When Baek Ae-young went to press the elevator button, I thought everyone here would move to the front of the elevator. However, Shin Hae-ryang suggested we wait here, and Baek Ae-young naturally turned back. In response to Yu Jin-i and my questions, Baek Ae-young quietly answered:
"The area around the elevator is too open. If we stand in front, anyone can see us, so it's not safe."
"Wow!"
"Wow."
Yu Jin-i and I let out low exclamations of surprise at the unexpected suggestion. During the three-minute break, Seo Ji-hyuk sat on the floor behind the cafe counter and said he would check if the internet worked on his tablet. Yu Jin-i plopped down next to him and immediately took out her phone.
"The internet doesn't work."
"Phone calls don't work either."
Hearing the disappointed voices, I looked around the kitchen of the cafe we were in. Since we only used two cafes in the fourth undersea base, I hadn't had a chance to try this one. Looking at the menu, it seemed they mostly sold blended fruits. It looked like they had evacuated quickly, but how could they have left the frozen strawberries and blueberries outside the large refrigerator in such a hurry? I opened the freezer compartment to put the frozen strawberry pack inside, but then I realized the freezer I had just opened wasn't working. And... what?
There was a lump of metal inside the freezer that shouldn't have been there. Is this a real gun? Seo Ji-hyuk couldn't move. Baek Ae-young kept her eyes on the elevator.
"Mr. Shin Hae-ryang, please come over here for a moment."
At my voice, Shin Hae-ryang came over immediately. I showed him the non-functioning freezer. It seemed to have been used as a storage locker rather than a freezer, and there was something inside that shouldn't have been in a place selling fruit juices.
"Did you touch it?"
"No, I just opened the door."
Shin Hae-ryang looked at the pistol and ammunition inside the freezer, then pointed to an empty spot next to them.
"Someone took what was here and left these behind."
He checked that there was nothing installed inside the freezer, then picked up the gun to check the safety and chamber.
"Is it fake?"
Please, let it be fake. Shin Hae-ryang shook his head.
"It's real."
Inside the freezer were a gun, two ammunition clips, a pack of bullets, and a bottle of whiskey. Shin Hae-ryang carefully opened the remaining refrigerators. Only then did I realize he was checking for booby traps. ...I just opened the freezer without thinking.
When I opened the others, they were all filled with milk, cold sodas, and food. I even checked behind the milk, but there was nothing. I awkwardly put the frozen strawberries back on the floor where they had been. It seemed the large strawberry and blueberry packs were part of the disguise to hide the gun. Shin Hae-ryang placed the gun on a towel with a click and began to disassemble it.
Why disassemble a perfectly good gun? When the palm-sized gun was disassembled, the small parts exaggeratedly fit into one hand. I was worried that it couldn't be reassembled, but Shin Hae-ryang started putting it back together, examining the spring and internal parts like building with Lego. In a short time, he had reassembled the gun and even loaded the ammunition. Just as he finished, Yu Jin-i entered the kitchen.
"What are you two doing here?"
Yu Jin-i's eyes widened when she saw the gun. Ah, I felt the same way when I saw it in the freezer. Yu Jin-i swallowed and asked:
"Are you going to use that?"
Shin Hae-ryang, who was holding the gun pointed downward, said, looking at his hand, which was setting the safety.
"I hope it doesn't come to that."
When we left the small kitchen, Seo Ji-hyuk and Baek Ae-young, upon seeing the gun, started arguing over who should take it, making Yu Jin-i and me jump.
"Can't I shoot it? Leader? No, Team Leader! I got shot today and I'm tired."
"She's tired. Let's exclude her. You know my skills. I'm confident I won't waste a single bullet."
"......I'll keep it. Both of you, be quiet."
Shin Hae-ryang's words made them both sullen. Why are they so eager to have the gun? When I asked, Baek Ae-young sighed and said:
"I currently have a machine gun with a loaded magazine. Do you know how insecure it feels to be unarmed?"
"I don't understand."
Even after thinking for a moment, my answer was the same. You would only understand if you had carried weapons before.
"Since I don't have a weapon that can harm others, I can expect a peaceful solution from the other side, right?"
"Maybe. Given that they brought a gun into an undersea base where weapons are prohibited, it seems they don't want a peaceful solution. They seem to want a chaotic, bloody fight."
"......I'm good at bloody fights, but I always prefer a peaceful solution."
Seo Ji-hyuk and Yu Jin-i chuckled softly at this. They had both been treated by me before. Baek Ae-young, seeing their smiles, looked puzzled. Later, she snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, you're a dentist."
Baek Ae-young turned to me and said:
"If the other side wants peace, I'm more than willing to offer a peaceful solution. (Seo Ji-hyuk shook his head, indicating he didn't believe it) But if they want a bloody fight, I'm ready to fight."
"......Have you never heard the saying, 'Prevent fighting and seek negotiation'?"
"Is that a Korean proverb?"
Ha ha ha. Good grief. Baek Ae-young suddenly lifted her head and looked at the elevator. She stretched her neck like a meerkat and then suddenly told us to crouch down. Yu Jin-i, who was already half-sitting, and I, who had covered my mouth, barely breathed.
Hiding behind the cafe counter, I felt like we would be discovered if we moved our heads. Footsteps from the elevator indicated that someone had come out. Baek Ae-young's fingers showed two people, and I had to suppress the urge to beg them to take us out of the undersea base. Shin Hae-ryang, Seo Ji-hyuk, and Baek Ae-young, without making a sound, put their fingers to their lips.
Shin Hae-ryang touched the gun he was holding twice and then tapped the air twice toward the elevator. It was hard to understand if he wanted to shoot the two people who had just come out of the elevator or if they were also armed. Given his engineer's personality, the former seemed more likely, which made me nervous.
When the people moved from the elevator, we could finally see them a little. Both had a round mark or patch on their upper arms, depicting a shark with an open mouth in black, red, and white. Both were armed with guns, and their overall attire was dark. They wore black masks that covered their noses.
People in the undersea base don't usually wear all black. To prevent accidents and alleviate depression, they avoid dark colors because it gets darker as you go deeper underwater. After seeing only colorful clothes for five days, the dark outfits made me feel intimidated.
Seeing this, I understood why Baek Ae-young was so cautious about taking the elevator. They must have been inside the elevator the whole time. The moment the button was pressed, they came out. Two men in black hats, black masks, and black clothes with shark patches on their shoulders. They looked like the kind of people who would make pedestrians avoid them on the street. Why are such people in the undersea base?
From their conversation, it seemed the two armed men were very curious about who had pressed the elevator button. Yu Jin-i muttered, "Somniosus microcephalus." I had no idea what it meant, but the translation device in my ear translated it as "Greenland shark" a few seconds later, making my heart drop.
The two armed men, while looking around, started searching the "Unlimited Chocolate Cookies and Book Cafe," which was closer to the elevator than where we were hiding. After they completely disappeared, Baek Ae-young said:
"If we had a silencer, I would have shot them right away."
Shin Hae-ryang didn't disagree, showing he agreed. With the two armed men now at the book cafe, he asked if we should take the now empty elevator.
"I'm concerned that they came down in the elevator that was stopped at the second undersea base."
Shin Hae-ryang probably expected that as soon as they took the Arkelon elevator, they would face a truckload of armed men in black hats and dark clothes. Yu Jin-i, scratching her cheek, asked Shin Hae-ryang:
"Will they be hostile to us even though we haven't done anything?"
"They're covering their faces, which means they're ready to do anything anonymously."
"But there are many people who don't cover their faces who are also like that."
"......That's true."
Listening to this exchange, I asked, puzzled:
"What should we do?"
"Preemptive action is best."
Baek Ae-young, holding a flathead screwdriver, looked at Shin Hae-ryang. After a few seconds, Shin Hae-ryang nodded.
"Let's capture them and ask."
Shin Hae-ryang handed the gun he was holding to Baek Ae-young. With the screwdriver in her mouth and the gun in one hand, Baek Ae-young told Yu Jin-i and me to hide in the kitchen until they captured the two men and not to come out until called.
As Yu Jin-i and I were about to take Seo Ji-hyuk, who was sitting on the floor, to the kitchen, Shin Hae-ryang shook his head. Seo Ji-hyuk sighed deeply and said:
"Of course, you need my acting skills to pretend I'm dead."
"Right."
Shin Hae-ryang nodded without changing his expression. Seo Ji-hyuk, who had said he couldn't do it without me, pretended to roll around holding his leg.
"Aaaah! My leg!"
Yu Jin-i and I hid in the kitchen and counted together. Before two minutes had passed, we heard Baek Ae-young's voice and went out. One of the armed men was lying on top of Seo Ji-hyuk, and Baek Ae-young was pointing a gun at the other's face, while the armed man's gun was aimed at her thigh.
Shin Hae-ryang, who was unarmed, was pulling the man from behind, turning the direction of the armed man's gun toward his own thigh. Shin Hae-ryang was making a terrifying threat.
"Either your face or something in your pants will fly off if you scream. One of them will definitely fly."
Shin Hae-ryang, who was over 190 cm tall, would likely be hit in the thigh or calf if the gun went off, while the man, who looked about 170 cm tall, would lose his lower abdomen or something precious. Seo Ji-hyuk pushed the man off him, took the gun, and aimed it at the man Shin Hae-ryang was holding. The three of us were now aiming at one man.