Chapter 199
Aileen crossed her arms and stared at me from the passenger seat of the car.
“So.”
With a gaze that felt like it could pierce through steel, she shot me a look,
“Is that why you were looking for me?”
“That’s correct.”
“…”
With a sigh, Aileen swept her bangs aside.
“I’m already super anxious, is that normal?”
“Yes, it’s perfectly normal.”
“Darn it.”
Not long after, Aileen received a call.
When I asked her to come, she came quickly.
Her reply was, “I owe you a favor, after all.”
“Looks like the other three are doing well.”
“…”
“…”
Song Ah Rin and Jang Chae Yeon exchanged uncomfortable glances at Aileen, while Yu Da On watched them, giggling.
The three of them were squeezed tightly in the back seat.
I stole a glance at their faces in the rearview mirror.
How long had it been since we sat together? Jang Chae Yeon and Song Ah Rin were already bickering.
“Hey, move over a bit.”
“This is as far as I can go!”
“Eat properly.”
“It’s not that I’ve eaten too much; you’re the one who’s skinny!”
“…”
With Song Ah Rin, my gaze landed on a particular part of Jang Chae Yeon.
“You’re annoying.”
Song Ah Rin clicked her tongue and turned her gaze to Yu Da On.
“Huh?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Please don’t fight.”
“Sure.”
“I’m not fighting.”
With Yu Da On responding cheerfully and Song Ah Rin looking annoyed,
“The Human Resources Team still has a good vibe, huh?”
“Is that so?”
“If you’re fighting that much, you’re probably pretty close.”
Aileen nodded and looked at the others.
“Anyway, I have a rough idea of what you were trying to say.”
Aileen nodded at me.
“By the way, when I was finishing up, none of the people in the office picked up their phones.”
“You found that strange, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. If it wasn’t for this call, I might have ended up at the Management Agency.”
Aileen let out a sigh of relief as she looked at me.
“Anyway, being a team leader means I’ve heard some things.”
“What kind of things?”
“You heard about the moon, right?”
Aileen lifted her gaze to meet mine.
“I heard there were some bizarre phenomena occurring near the moon.”
“…”
The moon.
“But that was just gossip among the team leaders, and even then, it seemed like the higher-ups didn’t want to talk about it. So we couldn’t dig too deep.”
“I see.”
“However, as someone who is also in the field and on assignment, I did receive some guidelines.”
“Where are they?” Aileen mumbled, rummaging through her belongings.
She pulled out useless items like candy wrappers and receipts, and then exclaimed, pulling out a small note.
<Scenario 3>
The note had large writing on it.
“You haven’t read this?”
Her curiosity was quite admirable.
In response to my question, Aileen stared at me intently.
“Do you know why those more capable than me haven’t reached team leader status?”
“What’s the reason?”
“They couldn’t control their curiosity and ended up dead.”
“I can relate to that.”
Song Ah Rin chimed in with Aileen glancing at her before returning her gaze to me.
“Anyway, if there is a situation related to the moon, this is what you should read.”
I looked at the note she retrieved.
The not-so-old paper was neatly folded.
What on earth was our team leader doing to receive something like this?
“Heo Chan is office staff, right?”
Aileen responded calmly, sensing the meaning behind my gaze.
What is office staff, really?
As I watched Aileen about to unfold the note, a sudden curiosity made me ask her,
“Are there other scenarios as well?”
“Yes.”
“How many? What are they about?”
“…”
She was staring at me intently.
“…Understood.”
“Yeah. Thanks for understanding without me even having to say it.”
Nodding, Aileen opened the note, and I too peeked from behind her.
<Climb the water tower and look at the stars from the rooftop of Gangseo District Building. Go during the day.>
There was nothing else there.
Just an address and a meaningless directive written down.
“That’s what it says.”
“…”
“Go during the day and look at the stars.
“Isn’t that contradictory?”
“That’s why I’m not going.”
Aileen replied and leaned back in the seat.
“Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“Where else? Your house.”
“…Alright.”
Right. Where else would we go if not my house?
It would feel a bit awkward to go to the other three’s places, and Aileen’s house felt off too.
By process of elimination, it had to be my house.
During the ride home, no one said a word.
A strange tension permeated the air.
Once we opened the door to my house, Aileen naturally moved to the living room and started looking around.
“Where can I sleep?”
“You can sleep in my room.”
“And you?”
“I’ll have to sleep on the sofa.”
“I’m not so shameless as to make the owner sleep on the sofa.”
“I’m also not so shameless as to make a guest sleep on the sofa.”
“If the owner says so, then I have to follow. What about the others?”
At Aileen’s words, the three of them exchanged glances mid-air.
“I’ll just sleep on the sofa with you.”
“Me too!”
“I… I mean, umm… hmm.”
“Eh? No. You don’t need to do that.”
After last time, when I had allowed Jang Chae Yeon and Yu Da On to sleep over at my house, I realized something.
“I’ve tidied up the clothes room and turned it into a guest room, so sleep there.”
“…”
The three of them looked around awkwardly,
“I’ll go wash up first.”
Aileen said plainly as she made her way to the bathroom, wrapping things up for now.
*
“…”
Lying on the sofa, I stared out the window.
The moon wasn’t visible, but the moonlight shone through the window.
It was an oddly bright moonlight.
“…”
Why can’t I fall asleep?
As I tossed and turned, someone quietly stepped out of the guest room.
-Soft… Soft…
“…”
Her purple hair shone beautifully in the light.
“Ah-Rin.”
“Can’t sleep?”
“Neither can I.”
“Did we maybe fall asleep while you were in a dream?”
“Maybe. I guess I slept too well.”
She gazed out the window.
“Be careful not to look at the moon.”
“I won’t look even if you tell me to.”
With that, she replied, leaning back against the sofa.
Her back touched my legs.
“If it’s uncomfortable, should I get up?”
“No. Just stay lying down.”
At her oddly determined tone, as I shrugged and lay there,
“It feels weird.”
Song Ah Rin looked at me.
“What kind of weird feeling?”
“Just. Earlier. No, what was ‘earlier’? Just today, I met with Aestheticism, you know.”
She sighed as she gazed at me.
Worry filled her eyes, which was unlike her.
“I can’t tell what might happen.”
“Seems you’re worried.”
“Very.”
She replied candidly, looking out the window.
“I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’m always ready to support you.”
After saying that, she looked at me and gave a slight smile.
“…I’m also receiving a lot of help from you, Ah-Rin.”
“Thanks.”
She waved her hand.
Soon, a newspaper nearby rolled up and transformed into a man and woman, starting to dance.
Under the oddly bright moonlight, a princess danced under the lead of a man, and they bowed to us, returning to the form of a newspaper afterward.
“Ah-Rin, when did you learn to do this?”
“…Just, you know. Out of boredom.”
Song Ah Rin mumbled as she stole glances at me.
“Why? Was it bad?”
“No, it was good.”
“Really?”
Song Ah Rin smiled faintly and nodded.
“Then I’ll make something prettier next time.”
“Understood.”
“…”
“…”
Silence settled in as Song Ah Rin fiddled with her clothes and glanced at me.
Why isn’t she leaving?
“Are you not going to sleep?”
“Well, I’m planning to, but.”
Song Ah Rin stammered as she looked at me.
“I just don’t feel at ease sleeping with them.”
“With Chae Yeon and Da On?”
Song Ah Rin nodded.
“Do they snore?”
Imagining Jang Chae Yeon and Yu Da On snoring honestly made it hard to picture.
“N-not exactly.”
Song Ah Rin mumbled while eyeing me.
“Just. I think I’d feel more at ease sleeping here.”
“…”
Across from me, there was another sofa big enough for one person to lie down on, and after briefly looking at me, Song Ah Rin shifted her gaze away.
“W-well… It could be burdensome, so I’ll just-”
“Please go ahead and sleep.”
“…Huh?”
Song Ah Rin stared at me.
Eyes wide, she gazed up at me.
To be honest, I felt like I would be the one burdened.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes. There might be important things tomorrow, right?”
After what happened yesterday, no, what I went through today.
“Then… okay.”
Song Ah Rin crawled over to the opposite sofa and lay down.
“…”
“…”
We locked eyes.
“…Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I have to.”
“…”
“…”
Yet, she was staring at me with such intent that I had no words to say.
“…Why do you keep looking at me?”
“Ah, um… I’m going to sleep now.”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
As I gazed at her shut eyes, I closed mine as well.
Before falling asleep, I felt as if someone gently swept my bangs aside.
The next morning, there was an incident where Jang Chae Yeon rolled Song Ah Rin off the sofa, but other than that, nothing unusual happened.
In fact, even after being rolled off, Song Ah Rin didn’t look overly displeased.
If it were the girl I knew, she would have made quite the fuss.
*
During the day, we stood on the rooftop of Gangseo District Building.
“You said to climb the water tower.”
“But where are the stars in broad daylight?”
Jang Chae Yeon mumbled.
“Stars, you see.”
Stars shining brightly in the daytime.
We climbed the ladder attached to the water tower.
-Thud… Thud…
An unpleasant sound echoed from the old ladder,
-Thump…
As we reached the top of the water tower, I gazed at the stars that shone brilliantly.
The shining sun was within view.
“Hey. The star that shines the brightest in the day.”
I muttered, and at that moment, the world transformed.
“…”
The sound of cars disappeared.
The noise of countless people, everything faded away.
Before we knew it, we stood under a sky full of thick clouds.
I looked up at the sky.
An old staircase stretched out towards the moon.
