“What’s this? You haven’t forgotten me, have you, Roe? It’s been ages!”
The person standing in the dim hallway spoke in a cheerful tone, extending a hand.
It was someone I hadn’t seen in a long time: my old superior from D-Squad, wearing a badger mask.
“…Supervisor?”
It was unmistakable.
Supervisor Park Minseong.
Someone who had been almost like a mentor to me, his demeanor was as clear and distinct as it had been when we worked together.
I quickly shook his hand and asked,
“Have you recovered?”
“Yes, well… more or less…”
Phew.
‘I didn’t expect to run into him like this.’
Seeing him in decent shape stirred something in me—it was almost emotional. My tone naturally brightened.
“In that case, Supervisor Park Min—”
“Call me Badger!”
“……”
“Er, um… It’s just… hearing my name still triggers some… issues.”
“…Yes.”
I closed my mouth.
I’d been about to ask whether he was fit to return to work, but now I didn’t need to.
Looking closely, even though he was smiling cheerfully, Supervisor Park Minseong’s face seemed pale and uneasy.
The parts of his face not hidden by the mask, like his cheeks and the area around his eyes, looked a bit hollow…
– Oh dear, today’s partner doesn’t seem to be in top condition!
Right.
‘It looks like he’s still… recovering.’
Is it really okay to assign someone in his state to a disciplinary task alongside me?
“Let’s go, Roe. Let’s get this over with so you can rest!”
“…Yes.”
But as someone being disciplined, I wasn’t in a position to suggest giving my partner a different assignment.
I thanked the security sergeant who had guided us, then followed Supervisor Park Minseong, who was already wearing his cleaning uniform.
“Ah, wait a second.”
“Yes?”
“Take this…”
The security sergeant stopped me and, after carefully setting down the box of donuts he’d been clutching, pulled something out of his pocket.
Two worn walkie-talkies.
“If anything dangerous happens… call me. I’m on night duty today…”
“These connect to you directly, Jay-ssi?”
The sergeant nodded.
I felt two conflicting emotions simultaneously: ‘So this might actually be dangerous,’ and ‘Thank heavens for this.’
“Thank you.”
“No problem…”
In a low voice, almost like an afterthought, the sergeant added something.
He glanced at Supervisor Park Minseong, speaking so softly that it wouldn’t reach him.
“Be careful.”
“……”
My hands turned cold.
I managed a nod and handed one of the walkie-talkies to Supervisor Park Minseong.
Then we started walking down the underground hallway… heading toward the Security Team’s storage area.
Step, step.
Step, step.
Step, step…
“Roe.”
“Yes!”
“Oh, sorry. Did I scare you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Phew, that’s a relief…”
Supervisor Park Minseong, walking beside me, fell quiet for a moment. His voice sounded slightly shaky.
“Um… it’s been a while since I talked to someone outside the Security Team… D-Did I say something weird? Was it awkward?”
“……”
Huu.
“No, Supervisor. You’re still as… yourself as ever.”
“Huh? Wait a second, that’s not an insult, right?”
“Well, who knows?”
“……! No way, Roe, are you teasing me? What’s this, did getting promoted give you confidence?”
The lighthearted tone in the conversation eased some of the tension.
“…Can I ask how you’ve been lately?”
“Of course. Uh… I’ve been here the whole time, just here.”
He muttered quickly, almost like he was spitting the words out.
“I didn’t know this place had a treatment room, or a training facility, or, uh, other really weird… seriously weird places. Actually, it’s part of the restricted Security Team area, so I shouldn’t say too much…”
Damn.
“In that case, no need to elaborate. We can talk about something else…”
“It’s seriously strange. Why is this basement so deep? You know, I used to wonder why our company didn’t just build an underground parking lot and instead uses a separate parking tower. But now I get it. This basement is so deep and weird that I need to get back to where I originally worked—”
“Supervisor Badger!”
“……!!”
He stopped in his tracks and exhaled slowly.
“Sorry. …Let’s talk about something else, shall we?”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
I started rambling about whatever came to mind—recent trending shows, random topics—anything to fill the silence. Having Braun feed me material made it much easier.
“Oh, I’ve seen that too!”
“It was fun.”
Thankfully, it seemed that internet and streaming services were accessible, and the small talk flowed smoothly without any issues.
But my back was drenched in cold sweat.
‘This isn’t good.’
Staying in this massive, windowless, underground sealed space for too long felt like it could drive anyone insane, no matter how stable they were.
‘Especially since Supervisor Park Minseong might have a sick family member…’
– …I have a family member in the hospital. I hope someone could check in on her after this filming. If possible.
I couldn’t bring it up directly, so I tried a more indirect approach.
“Do you have to stay down here permanently?”
“No. They said once I recover beyond a certain point, I can either get reassigned or quit altogether and leave.”
Phew.
“It seems like even the Security Team gets to go outside or move around freely at night.”
That was a relief.
“Oh, we’re here.”
Finally, the location for today’s work appeared before us.
[Security Team Storage Room]