The Firefly's Signal
What on earth were they doing over there?
And the person standing next to Jo Bitna, no less…
'Isn't that Myeongju-sunbae, the third-year?'
Rumor had it that after parting ways with Gu Minjae, Jo Bitna had taken up with a new boyfriend — and that boyfriend was the very reason this sunbae was famous. He had received an offer to join the Special Unit.
The Special Unit was appointed by the Chairman's personal recommendation — the only group granted permission to enter the Abyss. Even within Gaon, they were the elite, a hand-picked few blessed with exceptional Cores. Word was that Yong Myeongju, currently a third-year, had been offered a spot but turned it down because of his college plans.
Lisa instinctively pressed herself against the corner and watched them.
“Hey, doesn't chocolate kill dogs?”
…A dog?
Only then did Lisa spot the small shadow surrounded by Jo Bitna's clique. A tiny puppy with snow-white fur.
No, wait — more importantly, chocolate…?
'They're not going to hurt Somi, are they?'
She clapped a hand over her mouth. What should she do? What could she do?
As her eyes darted around in panic, Lisa noticed an insect fluttering its wings restlessly nearby.
'I have to tell Jiwoo.'
As if it had read her intention, the little insect went zipping off somewhere.
After that, Lisa pressed herself back against the corner and curled herself up as small as she could. She didn't have the courage to charge out there. Those were the so-called delinquents — and if Yong Myeongju was with them, fighting back never even entered the equation.
Under normal circumstances she would have pretended not to see anything and fled on the spot. But if that 'Somi' Jiwoo had talked about — if that puppy really was that dog over there…
“Come on, guys, hurry it up. I'm thirsty.”
Jo Bitna, combing her hair in front of a hand mirror, urged them on with an impatient lilt.
Hurry up and do… what, exactly?
Lisa's heart began to pound. Was it about the chocolate they'd mentioned a moment ago? As far as she knew, chocolate was practically poison to a dog. Did they seriously not know that?
'Wh-what do I do?'
A fine tremor ran through her body. She had sent a signal to Jiwoo using her Core, but whether Jiwoo would actually notice was anyone's guess. And even if she did — by the time Jiwoo came running all the way here, they'd be feeding Somi the chocolate long before that.
She knew. She knew all of that, and yet…
'What if I stick my neck out here and get destroyed for nothing?'
If that were the end of it, she might count herself lucky. But if she got marked over this, her school life could become even more unbearable than it already was.
Gaon's students didn't fear the adults. They knew how to weaponize the school rules, and they knew full well that whatever happened on campus rarely leaked out into the world. That was exactly what made them crueler, more vicious.
So the wisest course was simply to keep her head down. Just endure it for three more years — until she graduated the high school division. And then, surely.
Surely…
“…”
Lisa's trembling stopped all at once.
Would anything actually be solved if she just gritted her teeth and endured three years of this? The thought surfaced unbidden. Would she be saved, when that time came? Could she become the adult she had always dreamed of being — without a single regret?
She didn't know. She'd never lived it.
But…
“Good boy. Here you go — this is really tasty.”
One of Jo Bitna's crew crouched down in front of Somi first. It was Kim Yeonhee, a girl from her own class.
“There you go. Come here.”
With a crinkle of packaging, Kim Yeonhee pulled something out. The instant Lisa saw the chocolate in her hand, the world went white before her eyes.
And at the same moment, she heard something shatter — violently, inside her own chest.
“N-no! Stop!”
By the time she realized it, she had already kicked off from her hiding spot and was running.
Kim Yeonhee's face twisted at the sight of the uninvited intruder. “Hey. Are you going to move, or what?”
Thud!
She kicked out in irritation, but the small figure curled at her feet refused to budge. …Because a flying kick meant nothing to her.
Lim Lisa's eyes were fixed on the puppy she'd clutched tightly to her chest — on Somi. The puppy's legs had gone limp, and she was twitching in faint convulsions. Had she already chewed down and swallowed all the chocolate?
It was strange. By everything Lisa knew, a dog eating chocolate shouldn't react this quickly…
'Don't tell me — a Core?'
A bad premonition flashed through her mind. As far as anyone knew, Kim Yeonhee's Core was Poison. It was certainly a threatening ability, but mercifully, her control over it was poor enough that she couldn't produce a lethal dose — at least where humans were concerned.
But that was a human standard. If this tiny creature had swallowed chocolate laced with poison…
'I have to get her to a vet, fast.'
But was there even an animal hospital on campus…? The world darkened before her eyes. All the while, the kicks aimed at Lisa were growing more violent.
“Fuck, why is this thing so damn tenacious? Let go already! You that desperate to get beaten?”
“N-no! Don't you touch Somi!”
“Is that your dog? Mind your own business, sweetie.”
At Kim Yeonhee's words, the others standing behind her didn't bother hiding their snickers.
“Hear that? Wuv her wittle doggy doooes!”
“Heh. What a retard.”
“Why… why are you doing this?”
Lisa glared at them, tears brimming in her eyes. It had no effect whatsoever.
“Move.”
Then the largest boy among them shouldered his way forward. Yong Myeongju. A third-year sunbae. The moment Lisa saw that ugly scowl, her shoulders jolted with a violent shudder.
“Sunbae, the kid's about to croak.”
“Whoa, whoa, nobody's hitting anyone. Nobody's hitting anyone. Bitna says she's got something to say.”
Yong Myeongju waved his hand and waved the kids off. Through the gap they parted — like the parting of some miracle — came the click-click-click of high heels, and Jo Bitna stepped forward.
“Thank you, sunbae.”
After flashing Yong Myeongju a sweet smile, Jo Bitna swayed her wavy hair from side to side as she planted herself in front of Lisa.
“Lisa, are you okay?”
“B-Bitna…”
“It seems like there was some kind of misunderstanding. We were just playing with the puppy a little. She looked hungry, so we did give her something to eat — was that bad?”
Tilting her head gently, blinking those wide eyes — the picture of innocent charm itself. Lim Lisa swallowed, slow and hard.
“D-dogs can't eat chocolate…”
“But this isn't chocolate. It just looks like chocolate.”
Jo Bitna held up a spare piece and gave it a little shake before Lisa's eyes.
“Look closely. See?”
Those red, rose-scented eyes melted into something soft and rich. Staring into them, Lisa began to feel strange — as though she were getting drunk on something. Her gaze slowly glazed over.
Just like Jo Bitna said, come to think of it… maybe it really wasn't chocolate…
'No. Don't fall for it.'
Lisa barely managed to snap herself awake and shook her head fiercely. That had been dangerous. She'd nearly slipped right into it.
She pulled Somi deeper into her arms.
“D-don't lie to me.”
“…”
Something in Jo Bitna's eyes shifted, strange and cold.
'Not here either, huh.'
After searching everywhere for her missing keyring, Jiwoo made her way back to the dormitory as a last resort. She'd ransacked every corner of the room, but came up with nothing.
'If it doesn't turn up even after a search this thorough, it really was Jo Bitna who stole it.'
And yet she still had no grounds to march up to Jo Bitna and demand it back.
'What am I even going to say to Jiwoo when I see her next… how do I apologize…'
That thought weighed on her far more heavily than the fact that she'd skipped class. …No use sulking about it — she'd just look a little longer. She hadn't checked the drawer cabinet at the back yet.
Come to think of it, she hadn't touched that drawer once since moving in. Which meant the odds of the keyring being in there were effectively zero.
But, grasping at straws, she pulled it open anyway.
As expected, no keyring. In fact, the drawer was all but empty — except for one single, unfamiliar object.
'…A phone?'
Right — she'd heard that Gaon issued dedicated smartphones to all enrolled students. Which meant Jiwoo had one too. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? If she'd known earlier, she would have started with the phone.
Of course, snooping through someone's private life without their permission pricked at her conscience… but with this, she could easily piece together what kind of school life Jiwoo had led, who she'd been talking to, who she'd spent her days with.
In other words, narrowing down the targets would become vastly simpler.
“…”
After a moment's hesitation, Jiwoo slowly reached out and picked up the phone. She pressed the power button, and text rose on the black screen.
[Loading…….]
'I'm sorry, Jiwoo. Your unni's going to take a little look.'
The hourglass icon spun round and round — then stopped with a soft click. The screen finally lit up in full. She was just about to enter the message inbox with a hard set to her face when—
Bzzzt─
“…?”
She heard something like a spark crackling somewhere. She glanced up and saw something flitting around near the ceiling light. …A moth? A fly, a mosquito? Some small insect, regardless.
'Weather's warming up, so the bugs are coming out.'
She lowered the phone for the moment and plucked a single tissue from the box nearby. …But hold on.
Now that she looked closely, that bug was acting a little strange.
It drifted right.
Then left.
Then right again.
The insect moved in a slow, unhurried way — but at a perfectly steady rhythm — as though it were transmitting some kind of signal.
What is that?
Jiwoo stared at it blankly. After circling in place for a long while, the bug flitted out through the slightly open window. It looked for all the world like it was making its escape — then stopped dead in midair. And peering closer, the tip of its tail glowed with a faint, steady light. Almost like a firefly—
'Wait. A firefly?'
Jiwoo's expression transformed in an instant.
…And in that moment, a face struck her like a bolt out of the blue.