Chapter Text
Kim Minjeong knows nothing about this job.
She got the job though.
"As a program researcher, you'll mainly submit story proposals with complete data and case studies.”
The old lady stopped to scan the paper, “I’m sorry, kiddo, my eyes are no good. Just sign once you’re done with it.”
Minjeong returned the contract to the old lady, who just responded with a tired sigh. “You’ll be assigned to Jimin’s team.”
“Yu Jimin? The animal-”
“Yes. Not to worry. She’s a good kid.”
Kim Minjeong knows nothing about this job.
No wonder she’s lost in this maze of a studio.
The old lady said her 1st day is the day after tomorrow since Jimin's team is currently in the field. Not that Minjeong was actually looking forward to meeting the latter.
As a matter of fact, she couldn’t care less.
And no, she’s not bitter or anything. It’s just that Jimin is what people would call a viral personality.
Any news coverage she does with animals tends to make people swoon. Her features on capibaras, rabbits, dogs, goats, and any cute animals often flood Minjeong’s fyp.
She always sees Jimin’s sunny disposition on TV.
Not to mention her iconic branding of thick square-frame eyeglasses.
Plus her constant beaming smile while she gushes about animals.
So yeah.
Minjeong is kinda… used to it.
It’s like she knows Jimin already.
“Excuse me, miss!” A man with a boom mic startled Minjeong.
The latter found her way in the shadows of the room, along with the rest of the studio crew.
Everyone was buzzing as cameras rolled in.
“This morning, she’s going wild and taking us with her, the animal whisperer herself, Yu Jimin!”
The projector screen transitioned from the studio to a grinning, black-haired woman, her eyeglasses slightly askew as strong winds gusted past.
“Golly! It’s a windy morning here, Hyewon! But never mind that! What we’re about to see is the most unexpected plot twist of the year.”
A drone shot of the caldera lake appeared, showing bull sharks roaming the water. “After thousands of years of absence, sharks have been found once again here in Taal Lake,” Jimin exclaimed with a beaming smile.
Minjeong was startled by an audible gasp in the studio. Murmurs of disbelief and amazement rippled through the room.
Through the screen, Jimin continued, "To help us make sense of this, I’m standing here with Dr. Salonga, a lead marine biologist."
The camera shifted to an older man in a weathered field vest, who looked as stunned as the audience back in the studio. He clutched a tablet showing the drone feed.
"Dr. Salonga, the books have said for nearly a century that these waters were empty of bull sharks. How is it possible that they are swimming in our caldera today?"
The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Honestly? It defies everything we know about their migration patterns. Bull sharks are euryhaline, which means they can adapt to fresh water. But! They haven't been recorded here since the early 1900s. We believe that the seismic activity from the volcano may have shifted the underwater topography near the Pansipit River, potentially clearing a channel that had been blocked by sediment for decades."
"So, the volcano essentially 'opened the door'?" Jimin asked.
"In a sense, yes," the doctor nodded. "But for me, it’s more of an environmental anomaly. These sharks likely followed a unique current triggered by the thermal shifts in the lake."
Back in the studio, the room fell silent. Minjeong stared at the screen.
Hyewon cleared her throat. “Jimin, could you ask Dr. Salonga if Supernova’s recent fight with Black Mamba may have been a factor in this?”
The host dropped her smile and fixed her glasses.
She repeated the question.
“I’m not really familiar with the specifics of their fight to be honest,” the doctor answered. “I think it’ll be best to leave it with the BAD."
Kim Minjeong knows nothing about this job.
That’s why she’s sighing all the way to her home, kicking the small pebble she came across when she got off the bus.
In her left hand is a plastic bag full of snacks. Stress eating snacks.
On the other hand is a leather clipboard carrying her documents from the job she just got.
She sighs again.
Minjeong fumbles with the keys for a while before opening the room to her apartment. She dropped her bag and lay on the sofa before turning on the TV.
“Tiring first day?”
Minjeong jumped from her seat.
She looked around and saw a man standing in the corner of the room. He had a prominent discolored scar on his cheek and was wiping non-existent dust from her windowsill.
“What the fuck?!”
“Relax Kim, it’s just me,” the man turned around. “You met me at the bar, remember?” He asked with a hint of amusement.
“Last time I checked, trespassing is illegal.” Minjeong stood up. “Why the fuck is a government employee standing here like he owns my fucking house?”
“You should work on that mouth of yours.”
“You should work on walking out of my goddamn door.”
The man plopped down on the nearest sofa, earning a scoff from Minjeong.
“Relax, I just want to know about your progress.”
Minjeong threw the clipboard in response. “I got in.”
The man scanned through the file. “Winter Kim?”
“That’s what your made-up birth certificate says.”
“Ahhh,” the man recalls. “Yeah, right,” he whispers to himself as he continues reading the documents.
“You’re a researcher? Does that mean you’ll be onto her most of the time?” he added.
“I don’t know”
“Then know next time,” the man gave her a stern look. “The Bureau hired you to supervise Yu Jimin.”
“Hired means being paid. As far as I recall, you’re not paying me.” Minjeong retaliates.
The man stood, "The Bureau paid for this apartment, your identity, and," he stepped closer, "your way into the company you've been dreaming of."
Minjeong flinches.
“Was she there today?”
“No. She’s in the field for a feature covering baby sharks and whatnot.”
The man laughed in response. “Trying hard to act human, isn’t she?”
“How sure are you that she’s not?” Minjeong asked.
The man gave her a grim look, “She’s the snake, that’s all you need to know.”
“You know your Bureau sounds sketchy as hell right?” Minjeong commented. “Bureau of Anomaly Detection sounds made up plus I don’t even know your name.”
“Would putting you in jail make it real for you?”
Minjeong straightened up.
"Kim Minjeong, former child star, returns as an aspiring actress and is guilty of money laundering."
“I told you that’s not tru—”
“And we don’t care. You’re part of it, and that makes you guilty.” The man walked to the door. “The only thing you can do now to salvage what little you have left is to finish our deal.”
“What if Yu Jimin is not what you think she is?”
“Proving that is not in question.”
“What if I get caught?”
"I don't care how you do it. Just sell the lie," he says before slamming the door.
Kim Minjeong knows nothing about these jobs:
- Program researcher for a wildlife TV host
- Spy for a government organization.
With her luck, she somehow got hired for both.
And for some reason, it all has something to do with Yu Jimin being a… snake?
There is no way Yu Jimin is a snake…
Right?