Acting (1)
Where could the Commander possibly live?
Word had it that her family had serious connections, and that her salary was nothing short of enormous.
For all anyone knew, she could be living in some luxury apartment in the heart of Seoul.
I should probably call a taxi first, the Commander thought.
After all, if she got into her own car, she was planning on saying, just like in the movies and dramas, "Follow that car."
But no such thing happened.
Come from a powerful political family or not — the Commander, who was clearly rolling in wealth, simply walked, step by steady step, toward the subway station.
It happened to be rush hour, so she wedged herself into a churning sea of commuters and rode Line 1 home just like that.
"N-No. What... what the...?"
Yerin was stunned.
What was more, the Commander had actually...
She seemed to hesitate for a moment over whether to take the subway or the bus, staring intently at her smartphone.
Probably checking her transit fare deductions, knowing her.
...Is this for real? You're loaded, aren't you?
And so Yerin, too, ended up squeezing herself onto the subway right after her.
Barely forcing her way through a crowd so dense she could hardly breathe, she managed to plant herself directly behind the Commander.
Had she not noticed? Yerin was this close.
...Well, I guess that tracks.
The Commander was a little dense. Like a man, in a way.
Not that anyone with a face like hers could possibly be a man.
"Hm? Oh? Excuse me — wait, could you maybe be..."
"Ah, no. I think you've got the wrong person."
"Huh? Oh... um. Right, sorry."
Because of its particular cultural quirks, Korea was one of the places where the nature of a Unit had been warped almost beyond recognition. With Angels rarely appearing in East Asia, Units in Korea were treated more or less like celebrities.
Yerin herself was already a legitimate singer with two albums under her belt. She'd never so much as set foot on a university campus, yet she was constantly being booked for campus festivals all over the country.
It would hardly have been strange for someone to recognize her.
Then—
"......"
She saw the Commander glance around at her surroundings.
Had she heard the familiar voice?
Yerin hastily pulled up a mask, dug through her bag, and jammed a cap onto her head — a process that required her to squirm and elbow her way through the press of bodies.
The Commander didn't seem to notice a thing.
You are way too oblivious...
The next station is...
After passing through more than fifteen subway stations — a small odyssey in itself — the Commander shoved her way through the spilling crowds and emerged onto the street.
Yerin wheezed along after her.
Just in case. If her apartment happened to be right by a station in some prime transit neighborhood, then her not owning a car would explain itself completely.
That's the one!
An apartment complex with an English name that looked absurdly upscale.
The Commander kept walking straight toward it.
And walked. Endlessly.
Then strolled right through the complex and out the other side.
"Huh...?"
That wasn't the end of it, either.
The Commander kept going without a single pause — for a good thirty minutes.
Every time she walked, Yerin could see the gazes of passersby gravitating toward her.
"Excuse me — you're not a celebrity, by any chance?"
"......"
A few brave souls even walked right up to strike up a conversation.
Each time, the Commander answered with stony silence, doing nothing but walk — a distance that was starting to feel a little excessive.
Her destination turned out to be a hilly, run-down neighborhood on the outskirts of Seoul. A place where the crowds thinned out and nothing stood but one-room flats and goshiwon hostels, lined up row after row.
"Huh?"
Among them, the Commander stopped in front of a particularly shabby one-room building.
The kind of dilapidated structure that looked like it had been standing for well over thirty years.
What was this?
Yerin's family were middle class, owning their own apartment in Seoul. Having grown up reasonably comfortable, she couldn't make sense of any of this.
Um... is that place even fit for human habitation?
Her curiosity shot through the roof.
Because this might just be her chance to uncover some secret the Commander was hiding.
After all, the Commander had called her trash.
She always looked down at her with those contemptuous eyes, even in the normal course of things.
...A little petty revenge like this should be fine, right?
That was how Yerin soothed herself and rationalized the tailing.
The Commander disappeared into the one-room building.
"Ah..."
Should she follow?
No. She didn't have the nerve for that.
Up to the front door was one thing, but going inside the building itself to find out exactly which room the Commander lived in would be... honestly speaking, a crime.
"Now what do I do?"
Yerin's deliberation didn't last long.
The Commander, freshly off work, came right back outside having changed her clothes — a simple, comfortable T-shirt, nothing more.
"What now?"
It was already well past seven. She'd spent over an hour on the subway, so she had to be exhausted...
"Oh, right. The Commander's a leech who doesn't do anything at the Bureau anyway! Her stamina isn't just drained — it's overflowing..."
Where was she planning to dump all that surplus energy?
...Of course.
Let's be honest — the Commander was beautiful to the point of inspiring jealousy.
Quite a few Units even adored the way her brows knitted together in a frown.
At first, anyway.
After getting a taste of the Commander's vicious personality, they'd all cursed her in one voice. But regardless —
With looks like hers, there was no way she didn't have a boyfriend.
And this neighborhood was Daehangno, no less.
Just like that rumor — the one that circulated everywhere in the Bureau.
Could it really be... that the Commander was living loose, living like that?
"Hmph. What was I even worried about!"
If it turned out to be true, Yerin planned to click her tongue and turn right back around. Come next Monday, when she reported for duty at the Bureau, she'd spill everything about the Commander's true nature to the other Units.
Come to think of it, maybe the reason the Commander earned that much money yet lived in a backwater like this was...
Because of a man.
Kang Yerin, adolescent high school girl that she was, trailed the Commander with absolute diligence.
The place the Commander shuffled toward was, contrary to all expectations, not some meeting spot with a boyfriend.
"...A convenience store?"
In that instant, Kang Yerin's face flushed scarlet.
She's getting ready to meet her boyfriend — it has to be!
Th-that... she'd never actually seen one in person, but she knew the name: that product. The Commander must have stopped at the convenience store to buy it.
Which meant—
What if she personally witnessed the moment the Commander bought it? How would the Commander even begin to explain herself then?
Yerin even planned to film a video, so there'd be no wriggling out of it at all.
Just then, the convenience store door swung open.
"Right then, keep it up."
"......"
The man who looked to be the store manager left work with a smiling face.
The Commander pulled on a mask and tugged a cap down low.
Then she deliberately took off her World Security Bureau jacket and tucked it neatly into her bag.
All that remained was a pristine white dress shirt.
To anyone watching, it was an unmistakably odd outfit — but
Doesn't matter. I secure the decisive moment — the Commander buying that product — and then I reveal myself. That's all it takes!
Brimming with grand ambitions, Kang Yerin stepped into the convenience store.
"......"
A small bow.
At the nearest counter, a part-timer dipped her head in greeting.
It was a face Yerin had never once seen before.
The eyes no longer slanted upward as if glaring someone down with murderous intensity. They were still sharp, yes, but how to put it... it was a face that radiated a strange, heartbreaking fragility.
And in that state — another bow.
A courteous one, bending all the way from the waist.
It was the Commander.
She was working a part-time job — in a convenience store uniform, no less.
Yerin flinched.
Staring this openly would rouse suspicion, so she slipped into the aisles.
What — what, what, what, WHAT—
Yerin's mind dissolved into a chaotic, scrambled mess.
That Commander — she could make that kind of expression?
...No, wait.
Sh-she held the post of Commander at the Bureau in the first place. And if she had money too, then why on earth was she working the night shift at a convenience store...?
Yerin tilted her head.
When Yerin darted into the aisles so abruptly, the Commander tilted her head as well.
Her lips opened and closed — she seemed to be trying to say something —
[ I'm sorry. This employee is unable to speak. ]
That was what was written on the laminated sheet beside the counter.
Th-they can hire someone like that at a convenience store?
The Commander wasn't even a student in the first place.
Just then, a chime rang out, and a new customer walked in.
A small bow. The Commander dipped her head in greeting.
The customer, apparently a regular, rasped out,
"Gimme a Marl***o Red."
"......"
The Commander shuffled for a few seconds, choosing the cigarettes with her bandaged hand, and the customer said,
"It's right next to that one, kid."
Once the Commander brought the pack over, the customer held out his card.
Chime—
The customers who came in after that were no different.
For some reason, the store that had seemed so quiet from outside began to overflow with people the moment the Commander stood at the counter.
She bustled about, bowing her head again and again at every transaction.
Only after ten-odd minutes did the convenience store finally quiet down.
...I have no idea what's going on, but.
The Commander was working her shift, doing her best to hide how worn out she was.
At the convenience store.
That same Commander who had savagely spat the word [trash] at Yerin's face...
...was wearing that guileless, gentle expression.
...Ha.
"Why? Why not to me?"
Yerin felt like a hand had closed around her throat.
It was a feeling she had no words for. A whirlpool of emotions had flooded her mind — confusion, a strange elation, pity, and a dozen other feelings besides, all pouring out at once like something gone mad.
Crunch.
Before she knew it, her foot had come down on a snack bag lying on the floor.
"...?"
She'd drawn the Commander's gaze.
Mistake.
Wh-what do I do?
Run? She'd just crushed a bag of chips. If she bolted, the whole thing would only escalate.
What do I— what am I supposed to do...?
While Yerin stood frozen in hesitation—
The Commander stepped out from behind the counter and came to a stop right in front of her.