My body felt like falling in someone's arms. It was too late to check around because the night sky had cupped my face first. The stars scattered across the vast black canvas, just like the beautiful scenery I witnessed from behind my bedroom window.
"Brissie?"
A low, clear voice freed me from the entanglement of the night. He, who was carrying me, had hazel brown eyes and looked at me in surprise. The gentle breeze that brushed his brown hair exposed the hidden calm amidst his astonishment. It was a treasure that I was lucky to be the only one to see. If it was a dream, I would never want to have another.
"Did I... fall from the sky?"
"You did! It's scary, you know?!"
I couldn't hold back my laughter, making Harris put me down immediately—seemingly irritated that I thought his worry was ridiculous.
The place was nothing but a vast, unknown meadow with a lamp post and a wooden bench that looked like a lonely couple. Through the wind that caressed me and the scent of the grass, I could feel the reality of the place.
While walking to the bench, I asked Harris playfully, "Are you upset because I came?"
Harris shook his head with an embarrassed look. I chuckled, but then winced. The bench I was sitting on was so cold it made me wonder why Harris had gone out into the meadow that late, alone. Did he just want to lament the vastness of the sky because the land was suffocating enough?
I looked up for a moment. Then I muttered, "The stars here are also beautiful. Still, I will never be able to reach them."
My brows furrowed as Harris stood up, leading me into another side of the meadow. It seemed that just a little further from our initial position, I could see how the petals of the dandelions were blown by the wind, approaching the sky.
Harris suddenly picked me up, making my eyes widen. He sat me in his arms, held my waist, and looked into my eyes serenely.
"Look at the sky, Brissie."
While holding his shoulders, I raised my face slowly. Again, I was hypnotized by the sparkling sky. My right hand stretched up to touch one of the dandelion petals in the air.
"Don't the distant stars look closer now?"
The words that Harris said calmly turned my gaze to him.
"If you only focus on what you see and want to achieve, nothing will seem far to reach."
His words were a spell more powerful than the celestial charm. Funnily enough, the spellcaster looked flustered and quickly looked away as if he didn't expect the spell to work.
"Why... are you looking at me? The stars are up there, Brissie."
"They are now in your eyes."
Harris, who was surprised, immediately looked at me. I could feel the corners of my lips lifting as his ears reddened.
His face was the only thing that could cure my addiction from the starry night. It no longer mattered if the stars were too far away for me to reach. No star could beat the lambent light on his hazel eyes.
"Anyway, let's take the photo of the Miss Savior," I said as I climbed down from Harris's arms.
He froze. Until the wind blew at us several times, he remained silent. Even without a timekeeping device, I could tell he had been like that for ten minutes. Until finally, he broke the silence with one word.
"How?"
I didn't answer him immediately.
"How are you going to guarantee your safety alone inside? How are you going to take it quickly or get out of there if the photo won't actually be there? Lastly, how will you get past the tight security controls?"
As I expected, he asked a lot. From the moment I said I would help him, his gaze was already filled with various doubts. But it didn't hold me back.
After clearing my throat, I replied, "First, I like traveling alone. Second, running away from responsibilities has become my daily dose. And last but not least, we have Ben."
"Ben?"
"Short for 'Benjamin'."
Harris crossed his arms. "I'm the only one who didn't get a nickname. Do you still think of me as a stranger, Brissie?"
While lifting the corners of my lips, I shook my head slightly.
I thought it would be good for me to reveal my final answer as the uncertainty of the future lessened.
***
Moonlight peeked shyly from behind the leaves of the trees. As I got further away from the Algor District, I thought of the letter I left on Gabriel's desk.
With I made up an excuse to get somewhere, Gabriel shouldn't have gotten involved if things didn't go smoothly. However, there was a feeling of unease that haunted me until I stood in front of the two men who were part of the plan.
Benjamin handed me some dark blue cloth and said, "I hope it's comfortable. My confidant, Tyler, has managed to disable all the surveillance cameras. As we planned, Harris will distract the others when you sneak in, Brissia."
I took the dark blue suit, trousers, and the matching color cloak. After wearing it over my black t-shirt and leggings, I nodded firmly at Benjamin.
"Wish us both good luck, aristocratic boy."
Harris's words sparked silent laughter from Benjamin. "Where did your great confidence go, huh? Regardless, best of luck to you guys."
His peaceful smile led Harris and me to walk deeper into the forest.
"You haven't told me her characteristics."
Hearing my words, Harris blinked in surprise. "Oh... right."
He rubbed his chin with his gaze at the sky. "Her shoulder-length curly hair was as orange as the setting sun. She has a heart-shaped face, slightly round eyes, and olive green irises."
"Has she ever stopped by your workplace?"
"She... look, I understand you don't believe me because I didn't say I met her in person, but one of the HRD employees once showed me her photo."
My brows furrowed. "Why did they allow you? Is it because you told them you were going to look for her?"
Harris turned to me with rounded eyes. "N-no! Not everyone knows about that..." he said, rubbed the nape of his neck awkwardly.
I looked away while laughing silently. But if it wasn't everyone, did that mean only Benjamin and I know about his request?
"Brissie, I..."
Harris hung his words and looked at me intensely.
"...don't want you to be one of the stars in the sky, no matter how enamored you of them. Take care of yourself, always."
I nodded my head and smiled confidently at him. When we reached the end of the forest, we began to see multi-storey buildings with plain light gray walls.
It wasn't enough just to praise, the building also seemed to ask anyone who saw it to come inside. The fort-style architecture combined with wide, opaque windows held so many secrets that would be revealed before my eyes.
"Hey! How are you guys doing, huh?"
Harris's voice turned my gaze to him.
"Tsk, you should take a vacation like me. You can try your luck in getting a girlfriend out there, you know?" he continued as he embraced his two colleagues, glanced at me while moving his head slightly toward the building.
I straightened my head and determined myself to go inside. There were only a few agents in the same uniform as me who passed by without suspecting me. They consisted of various ages, ranging from my age to Gabriel's age.
One thing that crossed my mind froze me in an instant. I had no clue where the photo would be and the building was ridiculously large. That narrowed my eyes for a moment before Harris's words rang in my head.
"Are you a new agent?"
My heart almost stopped beating. I turned around only to find a red haired agent standing in front of another agent with blinking eyes. My shoulders drooped as I thought I'd been found out. Aside from that, she was nothing like the woman Harris described.
"Don't mess around, Debora! I have to hand in my complementary assignation letter right away!"
The girl called Debora looked around. "As usual, he was never seen during the evening hours. Why not just put it in the HRD room like everyone else does?"
"You never know how creepy the fourth floor is," she hissed.
"Just put it there or never! We should be on the heliport in a minute!"
She turned away and stomping her feet toward the stairs. I followed her quietly, climbing stairs after stairs until I reached the fourth floor.
She was right about the feel of the floor. Despite the wide window that stretched along one wall of the room, the dim light made the hallway feel cold and eerie.
I hid behind a pillar when she entered a room. In just a few seconds, the door to the room opened again.
"Debora! Something feels off! The shelves were open as if he had left in a hurry. Does that mean he hasn't been gone for long?" said the girl into an HT-like communication device in her hand as she rushed down the stairs.
"I told you it wasn't just any floor! If it wasn't for that, there would have been an invisible occupant of the building messing around his room to get his attention. He's handsome enough to..."
Once her voice faded, I walked toward the room. I stuck to the wall while checking every corner of the room. A window on the wall facing the door let in the outside lights.
Through the dim light, I could see the truth of what the girl said. Documents were scattered on the floor and the shelves were open randomly. It was as if a thief had entered before me, rather than the result of someone's haste.
Kneeling on the floor, I sorted through the papers containing the people's life histories with the help of my phone's flashlight. It took much time to find the photo of woman Harris was looking for, to the point where I even found a cover letter belonging to Harris and a girl named Debora.
Srak!
My gaze fell on a piece of paper. From initially my hand was just touching it, I then grabbed it and moved it from the pile of papers to the floor.
"Say cheese, Miss Savior," I muttered with a slight grin.
Click!
Just as I managed to capture the photo, the door suddenly opened. A man who was taller than Harris stood in the doorway with a look of surprise and anger. The dim light shone through his gray eyes, which pierced me right in the eye.
"Stay where you are!"
I dodged when he threw something small at me which then stuck into the wall. The tiny bolts of lightning that traveled across the surface of the thing gave me goosebumps. However, apparently it was to distract me.
The man locked my wrists against the wall. I lifted my body, kicking his chest with both my feet until he fell to the floor. But as I landed on the floor, I heard a system sound from the iron door.
"[The door is locked. Activating automatic summoning of special units to arrive in a minute]."