Don't Look Away
Han Yuna couldn't settle the tangle of guilt and relief twisting inside her.
Still… maybe it was better this way. Better to part ways than keep him close while constantly second-guessing every word, every gesture, forever wondering if he was a monster in disguise.
But what if he really isn't one?
The same loop of doubt, spinning endlessly, with no way out.
…
Either way, she had followed the route from the directory map and made it to the stairwell.
Before opening the door, she swept one last look across the B1 Kids' Pool. Aside from the monster she'd already dealt with, there was no sign of any other Gopdeung-i Monster down here.
Of course not. If there had been another one, it would have come running the moment it heard her fighting.
So it's just the one Seokhun mentioned… the one submerged in the Kids' Pool?
According to the recording, that one was genuinely dangerous. But it didn't seem to move until certain conditions were met.
…I guess that's something, at least.
Yuna reached for the stairwell door handle, then hesitated.
One regret nagged at her.
Maybe I should've brought the hammer.
She shook her head. Swinging that heavy thing alone was unrealistic. Fine if they were moving together — but not by herself.
She let the thought go, tightened her grip on the bat, and pushed the door open.
Beyond it, a concrete staircase climbed upward.
Yuna propped the door with her foot so it wouldn't fully close, studied the stairwell carefully, then stepped inside.
One step. Then another. She climbed as quietly as she could.
Halfway up—
Shff.
Something scraped above her.
Yuna froze, bat raised, and slowly angled the lantern upward.
Rusted railings. Gray walls. And in the corner of the mid-landing where the stairs turned — something was crouched.
…
The shape flinched when the light hit it.
A person.
A woman in a white work uniform — not a water park staff outfit, more like something from a lab or a factory floor.
She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, pressed against the wall, squinting toward the light. Through her tangled hair, a pale face was visible.
The moment their eyes met, the woman shrank farther into the corner and blurted out:
"D-don't come any closer."
Yuna stopped where she was and asked the pale woman,
"Are you human?"
The woman didn't answer. She just stared at Yuna, then shot back,
"You first."
"First what?"
"Are you… human?"
Hearing the question thrown back at her, Yuna realized how strange her own had sounded. Of course she was human. What else would she be?
She studied the woman without answering right away. The wary eyes, the trembling voice — both felt natural enough.
…But I can't trust that alone anymore.
Yuna kept the bat raised.
"If I were a monster, I wouldn't exactly admit it."
"Exactly. So there's no way to check, is there?"
The woman's voice was edged with suspicion, yet carried a hollow, almost defeated quality. Her gaze flicked between the bat in Yuna's hand and the blood staining her protective gear.
"What's with the blood?"
"I ran into a monster downstairs."
"You… killed it?"
"Yes."
Anxiety and surprise crossed the woman's face at once.
"By yourself?"
Kim Seokhun's face flashed through Yuna's mind — the boy who'd been with her until moments ago. But she had taken it down alone.
"…Yes."
"So you're trapped here by yourself?"
"I am right now."
Something shifted in the woman's eyes at that, but she didn't press further. She seemed to take it as: Yuna hadn't started alone, but something had separated her from a companion.
That was the impression Yuna got, at least.
Still seated, the woman asked carefully,
"Is it safe down there?"
"Not completely. But nothing's actively moving around right now."
"And the Black Water?"
"Still there."
…
Watching her reaction, Yuna narrowed her eyes.
"You know about the Black Water?"
"A little. That if it touches bare skin, a person… turns into a monster. That much."
"…How did you find that out?"
"…For now—"
The woman started to answer, then looked up the stairs instead.
"Are you planning to go up to the first floor?"
She'd changed the subject. Anyone could see she didn't want to share what she knew with a stranger. Fair enough — Yuna understood not volunteering information to someone she'd just met.
"…Yeah, that was the plan."
"Then you should be careful. There are monsters on the first floor. A lot of them. I tried going up myself, but the corridor was full of them. I couldn't get through."
Yuna followed her gaze upward. At the top of the stairs, a steel door sat firmly shut.
"What kind of monsters?"
"Insect-looking ones."
"How many did you see?"
"At least five for sure, just in the corridor…"
Yuna's expression hardened. That was a lot.
"There's probably more. The first floor is big."
If she'd charged up blindly, she could have been in serious trouble. The thought brought back something the woman on the recording had said — that finding a living ally in this place was rare luck.
Doesn't mean I can just trust her, though.
Yuna sat down a few steps below, bat still in hand, keeping a solid distance between them.
"What's your name?"
"…Seo Jiyeon."
The woman hesitated before answering.
"And you?"
"Han Yuna."
"Han Yuna."
Seo Jiyeon repeated the name softly. She studied Yuna's face for a while, then pulled something from the bag behind her and rolled it toward her.
A bottle of water.
"If you're thirsty, drink it."
"What about you?"
"I've got another one."
Seo Jiyeon showed her a second bottle inside the bag. Yuna didn't pick up the water right away.
"Why give it to me? Water's not exactly plentiful…"
"Just… a gesture of goodwill?"
Seo Jiyeon gave a weak smile and went on.
"Honestly? We might end up moving together. If I stay here alone either way, it doesn't matter if I have two bottles or one. I'll die just the same."
There was a bone-deep exhaustion in her voice that would have been hard to fake. Resignation, maybe. Her face was already pale, the hollows under her eyes dark enough to notice at a glance.
Yuna pocketed the water bottle and asked again,
"How long have you been here?"
"A day… maybe longer, actually. I came here on my own, but I blacked out for a bit, and when I woke up everything was like this."
"You came here on your own?"
"The Management Bureau sent us to investigate."
"The Management Bureau… Were you alone from the start?"
"…No."
Her face went rigid — as hard as a face could get.
"I said it was an investigation. I had teammates. They're all dead now."
…
Seo Jiyeon pushed past the silence as if changing the subject.
"We have to drain the Black Water."
"What?"
"The Black Water flooding this water park — we have to get rid of it first. That's what the intel I received before the investigation said."
"Get rid of the Black Water… How?"
"The second floor. The central control room — you'd have to work the drainage system from there. That's all I know."
…
She looked bitter. Or like someone who'd already given up. And yet, somewhere underneath, she seemed to be quietly holding onto the hope that they might still join forces and get out of here.
It felt so thoroughly, unmistakably human.
No.
Kim Seokhun had been the same at first. Scared. Relying on her. Fighting monsters at her side. Then one recording later, every single thing he'd done started looking suspicious.
Maybe the reason she wanted to trust Seo Jiyeon now was because she needed proof — proof that abandoning Seokhun hadn't been a mistake. Find a new ally, and leaving him behind becomes the right call…
"You're going to the first floor, right?"
Seo Jiyeon asked.
"…I have to."
"I'll help however I can."
Yuna frowned at the matter-of-fact offer.
"…Why?"
"What, you want the two of us to just sit here and starve to death? There's not much I can do, but…"
Seo Jiyeon sighed and continued.
"I can at least keep staring. Those insect monsters freeze when you look at them."
…
So Seo Jiyeon knew that. Information Yuna already had.
Did she figure it out from experience?
Or was it part of the Management Bureau's pre-mission briefing?
Seo Jiyeon's eyes flicked to the baseball bat in Yuna's hand.
"I'll keep the monsters locked in place with my eyes. You take them out with the bat."
She paused, then added,
"Or we could switch… but would you hand your weapon over to me?"
It was a question asked with the full expectation that the answer would be no. Yuna couldn't deny it. Who hands a weapon to a complete stranger?
"…I'll handle them."
"Fine. We clear the ones in the corridor, then go our separate ways if we want."
"…Alright."
They climbed the stairs, keeping a careful distance and a thin layer of mutual wariness between them.
Yuna reached the door to the first floor first. She pressed her ear against it the way she had before. Silence on the other side — or maybe the door was just too thick to hear through.
She tightened her grip on the bat.
Seo Jiyeon closed in right behind her.
"Wouldn't it be better if I looked first? I lock eyes with them, then you come out and finish them off."
Yuna considered it, then shook her head.
"I'll go first and draw the ones in front. You grab the attention of anything else. You said the corridor's full of them — this way should work better."
Seo Jiyeon nodded. Yuna carefully opened the door.
The first-floor corridor came into view. Yuna quickly checked left and right.
"…?"
Nothing. All those monsters she'd been warned about — not in front of the door, not halfway down the hall. Nowhere.
Yuna's brow furrowed on its own.
What the hell?
She started to turn back toward Seo Jiyeon—
"See?"
A voice from right behind her.
"I told you not to look away."
"…What?"
The instant Yuna tried to spin around, something clamped down hard on both her shoulders.
Clench.
She looked down. Arms — gripping her shoulders. Arms that weren't human. A grotesque fusion of human limbs and insect legs, forced together into something that shouldn't exist.
"Ngh—!"
She strained to wrench free. The grip didn't budge.
She forced her head around.
Ah.
The color drained from Yuna's face.
Half of Seo Jiyeon's face had already become a monster. One side still looked human. The other was grotesquely transformed — the eye swollen huge and black, the features of something that was no longer a person.
The monster leaned in close. A damp, nauseating breath brushed Yuna's cheek.
"You look delicious."
Its mouth opened—
THUD!
A heavy impact cracked sideways into the monster's skull. Its body was torn off Yuna and slammed into the stairwell wall.
"Yuna!"
A familiar voice.
Yuna's eyes went wide.
Kim Seokhun stood there, breathing hard, the hammer she hadn't brought clutched in both hands.
"…Seokhun?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He heaved the massive hammer overhead.
The half-caved-in head twisted back at a sickening angle.
"Ah… you…"
Before the monster could finish, the hammer came down.
CRASH!
"You—!"
Seokhun gritted his teeth and lifted the hammer again.
"Dare to play human!"
The hammer fell once more.
CRUNCH.
The monster's head was completely crushed. Its body convulsed a few times, then went limp.
"Hah… hah…"
Seokhun kept his eyes locked on the corpse, as if it might get back up. Yuna couldn't find a single word.
What was there to say?
Just moments ago, she had suspected him. Wondered if he was a monster. Left him behind — knowing full well how terrified he was, how hard it was for him to face even one of those things alone.
And the person she'd decided she could trust? A monster.
And the boy she'd abandoned had come back and saved her life.
Caught in a whirlpool of guilt she couldn't even name, Han Yuna opened and closed her mouth, over and over, with nothing coming out.