SACCHARIN
CHAPTER 24

 

If I were still a graduate student, getting off work at this hour would have been a dream. The irony that I worked shorter hours here in a drug factory than I had in a research lab was almost laughable.

I smirked bitterly as I glanced around. Over the past ten days, I had noticed far too many people keeping an eye on me.

I couldn’t rely on Shin Chi-woo alone. If I wanted a backup plan, I needed to gather information—that was the foundation of any good strategy.

I pushed open the cafeteria doors and stepped inside. The building, inside and out, looked like a high school cafeteria. But the way meals were served—both in quality and variety—made it closer to a buffet-style setup.

I grabbed a ceramic plate and moved along the line, scanning the food selections. There weren’t dozens of options, but the limited variety made it easy to choose quickly.

Even so, I picked only one dish, as I had every day.

Kimchi fried rice.

Except for breakfast, it was served every day for lunch and dinner.

Given my circumstances, eating wasn’t easy.

Meat and fish somehow always made me feel queasy, but eating only vegetables left me drained of energy—too weak to even work in the factory.

I carried my heaping plate of kimchi fried rice to an empty seat in the corner. If only I had a soft, runny fried egg on top, it would have tasted so much better.

After setting my plate down, I went back to grab a bowl of seaweed soup. Then, I picked up a small-sized, zero-calorie cola, a spoon and chopsticks, and—

I paused, glancing at the knives next to the cutlery station.

They were dull, meant for dining, but still, they were knives.

Scissors were essential in my section of the factory, but with constant supervision and CCTV, stealing a pair was impossible.

If I could get a knife, I would sharpen the blade as soon as possible.

One day, I would need it.

Whether to stab someone else or to stab myself—

“……”

After a brief hesitation, I took a knife and fork, then returned to my seat. As I quietly ate, I observed my surroundings.

By my estimate, there were around 30 workers in the factory.

The technicians responsible for disguising drugs as saccharin? Only two or three, as far as I could tell.

There were also roughly 30 ‘managers’—people who didn’t work in the factory itself but remained stationed on the island to oversee operations.

That didn’t include the transporters—the people who ferried supplies back and forth between the island and the mainland.

In total, over 60 people stood between me and escape.

That meant reckless actions were out of the question.

And as if to prove my point, someone was already approaching me.

It was “Glasses”, a woman who worked on the same factory line and shared a room with me. She was slightly older than me.

“Aren’t you sick of eating the same thing three times a day?”

I wanted to ignore her. I sighed instead.

“They don’t serve kimchi fried rice in the morning, so I had bread and milk.”

“Oh, so you can talk back now.”

“…….”

“Guess that means you’re settling in, huh?”

Glasses had nagged at me from the start.

Yesterday, she had bitched at me over coffee.

Today, it was about my food.

I lowered my head, stirring the half-eaten fried rice on my plate with my spoon.

She was too old to be acting like a school bully, and I had zero interest in engaging.

Besides, she wasn’t the only one throwing snide comments at me.

To them, my arrival had been a rare, interesting event.

Some people, like Glasses, treated it as an opportunity to pick fights.

Others, like the former ballerina sitting at the opposite table, couldn’t care less.

I scooped up a spoonful of seaweed soup, my gaze settling on a middle-aged woman sitting with her back facing me.

“…….”

She always tied her hair up neatly into a tight bun, likely a habit from her ballet days.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was deliberately showing her face—as if she wanted to be recognized.

“When you get to the factory, there’ll be someone to help you. Look for the guy with a scarred face.”

Was she the one I was supposed to find?

Just as Shin Chi-woo had hinted, the person who was supposed to help me had a distinctive physical feature.

And from the very first day on this island, I had already found her.

Here, she was called “Gombo”—a nickname meaning pockmarked.

But what caught my curiosity was the contrast—her former profession was a ballerina.

How did someone with scarred skin and a dancer’s background end up here?

Still, I didn’t approach her right away.

Instead, I spent my time observing—carefully assessing my surroundings before making my move. I needed to be sure she was Shin Chi-woo’s contact before revealing anything.

I picked up my empty plate and stood up.

Maybe I was finally getting used to this exile.

Somehow, I had managed to finish the mountain of kimchi fried rice on my plate.

As I headed toward the dish return area, I considered grabbing a dessert to eat outside.

“Thank you for the meal.”

I muttered a quick, meaningless thanks while scanning the dessert section—

When someone called out to me.

“Oh? Look at that face. You’re that girl, aren’t you? Director Seo’s daughter.”

“Ah… yes….”

“Everything here is absolute shit, but at least the food’s good, right?”

“Yes.”

“You heard about me, right? I used to run a Michelin one-star restaurant.”

It wasn’t a random worker stopping me—it was Chef Kwak, the man who ran the entire cafeteria.

As if he’d been waiting for me, he launched into a long-winded speech about his incredible cooking skills, his philosophy on flavor, and how talented he was.

I had no choice but to stand there for nearly twenty minutes, nodding and pretending to be impressed.

All the while, I thought:

“Sure, but even with that Michelin background, look where you ended up.”

“Anyway, I don’t know what the hell happened with Director Seo, but…”

“…….”

“I owe your father a debt.”

“…….”

“So listen—if you ever reach the point where you just can’t eat the food here anymore, come to me. If I have the ingredients, I’ll make you something.”

“I appreciate that. Really.”

“Alright, go get some rest. You need to wash up and sleep.”

“Yes. See you again, Chef Kwak.”

I finally escaped the cafeteria.

Boring as that conversation had been, playing along had been worth it.

I didn’t know what kind of debt he owed my father, but it was clear that they had a connection.

From what I could tell, Chef Kwak held a high-ranking position among the managers on this island.

I couldn’t make everyone my ally.

But I also didn’t need to make enemies unnecessarily.

I couldn’t blindly trust Shin Chi-woo either—I needed my own backup plan.

If I could build relationships with the right people, I’d have options in case Shin Chi-woo broke his promise.

Hoo…

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my work uniform and started walking in the direction I had planned.

My goal was to circle the island once, moving clockwise from the cafeteria—sticking only to areas I was allowed to access.

At least the wind isn’t too bad today.

The sun was setting, and the air was getting chilly, but for now, it was still perfect weather for a walk.

I moved slowly, following a path covered in autumn leaves.

For a moment, I wondered what kind of trees they had planted here to create such beautiful colors, despite the island’s harsh sea winds.

But that moment of sentimentality passed quickly.

I needed to gather as much information as possible—at least within the limits of where I was allowed to go.

Because this island was far bigger than I had originally thought.

“That’s her, right? The new girl?”

“Yeah, word is one of the company’s executive-level guys betrayed the chairman and disappeared. People are saying she got dragged here as a hostage because of it.”

I wasn’t the only one taking an evening walk.

As a group of people passed by, I overheard their casual gossip.

Up ahead, I entered a brighter area—one of the main living zones on the island.

This place could easily house a hundred people.

There was the dormitory and the cafeteria, but also—

A strange, chapel-like building that had clearly once been a place of worship.

From what I’d heard, this island had previously been home to some religious commune, before being repurposed for… this.

These three buildings formed what they called the “Living Complex”—from above, they could be seen as either 三 (three) or 川 (stream).

The dormitory was in the center, making it easily accessible from either side.

Meanwhile, the factory, where the illegal operations took place, was located a bit further away from here.

According to what I’d heard, the Living Complex had been renovated from old buildings, whereas the factory had been built from scratch—along with the golf course.