Jangmak
Jangmak
After hearing from the police that the case had been transferred to the Special Countermeasure Bureau for Anomalous Phenomena, we returned home.
"But what is the Special Countermeasure Bureau for Anomalous Phenomena?"
The police officer who explained the organization to us said it was an agency that handles mysterious incidents related to breast milk, but I couldn't quite grasp exactly what they do.
Even searching the internet turned up nothing about such an organization.
Just as the police said, it was shrouded in the Veil.
Whiiiirrr-
While noona and I were chattering about what the organization might be, my phone's vibration bell went off.
Unknown number. Noona picked up and turned on the speaker.
"Yeoboseyo??"
["Hello. This is Kang Seo-ha, Field Team 6 Leader of the Special Countermeasures Division for Abnormal Phenomena. Is this Cha Hye-rin?"]
"Yes..."
["For the incident investigation, I'd like to meet you personally this weekend if possible. Could you let me know your availability?"]
A businesslike and polite woman's voice.
We set an appointment to meet near the school on Saturday.
The other party wanted to personally tour the university with Cha Hye-rin for the investigation.
Maybe because she was an employee of a secret organization, she didn't say much on the phone and hung up right after nailing down the schedule.
"What do I do... They say it's the agency handling mysterious breast milk incidents, but am I gonna get dragged to some shady place and tortured over my leaking breast milk?"
Cha Hye-rin was totally freaked out, arms up hiding her chest.
After suddenly starting to leak breast milk, getting trapped in a weird room, and getting assaulted by some identity-unknown weirdo—not to mention all the other crap she'd been through—now a government secret agency shows up, and she's spiraling, wondering if something's seriously off.
She was shaking, imagining being locked in some superpower or anomaly research lab as a guinea pig getting milked, but that seemed like overkill worry.
"Noona, even if it's not public knowledge, it's still a government agency. The cops said they'd hand it off to this secret outfit to solve the case—it won't be some unethical trash fire group straight out of a bad movie."
"Really...?"
"Trust Team Leader Kang Seo-ha. She's the pro on this stuff, so she feels even more legit, right?"
Ever since we got stuck in [The Room You Can't Leave Unless You Milk], these bizarre breast milk-related incidents kept piling up on noona.
We had zero clue what kind of phenomenon this was, and it was driving us nuts, but getting hooked up with a specialist response agency? Felt solid.
The other side might know exactly what we'd been through and have a fix.
"Yuhyeon-ah, you'll come with me to meet her, right?"
"Obviously. It's your deal, noona—family like me ain't sitting it out."
When I said I'd tag along to meet Team Leader Kang Seo-ha with her, Cha Hye-rin flashed a soft smile.
Looked like having her little bro nearby was the security blanket she needed.
Her face brighter than before, she started babbling cheerfully.
"How about we whip up something tasty for dinner tonight? Noona'll cook!"
"Tasty? Then I want meat. Beef good?"
"You nuts? Eat what's on offer."
"Aw, man."
Noona was uncharacteristically offering to cook something yummy for her dongsaeng, so I slyly threw out beef, but nope—shot down instantly.
Saturday afternoon. Near noona's university.
Team Leader Kang Seo-ha had beaten the appointment time by 20 minutes.
We'd come early to wait too, so we ended up meeting her ahead of schedule.
"Hello, Team Leader Kang Seo-ha-nim."
"Yes, hello."
A prim short-bob woman with a curt nod.
Model figure decked in office chic—she looked like a flight attendant or some celeb on a photoshoot gig.
Her looks were next-level stunning, way beyond what I'd pictured; I straight-up gawked in awe. Figured it'd be your run-of-the-mill bureaucrat, not some idol-level babe right in front of me?
"Nice to meet you, Cha Hye-rin-ssi. And who's this?"
After shaking noona's hand, Kang Seo-ha turned to me.
"My little brother."
"Family?"
"Yeah!"
She nodded and greeted me too.
Cold first impression. Those icy, impassive eyes could pass for pissed-off sternness even when she was just staring ahead.
No wonder she screamed "celebrity"—she gave off that untouchable drama boss babe vibe, the kind you can't just buddy up to.
Poke poke.
"Hey, why're you staring all dopey like that?"
I was frozen solid, so noona elbow-jabbed my ribs.
"Nah, she's just insanely pretty, way more than I expected."
"Dork, quit gaping at a lady like a slackjaw. You're embarrassing me."
Noona wasn't thrilled with my fanboy routine, poking my lower back with her finger over and over.
"Ow, alright already."
Her prods snapped me out of it.
I'd gotten so used to noona's face that I hardly ever went wow over anyone else's looks, but this? Whole new level of shock.
Damn, people can be that pretty?
Kinda wanna ask why she's not an entertainer, so yeah, a little starstruck's fair.
Kang Seo-ha, either used to it or just not giving a damn, glanced our way then cut to the chase.
"I got the case files from the police. Says you've been tangled in anomalous phenomena while going to university lately."
"Yeah, that's right..."
"Breast milk's really coming out, even without giving birth?"
Straight to the jugular.
Noona fidgeted her fingers, squeezed her eyes shut, and mumbled her answer.
Super awkward to admit, even to another woman.
"Yeah..."
"No breast milk at home, but it happens every time you come here to university?"
"Yep."
"I snagged a copy of the CCTV footage too and looped through it. Definitely more than one or two weird bits."
"Right? So, like, what do I do?"
Kang Seo-ha eyed Cha Hye-rin's face like she was dissecting it, then pivoted toward the university.
"First off, let's verify a few more details. Gotta nail down exactly what kind of Jangmak this is. You mind cooperating?"
"Jangmak? What's that?"
"I'll explain nice and slow while we walk."
With that, Kang Seo-ha strode through the university gate.
Cha Hye-rin glanced back at me. Eyes asking if it was cool to follow her into the university.
After that harasser creep threatening her, she was gun-shy about stepping foot in there.
I nodded at noona. All these freaky things hitting her and me lately? Trailing Kang Seo-ha was the way to figure it out.
She was the expert, after all.
Kang Seo-ha headed straight for the lecture hall where noona's breast milk had first leaked.
"You said every time you enter the university, your chest gets heavy, feels like breast milk's about to flow. That happening now?"
"Huh? What're you saying?"
"Feel like breast milk's coming?"
"Ah, no! Not at all."
Noona flailed her hands, shooting down Team Leader Kang Seo-ha's question.
She whipped out a notepad and jotted something down.
"So then, only pops up during lectures?"
"Nope. Been like that since stepping onto campus."
"On-campus only. Weekends excluded."
"Uh, sorry, but what exactly are you noting down?"
Noona whispered to the woman who seemed laser-focused on scouting the scene and probing the case.
"Checking the trigger conditions for the breast milk."
"Wha?! For my breast milk?"
"Ah, phrasing it that way might freak you out. More precisely, testing the manifestation conditions for the Jangmak."
"But what's Jangmak...?"
Hearing "breast milk conditions" made Cha Hye-rin slap both hands over her boobs, face flushing crimson.
"Jangmak's the term for anomalous phenomena science can't explain. Mostly lewd shit goes down inside, so they get called lewd ghost stories too."
"Lewd ghost stories??"
"Like this, for example. Those over-the-top, smutty tales you only see in fanfic? They play out for real. Guy with hypnosis mind-fucks women into submission, gets isekai'd and builds a harem.
Totally batshit stories, but trap 'em in a Jangmak? Boom, reality."
"......."
Her rundown had me blinking like an idiot.
So, if your horny daydreams turn real, that's a Jangmak?
For real? That possible?
"Jangmak ain't reality. Fits right in with fictional ghost stories, urban legends. But y'know how diving into a ghost story in a book makes it feel real? Same deal—plunge into Jangmak, and it becomes your reality."
"No freaking way! How's fake crap turn real? You said it wasn't reality!"
"We don't know the exact why on Jangmak popping up or how inside-events bleed into the real world. But our gig is researching it, shutting it down, and cutting civilian fallout to the bone."
Cha Hye-rin clutched her head, reeling from Team Leader Kang Seo-ha's crash course on Jangmak and the Special Countermeasure Bureau for Anomalous Phenomena's mission.
What she was dealing with? Sounded like lewd ghost story vibes, popping up in everyday life now and then.
SCBAP was the gov's black-ops squad for stopping Jangmak.
"But I've never heard of Jangmak before? Nobody around me's mentioned anything like this. Breast milk just... leaking outta nowhere..."
"Folks just don't know. Jangmak flares up all around us, constant."
"For real?"
"Jangmak's terror? It vanishes from memory. Folks who get snared in one? Most forget everything later. Like a steamy wet dream that fades—poof, gone from the brain."
She explained how once Jangmak lifts, people forget it ever existed.
"Not just the Jangmak—related tales, reports, rumors? All wiped. That's why it's off our radar."
"So, total blackout? But you know about Jangmak. And SCBAP exists, the gov agency fighting it."
"Sure, some remember their Jangmak stints—like me. Only Special Constitution types, though. Most? Nah."
"So what about me? After Jangmak, I just... forget it all?"
"Likely. Once I get you out safe, Jangmak clears—you forget every bit: uni crap, our chat here, SCBAP. All of it."
Kang Seo-ha delivered it bone-dry.
Like civilians forgetting was par for the course, she laid it out all businesslike, then dove back into her thing.
Circling the lecture hall, scribbling in her notepad.
Now her acting like I was invisible, zero interest in surroundings? Made sense.
We crossed paths 'cause of a Jangmak deal. Noona's Jangmak fizzles? She gets erased from memory.
No point playing nicey-nice—we ain't reuniting, won't even remember.
But Jangmak = lewd ghost stories, normals forget the inside deets later?
If that's the case... that [Room You Can't Leave Unless You Milk] noona and I survived? Totally a Jangmak flavor.
Lewd fantasy shit that couldn't happen IRL.
We milked our way out.
Every bit of that week? Crystal clear in my head. Noona's too. Both of us.