothing about him seemed particularly suspicious yet.
"So you saw us leave."
"I was smoking by the window. Caught a glimpse."
"Hmm."
Whether that was the truth or an act, I'd need a little more conversation to decide.
"Talking out here is a bit awkward. Mind if we come in and talk?"
His gaze flicked down to the lumber axe in my hand and the shovel in So-hye's, then back up to my face.
"You show up dressed like that, carrying weapons like that, and you want to chat in my apartment?"
"If I'd wanted to hurt you, I could have done it already."
"…Fair enough."
"If you'd rather not, that's fine. But I'd appreciate a little cooperation. We're both pretty pissed off right now."
Kim Min-ho made a pained sound, raked a hand through his hair, and let out a long sigh.
"All right. Come in."
He stepped aside, and we entered.
"Excuse us."
I looked around the room. Nothing stood out as suspicious. A small fridge. The tiniest mattress on the floor with no bed frame. A desk and a laptop. Exactly the kind of place that suited Kim Min-ho—which is to say, completely boring.
The only unusual thing was the twenty-plus bottles of liquor and the mountain of cigarettes and cigars.
"Drinking and smoking were your hobbies, I take it."
"My only ones. These days I just smoke—too precious to waste the booze. So what brings you here?"
"While we were out, every unit on the second floor got cleaned out."
I watched his reaction carefully. His eyes widened for a second, then he gave a hollow little smile.
"No wonder the floor below was so noisy yesterday. That explains it."
"You knew?"
He shook his head firmly.
"I had no idea. After that talk we had on the roof, I barely left my place. I've only run into someone else once."
"But you did run into someone once."
"Kang Tae-ik. That bastard came around demanding rent."
So after saying he'd collect later, the guy had actually shown up.
"What happened?"
"I kept the chain on and waved a kitchen knife at him. He scrambled off in a hurry. Haven't seen him since."
This one had a temper of his own, clearly.
"But every unit on the second floor cleaned out… I always heard 'never say never,' but I didn't think anyone would actually pull something like that. Real pieces of work."
"Any idea who did it?"
"No. This building's full of shady types. An Ga-hee, Ha Min-gi, Kang Tae-ik, Jo Hee-ran—every one of them looks suspicious."
I couldn't argue with that.
"We'll be on our way, then."
"Am I off the suspect list?"
As we headed for the door, Kim Min-ho asked. I shook my head.
"Until we find who did it, I can't stop suspecting people. Hope you understand."
"If it were me, I'd be seeing red too. Can't be helped. Good luck."
"Thanks for the cooperation."
Out in the hallway, So-hye let out a heavy sigh.
"So it wasn't Kim Min-ho."
"Didn't think it was."
I'd only checked him as a formality. He wasn't the type to pick a fight with me.
"Yeah, he didn't really seem like the kind."
We kept talking as we knocked on 302. I focused every bit of my hearing on the door, but nothing came back.
"Next one."
"Okay."
I moved on and knocked on 303. From inside came a sharp little gasp of surprise.
"Anyone home?"
I knocked again. This time it was dead silent—like they'd decided not to make a single sound.
Suspicious.
Whether to open the door or not was the tenant's choice, of course. But acting like this was a sure way to look guilty.
"So-hye. There's someone in there."
I said it loud enough for whoever was on the other side to hear. Another stifled yelp came through the door.
"What? They're just pretending nobody's home?"
"Looks that way."
She frowned.
"So what do we do? They clearly don't plan on opening up."
"We brought a crowbar, didn't we? Let's go get it and force the door."
"Huh?"
So-hye tilted her head, then her eyes went wide and the corner of her mouth curled up.
"Ohhh—the one we brought today? Got it. I'll grab it right now!"
The second she turned to leave, the door flew open—still on the chain.
"…What."
The tenant of 303 was An Ga-hee. Hair a mess, eyes sunken and hollow. Even at a glance, she looked rough.
"Long time no see, An Ga-hee."
"…We're not exactly on 'long time no see' terms, are we?"
Her tone was sharp, every word edged. The hostility only made her look more suspicious—like she was hiding something.
"What do you want?"
"Every unit on the second floor got robbed. Did you know?"
An Ga-hee just chewed her lip, saying nothing. I caught her clenching and unclenching her fist.
"So you did know."
She flinched, then let out a long breath and gave a reluctant nod.
"Ah, fuck… Fine, fine. I knew. So what? What about it?"
"Do you know who did it?"
She hesitated for a second, then suddenly slammed the door shut. I was still frowning at the abrupt move when it swung wide open again.
"Come in."
She looked a little more put-together than a moment ago. The dark circles under her eyes were still deep, but at least her hair was somewhat under control. There was a bruise on the right side of her face; I didn't bother asking about it.
"Excuse us."
We stepped inside. The place was a complete disaster—trash piled in the corners, unwashed dishes stacked all over the sink.
So So-hye's place really was the clean one.
I was realizing that all over again.
"Nowhere decent to sit, but sit anyway."
"I'll stay right here. There's nowhere clean enough to sit."
"Then I will too…"
We settled against the wall near the entrance. An Ga-hee just shrugged and perched on the edge of the bed.
"Just so there's no misunderstanding—I don't usually live like this."
"…I'll take your word for it."
"It's true! I only keep it like this on purpose so the other guys in the building won't try to come in. If it looks filthy and trashy, they leave you alone."
An Ga-hee's looks weren't bad. Standing next to So-hye dimmed them a little, but she must have been pretty popular at university.
"Why'd you invite us in?"
"Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you who the culprit is. In exchange, share some food with me. That's not too much to ask, right?"
I just laughed. The proposal was so ridiculous I couldn't help it.
"Not a very attractive offer."
"Why not? You were looking for the culprit. I'm offering to give you that information."
"There are only seven people living in this building. Take me and So-hye out of it, and after the Kim Min-ho we just talked to, that leaves four. Four doors to check. Why would I need to deal with you for that?"
"…Well… yeah, okay, fair point."
She sighed and nodded to herself.
"Look. I know I was a real asshole to you last time. I'm not exactly deep in self-reflection over it, but I do regret it some. So how about you give me a chance?"
"That came out of nowhere."
"Opportunities are supposed to come out of nowhere, aren't they?"
"Sounds like you're asking me to take you on as a companion. Is that an opportunity for me, or for you?"
"Both."
The sheer shamelessness on this woman was something else.
"You know you're looking pretty pathetic right now, don't you?"
"I know. But what else am I supposed to do? This is how I stay alive. I know I'm a bitch. But in a world like this, a bitch like me is more useful, right? Don't you think?"
"Hmm."
She wasn't wrong. The problem was that I couldn't trust An Ga-hee. After the way she'd acted up until now, how was I supposed to put any faith in her?
I still don't fully trust So-hye, and now Ga-hee of all people…
I stood there with my arms crossed, thinking it over, when So-hye quietly took hold of my arm. I turned. Her eyes were unsteady.
She really doesn't want me to take her on.
It didn't seem like simple jealousy over another woman joining us. More like she just didn't trust An Ga-hee as a person.
"Then let's do it this way. I can't trust you."
"Can't blame you for that."
"So you're going to have to give me a reason to."
"How?"
"That would be…"
I was about to speak when a heavy thud suddenly echoed from the hallway, followed by the sound of someone kicking at the floor. I was on my feet and at the door in an instant.
A blue-haired back. A star-shaped earring swinging as he moved.
"Sh-shit."
He glanced back over his shoulder, then threw everything he had into scrambling over the barricade.
I still didn't know exactly what was going on—but one thing was crystal clear.
That bastard cannot be allowed to get away.