Baek Ae-young smiled and swiftly swung her flashlight. The light swirled around her arm in a circular pattern. It looked like a firefly dance.
"Well, I hope you come to me first. I don’t want to bother anyone else."
Her last tone was strange, as if a robot was speaking, without any intonation. In the darkness, her voice made her seem less real than a ghost. Seo Ji-hyuk didn't say anything, but Shin Hae-ryang, who had been listening quietly, responded.
"Don’t worry."
"It’s a joke."
As Baek Ae-young played with the flashlight, the light danced on the stairs and walls. Watching the light move chaotically, Baek Ae-young spoke softly.
"I was annoyed by that guy earlier. I don’t know if Jin or Muhyeon heard, but that guy called me an orphan. It made me feel really bad, especially with Shuran. I wish someone would cross my path so I could unleash some justified violence."
"…I’m sorry about Shuran. It seems you were close."
Hearing my restless voice, Baek Ae-young took a deep breath and exhaled. If a sigh could collapse the stairs, they would have already crumbled. The flashlight, which had been moving chaotically, suddenly stopped and shone directly on Seo Ji-hyuk’s injured foot. There was a sound, as if Yoo Geum-i had moved. The light was shining on Seo Ji-hyuk, so I couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed Yoo Geum-i had embraced Baek Ae-young.
"It’s not easy to make friends at work. It’s hard to find good people. She was a really good friend."
Hearing her trembling voice, I realized how insensitive I had been. I searched my pockets, not even my own, but found nothing except a coin. My handkerchief was probably soaked in the seawater at the Baekhodong dormitory. A sense of guilt I couldn’t explain enveloped me. Had she been like this the whole time we were climbing? I hadn’t noticed. I hadn’t noticed because she was climbing the stairs so bravely. I felt so sorry for not noticing. Baek Ae-young was silent for a moment, then said cheerfully,
"Break’s over! Let’s keep climbing! This time, let’s take it a bit slower."
Then, Baek Ae-young took Yoo Geum-i’s hand and started climbing the stairs first. The two of us also held each other’s shoulders.
A few seconds later, Baek Ae-young started sprinting up the stairs at an incredible speed. Yoo Geum-i tried to keep up with her, but it wasn’t easy to match the pace of someone who climbed 2-3 steps per second. It would be equally difficult to match the opposite pace. Everyone has their own rhythm.
The light occasionally turned back to shine on us. Most of the time, it was when the stairs were broken or blocked by concrete chunks. Watching the light shine on the three men far ahead, I said,
"It’s like a lighthouse."
Seo Ji-hyuk, looking at the distant light, said,
"A lighthouse with too much energy. Team Leader. It seems Baek Sang-ah is in a complete mess. But she seems physically okay."
"How about you?"
"Are you asking about my delicate mental state in this situation? Or about the unacceptable injury that temporarily appeared on my perfect body?"
"…Your leg only."
"It hurts."
"You’re both fine."
Just as Seo Ji-hyuk was about to say something exasperated like, "If you’re fine, why did I ask?" I asked Shin Hae-ryang,
"How are you feeling, Mr. Shin?"
Seo Ji-hyuk, who had been talking a lot, fell silent. Shin Hae-ryang thought for a moment and answered,
"Not great, but it’s much better than when we were in the elevator."
"Even though we still have over 3000 stairs to climb, and sometimes bugs or water droplets fall on our heads in the darkness, and we slip occasionally?"
"Yes."
Seo Ji-hyuk chuckled and laughed like a madman. He probably thought the team leader had lost his mind. I was about to laugh along but couldn’t resist my curiosity.
"Can I ask why?"
"Because while climbing the stairs, I can think less about what the most efficient choice is."
"Escape pod or elevator. Where to go, that kind of thing?"
"…Whether the missile attack on the underwater base was detected by a submarine of the nearest country, how long it would take for an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to check the area around the base, if the escape pod was spotted by satellite, how many of my team members survived, what the other team leaders are doing, and how much the cult has taken over the base."
"…I guess we can think a bit less here. I can only think about the stairs."
I patted Seo Ji-hyuk’s broad back with my fingers and lightly tapped Shin Hae-ryang’s shoulder. Submarine? Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft? Satellite? Damn. I felt like my head would explode just thinking about the people I met this week. I decided to leave those worries to Shin Hae-ryang. Seo Ji-hyuk tapped my shoulder with his fingers and asked,
"How about the doctor?"
"…I’m putting everyone I met at the base under suspicion and asking each one if they believe in the cult."
Seo Ji-hyuk chuckled. We were so close together on the stairs that I could feel his chest moving.
"Any leads?"
"Besides Elliot?"
"Ah…anyone."
I hesitated, thinking this might be the only chance to talk about it. I looked around, making sure the light was far enough and Yoo Geum-i’s footsteps couldn’t be heard, then whispered,
"I’m suspicious of Kang Soo-jung and Yoo Geum-i."
Seo Ji-hyuk asked indifferently, as if it wasn’t a big deal,
"What makes you suspicious of them?"
"Soo-jung was the first to come and greet me when the helicopter arrived, helped with my luggage, and introduced me to others. Yoo Geum-i gave me delicious bread on the first day we met and took me to the dentist."
"They both showed kindness without expecting anything in return. What do you plan to do about it?"
"There’s nothing I can do. I’m just climbing the stairs in the dark. My suspicions just keep growing."
Seo Ji-hyuk nodded. Shin Hae-ryang, who was listening, didn’t say anything even when I mentioned suspecting one of his team members.
"Suspicion breeds more suspicion. Once you start seeing someone’s actions as suspicious, everything they do seems suspicious. Well, one of them could be a cult member, both could be, or neither could be."
"Right."
I nodded enthusiastically.
"Once you start suspecting, it’s almost impossible to clear those suspicions without clear evidence. But, as a doctor, you must know how difficult it is to uncover the truth, given the existence of news articles and accident reports."
I nodded vigorously. He was right. Seo Ji-hyuk asked Shin Hae-ryang, who was on his right,
"What do you do in such situations, Team Leader?"
"Interrogate them separately."
There was a moment of silence. It seemed this wasn’t the answer Seo Ji-hyuk was hoping for. After a while, he lost his words and lightly tapped Shin Hae-ryang’s back. It made a thud. Our team leader is a psycho. Then, with a sigh, Seo Ji-hyuk said to me,
"When you suspect someone but can’t confirm it, there are two options. One is to trust them."
"What’s the other?"
"Memorize this. End the relationship."
"…Is that the answer?"
"You don’t realize how good a piece of advice I’m giving you. It applies to cheating partners too. If you can’t tell if they’re cheating, you either trust them or end the relationship cleanly."
Is this good advice? Or just more nonsense?
"What if one of them is a cult member trying to push me into their religion?"
"Few people try to prove their innocence when interrogated. (As Shin Hae-ryang hesitated, Seo Ji-hyuk said, Team Leader, please be quiet for a moment.) Most people get angry and ask why you don’t trust them. And the relationship is over. Any kindness is gone. Plus, you can’t feel safe around them anymore."
"…What do you two think of Kang Soo-jung?"
Seo Ji-hyuk seemed surprised by the question and started thinking.
"I don’t know if she believes in the cult, but she’s not the type to try to make others like her."
Shin Hae-ryang’s voice came from the darkness.
"She would have told me if she started believing in the Infinite Church. She can’t keep secrets."
"Ah…right. She’s the type who would say, ‘I believe in the Infinite Church from today! Look at this cool shark emblem!’"
Thinking about the distant light and the person struggling to keep up, I whispered,
"What about Yoo Geum-i?"
"I’ve met her several times at the Fourth Underwater Base’s cafe or bakery. She seems to love bread. She always buys a lot. Honestly, I don’t know much about her. Researchers are often too lazy to leave their labs."
"Me neither."
Hearing Shin Hae-ryang’s voice, I thought about Yoo Geum-i.