Ill-Fated Ties

The hole was wide enough for two people to go down at once. Someone had bored a way into the earth.

"W-Woo Jungkook? Is it really all right to just walk right up to it?"

"That's why I'm going first."

"And it's all right for you to just walk up to it?!"

"It is."

A hole he had never seen, opened in a road he walked all the time. If it had appeared in so short a span, they had brought in heavy machinery and explosives and punched it through in a flash. And as far as he knew, no raider threw good money away on a sudden whim to dig.

So. Government work.

Sure enough, as he drew closer, two workers came up out of the hole.

"What? Where'd everybody go?"

"Off to take a leak?"

"Ah, for— I told them to keep watch. The second it isn't their own job—"

The sentries had stepped away, by the look of it.

"You building a latrine?"

"Huh? A postman?"

"If it's a latrine, I was thinking of stopping in."

"It's not. Get lost."

"Then what is it?"

"I said get lost."

"Hey, hey, hold on. Let's ask the postman for a hand. Looks like he's built. And that woman with him—if she goes in, isn't that perfect?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah."

They started muttering between themselves. The work clothes made it plain enough that they belonged to Headquarters. Safe, for the moment.

He beckoned, and Dr. Myung edged over, ill at ease. She didn't look convinced.

"Judging by the direction, you're heading back after a delivery. Right?"

"Yeah."

"If you're not on a tight deadline, give us a hand, will you? Fellow civil servants ought to look out for each other."

"A minute ago you told me to get lost."

"That was more of a get lost into the vast expanse of my heart sort of—"

"Shut up. What are you doing?"

Their explanation was exactly what he could already see. No—what he could see was the whole of it. They were only labor hauled in to dig a hole. Why the hole had to be dug, they didn't know at all.

"You're digging a hole and you don't even know why?"

"Would knowing change anything?"

The hole was already bored, heavy equipment and explosives and all. What remained, they said, was cleanup—putting the inside in order.

"We've got more people down in there, but the work isn't going easy."

"And?"

"And, well. Postman, you know you've got a good body on you, don't you? Man, if I had a build like that—"

Movement leaked up from inside the hole. Whatever they were doing down there, they were groaning through it.

"I mean, really—I'm not the sort of man who goes around begging like this—"

"Sure you aren't."

"Straightforward! So, you go down into the hole, and—"

Bury Elder Heo's finger deep in a place like that, and he could give the old man worse than a chill. He could set him shaking. There was time enough before the delivery deadline. If it wasn't dangerous, he might step inside for a minute.

"One idiot dropped the key—"

The man who had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠standing quiet beside him flared.

"Idiot?"

"What, you're not? Look at the mess we're in because of you."

"You think I did it on purpose?"

"If you'd done it on purpose, you'd be a moron. That's why I'm being generous and only calling you an idiot."

"You little—"

They didn't work well together. That much was clear.

"So what do you want. You want the key found?"

"Well, we can see the key. Problem is, it went over past the iron door."

"Iron door?"

"A door of iron bars. Hangs from the ceiling and comes down. You know the kind?"

Not in the least.

"No idea."

"How do I even explain this…… They say there used to be something called a firewall. They tore that out and built a new one. To split the underground into zones and keep intruders out, these huge doors—"

What was he talking about?

"Didn't you only just bore this hole? Underground space?"

"Huh? When I say we just bored it, I only mean this passage."

"Only this passage……?"

No.

"You're saying the underground was already there?"

"Ah, right, right. Should've started there if you were going to understand. Yeah. The underground space was already there. We just cut one more passage into it."

"What's the space for?"

"Look, we don't know the details either. That's what I'm telling you."

This location. No mistake.

The day he first met Jo Yong-han. The map he had seen at the special-mission briefing. On that map, a purple line running toward Yeongdeungpo.

"Is there space down there where a subway runs?"

"……How do you know that?"

So this was where he met it. There wouldn't be a train that could actually run, of course. Only a space dug in a bygone age, and he was meeting it now.

"Didn't you say you didn't know what the space was for?"

"Ah…… Did I? What's a subway? Something you eat?"

"It is something you eat. Want me to feed you one? Come here."

"Haha! This guy and his jokes!"

"Dr. Myung. He says I'm joking."

"This man doesn't really know what a joke is."

"Haha…… Um. My mistake."

A few blunt words after that put him back in line.

"Say it again. Properly."

"Uh…… So there's a subway station down below. What we did was cut a new passage."

"And the original passage?"

"That I really don't know! I swear! Down there it's all split up by iron doors!"

"So this passage was bored straight down from the ground here?"

"That's exactly it!"

Well. That could be. The subway work was getting underway, slowly.

"So. That key you were talking about."

"Ah, anyway, the barred door is down, and the key we dropped just had to slip through the bars."

"Put something long through the bars and fish it out?"

"The distance is awkward. And it's not like the key has a ring on it—it's just the key, nothing else. The ground's uneven, too, so poking something in and pulling it back is hard."

He could see what they wanted.

"You need the iron door opened."

"Sharp! It isn't locked. It's just insanely heavy. Hard to lift."

The worker glanced around.

"There were supposed to be two armed sentries posted right here. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I came up to get them to help, but I don't know where they've gone."

"Anyway. All we have to do is lift the door. That it?"

"Right!"

"Sounds like you're in real trouble if you don't find that key."

"Well, not real trouble. We won't die. We won't die."

So they were in real trouble.

"For nothing?"

"Well…… If we get the key out, one pressed-powder ration?"

"That's the down payment. One more if it works."

"Tsk."

"Deal."

Either way, it was a good chance. He would get to look at a subway station. He couldn't ride one yet, but who knew when a chance like this would come again.

……It would have been nice if my brother and sister had come too.

"There's only one way down, so take your time and follow."

The two workers went first. He followed.

"I really don't want to……"

Dr. Myung, looking troubled. Fair enough.

"The eyes?"

"Yeah……"

In a dark underground, red eyes stood out hard. A trait that made trouble in more ways than one.

"Hey, idiot. Is it real dark down there?"

"Huh? No? Only this passage is dark. The lights aren't in yet. Down below they're up proper."

"You hear that?"

"Mm."

"And who are you calling an idiot?"

In truth, Dr. Myung's worry was almost endearing. His was whether the ceiling might come down. The sort of errand where you go to bury a corpse and the living get buried with it.

Fortunately, the uneasy stretch was short. A little deeper, and the passage ran on with braces holding the walls and ceiling firm. Signs of work done long ago. They must have prepared it so a way to the surface could be opened whenever they wanted.

"Not the idiot. What do I call the one beside him?"

"Me? Just call me Foreman."

"And your unit?"

"Just Foreman."

Didn't care to give his full name. He could allow that much.

It didn't take long to reach the iron door. Not as deep as he had thought. Did it vary that much from station to station?

"A subway's shallower than I expected."

"No. This is only the first basement level. It goes down to the sixth."

"How do you know that so well?"

"W-well, because I'm smart."

Unlike the idiot, the foreman seemed to know a good deal.

Three more workers waited in front of the door. All of them wore yellow hard hats and sat slumped against the wall.

"……What's a postman doing here?"

"Was there word of a delivery?"

They had been spent for a long while.

"Can these men even put out any strength?"

"That's why I called for backup!"

"Tsk."

The key was easy to find. About six meters past the iron door, wedged in the rubble of a collapsed wall. Just as the foreman had said, opening the door and going in looked faster.

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

"Dropped it a long way."

"You know those stairs we just came down? Dropped it there, and it bounced all the way over. The power of gravity. The Earth's fault, you could say."

This one was an idiot. No question.

"All right, everyone focus! Postman, you grab here. When the door goes up and a gap opens underneath, the woman goes in."

"M-me?"

"You're the skinniest one here."

"Ngh."

Three wrecks, an idiot, the foreman. And him.

"One, two……"

With this many putting their strength together, he had thought it would jump right up.

"Three! Hrrgh!"

It didn't.

"I-it opened a little! Hey, woman! What are you doing! Get in already!"

"What? It has to open more. It's too narrow."

"This is as far as it goes!"

"I'm telling you, it's so narrow I'll get stuck!"

"A person's body can be like a cat's if you try! Agh, I'm going to drop it! You even look like a cat! Get in!"

"If you drop it while I'm going through, I'll be in two pieces!"

"People don't die that easy! Hurry! Aaagh……!"

"What is wrong with you!"

Clang!

The iron door shut tight again, and the foreman jumped like he'd been stung.

"You should have gone in faster!"

"Are you insane?! I'd be two people right now if I had!"

Dr. Myung hadn't been overly afraid. It had been an unreasonable demand.

"Big trouble if you don't find the key?"

"Ugh…… I'm really going to lose it!"

Then the deal needed making again.

"I'll get the key out. For certain."

"……?"

"But a pressed-powder ration alone won't do."

"What are you saying? How?"

Explaining would be the harder part.

"Just make the deal. You wouldn't understand anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

"Down payment, one round. And once the key is out, the reward is information. Tell me what you know about this place."

"What……?"

"You dealing, or not."

The foreman thought a moment, then quietly took the idiot by the wrist.

"……Doesn't look like there's another way. I'll cover the information. You cover the down payment. He wants a round."

"Huh? Me?"

"You're the one who went into business with the Earth and made this mess."

"I've only got one round……"

"You've got one, so that's enough. Hurry up!"

The round the idiot held out had an unusually fine shine. He must have worried it between his fingers for a long time. Then it was time to begin.

"Everyone except Dr. Myung, turn around and close your eyes."

"Why? We're not allowed to see how you get it out?"

"Right. You're not."

"……What are you even planning to do."

The foreman grumbled and turned. The rest turned their backs without a fuss. It wasn't that the method had to stay hidden. From the sound alone, they would know what he meant to do. What had to stay hidden was the fact that a postman carried a Backscratcher.

Click.

He chambered the round he had taken as a down payment. Everything in this space was a fixed target. He could calculate a ricochet's path exactly. He checked a few probabilities, and then—

Bang!

The bullet ran clean for the ceiling directly above the key. The men with their backs turned flinched as one.

Tok.

The round struck the ceiling and ricocheted straight down.

Ting!

It slammed the key and kicked it in close to the iron door. He slipped an arm through the bars and drew it out without trouble.

"Done."

The idiot stared as if he couldn't believe what was in front of him.

"……You shot that with a gun and bounced it?"

The foreman exploded.

"You shot a key with a gun?! It's a key! A key!"

He snatched it and examined it closely.

"If it's damaged, it won't work! You understand? Hit it crude with a gun and the damage…… the……"

"What damage."

"……Nothing but a little nick, right here."

"I hit it on the ricochet."

"Don't tell me you adjusted the shot so the key wouldn't get hurt?"

"If I wanted it kicked this way, a ricochet was the better angle. Two birds."

The foreman closed his fist tight around the key. A resolve, maybe, never to lose it again. Off to the side, Dr. Myung stood looking smug.

……And what had she done?

"Hey. Thanks for the key, but—"

"But?"

"What kind of person are you?"

"You know. A postman."

"Not planning to talk, then."

"Same as you, Foreman."

"Mm……"

"You remember the deal?"

"A promise is a promise."

For a moment it seemed the commotion was settled. It wasn't.

"We're in trouble! Get down! Get down, now!"

The real commotion was only starting.

"Looks like the sentries are back."

"Finished their business and finally showed."

"Get down! All of you! Hurry!"

The shouts came down the passage.

"Something happen?"

"They ditch their post, and now they're putting on a show so they've got an excuse?"

But what followed was nothing anyone could fake.

"Air raid! It's an air raid! It's coming down!"

"Shit!"

The foreman jammed the key into a slot in the wall and turned it at once.

Rrrrrk!

The door that had been so heavy screamed and shot upward. The same sound rolled in from far off. The key must have thrown open every iron door in the underground at once.

"Everyone, follow me!"

The foreman ran in and hauled open a yellow door.

"Woo Jungkook, what do we do now……!"

"We follow, for now!"

There was no choice.

"I said everyone follow! Hurry!"

Beyond the yellow door, stairs dropped away in a chain.

"This'll take us straight to the fourth basement!"

The foreman knew the layout cold. And then they reached the third.

Wooooom……

His ears went dull. Every hair on his body stood on end. A first. He had watched so many air raids, and not once had one fallen over his own head.

Kwoom.

The world went black. His eyes were open. He was sure of that. So this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what it meant to lose the light underground. His mind began to slip.

Mmm……

"You're not dead. Don't worry."

He opened his eyes to find Dr. Myung bleeding a little. Somewhere on her head must have split; a bead of blood gathered at her earlobe and fell, tap by tap. How long had he been out?

"It was only a moment, so don't be startled. Not even ten minutes."

Dr. Myung was fine, and he had lost consciousness.

"You really have no luck. How does the ceiling come down on exactly your head and nowhere else?"

So that was it.

"Or maybe not. Alive even after that—maybe you are lucky after all."

"You're bleeding too."

"Hm? I'm not hurt. Uh……?"

He followed her gaze upward. Something peeked through a hole in the ceiling. He looked closer, and met its eyes before he meant to. Someone's head. Already dead. Blood running from it was falling into Dr. Myung's hair.

"……I want to get back and wash. Soon."

She wiped the blood away with her sleeve as if it were nothing. He looked around. The only person unhurt was Dr. Myung.

"You're the one with the luck."

"Hm?"

"You're the only one who didn't get hurt in the middle of all this."

"Ah, that, well……"

The wounded who had survived stirred at the sound of them talking.

"Who…… is anyone alive?"

"H-help……"

Light came in from the direction of the groans, and with it the traces of the injured crawling that way. So there was a way out over there. A good part of the underground seemed to have been torn away by the air raid. If he was still on the fourth basement level, then everything through the third had probably been wiped clean off. They had to move.

"Let's go. This might come down."

"Hm? Ah. Right."

Toxic gas from the raid was spreading. He went to take out a gas mask and put it on Dr. Myung, but the bag had taken the impact too. The eyepieces were already cracked. Then he heard a group of people coming.

"There! Anyone alive?"

"We're here to help!"

He took up the Backscratcher at once, but they weren't raiders. Different clothes from the men who had been boring the hole, and yet the same Headquarters work uniforms. More civil servants. They must have seen the air raid as they passed and come over. Toxic gas in the air, and they had rushed in without masks. An impressive spirit of sacrifice.

"Found them!"

"Think there are more over that way?"

Someone risked it, came close, and shone a flashlight. The beam swept his face, then Dr. Myung's, and stopped on hers.

"Found more here……"

"……Grade-A physician Myung Hwa-young?"

A face blacked out behind the light. He couldn't tell who it was, but the man seemed to know her.

"You Myung Hwa-young?"

"……"

Dr. Myung didn't answer. The man was already certain.

"It is Myung Hwa-young…… Hey. Myung Hwa-young's over here."

"Myung Hwa-young?"

"The Headquarters doctor?"

Dr. Myung began to shake. She had realized. So had he. He had heard this voice before.

The ones who had stormed Dr. Myung's clinic and begged her to operate on a wounded comrade.

"……No question. This bitch is Myung Hwa-young."

The Waste Disposal Squad.

Disposing of garbage was their job.