TIN 118

In the neighborhood where the lower class lived, there were many abandoned buildings that were no longer maintained. These buildings had no for sale value and despite safety concerns, they were abandoned by the state without a solution in sight. While some areas were completely demolished for redevelopment, the remaining buildings became sanctuaries for the people in this district.

It didn’t matter that there was neither electricity nor water. Just having walls and a ceiling was far more cozy than sleeping on the street with newspapers as covers. Of course, competition was fierce, so finding adequate space was never easy.

However, I was lucky enough to get decent sleeping quarters as of last week. It wasn’t where I used to stay (someone else took it while I was in Oceans), but rather a vacant space that opened up when its occupant died at the beginning of the summer. Picking the lock wasn’t difficult, and security was decent enough when the door was locked from the inside.

Today too, as soon as I returned to my quarters, I took off my hat and clothes and washed myself first. Since it rained a few days ago, there was still plenty of collected water. After thoroughly washing from head to toe with the only soap I had, I carefully washed my clothes and wig and hung them up to dry.

I resolved the drinking water issue with purification tablets bought through back channels. I just had to put the tablets in the collected rainwater, and though expensive, they were extremely effective. After filtering this purified water through filter paper, it even felt luxurious at times.

In the past, when I couldn’t spend any money and had to save everything, I ignorantly drank stagnant water without knowing any better. After getting seriously ill once from that, I learned how to make drinking water by mixing a tiny amount of bleach.

Bleach was also expensive, but since just one drop was enough, it was much more cost-effective. Of course, it had downsides like taking longer and having a relatively smaller purification range. Plus, if you got the amount wrong, you’d end up seriously ill all the same.

I carefully sipped a cup of water while chewing on bread that had become as hard as rock in just one day. It felt like chewing on a box, but I had to eat it in order to survive. How fickle humans are—the bread scraps I used to eat just fine now felt torturous after eating good food at Joo Do-hwa’s house.

“…I’m full.”

Gulp—after swallowing the bread, I checked the items I bought earlier. Two things: an ID card and boarding passes. People in this neighborhood weren’t even registered with the state, so seeing an ID card was a first in my life. Naturally, the personal identification code was unfamiliar too.

<B0-A3450Z99>

“Beta female…”

The alphabet at the front indicated the trait, and the number following it meant gender. In Joo Do-hwa’s case, it would probably start with ‘A1.’ The remaining digits were randomly assigned personal codes, so according to this number, the ID owner was a beta female.

There was no problem up to that point, but what bothered me was the photo in the ID. The woman with long hair and sharp features didn’t look anything like me.

“They really did a sloppy job.”

If it had been Theo, he would have made an ID card matching the customer’s face. But this scammer clearly just matched the gender and age range (even that was judged by the naked eye) and brought whatever. Of course, it was actually fortunate for me since it would be really troublesome if they did, in fact, check faces.

“Need to buy new clothes and a wig…”

While hairstyles could change, this appearance would definitely raise suspicion. Since changing gender was impossible now, I needed to prepare a better quality wig and clothes. And something to cover up my face too.

I checked the time on the boarding pass to calculate the rough schedule. The boarding pass marked ‘4HAE Express’ showed my car number, seat number, and departure time. The train departed at 8:30 a.m. three days later, arriving well into the afternoon.

It would take about half a day walking to the station, but it was better to arrive a day early for preparation. This meant I needed to leave for the train station by tomorrow night at the latest. After that, I probably wouldn’t come back to this place again.

‘They saw someone toward the outskirts of the city.’

“…”

I remembered something Theo once told me. If I hadn’t caused trouble with Wang Wei, if I hadn’t left Oceans, this would have been information I could have verified myself by asking Kei.

While it had been like rain in a drought back then, my feelings about it had changed a bit now. If they had found a blue-eyed woman there, Chairman Joo would have definitely gone looking. So this must have been a sighting of someone else, not Yoon Ji-soo.

Yes…Even though I knew that clearly…

“…Should I go check tomorrow?”

I already had the train ticket, and leaving early would just make the timing awkward. Since there wasn’t much to do during the day anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to go to the outskirts while I was at it. Even if it was too late now, I didn’t want to give up even the slightest possibility.

And maybe this would be my last chance to find that person in the city.

‘You won’t find Yoon Ji-soo.’

‘…’

‘It would be fortunate if she didn’t die on that island.’

Feeling a tightness in my solar plexus, I gripped the water cup hard. I stuffed the remaining bread in my mouth, swallowing without chewing, and washed it down with the last of my water. My stomach felt uncomfortable and bloated, but I knew that my discomfort would pass with time.

What did that person think when they saw the flyers plastered all over the city? Did she recognize me, or not? No, would she even be in an environment where she could see the flyers?

The thoughts that kept coming finally escaped as an empty sigh from my mouth. I put down the boarding pass and ID card and closed my eyes tight.

‘Live.’ That whispered voice seemed to echo in my ears.

The next day, I headed to the city outskirts as soon as I opened my eyes. I walked for a couple of hours dragging my sore ankle, thoroughly examining every passerby while searching through the whole neighborhood.

But naturally, I couldn’t find Yoon Ji-soo there.

***

In some ways, this might be for the better. I only had one train ticket, and I was being chased like a criminal. Perhaps it would be better to hope she was still somewhere by the sea.

Nevertheless, the emptiness that washed over me came from my long-held wishes. Even though I hadn’t particularly expected anything, there was still an ingrained sense of waiting. While I wasn’t disappointed, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of resignation— “I should have known.”

Surprisingly, my mood was strangely calm. Not finding Yoon Ji-soo or coming back empty-handed didn’t bother me. I knew from the start that the possibility was slim, so it was only natural that I didn’t find her.

On my way back from the outskirts…

I could have gone straight to catch the train, but I stopped by my quarters before heading to the center. First, to collect the luggage I’d left behind, and second, because the route was similar anyway. I also planned to wrap some cloth around my throbbing ankle before embarking on the long journey.

“…?”

But when I returned to my street, there was a strange sense of unease in the familiar alley. While the passing people seemed normal, there was an inexplicable tension in the air. After looking around for a while wondering what it was, I finally noticed what had changed.

“…”

The people who should have been sprawled sleeping on the ground were all up and wandering around the area. As if they were watching something. Or waiting for someone. They seemed tense as they whispered amongst themselves and surveyed their surroundings.

This used to happen occasionally when Kei would come…

As this thought occurred to me, I quietly approached a group of people and listened in. I thought maybe Kei had started doing business again.

However, the conversation I heard was completely different from what I had expected.

“…All the merchants were taken away?”

“Yeah, and not by police, but by civilians…”

“…”

I habitually pulled my hat down low but suddenly stopped. The whispered conversations were unsettling, with people saying things like how scary it was to live here, and how this wasn’t the time for crackdowns.

“What kind of person would do that? What authority do they have to make arrests?”

“Don’t know, that’s the thing. But they seemed like someone important.”

Someone important?

While most street dealings were illegal, there was no need for sudden arrests unless there was a tax shortage. Especially not by civilians rather than police.

Just as an inexplicable sense of foreboding crept over me, a man lowered his voice secretively.

“I caught a glimpse earlier over there. And you know what…

“Their eyes were golden.”