Ch.33Rainy Spring Day (4)

# Black water. The bottom of the water tank is covered with talismans.

“……”

Screams echo in my ears.

“Oberis! Over here!”

“Send the children inside first! We don’t have time!”

The sound of dozens of people gathering and murmuring.

As I sink deeper below the surface, hallucinations and visions grow stronger, and I touch memories of the past.

The setting is an old apartment. The time appears to be evening as the sun sets.

The sky was a murky orange, with patches turning navy blue as if bruised.

People are gathered in the hallway.

A man groaning while clutching his broken arm.

A crying child.

Some people with medical skills move around looking for those who need treatment.

The crowd is so large it fills the hallway and extends down the staircase.

They look like refugees fleeing from something.

Then.

The crowd parts in two, and a woman in a suit steps to the front.

“Ah, hello.”

Though she has no device, her voice rings out clearly as if through a microphone.

“I’m Sim Ji-hee, an executive of KOO, an organization under the Korean Union.”

The woman who introduced herself as Sim Ji-hee looks like a middle school student at most. Yet she exudes a dignity that doesn’t match her appearance.

Briefly, there’s the sound of speaking in an unknown language.

An Arab man approaches and says something, and Sim Ji-hee nods.

“Ah. Is there anyone who can interpret? Someone with language abilities? Thank you. Then I’ll ask for your interpretation.”

Sim Ji-hee takes the hand of a man with a bushy beard, and it seems this allows her words to be automatically interpreted.

I could see the expressions of people who seemed confused about what was being said change instantly.

“First, let me say this. You’ve all done well to survive in this worst-case scenario.”

Though everyone was groaning in pain from their injuries, as soon as she finished speaking, sighs of relief spread through the crowd.

Sim Ji-hee stood on her tiptoes to briefly survey the people gathered in the apartment.

White people with blue eyes. Dark-skinned elderly people, and people who appeared to be Asian.

People from all over the world were gathered in this narrow space.

After taking a deep breath, Sim Ji-hee raised her voice as much as possible.

“Now I’ll explain the current situation. First, I’m just an executive of a branch, but I couldn’t find anyone with a higher position. I mean people from the central association. From what I’ve seen, they were probably all killed… while preparing to escape.”

“Aah…”

This time, sighs erupt from here and there.

“So now we have to navigate this situation on our own. We’ve managed to escape somehow, but you all know there’s a problem. Just looking at the state of this facility makes the answer clear.”

Sim Ji-hee’s expression hardened.

Despite her youthful face, her determination was palpable.

“To survive, we must combine our abilities.”

“We will become your new leadership and guide you.”

Another memory.

Something is placed in the middle of the parking lot floor, and people sit in a circle around it.

A man begins to speak with a heavy expression.

“Things have gotten too bad to stay sane here. I never thought it would become such a terrible place.”

“So? What are you suggesting? That we lose our minds and wander around? Or should we all just die here?”

When a woman asked in a tearful voice, the man frowned. A whitish scar appeared among his bushy blond hair.

“No. I meant we should give up what needs to be given up.”

Something writhes in the middle of the people.

Twisting its body and occasionally groaning, it looked somewhat like an airport carrier that had somehow gained life, or perhaps an injured furry beast.

The blond man picked it up with a gloomy face.

“This. It still has the ability to purify simple substances.”

“Don’t call it ‘this.'”

“Tasha. I said we need to give up what needs to be given up. Claire is now…”

As the blond man spoke calmly, the woman called Tasha began to scream wildly.

“No! It’s not true!”

“Won. Help Tasha calm down.”

“…Alright.”

Another man called Won grabbed Tasha’s shoulders.

After sobbing for a while, Tasha fainted. Won quietly asked the man.

“So. What are you planning to do with that? Until now, people who became like that. You made them comfortable, right?”

“I told you.”

“……”

“We need clean water. The purification system can’t work properly here. So.”

“That was your thought.”

“Yes.”

Won squeezed his eyes shut, but that was all.

“Okay. I’ll get some rope. We’ll need to tie it up to drag it.”

“Thanks.”

“Everyone else, get ready too. We need at least three people to go safely. We’ll need something like a cart too, so bring what you can.”

At Won’s words, the rest of the people began to rise and move.

Only the blond man and Won remained. And Tasha, collapsed on the floor sobbing, with a young girl comforting her.

Won stands up. The blond man looks up at him.

“Your daughter. Aren’t you taking her?”

“It’s just for a moment. You watch her.”

Before leaving to get the rope, Won bent down to meet the girl’s eyes.

“Daddy will be right back, okay?”

“……”

She only stares silently. No answer.

“Choi Serim. Listen to the mister. I’m going.”

Choi Won left with a sigh.

“Ugh, uuuugh!!!”

A woman tightly bound with rope is sobbing.

No.

She was in such a state that she could no longer be considered human.

Her face, fingers, and toes had all melted away, and her limbs were crushed under her own weight. A form where you couldn’t even tell where the limbs were attached. Only her hair had grown long, adding to the bizarre atmosphere.

And three men moved her.

From the parking lot to the elevator. Through the stairs to the rooftop.

“Good. Throw her in!”

Splash-

The sound of water echoes repeatedly inside the dark water tank.

Splash!

“Oppa! Wake up!”

“Ah…ugh…”

My head throbs with pain.

Slowly opening my eyes, I see Yoon Daju leaning over me, frantically pressing someone’s chest.

“Oppa!!! Are you conscious?”

“…Yeah.”

“The CPR must be working! One more time…!”

“I’m fine, so please move aside.”

That CPR sure was effective.

I got up and looked around.

The apartment rooftop.

In the distance, I can see the water tank I just came out of.

“Unni! Oppa’s regained consciousness!”

“Thank goodness! Dabin! Are you really okay?”

“Yes! He says he’s fine!!!”

Across the distance, Yoon Daju and Heo Yoon shout back and forth.

Looking over there, I see Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin preparing something by the rooftop railing.

Cardboard scraps, old clothes, and various flammable trash—they seem to be preparing to start a fire.

“I told them to burn the hair like you said. Is that right?”

“Yeah. You did well.”

Come to think of it, the rain has stopped.

The sky has cleared up as if nothing had happened, which improved my mood a little.

“Hey. Seok Hyunmin. Do it properly.”

“It’s not catching fire well because it’s damp.”

“Ah, let me try.”

Soon smoke rises from the drum.

I watched the death of something that was once human, while my wet clothes lay discarded.

Crackle!

Aaaaargh-

“Damn it.”

Crack!

Seok Hyunmin strikes the writhing “thing” in the fire with a crowbar.

“Die peacefully, you.”

Thwack! Thwack!

Seok Hyunmin beats the hair mass in the fire, and Heo Yoon beats Seok Hyunmin.

“Stop swinging from above! You’re putting out the fire!”

“Ah. Got it. I’ll stop.”

“Why can’t you do anything right?”

“…They shouldn’t do that.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Nothing. Just feels sad.”

My whole body is soaking wet.

I want to go back and shower right away, but we probably won’t be able to use tap water anymore.

I sat leaning against the rooftop wall, watching the smoke rise into the sky.

[Announcement: The water inspection is complete. When you first turn on the faucet, rusty water may come out, so please let it run briefly before use.]

For once, Yoon Daju sits quietly beside me.

“…That was tough. This time.”

“Yeah.”

“We almost died.”

“Mm…”

“If it weren’t for Serim unni…”

“She’s probably fine.”

“What?”

With tears welling in her eyes, Yoon Daju whips her head toward me.

“Just a feeling I have.”

“How? Did you see her… okay?”

“No. It’s not just a feeling, I’m certain, so go check the 7th floor later.”

I patted Daju’s stunned shoulder, then stood up to look at the sky.

Smoke rises high into the rainbow-filled sky, mixing together.

Goodbye, Claire.

……

“Ow!”

I bent over from a sudden sharp pain.

“Huh? Oppa, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t notice until just now, but something feels off with my body.

“You… did something weird.”

“What? No?”

“Don’t lie… ugh.”

My chest hurts with a tingling sensation whenever my clothes brush against it. It hurts even with the slightest movement.

It feels like something hard is pressing into the soft flesh, causing bruises all over.

“Ah. That…! It’s from the CPR earlier!”

“You did it?”

“No? It was Yoon unni.”

“……”

“Then it’s fine.”

They say proper CPR can break a few ribs, but fortunately it’s not that bad.

Carefully straightening up while hugging my chest with both arms to prevent any movement of flesh.

“Phew… that hurts.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Not enough to die from. I’ll have to thank noona later.”

Seok Hyunmin supports my body, and Heo Yoon runs over to check my condition.

I can’t thank her right now. I’m too tired. After I rest a bit.

The hallways and stairs that were once filled with hair are now unbelievably clean.

Even the slippery mucus that remained on the floor has completely disappeared.

I loaded my heavy body into the elevator and headed back to the 7th floor.

Back on the 7th floor.

The space that was once filled with hair is now normal.

Doors have been blown off, windows broken, and furniture smashed and scattered around, but still, this could be considered quite normal.

Above all, Choi Serim is alive and well.

“Dabin. You’re back?”

“Yes, noona.”

Before I could say anything more, Yoon Daju throws me aside and runs to embrace Choi Serim.

“Unni!!!”

“Daju looks fine too. That’s good.”

Seok Hyunmin looks like he’s about to cry, and Heo Yoon even stumbles over her words.

“R-really good… what happened?”

“I just. Curled up inside the hair.”

“What?”

“Weren’t you suffocating?”

“More or less.”

While stroking Daju’s head, Choi Serim silently looks this way.

In her eyes is the same quiet atmosphere as always.

“Dabin.”

“…Yes.”

Choi Serim whispers slowly in a quiet voice.

“Later, just the two of us. Would you like to have coffee?”

With a faint smile on her face.

Her lips, tinged with a lively pink, barely move.

“You’re tired today, so tomorrow. Let’s meet at the storage room.”

So that only I can hear.