Holding my breath, I stared at the scene.
At Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s companions trying to perform CPR on her.
“R-reporter….”
At her body shaking limply.
At the way they finally seemed to decide there was no hope, then lifted the body, sobbing, glancing around helplessly as they started heading back up to the concourse….
“Agent.”
“…….”
“Is she… someone you need to rescue?”
I nodded unconsciously.
“Then let’s follow them!”
High schooler Ryu Jaekwan, who had been about to board the train, turned his body and moved away from it, heading toward the concourse.
Wait….
The screen doors are closing….
I turned my head.
Behind me, the train doors were closing.
Through the window, I caught sight of Ho Yuwon’s face sliding past, looking at me with an unreadable expression.
The train departed.
Wooooooong—
“…….”
It was gone.
I took a breath, then moved after Ryu Jaekwan, who had already started running up the stairs.
When I went up, avoiding the refugees sitting on the stairs sobbing or muttering to themselves, I saw the figures carrying the corpse and having no idea what to do.
They were so deep in panic they didn’t even realize they were being followed so openly by Ryu Jaekwan.
“Excuse me.”
I addressed them directly.
They jerked in surprise and turned toward me.
“Yes??”
Looking at those eyes full of both alarm and wariness, I chose my words carefully.
The form of address….
“Could the person you’re holding… be Reporter Eun Haje?”
“…!”
The tear-streaked faces of her companions changed.
“Do you know our reporter?”
“Yes. And until recently, I was working with her as well….”
I let the sentence trail off.
Beside me, I heard high schooler Ryu Jaekwan inhale shortly and sharply as he looked at Reporter Eun Haje’s condition.
‘He noticed.’
That she was a corpse.
Without needing to fake much of anything, I looked at Assistant Manager Eun Haje with a face gone pale and said,
“How did this happen? What exactly happened?”
At that, it was as if they could…