That's a Conspiracy Theory, Isn't It?
As I reflexively turned my gaze away to avoid seeing the ghost girl's exposed figure, she said, "I'm wearing something, you know?"
When I turned my head to confirm, a white dress was visible. It seemed she had been wearing it tucked inside her baggy pants.
...Did she really have to take it off to prove that?
"...I understand. Please put it back on."
The ghost girl silently folded the dress and pulled her pants back on.
"But what brings you here? I haven't finished cleaning yet."
"I finished cleaning the women's restroom, so I came to help. I didn't realize you were still working on this."
"I'm sorry for being so slow."
If I had just sprayed some water and scrubbed haphazardly, it would have been done by now. But my pride wouldn't allow it. Since I'd started the job, I had to give it my all.
"No, there's no need to apologize. It wasn't a task one person could handle alone from the start anyway."
...No wonder it felt so ridiculously large.
"I'm not criticizing. This is purely out of curiosity, but if that's the case, why did they make you do it alone?"
Without answering, the ghost girl picked up a brush and began scrubbing the stubborn stains from the urinals beside me. Her skilled movements looked thoroughly professional. She must have been cleaning this place herself for a long time.
I accepted her silence and continued scrubbing the urinal. Around the time I had quietly finished all six of them, she spoke again.
"Actually, the director doesn't assign bathroom cleaning—that is, labor service—to volunteers."
Then what the hell am I doing right now?
"She believes volunteers would quickly lose interest if given such tasks. And that thinking isn't wrong. Plenty of people run away when assigned work like this."
Yeah, most people would probably react that way. If I hadn't harbored ambitions of becoming the second Bubble Shower, I would have quit halfway. Starting with a bathroom that reeked of urine was a bit much.
"So the director assigns educational volunteering instead. She hopes the volunteers will build bonds with the children and maintain ongoing interest in the orphanage and the act of volunteering."
"When I heard it was orphanage volunteering, that's what I imagined too. It seems the director's judgment is also influenced by those common perceptions and expectations."
"That's right. I don't view educational volunteering negatively myself. It's a truly worthwhile activity. It's fun, too."
The ghost girl furrowed her brows in a crooked line.
"But do you know what's funny?"
"...What is it?"
"Even when we assign that kind of educational volunteering, ninety-six percent of the volunteers never return. I counted them myself, so this figure is accurate."
I could sense a trace of resentment in her voice. She seemed genuinely hurt by it.
Still, I believed that even a single act of volunteering or donation held sufficient value, even if it wasn't sustained. That's why I defended the volunteers I didn't even know—the ones who had only come once.
"This might be presumptuous since I don't know the internal circumstances, but even if they stop after just once, wouldn't their dedication still have been valuable enough?"
She shook her head.
"If they simply don't come back, I don't mind that much. The problem is that most people casually throw around promises during the atmosphere of educational volunteering."
I asked while vigorously scraping at the urinal stains with the brush.
"What kind of promises?"
"That they'll come again next time. That they'll bring gifts. That they'll take the children somewhere."
I stopped brushing for a moment and looked at her.
"The children believe those words. Just one more time. This time will be different. They send their trust like that. But most of them end up disappointed."
Disappointment lingered on her face as she scrubbed. It seemed the orphanage children weren't the only ones who had been let down. The way she spoke now suggested she too had been deeply wounded by that disappointment.
"So I ignored the director's instructions and assigned labor service instead. With the provocative thought that if they were going to disappear after one visit anyway, they shouldn't show their faces to the children."
She stopped scrubbing, hung her head low, and continued.
"In the end, the reason you're cleaning the bathroom now was due to my rude, arbitrary decision."
I understood how she felt. When the wounds people inflict are too painful, one tries to avoid creating situations where they might get hurt again. Her assigning me bathroom cleaning seemed to stem from exactly that kind of defense mechanism. Revealing such a mechanism to others wasn't exactly admirable. Yet the fact that she quickly admitted her fault made her seem mature beyond her years.
So I accepted the ghost girl's confession and apology in a positive light.
"Thank you for speaking honestly."
To lighten the mood, I added playfully, as if joking.
"But the fact that you're telling me all this—can I take it that you view me a little more positively than those ninety-six percent of volunteers?"
The ghost girl gave a small smile at my words.
"...Yes. You do seem like a strange person who's a bit different from the others."
It was the first time I had seen the ghost girl smile. Her smiling face was truly beautiful.
Ah... Should I seriously consider offering her an idol contract? With that kind of charm, it might be worth including her even if her dance or vocals are a little lacking.
But that smile somehow felt familiar. It was as if I had seen it somewhere before.
As I continued pondering while looking at her, everything came rushing back like an electric current. Both her face and her name.
I unconsciously muttered the name that had surfaced.
"...Jin Yeoreum."
How could I have forgotten that face? This woman was Jin Yeoreum, the third-generation heir of the Jin Kang Group and the catalyst behind the Bubble Shower reverse surge incident.
She was also the former rhythmic gymnastics prodigy who had fallen from grace after being caught doping at the Olympic team selection trials.
In her promising days, she had been called the Smile Angel. She even had a personal fan cafe and enjoyed nationwide love. But after the doping scandal, she became the icon of ruin—an instant national sinner.
"...."
She let out a small sigh, as if finding it awkward that I had recognized her.
"Sigh... I thought you didn't know, but you simply hadn't recognized me."
Our eyes met.
And as if it had been waiting for this very moment, her status window appeared.
This guy is throwing things out again. How can it recommend recruitment right in front of the person with the nation's greatest antipathy?
The potential is truly insane. I never imagined there would be someone like this besides Ga-eul.
Still, no way. Screw off, status window.
While I was cringing at the status window, Jin Yeoreum asked.
"So?"
"Yes?"
"Now that you know I'm that Jin Yeoreum, don't you have something to say?"
Not really. ...If I had to force something, it would be Let's not get involved with each other and just live our separate lives.
"If I have something to say..."
"Well, it's the usual stuff, isn't it?"
Jin Yeoreum set down the cleaning brush and stared at me.
"Why are you doing volunteer work here? Aren't you going to school? Why aren't you receiving support? Doesn't the Jin Kang Group give you money? Why did you dope?"
She bit her lip hard.
"...Why did someone like you, a criminal, preach so self-righteously?"
Jin Yeoreum looked as though she was tormenting herself with those words. I had no desire to add to her pain. She already seemed tormented enough.
"Miss Jin Yeoreum. Please don't say things like that."
"...."
"You're not a criminal, are you?"
The events surrounding the discovery of Jin Yeoreum's doping went like this.
With the Olympic selection competition looming, Jin Yeoreum tested positive for a banned substance during a medical examination. She denied it. The media, drawn to her status as a national figure, reported on the positive result. The public condemned her for tarnishing a sacred event. Her fans and supporters fiercely defended her claims. Public opinion split in two and clashed viciously. Under the full glare of national attention, a large-scale re-examination confirmed the presence of the banned substance. By then, the divided public opinion that had defended her completely collapsed. Everyone turned on her. It was the moment her fans became antis.
The Jin Kang Group, where her father served as chairman, did not sit idly by. They claimed it was the arbitrary act of her personally assigned doctor, who had been greedy for success. They didn't stop at informing the public—they even put that doctor on trial.
Jin Kang assembled a team of top lawyers and presented the same argument in court. As a result, Jin Yeoreum successfully denied any intentional negligence and was acquitted.
Yet even after the verdict, public opinion did not improve. People trusted the conspiracy theory that Jin Kang had simply used the doctor as a sacrificial pawn more than the court's ruling that she too was a victim.
Honestly, I probably would have thought the same. But there was no reason to fight about it emotionally to her face.
"Ha... You don't need to say it like that just because it's in front of me."
...Was I that obvious?
"I already know all too well that the world sees me as a criminal."
Her tone sounded closer to defensive self-mockery than an accurate read of my thoughts. It was a way to lower herself so she wouldn't expect anything. Whether she had doped or not, her mental state seemed extremely fragile.
I spoke to her as neutrally as possible.
"That won't necessarily be the case. You received a not-guilty verdict, didn't you, Miss Jin Yeoreum?"
"They must have used some underhanded means—lobbying, connections with former judges, whatever."
An accurate read of public opinion, huh? Honestly, I think so too. I just won't say it out loud.
"Isn't that a conspiracy theory?"
I spoke with an innocent expression.
"I'll trust the judgment of the law over rumors. So please don't refer to yourself as a criminal in front of me."
If I acknowledged that, I'd become the guy who hangs out with a criminal.
"To me, Miss Jin Yeoreum is a strict senior who started volunteering at the orphanage first. And I'm the junior volunteer who cleans the bathroom properly after you. Isn't that enough to define us?"
Yeoreum. Let's keep our relationship right here. Don't even think about getting any closer.
Jin Yeoreum looked at me as if I were some bizarre animal.
"...I'll take back what I said about you being a slightly different strange person."
Then, wearing a smile full of her unique charm, she added.
"You're an extremely strange person."