Coincidence
I sat across from Chae-yun in the university cafeteria, sharing a meal and a conversation. The topic was the abilities these creatures possessed.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure about that either," she said.
"...So even you guys don't know everything."
"Of course. They're all different from one another."
Chae-yun could apparently produce tiny tentacles from inside her mouth, while Seo-hee could generate all kinds of toxins within her body. I'd assumed they were all the same kind of being, but just like how humans have unique personalities, it seemed each individual was born with wildly different innate abilities.
"...By the way, was the reason we couldn't reach Seo-hee for a whole week because she was busy digging around inside people's heads?"
"Seems like it. Speaking of which, have you two finally settled on how you'll address each other? She's 'big sis' now?"
"Yes. Even though I was the one who parasitized first, the host's age is higher, so she's the older one."
"Anyway, I wonder if there's something like that for me too. It feels like I only got stronger physically. It'd be nice to have at least one special trick like that."
I asked with the thought that having a power similar to theirs might prove useful for whatever lay ahead. But Chae-yun didn't seem to know much about it either.
"I'd love to tell you if I could, but that's outside my knowledge too. Can you instantly tell what special talent someone else has just by looking at them, oppa?"
"...No, I can't."
"We don't know how we find ours either. It just... happens."
"Talent sponge."
"I'm a little sensitive about the word 'sponge,' you know? Please be careful."
We chatted playfully for a while until a lull in the conversation let the surrounding voices seep in.
'...Her boyfriend...'
'...Cheating...'
'Poor girl.'
Even without trying, it was clearly about me and Chae-yun. I carefully shifted my gaze from my bowl to her. She was eating without a care in the world, as if none of it mattered.
"........."
When I looked around, the cafeteria fell silent in an instant. I'd definitely felt many eyes on us, but every single one of them vanished the moment I turned.
"...Humans really are such two-faced creatures," she murmured.
"Can't argue with that."
She must have noticed me scanning the room. She set her spoon down and spoke to me directly. People had always been like this. In the ancient era when Chae-yun's kind lived, brute force had been everything. But times had changed. In this era, knowledge and numbers were what mattered most. At least, that's what I believed.
Even without any physical prowess, problems could be solved with brains and manpower. That's why people valued connections so highly. They clung desperately to the idea of 'bonds' and couldn't easily let go. It solved the numbers problem. In the old days, conflicts were created and resolved through war. But in this so-called age of peace, everything—arguments, incitement, all of it—happened through words. And at the most basic level, that meant gossip.
If you couldn't even manage that fundamental act, you'd be weeded out from the group and eventually abandoned. You'd become the one who pretended to be nice. People elevated themselves by tearing others down. It was the ugly nature of humanity that had persisted since ancient times.
"Still, you're different, oppa."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
I set my spoon down, picked up my empty bowl, and stood up.
"Ah, wait for me."
After the afternoon lecture, I'd planned to head back to my studio apartment with Chae-yun.
"Ah."
"Whoa!"
On the way out of the cafeteria, I bumped into someone. I hadn't seen them coming around the corner. The person crumpled like a scarecrow.
"Sorry, are you okay?"
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. I should have been watching where I was going."
The man took my offered hand and got to his feet.
"I'm really sorry. I was running an errand."
"It's fine. You can go."
He kept bowing and apologizing repeatedly, which left me quite flustered. The man continued looking back over his shoulder in a flustered manner, bowing his head again and again as he hurried toward the lunchbox corner inside the cafeteria.
"...There are still people like that these days."
"Yeah."
The somewhat clumsy-looking man disappeared into the crowd.
"Shall we get going now?"
Chae-yun slipped her arm through mine.
"It's hot. Get off."
"It's still only April?"
We bickered as we headed toward the lecture hall. That's when something caught my foot.
"This is..."
[You have acquired a handkerchief stained with blood.]
"Everyone, eat first."
"Ah, thank you, sunbae-nim. Enjoy your meal."
I climbed into the truck parked at the university lot and entered through the rear passage. It opened into the connected trailer space. The area looked like a small laboratory that had been detached and brought along. A table stood in the center, and people began gathering around it.
I set the lunchboxes I'd bought on the table.
"Sunbae-nim, radar installation within a one-kilometer radius centered on this university will be completed shortly."
"Hey, no work talk while we're eating. Just eat."
"Ah, yes ma'am."
I'd lost the rock-paper-scissors bet for lunch and had to rush to the nearby university cafeteria to buy these lunchboxes. Maybe I'd run too fast—beads of sweat were rolling down my forehead.
"Whew, it's hot."
"Ah, should I turn on the air conditioning?"
"No, everyone else would get cold."
"Didn't you run a bit too urgently? You could have taken your time..."
One of the other subordinates spoke as if worried about me.
"Hahaha, no, it's fine. We don't know what might happen, so the person in charge should be here."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have sent yourself on the errand..."
"No! A bet's a bet."
I was about to take out one of the lunchboxes for myself when someone asked me a question.
"Um, sunbae-nim, may I ask why we're only monitoring instead of capturing it directly?"
Cheon Min-jeong. Since she'd only recently joined the lab, her rigid military posture as she asked the question pleased me. Even if this was just an act to look good in front of me, the way she was trying so hard to make the most of this moment was admirable.
"Questions are always welcome. The entities attached to flower petals pose no danger at all, and their survival time is extremely short, so there's no need to capture them. If that had been the case, our team leader would have gotten off with nothing but a written reprimand. But if one of them successfully parasitizes a human, the danger level skyrockets."
"What does that have to do with the radar...?"
"First of all, they grow by consuming the human brain as nutrients. In that process, the host dies. What moves that body afterward is the entity itself. Once that happens, their intelligence, muscle strength, endurance—every physical function is enhanced. If we clumsily tail them, they'll notice us immediately. That's why we use the special radar. The brainwaves ordinary people emit are completely different from those of the entities, so we're using it to distinguish between humans and them."
"Then if the radar doesn't react..."
"Then luckily, our team leader will only have to write a report. Still, to be thorough, we'll keep the radar running for a full week."
"Hahaha... It doesn't sound like a good thing for the team leader to have to write a report..."
"Min-jeong, you're quite innocent, aren't you? Which is more important—keeping both arms and legs intact, or getting promoted?"
"...Pardon?"
"Just kidding. It's a joke."
I smiled and patted Min-jeong's shoulder. Her body was stiff with tension, but she laughed along with me, letting out a sigh as she said, "Don't do that, sunbae-nim." Maybe I really shouldn't make jokes like that. Half of it was serious, though.
"Radar activation preparations complete."
"Good. Then start it in ten seconds and come eat quickly."
Having this many people in such a cramped lab really did make it feel hot. Especially since I'd been running earlier. I reached for my handkerchief... Huh?
"Oh, my handkerchief."
"Ah, that one you always carry? Did you drop it here by any chance..."
"No, it's fine. I have a spare."
I must have dropped it back at the cafeteria. It was covered in too much blood anyway. I'd need to buy a new one.
"Radar activation in 5, 4, 3, 2..."
————————————
"Ah!♡ That was great again today!"
"Don't talk like an old man who just came out of the bathhouse."
I was walking with Chae-yun. She looked satisfied and somehow refreshed. On the other hand, my clothes and hair were a complete mess. I'd originally planned to do it once we got home, but Chae-yun couldn't hold back, and neither could I. The very last stall in the nearly empty men's restroom had somehow become our secret base, and we'd gone at it hard there.
"Let's do it again when we get to our house!"
"Since when is it 'our' house?"
"Oppa’s house is my house."
"You're hilarious. Then the monthly rent..."
As we walked along trading our usual banter, Chae-yun suddenly stopped.
"What? What's wrong?"
"...This is..."
Her expression had turned deadly serious. The moment I stepped closer to check on her, a pure white barrier of light pierced through the hand I'd extended toward her.
"What the hell is this?"
I looked up to find the source of the light. A massive dome of radiance covered the entire sky.
"This is fucking..."
My mind quickly caught up with the abnormal reality. By the time I realized what it was, it was already too late.
"Oppa!!"
Chae-yun quickly grabbed my hand, which was still outside the barrier, and pulled it back. She couldn't support my weight and collapsed onto the road. From outside, the nature of the light was much clearer. A gigantic glass-like dome was covering the entire university. But no one else was reacting.
"Can't anyone else see this?"
A dome of light visible only to me and Chae-yun. The pursuers had arrived. I'd known they would come eventually, but I never imagined it would be on this scale.
"Run."
Before I could even respond, Chae-yun grabbed my hand and started sprinting.
————————————
"Reaction confirmed in the western sector. One entity."
"...What am I going to do with our team leader's neck..."
I muttered the small joke to myself again. This wasn't the time for that.
"Pursue."