EPISODE 48 – The Unwanted Intern
"Let go of me, you brooding storm cloud!" Micha yelled, struggling as Minjae pulled her down the hallway by the wrist like a misbehaving child.
He finally stopped in the parking lot outside HQ and spun around, eyes full of fire.
"What are you doing here? Seriously?"
Micha pouted. "You mean besides delivering Miran's last wishes, showing up with credentials, and lighting up the emotional desert inside this building?"
Minjae narrowed his eyes. "This isn't a joke."
She tilted her head. "Neither is my student loan debt, but here we are."
Minjae looked skyward for patience. "You don't belong here."
"I don't belong anywhere, Minjae," she said dramatically, clutching her heart. "Except maybe on a K-drama set as the quirky sidekick. But Miran believed in me. And—"
"No." He pointed to the gate. "Go back to to your home or wherever you came from."
"Wow, rude," she mumbled. "Even for someone with sculpted cheekbones."
She walked off dramatically… only to return five minutes later with a luggage trolley, a giant chemical box, and a backpack that had a stuffed duck keychain.
The rest of the team watched from the window inside, frozen.
"Is she seriously… unpacking?" Alex asked.
Guen nodded. "She just rolled out a welcome mat."
Dohee stifled a laugh. "It says Home is Where the Lab Is."
Kevin, still holding Miran's diary, shook his head. "She's insane."
Back outside, Minjae was blinking at her in disbelief. "Did you seriously bring your entire lab with you?"
"Well, duh!" Micha said cheerily. "This box has my mobile toxicology unit, a mini PCR setup, and my sleepover blanket. And cookies. I bake when I'm nervous."
"You are unbelievable."
"You know," she continued, hands on hips, "you're lucky you're hot, because if I had to deal with this attitude AND an average face, I'd be very annoyed."
From the window, Dohee broke into a snort-laugh. Even Guen cracked a smile. Alex was laughing openly now.
Inside, Kevin sighed. "It's been a while since anyone laughed here."
Outside, Minjae growled, "You think this is funny?"
"I think you're funny. In a brooding vampire way. Like if Batman got rejected by therapy."
He started walking away, ignoring her. Micha followed him like a duckling.
"So what's your skincare routine? Do you use glacier water or pure rage?"
Minjae spun around. "Can you STOP TALKING?"
"Can you START SMILING?" she shot back.
He stormed back into HQ.
Micha followed, dragging her box loudly over the threshold. "ANNYEONG again, everyone~!"
Dohee looked up from her chair. "You came back?"
"She never left," Minjae muttered.
Kevin tried to stay composed. "Listen, Micha—"
"Before you say no again, let me just say a few things," Micha raised her hand confidently. "I graduated top of my class in biochemical warfare resistance. I interned at a government lab that accidentally invented a deodorant that causes hallucinations. I've handled more hazardous substances than a raccoon in a meth lab. And I can recite all 50 states of America backwards."
"…We're not in America," Alex pointed out.
"Doesn't matter. It builds character," Micha declared. "Also, I make very good kimchi pancakes. Gluten-free. Vegan. Emotionally unstable."
Minjae facepalmed.
Dohee tried not to laugh again. "She's not wrong, those pancakes sound relatable."
Micha continued, hands now flailing, "I can be your lab support. I'll bring laughter to this haunted house. And maybe find Miran's unfinished leads faster because I helped her on the fieldwork too. She trusted me. So even if I look like a chaotic noodle in a lab coat, I can help."
There was a long pause.
Minjae stood stone-faced.
Micha turned to Kevin. "Give me one week. If I mess up, I'll leave."
Before Kevin could respond, Minjae walked up, grabbed her wrist again—harder this time—and dragged her out a second time.
"HEY—my cookies!" she screamed.
"Go. Back. To HQ," he said through gritted teeth.
"But I am at HQ! Technically!"
"You're not staying."
"I already peed in the bathroom. Technically, that makes me a resident!"
Dohee covered her mouth to stop a giggle.
Alex whispered to Guen, "I feel like she's the ghost of Miran's crackhead side."
Guen, smiling faintly, replied, "Then maybe she belongs."
As Minjae pulled Micha toward the gate again, her voice floated back:
"Minjae, wait! You didn't even try my cookies! THEY'RE CHOCOLATE CHIP!"
He groaned audibly.
The door slammed again behind them.
Inside, silence lingered.
Then Dohee said, "...I kind of want to keep her."
Alex nodded. "I already miss the chaos."
Guen shrugged. "At least she's not boring."
Kevin looked at the diary in his hand, then out the door.
"I think… maybe we let her stay."
Inside the lab, the silence lingered for a moment, heavier than before. Dohee was the first to speak.
"So… she's gone now, right?" Dohee said, her voice a mix of hope and regret. "Minjae won."
"He thinks he did," Alex said, leaning back in his chair, a smile still playing on his lips. "She's probably peeing in the bushes and claiming residency rights."
Guen, who was quietly wiping a beaker, looked up. "Did she really have cookies?"
"Oh, she did," Dohee said, sighing. "And they looked like the good kind."
Kevin, still holding Miran's diary, walked to the large window and looked out at the empty parking lot. He watched Minjae's retreating back as he disappeared around the corner of the building. Kevin's expression was unreadable, but his shoulders seemed a little less stiff than before.
He turned to the team, and there was a new glint in his eyes.
"We're going to need to get her a lab coat that isn't full of glitter," he said, a faint smile touching his lips.
Dohee gasped, "You're serious?"
Kevin nodded. "Miran was right about her. She's… different. And different is exactly what this place needs right now. We were turning into ghosts ourselves."
Just then, the door swung open again. It was Minjae. His face was a mask of furious defeat.
"She's setting up a tent. With solar panels," he growled.
Alex let out a full belly laugh. Dohee clapped a hand over her mouth to stop a snort. Even Kevin's smile widened.
Minjae looked at them, bewildered. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Kevin said, shaking his head. "Nothing at all."
He walked past Minjae and out the door, his steps purposeful.
"Where are you going?" Minjae asked, a note of suspicion in his voice.
"To get a gluten-free, vegan, emotionally unstable kimchi pancake," Kevin said simply, walking toward the gate.
"And her cookies."