Dark Moon Night (1)
In the end, I brought it up to Sea on the day of the meeting itself—Saturday. Not so much by design, but because the conversation naturally drifted that way.
Around five in the afternoon, I'd just finished showering and was toweling off my hair when I felt Sea's gaze boring into me from the living room. Her eyes carried that familiar question: Where are you off to now? If I was just going to lounge around the house, there'd be no need to shower at this hour.
Realizing I couldn't put it off any longer, I finally spoke up.
"I'm heading out for a bit, Sea."
"...Now?"
"Yeah. Might crash there overnight. I made dinner, so just heat up the soup and eat it with the side dishes—"
"With who?"
Her low, probing tone sent a chill down my spine. Better to rip the bandage off early, I thought, regretting my delay as I answered her.
"Oh, uh, some friends... We're not wandering around outside or anything. Just renting a room to hang out quietly."
"Friends... 'some'?"
Her skeptical retort all but screamed Don't lie—tell me the truth. I could understand her reaction. If I went out now and stayed overnight, it meant I'd be gone until March 14th. She'd probably suspect I was off to spend a debauched night with some girl.
I laid out the facts: Eight of us total—five guys, three girls. It was genuinely just friends catching up after a long time.
Calling them "friends" might be a bit of a stretch, truth be told. But within the limits of what I could explain to Sea, it was the most accurate term. Friends. Comrades. Or, more dryly put... people of use.
"You'll be back tomorrow?"
"Yeah, just one night. Home by lunchtime at the latest."
"...Do whatever."
With that, Sea retreated to her room. Her tone was flat, like she couldn't care less what I did. But I could sense the faint irritation laced in her words.
Since the new semester started, we'd been talking more, but before that—in those days when we barely exchanged a word a day—the one time Sea showed even a flicker of emotion toward me was when I announced an overnight stay.
My little sister hated spending nights alone at home.
I finished getting ready, slipped on my shoes, and called out loudly toward her room.
"I'll be back soon! Eat properly!"
No response from inside.
I met Seo Yeon-hee right on schedule, at six p.m. She looked my age, late 160s in height, with platinum blonde bobbed hair that seemed dyed, dressed in flashy clothes. Approaching in that familiar guise I'd seen often lately, she grinned playfully and held out her hand.
"Gotta give me my due, right?"
White Day, so she meant the chocolate tribute. I sighed and replied.
"I said I'd give it after everything's done."
"Oh, right? Fine, whatever. Let's go."
In this appearance, Seo Yeon-hee was far more bubbly than usual. It felt deliberate, but she seemed to enjoy it too...
Anyway. She hooked her arm in mine like lovers would, naturally leading the way, so I asked,
"Where to?"
"Gotta change clothes first, don't we? Heading somewhere we can do that."
"...Then change my face too."
"Why?"
At her puzzled question, I explained briefly. I'd told Sea I was hanging out with friends.
"But if word gets out I'm entering a hotel with a girl? It'd make me a total liar."
Seo Yeon-hee frowned slightly. She tilted her head up to glare at me sideways, then spoke in a tone of exasperation.
"Dojin... you're not exactly normal yourself, you know? Doesn't it tire you out, fussing over your sister like that all the time?"
"Not at all."
This is what feels right and comfortable, so this is how I live.
As we talked, I felt my facial muscles subtly shifting. Up close, you'd spot the resemblance, but at a glance, it wouldn't register as me.
Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Seo Yeon-hee asked,
"Something just popped into my head... Mind answering one question?"
"What?"
"Like, am I as important to you as Sea? No, wait—not that much. Half as important, maybe? I do take good care of you, after all."
"How do you even measure that?"
One was my favorite character from World Guardian—next to my parents—and my greatest ally right now. The other was my one remaining family in this world. I wasn't cold-blooded enough to weigh them on a scale.
"Okay, real talk: If Sea and I fell in the water, who'd you save? No cheating by saving both—just one."
Setting aside whether this was appropriate to say in front of Seo Yeon-hee, the answer itself wasn't hard.
I hesitated a moment, then opened my mouth.
"...That'd be—"
"Forget it. I was just teasing—no need to overthink."
She patted my shoulder like it was all a bored joke and quickened her pace.
The moment we entered the hotel room we'd use as a staging point, she flicked her hand.
Pop!
A jaunty sound rang out, and a tailored suit and dress dropped from thin air.
Then Seo Yeon-hee stared at me silently. When I met her gaze with a what? look, she smiled faintly and said,
"Won't peek, so change here. I'll change too—don't you peek either."
"If you're not looking anyway, one of us could change elsewhere."
"...You rehearsed that reply?"
"Huh?"
I played innocent and headed to the bathroom to change. When I emerged wearing a plain white mask, Seo Yeon-hee approached.
She wore a jet-black dress, her face mostly veiled by the black lace veil on her wide-brimmed hat. Then, out of nowhere:
"Hold still."
"Pardon?"
Without waiting, she reached out. Her delicate fingertips brushed my nape lightly as she straightened my clothes, asking quietly,
"Lemme double-check... So, who exactly is this 'rat'?"
"Dunno for sure, but... probably one of the 'three,' right?"
"Makes sense. A traitor, confirmed?"
"Not even that. All I know is, if we leave them be, they might cause trouble down the line."
The hologram hadn't outright called them a traitor. Just a 'person of interest.' Though it hardly changed the outcome.
"Anyway, we have to kill them today."
The hologram's quest required eliminating the person of interest to complete. Even if they weren't a traitor now, they might become a threat comparable later.
"Got it. I'll just watch—you handle it."
"Suits me fine, but you sure?"
"Of course. Between you and me."
She chuckled and lowered her hand. The air split open wide enough for people to pass through. We stepped in...
And emerged in a dark forest.
In the distance stood a beautiful castle, stark against the barren landscape. Seo Yeon-hee boasted subtly,
"Put some effort into it. Shame to dismantle it after tonight. Even made the bedroom cozy... though who knows if we'll use it."
"If we have to sleep, I'd take that hotel back there."
"Right? Same here."
"..."
Even so, that's a quick shift in gears.
As I thought that, something feather-light settled on my shoulder. Like mist. A fine spring rain had begun to fall.
Sunset had passed; the sun had already set. And today, by the lunar calendar, was the 1st of the 2nd month.
New Moon. The moon on the first day of the lunar month, stripped of light and fading.
By nightfall, everything around would be pitch black.
Reiterating what we'd already settled, I told Seo Yeon-hee,
"I'll handle things today, so best if you stay back."
"You'd do that for me?"
She smiled happily at what could pass for consideration, then asked slyly,
"Phone off?"
"Changed clothes and did it."
I worried Sea might call... but no signal out here anyway.
About then, mists rippled in the sky. Six in total. Parting the black vapors, six figures appeared one by one.
"Thought I was first."
The tall man from Yeom Ui-jun's hit, wearing a black mask.
"What a hassle, calling us like this."
A hulking brute whose mask barely covered eyes, nose, and mouth, grumbling. He'd been with me for Yeom Ui-jun too.
"..."
A slender woman. Another recent face. Unlike the men, she wore a cute rabbit mask, but her silver hair and crimson eyes still drew the eye.
"Long time, everyone."
A hunched, short old man.
"Yeah, first time since last year."
A boy with a youthful voice.
"..."
A poised woman in a fox mask.
The six of them, plus me and Seo Yeon-hee—eight in total.
Different nationalities, genders, ages, races. But one clear commonality: all wanted criminals with astronomical bounties.
Stolen artifacts? A-grades alone numbered in the dozens. S-grade hunters slain? More than a few.
The full roster of the Class A criminal organization Phantom had assembled.