At the moment when Yang Ha-na was barely managing to swallow her food.
The group led by Han Seori, who had slipped out of their lodging, was also sitting at a table eating.
While clinking her utensils, Han Seori glanced at Hwang Bo-yul with a slightly serious expression and muttered.
“It must be those guys, right?”
“I think the possibility is high.”
As these two spoke about the note Han Seori had just discovered, Kim Cheon-soo seemed oblivious, smiling contentedly as he cut the hamburger on his plate.
“It’s been how long since I’ve eaten food someone else made for me?”
Cheon-soo began cutting the perfectly cooked burger with his knife, revealing a generous cross-section.
Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, the patty rested between golden brown buns.
Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and slightly melted orange cheese complemented the layers.
Finally, the sauce enhanced the flavors, capped by another slice of bread.
Satisfied, Kim Cheon-soo speared the cut burger with his fork; the piece gently slid into his mouth.
Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, a hint of melted orange cheese.
He smiled as the piece was speared and brought to his mouth.
Taste just as it looked.
Unexpectedly, a slice of pickle added an agreeable tang right when the dish started to feel a little greasy.
“Hmm.”
Perhaps he was simply moved to be eating food prepared by someone else.
While receiving food made by another was enjoyable, he wondered if there was something even more satisfying—eating food made by someone else.
As he reached for his knife to cut the next piece, he heard a voice.
“Cheon-soo, what do you think?”
“Huh?”
Han Seori’s voice cut through his reverie.
Realizing this, he turned toward the voice with sauce still lingering at the corner of his mouth, finding Han Seori and Hwang Bo-yul gazing at him.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, he honestly admitted he hadn’t heard their question.
Her ambiguous smile and nod suggested understanding.
“Of course, you must have been really hungry, huh?”
“Aha… Well, not exactly… Yeah, no. I was hungry.”
Caught off-guard, Kim Cheon-soo shuffled his words, then sighed.
Ultimately deciding to let it go, he resumed cutting his burger.
“So, what were you saying?”
“Just speculating about who might have sent that strange note I received.”
“Oh, that.”
Kim Cheon-soo’s memory finally clicked. Speculating about the sender of the highly suspicious note.
…Who could it be?
Cheon-soo’s thoughts hazed over.
Recalling the note Han Seori had shown him earlier, it was eerily empty—just a date, time, and location.
No sender listed. How could they even know?
Was it someone from the group that approached us earlier?
Although it felt like he was close to the answer, the identity remained elusive.
While cutting his burger, Kim Cheon-soo decided to shift his focus. It seemed futile trying to guess, and speculating would likely lead to embarrassment.
He thought it best to offer another opinion.
“Regardless of who it is, accepting the invitation doesn’t seem like a good idea. It looks dangerous.”
A practical and textbook response.
Kim Cheon-soo felt a certain satisfaction. This felt better than uttering something nonsensical.
“Well… that’s true. But I’m curious why they want to meet so badly.”
As Kim Cheon-soo nodded to Han Seori’s muttering, seeing Hwang Bo-yul nod in agreement, the feeling of satisfaction began to wane.
Perhaps he was the only one unaware of who had sent the note.
Curiosity grew. What did the simple note convey that made him alone miss the sender’s identity?
Unwilling to seem more foolish, Kim Cheon-soo pressed on.
“Erm… Do you two know who sent the note?”
Han Seori replied with an almost cheerful tone.
“We don’t know exactly who.”
“Excuse me?”
Kim Cheon-soo’s face showed bewilderment as Han Seori chuckled and continued.
“But we have a hunch. Really, there’s only that bunch—those guys from the twilight organization… or whatever they call themselves.”
Han Seori had seemed reluctant to fully pronounce the name, but Kim Cheon-soo nodded as a potential suspect came to mind.
Blushing slightly, he felt embarrassed he hadn’t caught on earlier.
“Oh. Now that you mention it, there were those guys. I forgot after the lab moved.”
“Right. So… I’m curious what they’d say if we met but frankly, I’m not inclined to.”
“Considering what those guys have done in the past… That makes sense.”
As the two recalled the misdeeds of ‘those guys,’ they shook their heads in disapproval. Even Hwang Bo-yul, sipping her milk tea nearby, subtly nodded in agreement.
The group’s silent consensus seemed to lean towards ignoring the note.
There appeared to be a slim chance of getting a solid offer from them.
Well, if they really had something urgent and worthwhile to say, they’d likely reach out again.
For now, the group led by Han Seori had no reason to make contact.
As they contemplated this.
Han Seori noticed a tickle at the back of her neck.
Glancing down, she saw the Jelly Girl poking through her clothes, signaling for food with her little hand.
Han Seori watched the Jelly Girl’s fingers wriggling with amusement.
But as her gaze lingered, a hint of impatience from the Jelly Girl crept in.
Feeling a slight unease, Han Seori noticed the food on the table, realizing her sudden insight.
…Oh.
She must be hungry.
Though it had seemed like she’d eaten a lot earlier, she hadn’t had her fill after all.
She observed her surroundings.
The cafeteria was part of the lab facilities, so even if the Jelly Girl were visible, it wouldn’t cause trouble. She was still technically within the lab’s confines.
But.
Recalling the incidents earlier that day, there was no need to unnecessarily advertise the Jelly Girl’s presence here.
Though people were barely glancing now, it’d surely cause problems if her presence were revealed.
So, Han Seori cut a small piece from her food.
Making a show of bringing it to her own mouth, she secretly passed it to the Jelly Girl’s wriggling hand at her neck.
The Jelly Girl seemed to nod in understanding and eagerly began melting the food.
…Didn’t she eat a lot earlier?
Han Seori was, once again, amazed at the Jelly Girl’s voracious appetite.
Or perhaps it was due to the events earlier in the day that had drained her energy?
Something like a childish tantrum suited her appearance, and Han Seori chuckled as she fed the Jelly Girl.
Unaware to others, Kim Cheon-soo and Hwang Bo-yul noticed what was happening and portioned some of their food into Han Seori’s dish.
Silently nodding, Han Seori fed the pieces to the Jelly Girl clinging to her, feeling satisfied as she watched the Jelly Girl bubbling contentedly.
There, you’ve worked hard, eat as much as you like.
For some reason, the warmth radiating from the Jelly Girl brought a smile to her face.
*
The following day, the group, with the Jelly Girl included, returned to the stage to introduce the other entities.
Though Jung-sik was a bit of a concern, through some unknown harmonization from the Jelly Girl, fortunately, there was no sudden outburst from him.
Unexpectedly, the most popular among the Jelly trio seemed to be Daesik.
Initially, attention was on So-sik, who resembled the Jelly Girl, but when she lay down with the expression of someone uninterested in everything, the crowd quickly lost interest.
Jung-sik, though intriguing with his floating antics, wasn’t particularly special due to his jelly spraying.
On the contrary, Daesik, operating within a humanoid doll, drew the most attention.
“Huh… How does it move?”
“Are there other dolls it can operate?”
“Among the many entities, would you consider parting with at least one?”
Thanks to the hard work of the Jelly Girl from the previous day, skepticism about her dangerous nature had lessened significantly.
Without the Jelly Girl’s “powers,” it might have been different, but given her ability to rip apart even the most complex singularities, her strength had become evident, enhancing her credibility.
In this way, Han Seori had achieved her goal of venturing out from the lab.
Whether directly or indirectly associated, she had cornered a lab intending to do something reckless and highlighted the Jelly Girl’s safety once more.
…By even splitting the Jelly Girl’s mass in half and showing her unique capabilities compared to other singularities, she had, for now, accomplished all she could.
It need not be rushed, she decided.
Slowly…
Let’s move forward step by step.
Thus, Han Seori and her team packed up with a sense of relief. As it turned out, the baggage was just a carry-on filled with jellies.
Once preparations were complete, the group boarded their vehicle, leaving the lab in much the same way they had arrived.
On the road out of the lab.
They spotted a familiar face guarding the exit, their expression radiating relief at the end of the ordeal.
As Kim Cheon-soo passed through the checkpoint and noticed the guard’s face, he empathized with the sentiment and drove off with a wry smile.
A journey neither too short nor too long had come to its conclusion.
“Ah, I promised Ha-na, so we should probably stop by the mart on our way.”
“…Now that you mention it, haven’t we heard from her?”
“Right….”
The trio moved forward with the hope that no news was good news.
