Chương 120: S.05 Time to Fly 08(05)

Scene 08_05. Yeon-jin sat in the chair of her office with a vacant expression, looking down at an open ledger. Her gaze, fixed downward for a long while without so much as a twitch like someone drugged, didn't change even as Seong-hyeon's steps—flinging the door open and coming in—carried all the way into the office. Seeing Yeon-jin like that, Seong-hyeon came over a little quicker and shook Yeon-jin's shoulder. Scene 08_06.

Yu-seok, who'd taken Hee-jin's unserious prophecy with a listless laugh, went into the large opera house with Hee-jin. After settling Hee-jin into a seat in the hall, Yu-seok took off his own coat, held it carefully, and lowered himself into a seat. It was a large art hall. Across the spacious space, opera performance posters and signboards were placed at fitting spots. Yu-seok: Been a while. This place.

Putting the chill she'd briefly felt behind her, Hee-jin steadied her breath as if drawing a deep one and scanned the surroundings. Yu-seok: It's been a good while since I performed here. Hee-jin: The Covenant, instead of just supporting it with leftover profits in the form of donations, also uses this as a place to keep an early eye on the budding talent of outside children. Well, for those whose family trade it is, it was no more than a chance to show their skill.

The promising kids get hired on exclusively as dancers, so it's a place that helps children come into easy contact with traditional dance from a young age. You couldn't have no experience with it either, Oppa. That's why I suggested coming here today. It happened to be a performance day. Yu-seok: You work hard at the Strategist's job. Hee-jin: I won't have regrets. My work, I'll do without a single gap, precisely, all the way to the end, and then leave.

The house lights all went dark, and only the stage cast a bright glow. Hee-jin: And the pimp? Yu-seok: Put her in a taxi and sent her off. She won't remember a thing anyway. Won't even know how she got there. The opera's opening selection rang out and began to deliver a not-small resonance. At Yu-seok's small, listless voice, Hee-jin shifted in her seat and nodded. Hee-jin: If she trampled someone else's life, she should've braced for her own life to be trampled too. Scene 08_07.

Si-yeon wrote her and So-hui's names on a slip of paper, stuck it on, then tucked the bottle of steeped liquor she'd gotten from Jeong-seon deep inside. The bright glow of the home bar reached the steeped liquor set in its depths. Si-yeon twitched her lips with a fairly satisfied look. It was a home bar stretched out long, as if outright dominating one wall of the 본청(Bon-cheong_Headquarters) cafeteria. The entire staff were all neatly arranging and loading their own liquor or drinks into the home bar.

The one who'd actually bought the home bar had already downed three glasses, gone dead to the world, and lay slumped over the table snoring. Ji-young, one foot propped on her chair and her elbow resting on her knee, looked down with a pathetic expression at Gyeong-seo, who snored slumped over in front of her. So-hui and Si-yeon, having staked out a spot at the home bar, came over toward Ji-young and seated themselves where each had been sitting. So-hui: Still, it's nice all right.

Not that everyone doesn't have a fridge in their own quarters, I guess. Ji-young: This one — all that's left for her is getting killed by Hee-jin sis. So-hui: You went and put in steeped liquor and Western liquor too, sis. Ji-young: I like it. I mean, good is obviously good, but I can just picture this one going around all wilted from getting chewed out every day. Yeon-su: Still, wouldn't it be nice for a drink with meals here and there?

Ji-young: You planning to drink from breakfast on and then do your Secret Agent work? At the twitch of Ji-young's lips, Yeon-su, with startled rabbit eyes, couldn't even get out an answer and shook her head fast and very hard. Ji-young lowered the foot she'd propped on the chair and pulled away even the elbow she'd rested on her knee. Rising from her seat with a clatter, Ji-young carried her own meal tray off herself, then came over to So-hui and Si-yeon.

Ji-young: I'm gonna chat with the staff a bit before I head off. You two — to get close quick and to get a feel for Headquarters here — go wedge in anywhere, hang out, and then turn in. So-hui let out a small sigh with the air of "the moment's finally here" and sprang up from her seat. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. So-hui: I'm damn bad at it, but, eh, what the heck. You do it too, sis.

Beyond where So-hui and Si-yeon had sprung up stood Ji-min, who'd arrived at some point. Ji-min, giving belated notice of her presence, was offering So-hui and Si-yeon a courteous greeting. Ji-min: I'm Nam Ji-min, Deputy of the Directorate of Support. So that the two of you can move about with ease, may I attend you for a while? So-hui: Uh, uh …? Ah, ahh!! So-hui realized Ji-min's identity belatedly and nodded with a wide smile.

As Si-yeon, scratching her cheek with a look full of question marks, threw So-hui a glance and made to ask what the situation was, Ji-min read the room and spoke first. Ji-min: I'm Nam Ji-min, who owes the two of you my life from a while back. If you'll allow it, I'll explain the things you don't know on the side. The terms may still be unfamiliar to you. Leaving So-hui and Si-yeon behind, Ji-young took her dessert and wandered off here and there with Yeon-su first.

So-hui and Si-yeon, awkward about Ji-min trailing closely behind, moved their own stiff steps along hesitantly. Scene 08_08. Since the student was still a minor, it seemed they were having a light chat with the parents. Yu-seok was watching one student Hee-jin had her eye on, and the student's parents, exchange greetings with Hee-jin with bright smiles. The night had deepened, and a bleak spring wind drifted by. Beyond the car parked in the outdoor lot, a branch with swollen flower buds came into Yu-seok's view.

Hee-jin, who'd been visible beyond the branch, came into sight heading toward Yu-seok's warmed car, her steps already moving. Opening the passenger door and pulling herself up in, Hee-jin, with a light sigh, drew a small notebook from her coat and wrote down a name and phone number. Yu-seok: She says she'll do it?? Hee-jin: How would I know that. I'm just taking note in advance. Plenty of them end up going crooked, chasing trends, turning into so-so kids. It's enough to just jot it down and keep an eye out.

Still, they'd be guaranteed early college admission ahead of their peers, and that school isn't such a bad one either, so it's not a losing collateral. From their standpoint, anyway. After briefly noting the personal details, Hee-jin slipped the notebook into the inner pocket of her coat. Yu-seok: How old is she? Hee-jin: Seventeen. First year of high school. Yu-seok: Right at the age to be fretting over college, sure. In the car left running with the heater on and warmed up, Hee-jin felt a languor and warmth.

Taking off the coat she'd worn and tossing it into the back seat, Hee-jin buckled her seatbelt and threw a glance at Yu-seok. Hee-jin: So, my dear husband. Where do you intend to go today? At Hee-jin's playful voice, Yu-seok snorted and took the wheel. Yu-seok: What're you on about. Hee-jin: I'm out overnight till tomorrow — what, you just gonna send me off? Yu-seok: So you're not going? To do what? Drink like the old days? Until you're hammered?

Hee-jin: We boarded the same boat ages ago anyway, and today you were sneaking sly little looks too. Just — when I play dumb, learn to let it slide smoothly. I even wore pretty clothes on purpose for you to openly sneak looks, and yet — honestly, how uncouth. Scene 09_01. Ji-young lay sprawled flat between So-hui and Si-yeon in the living room of their quarters, snoring thunderously.

So-hui and Si-yeon too, having covered a fair distance roaming inside the 본청(Bon-cheong_Headquarters) that day, were so worn out that Ji-young's snoring and the like didn't even register. If anything, Si-yeon was snoring just like Ji-young. The three, tangled up almost like a human net, carried on deep in a loud and chaotic sleep.

Ji-young, tossing and turning while scratching hard at her tangled hair, seemed bothered by her own feet asleep with the socks still on, so she swung a long arm with difficulty, fumbled at the calf, and yanked the sock clean off. Only, that foot wasn't Ji-young's foot. Having stripped off So-hui's sock and flung it away, Ji-young, seemingly satisfied, carried her sleep on deeper. The long, deep night was swept away in no time, and clear, early spring sunlight pushed in through the living room's glass pane.

Into the wide garden of the 인도자(Indo-ja_The Seer)'s quarters, set in the cozy south, a couple of small birds flew in. The first to open her eyes at the chirping birdsong was So-hui, with only one sock stripped off. Long hair not even tidied, still a wreck, So-hui straightened her back and lifted her stiff body up. So-hui looked down for a moment at her sock stripped off on just one side. She vaguely recalled how she'd fallen asleep. It was drinking that had been something like a welcome party.

She remembered clearly downing drinks hard in the cafeteria, then barely making it in on the Deputies' hands. She took a bit of pride in not having blacked out. But she couldn't work out why only one of her socks had been stripped off. Even staring blankly at her sock that had flown all the way to the entrance, she scratched her disheveled hair hard, as if she simply couldn't figure it out. So-hui: Ah, SSibal, that steeped liquor's damn strong.

At So-hui's husky voice, Si-yeon, who slept face-down with an arm twisted oddly, made a mumbling sound in her prone position. Si-yeon: Thirsty …. Ji-young: … Me too …. Seated, So-hui turned her irritated face, looked at the two carrying on their sleep in twisted poses on either side, then rose with a sigh and headed for the water dispenser set in one corner of the living room. She first took an empty glass off the side table and steadily wet her own equally parched throat.

Only after gulping it down several times did she pick up two more empty glasses and pour water. Holding a glass in each hand, So-hui, with her wits finally returning a bit, headed for Ji-young and Si-yeon. After handing Si-yeon a glass, just as she went to pass Ji-young hers, So-hui set the cup down with startled eyes. Rushing into her own room, So-hui brought out a wad of tissues. So-hui: Sis, sis. Open your eyes. Blood running from the corner of Ji-young's mouth was soaking So-hui's living room floor through.

At So-hui's urgent voice, Si-yeon's eyes flew open. Ji-young rose slowly and, as if it were nothing, wiped the corner of her mouth and the floor with the tissues So-hui had handed over. Si-yeon too watched Ji-young with startled eyes. But Ji-young's gestures, for their part, were flat. At Ji-young's flat gestures, So-hui and Si-yeon couldn't bring themselves to speak. In a voice not yet fully awake, Ji-young calmed So-hui, whose sleep had fled. Ji-young: Ah-ni, come on, is it our first time seeing blood?

Like it's any big deal …. So-hui: Sis, you okay? Want to go see the physician ajeossi? Ji-young, as if it were nothing, scrunched her face and shook her head. She lifted the glass of water So-hui had brought, gulped it down, then held the empty glass back out to So-hui. Ji-young: More. In So-hui's place, Si-yeon got up, took Ji-young's cup, and headed for the water dispenser. So-hui looked at Ji-young and asked quietly. So-hui: Has it been like this all along? Ji-young: No~ it hasn't been all along, come on.

Just every now and then. So-hui: It's an aftereffect, isn't it? After a moment, Ji-young slowly nodded. Ji-young: At first I thought it was just esophagitis, but it wasn't. The headaches too. So-hui: Mm. Ji-young: But it gets better once I take some painkillers and such. There's only a week left anyway, so it'll clear up soon. They said once the swap's done, there won't be any of this, if anything. Si-yeon filled the glass to the brim and trudged over, then passed the cold water into Ji-young's outstretched hand.

Sitting down, Si-yeon delivered a sigh-laced gripe to Ji-young, as if scolding her. Si-yeon: Ah-ni, I really can't understand you, sis, or that sis either. Ji-young gulped the cold water down again, set the empty glass on the floor, and let out a sigh. Pondering where to start, Ji-young flatly tried to convince Si-yeon. Ji-young: Otherwise we'd miss the chance to become an enemy. Because that seat has to be that sis, without fail.

Mom, who tried to stop it to the very end, gave in because there was no choice, and I think the same. If anything, I'm the one who should feel sorry. At Ji-young's flat explanation, Si-yeon, wearing a sour look, belatedly gulped down the glass of water she'd refilled. Si-yeon: That sis seems like a good sis. Scary, sure. But to go that far, Ji-young: That's why I wonder if I'm the one doing something wrong. Like you say, I wonder too if I should step in and stop someone that good. But, Si-yeon: But?

Ji-young: Then all of us will fail. Without achieving a single thing.