Baek Aeyoung smiled and swiftly whipped her flashlight around. Light swirled in circles around her arm. It looked like a fire-spinning game.
"Ah, then I hope it comes to me first. So I don't bother the others."
Her tone at the end was strange. There was no inflection, as if a robot were speaking. Hearing those words in the darkness, even if a ghost appeared, it seemed like it would have less presence than Baek Aeyoung. Seo Jihyeok said nothing, but Shin Haeryang, who had been listening quietly, reacted.
"...Don't worry."
"I'm joking."
And the more Baek Aeyoung played with her flashlight, the lights danced, illuminating the stairs and walls. As I watched the light move about dizzyingly, Baek Aeyoung spoke in a low voice.
"I'm doing this because I'm annoyed at that bastard from earlier. I don't know if Geumi or Muhyeon heard, but earlier he yelled at me, calling me an orphan. Shuran is dead too, and I'm in a terrible mood. I wish anyone would fall into my hands. I want to wield unjust violence that could appear justified."
"...I'm sorry about Shuran. You must have been very close."
Hearing my anxious voice, Baek Aeyoung took a deep breath and exhaled. It was an action that, if a sigh alone could collapse stairs, would have already brought every step beneath our feet crashing down. At the same time, the flashlight that had been chaotically illuminating the walls stopped dead, precisely shining on Seo Jihyeok's injured foot. I heard a sound—maybe Yu Geumi moving. Though it was hard to see because the light was shining toward Seo Jihyeok, Yu Geumi seemed to have embraced Baek Aeyoung.
"It's not easy to make friends at work. It's hard to find good people, too. She was a really good friend."
Only after hearing her trembling voice did I realize. I really am a clueless bastard. I rummaged through the front and back pockets of pants that weren't even mine, looking for something to wipe with, but nothing came out except a single coin. My handkerchief was probably submerged in seawater back at the Baekhodong quarters. A sense of guilt with no discernible origin seemed to coil around my entire body. Had she been like that the whole time we were climbing? I had no idea. I didn't know because she was climbing the stairs so spiritedly. I was sorry I didn't know. After a brief silence, Baek Aeyoung spoke brightly.
"Break time is over! Let's start climbing again! This time, let's walk a bit longer."
Then Baek Aeyoung took Yu Geumi's hand and began climbing the stairs first. The two of us also grabbed each other's shoulders.
After a few seconds, Baek Aeyoung began sprinting up the stairs at a tremendous speed again. Yu Geumi tried hard to keep up with Baek Aeyoung, but matching the pace of someone steadily climbing two to three steps per second is no easy task. The reverse would likely be difficult too. Everyone has their own pace.
Occasionally, the light turned back to illuminate us. Most of the time, the stairs were broken or blocked by what looked like chunks of concrete. Watching the light shine ahead of the three men in the distance, I spoke.
"It's like a lighthouse."
At my words, Seo Jihyeok looked at the distant light and said.
"A lighthouse overflowing with energy. Team Leader. The white shark seems to be in a complete mess emotionally. Though her body seems fine."
"What about you?"
"About my delicate mental state in the current situation? Or about the unacceptable injury that has temporarily appeared on my perfect physique?"
"...I can't look after your mental state, so just your leg."
"It hurts."
"Then both are fine."
Just as Seo Jihyeok was letting out an incredulous sound, asking why I even asked, I questioned Shin Haeryang.
"Then how are you feeling, Shin Haeryang?"
Seo Jihyeok, who had been chattering plenty beside us, shut his mouth. Shin Haeryang thought for a moment before answering.
"Not particularly good, but it's much better now than when I was in the elevator."
"You mean this situation where we still have to climb over 3,000 more stairs, where bugs or water droplets occasionally fall on our heads in the darkness, and we slip every now and then?"
"Yes."
At those words, Seo Jihyeok laughed like a madman, snickering. He probably thought the team leader had lost his mind. I was about to laugh along but couldn't overcome my curiosity.
"May I ask why?"
"I think it's because while climbing the stairs, I can think less about which choice would be more efficient."
"Whether to take the escape craft or the elevator. Where we should go, things like that?"
"...About whether a submarine from whatever country is closest to here noticed the undersea base being attacked by missiles, how long without contact before an unmanned reconnaissance drone comes to check the perimeter of the undersea base, whether an escape via the escape craft would be caught on satellite, how many of my team members survived, what the other team leaders are doing, and how much of the undersea base the cult has seized."
"...Then here, I can afford to think a little less. I can only think about the stairs."
I reached over Seo Jihyeok's broad back with my arm and tapped Shin Haeryang's shoulder with my fingers in encouragement. Submarine? Unmanned reconnaissance drone? Satellite? Damn. I felt like my head would burst just thinking about the people I'd met this week. I decided to leave those worries to Shin Haeryang. Seo Jihyeok tapped my shoulder with his fingers and spoke.
"How about you, Doctor?"
"...I'm putting everyone I met at the undersea base on the suspect list, and asking each one if they believe in the cult."
Seo Jihyeok laughed softly. Since the three of us were pressed close together climbing the stairs, I could feel Seo Jihyeok's chest moving.
"Any results?"
"Besides Elliot?"
"Uh... well, anyone."
I hesitated, wondering if there would be another chance to speak besides now, and looked around. Making sure the light was far enough away and Yu Geumi's footsteps couldn't be heard nearby, I spoke quietly.
"I'm suspecting Gang Sujeong and Yu Geumi."
Seo Jihyeok asked listlessly, as if it weren't a big deal.
"What about them is suspicious?"
"Sujeong came to greet me first when the helicopter arrived and carried my luggage. She also introduced the others to me. Geumi gave me very delicious bread on the first day we met, and visited the dental clinic for the first time."
"Both of them showed you kindness without expecting anything in return. Then what do you plan to do now?"
"There's nothing I can do. I'm climbing stairs in the dark right now. My suspicions just keep growing."
Seo Jihyeok nodded. Shin Haeryang said nothing even though I was suspecting one of his own team members, perhaps just listening.
"Suspicion breeds suspicion. Once the other person's actions look suspicious, from then on everything looks suspicious. Well, one of them might really be a cultist, both might be, or neither."
"That's right."
I nodded fervently.
"Once you've started suspecting someone, everything looks suspicious, so clearing that doubt is almost impossible. Unless there's clear evidence. But how difficult it is for the truth to be revealed in this world—well, I'm sure you know well enough from reading the incident and accident sections of newspapers, Doctor."
I nodded hard. It was all true. Seo Jihyeok asked Shin Haeryang, who was positioned to his right.
"Team Leader, what do you do in situations like this?"
"Separate them and interrogate."
It went quiet for a moment. That didn't seem to be the answer Seo Jihyeok wanted. Having lost his words for a while, Seo Jihyeok lightly smacked Shin Haeryang's back. A slapping sound rang out. Our team leader is a real psycho. Then, with a sigh, Seo Jihyeok spoke to me.
"When you suspect someone but can't confirm it, there are two methods. One is to trust the other person."
"What's the other?"
"Commit this to memory. End the relationship."
"...Is that the answer?"
"You don't seem to know what a good thing I've told you. This applies exactly the same to a partner you think is cheating. You can't know whether they're cheating on you or not. Then either trust them. If you can't, it's better to cleanly break it off."
Is this a good answer? Or the same usual nonsense?
"What if one of them is a cultist trying to push me into their religion?"
"It's rare for people to try to prove their innocence just because you interrogate and pressure them." As Shin Haeryang hesitated, Seo Jihyeok said, "Team Leader, I'd appreciate it if you could stay quiet for a moment." He continued, "Most people who are interrogated get angry, asking why you can't trust them. And your relationship with them is just over. Any goodwill or anything just flies away. Besides, you can no longer feel at ease watching what that person does."
"...What do you two think of Gang Sujeong?"
Seo Jihyeok seemed flustered, perhaps not having expected such a question. He began to think, humming.
"Whether she believes in the cult or not, she's not the type to try to force others into anything."
Shin Haeryang's answer came from the darkness.
"If she had started believing in the Infinite Church, she would have told me. She's someone who can't hide anything."
"Ah... right. She's the type to report to the Team Leader, 'I believe in the Infinite Church starting today! Look at this. Isn't the shark emblem cool!'"
I muttered lowly, thinking of the distant light and the person struggling to follow it.
"What about Yu Geumi?"
"I've run into her several times at the Sector 4 Undersea Base café or bakery. She seems to have a sweet tooth for bread? She always buys armfuls of bread. Honestly, I don't really know. Researchers hate even coming out of their own Jujakdong quarters."
"I don't really know either."
Hearing Shin Haeryang's voice, I thought of Yu Geumi and said.
"She was sleeping in Baekhodong. She said she swapped rooms with someone from Jujakdong and was staying in Baekhodong. ...Now that I think about how researchers hate even coming out of Jujakdong, it's a bit suspicious."
Seo Jihyeok turned his head and looked at his team leader with a troubled expression, but the team leader simply climbed the stairs with a cold, collected expression. The restless Seo Jihyeok let out a sigh.
"Women... well... they change rooms easily."
"What?"
"The reason we came to Baekhodong... is it okay to talk about this?"
Shin Haeryang showed no particular sign of objection, and Seo Jihyeok seemed to interpret the silence as consent.