‘Damn it.’
I quickly pulled my jacket over the missing part of my arm, concealing it.
“…Let’s discuss this outside the supermarket.”
“……”
Agent Bronze opened his mouth slightly, as if about to say something, but then, his expression twisted in regret. Without another word, he simply lowered his head and walked away toward the far end of the camping section.
Go Yeongeun sighed, glancing between me and Agent Bronze, then quietly followed after him.
“……”
Meanwhile, with the high schooler still looking hesitant, he shuffled over to me.
“Um, I’m sorry….”
“No, it’s just…”
The student hesitated, then finally spoke properly.
“I mean… about what I said before.”
“……”
“How… I acted.”
It seemed like he had realized something from listening to our conversation.
That the agents had been risking their lives to save them.
And now, he was thinking back on his own behavior—his outbursts, his mistakes.
“……”
‘Huu.’
Even adults get emotional in extreme situations. How could I expect a kid to be any different?
The fact that he was apologizing at all was already more than I expected.
Even if, deep down, part of his apology came from fear. Or, from the worry that if he pissed me off, I might abandon them and escape alone.
“It’s fine. Apology accepted.”
“……”
“Just hold on a little longer until we get out of here.”
“Um,”
The student hesitated, then suddenly blurted out,
“This time… when we leave, I’ll steal properly.”
Ah.
“It’s fine.”
I patted his shoulder with my remaining hand.
“This time, we won’t have to steal anything.”
“…?”
Because we weren’t taking that risk again.
The student looked a little confused but nodded, then quietly returned to his friends.
For a moment, I was left alone.
“……”
It felt a bit awkward.
…Maybe I had gotten too used to having a friend who completely understood my thought process?
But regardless.
‘Hoo.’
Now, only the final steps remained.
And, this part…
‘…Even with a larger group, we have two different escape methods.’
We can get out.
I reached inside my jacket and pulled out the most carefully guarded items in my possession.
Two white envelopes.
‘Gift certificates.’
Then, I sat down quietly and went over my final plan one more time.
Until everyone was ready.
After a while.
“You both have the candy in your mouths, right?”
“Yes! We both do!”
“Good.”
I checked on the high schoolers as they looked out for each other, then turned to the agents.
The two of them, who had meticulously restored the camping section to its original state, met my gaze with tense expressions.
All the briefings were done.
Now…
‘It’s time to leave.’
The six of us left the third floor and calmly began descending.
Faint echoes of an old pop song, laughter, and shopping carts rolling filled the air.
“Haha!”
“No way, that’s too expensive. Put it back.”
The lively chatter of shoppers surrounded us.
It had only been three or four days, but the normality of it felt overwhelmingly comforting.
Of course, these voices of the past neither saw us, heard us, nor acknowledged us. A creeping unease still lingered.
As did the tension.
“……”
“……”
“Um, excuse me.”
One of the high schoolers broke the silence.
“Behind us…”
“Shh.”
I warned him quietly, nudging him forward.
I had already seen what he saw.
At the bottom of the escalator, someone was standing still, staring at us blankly.
Bloodshot eyes, filthy clothes, lips murmuring something incomprehensible.
Once, that person must have been ordinary, too—someone who had just gone out for a quick grocery run at night, still wearing the same casual outfit he had worn months ago.
A long-term missing person.
I pulled the high schooler closer to me.
“…Don’t smile. Don’t look nervous.”
If you smile, they think you know a way out and follow you.
If you look anxious, they sense weakness and follow you.
‘…We can’t save them.’
There was no point in torturing ourselves with either false hope or fear.
The high schooler swallowed hard and nodded, lowering his head as he stuck close behind me.
“……”
The long-term missing person watching us dragged his broken leg and tangled hair as he stepped onto the escalator.
Because he wanted to leave.
But he wasn’t the only one.
…I could feel the stares.
Behind the butcher’s counter, behind the promotional display stands, next to employees.
Murmuring, crying, laughing, staring blankly.
And now, they were all stepping onto the escalator.
‘…The first floor will be packed with them.’
Eventually, when they get caught by the employees, they will be turned into ‘supplies’ and disappear.
By evening, the lower floors will be ‘cleaned out’, and the next batch of victims will wander the store alone, believing they are the only ones trapped here.
“……”
The eeriness trickled down my spine, even through the numbing effect of the painkiller.
Not too fast, not too slow—we continued moving forward.
And soon, we arrived back where we had entered.
The first floor.
In front of the checkout lanes.
“…Let’s do this quickly.”
I took the high schooler I was responsible for and…
Instead of heading for the exit, we went directly to the cashier.
Each of us picked up a snack and a canned drink from the nearby shelves.
Beside me, the high schooler’s breathing was ragged as he struggled to stay calm.
It was a weekday afternoon, and the store was relatively quiet. No lines at the registers. Smoothly, we reached the cashier…
“……”
I pulled out the gift certificate from my pocket and lightly tapped it against the counter.
“Excuse me.”
“Hm?”
The cashier snapped her head up, looking directly at me.
That’s right.
She ‘acknowledged’ me.
“Oh! A customer!”
“……!”
That was the power of the gift certificates.
It identified us as legitimate customers.
– If you we use gift certificates, we can just walk out.
– …!
There was no need to trick the supermarket anymore.
“Please ring these up for me.”
“Oh, of course!”
Beep. Beep.
The cashier scanned my items cheerfully and accepted the gift certificate.
“By the way, we can’t give change for gift certificates in units of 100 won, but if you give me 600 won in cash, I can round it to the nearest 1,000.”
“…That’s fine. Just take it as is.”
“Are you sure? Alright~”
She handed me four 10,000-won gift certificates and eight 1,000-won bills as change.
Immediately, I passed some of the change to the high schooler beside me.
Following my lead and with a slightly trembling voice, he repeated the process.
“A-And this too, please!”
So that the cashier wouldn’t find anything strange, we made sure our purchases matched the exact amount needed.
And then…
“Thank you.”
“Thank you~! Please visit Looky Mart again!”
We passed through.