First Encounter

Please note: the following contains a somewhat grotesque and bizarre illustration. Viewer discretion is advised.

Embarrassing as it was to admit, Han Yuna took the lead.

I followed behind her, lantern in hand.

…If we actually made it out of here alive, I figured I ought to repay her somehow.

While I was entertaining that half-baked thought, Yuna turned the doorknob — and what lay beyond was a corridor so dark it held not a single speck of light.

I was the one holding the lantern, but before she opened the door, Yuna had told me something.

Don't shine it too far ahead. Only light the path right in front of where we were walking.

Between her knowledge of the anomalies and her instructions about the lantern, I couldn't tell whether she was simply cautious by nature or whether she knew something I didn't. Either way, once I heard it, the advice made sense.

Curiosity got the better of me and I asked how she knew. Her answer was vague, almost evasive — just that it felt like the right thing to do.

It wasn't the kind of situation where I could press her, so I left it alone.

At any rate, we stepped straight into the corridor. The lantern's beam skimmed a narrow strip of floor — no more than two or three paces ahead of our feet.

Yuna turned without hesitation in the opposite direction from where the anomaly had gone, and I fell in right behind her.

I resolved not to care about whatever might be behind us.

But you know that feeling? Walking alone down a dark road at night, when a sudden chill runs up your spine and people say a ghost has climbed onto your back. The moment that thought crossed my mind, it genuinely felt like something was back there.

That was exactly how it was now. No — this wasn't just my imagination. There really was an anomaly somewhere behind us.

Splash.

From far off came the sound of something thrashing through water.

I flinched and quickened my pace. If not for the sight of Yuna's back ahead of me, I might already have spun around — or bolted forward in a panic.

I forced myself to focus only on the lantern light. I steeled my resolve around a single idea: light only the path she was about to take.

The floor was tiled — the kind of flooring you'd expect to find around a swimming pool.

Then Yuna stopped ahead of me.

I whispered quietly.

"…What is it?"

"The corridor ends here."

I lifted the lantern a little. The narrow walls that had hemmed us in split open to either side, and beyond them stretched a space vastly wider than the hallway.

The first thing I saw was a damp tile floor, with a few low plastic chairs scattered across it.

"…A water park?"

Yuna looked around, then nodded.

"Looks like it."

Judging by the scale, it seemed to be an indoor pool connected to the locker room — and a children's pool at that.

We left the corridor and stepped out into the open area where the pool came into view.

The colorful handrails lining the walls and the cartoon characters painted along the pool's edge made it look for all the world like a kiddie pool for little children.

Under normal circumstances it might have seemed cute. Right now, it was anything but.

In the thin wash of lantern light, the cartoon faces frozen in wide grins looked somehow grotesque.

I tore my eyes away in a hurry.

As we drew closer to the pool, I could see it was full of water.

Whether from the surrounding darkness or something else, the water was pitch-black — black as ink.

The moment the lantern light touched the surface, I yanked it back down.

"…."

It wasn't black because it was dark. The water itself was simply black.

My hands shook so hard the lantern beam jittered, illuminating only the tile floor stained with dark reddish water marks.

"It's okay."

Yuna, who of course already knew, patted my shoulder.

"Let's head over that way for now."

She pointed across the pool. A door was faintly visible in the darkness.

Above it hung a faded sign. The lettering was nearly worn away, but I could just make out the word Break Room.

"…Okay."

Obviously we needed to move fast — there was no telling what the anomaly behind us was doing. But the reason I was trembling wasn't just because the water was black.

I had definitely seen it.

In that fleeting instant — something pale and faintly gleaming beneath the black water.

A round, elongated shape. It almost looked like a human face, but a face wouldn't shine like that… so it had to be a large eye.

Something was submerged in that water. Eyes open.

After scanning the area for a while, Yuna started walking again, and I fell in behind her once more.

I felt like I should tell her, but the words wouldn't come. Explaining it in this situation wasn't exactly practical either.

…I'll tell her later.

First, get out of here. Once we reach that room safely up ahead.

I convinced myself of that and fixed the lantern light on the ground in front of Yuna's feet.

We walked along the edge of the pool. Every time the soles of our shoes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hit the wet tiles, they made a slick, sliding sound.

Squelch. Squelch.

To our right lay the black water.

I tried not to look, but our own footsteps made that impossible. At any second, something felt ready to surge up out of the water.

I had the urge to swing the lantern around, but I held it in check.

Just look ahead. Just look at Yuna's feet…

We passed the halfway point of the pool and finally reached the other side.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Only then did a little of the breath I'd been holding leak out.

…Did I just imagine it?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

It could have been a reflection — the lantern light wobbling on the water's surface. I'd been so terrified that I might have seen something ordinary as something strange. Thinking that way settled my nerves a little.

Yuna arrived at the break room door.

"I'll open it."

She gripped the doorknob with one hand. Beside her, I raised the lantern to light the door and the area around it.

The beam swept across the corner next to the door.

At first I thought it was a pile of trash…

…Oh, shit.

Something long and black was stuck to the wall. Then it squirmed and began to move.

"…!"

When you're truly terrified, you can't even scream. Your body locks up as if frozen solid in an instant.

That was me right now.

Something was standing in the corner.

About the size of a person — roughly the build of a tall man.

Overall, it looked like a giant caterpillar that had been forced upright onto two legs.

Thick black hair bristled densely across its back and shoulders, and arms of uneven lengths sprouted from either side of its torso.

Its two legs were disturbingly humanlike — pale skin, knobby protruding knees.

And where a face should have been, there were almost no features at all. Just two black, hole-like eyes set into the cracked skin at the center.

That… anomaly was looking at us.

I couldn't breathe. It felt like my lungs had collapsed — no air would come in.

Yuna spotted the anomaly a beat later and went rigid.

"…The door."

A hoarse voice barely scraped out of my throat.

As if the words snapped her back to herself, Yuna twisted the doorknob.

Click.

The door opened far too easily.

Our eyes snapped toward it at once — we needed to get inside as fast as possible.

And in that instant—

Slap. Slap…

Slap-slap-slap-slap-slap-slap-slap-slap.

The moment we looked away, the anomaly in the corner charged at us like a mad thing.

Please…!

The footsteps closed in terrifyingly fast, but I didn't have the presence of mind to look. All I could think about was getting into the break room and shutting the door.

The second the door swung open, Yuna seized my collar.

Then she shoved me into the room with everything she had.

"Get in!"

"Yuna!"

…How the hell was a woman this strong?! Before I could even resist, I went tumbling across the floor into the room.

When I frantically lifted my head, the anomaly was already right there.

In that split second, Yuna had judged there wasn't enough time for both of us to get inside and close the door.

And the anomaly was already swinging one of its long, outstretched arms at her.

Yuna ducked with a sharp, fluid motion, slipping under the arm.

Then, instead of running, she took a step forward.

"Hup!"

She drove her shoulder into the monster's torso with everything she had.

Thud!

A body the size of an adult man's staggered. It didn't fall, but the moment it was shoved sideways, Yuna spun and dove into the room.

Then she yanked the door shut.

Just before it closed, several pale arms shot toward us at once—

Thud.

Fortunately, the door sealed before the anomaly's arms could reach the gap.

And the very next moment—

BOOM!

Something outside slammed its full body weight into the door.

"…."

"…."

Even though we were inside the break room, neither of us thought to check our surroundings. We just stared fixedly at the closed door.

But as time passed, no further attack came from the anomaly.

I couldn't say how long we stood there staring. At some point, though, both of us felt the tension drain out of us all at once — a sudden, full release of held breath.

"Haa…."

There was no real basis for it, but we both felt it: that anomaly wasn't going to attack the door anymore. Not for now, at least.

I set the lantern on the floor and leaned my back against the wall. My legs had no strength left in them at all.

Then I looked over at Yuna. She, too, seemed to have let go of the tension — one hand braced against the wall, breathing hard.

I found myself looking at her again, really looking.

She hadn't shoved me aside and run in alone. She'd protected me first.

And she was a woman…

Yuna was leaning against the wall catching her breath when she seemed to sense my gaze and lifted her head.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just…."

I worked my lips for a moment. The right words wouldn't come.

Saying thank you felt too short…

Truthfully, in those few seconds after being thrown into the room — watching Yuna face the anomaly alone — a lot of thoughts had run through my head. Embarrassment. Shame. And gratitude. Even if this body didn't feel like mine, even if I was especially bad at handling scary things… she had risked dying to that anomaly just to help me.

"Thank you for saving my life…."

"Ah."

Yuna nodded as if it were nothing.

"Of course. No big deal."

"…."

…Of course?

Was this really something you just took for granted?

If you called her a righteous person, there was nothing strange about the words themselves, but still.

"Even so."

I spoke a little more clearly.

"I really mean it. Thank you. If I'd been alone, I might already be dead."

Yuna looked at me steadily. Then, with a faintly awkward expression, she raised her hand.

"Alright."

And she set it on top of my head.

Pat.

"…?"

Her palm pressed lightly into my hair. Then she stroked the top of my head a few times.

Pat. Pat.

I froze — in a completely different way from when I'd faced the anomaly.

While I stood there rigid, Yuna kept talking.

"You did well too, Seokhun. You didn't even scream. That couldn't have been easy."

She casually stroked my head one more time.

Ugh…

What was this feeling? It wasn't exactly bad… a strange ticklishness, something that pricked at my pride, and yet I didn't particularly want to push her hand away. A thoroughly complicated mood.

Of course, part of it was that she'd just risked her life to save me — my guard was down.

I didn't stop her hand as I opened my mouth.

"Should we… drop the formal speech?"

"Sure."

Yuna agreed so readily it was as if she'd been waiting for it.

"You can call me Noona… no. Just call me Yuna."

"…Okay."

Given how I looked, "Noona" was probably the right call… but it still didn't sit right on my tongue.

Even Yuna herself seemed to be taking the stance of I know you're younger, but I'll pretend not to notice.

She took her hand off my head and finally looked properly around the break room.

Earlier we'd been too focused on the anomaly outside the door, but the space was fairly large.

It seemed to have been a break room for staff.

Two worn sofas sat against one wall, with a low table in front of them. On the table, a half-eaten bag of snacks and a paper cup with dried coffee stains still sat where they'd been left.

There was also a mini-fridge against the wall, though unfortunately the light inside didn't come on.

A few bottles of water and some sealed containers were inside; we didn't open the containers.

"Looks like the power's completely out."

"Yeah."

I slowly swept the lantern around the room.

There was a desk and a coat rack, too.

Then I spotted the things sitting on the desk.

"There's another lantern here."

"Really?"

Yuna came over and picked up the small lantern. It worked.

"I'll take this one."

Now we each had a lantern of our own.

And next to where the lantern had been—

"…A recorder?"

It was a small portable voice recorder. I picked it up.

"Wonder if the battery's still good…."

I pressed the power button, and the screen lit up faintly. One bar of battery remained.

There was also a single saved recording file.

Yuna and I locked eyes. Without either of us needing to say it first, we both nodded.

I pressed play.

Static.

Noise crackled out, and then, through the recorder, came the sound of someone catching their breath.

A young woman's voice followed.