Yoon Ayoung (1)
Yoon Ayoung (1) — Incheon Central Library, 3rd Floor
The candle sitting at the center of the table flickered unsteadily.
Relying on just enough light to make out one another's faces, the whole group had gathered on the third floor once more. As I took in Kim Cheolsu—his face crusted with yellow sleep grit and twisted into an expression of pure misery—and the comparatively composed Kim Eunbyeol, Kang San's sigh drifted across the table.
"Haah……"
He was kneading his temples with both hands, lost in thought.
"Hyung, once is a coincidence, but twice means it's real. There's no real reason—no reason at all—for us to keep that woman around."
Lee Gyeongmin was calmly talking Kang San around, as if his earlier outburst had been nothing but a mirage. The sight was strangely unfamiliar. And Kang San, apparently feeling something similar himself, spoke up with a dissatisfied air.
"……It's no different from what you said before. If anything, I actually think Ayoung-ssi genuinely sensed a crisis."
"And that's supposed to explain spotting a mutant twice in a row that was nowhere to be seen when all hell broke loose? We've only ever heard about those things from the internet!"
"……"
Yikes. On this one, I was certain. The weight was going to tip in Lee Gyeongmin's favor.
I couldn't help but admire the sight. Truly, the ancestors were right—nothing is ever wasted. Even dog shit has its uses!
As the discussion dragged on, Yoon Ayoung clung to me like a cicada. By now she was holding my hand in both of hers, leaning on me of her own accord. Whether it was her trembling body or what, it felt like one of those vibrating jelly toys stuck to my arm.
She couldn't help it either. Because now, I was truly all she had.
"Alright, putting that aside—the real problem is that a single mutant punched straight through our entrance like that. For the time being, the combat team is banned from leaving the building entirely."
At some point the opinion had unified on one side, and Seong Gaeul was now moving the discussion on to the next matter.
But this couldn't be allowed to end like that.
"Hmm, why aren't you hearing from the person involved—and from me?"
"Even if Han Guwon-ssi objects, you can't go against the majority. …It's regrettable, but please abide by the vote."
"And why exactly should I do that?"
"…I beg your pardon?"
With an exaggerated frown, I pointed at Kim Cheolsu and Kim Eunbyeol.
"Ahem, sorry to call you out so abruptly, but the one who slew the mutant was me, while Cheolsu-ssi and Eunbyeol-ssi were—asleep. Ah, of course, not that sleeping is a crime. But either way, why do those two count as the same vote?"
Democracy in the apocalypse, huh. She was more naive than I'd thought.
"Ayoungie woke me up while I was sleeping and saved Gyeongminie from the mutant. If anything, she deserves our thanks."
"N-no, I told you it wasn't! Honestly…"
"You shut up, Gyeongmin."
After cutting off Lee Gyeongmin before he could start fuming again, Seong Gaeul continued.
"How are we supposed to believe that?"
"Evidence… well, there's nothing conclusive, I admit."
"Exactly. This camp was very safe until the two of you joined. Not a single mutant—hell, we hardly ever saw so much as one zombie. So when something like this happens out of nowhere, what do you suppose we think?"
We, was it…? Yes, of course. Their "we" had no room for Ayoungie in it.
Which suited me just fine.
I answered her words with a deep, deliberate smile. "All of that is mere speculation. The only hard fact here is that I dealt with the mutant—following Ayoungie's word. And not that I'm some child begging for praise, but to be met with this kind of reaction…"
I let the sentence trail off deliberately, layering in a subtle threat. It was a roundabout way of asking: are you really going to slight a man with the combat power to kill a mutant?
And Seong Gaeul caught it precisely.
"Of course we're grateful to you, Guwon-ssi."
"Then why aren't you grateful to Ayoungie? It's thanks to her that I killed the mutant, no?"
"…That's…"
So that's what the old folks meant—never make things obvious, make people show their hand.
Unlike me, with my hard evidence of having slain the mutant, Yoon Ayoung had nothing at all.
"Whew… What could possibly be the reason you're defending Yoon Ayoung like this? Is it because she's pretty?"
How should I put it—Seong Gaeul was truly textbook. The moment a message ran out of things to attack, she went straight for the messenger. Me. So I was the water buffalo in this picture, was I?
"Just one reason. Because we're the same kind of being."
"…Doesn't look that way to me. You're remarkably good at saying cringeworthy things."
Seong Gaeul, still sour, would never understand. This was a password only those who shared a secret could ever know.
Outside, dawn was creeping in. The long night had passed at last, and morning had come.
"Let's choose to trust her—one last time. Ayoung-ssi, from now on, if you truly sense a crisis, speak up in front of everyone. I believe you, Ayoung-ssi."
"Hyung!"
"You got a scare today too. Get some rest first—that's the priority. We'll leave it here for now."
"Haah…"
Head bowed, Lee Gyeongmin let out a string of curses too quiet for anyone else to catch. After a good long while of that, he lifted his head and glared at Yoon Ayoung.
He was clearly not convinced in the slightest—which, frankly, suited me perfectly.
Good. Time to fan that flame some more.
"Everyone, go get some rest—even a little more sleep helps. Come on, let's all get up."
At Kang San's word of dismissal, everyone rose. As Yoon Ayoung stood, still fidgeting and restless, I told her to wait at "that place," and her head gave the faintest nod.
Then I caught Lee Gyeongmin as he was hurrying away, and gave his shoulder a light tap. He turned to check who it was—and bit his lip.
"Wh-what do you want!"
"How's your body holding up?"
"Go go fawn over that witch! Why are you suddenly coming to me?"
A witch, was it. Yes—I hoped she would become one, his witch.
With a faint smile, I leaned in close and whispered into Lee Gyeongmin's ear. "Honestly? I think you've got a point."
"…What?"
Of course he was flustered. The man who'd single-handedly blocked her expulsion was saying this to his face.
"I only objected because we're the same kind of people, and I felt sorry for her. But thinking it over myself… yeah, Ayoungie does seem suspicious."
The instant I cast the bait, Lee Gyeongmin swallowed it whole—past his throat and straight down to the stomach—and started shuffling his feet like a man about to piss himself.
"R-right! You thought so too, hyung! B-but then why on earth did you—"
"Shh! Quiet. The 'witch' will hear."
"Ah—ah! S-sorry."
I took hold of both his shoulders and looked into his eyes, brimming with trust. "I'm planning to stay close and keep Yoon Ayoung under surveillance myself. If a problem comes up, I'll handle it. Strictly speaking, it's my mess to clean up, isn't it?"
"Oh! So that's what you were thinking! Of—of course! You're right, hyung. We should—should have been watching her."
Lee Gyeongmin's eyes darted rapidly left and right. I quietly watched the idiotic circuitry of his brain whir to life.
"W-we have to make her confess! I'll—I'll work at it too, in a different way from what you're doing, hyung."
"Keep this in mind. Not a word to anyone."
"Ch-Cheolsu can be trusted."
Kim Cheolsu, hm. Well, one more pathetic little rat in the pile would only be the cherry on top.
"Hmm… I suppose that much is acceptable."
"R-right! Th-thank you, hyung!"
I had no idea what he was thanking me for, but I patted his shoulder anyway. "I'll say it one more time—this stays between us. Even if someone found out, it would only shake the group; nothing would actually change. You know how good a leader Kang San is, don't you?"
"Of—of course! Just—just trust me. I'll—hah—I'll provoke that witch every way I can, until she shows her true colors out of her own mouth."
Ah, this was delightful. Far more stimulating to my interest than simply pinning people down with telekinesis.
Having sent Lee Gyeongmin off with his resolve hardened into steel, I made my way to the women's restroom on the fourth floor.
Exactly as when I'd first found her, Yoon Ayoung sat with her face buried in her knees.
Tap, tap.
At the sound of footsteps echoing through the restroom, she looked up like a meerkat to check—and, seeing it was me, let out a sigh of relief.
I sat down slowly beside her and pulled a snack from my inventory, holding it out to her. "Want this?"
"…Th-that, that…"
She hemmed and hawed, but her eyes were locked onto the snack with perfect precision. Her pupils tracked it as I swayed it gently side to side.
I smiled a little and handed it over. She snatched it up eagerly and started straining at the wrapper with little whimpers, so I took it back and opened it for her, then—entirely as a matter of course—took her hand in mine.
Apparently this much no longer even surprised her; with her free hand she scrambled to stuff the snack into her mouth.
"Can I ask you one thing?"
"Mmhm, y-yes."
"I told you I could have just said I was an Awakened too… so why didn't you?"
"B-because you said… it was a s-secret."
Good lord. She really was innocently, hopelessly sweet.
As I gently stroked her hair, her face flushed crimson and she ducked her head. Letting go of her hand, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder instead, and with the other hand I caressed her face this way and that.
"Mm… mmh…"
Letting out soft sounds of protest, she nonetheless simply accepted everything I did to her. Genuinely obedient women like this were hard to come by these days.
Was there any toy this pretty to be found anywhere else?
Stroking the curve of her ear, hidden beneath her black hair, I let my thoughts drift. Lee Gyeongmin and Kim Cheolsu would now torment Yoon Ayoung relentlessly.
How would our innocent little Ayoungie cope? How much would it hurt her? And to whom would she run to have that pain healed?
A deficiency only I could ever fill. To resolve it, she would do anything. I alone would become her standard; I alone would become her everything.
And that moment was now—so very close.
Truly, not much longer at all.
