episode_0300

After a night of enjoyable feasting, the next day arrived.

“Everyone, come out in comfortable clothes.”

“Excuse me?”

“We’re going to do some work outside today. You too, Hyung.”

“Oh? Oh.”

After finishing breakfast with refreshing bean sprout soup and other stomach-friendly dishes, I gathered the young, energetic men.

It was impromptu, but we were going to get some physical work done.

I hadn’t forgotten what happened a few days ago.

Thinking about the variant that approached the front yard…

‘I have to do something.’

I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly unless I did at least something small, so I got moving.

It was a bit dark, being an early winter morning, but the family members didn’t complain.

Dong-woo and Hyunwoo, Young-cheol-ssi and Jihyeok hyung, Kang-doo and I.

Everyone seemed to be itching for some action, casually loosening their joints as if getting ready to go.

‘Good.’

Leading this eager and excellent workforce, I took a tour of the ‘site.’

As a result, a rough estimate was made.

The starting point was the iron gate between the tunnel and the shelter.

“What are you going to do??”

Hyung, whose mind seemed to have cleared after waking up, subtly asked.

“The end of that wall over there. See it?”

I pointed to the end of the temporary wall that defined the property line.

“Yeah. What about it?”

“We’re going to install barbed wire from there all the way to the back of the shelter building.”

“…All of it?”

“Yes.”

The men who were listening to the explanation were surprised.

Considering the amount of work to be done, their surprise was understandable.

“The finish at the end of that wall is shoddy.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

It was like they stopped halfway through building it.

It just turned at a right angle and didn’t continue.

It seemed to have been done with the sheer cliffs on either side in mind, but…

I plan to use barbed wire to connect the line, replacing the temporary wall.

There’s a huge difference between knowing what, how, and why you’re doing something, and not knowing.

“Alright, our current position is here, so…”

I drew lines on the ground and briefly explained what we needed to do today.

Goal: Install a safety fence.

1. Drive rebar stakes into the ground. 2. Weave wire mesh along the rebar stakes. 3. Install support beams to secure it firmly.

※All work will be done in pairs of two. ※Remember the order: Safety -> Accuracy -> Speed.

“How’s that? Easy, right?”

“Ah, no, it sounds simple, but…”

“Anyone who gets hurt will be banned from eating meat for 3 days.”

“What?!”

“Woooooo~!”

“Okay. Everyone agrees, then.”

“…”

I easily suppressed their minor protests and urged them not to overexert themselves.

“Hyung-nim.”

“What is it, Dong-woo?”

“But we don’t have the materials?”

“Ah, the supplies?”

At his correct observation, I subtly glanced at Hyung.

Nod.

“Attention.”

“Attention~”

“I have something to show you all.”

“What is it, Foreman-nim!”

“That’s a good question.”

Watching Dong-woo play along, I opened my inventory.

“Whoa?!”

“?!”

I took out bundles of rebar stakes, rolled-up wire mesh, large wire cutters, and other items I had initially taken from the old loading dock.

The family members were surprised by the sudden hole that opened in the air, and then surprised again by the various materials that popped out.

“…”

Dong-woo merely blinked, but Young-cheol-ssi and Kang-doo’s eyes widened.

“I have an ability that’s a bit different from others.”

“Is this perhaps like a… pocket?”

“Roughly similar.”

Each of them showed interesting reactions, touching and poking the materials that had popped out.

“Just don’t go blabbing about it anywhere.”

“Even if we told someone, I don’t think they’d believe us?”

Kang-doo, looking dazed, seemed incredibly fascinated.

“Hyung. Were the guns you lent us the day before yesterday also from that??”

“That’s right.”

“Ohhh…”

Kang-doo’s reaction was quite enthusiastic.

His clear eyes, burning with curiosity, were truly…

“Alright, alright~ Settle down, everyone.”

Jihyeok hyung calmed his younger brothers who couldn’t escape their surprise.

“Seonghan made a big decision to reveal this, so I think you all know what you should do.”

In response, the men nodded, making an unspoken promise.

“Hyung-nim…”

“Hey, that’s too much pressure.”

I pushed Dong-woo, whose clear eyes were shining excessively, and pulled out the gloves.

“Watch what I do and follow along.”

I put on soft cotton gloves, then plastic gloves over them. And finally, fully coated, bright red waterproof gloves.

This provides warmth and somewhat prevents the gloves from getting soaked with sweat.

“Let’s divide into teams and start right away.”

“Uh, Hyung-nim. I’ve never done this kind of work before, will it be okay?”

Hyunwoo asked timidly, but…

“It’s not difficult at all. Just do what you’re told.”

There was really nothing difficult about it.

It was simply a matter of paying attention to the height, horizontal, and vertical alignment for the tasks I explained.

We decided to try it first and started moving.

First, I used a level and drove the rebar stakes into the ground to a certain depth, establishing the line.

I unrolled the 50m hexagonal barbed wire and firmly tied it to the erected rebar stakes.

The support beams would come later.

“Alright, look. You wrap the bansaengi (thick wire) like this, place the shinu (hexagonal signaling rod), and… twist it like this. See how it tightens?”

“Oh…”

“Tie it at the top, middle, and bottom as you follow along.”

“Hyung, where did you learn how to do this?”

Kang-doo looked at me with some surprise.

“Ah, did I not mention it? I used to do manual labor.”

“Oho.”

“‘Oho’ what? Hurry up and follow along. There’s a lot to do.”

Hyung and Kang-doo were in charge of tying and securing the barbed wire.

I had everyone try it, but since it required a bit of knack and strength, only those two could do it properly.

The youngest ones and Young-cheol-ssi unrolled the barbed wire, followed along, and assisted.

We had enough materials, and the area was large.

After finishing the tutorial, we immediately began the work.

Tasks that require human labor are easier with more people.

However, we had few people and no heavy equipment.

Normally, an excavator would press and drive in the rebar stakes, but today was different.

Thud – Press.

Thud – Drive.

I roughly drove the 4m rebar stakes about 1m deep into the ground, spacing them appropriately.

I continued to stride forward, planting the rebar stakes as I went.

“Hy, Hyung-nim! Wait a moment!”

“You can take your time, just make sure not to get hurt.”

I set the line at a considerably fast pace.

‘I never thought the day would come when I’d be replacing an excavator.’

Thud – Plunge.

Thud – Scrape.

I repeated the same motion, enduring the cold wind.

And my mind was completely blank.

Repeating the same work is called manual labor.

Thud – Plunge.

Thud – Thwack.

The monotonous work repeated itself.

Once the work order is ingrained in the body, what remains is precision.

As experience accumulates, you pick up tricks, and from then on, you gain a ‘veteran vibe,’ or rather, a sense of ease.

The problem is that new tasks are always given.

‘…I should have tried this before.’

Actually, this work I was doing now was new to me too.

I never had a reason to install a safety fence.

I had confidently explained it to the family members, but all I’d done was peek over someone’s shoulder to watch another team do it.

It’ll work out somehow!

I had roughly started with that thought, but it was actually turning out to be something.

As I leisurely and mindlessly repeated the process, I passed the shelter building and had driven in all the stakes up to the opposite side.

“…”

It was a situation resolved brutally with sheer strength, which left me feeling a bit complex.

Anyway.

Since I had roughly established the entire line, I approached the family members who were currently wrestling with the barbed wire.

This side, where five people were working, was also progressing smoothly.

“W-what? Why are you coming from behind?”

“I’ve completed a full circle.”

“Already?!”

I received a collective gasp of astonishment from the surprised men.

Ignoring their reactions, I gently shook the barbed wire.

“Oh, quite sturdy…”

The barbed wire was well tied to the posts and firmly secured.

For something thrown together so quickly, it looked pretty good.

For novice workers, they were doing quite well.

Maybe physical labor suited them unexpectedly well?

Despite the cold weather, sweat was streaming down the family members’ faces, likely because they kept moving.

It seemed hot enough for them to pull down their zippers all the way. This was the charm of winter manual labor.

Your body gets tired, but if you keep moving, you don’t feel cold.

So you keep moving.

Then your body gets tired.

“Hehehe.”

“…Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing. Take it easy. I’ll go prepare some more materials.”

I told them to keep working and returned to the building for now.

I pulled out a long yellow electrical cord and drew power from inside.

’50cm each… I have to cut a hell of a lot.’

I took out the rotary cutter, which I thought I’d never use, and began cutting the rebar stakes.

Whirrrrrrr-

I diligently cut the 6m pieces, which I hadn’t used much before. I needed roughly as many as I had driven in.

“Oh my! What’s all this?”

Grandpa, who had come out for a moment, was surprised by the sudden tool work but also showed interest.

Seeing the piled-up materials, he didn’t seem particularly surprised, which made me wonder if Grandpa had already guessed what was going on.

“We need quite a lot of these.”

“Is that so? Then leave this to me.”

Grandpa pulled out gloves from his pocket and quickly joined in. Soon after, he handled the cutter with remarkable familiarity.

“My hands are enjoying this, it’s been a long time.”

“Is that… so?”

“I’ll cut them well and deliver them by car, so you go tend to your work.”

Thanks to Grandpa, the work became a bit easier.

For now, I only took the cut pieces and returned to the starting point.

This time, I followed behind.

Once the support beams were properly set up, the immediate task would be finished.

That’s why we needed an impact driver and clips.

We placed the erected rebar stake and a 2m rebar stake diagonally and clamped them firmly with clips.

Whirr – Clunk.

We drove the short-cut rebar stakes like posts into suitable positions and then clamped the ends of the rebar stakes again.

Whirr – Squeak.

Doing it this way makes it hold up much better than simply driving in a single post.

‘…I never knew I’d be doing this.’

A scene I occasionally saw in movies came to mind.

The unfortunate barbed wire fence, swaying precariously as zombies clung to it, then crumbling.

If you look closely, the barbed wire itself doesn’t break; the posts get destroyed.

Every time I saw that, I thought:

They should have reinforced it, whether by adding support beams or something else.

Of course, it’s a movie scene, so the historical accuracy might be questionable.

Right now, based on experience, I just want to do even the smallest things for our safety.

It would be perfect if we could run high-voltage current through it, but it’s a shame we can’t.

Whirr – Clunk.

Whirr – Clunk.

Without rushing, I leisurely pulled out, placed, and tightened.

Just as I had used up all the pieces cut for stakes, Grandpa personally came to deliver more.

He dropped them off and immediately went back to cut more.

Thanks to Grandpa’s cooperation, the work speed picked up.

I said I would take my time, but I ended up catching up to Jihyeok hyung closely, and…

“Hyung, take it slow. Slowly.”

“…”

“Kang-doo~ Are you creating art? You need to tighten that more.”

“…”

Ah. Both of them gritted their teeth.

The two men, under my gaze, hastened their hands, but rushing wouldn’t make it happen.

I resupplied materials whenever needed and followed along behind them.

We took breaks to smoke and drink water.

Despite the monotonous repetition of the work, the family members concentrated, beads of sweat dripping from their brows.

Although it was a new type of work, dividing roles and proceeding step-by-step led to a decent outcome.

By lunchtime, we had finished a little less than half, but in the remaining afternoon, we were able to push through to the other side.

This was thanks to getting used to the work and working in sync, which gradually increased our work speed.

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

“This is surprisingly quite…”

The first phase of work concluded just as the sun was setting.

The youngest ones and Young-cheol-ssi, who had continuously moved and unrolled the heavy barbed wire, were subtly exhausted.

Hyung and Kang-doo, who had been weaving the bansaengi all day, rotated their wrists and massaged their forearms.

“Did everyone get some exercise? Looks like you can handle it?”

“…Hyung-nim!”

“Hey… you really…”

“Hehehe. You all worked hard.”

We had all sweated profusely and were covered in a bit of dust.

But a pleasant smile was on everyone’s face.

It was a bit crude, but it was work related to our safety.

“Maybe because we did it ourselves… I feel strange.”

“Doesn’t it feel incredibly proud and secure?”

“Yeah. Dong-woo is right. It’s exactly that feeling.”

Hyung, catching his breath while smoking a cigarette, strongly agreed with Dong-woo’s words.

“Tonight, I feel like I’ll sleep really well.”

Hyunwoo was right.

I understood what he meant, but it also guaranteed a physically certain good night’s sleep.

I wondered if they’d snore terribly.

I roused the family members, who had caught their breath to some extent, and announced the end of today’s work.

“Everyone, wash up, eat, and go to bed early. We have more to do tomorrow.”

“…Huh?”

“What??”

Facing their gazes, which collectively focused on my words, I chuckled softly.

“I told you. There’s a lot to do.”

“…”

“Did you think this was the end?”

“Th-thisss!!”

“Ughhh!!”

Such naive men.

“Let’s work hard again tomorrow.”

The beef’s vitality still had a long way to go.