IMTS 13

Chapter 13

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out, and Cheonga’s head snapped up.

It seemed someone had been waiting for her until she came out of the bathroom.

“I-I’m done! I’ll be out soon!”

Hurriedly, Cheonga shoved the note into her pocket and stood up.

“Oh, sorry… there’s so much cleaning to do.”

As she stepped out of the cleaning supplies closet, she apologized in a strained voice.

In front of her stood a man in a suit, fidgeting with an annoyed expression. Around his neck hung a visitor badge with the logo of Bu-Wang Pharmaceuticals.

He was a sales representative from the pharmaceutical company she’d run into a few times in the hospital hallway. Cheonga glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and quickened her pace.

The man grumbled and shot her a look.

“Hey, shouldn’t a guy clean the men’s restroom? This is inconvenient, tsk.”

Then, looking extremely awkward, he waddled toward the bathroom stall.

“Ah, I’m doomed.”

In that instant when their paths brushed, the man’s fingertip slipped into Cheonga’s pocket.

It was incredibly quick and skillful.

Normally, Cheonga wouldn’t have missed that sensation—but her mind was completely consumed with thoughts about the cipher Yeonhee had sent.

She asked me to call. What phone should I use? Oh no… this is bad…

Hurriedly, Cheonga exited the bathroom.

Meanwhile, the man who had scolded Cheonga and sent her off stopped inside the restroom. He fixed his gaze on the exit door and tapped his in-ear to connect.

“Headquarters, please respond.”

[…static. click. mute.]

“Secured.”

Relaxing his fist, the man revealed the note that had been in Cheonga’s pocket.

[Good job. What’s written on it?]

The man looked at the note for a moment and shook his head.

“Ah… I have no idea.”

He quickly shoved it back into his pocket and left the restroom.

After making sure Cheonga wasn’t around, he naturally blended into the crowd and continued the communication in a low voice.

“She used a cipher. Not normal. Looks like Morse code, neither English nor Korean, so it’ll take time to decipher.”

[…the field team will go crazy trying to track it down quickly.]

“Seems like something’s definitely happening at HQ. You can tell just from sending this back and forth.”

A long sigh came through the earpiece.

[Take a photo of it and send it to me, then return the original quickly.]

“Yes.”

[Don’t raise suspicion and handle it carefully.]

“Roger that.”

The man smiled, the corners of his mouth stretching toward his ears.

Cheonga dashed down the stairs toward the first floor of the hospital. The quiet stairwell echoed loudly with the sound of her leaping down three or four steps at a time.

Reaching the central information desk, she placed her hands on the counter without pausing to catch her breath.

“Excuse me, may I use the phone for just a moment? I lost my cellphone.”

Of course, the custodial office had a phone, but using the hospital’s public phone was safer.

It was best to minimize any information that could identify her.

The receptionist gave a worried look and handed the landline toward Cheonga.

The number for HQ, which she hadn’t dialed in a long time, felt unfamiliar.

She dialed the extension and added the password only the staff knew, directly connecting to the Information Analysis Office.

After a couple of rings, the call connected.

[Yes, Cyber Terror Response Division.]

Normally, this extension wouldn’t receive calls from outside. The call was answered by Yeonhee, in a calm voice.

“Mask pack, mask pack.”

[Ah… yes. Please hold a moment.]

Yeonhee reacted to the code Cheonga had hurriedly spoken.

There were a few clicks and shuffles, as if moving from one spot to another.

Finally, Yeonhee quietly asked,

[Cheonga! Did you check the note? Where are you now? Is the line safe?]

“Hospital. Public phone.”

[Ah, good. I added noise to the line.]

She meant a jamming signal had been applied to prevent eavesdropping, allowing them to speak freely.

“Tell me in detail about that earlier thing.”

[Cheonga. You saw the content, right? Your phone’s been tapped for quite a while.]

Cheonga’s expression crumpled.

[They’re still tracking it, but haven’t pinpointed the location yet.]

Normally, with any usual route, she should have already received a summary. The fact Yeonhee needed time meant this was serious.

“Have you got no clue at all?”

Cheonga asked, but even she had no idea. Who was eavesdropping on her, and why? How even?

[Yeah. Meet me when you have time. I need to check it personally.]

“…Got it.”

Pressing her throbbing forehead with her hand, she felt the texture of a playback tape. She immediately thought of Min Yooshin and asked Yeonhee.

“Did you check the Min Yooshin intel?”

[That’s completely clean.]

“What?”

Her sudden outburst drew stares from the people around. Cheonga curled her shoulders and bowed her head.

[Cross-checked everything—from the hospital HR records to the government ID API—three times. Clean, unaltered information.]

“…No way…”

[Unless someone tampers with the government’s integrated system, it’s impossible to be wrong. I can’t even do that myself. It’s not easy to access either, Cheonga.]

“….”

After a brief silence, Yeonhee hesitated, then added in an even smaller voice:

[Did you check the Morse code?]

Ah!

Only then did Cheonga remember that she hadn’t fully checked the note during the complaint from the pharmaceutical salesman.

She reached into her pocket—but… the note was gone.

“Oh, I’ll contact you again!”

[What?]

She slammed the receiver down so hard that the staff looked startled. Cheonga muttered apologies and ran toward the stairs.

Every time her toes pushed off the floor, her heart pounded as if it would jump out.

Her hands groped the empty pockets while her eyes frantically scanned the path she had come.

The note… where did it go?

She gasped as she flung open the door at the fifth-floor stairwell, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor as she retraced her steps.

Her eyes caught a man scanning the area just like her.

The Bu-Wang Pharmaceuticals salesman.

The same man who had brushed past her in the bathroom.

Could it be… him?

Her face contorted in frustration. But the man smiled brightly and waved at her, then strode over with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Wow, where have you been?”

“…Huh?”

He handed her the note he had been holding.

“Looking for this, right? You dropped it earlier. I couldn’t chase right away because you rushed out of the bathroom, but you disappeared quickly.”

Cheonga’s face stiffened in awkwardness as she took the note.

Should she trust this man? Or not?

Her mind was a mess.

The man had the demeanor of a true salesman. Smiling as if oblivious—or indifferent—to her thoughts, he continued.

“But what’s this? I’m a former communications officer, I know Morse code like the back of my hand, but couldn’t decode a single bit?”

Normally, Cheonga might have laughed it off lightly. But now, even speaking was difficult.

“Just… a puzzle. A puzzle. For dementia… prevention…”

Perhaps she was out of breath from running five floors at once, or perhaps it was the relief of retrieving the note. Or maybe it was suspicion that he hadn’t actually found it, but stolen it.

Maybe all of it.

“This is a puzzle? I love these things.”

“….”

The man still seemed unaware of her thoughts—or completely unconcerned—and laughed heartily.

“Thanks for finding it, right?”

“Ah… yes. Thank you.”

“If you’re grateful, buy me coffee, sis.”

“Sis?”

Cheonga blinked several times at his unexpectedly informal words.