As expected—and defying common sense...
Sampoong took no action at all.
Well, if holding a VIP custor discount event counts as action, then I guess they did do sothing.
‘...Should I say that’s a relief?’
By this point, nothing could stop the collapse anyway. And if they tried a half-baked repair job now, mistiming it could cause even greater casualties.
In the original Sampoong Departnt Store collapse, there were about 500 dead and 1,000 injured.
Of course, that’s a lot. That’s an enormous number—but if you think about it, for the sheer size of the building, it’s not actually that many.
The largest departnt store in Korea, and during peak hours, only about 1,500 people including staff and custors?
This collapse was the kind of disaster where, if you didn’t get out beforehand, you were practically guaranteed to die. Not a single person trapped on the above-ground floors survived. The injured were all those who had already escaped the structure when they were hurt.
In other words, that huge, bustling departnt store had only 500 people in it?
I don’t know all the details about the Sampoong collapse, but there’s one thing I can reasonably deduce.
“No matter how big the accident... there were already plenty of warning signs before it happened. Collapses always show signs first.”
At those words, the bodyguard Yelizaveta nodded in agreent.
“That’s right. Sudden, total collapse in a single mont—unless it’s a bomb—is rare. No matter how poorly a building is constructed, it doesn’t fall all at once. It’ll probably sink slowly first.”
That’s the real issue.
Sampoong Departnt Store was collapsing slowly—yet the people who owned it did nothing and didn’t evacuate anyone.
I gently stroked my chest and let out a sigh.
“Yeah, I’m used to this kind of thing. It’s not like it’s only happened once or twice...”
It’s common in financial markets. Before bubbles burst, there are always warning signs. Before financial crises, plenty of people issue warnings too.
‘Thinking of it that way, it’s nothing new.’
How many people died during the global financial crisis? I don’t know exactly, but it was likely in the thousands—maybe tens of thousands. There’s even that depressing stat that traffic accident deaths decreased because no one was driving anymore.
“Hm. Based on your tendencies, Miss... can I guess you want to save people?”
Blue eyes stared at intently.
“Half right, half wrong. I don’t have a duty to save everyone. I don’t know what you think of , but... saving you and your family? That was just a coincidence. And it was a fair deal.”
“That’s true. You’re a hardcore capitalist. You wouldn’t pass up the chance to hire a beautiful and competent female bodyguard like at a bargain.”
Her tone carried a hint of pride.
Mhm, as expected—soft types like Ji-yeon have their charm, but a strong body with toned muscles really is better.
“...Miss. Hands off. Fair labor deserves fair compensation.”
–Swish.
“Mm, fair compensation. I respect that.”
“Hahaha. If only the whole world moved on money that easily. Even if the departnt store pushes promotions hard, it’s not easy to eat soone else’s slice of the pie...”
She laughed bitterly.
“If the world we lived in were really that rational, the proletarian dictatorship would’ve succeeded. And Miss—Secretary General Lee Si-hyun is a scary woman. If she were rational, she might’ve betrayed you.”
“Well. That’s not impossible. But if she were truly wise, she’d know it’s better to spend her life by my side as the second-in-command than play a noble in so Russian countryside. And anyway, she had no reason to betray in the first place...”
“Hm. I was wrong. You’re even scarier, Miss. Now I understand.”
While making such idle chatter, I let out a deep sigh.
“This sumr will be hot.”
The preparations were finished—all that was left was to wait.
Until soone pulls one more block from the Jenga tower, right before it all cos down.
***
June 29th, 1995.
10:00 a.m.
Two months had passed since a small impurity had entered Yoo Ha-yeon’s routine of morning coffee and newspapers.
–Tak.
After finishing her coffee, Yoo Ha-yeon gestured to the waiting bodyguard.
“Morning report, Miss.”
Yelizaveta handed over a neatly organized file. Her blonde hair fluttered slightly in the air conditioning.
“This morning, another round of severe cracking was observed on the fifth-floor food court of Sampoong Departnt Store, and reports have co in of continuous popping and cracking sounds throughout the entire building.”
Sinking in the fifth-floor slab, worsening cracks around the columns, concrete dust falling from the ceiling... all things she already knew.
It had been like this for two months. Yoo Ha-yeon let it pass in one ear and out the other as she prepared for the next item on her schedule. She knew it was dangerous—but ever since entering high school, she’d had too much on her plate.
‘I’ve got to check in with the club kids today... and I promised to drop by my middle school too. Ugh, and I still have to go to New York to recover the losses... Can’t Ha Yeong-il handle that himself already?’
But today’s report was a little different.
“And... from the rooftop of Sampoong Apartnts, observers detected a punching shear failure at Sampoong Departnt Store. The executives have convened an ergency eting.”
–Pause.
Yoo Ha-yeon halted her thoughts for a mont and furrowed her delicate brow.
“Punching? That’s... isn’t that one of the serious ones you ntioned?”
“Yes, it is. It ans the rebar in the column has burst through the slab—under a flat slab design, that’s not just serious. It’s catastrophic. Unless your brain’s gone as smooth as Yeltsin’s, even a blind person would know what this ans.”
The problem was what the Sampoong executives would decide—even after seeing such obvious signs.
“So, what was the result of the eting?”
“...As expected, Miss.”
A flicker of scorn passed through Yelizaveta’s blue eyes.
“They decided to continue operations. They’ll just shut down the fifth-floor food court and move rchandise to lower floors. Full building closure or custor evacuation... they didn’t even consider it. Too worried about sales losses. Idiots.”
“...Got it. Cancel the rest of today’s schedule. I’ll monitor the situation. And prepare a safety manual based on the one from Myeongil Departnt Store.”
Yoo Ha-yeon sighed in irritation and thought silently to herself, wondering why the fire departnt or governnt hadn’t stepped in—and why that responsibility had apparently been privatized.
‘I’ll make sure they pay for it... I’ll privatize the rest of it too.’
The governnt, the military, the courts...
If it were Ultra-Cute Supre Girl Yoo Ha-yeon, she’d probably do it better.
With that thought, she sank into her lounge chair, fully convinced.
***
10:30 a.m. — Fifth Floor Food Court Kitchen.
“Ugh, it’s falling again. Custors will just turn right back around and leave.”
A middle-aged kitchen worker muttered as she swept up the pale gray concrete dust on the floor with a broom.
When she looked up at the ceiling, the crack that had looked like a hairline fracture yesterday now seed a bit wider. A cook next to her mumbled uneasily.
“There were those popping sounds again last night... I dunno, this doesn’t feel right.”
“The folks upstairs will handle it. Let’s just do our jobs.”
But their hands betrayed a nervous tension that wasn’t there before. The nearby Myeongil Departnt Store had been advertising so aggressively that it had even drawn criticism for negative marketing.
[Co to Myeongil Departnt Store—Korea’s safest departnt store!]
***
2:15 p.m. — In front of a Korean restaurant on the fifth floor.
[The Fifth Floor Food Court is closed today due to internal circumstances. We apologize for the inconvenience.]
A few custors turned away after reading the hastily posted sign. Employees were busily moving restaurant equipnt down to the basent storage.
A young staff mber, struggling with a heavy refrigerator, whispered to his coworker:
“Hyung, are we really just moving stuff? The floor looked like it was sagging...”
“I dunno. Orders from above. Just keep quiet.”
Downstairs, oblivious shoppers were laughing and eating ice cream. The stark contrast between the fifth floor’s instability and the calm below was surreal.
It was a state of unstable equilibrium—and it wouldn’t last much longer.
***
4:00 p.m. — Yoo Ha-yeon’s residence.
—Trrring!
The intercom on the desk rang urgently. Yelizaveta answered. The voice on the other end sounded agitated.
“...! Yes, understood. I’ll report imdiately.”
She hung up, her expression stiff.
“Miss, on-site report just ca in. Starting around 4:00 p.m., cracks in the fourth-floor ceiling have widened, and the cracking sounds are growing louder. Managent has... ordered evacuation of only the custors on the fourth floor. Employees are being told to stay and finish clearing the rchandise.”
“...Only the fourth floor? Only the custors?”
Yoo Ha-yeon asked again, as if in disbelief. Now they wanted to take partial action—and still ignore the employees’ safety?
“And... due to concerns over vibrations, they’ve shut down the entire building’s air conditioning system. It must be a steam box in there right now.”
“Well... that’s a relief.”
She let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t rember if anything similar happened in her past life, but it was certainly a stroke of luck.
People rich enough to shop at Sampoong Departnt Store wouldn’t stay long in a sweltering building.
***
5:10 p.m. — Fourth Floor Won’s Fashion Store.
“Kyaaa!”
Suddenly—CRACK—a sharp sound rang out, and dust fell from a section of the ceiling. Several custors scread.
There was brief chaos, until a staff mber rushed over to reassure them.
“Please, everyone, stay calm! We’re doing a safety inspection—please step outside for a mont...”
But even his voice was shaking. The fourth-floor ceiling was visibly sagging.
Soon after, an evacuation announcent faintly echoed throughout the entire fourth floor. But employees were simply ordered to “move rchandise to a safe place.”
Custors showing displeasure at the sudden panic, employees forced to keep organizing goods amid growing anxiety, and faint vibrations starting to spread through the entire building...
At that mont, one employee shouted in frustration:
“Hey! Don’t run to Wing A—go to Wing B!”
“What? If we do this, we’ll get grilled from above later...”
“Goddamn it, don’t you see that f***ing ceiling’s about to cave in? I’ve been paranoid lately and looked into it—it’s not the ti for this, okay?!”
Still anxious, he kept looking back and forth between the ceiling and the rchandise. It was a luxury store—he knew exactly how much financial loss would co from abandoning all of it.
“If... if it really looks like it’s collapsing, we can evacuate then... Co on, with the kinds of bigshots who co to our store, you think they’d just ignore it?”
“When Seongsu Bridge collapsed, did being a chaebol’s daughter save her? At least that was a bridge—there were places to run. If this ceiling collapses, we’re all dead!”
“...”
Eventually, the entire fourth floor was closed.
***
5:45 p.m. — First Floor Lobby.
The late afternoon sunlight stretched long through the glass windows.
So people were preparing to head ho after shopping, others were waiting for their companions.
Housewives buying groceries were heading to the basent food market, and a few VIPs had co to Sampoong after getting phone calls about a pre-sale event.
But on one of the massive columns supporting the building—sothing had changed. A deep crack that hadn’t been there earlier was now clearly visible... and the building’s ominous groaning was blending faintly into the background noise of the crowd.
“Evacuate! Evacuate now!”
“The departnt store is in danger! Head to Wing B or use the ergency exits!”
So employees waved their arms and shouted, trying to get custors to flee—but their efforts weren’t enough.
Sampoong Departnt Store was wide, and massive.
Too massive.
***
5:56 p.m.
—KWA-RRRRRRRRRRNG!!!
A roar like the end of the world exploded outward.
The fifth floor’s slab collapsed first. Like dominoes, each floor beneath it gave way, unable to support the weight.
—THUD!
—THUD!
People shopping on the upper floors suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath their feet. There wasn’t even ti to scream.
Those on the lower floors were crushed beneath the avalanche of falling concrete and twisted steel. The ceiling—the sky—was caving in.
The entire building shook violently. Lights shattered, and darkness engulfed the interior as hundreds of tons of concrete and rebar slamd into the ground.
The once-glamorous departnt store crumpled in minutes—reduced to a monstrous pile of rubble and choking dust.
“...”
Yoo Ha-yeon, wearing a black mask, stared coldly at the destruction.
The surrounding roads had beco utter chaos. Screams from those who witnessed the collapse, blaring car horns, the crash of shattering glass—
The dust cloud that erupted with the collapse montarily held the shape of the building before being blown away, scattering across Seoul.
With a voice that cracked slightly, Yoo Ha-yeon gave her order.
“That’s enough... Let’s go. That’s asbestos in the air—tell the kids not to go outside, no matter ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) what.”
“...Yes, Miss.”
The fortress had fallen.
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