Echo || NCTau ||

16 - About anchovy stock

"You could break into the building and sneak insecticide to the ventilation system of Park Jisung's home", Yeowoon suggested over his shoulder while adding water to the pot he had filled with anchovies, daikon, green onion roots and dried kelp. "I read that some insecticides have cyanide so that should do the trick."

Yeoreum glanced at her older brother over the cutting board she was using to slice the hefty cut of pork shoulder. The knife had been so dull that it had offered Yeoreum a way to procrastinate by sharpening most of her mom's kitchen knives while Yeowoon had prepped the other stew ingredients.

She knew that Yeowoon was trying to give her tips to be helpful but she couldn't help feeling slightly irritated. She didn't like it when someone tried to do her job for her.

"On paper, that sounds like a good idea but, in reality, it would be tricky. I would first have to make sure that none of the windows are open in the apartment, that he wouldn't leave the space or realize what is going on, and, most importantly, that no one else is there while it happens."

Yeowoon didn't say anything but Yeoreum knew that he didn't believe her.

"It would be doable if I had a way to confine him into a smaller space so that I could calculate how much pesticide is needed to kill him before he can escape. But, for now, that's not possible", she continued her explanation and moved the pork shoulder on the cutting board so that she could proceed on her task.

Sungchan and Shotaro had gone to get some last-minute groceries while mom was in Pilates class soon, which had left the two siblings alone. It was slightly odd.

"Why isn't it possible? You said that he's just some guy." Yeowoon had turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter. He had his head tilted slightly to the left, allowing him to assess his sister fully with his good eye.

Yeoreum inhaled through her nose.

Because Park Jisung can turn into a cat.

Sadly, that was something she could never tell him because not only would that make her appear crazy, it could also put Shotaro and Sungchan in danger if Yeowoon somehow happened to believe her and decided to start looking more into shapeshifters.

"You know just as well as I do that he's surrounded by very protective friends who don't allow him to be alone anywhere. It's almost like they're pretending to be a group of superheroes." Yeoreum couldn't stop herself from thinking about how affectionately Haechan had played around with Park Jisung, making them look like brothers. She had witnessed similar behavior in other instances, when he was picked up from the academy by his other friends but it became too real when the one caring for him was someone Yeoreum had personally spoken to.

"Well, you better come up with a way to deal with him fast." Yeowoon looked more serious than usual. "Dr. An is starting to get impatient. If nothing happens, she might tell us to send another Echo to monitor you."

Yeoreum sliced the next piece of pork with more power than was necessary and her hand gripped on the handle of the knife instinctively. It wasn't as familiar in her hand as her own knives but it was good enough to provide her with some stability.

"Are you saying that she might just want someone to help me or does that woman really know about our monitoring protocol?" She lifted her eyes to meet her brother's steady gaze. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably when she saw the hesitation on his face. "How? How does she know so much about the organization? Why doesn't it bother anyone other than me?"

Generally, Echoes worked alone, but there were times when an Echo was sent out to shadow and monitor another one – to make sure that they didn't stray too far from what they were supposed to do or do anything they weren't supposed to do. Monitoring was used on the most unstable Echoes - the ones who no longer respected the rules and the protocol, and the outcome of the monitoring was never pretty. Yeoreum had been sent out to a monitoring duty once and, as an outcome, she had woken up in the hospital with the diagnosis of permanent nerve damage on her throat.