"......What do you think you're doing?"
The 'older sister' asked, her tone edged with hostility.
"Oh, it's just—Nari's been missing for a long time now. She might be hurt or not feeling well, so I'll take her to the medical office first."
"Cheongho?"
So Hyena gave me an equally puzzled look.
I knew full well that the child in my arms was the little sister that 'older sister' had been searching for.
'But...'
I slowly looked the 'older sister' over again.
The way she appeared out of nowhere the instant we found the child was too suspicious.
Beneath the glamorous exterior—her cracked, blackened nails. The overpowering perfume she wore despite having a young sibling.
And above all...
The photo clipped to the report had been low quality, so I'd found it odd that a child would have dark circles. But once I was holding the child, I could see what they really were.
"Hyena, did you get a good look at the child's face?"
I took a step back and whispered, just loud enough for So Hyena to hear.
"Huh? No. She ran off so fast I didn't get a proper look."
"The skin under her eyes. The photo was blurry, so I assumed they were dark circles, but this..."
So Hyena lowered her head to look at the child.
"What happened to her face—...... Oh no."
"These are bruises."
And this was just a guess, but—the child had taken one look at So Hyena's face and bolted to me instead.
Normally, a child would run to a smiling woman rather than a grown man with a scar and a menacing face, right?
The 'older sister' and So Hyena were similar in height. Though their hair lengths differed, they shared a thin frame, fair skin, and a faint rose scent.
The child hadn't gone to So Hyena because she was a woman—same as the 'older sister.'
She was afraid.
'She ran because she's terrified.'
The ghosts had been doing everything the opposite of the real child.
'I missed you, sis!'
Then that line meant...
"As you can see, Nari won't stop crying. I'll take her to the medical office so she can have some warm water and rest."
"Would you like to come with me, ma'am?"
So Hyena, having noticed the bruises and sensed something wrong, maintained her smile and approached the 'older sister.'
"N-no, it's fine. Just give her back. Hand her over, now."
"...I can't do that."
"But I'm, I'm her older sister. We're the only two siblings in the world, you know?"
"I still can't."
SNAP—.
The airport, which had been bustling with the sounds of people, went dead silent in an instant.
Only an awkward, heavy silence lingered.
WHOOOOSH—
The travelers who'd been moving about frantically vanished into thin air.
Now on the first floor, only I, the child in my arms, So Hyena, and that 'older sister' remained.
"Give her to me."
The 'older sister's' eyes turned blood-red. Then bloody tears began streaming down her face.
The floor grew slick with the pooling blood.
CRACK. SNAP. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK.
Then she started jerking her head left and right like a madwoman, and the bone-chilling sound of twisting bones filled the airport.
"You're not her sister. It's all lies."
My throat went dry as I swallowed hard. Cold sweat trickled down my back.
"She, she, is my little sister, you knowwwwww? You won't give her baaaaaack?"
Her words stretched out like a tape being slowly rewound, and the 'older sister's' hair grew past her waist—all the way down to the floor.
Her cracked nails sharpened into razor-like blades, and a murderous glint flashed in her eyes.
"You stole my baby."
"Hyena, run!"
The 'older sister's' height shot up to an inhuman degree, and she lunged toward us on long, loping legs.
The beautiful woman from before was nowhere to be found.
"I won't let you get away with this."
THUD.
At the sight of her vaulting through the air, my legs buckled on their own.
'...I'm fucked.'
SCREECH-SCREECH-SCREECH-SCREECH—
The ear-splitting sound of grinding bones drew closer and closer.
That face—it was like watching a horror movie in 4K. No, live.
The 'mother' soared overhead, and a dark shadow fell directly above my head.
"WAAAAAAAAH!"
The child in my arms let out the cry she'd been holding back, and at the same time, my mind snapped to clarity.
In that moment, time seemed to freeze. As if someone had flipped on a radio, a voice began playing from somewhere.
'It was just a one-night stand, you know.'
'I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mommy.'
'Getting knocked up at a time like that. Ruined my whole youth.'
'WAAAH! I'll do better, I promise!'
'Hello? Ah, yeah. Managed to sell her off to someone in Vietnam for a pretty good price. Making money and getting rid of her—worked out great.'
'Where are we going...?'
'Fuck, the brat already ran away!?'
Not a sister—a mother...!
The child's trembling voice and the ear-splitting, vicious tone enveloped my head.
My legs still had no strength.
I desperately curled my arms around the child's head and back.
"Cheongho!"
So Hyena called out frantically.
The sound of blade-like nails slicing through the air toward my back reached my ears, and I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
'This is it......!'
[Test concluded— Test concluded—]
CRASH—!
Simultaneously with the announcement booming through the airport, something massive burst apart like a balloon.
......?
'What?'
I cautiously opened my eyes. A tall man wearing a white hard hat—the kind you'd see on a construction site—was stomping the 'mother's' head into the ground mid-leap.
CRUNCH, CRACK, CRUSH!
SPLAT—
The leaping 'mother' plummeted headfirst and crumpled onto the floor.
From her skull, shattered like a walnut, black, viscous sludge oozed out in place of a brain, staining the floor pitch-black.
The liquid reeked of rose fragrance so overpowering it could rot your nostrils off.
The 'mother's' hands trembled, then soon went still and fell limp.
"Test's over~"
"O-over?"
The hard hat man shook off the 'mother's' residue and waved cheerfully in our direction.
He wore a blue jumpsuit with a dark vest over it—like an aircraft mechanic.
On his hard hat, the words "Safety First" were printed alongside a mess of cute cloud stickers, the kind kids would love.
But the odd thing was—
beneath the white hard hat, where his eyes should have been, he wore a white mask with crescent-moon eyes drawn in a smiling expression.
Because of it, his features were completely unreadable.
His hair, neck, and hands were all covered by a black balaclava and gloves, leaving not a single patch of skin visible.
By appearance alone, he was the most suspicious figure here. Yet the hard hat man spoke in a kind, warm voice.
"You almost got seriously hurt and still shielded the child to the very end! What a brave kid. Here—have a lollipop."
"Uh... thank you...?"
The hard hat man pulled a yellow lollipop from his vest pocket and handed one to me and one to the child in my arms. Everything felt so surreal that I accepted it without thinking.
"You'll be going somewhere nice now."
His face was hidden, but after hearing the hard hat man's gentle voice, the child seemed to understand something. She stopped crying and broke into a bright, beaming smile.
Her pure, innocent smile made everything around us feel brighter—as if illuminated.
No—it wasn't just a feeling. The surroundings really were getting brighter!
"Time to wrap up."
"Huh?"
The hard hat man patted my shoulder and spoke.
Wrap up?
Oh.
"...The mom who hurt you is gone now. You don't have to be scared anymore."
"Thank you...."
FLASH—
After those quiet, heartfelt words, a light burst from the child's body—vast enough to engulf the entire airport.
Dizziness struck at the same time.
GASP—
"I'm... back."
When I opened my eyes, I was in the center of the document screening passers' waiting room again. But aside from me, no one else was there.
'Hyena and Siun are both gone...?'
Just then, the hard hat man flung the door open and bounced in excitedly.
"Congratulations on passing the Cheonsu Airlines cabin crew selection! You're one of our crew now—I'm so happy!"
Still in his inscrutable getup, the hard hat man's voice brimmed with excitement.
"If I passed... then the evaluation really was based on this test. What happened to the other applicants?"
"That's classified, so you'll have to check for yourself on your first day when you meet your fellow recruits. But I can tell you this: out of everyone in this class, you scored first in judgment and customer service aptitude. What a remarkable kid!"
The hard hat man clapped his hands with delight, as though genuinely proud.
"The people who got caught by the ghosts—are they all...?"
"This ghost story was a 'reconstruction' of an already-processed ghost story, designed for the interview and aptitude test. Everyone's perfectly fine, so don't worry."
I'd been sure they were done for... thank goodness. Then Siun must be safe too, regardless of whether he passed.
"It was a reconstruction, but the child you saved—thanks to you, she's probably gone to 'a good place.' Even though this ghost story was already processed once before, there was no guarantee she'd make it safely. But with this test, she's definitely in a good place now. Definitely!"
"A good place—what kind of place?"
"That's up to each person to decide. Let's call it religious freedom."
The hard hat man tapped my forehead with his index finger.
"We work in different areas, so I'm not sure we'll see each other often—but if we do, say hi. I'm Naviq."
His last sentence blurred away, and once again, dizziness surged strong enough to bring up vomit as my eyes fell shut.
My body felt like it was floating in midair...
"Mmph, ugh...!"
At this rate, I'm going to spend my whole career throwing up before I even clock in...!
After a brief flash of agony—like chugging a whole crate of liquor on an empty stomach—I came to and found myself back at my desk, in front of my computer.
In my hand, the yellow lollipop I'd just received was still there.
'......This is real.'
Ding.
=============================
[Web Message]
[Cheonsu Airlines First-Half New Cabin Crew Recruitment]
We sincerely congratulate you on your acceptance. New hire training is scheduled, so please report on the date below.
20XX. 04. 25. By 10:00
▷[Visit HQ Homepage and Address]
=============================
After everything passed by like a dream, the next day I received the training orientation text.
On top of that, an additional message read:
[We respect your decision. If you do not wish to join, we still ask that you please visit in person. Our airline values autonomy.]
The salary listed in the benefits package was noticeably higher than the average office worker's, but after experiencing something like that firsthand, some people would surely back out.
'Since I passed, Hyena and Siun probably got in too.'
What would those two decide?
Even if I worked as a flight attendant at the airport and in the skies, I'd have to face ghost stories like this going forward.
Ghosts, monsters....
Protecting that child—that felt good. I was proud of that. But making it a full-time profession was something worth serious deliberation.
"...Come to think of it, is there even a profession for this?"
Ghost hunter? Exorcist? Shaman?
"Hmm...."
Nothing but pointless thoughts kept creeping in, so I decided to just go have a smoke.
***
"It's right next to Doseong International Airport?"
When I plugged the address of Cheonsu Airlines' headquarters—where the training was held—into the navigation, it was a 15-minute bus ride from the airport.
"...How can I help you?"
"I'm here for the new cabin crew training."
The employee at the first-floor desk flinched when she made eye contact with me, then managed a strained smile.
'A cabin crew member with this face?' She's not thinking that... right? Haha.
That was actually the normal reaction, and I'd just forgotten for a moment. The familiar response that came with a menacing face—I wasn't hurt by it.
...Probably.
I suppose dealing with ghost stories doesn't mean everyone's immune to scary things.
"Please head to the training room on the fifth floor. Here's a temporary access pass—please return it after use."
"Thank you."
The first floor had a tall, wide lobby, as if two stories had been merged into one.
Taking the escalator up, I saw a large sign featuring a departing airplane alongside the characters '天守' (Cheonsu).
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Flight attendants in elegant navy uniforms with white scarves walked past, pulling their luggage.
And among them,
a captain strode by—four silver stripes sitting handsomely on his epaulettes, the very symbol of flight operations.
'...That's impressive.'
For the briefest moment, a thought flickered through my mind—if I'd been a little luckier as a student, maybe I'd be the one wearing that uniform with epaulettes, pulling a carry-on.
'The work's a bit different, but I'd still be working at an airport.'
Before I ran late, I headed to the training room on the fifth floor.
"I knew it...! You're safe, Cheongho!"
"Oh, Hyena."
In the training room were a familiar-faced So Hyena, myself, and roughly ten others.
"At the airport, there was this blinding flash, and when I opened my eyes I was back in my room. I got an acceptance text and had no idea what was going on!"
Was I the only one who met 'Naviq' before being sent back to my room?
"Has Siun not shown up? I was told to come regardless of whether you passed or not."
"Well, he's actually over there...."
So Hyena broke into a nervous sweat and pointed cautiously toward one corner.
"You going to fix those snake eyes or what, you piece of shit?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
In the corner of the training room, Jeong Siun stood with a deeply displeased expression, locked in a standoff with a large, well-built man whose hair was slicked back neatly.
Their faces looked ready to grab each other by the collar any second.
"Ugly mug on you. Surprised you passed at all."
"...You're not exactly winning any beauty contests yourself, sir."
"What did you just mutter, you little shit?"
One silver stripe on his epaulettes, white shirt with a tie.
The small logo badge above his name tag identified him as a senior flight attendant.
The senior stared Jeong Siun down with a murderous gaze, standing with an arrogant slouch.
"Haha... Siun's been like that ever since he introduced himself to me."
"He's not just straightforward—he spits out everything on his mind. But at least he's safe."
Just then, like deja vu, Kang Naju entered with a light knock.
"Welcome, new crew members. This is the passers' room."
The passers' room... so everyone here is a fellow recruit?
"Doyeong, let's begin."
"...Understood."
At Kang Naju's word, the senior who'd been growling at Jeong Siun quietly took his place beside her.
"Congratulations on your acceptance. Those of you who confirm your enrollment will undergo basic health exams and a swimming test, followed by two months of safety training here."
Kang Naju smiled gently as she continued.
"First, would anyone who does not wish to join please raise your hand?"