"Hm? Cheongho, you know this?"
Naviq asked, sounding impressed.
"My mother's a Christian, so I've seen the Korean version and even the original."
"Haha, that's quite the coincidence, wouldn't you say?"
Just then, a sharp woman's voice came from behind.
A woman with long, straight, dark green hair walked toward us at an unhurried pace, her heels clicking.
Slightly upturned eyes, and a single small mole beneath her right eye that was rather captivating.
She was wearing the same flight attendant uniform, so she appeared to be a senior.
"...Huiyeon? What brings you here?"
Naviq asked, shrinking back slightly.
"Nothing major. There was a missing report I needed to check on. Anyway, the cold case? That's a sensitive topic—you've got some nerve, Naviq."
"I'm the one who pressed him."
I wasn't sure where this confidence came from, but I didn't want Naviq taking any heat, so the words left my mouth first.
'She's definitely a lot more senior than me. There's something different about her presence....'
At my words, the green-haired senior narrowed her eyes and gave me a light once-over, top to bottom.
"Don't go digging into this."
Then she stepped even closer and whispered softly in my ear.
"The disappearance case is an especially sensitive issue. If you let that seed of curiosity grow, Senior Gam will absolutely lose it."
She was close enough that her breath reached me, and a faint scent of orange drifted over. The senior pulled her head back and held my gaze with a steady smile.
It was unmistakably a smile, but my first impression of her was ice cold. Something about her sent a chill down my spine.
"Oh? Senior Bae Huiyeon! What a surprise seeing you here!"
The one who shattered this rigid atmosphere was none other than So Hyena.
"Oh my, Hyena, it's been a while."
When So Hyena practically bounced over with obvious delight, the senior who'd been radiating an icy aura did a complete 180 on her expression.
"Do you two know each other?"
I asked So Hyena, quiet enough for only her to hear.
"Oh, just like you trained in the field with Senior Gam Doyeong, I did my training with Senior Bae Huiyeon."
...Bae Huiyeon.
A few classes below Senior Gam Doyeong—a ground crew flight attendant rather than cabin crew, apparently.
Bae Huiyeon exchanged a few brief words with Naviq, then turned her head back toward me. She mouthed something silently, so that no sound would carry.
'Take what I said to heart. Don't get any more curious.'
Only then did Bae Huiyeon give me a warm expression before walking into Archive Room 3.
"She's really gorgeous, isn't she? Between her and Senior Kang Naju, there are so many beauties here."
So Hyena said, eyes sparkling.
'I don't know about gorgeous—she was just plain scary.'
"Haha, yeah."
"What, Cheongho—are you into the cold beauty type like Senior Huiyeon? Ooh, ooh."
"I have no idea how you got there, but absolutely not."
While trading banter with So Hyena and heading back to haul more items, I thanked Naviq.
"Sheesh, I only did it because it's you!"
Naviq huffed and grumbled before heading into the archive room with us.
Bae Huiyeon was already gone from the archive room, apparently finished with her business.
We spent about an hour hauling all manner of items—desks, clothing racks, headsets—before we were finally done.
I must have moved close to forty items by myself.
"You two worked soooo hard! The other teams are wrapping up too and heading to the cafeteria. Let's hit a barbecue place nearby!"
Naviq clapped his hands and thanked us over and over.
My T-shirt was soaked through with sweat, but... thanks to Naviq today, I'd learned quite a lot.
'Cheongong Logistics Service (天空)....'
The same industry as what my uncle did. But the name was different, and I'd never even heard of it.
'Let's be satisfied with this for now.'
Just then, a text from Dad had come in thanking me for visiting the hospital, and I was about to call him when—
"Oh, come to think of it."
Naviq fanned himself with his hand, as if something had just occurred to him, and let slip one more remark.
"There's something I didn't mention earlier because it was so sudden, but if I put it this way, you'd probably know."
"Huh?"
"Cheongong Logistics Service is the name they use when working with us."
"What do you mean by 'when working with us'...?"
At Naviq's single remark, unease crept up like something slithering through my veins.
Naviq, naturally oblivious to what was happening inside me, continued.
"Publicly, they go by 'SkyGo Cargo'—originally a logistics company assigned to Incheon Airport."
In an instant, my eyes went wide and my breath stopped.
"...What? Where?"
My lips twitched, then trembled.
SkyGo Cargo.
That was where my uncle had worked for ten years.
Without a doubt.
Because I'd been there in person.
My entire body seemed to lock up in an instant.
The lead that had refused to surface no matter what had finally been found.
When we'd heard about my uncle's disappearance, Mom and I had visited his company.
But they'd denied everything—insisted he simply hadn't come to work, claimed they had no footage because of a large-scale CCTV replacement at the time—stubbornly refused to acknowledge anything.
'Now the puzzle comes together.'
The reason my uncle disappeared was the cold case—the Partner Company Disappearance Incident—where he'd personally delivered an item needed for a ghost story.
I'd thought the overlapping timing couldn't be pure coincidence, that there had to be some connection....
He hadn't just gone missing. He'd vanished inside a ghost story.
I couldn't put this delicate turmoil of emotions into words.
Unable to hide what I felt, I raised my hand and covered my face.
"Ha... haha...."
It wasn't enough that I'd accidentally joined a company connected to ghost stories—it turned out to be partnered with my uncle's company....
"Hm? Yuja-cheong, what are you doing?"
"Come on, let's go, I'm starving!"
Naviq and So Hyena waved me over.
I'd finally found a lead, and it turned out to be an unsolvable cold case.
The fact that there was nothing I could do right now made my chest impossibly tight.
"...Let's go. I'm hungry."
I spoke to Naviq and So Hyena with a faint smile resting on my lips.
"Before the restaurant, let me just hit the restroom."
"Hm? Sure, sure."
I hurried into the nearest stall and locked the door behind me.
'This is driving me insane. What am I supposed to do....'
If it came out that my family was connected to the cold case, it was obvious they'd never show me even a scrap of evidence.
'I need to hide it.'
I have to keep it firmly hidden—play it off as nothing more than a curious person showing interest.
—Dad, work's going to be busy so I might not be able to visit often. I'll call you.
I sent Dad a single message and turned off my phone.
Now that I knew this, I didn't think I could face Dad—who had no way of knowing what had happened to his own brother.
In the past, family circumstances had made it impossible to devote every day to searching for my uncle, so our family had decided to survive reality first.
It was all because of money.
Now, having just started a new job, all I could feel was disbelief—that my uncle had gone missing because of something as absurd as a ghost story at my very own workplace.
"The cold case Special Task Force... they're definitely 'attempting' something, he said...."
'Cheongho, this is like a natural disaster. It's not that we tried to do something and it turned out like this—it was an unavoidable accident that just happened to cross our path.'
Staring blankly at the ICU where Dad was, I remembered a conversation I'd had with my uncle.
Back then, I'd been wearing a pure white hospital gown, an IV drip, a cast on my foot, and crutches in hand.
'...Uncle. Dad still hasn't woken up.... It's been days since the surgery and he won't open his eyes....'
'We can't fall apart at a time like this. Your sister-in-law—no, your mom—was at home and got hit with the news out of nowhere. It must've taken so much courage and resolve to stand back up from that kind of despair.'
'Yeah... Mom cried so much.'
'Uncle will help too. When things are hard for you, while your dad's sleeping for a bit, Uncle will be right here.'
My uncle had gripped my shoulder firmly, steadying my body.
I looked up at him.
Whether or not he knew his own eyes were bright red, he was smiling wide, telling me not to worry about a thing.
"...If they're attempting something, that means the odds aren't zero."
I muttered, lifting my head.
I need to get in there.
Get it together.
After about ten deep breaths and calming my mind, I stepped out of the restroom.
"Cheongho, is your stomach bothering you? Why are you breathing so fast? I'm worried."
"Oh, Naviq."
Naviq was standing by the sinks, waiting for me.
"Aha, I spot stammering and panicky eyes! You're hiding something, aren't you!"
Naviq's smiling mask seemed to curve even more, like a seagull's grin.
"...I was just wondering why you always wear a mask."
That was the only topic I could think of to change the subject.
I clenched my hands behind my back to avoid showing any more signs of panic.
"Oh! I was wondering when you'd ask."
"I figured you had your reasons. Something sensitive, maybe...."
"Cheongho, you're more thoughtful than I expected?"
Thankfully, the subject seemed to have shifted to Naviq's mask.
"Curious?"
"Only if it doesn't make you uncomfortable."
Honestly, saying I wasn't curious would be a flat-out lie. It was such a striking image from the very first moment I'd seen him.
"Haha, this is why I like you, Cheongho. You're right up my alley!"
Naviq laughed brightly, then slid the black glove on his right hand down slightly.
'!!'
"Wait, this is...?"
"This is why."
I'd asked the question hastily just to steer the conversation, but I truly hadn't expected this kind of reason...!
I looked back and forth between Naviq's hand and his mask with wide eyes.
Naviq pulled the glove back up as though it were nothing.
"I showed you specially. Because you're a close friend, Cheongho."
Then he raised his pinky finger.
"Secret, got it?"
Naviq always wore a smiling mask—white background with eyes and mouth curved like a seagull's grin.
On his head sat a white hard hat with "SAFETY FIRST" written on it, adorned with a cute cloud sticker.
He wore a dark blue aviation maintenance uniform with a fluorescent vest, and in the vest pocket were a star-shaped ballpoint pen and the lemon candies he'd given me.
Put it all together and it sounds cute—like a unique mascot—but it didn't end there.
Behind the mask, his head and neck were covered by a black balaclava.
Even in this heat, he wore long sleeves, long pants, black gloves, and heavy boots—fully armored so that not a single inch of his body was visible.
That was why, no matter how hot it was, even when smoking, Naviq never once showed his mask-hidden face or body.
"My finger's gonna fall off~"
"Oh."
I linked my pinky with his to seal the promise of secrecy.
"Were you really surprised?"
"...I'm sorry if that was rude."
"What's rude about it! Hahahaha!"
What Naviq had shown me by lowering the glove on his right hand was a massive mark.
Whether it was a burn, a discoloration, a scar from a blade—I couldn't tell. An indecipherable mark was spread wide across his skin like spilled paint.
'...It definitely wasn't red. It was blue.'
It wasn't like a bruise. Unidentifiable blue marks were simply spread everywhere.
Even someone with zero social awareness could guess that this was why Naviq covered his entire body.
'Could it be all the way to his face......?'
"Know how I got this?"
"...No."
"From a ghost story. Type 1."
"A ghost story?"
Naviq looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his mask.
"The ghost stories we handle almost always end with just temporary aftereffects. The truly 'dangerous' ones are maybe one in a hundred—if that."
Type 1 meant a real-world ghost story.
If that was the case, there was a high chance the damage could never be undone....
I understood how devastating this must be, how sensitive a subject it was.
Looking up at Naviq, he was leaning against the sink as he continued.
"So, Cheongho. I don't know what your reasons are, but the cold case isn't called a cold case for nothing."
Naviq spoke warmly, gently, as if trying to persuade me.
"You heard it when you joined too—Cheonsu Airlines is a free place. They erase your memory, but you can quit anytime. There's a reason they offer good benefits and pay well."
Naviq reached out his large hand and ruffled my hair with a grin.
"I really like you. You've got courage, you're friendly, and I think you're a great crew member. I really like you. I hope you'll keep flying with us for a long time, the way you've always dreamed."
"Of course."
"Now let's go eat. I'll even throw in dessert coffee, special treat."
Naviq snapped his fingers playfully.
Coming out of the restroom, So Hyena was waiting and spoke up brightly.
"I found a restaurant nearby! There's nothing right by headquarters, but about twenty minutes out there's a decent black pork place—what do you think?"
"Ooh, sounds great. How about a light glass of soju?"
"I'm in!"
'Still, this is going to be tricky....'
Ignoring Naviq's earnest advice and going straight to the Special Task Force would be disrespecting everything he'd tried to tell me.
The three of us cracked open just one bottle of soju at the black pork restaurant So Hyena had found.
In a way, I knocked back that shot of soju with an aching, devastated heart.
'What do I do about this? I'm learning so much today....'
Even while eating the mouthwatering meat, even while the three of us clinked glasses.
My face struggled to maintain composure, but inside, it felt like everything was twisting apart.
That day, my mind churned with nothing but worry as it faded into night.