Our First Operation
I wonder if everyone’s been through something like this. Or is it just me? You slide the key in, but it doesn’t turn. You put it in backwards. You try to plug a USB into your computer and it won’t go in. Turns out the odds are exactly fifty-fifty. What I’m trying to say is…
“Seriously… my luck is absolute garbage.”
Wait, no. I’m still alive, so maybe I’m actually pretty lucky? “Then… maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.”
“Ah, it’s nothing… just a thought.”
“What did you say?”
After being discharged from the hospital, I headed straight home. Seeing the disaster site again felt strangely surreal. It was exactly…
“Wow. Exactly half of it really is gone.”
“No way… there’s a soccer field with grass right next to it, and an empty lot they cleared for redevelopment…”
The Great Gatsby? It’s my favorite movie. There’s no way I wouldn’t know it. No matter how many times I watch it, it’s always good.
“You must be a fan of Baz Luhrmann?”
“Of course. Wow, we actually have something in common? Hold on. There’s this one film I always look up…”
“Inception!”
“Nice. You really know your stuff.”
I sat down on the dusty table like that. I didn’t feel like brushing off the thick layer of black dust. Because she was excitedly talking about another movie. So I matched her energy and kept the conversation going. She really is a simple girl. Or maybe pure is the better word. Just from her voice, I could tell exactly how she was feeling. I could practically see her expression.
‘Minwoo…’ An apologetic look.
‘Minwoo?’ A face that says, What on earth are you talking about?
‘Minwoo!’ A pretty, bright smile.
“Oh. Really? Thanks for letting me know, Siyeon.”
“There are family photos and mementos in that room… Ha… I’m so glad it’s still standing.”
“Anyway, thank you!”
“Time to pack up some stuff~”
I brushed the dust off my pants and stood up. While reserving tickets for the new movie she’d mentioned on my phone, I added, “I feel a little bad for the theater, but what can I do? I only have one body.”
“Whoa, this is… the best value ever. Two people, but only one ticket…”
“The screening starts in about two hours. If I pack quickly, we should make it just in time…”
“Siyeon, if you think of any other good movies, just let me know, okay?”
I scrolled up and down the screen as I spoke to her. After all, I had nothing else to do, and the house was in no condition to stay in. I suddenly felt like binge-watching movies at the theater. Come to think of it, that had been on my bucket list for a while.
“There are a lot of re-release theaters these days. Just pick whatever you want. Got it?”
“Whoa! F-Fuck… that scared me.”
I had almost died trying to cross the living room floor I used to walk over every day. I’d barely touched it with my foot when the ground suddenly caved in with a loud rumble. So that’s why they say not to walk while looking at your phone… Thankfully I lifted my foot the moment she spoke. I never imagined there would be such a dangerous void beneath what looked like solid flooring. When I peered down, I saw twisted and protruding rebar everywhere. It looked exactly like a trap set inside some labyrinth.
“Y-Yeah…”
I swallowed hard and carefully backed away. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the dressing room in the distance. My most precious memories in the world. The old photos holding the faces I never wanted to forget. They were all on the other side of that unstable floor beneath my feet.
“Damn it… If only I could use my ability…”
I wanted to store the entire house in my Inventory and move it all at once. If I just left like this, it would clearly be demolished within a day. Even if the whole house collapsed, I at least wanted to save one family photo. I should have taken pictures with my phone earlier… You idiot. It’s right in front of you… What do I do… Damn it… I don’t know… There’s only one photo of Mom… Ha… Fuck…
She called my name. But it was strange. I had never heard her voice like this before. Ah, right… she must have heard everything.
“Ah, no. I wasn’t blaming you just now… Please don’t misunderstand… I just… suddenly started thinking about my family…”
Her voice was unusually serious. It almost made me picture her preparing a strategy right before facing a monster.
“Huh…?”
Lee Siyeon, an S-class ability user. The word “operation” had come from her mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was my heart or hers, but somehow those words planted a small seed of certainty inside me.
“That… thing that burrows into the ground? Like a lurker?”
“No way… for real?”
There was no way I wouldn’t know. Because of that thing, the supply base inside Purple Hall had gone crazy and I’d stayed up all night for an entire week… Just thinking about that time made me sigh… Wait, but she killed it alone? From the footage I saw, it would burrow from the ground and even bite through armored vehicles plated with titanium…
“You want me to walk across that floor right now?”
“Ha… but… what if I fall…”
“Still… haaa……”
“Wait… that’s a bit—”
Siyeon suddenly let out a deep sigh and began apologizing in an exaggerated theatrical tone. What was this all of a sudden?
A clumsy apology, paired with crying sounds that didn’t sound sad at all… Umm… I’m sorry. Let me close my eyes for a second to see what’s going on. When I closed my eyes, I could see her. She probably didn’t know I was watching. With her eyes closed and the back of her hand pressed to her forehead, the corners of her mouth slightly lifted, she was still shouting, “I’m sooorry…. I’m sooorryyy….” It felt like something I’d seen many times before. It was as if she was copying someone. Pfft. Was that how I looked? After shouting for a while, she now clasped her hands tightly together and seemed to be perking her ears up, listening. She looked exactly like a seven-year-old kid who had told a lie and was waiting to hear the response she wanted. She really is cute… Yeah… What did she say earlier… She asked me to trust her, right?
“Alright. Fine, I’ll trust you.”
“But, do you know something, Siyeon?”
“That if I die, you might die too?”
“Really?”
Suddenly, I realized it. Just now, I had felt that she was inside my heart. That voice full of conviction. My own heart seemed to gain strength from that voice and fill with confidence. Now I understood why they always put at least one S-class ability user in every raid team. This felt incredibly reassuring.
“Shall we go then?”
And so our first operation together began. It was nerve-wracking, but with every step I took, I came to rely on and trust her more and more.
“We’re already halfway there.”
“Ah, yes. Got it.”
“Okaaay~”
“Okay…”
“Ugh, whoa—the second-floor pillar is here for some reason…”
“S-Sorry…?”
And finally, we stood in front of the dressing room. We both let out deep sighs and laughed. It felt like we had just played a life-or-death escape room. If she had been beside me, I would have given her a big high-five. I exchanged jokes with Siyeon as we grabbed the doorknob together. Then we swung the door wide open. This was the moment our first operation succeeded.
“We did it!”
I thought we would say the same thing. But we didn’t. How should I put it… I don’t know, fuck… How do I hold back this anger? We risked our lives doing this.
“Fuck.”
I hadn’t noticed because the door had been closed, but behind the dressing room I could see dogs out for a walk. I could also see people riding bicycles. There was even a rattling delivery motorcycle from some house that had ordered food…
“Wait. There was supposed to be a wall behind this room…”
“What the hell did we just do?”
“Wait… are you mad right now?”
Oho… I wonder how angry her face looks in full sincerity mode… Ah, no. First, let’s get the photo.
“Thank you, Siyeon.”
I smiled brightly and took out my phone, snapping a photo of the family picture with a satisfying click. It was a pleasant sound. For some reason, it felt like her voice had been captured in the photo too. I should set it as my lock screen. Every time I look at it, I’ll probably imagine her angry face.