episode_0025

“Hey, where did you go?”

As soon as Narin got to work, she went to the manager and put her hands in her pockets, her face turning pale. She was flustered because she couldn’t see the USB that she had clearly put in her pocket.

The manager of Narin, a girl with pigtails who didn’t match her suit at all, spoke with a frown.

“What, did you leave it behind? It’s okay, so go home and get it. It’s close to Na-rin’s house.”

Despite her fierce appearance, her speech was quite gentle. Nevertheless, Narin bowed to the manager.

“Sorry, I’ll get it right away! I clearly put it in my pocket, but when did it spill…? I didn’t even put my hands in my pockets because I was afraid of spilling it!”

Narin left the table naked. The manager clicked his tongue at Narin and blew on the steam rising from his coffee.

He’s good at his job, but he’s such a sloppy newbie outside of work. How is he supposed to survive in this tough world like that?

The manager, who had been grumbling so quietly, glanced around to see if anyone had heard him.

“No, that’s such an old-fashioned thing to say. No one would have heard it… … ?”

“Hey, if the manager is being a jerk, then Manager Cha will be a jerk too. I know how much the manager thinks of us, so you don’t have to worry.”

“D, have you heard?”

In the break room, the manager’s face turned brighter than a strawberry. After leaving the office, Narin frantically looked around while retracing her steps to work.

The only good thing is that the snow hasn’t melted yet, so if there’s something on the ground, it’ll be easy to see.

Although there are a lot of people on the way to work, luckily Narin’s commute to work was relatively quiet since she was lucky enough to get a room near her workplace.

If you don’t go via the bus stop, you’ll have to go through the food alley. It’s rare to find a restaurant open in the morning.

Of course, it’s a place that never sleeps on the way home from work. When I was a new employee, I couldn’t resist the temptation of all that food, so I would pack up some delicious food and take it back to my studio every day.

Anyway, that’s not important right now. Every time she met those who were already receiving and preparing ingredients to start selling during lunchtime, Narin asked them directly.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Have you seen anything like a USB that fell around here? I think I dropped it on my way to work… … .”

“I didn’t see it. My eyes might have been blurry so I couldn’t see it.”

“Thank you. Sir, by any chance… … .”

“I haven’t seen the map. But in our country, if something falls on the floor, we don’t pick it up. If it doesn’t fall inside a store, we won’t even touch it.”

“Never touch anything that isn’t a bicycle.”

“Yeah, yeah. No, wait. So Chansung, you were the one who stole my bike?”

“I didn’t steal it. I told you I was borrowing it. You were drunk and don’t remember.”

“Really? Hey, where did my bike go?”

Maybe it’s because they’re all doing business together. When Narin came out and asked, the restaurant owners all came out of their stores and said something.

Anyway, wondering if it was dropped around here, Narin nodded and left.

“Miss, if you can’t find it, come back again. I’ll check all the CCTVs together. You can see it in front of the store.”

“Thank you, ma’am!”

Narin was touched by the kind words of accepting the trouble. She thought to herself that she had to go to that house tonight and get some takeout.

So, for now, Narin exited the alley and headed home. During that time, she couldn’t find anything resembling a USB on the street, let alone one.

Then, did I drop it at home? Come to think of it, it could have fallen with my phone when I took it out of my pocket to look at it at home.

I was worried that Namin might have seen it, but fortunately, there was no computer in Narin’s studio. She does all her work at work anyway, and even if she plays games at home, it’s only mobile games.

Even if there was a USB, there would be no way for Na-min to plug it in and view the contents. Even if Ham-shik had been interested in the USB, I thought Na-min would have taken care to stop him.

So, it’s better to stay at home.

“Sister is here. Namin-ah, I think my sister dropped something at home. Did you see it? It’s about the size of your sister’s fingertip… … .”

With that in mind, Narin arrived home. The moment she opened the door, she tilted her head at the strangely cold air in the house.

It couldn’t be cold because Namin and Hamshik couldn’t be seen. The physical temperature was low.

Could it be that he turned off the boiler himself? There’s no way that could happen. I didn’t even touch Na-min and Ham-shik because they might be cold.

“Namina? Hamsik?”

Na-rin looked around, worried that the two of them might be hiding in a corner, shivering, just like when they were thrown away in a box.

I took off my shoes and stepped onto the floor. The floor was warm, as if the boiler was running. That meant there was another source of the cold air.

The two little children did not answer even when called. Narin hurriedly searched through all the places where the two might have entered in the suffocating silence.

Na-rin’s simple studio apartment, where she lives alone, doesn’t have much besides the furniture she really needs. So there wasn’t really a place for Na-min and Ham-shik to hide.

At best, under the pillow and under the bed. The desk is wide open, so there is no space behind it, and the top of the sink is mostly empty unless you are cooking.

I checked to see if they had gone into the bathroom or the washing machine, and even searched through the trash cans, but there was no trace of Na-min or Ham-sik.

It wasn’t even in the house that Namin had assembled herself the day before and was so excited about. I thought she had dug a tunnel, so I stirred it with my hand, but all I could find were almonds or something. I couldn’t find any little furballs or precious little babies.

“Where on earth did everyone go… … .”

Narin sat down with a thud and muttered in vain. Then, feeling a cold breeze coming from somewhere, she looked around again.

If air flows, where would it flow from? It would be outside the window. With that inference, Narin’s face turned thoughtful as she immediately opened the curtains.

The window was open.

“Could it be that Na-min and Ham-shik went out here? But they’re not the kind of kids who would disappear without a word… … !”

Narin’s face was filled with shock. But she quickly figured out the situation.

There is no way that Na-min, who was wondering what to do at home, looking into games, and muttering to herself about drawing and sculpting, would just leave the house like that.

Rather, wouldn’t it be a more credible guess that someone broke in?

Who could possibly come and go through that narrow window? There are also small children like Namin, so there must be creatures who can come and go through that gap.

“Yeah, I said it was a research lab that did inhumane experiments. They knew that Na-min and Ham-shik were here, so they stole them while I was out… … . That’s why I can’t see any evidence like the USB now… … !”

Narin gritted her teeth. She was so angry at how scared Namin must be, and what she was going to do to those kids.

If I had known this would happen, I would have asked the manager to bring them both to the company. At least until the time when the operation to suppress the research lab was carried out.

I felt angry and ashamed of myself for not even having thought of that.

But if we just sit there, we won’t be able to do anything. We need to act quickly to save Na-min and Ham-shik.

With that thought in mind, Narin immediately took out her cell phone. To tell the manager that the lab had raided Narin’s house.

But the cell phone I took out of my pocket was already ringing. Coincidentally, it was the manager who was calling first.

[Oh, Mr. Narin. I called you in case you couldn’t find it and were wandering around. I think it would be better if you just came back. Mr. Narin’s younger sibling and the rat… ]

[Keeek!]

[… … The hamster delivered the USB by riding a pigeon.]

“Yes?”

[Anyway, that’s what happened. So don’t worry and come quickly.]

When she received it, she heard words that made all her previous efforts seem meaningless.

Namin and Hamshik are riding pigeons. What kind of absurd story is that?

Na-rin checked the phone number again, wondering if she had heard it correctly or if this was a voice phishing operation by the research institute.

Looking at the number saved as “Go-A-Jang,” it was definitely an exaggeration.

I don’t know. I heard there are scams where they spoof the same number and call you.

When calling from overseas, numbers starting with 010 lose the leading 0, so they start with 10. They use this to trick people by creating numbers starting with 0010. Then, they recognize it as the same number on their cell phone.

Narin was troubled. Was it okay to believe this?

But I already don’t have a Namin, a Hamshik, or a USB at home. Even if I get fooled by them again, I don’t really have anything to lose.

Since it was a loss, Narin put her shoes back on and headed to work. This time, she double-checked to make sure she hadn’t accidentally dropped anything.