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There were many ups and downs until Song Ah Rin and I left together.

For instance, there were people who insisted I shouldn’t eat with her.

“Are you really going?”

Yu Da On tugged at my sleeve.

“But you’ve drunk with Da On and slept at home before.”

Yu Da On stood there like a bee that drank too much honey, but retreated quietly after hearing my words.

“But we’ve drank and slept at their place. Why can’t we do that at our house?”

“If I drink with Chae Yeon, I’ll definitely be the one to faint.”

“So what?”

“If I faint, it would be a nuisance to Chae Yeon.”

Her gaze shifted toward me.

“…”

“…”

“No.”

“Let’s do it later.”

She rushed to wave her hand and softly suggested while I looked at Song Ah Rin.

Song Ah Rin stood by the door, bag in hand, ready to go.

“Are we not going?”

“I’m going.”

Nodding, I followed her and turned back to glance at the two.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“If you get caught in a dream again like last time, it’ll be hard to find you!”

As I stepped outside, they waved me off.

“…Where are we going?”

“Let’s go to a pub near the company.”

“…Not there.”

“Huh?”

“What about my house?”

“…”

I stared at Song Ah Rin.

As our eyes met, she quickly looked away.

“No, pubs have too many eavesdroppers. We’re from the Management Agency, after all.”

“…We do plan to go home.”

“Then, I wouldn’t do anything weird to you.”

Song Ah Rin hurriedly continued her words.

Walking alongside her, I fell into thought.

There’s so much I want to ask and so much I need to apologize for.

We maintained silence as we walked.

I watched Song Ah Rin, who walked in front of me.

She was the shortest among the three of us.

Thinking back, she didn’t eat well even when food was served.

Da On at least managed to eat decently, and Chae Yeon filled her plate reasonably.

But Song Ah Rin always picked at her food.

Every time, she would take only a little, claiming she was full.

“…Why do you keep staring at me?”

As I got lost in those useless thoughts, Song Ah Rin turned around and furrowed her brows at me.

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t mean you should say sorry.”

She muttered quietly and resumed walking in front of me.

So she walked ahead until we arrived at her house.

*

“…So.”

As she raised her glass, she turned her gaze toward me.

“What’s the reason you called me?”

“There are various reasons.”

I was curious about her actions at work and simply about who Song Ah Rin was.

“We’ve never had a heart-to-heart talk before, have we?”

“…Heart-to-heart.”

Song Ah Rin murmured, tracing the lip of her glass with her finger.

“You.”

“Huh?”

“Have you ever had a heart-to-heart talk with anyone?”

“Of course.”

I do have friends.

Probably.

“I see.”

Song Ah Rin mumbled as she continued to fiddle with her glass.

“I don’t.”

“…”

She muttered, and I recalled what I had heard at her house.

“Do you have no one to confide in?”

“…Drink.”

Without answering, Song Ah Rin extended her glass toward me.

“I guess I have to speak when I’m not in my right mind.”

“Shouldn’t I be in my right mind?”

“You’ll be the one listening to my nonsense, so you should be the one to go somewhere and talk about it while being sane.”

“Drink.” Song Ah Rin murmured, refilling my glass.

I had no choice but to accept it, and we began to drink together.

How many rounds had passed?

With rosy cheeks, Song Ah Rin gazed at me.

“I have no one I can be at ease with.”

“I see.”

“…”

“…”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

Song Ah Rin stared at me intently.

“Uh, um. You’re still young, right?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

With a sigh, Song Ah Rin emptied her glass.

“But aren’t we somewhat okay?”

“…”

After gazing at me, she took a big gulp of her drink and nodded.

“Yeah, you guys are somewhat better.”

“Exactly.”

“…”

Song Ah Rin looked at me.

“But you can see my true self.”

“True self?”

It’s not as if she doesn’t show her true self to others.

“I just hate living in constant fear.”

“…A-Rin.”

“No, never mind. Let’s switch topics.”

Song Ah Rin murmured and wiped her glass.

“I’ll say I’ll talk about this later.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have a question?”

A question, huh.

“I do.”

“Yeah.”

Song Ah Rin looked at me.

“I’m really curious about one thing.”

“What is it?”

“What did you and Chae Yeon do back then?”

“…Yeah. I was wondering when you’d ask.”

With a sigh, Song Ah Rin set down her glass.

“I was originally in the Isolation Team.”

“From when?”

“From the moment I joined.”

“How old were you?”

“Middle school. And the white-haired one was in high school.”

Song Ah Rin murmured while turning her gaze out the window.

She was clearly looking out, but her gaze seemed to reflect something from a long time ago.

“Back then, we were the youngest.”

“Isn’t it a problem to have middle schoolers and high schoolers in the Isolation Team from the beginning?”

Even if the Management Agency was short-staffed.

“We both wanted to join.”

“…”

I recalled those who joined willingly.

Aileen or Park Ye Eun.

“That’s right.”

It seemed like Song Ah Rin read my expression as she nodded.

“The white-haired one and I both lost our families.”

“What kind of incident was it?”

Song Ah Rin looked at me as I asked.

“Did you never think about why?”

“Huh?”

Her gaze pierced right through me.

“Why are all branches only in Gangseo, Gangbuk, Gangdong, and Gangnam?”

“…”

“Why does Australia have only one branch when it’s larger than ours?”

Song Ah Rin continued counting on her fingers.

“In this tiny piece of land, why are there so many branches, and each branch has monstrous branch chiefs, and why do we have to divide the branches based on rivers? Just one should be enough.”

“…Wedge?”

“Wedges are obviously there.”

Song Ah Rin nodded as she noted her fingers.

“This little piece of land doesn’t need all these people. It’s an over-investment.”

“…Well, it’s not like there are monsters in the rivers…”

“…”

Song Ah Rin’s intense gaze locked with mine, sending chills down my spine.

“…Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, how could I not know that?”

“I’ll ask you back.”

Song Ah Rin blinked and turned her gaze outside the window.

“How would you know?”

“Well, I’m immune to mental attacks…”

“It might not be a mental issue.”

I recalled the branch chief’s twig.

“…Then how do you know, A-Rin?”

“Because I’m a victim.”

As if it were the most obvious thing to say, Song Ah Rin replied.

“What?”

“Because I need to take revenge.”

Her gaze looking out the window was deeply dark.

“…”

It felt unlike her.

“I’ll have to find him someday and kill him.”

“Details…”

“I can’t tell you now. It’s against the regulations, and I shouldn’t have said it to you in the first place.”

Song Ah Rin sighed heavily.

“Then Chae Yeon also…”

“That’s right. Don’t ask her. She’s still worried a lot.”

Song Ah Rin nodded.

“Anyway, so we were in the same team, and I… well, I had skills that were too vague to belong in the Isolation Team, so I was transferred to another team.”

“Transferred?”

“Although hypnosis seems omnipotent, there are surprisingly many places it’s useless.”

With a self-deprecating smile, Song Ah Rin muttered.

“Actually, among the Human Resources team, I’m the most useless one.”

“That’s not true.”

Song Ah Rin has always been my support and helped me whenever it mattered.

“The difference between being subtly helpful and being crucially helpful is huge. When a knife is falling before you, you’ll call for a black-haired one or the white-haired one, not me.”

“…”

“See? Right?”

She smiled self-deprecatingly.

As I looked at her self-deprecating smile, I gathered my thoughts.

“I’m sorry.”

“…Huh?”

Song Ah Rin blinked at me.

“I didn’t think about you enough last time, A-Rin.”

In hindsight, every word might have felt like a dagger to her.

“It’s fine. No need to apologize.”

“It’s not that.”

“You’re not wrong about anything.”

Before she could continue with her words, I firmly interjected.

“…”

Song Ah Rin’s expression hardened.

She is indeed someone remarkable. Her situational awareness is among the swiftest in the Human Resources team, and above all, she’s the one who shares opinions most smoothly during emergencies.

She knows her talents and limitations and can proceed with something amidst it.

“I think A-Rin…”

– Clunk.

Something fell in her room.

Song Ah Rin’s head snapped in that direction.

“Sorry.”

She walked briskly toward the sound.

Where she was headed was…

“…”

The room where she had hung the picture.

The conversation we had exchanged rushed through my mind.

Should I stay here?

Just as a dilemma filled my heart in an instant, the sound of the door opening, with a “click,” echoed, and…

Without realizing it, I followed her.

“…”

Under the orange light, she touched the fallen picture.

Among the many shining lights.

“…Hope it hasn’t torn.”

Only one shadowed person stood in the middle.

And like that painting, she hangs it up, turning her back to the light.

The golden title of the painting shines bright.

[Military School of Unification]

“…What? I told you there’s no need to come.”

Song Ah Rin murmured as she looked at me.

“A-Rin.”

“…What?”

Meeting her gaze, she looked back at me.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

“…Yeah.”

“This painting.”

I reached out, pointing at it.

“…People have increased.”

It was true that the painting with shining figures surrounded her.

It’s just that the number of shining people has increased.

Song Ah Rin gazed at me, smiling gently.

“Could that be possible?”

She covered the painting with a cloth.

“It’s just your imagination.”

Her smile felt so fleeting that it was rather frightening.

Just as I was about to approach her, a translucent window appeared behind the painting.

[Name: Military School of Unification]

[Age: Created a day ago]

[Specialty: Clarity]

[Talent: X]

[Background: If one believes that their life is intertwined with their existence, then life itself is also art.]

[Weakness: Erase the light.]

– Clink!

The lights in the house went out.