The child opened his eyes and faced the frightened faces of the adults. The child, seeing that he was surrounded by strangers, began to feel scared.
"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Dad?"
In the dark cinema, the child's frightened face, illuminated by the small light coming through the door, made me feel like crying. Outside, the screams of people continued. Yujin shushed and put her finger to the child's lips, whispering quietly. Don't cry. Don't cry.
"Shh... Be quiet. What's your name?"
While Yujin was distracting the child, who looked like he was about to cry, I searched the backpack with my fingertips for candy. I realized there was a snake in the backpack only after I put my hand in, and I cursed inwardly as I rummaged through it.
"Henry. Where's Dad?"
"Your dad went to work... What's your dad's name?"
"Leonard Sanders."
Yujin's eyes sharpened.
"Is your father Leonard Sanders, an American engineer? Is your mother's name Neva Hopkins?"
"Do you know my parents?"
"I'm Yujin. I sometimes met your parents in the lounge. Don't you live with your mom?"
"Today is the day Dad plays with me."
Yujin groaned. I quickly pulled out chocolate bars and candies and handed them to Yujin, who passed them to Henry. Henry took them as if it was natural. Even though he didn't know who his parents were, he shouldn't have been taught to accept food from strangers so easily.
"I'm your mom's friend. If you stay quiet, your dad will come to meet you after he finishes work."
The child looked at the candy and made a troubled expression.
"I can't eat candy because it will rot my teeth. Mom said I shouldn't eat it."
To help Yujin, I quickly supported her. You can eat it! You can eat it!
"The teacher is a dentist. You can eat it. I'll check your teeth after you eat."
I handed the whale stuffed animal, which I had pulled out along with the candy, but the child shook his head at the 30cm orange whale.
"I'm not that young to play with this."
Henry answered calmly. Despite being surrounded by several strangers in the dark and just waking up, he didn't cry. If it were me, I would have cried and screamed, asking where I was and who they were, and where my mom was. You're brave. Adults often hold these things and tremble while getting dental checkups. In Korea, children often hug their stuffed animals during checkups, but is it different in America? Kim Gayoung observed the child and asked.
"How old are you?"
"Seven."
"At seven, you're almost grown up, right?"
"Right. Right. At seven, you'll soon be driving and drinking."
I asked Seo Ji-hyuk for agreement, but he seemed flustered and made a strange sound. Shin Hae-ryang, who confirmed the local chaos by only moving his eyes, made a gesture to be quiet, hearing the sounds outside the door. I was so flustered that I covered Henry's mouth with my palm. Henry, as if it was natural, pushed my hand away. Unlike me, who was anxious about the people screaming outside, the child asked calmly.
"Why?"
"Let's be quiet. We can't let the people outside find us."
"Then just tell me to be quiet."
I was speechless at the logical words of the seven-year-old. So, I covered my mouth in the air as if zipping it up, and the child did the same, covering his mouth. Is a seven-year-old this smart? Children coming to the dentist, whether they are seven, seventeen, or twenty-seven, all scream, so I couldn't tell.
The multimedia room doesn't lock. Instead, the rule is that if the room is closed, people think it's in use and don't enter. If it's not in use, it's left slightly open. Shin Hae-ryang must have left it slightly open when he came in, allowing a sliver of light from outside to enter the dark multimedia room.
A figure passed by, slightly blocking the light. The situation was so tense that if someone had hit me, I would have screamed. Suddenly, someone opened the door and rushed in.
I realized that the whale stuffed animal I had been holding was gone, and that Baek Ae-young had a knife to the side of the intruder's eye. It seemed that Shin Hae-ryang had grabbed the intruder's head, pushed them to the ground, and stuffed the stuffed animal in their mouth, while Baek Ae-young had pressed the intruder's struggling body with her own and held a knife to them, and Seo Ji-hyuk had grabbed the intruder's kicking feet. Kim Gayoung, recognizing the intruder, said.
"Oh? Mr. Smith."
"Who?"
I asked, and Kim Gayoung quickly answered.
"Jennifer Smith. The team leader of the Engineering M team."
The Engineering M team is where all the Americans are, I think. I could see the strength draining from the kicking feet at Kim Gayoung's words. However, Seo Ji-hyuk didn't release his grip. Shin Hae-ryang quietly said to Jennifer.
"If you scream, I can't guarantee what I'll do. If you'll be quiet, nod your head."
Jennifer, lying on the ground like a frog, nodded. Still, Baek Ae-young didn't remove the knife she had pressed to Jennifer's face. In the dark, only the knife blade glowed, and it moved from Jennifer's eye to her cheek. Shin Hae-ryang, who had pulled the stuffed animal out of Jennifer's mouth, subtly kicked it to me. When I picked it up, the tail part, which had been in her mouth, was wet with saliva. Ignoring my expression of disbelief, Shin Hae-ryang asked Jennifer.
"What happened in Hyunmu-dong?"
"... A Japanese engineer shot a gun. People fell down. I ran and came here."
Only then did I understand why Baek Ae-young had stopped in Jungang-dong. There had been gunshots. I didn't realize they were gunshots; I thought it was the sound of metal bending.
"Is there an escape pod left in Hyunmu-dong?"
When Jennifer closed her mouth, Shin Hae-ryang bent her head 60 degrees. As her head turned, Jennifer's eyes met Henry's. Seeing Henry, Jennifer gasped and groaned before answering.
"There are six. The Russian, Japanese, and Chinese teams are fighting. They were shouting and fighting, so our team went, and the Japanese guy pulled out a gun and started shooting."
"Who from the Japanese team?"
"I don't know. They all look the same."
"What kind of gun?"
"It looked like an assault rifle. I couldn't see clearly as I was running."
"Did you go to Juak-dong?"
"No."
"Cheongryong-dong?"
"No!"
"Baekho-dong?"
"We were working! We were helping the Mining 3 team repair robots and had only been in Hyunmu-dong for ten minutes."
"Tell me anything you know about the other teams."
"... Take your hand off my head. Bastard!"
Shin Hae-ryang growled and released Jennifer's head. Baek Ae-young moved Jennifer away from Shin Hae-ryang and smoothed her messy hair. The knife that had been in Baek Ae-young's hand was gone. Since the multimedia room was quite dark, Jennifer couldn't see who had the knife and assumed it was Shin Hae-ryang, so she moved to stand next to Baek Ae-young.
Baek Ae-young quickly patted Jennifer's back. Soon, a flood of curses from Jennifer about Shin Hae-ryang came out. Seeing this mess in just a minute, I stood there with my mouth open. In the chaotic atmosphere, Seo Ji-hyuk awkwardly asked.
"Is... Is the guy from the same team, Daniel, still alive?"
"That bastard used me as a shield when bullets were flying!"
"Ah, that guy is still the same."
From what I heard, after a Japanese team member shot at his own team, a shooting spree broke out, and Daniel Rodriguez, who was on the same team, used Jennifer as a shield while escaping from Hyunmu-dong. Jennifer, who was still fuming, calmed down a bit, and I cautiously asked.
"Is Kevin Wilson on the American team?"
"... Yes. He's probably resting in his room because he has a bad headache."
While answering, I could see Jennifer's face was stiff. Before I could say anything, Henry asked.
"What about Leonard Sanders?"
Seeing the child's face after the dramatic gestures from Yujin and Kim Gayoung, Jennifer said.
"... He's working. I'm your dad's superior. Who brought you here?"
"Dad did."
Jennifer, who was trying to maintain a smile despite her distorted face, seemed like she wanted to eat Leonard alive.
"Ah... I see. So, where's your mom?"
"Mom went to visit grandma."
"... You live with your mom, right? Why are you looking for your dad here?"
Kim Gayoung, who seemed to have a headache, grabbed her head. There must be a complicated family situation. Yujin tried to change the subject by asking Jennifer.
"Where were you going?"
"We were planning to use the escape pod in Juak-dong. The Russians said the Korean team didn't return, so they must have escaped."
A short silence followed. The sound of Henry rolling the candy in his mouth was the loudest. Jennifer, looking at Shin Hae-ryang, said sarcastically.
"Since you're back, you must not have escaped."
Shin Hae-ryang seemed to treat Jennifer's words like barking. I put the saliva-covered whale stuffed animal back in the backpack and said.
"You won't be able to escape with the Juak-dong escape pod."
"Why?"
To Jennifer's question, Baek Ae-young sighed and answered.
"Most of the Juak-dong escape pods are broken. Do you know who checked them last?"
"We didn't. A month ago, we and the Chinese team checked the Hyunmu-dong escape pods. It must have been Australia or New Zealand."
"Our team was in charge of Baekho-dong. We were on the same team as Australia, who didn't like working with China."
"The Cheongryong-dong escape pods were probably checked by Russia and Canada. We had drinks with them after they finished the inspection..."
Seo Ji-hyuk stopped and looked at Shin Hae-ryang, trailing off. Kim Gayoung frowned and said.
"The Juak-dong escape pods were probably checked by the Japanese team and New Zealand."
"Maybe... Someone could have sabotaged them after the inspection."
After Yujin's words, a short silence followed. The screams and gunshots outside suddenly stopped as if nothing had happened.