Chapter 16
Lee Jeong-suk glanced toward Kim and Park with a face full of tension.
I also reflexively checked on them.
The two men, seated in a corner far away from the people, were sharing a conversation in voices so low they couldn't be heard by anyone nearby.
What kind of shady thing would a soldier do while hiding their identity?
Considering the guns they carried at their waists, it was hard to think optimistically.
An image of Kim and Park opening fire on the people inside the office flashed through my mind.
Everyone seemed to be thinking something similar and shut their mouths with pale faces.
I spoke up hesitatingly to change the mood.
“But... then why would they bother bringing us all the way here? Like the Manager said, they rescued us and brought us here, after all.”
“They might have something to find out from us. They came to our office to look for something, too. After calling us out separately and interrogating us...”
Manager Kim trailed off and drew a finger across his throat.
Ha Yun-seo snapped in an irritable voice.
“What’s the point of saying that now? It’s not like we can run away somewhere else again anyway.”
The woman’s face, which had relaxed since arriving here, was once again frozen with tension.
Lee Jeong-suk muttered anxiously while looking at the short-haired woman who was talking to someone on the phone.
“Can we really not leave? Are they going to lock us in here for good?”
At Lee Jeong-suk’s words, everyone checked the windows and the entrance with anxious eyes.
It didn't seem like they were specifically guarding us, but perhaps because of what the woman from the hair salon said, I felt particularly trapped.
I dusted myself off and stood up amidst the heavy atmosphere.
Manager Kim flinched and froze, seemingly surprised by my sudden movement.
“Where are you going?”
Manager Kim’s anxious question came from behind, but I didn't look back.
In the corner of the office, Kim and Park were resting, leaning against the wall as if they had finished their conversation.
When I approached, Park looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
Beside him, Kim had his eyes closed as if trying to get some sleep.
“Do you have something to say?”
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
Park spoke with a slightly surprised expression.
“I don’t think I’ve ever given you a proper answer when you asked, though? What is it?”
“What happens if we say we want to leave here?”
With his mouth slightly agape, Park fell into thought as if trying to come up with a response.
Kim, who had been closing his eyes until now, slowly opened them and stared blankly at me.
“…I wouldn’t recommend it, but I won’t stop you.”
Kim moved only his eyes to look at the group sitting far away and asked me.
“Are you anxious that you might be confined here?”
“…Yes. It’s not comfortable.”
Only then did Park snap out of his bewilderment and throw out a joke with a beam.
“Still, seeing as you came to ask yourself, I guess you trust us a bit?”
I stood still without answering that.
When no answer came, Park let out an awkward laugh and shut his mouth again.
The extent of the trust I had in the two of them was that they wouldn't shoot me dead over a single question like this.
Rather than trust in their humanity, it was a realistic thought that they wouldn't shoot me dead just because they didn't like a question after having bothered to bring us here alive.
I stayed in my spot for a while, wondering if Kim or Park would continue speaking.
But as if ‘I wouldn't recommend it’ was the end of the answer, Kim closed his eyes again and remained silent.
“…Thank you for answering.”
At the conversation that had ended one-sidedly, I eventually bowed my head and withdrew.
Though it wouldn't be seen by Kim, who had his eyes closed.
When I returned, Deputy Head Jeong struck my back with a face turned deathly pale.
“What were you going to do if something bad happened, Jihyeok-ssi!”
My back stung from her hand, which had more force behind it than I expected.
Still, I could feel her concern for me in that gesture, so I replied with a faint smile.
“I felt like everyone wouldn't even be able to rest properly because they’d be thinking only about that if I didn't ask. They said they won’t stop us from leaving. Though they don’t recommend it.”
At those words, Manager Kim stole a glance toward the exit.
Ha Yun-seo asked him, looking anxious.
“Um, are you going to leave?”
Manager Kim shook his head from side to side.
None of the group approached the exit.
However, after hearing that they weren't being held captive, everyone had a look of being much more at ease.
Having regained her composure, Ha Yun-seo fiddled with her phone for a while, and then, as if bored by the prolonged silence, she suddenly spoke to Kang Ye-ra.
“What is your name?”
Kang Ye-ra, who had been lost in thought, answered the question with a faint smile.
“I’m Kang Ye-ra.”
I saw Park, who was operating Kim’s tablet, glance our way out of the corner of his eye.
Ha Yun-seo continued the conversation sociably with a beaming smile.
“So it’s Ye-ra Unnie. Your name is pretty! I’m Ha Yun-seo. Unnie, didn't you come to our salon to get a haircut last month or the month before?”
Kang Ye-ra’s eyes went wide as if slightly surprised.
“That’s right. There were so many customers; how did you remember?”
“Oh, come on, you’re so pretty; how could I forget?”
At Ha Yun-seo's playful attitude, the heavy atmosphere relaxed.
Deputy Head Jeong also cut into the two's conversation.
“Ye-ra-ssi, have you been to that salon? I’ve been meaning to go there once too, but I just couldn't find the time.”
Ha Yun-seo said, brightening up.
“You should come by sometime. I think there’s even a discount for people working in this building? If I weren't just a trainee, I’d give you something as a bonus service. Make sure to come later.”
Ha Yun-seo’s expression, which had been smiling brightly, momentarily sank into darkness.
“…But I don't know if I can work there again….”
Seeing Ha Yun-seo cast her gaze down as she said that, Deputy Head Jeong quickly spoke in a bright voice.
“Oh, what are you worried about? Even if it’s not there, is there anywhere you couldn't work? A hairdresser is, you know, a technical job, right?”
At Deputy Head Jeong’s words, Ha Yun-seo nodded, forcing a smile.
As if to liven up the mood again, Deputy Head Jeong Mi-gyeong hurriedly revealed her own name.
Riding that flow, I, Lee Jeong-suk, and Manager Kim also offered belated introductions to Ha Yun-seo.
Once the exchange of names was over, the topic of conversation among the three who had started talking naturally turned to hair-related matters.
Manager Kim looked for a chance to join the conversation a few times, but eventually, seemingly thinking there was no place for him to chime in, he turned his attention back to his phone.
I felt a gaze on the side of my face and turned my head.
Lee Jeong-suk was glancing at me with an expression that said she had something to say.
Her gaze brushed over the phone in my pocket.
She had noticed that, just as in the hair salon, I wasn't checking my phone on my own.
I also noticed that she didn't look at her phone often like me, and every time she opened the screen, she checked only the time without any enthusiasm.
Empathy or pity.
I felt uncomfortable with her perceptiveness in keenly recognizing someone in a similar situation.
I stood up and left the spot before Lee Jeong-suk could say anything about it.
Still, not wanting to look like I was obviously avoiding her, I approached the youthful-faced man who had measured our temperatures and asked.
“Um, is there a restroom inside too?”
The man nodded and pointed outside the exit.
As I followed that gesture out the door, the man followed me out.
I asked with a slightly fed-up expression.
“…Are you following me all the way to the restroom?”
An awkward smile appeared on the youthful man’s face.
“…The probability is low, but it could be dangerous. I’ll stand outside the door.”
In the man’s hand was a handgun identical to the ones Kim and Park used.
The only difference was that, unlike the two whose handling of handguns seemed natural, the man’s movements were awkward, as if he were holding a bomb prone to exploding.
The restroom on one side of the hallway was small compared to the size of the building, and like the building’s exterior, it was old and worn out in various places.
After flushing, I washed my hands at the low sink and looked into the hazily stained mirror.
The restroom lighting was dim, making it difficult to discern clearly, but the eyes reflected in the mirror looked normal.
What were those people’s eyes like again?
I thought of those pupils that looked as if a white fog had been sprayed over them, and those unfocused, trembling gazes.
I was staring intently at my eyes in the mirror when the man’s voice drifted in.
“If you’re done, let’s go back quickly.”
Turning my head to look, I saw the man standing at the door, repeatedly glancing toward the stairs with an anxious expression.
“…They say if you’re bitten by those people, you die no matter what. Is that true?”
At my question, the man looked at me with a stiff expression.
“Why are you asking such a question?”
Whether he couldn't trust me despite having checked with his own hands, the man took a slight step back while looking at me.
I quickly turned off the faucet and brushed the water off my hands, changing the subject.
“I was just curious.”
The man was still looking at me with a suspicious expression when the sound of footsteps hurriedly coming up the stairs was heard.
The youthful-faced man and I poked our heads out simultaneously and looked toward the stairs.
A man carrying a young child on his back leaped up the stairs.
Just like Kim and Park, he was dressed entirely in black from head to toe.
The child on his back had her face buried in the man’s shoulder, whether she was asleep or unconscious.
Behind him, a young man and woman with faces full of worry appeared one after another.
Judging by how their anxious gazes never left the child even as they ran after the man, they seemed to be the child’s family—likely her parents.
They ran straight toward Jiwon Trading and knocked on the iron door, seemingly having failed to notice us.
Soon the door opened, and the man carrying the child and the young couple vanished into the office.
The youthful-faced man forgot about being wary of me and urged me to head quickly toward Jiwon Trading.
He knocked on the door with that same unique rhythm, but for some reason, no response came from inside.
After knocking a few more times, the man eventually pushed the door with a puzzled expression.
The iron door, which had appeared to be tightly shut, opened with disconcerting ease.
Through the gap in the open door, I could see Park aiming his muzzle at the man who had just come up the stairs.
No, what Park was aiming at was not the man, but the young girl held in his arms.
Park glared at the man with a distorted expression and spat out a low curse.
“You crazy son of a bitch.”
The child, whose cheeks were flushed red as if she had a fever, had her eyes closed with a localized frown.
On the arm of the child wearing a sleeveless dress, a red bite mark was clearly visible.