IDTE 20

Chapter – 20

Struggling to steady my increasingly ragged breathing, I headed toward the floor where the Compliance Support Team was located.

Until recently, I had never imagined I would walk back into this place on my own two feet.

I had prepared myself, but the bad memories kept triggering my sympathetic nerves, and cold sweat gathered on my skin.

It was almost surprising that an office even existed inside a building that felt even more desolate and empty than I remembered.

Just a moment ago, I’d been held up at the main entrance—an argument dragging on as they insisted that outsiders weren’t allowed in. I was growing anxious.

Thankfully, with Kim Geon’s help, I managed to get in just in time for work.

I’ll have to thank him properly later.

Ding—

The elevator doors slid open with a chime, revealing a barren hallway without even a single potted plant.

The entire space was made of sharp, straight lines. Old memories kept resurfacing, squeezing the air from my lungs.

There’s no choice. I have to endure this.

Repeating that to myself, I approached the heavy door labeled “Compliance Support Team” and knocked.

No answer.

I knocked several more times, but when no one responded, I carefully opened the door.

Inside, four people sat rigidly within small partitioned cubicles, perfectly aligned.

“Hello. My name is Yoo Minha. I’ll be starting work here today.”

“……”

I forced myself to greet them, but no reply came.

“Um…”

“Manager Kim, didn’t you say some outsider was trying to force their way in earlier?”

“Yes. Showing up first thing in the morning and causing a scene while people are working—seriously annoying.”

“Exactly. You can’t interfere with people doing their jobs. You just can’t!”

Even someone utterly oblivious would know those sharp words were aimed at me.

Everyone in this room regarded me not as a colleague, but as an eyesore.

“Ugh, what a rotten way to start the morning!”

A middle-aged man seated beneath the title “Team Leader” brushed past me, deliberately bumping my shoulder.

“Um, this way please.”

At the small voice behind me, I turned. A young-looking woman in a corner seat was calling me over.

“You can sit next to me.”

I bowed my head in thanks. The seat beside her didn’t even have a partition—just a narrow, worn-down desk.

When I sat, the chair wobbled and let out an unstable creak.

It looked like they had deliberately picked items just shy of disposal.

“Alright, let’s eat.”

It was finally noon. The entire morning had felt endless—ten minutes stretching into an hour as I sat doing nothing.

The team leader’s words were the signal. Everyone stood up at once.

“Assistant Manager Oh, hurry up! What are you doing?”

The woman beside me—Assistant Manager Oh—hesitated, then eventually left and shut the door behind her.

Silence fell instantly.

“…Pathetic bastards.”

I couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. Grown adults acting like this?

I had no appetite. Thinking I’d at least get some air in the restroom, I stepped out—and nearly collided with someone entering the office.

“Oh? You’re the one from before.”

“…Seong Han-gyu.”

He was the man with a scar across his face who always followed Do Ihyeon around.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to check on you, Ms. Yoo.”

“Did Do Ihyeon tell you to monitor me?”

“…You don’t have good memories here. You should just go home.”

Ignoring him, I brushed past into the hallway.

In this world of straight lines, the past kept replaying. My breath grew shallow again.

“Ms. Yoo!”

I heard Han-gyu call after me, but I didn’t have the energy to respond.

Is this really the right path? Have I stepped into something absurd?

“Minha! And Seonggyu too!”

A voice suddenly curved the rigid space around us.

Kim Geon stepped out of the elevator, carrying something that looked fairly heavy.

“Want to grab lunch together?”

“Thank you for the meal.”

We sat on the rooftop and opened the lunchboxes Kim Geon had brought.

“There’s barely anywhere to eat nearby. Who’d want to run a business in a place this ominous?”

“Then do you bring lunch every day?”

“No. I’ve got a car, so I usually go farther out. But today’s your first day—I thought we’d celebrate.”

“Feels like that first day’s already a disaster.”

A sharp wind struck my face. It was cold, but I didn’t want to go back inside that building.

Right now, Kim Geon felt like a savior.

“What did Han-gyu say earlier?”

“Nothing much. I guess Do Ihyeon sent him to keep an eye on me.”

“Hmm. I see.”

He placed a large stir-fried sausage onto my rice.

“Eat up and stay strong. Ihyeon probably told them not to accept you, so everyone’s on edge. Give it time—they’ll realize what a good person you are.”

“Do you really think Do Ihyeon would stoop that low?”

“To him, you’re an outsider he’s had bad ties with. Of course he doesn’t want you here.”

“I didn’t think he’d hate me this much.”

“…Maybe it’d be better if you just disappeared quickly.”

A strong gust swept past my ears. His words brushed against me just as faintly.

His tone was gentle—but the meaning was anything but.

Surely I misheard.

“…What did you just—”

“Oh, and don’t get too close to Han-gyu. He’s basically Ihyeon’s lapdog.”

He kept adding side dishes to my plate, attentive and careful—almost like a devoted partner.

Yet the flawless politeness felt practiced, as though learned from someone.

“Hang in there. Treasure hunts always take time, don’t they?”

The afternoon felt even more silent than the morning.

“Assistant Manager Oh, where did you put those Hanpung Industries documents?”

“Uh… I think… where did I…”

“Honestly. Try organizing properly.”

As she searched around her desk, a man stepped aside and kicked my chair.

“Oh—my mistake. So many things cluttering up the place.”

I adjusted the chair again. The screeching creak grated on my nerves.

“Manager Kim… I think we moved those files to the archive last time…”

“The archive? Basement level one?”

“No, not there—”

“Ahem! Assistant Manager Oh! Wouldn’t it be great if someone went down to Basement Level 1 and checked?”

“I’ll go. You said Hanpung Industries, right?”

The word archive hooked into me. Sitting here uselessly was exhausting anyway. I couldn’t miss this chance.

“Ahem. If someone’s going, the key’s hanging over there. Basement level one.”

“Manager!”

“Yes. I’ll go.”

I spotted the old key hanging in the corner and rushed out.

Finally, I could breathe.

In the elevator, I pressed B1. A memory surfaced—what floor had I been imprisoned on?

My body remembered the tension before my mind did.

If my past self could see me now, she’d call me insane and block my path.

When I stepped onto B1, damp, cold air hit me. I shivered involuntarily.

The lighting seemed dimmer than the other floors. Goosebumps rose along my skin.

At the end of the hallway, I saw a dusty sign: Archive Room.

Unlocking the door, it groaned with a metallic screech. Thick dust clung to my nose and mouth.

I found the switch and turned on the light. Flickering fluorescent beams illuminated countless file binders.

The color of the light resembled the pallor of a corpse.

One shelf held old binders.

What if… what if documents exposing Seongjin’s early corruption were here?

I scanned the shelves, but there were too many to decipher easily.

Then I saw it.

On the top shelf: 2004–2005.

The year my father died.

It was too high to reach. Nearby sat a broken plastic chair.

I stepped onto it.

Almost there. Just a little more—

Crash—

Before my fingers could grasp the binder, my body hit the floor.

The weakened chair couldn’t bear my weight.

“Ah…”

Worse—my head had struck the sharp metal edge of a desk.

When I touched the back of my head, my fingers came away wet with blood.

“This is bad…”

I should go back upstairs. Surely they wouldn’t ignore me like this.

But the doorknob wouldn’t turn.

I pulled again and again. The rusted door only shrieked.

“Hello? Is anyone outside?”

Of course no one would be.

Even this felt like a cliché from a third-rate movie.

My strength began to drain. Dizziness swam in. Nausea churned.

I couldn’t let myself go limp.

I lay down on the freezing floor.

I took off my knit sweater, rolled it into a makeshift pillow. I removed my camisole and tied it tightly to stanch the bleeding.

The urge to vomit kept rising.

The blood didn’t seem to stop.

I need to preserve my body heat…

Sleep kept pulling at me.