[4th Episode]
After a hectic day, when I woke up the next morning, I thought I would take a good rest today. Although I exchanged contact information with Red, I didn’t feel like reaching out to her first, and I wouldn’t call her right away the next day. That’s what I thought.
Probably, I assumed that I would hear from her once she had her next part-time job, but my prediction was completely off.
The next evening after exchanging contact information with Red, I received a message:
“Older Brother, can I ask you something?”
When messages came from Red, there wasn’t anything special in the content. She had sent a message because she had encountered something she didn’t understand while studying, and I thought it wasn’t anything particularly significant. Just as I was about to conclude the conversation, another message arrived.
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
Another day passed.
Called by Red, I dressed appropriately and arrived at the meeting place early, waiting for Red.
I went out when Red asked me to, but since she was an Earthling and not someone I was meeting romantically, I couldn’t feel any excitement. While waiting, I felt a hidden tension inside, even though it wasn’t visible on the outside.
I wasn’t sure what her intention was in calling me, but so far, I was just an ordinary person to her. As I accepted her requests and slowly observed her, I might learn some information, and this meeting could be a crucial moment for me.
Since I arrived 30 minutes early, I had to wait until Red arrived. I took a moment to look around Gwanghwamun Square. I had lived on Earth for 20 years and had only recently come to Seoul, so I hadn’t had much time to explore many places. I didn’t have the leisure to go sightseeing, so seeing Gwanghwamun was a first for me.
“That must be the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin.”
There were two statues at Gwanghwamun, and I had researched both when gathering information to live in Korea.
The statue holding a book represented King Sejong, who created Hangeul during the Joseon Dynasty, before Korea was named as such.
However, it was the statue of a man in armor holding a sword that caught my attention.
Yi Sun-sin, a valiant general who fought against Japan across the sea during the Joseon period, helped protect Korea from foreign invasions.
Seeing a statue of someone protecting against external forces, even as an outsider from Earth, felt strange.
“There must have been soldiers back then too.”
Actually, as a mere soldier, the most prominent thought I had was about those nameless soldiers from that era.
“I’ll end up like them too.”
If Spacestro were to leave their names in the universe, it would surely be the names of representatives and high-ranking officials, and those who made significant contributions to history. Soldiers like me would likely vanish without a trace, unnoticed by anyone.
I wasn’t dissatisfied with being a low-ranking soldier. I was already accustomed to it, and I realized that those who left their names were doing great things, unlike someone like me. Therefore, I didn’t need to dwell on it. No matter how much I thought about it, I knew I would remain a lowly soldier, unable to leave my mark.
“Older Brother!”
While standing still and staring at the statue, Red waved to me from the subway stairs. Figuring out how to react to each of her actions would be quite a long journey ahead.
“Hello.”
“Still time left? When did you arrive?”
“Just now.”
Usually, I could only monitor Red when she worked at weekends in the afternoon, but having more opportunities to monitor her was a very good situation.
“Shall we go then?”
Red led the way to her destination, and I followed behind her, not knowing where we were going.
“Where are we going?”
I could have asked yesterday, but after replying that I had time, I received a message with the time and location. I missed the timing to ask where we were going, and now, since we met at the appointed place, I should at least know where we’re going.
“Bookstore.”
“Bookstore?”
“Yes. I want to buy some reference books.”
Why did she call me to buy reference books? If she wanted to ask about studying, I wouldn’t think it was a big deal, but choosing reference books is something one should do for themselves, isn’t it?
In fact, when I studied about the ship, all the materials were textbooks, so I had never seen reference books before and didn’t really know.
“There’s a large bookstore here in Gwanghwamun.”
Following her, we went to the bookstore, and as Red said, there was indeed a large bookstore in Gwanghwamun.
“Documents.”
It had been a long time since I read media on paper. I always used holographic monitors when studying, so I couldn’t remember the last time I read a book.
“There are so many books.”
Having become accustomed to checking databases for information, it had been a long time since I had actually looked at a book itself.
“Yes, this might be the biggest bookstore in our country.”
Marveling at the size of the bookstore, my eyes were drawn to every book within sight.
“This way.”
Red grabbed my hand and led me to the section with science fiction books, and I couldn’t help but widen my eyes again. Compared to Spacestro, the technology here was far behind, but seeing it in book form was intriguing.
“I’m not very familiar with deep space exploration technology yet, so I don’t know which reference book to choose.”
Now I understood why Red brought me here. She wanted me to pick out a suitable reference book for her.
“Then we should look through some books? It’s been a long time since I’ve read a reference book.”
It was important information that Red, a member of the HunterKiller Team, was studying deep space technology. And here, I couldn’t afford to let her knowledge grow unchecked.
The learning ability of Earth’s humans is remarkable. In the 20 years since Spacestro came to Earth, they have developed technologies to counter us even further. Even though Spacestro didn’t provide any data, they grew at an astonishing rate by using only the data of their own technology.
Based on my assumption, Earth will probably develop deep space exploration technology within 10 years.
By keeping her engaged here, I could also observe her closely.
First, I needed to pretend to casually find her reference book and carefully observe her actions.
Hong Yubin. My true identity, which I kept secret from many people, is that I am one of the representatives working to prevent the invasion of Earth by the alien force, Spacestro. As a member of the HunterKiller Team defending Seoul, I work part-time at a convenience store and attend university. By chance, I met “A,” an older brother who graduated from the world-renowned engineering university MAT.
After working for over a month, I found it suspicious that the same person came to the convenience store at the same time every day. Upon investigation, I discovered he was a graduate of MAT and specialized in deep space science technology, the same field as mine.
Through various conversations, I found him to be an interesting person with a somewhat absent-minded side, rather than a suspicious one.
Although I thought it would be inappropriate to pry given my lack of resources, I was deeply grateful to him for accepting my help without complaint. It wasn’t necessary for him to go out of his way to listen to me since we had just met.
Even now, seeing him carefully looking through reference books, I felt touched.
Since I couldn’t just stand by after asking her to find reference books, I also started looking for ones suitable for myself.
“…”
Silently pretending to read the reference books, Red also began checking the books she would use.
The problem was that I got so engrossed in the books that I started reading them seriously instead of monitoring Red.
As someone responsible for surveillance, I knew this was irresponsible behavior, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even if they are their flaws. When something interests me, I focus all my energy on it. Of course, forgetting what I should be doing and immersing myself in the book is a new experience for me. The reason is that the medium in front of me is a book, a relic from the past for Spacestro.
“…So this is how this theory can be interpreted.”
The level of deep space science technology known by Earthlings is very basic. Most theories are theoretical, but they are practically blocked and they are searching for theories and technologies that can be used in real-world applications.
Reading their books feels like looking at the formulas of math problems written by a child.
While I muttered to myself and read the book, Red’s gaze, which had been searching for reference books, shifted towards me. Feeling her gaze, I turned my head, and our eyes met. Not knowing what to say, I started talking about the book to divert her attention.
“This book is a bit difficult. It’s easy to read, but the formulas are all messed up. They could have arranged it much more clearly.”
Red, who hadn’t read the book I was reading, listened intently and seemed impressed. Satisfied, I put down the book I had been reading and picked up another one.
“What kind of reference book did you use when you studied?”
“Me?”
Here, I needed to answer carefully. If she was looking for reference books as a first-year student, it meant that upper-year students also use reference books. Asking what reference book she used would be a decisive clue.
But if I mentioned a reference book that was too simple, it might create a gap in the trust I had built up, albeit falsely. Right now, I needed to gain her full trust.
“I mostly used the books in the school library. They contained much more interesting information than those sold outside.”
Actually, this wasn’t entirely false. When I studied deep space technology, I borrowed books from the library on the ship I was on at the time and studied using those books, eventually becoming capable of working on the ship.
In other words, the school was a lie, but the fact that I read helpful books within it was true.
In summary, I ended up finding a reference book that would be useful for Red. By the time I found a suitable one, it was already too late, and I wondered if there was any way to stop it, but the book was already in her arms.
“Thank you. I called you suddenly yesterday, and you came out to meet me.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m okay.”
Honestly, I wasn’t bothered by it. I had come out for surveillance purposes and had completely forgotten about it while reading the book. I couldn’t recall what she had done during that time.
Since I bought the reference book, I thought it was time to go home. Although the surveillance failed today, being able to monitor her even on a day I usually couldn’t was a significant gain.
Red, holding a shopping bag containing the reference books, stared at me intensely. Her slightly narrowed eyes gave me a stern look, and I couldn’t muster the courage to meet her gaze.
No matter how much she didn’t know I was from Spacestro, it felt like meeting someone who had beaten me repeatedly every time we met. While I thought our business was concluded, she suddenly frowned and watched me. Although it was fine to meet, her expression made me nervous.
“Why, why?”
Gathering my courage, I asked Red why she was looking at me that way, and her frown immediately smoothed out as she smiled.
“It’s nothing. There’s something that’s bothering me.”
“Bothering you?”
“It’s nothing. You don’t need to worry about it.”
I was anxious. If she somehow guessed my true identity, it would be a massive crisis for me.
On Earth, there were rules against killing, and battles had scheduled dates, but there were also rules allowing some response if there was unscheduled contact.
Simply put, if I was caught during surveillance and got beaten up on a rainy day, I had no excuse.
“Then, shall we eat something before we go?”
“Huh?”
My mind was filled with thoughts of going home, and I blurted out a polite response to Red.
“You should return the favor for teaching me.”
“Oh.”
There was no reason to stay longer, but I was curious about why she wanted to eat together. It seemed like she wanted to return the favor for teaching me.
Eating together might give me more clues.
“Can you show me around a bit? I don’t know this area well.”
“Sure. Leave it to me.”
And the place Red showed me was a well-known franchise Chinese restaurant.
It wasn’t a bad place for a quick meal, and it was a place we both liked without needing to be overly formal.
“…I don’t have much money.”
“In that case, you don’t need to buy anything.”
“No, you taught me and came out to help me find reference books today.”
Despite not wanting to owe her, Red seemed determined to treat me to a meal.
While the type of restaurant and the price of the food weren’t ideal, her kindness made me feel genuinely touched.
Repaying a favor is similar to considering the actions taken by the other party.
“This almost brings tears to my eyes.”
“Huh?!”
“Because I’m so grateful. So grateful.”
Rarely receiving such consideration after enduring crowded rides in a van, I couldn’t help but feel moved.
While looking at the menu, Red ordered spicy seafood soup, and I ordered mapo tofu. She then stood up, saying she would go to the restroom.
Sitting alone, I noticed an apron hanging on the wall.
‘It was white.’
Red was wearing a white V-neck shirt with a slight cleavage and a brown jacket, paired with high-waisted shorts. Thinking it might tear, I stood up and hung an apron on the chair where she was sitting.
Recalling the time when Ruche spent a whole day worrying about soybean paste soup splashing onto her clothes, I remembered feeling very tired then. By doing this, I hoped to avoid upsetting Red’s mood.
The sudden concern for her mood was due to the lingering impression of the intense look she gave me earlier. Although I didn’t think she would discover my identity from a splash of soybean paste soup, you never know with people.
Returning from the restroom, Red noticed the apron on the chair and looked at me.
“Could it spill?”
“…Thank you.”
She couldn’t have had any other reason for putting the apron there, so I told her the truth. There was no need to beat around the bush.
Smiling slightly, Red sat down and put the apron around her neck.
Just in time, dinner arrived, and I took a spoon from the drawer and handed it to her before getting my own.
“If I can get free meals like this, I should learn a lot more.”
“My pockets will be empty.”
To divert her attention from guessing about me, I joked, and Red responded with a smile. Throughout the brief exchange, she kept smiling, but I occasionally felt her gaze on my neck, making me feel like I was being observed.
After finishing our meal, Red paid the bill, and I thought we were finally heading home.
During the meal, I continuously steered the conversation to distract her and disrupt her focus, so I ended up failing to properly monitor her. Today, there was nothing productive.
‘Great.’
If this happens every time I have to monitor her, I won’t have anything to report, and as a disposable soldier like me, I’ll be out of a job soon. This was truly a worrying moment.
After settling the bill, I felt Red’s sharp gaze again.
Her gaze, which seemed to scan my entire body, as if trying to determine where to attack. Was she trying to figure out where to strike?
“Shall we head back?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
With everything settled and a meal eaten, all that was left was to go home. Even though we were on the same route, at least I wouldn’t have to face her sharp gaze while sitting across from her.
The fashion sense of Older Brother was honestly terrible.
I wanted to talk as soon as I saw him, but I held back. Despite being just a study mentor, the beige cargo pants and blue checkered shirt were too much. Is fashion for college students the same abroad?
When he came to the convenience store, his house was right there, so his outfit of a black T-shirt and sweatpants didn’t bother me. But seeing his fashion choices from afar made me want to interfere.
However, I didn’t think it was appropriate to comment on his fashion choices directly, especially since I often couldn’t manage my expressions and got scolded.
If I see him again outside next time, and if he dresses the same way, I should try to help him out somehow.
