The Thirty-Second Assignment — Crossroads, Part 2
Chupal-ri, Paengseong-eup, Pyeongtaek-si.
That was where Yeoni meant to go today — and where the letter's recipient would be. Even by subway it was a good fifty minutes, and from the station he would still need another thirty by bus or on foot. Strip away the factories nearby and it was the countryside, plain and simple. Today looked like another long, dull trek.
I wonder what kind of person will be receiving this.
He tried to picture the recipient. He had met so many different kinds of people on these deliveries that simply imagining who it might be was interesting in its own right. What sort of person would greet him this time? A procession of faces flickered through his mind.
At the same time, a thread of worry ran through him. Guilt by association might be illegal in this day and age, but friends and family of a criminal were hardly likely to hear anything kind. In a pinch, even tracking down the address could prove difficult.
Ugh. I should've looked into this more carefully before I came.
In the worst case, they might have moved. He had a feeling that the real hardship waiting for him had nothing to do with physical distance. Unease sitting heavy in his chest, he looked up at the information board.
This station is Osan. Osan Station. The doors will open on the left. This station is……
Whether the announcement knew anything of the weight in his chest or not, it recited the station name in the same bright, practiced lilt as always. The train pressed on without a pause, as brisk and unbothered as ever. The view outside was the usual monotone stretch of nothing in particular.
What waited for him at the end of this line — even Yeoni himself could not say.
At that same moment.
"Sub-Team Leader. That thing's crawling — can't we just go on ahead and wait for him?"
"No. Our job is to stay close and protect Yeoni. What happens if we go ahead and wait, and those rebel bastards jump him on the way? Tired or not, suck it up."
"Aigoo. This is why mortal transportation is the worst. It's so slow."
In the air above the subway, Yuhwa and the other Grim Reapers were flying at a crawl.
Their objective went without saying: Yeoni's protection. The train was far slower than they could fly, so they had swallowed their boredom and matched its pace. A few of them already had their mouths stretched wide in yawns. Yuhwa, however, remained deadly serious from start to finish.
"Keep your heads on straight. We don't know when or where they'll hit us. The second you spot those rebels, surround them and beat the living hell out of them. Don't go easy just because there's only a few. Got it?"
Her voice was wound tight as a tripwire. If Yeoni was on the move, the rebels would be too. The circumstances said as much — and Yuhwa's Divine Power was blaring warning sirens inside her skull for good measure. The juniors stopped yawning and answered in earnest.
"Yes, Sub-Team Leader."
"The letter's destination was Chupal-ri in Pyeongtaek, right? About fifty minutes left."
Before they knew it, the train had left Osan and was heading toward Jinwi. Roughly four stations remained. The distance between stops was considerable, and still Yuhwa kept glancing at the route map, restless. She had to see him safely home, at the very least…
"Anyone look suspicious? Speak up the second you see something."
"No, ma'am. Nothing at all. All civilians."
"Don't skip over earthbound spirits or ghosts, either. They could be disguised and waiting to jump us."
"Understood, Sub-Team Leader."
The complaints about how slowly they were going were forgotten. The Grim Reapers swept the surroundings as if they were scouring them clean. Their opponent was none other than Gangnim himself. A single moment of carelessness would be enough for him to slip through their watch and close in. Some had even drawn their weapons and taken up a fighting stance.
But all of it was useless.
"Look at them playing around. And they call that keeping watch."
Because Gangnim was above them even now.
If anyone asked how long he had been following them, the honest answer would have been: from the very beginning. He had hurried, and that was how he had caught up so quickly. The secret to remaining unseen was, of course, his power. Yuhwa's skill still did not reach his.
Southbound line… then it's definitely that way.
The mockery faded from his face as he looked down at the train. He could see Yeoni clearly, gazing out the window. That vacant expression soured his mood in a way he couldn't quite name. And what the boy was doing made it worse.
He'd had a hunch, and sure enough.
The fact that Yeoni even had the letter on him made it certain: he was going to find the recipient. Was he still trying to deliver it, even after hearing everything? Disappointment in Yeoni surged up fast. And once the disappointment settled, he began weighing how to handle him.
Shall I try persuading him one more time — or just force the issue?
He had several options. Yuhwa and her crew couldn't stop him anyway. Whether he twisted Yeoni with words or compelled him with force, it was entirely up to him. Gangnim weighed the choices as lightly as if he were picking something off a dinner menu. Then, abruptly, he frowned.
No. Force would be a problem.
He set the option of compulsion aside. Not out of some half-baked sense of fair play. If he used force, the other side would obviously use force in turn, under the pretext of putting things back the way they were. And Yeoni would only raise his guard against him higher. To bring him down from within, he had to change Yeoni's heart completely.
Persuasion was the only method left.
Tch. Running my mouth was never my specialty.
Gangnim clicked his tongue at the nuisance of it. He wasn't as bad as his subordinates, but he too was a man of action who preferred doing to talking. Suchan was much better suited to this sort of thing… The belated regret left a sour taste. He hadn't brought him, so what could he do? He would have to make do.
Songtan Station, was it? Only three more stops after that.
While he was thinking, Songtan — the next station — came into view on the far side. Once they passed it, three stops would remain. After that, a bus or a walk. There would be fewer people around, which meant a chance to get closer.
Put the other way, it was also a crisis in which he might be discovered.
"What a pain in the ass."
Gangnim glared down at Yuhwa's group below. Could he close the distance without those below noticing? He was confident enough, but an instinctive wariness told him to prepare for the worst. He moved his fingers with care — preliminary work for a Concealment Spell.
If I still get caught after all this, I'm going to be pissed.
This was turning into a lot of work.
Grumbling to himself, Gangnim slowly melted into the dark.
A short while later, the train at last pulled into Pyeongtaek Station. The moment Yeoni stepped off, Yuhwa's group — and Gangnim — hid themselves and followed. It was a sight that would have made any spiritual medium's blood run cold. Thanks to the Concealment Spell, of course, there was no chance of being seen.
The person in question hadn't the faintest dream of any of this, and simply set off in search of his destination. Once outside the station, he considered how to get where he was going. As always, the geography of a place he had never visited felt unfamiliar.
Should I just walk it?
It wasn't even lunchtime yet. A bus would be faster, but Yeoni wanted to walk, if only to sort out his thoughts. He turned on his phone and searched the map, figuring he would go on foot if it didn't take too long.
"Tch. That's a long way."
Unfortunately, the map said over an hour on foot. Even by bus it was about thirty minutes. That was the price of forgetting his destination was the countryside. Yeoni shook off the lingering attachment and walked to the bus stop. As it happened, a bus was coming from the other direction.
"Excuse me, sir — does this bus go to Chupal-ri?"
"Chupal-ri? That's a ways. Pretty much the last stop…"
The driver gave him a curious look at the destination. Aside from the industrial complex, it was a farming village, and Yeoni's neat appearance didn't fit either. Yeoni answered with a silent, sheepish smile.
"Shy one, aren't you, kid. Just hop on. You're headed the right way."
"Yes — thank you."
Afraid of further questions, he hurried inside and found a seat. Given the hour, the interior was nearly empty. Yeoni took a spot in a reasonably out-of-the-way corner. The bus rumbled onto the road with a throaty roar of its engine.
"……"
The bus stayed quiet the whole way. Almost no one got on or off. It was as if the ride itself were granting him time to think — and so Yeoni sank deep into thought, turning over the recipient he was about to meet.
What am I even going to do when I get there?
He couldn't settle on a plan. He had come out here on a decision that was half impulse. To make up his mind, he needed something to tip the scales — and he had no idea what kind of catalyst he expected to get from the recipient.
Watch from a distance? He doubted he would learn anything worthwhile that way.
Ask about the client? Blurting that out would just be rude.
Ah, shit. Did I come out here too fast? I should've come later.
Yeoni winced at the belated regret. Beyond those two approaches, nothing useful came to mind. He bit his lip and groped for a way to salvage this. This was why decisions made in the heat of the moment were dangerous. The temptation to just turn around and go home even crept in, sly and quiet.
…Forget it. I came all this way. I can't do nothing.
Before long, a stubborn streak welled up, stronger than the temptation. The deadline was only a few days away as it was. If he went home under the pretense of thinking it over more carefully, he would miss his chance. Even if he ended up half-sure, finishing this now was the better call. It felt a little like talking himself into it, but for Yeoni, this was the best he could do.
He put the thoughts aside and looked out the window. Broad rice paddies stretched away on the other side.
"We're almost there already."
While he had been going back and forth with himself, Chupal-ri had drawn near.
"Thank you."
The Chupal-ri he arrived in was deserted.
It was winter, so no one was out working the paddies. The factory district was in the middle of a shift, which left Yeoni the only soul wandering outside. Broad rice fields and scattered houses lent the place a lonely, hushed air.
Ah — this is no time to be sightseeing.
He had slowed down without realizing it. Catching the mistake, he picked up his pace again. This was not the moment for idle scenery. His eyes, bright and intent, moved quickly as he searched for the destination. It wasn't an apartment building, which meant he had no choice but to check nameplates and addresses one by one.
Finding the address would be the easy part. What came after was the real problem.
Thud.
Hm?
It was then, as he was wandering in search of the recipient, that something sounded from behind the houses. It had the weight of heavy things colliding — but it was so faint he could barely tell. Yeoni's gaze swung toward the noise.
Did something happen?
Curious as he was, he did not stop walking on a whim. He had important business ahead of him, and he worked hard to tamp down the curiosity that wanted to boil over. And yet his attention kept snagging on it all the same. It wasn't curiosity. Some other instinct was prodding him to go look.
It felt ominous, as if it were warning him of something serious.
He glanced down at his wristwatch. He had a reasonable amount of time.
Just for a second. I'll check what's there and come right back.
In the end, he followed the instinct. He stopped scanning the gates, turned, and stepped into the back alley where the sound had come from, creeping forward like a stray cat on the prowl.
Strangely, he had the impression the noise had been growing louder for a while now.
CRASH.
It was no illusion.
What he found when he arrived was a spectacle. Holes had been punched into the ground here and there, and the walls of the houses had either collapsed outright or sagged inward. Anyone happening upon the scene might have thought a bomb had gone off. The only mercy was that the houses were abandoned.
Huh. The Grim Reapers?
And there, in the middle of the commotion, Yeoni found a cluster of them.
"Slow on the uptake, but unnecessarily strong. Is the Post Office hiring for brawn these days?"
"I noticed you ages ago, okay? Quit acting so high and mighty, you rebel. You're pissing me off."
"You're gasping just to block my attacks, and yet that mouth of yours is still going."
"You were gasping just as hard. Spare me the crap."
The two at the center were Gangnim and Yuhwa.
They were tearing into each other with gusto. Swords they had been using only moments before still hung in their hands. The way they stood there, weapons drawn and veins standing out in their necks, looked for all the world like a battlefield. Yeoni stood frozen, stunned.
"So why did you even come? Let's start with that."
"That's my line. If I recall, that precious little junior of yours already turned you down. Playing the senior now, after all that? It's rather pathetic. I'd suggest you know when to quit."
Gangnim twisted his mouth and sneered. It was a thoroughly crude accusation: what right did they even have to be here? Yuhwa's eyebrows shot up at the words. Far from shrinking back, she fired back in a blaze of fury.
"By that logic, you're the pathetic one. You rebelled and abandoned your post for seventy years. A guy who walked off the job doesn't get to lecture a junior."
Whatever respect she might have owed a former senior, she had traded it away for a stick of taffy.