Baeg Ae-yeong and Yoo Geum-i came out of the women's restroom. The dirt clumps and soot that had been on their faces were gone.
"You look much cleaner now."
"Mr. Muhyeon does too."
Walking under the light, it felt as if the time spent wandering in the dark was just a dream. I desperately wanted to lie down and take a nap. Just as Shin Hae-ryang and I were about to support Seo Ji-hyuk out of the restroom, Baeg Ae-yeong, who had already come out and was in the hallway, gestured to us. It seemed she wanted us to go back in.
I almost dragged Seo Ji-hyuk back into the men's restroom. Soon after, Yoo Geum-i and Baeg Ae-yeong all entered the men's restroom. Looking outside, I saw Shin Hae-ryang sneaking into the men's disabled restroom right next to the men's restroom.
A man approached the restroom, wearing a black cap but without the shark brooch. He hesitated for a few seconds after seeing the male and female signs, then entered the women's restroom. Why?
"?"
"?"
"Why there?"
"That pervert."
It seemed that if this man entered the men's restroom, Shin Hae-ryang, hiding in the men's disabled restroom, and Baeg Ae-yeong and Seo Ji-hyuk in front would deal with him. Shin Hae-ryang came out of the men's disabled restroom with a bewildered expression and immediately entered the women's restroom. Baeg Ae-yeong followed closely behind. Seo Ji-hyuk stayed with us. The man was easily caught. It meant he was caught while using the sink. Why at the sink? My mind seemed to freeze from all the bizarre events happening at once. Why?
"You shouldn't try to understand such people. They have aspects that normal people can't understand."
"Right."
I nodded to Seo Ji-hyuk's words and went to see the captured man. Instead of the shark brooch, he only wore a black cap. The shape of the cap's brim seemed a bit too sharp to not remind me of a shark. The man raised his hands and knelt down. He looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. The cult member we had encountered earlier seemed to be in his forties.
I recognized him as one of my patients only after looking at his face a few more times. The man, kneeling and bowing his head, didn't notice me. I pointed to my eyes with my index and middle fingers and then pointed to the man. I then pretended to rub my face. Baeg Ae-yeong's expression became subtle.
"Are you telling me to gouge out his eyes and peel off his face?"
The captured man was shocked, and Yoo Geum-i looked at me and Baeg Ae-yeong with wide eyes. I hurriedly explained.
"路路路路路路I mean, I recognize his face."
"Oh. I see what you mean."
No... why so scary... No, that's not it.
"His name was Tyler Jones, and he was an engineer."
Tyler's head snapped up. He frowned at everyone around him, then recognized me. Perhaps because they were all engineers, they already knew each other, but they didn't even want to speak to each other.
"Dentist!"
"Hello, Tyler. I have a few questions."
I swallowed the words I was about to say, like "If you answer my questions, you'll be fine." I couldn't guarantee Tyler's safety at all. I didn't plan to do anything to Tyler, but I wasn't sure about the others. Violence rarely didn't occur when I met new people. Baeg Ae-yeong looked like she would have shot dozens of bullets if she could shoot with her eyes. Shin Hae-ryang was similar.
"Have you been flossing well?"
At this question, Yoo Geum-i and Seo Ji-hyuk's expressions became strange, and they stepped back a few paces. I don't know what misunderstanding they had, but it's not that at all. I sat down on the bathroom floor to meet the man's eyes, who was kneeling with his hands on his head. The cleaning robot must be doing a good job. This outfit is already ruined anyway. Shin Hae-ryang and Baeg Ae-yeong didn't stop me from sitting down. They would have if I tried to leave, right? ...Right?
"Not yet! I still have it as it was given to me."
"Flossing is essential. But were you a member of the Infinite Church?"
Tyler looked around and nodded.
"Yes."
"When did you join?"
"I've been a member for about six months."
"How many members are there?"
"I've seen about... 60 people."
"Are there about the same number of armed people in the undersea base?"
"Yes. There are a few more on the surface."
He answered the questions quite straightforwardly, and Shin Hae-ryang, who was aiming a gun, and Yoo Geum-i, standing in the corner, frowned. Seo Ji-hyuk sighed deeply. His answers were different from the person we met at the Third Undersea Base. That person said there were about 20 members. I don't know who is telling the truth. Only Baeg Ae-yeong was aiming her gun at the man's head like a dog barking.
"Why today?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why did you invade the undersea base today? Is there a reason?"
More than anything, I was most curious about this. Why? Why? Why! Why today! I wish they had fought it out a week before I arrived. Why did this happen five days after I got here! Why!
"Well... today is the best day. It's World Oceans Day. They say the probability of obtaining eternal life increases."
Yoo Geum-i scratched her cheek and said.
"World Oceans Day is on June 8th. Are you sure it's today? Not 8 days later?"
Today is May 31st. Did they move the event up by 8 days?
"Yes. Our leader said we must carry out the operation today."
"I see. But what's the difference between those with the shark brooch and those without?"
Pointing to his empty chest, Tyler looked at my finger and said.
"Oh! That. It's whether they have had dental implants or not."
I felt a chill run down my spine. Dental implants?
"Dental implants? Dentures. No, no. You mean artificial teeth?"
"Yes. If you get shark teeth implants, you get the brooch. But it's not mandatory. Only those who want to do it. I didn't want to, so I didn't. Even though they offer it for free, I didn't want to pull out perfectly good teeth."
I felt everyone's gaze on the back of my head. Oh... please don't suspect me.
"Did the previous members get dental treatment anywhere? Have you heard anything about it?"
"They said they went to Hawaii. But the doctors there weren't good, so the teeth often fell out and hurt."
If Tyler had said, "Here! In this undersea base! You treated them!" Baeg Ae-yeong's gun might have been aimed at me. But perhaps Tyler wasn't that clever, or he was just saying what came to mind. I let out a sigh of relief inside. Now I understand why the cult investigated me. It must have been inconvenient to always go to Hawaii for dental treatment. With a dentist in the undersea base, they could offer free treatment and get me to do shark tooth implants.
I shuddered. If I were a devout Christian, what would they have done? Or if I believed in Buddhism, or was a Muslim? I suddenly remembered Baeg Ae-yeong's words about their high accidental death rate. And Seo Ji-hyuk's comment that it takes over two hours for the police to arrive. If I had a religion, would I have quietly disappeared?
I mulled over Tyler's words and asked.
"Are there any benefits to joining the group? There must be some good points to joining."
"It varies from person to person. They gave me a lot of money."
Oh, that's a tempting benefit. Who doesn't like money?
"How much?"
"Enough so that I don't regret joining."
"I have quite a bit of student loan debt. Would the Infinite Church pay it off for me?"
I asked with a smile, and Tyler nodded seriously.
"They also give money for housing and medical expenses."
I closed my mouth. This religious group must have a lot of money. How did they accumulate so much? They can't be earning it honestly, sweating and paying taxes. Someone must have been exploited.
"Are there any conditions to join?"
"Well... besides swearing to help on Infinite Day, there are no other conditions. I joined for the money, not because I believed in Infinite Day. I never imagined I'd have to carry a gun and shoot people! There are things like getting shark teeth implants or piercings with jewels, but they're not mandatory. We pray to the sea god once a month. And! We don't throw trash into the sea, help sharks, oppose shark hunting, oppose shark finning, oppose radioactive waste dumping in the sea, and oppose undersea base construction. It's like Greenpeace, but they gave me a lot of money, so I joined after being introduced."
Tyler looked the youngest among us, about the same age as Baeg Ae-yeong. From his complaints, it didn't seem like he joined with a strong belief or determination. Despite being an armed group that kills people, they seemed to do some good things. Yoo Geum-i, standing next to me, sighed deeply after hearing Tyler's words.
"Geum-i?"
"Greenpeace started by raising a green flag on a ship to protest against nuclear testing in the sea and on islands. The Infinite Church seems to be using similar tactics to confuse people, opposing things like whaling, preserving wildlife habitats, and opposing nuclear development."
Hearing this, Tyler defended his group.
"Oh. Indeed, similar. We even sank a ship that was hunting sharks. We are definitely protecting nature!"
Yoo Geum-i's mouth dropped open in shock. Baeg Ae-yeong shook her head in disgust at Tyler's stupidity, and Seo Ji-hyuk, standing next to her, frowned.
"Sank a ship? Greenpeace is a non-violent organization. What are you saying so confidently?"
"路路路路路路Oh."
I was also speechless. Didn't all the people on the ship die? But hunting was banned, right?