episode_0054

“Mister, why did that strange guy show up?”

As soon as I opened the door, the sound of noodles slurping came to my ears, making my urgent voice seem meaningless. And then the old man sat there with a blank expression, facing a pot of golden noodles and bright red broth.

“Huh?”

No, where did you get the ramen? You said it was all gone in the beginning, so there aren’t many?

Some people run like crazy outside after being caught by a crazy woman, while others sleep in late and eat ramen…

This is really annoying.

I walked up to the old man with confident strides and hit the back of his head, who was absorbed in eating ramen.

“Ugh! Ma, you can say it out loud. I haven’t eaten since you called me Danhwa, and I’ve been watching you…”

“You didn’t get up from your seat. Do you think I don’t know that I was just thinking about eating ramen again if nothing happened?”

“Ugh…”

The old man swallowed his saliva as if he was annoyed. It wasn’t something I should worry about. What could I do anyway?

“What’s that weird guy talking about? What, some monster that drags screamers around?”

“No, she was like an old man.”

“Oh, a promising, polite, healthy member of society has appeared. Should I go on a blind date?”

What the hell is this?

I looked at the old man with cold eyes, and the old man, who was receiving my gaze, tried hard to avoid my gaze and was sweating profusely.

“Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve had ramen, so I feel a little hot.”

I couldn’t just leave the old man sitting on his chair, not realizing the gravity of the situation, so I kicked him in the shin and grabbed his ear with one hand.

Originally, I was planning to pull it up with a pair of tongs and a thumb, but… I don’t know. It’s the fault of the old man with big ears.

“Ouch! Aah!!”

“What’s the joke? Even if you gather all the survivors in this city, there won’t be anyone as funny as you.”

“A joke? Danhwa, you don’t seem to know your strength. Right now, a frail adult male is being pulled by an incredibly strong girl who is pulling on a protest as if it were a pair of fingers. Ooooh!!!”

Contrary to my intention, nonsense came out of the old man’s mouth and I pulled him hard towards the floor, and his waist bent at a 90-degree angle and he let out an exclamation of admiration.

“He didn’t have much muscle, but he was incredibly strong. His speed was also incredible. Didn’t he undergo the same experiment as you, sir?”

“I’m back.”

“No, hey!”

The old man’s playful expression disappeared as soon as he heard me. He blurted out his words with a stiff face and started walking out of the shelter.

“Uh, what’s for dinner, Sister?”

“We’ll go and eat when we get back, so eat first!”

I couldn’t just let the old man go out alone, so I decided to give up the meal I had been putting off eating together and follow the old man.

*

“I told you it’s like that every time. Don’t keep popping out on your own…”

I had to take out my bow before I could finish my nagging, because the old man was standing tall, facing off against the crazy woman I had just barely gotten away from.

“Ah, this is the house. It’s pretty big, right? Of course, it’s not as big as my house. Middle class? Is this what it’s supposed to be? Anyway, I think it’s okay to say it’s about that big, right?”

“Who is that? There’s no one working under the government anymore, right?”

The old man asked in a subdued voice.

What, you don’t know that girl? But what’s with that girl, acting so friendly? Is that a trait of crazy girls?

“That’s Kwon Do-hoon, right? The ace of the processing unit, right? He looks exactly like the picture. He hasn’t aged at all.”

A picture of an old man came out of the crazy woman’s arms. The old man’s face there was clean, without a single beard.

You’re crazy. How can they look exactly the same? Even if this one isn’t as good, you’ve been through the ages for more than 10 years. Do you have some kind of face recognition disorder?

When I think about it that way, I wonder if all the nutrients that were supposed to go to my brain went to my height and chest. Because the nutrients were being taken away from useless places, they couldn’t go where they were needed, and that’s how I ended up like that crazy woman.

There is an old saying that says that if you have big breasts, you are an empty-headed woman, so my thoughts seemed to be correct.

Oh, isn’t that an old saying…? Hmm, anyway.

“…”

The old man silently took something out of his bosom and pretended to hit it on his thigh. It was definitely the injection that Hyeji had mentioned.

No, how can you be so arrogant when you don’t think it’s good? What if you suddenly collapse or have a seizure?

“Ah! Wait a minute! I didn’t come here to fight, I came here to deliver the message from my godmother. Above all, I’m still not good at controlling my strength, so if I fight here, Dohoon’s shelter will be in danger.”

“If you say that you didn’t come to fight by just barging into someone else’s territory and putting your hand on your partner during the census, then those grave robbers are like Santa Claus.”

The old man seemed to have already made up his mind to fight, as he took up his favorite jungle sword and took a stance. He looked reassuring.

Although he has a strange tendency to invite uninvited guests into his house, he is not one to compromise with those who touch his family.

“I don’t know who that godmother is, but…”

“Yes, sir.”

“What?”

“If you say Captain Hayura, she’ll know. My godmother said she wants to meet Dohoon. If you’re interested, come to the highway IC. I’ll give you about a week.”

The crazy woman said that and disappeared without looking back, as if her business was over.

It felt like watching a cheap CG movie where such incredible strength came from a girl’s body, so it didn’t feel realistic at all.

After the name of the woman named Hayura was mentioned, the old man stood there dumbfounded, making a serious expression as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have heard.

What, is it a secret lover from the past? The old man was a sergeant… A sergeant and a captain. A female company commander and a lecherous sergeant, and so on…

“Come on, let’s go in.”

“Hic!”

I was startled when someone tapped my shoulder.

What, when? You were just having that serious expression on your face? There wasn’t even a single sound…

The old man’s complexion was the same, but the veins on his neck below his face were bulging. Oh, that’s right.

“Is that okay? And who is that woman named Hayura?”

I wondered if it was right for a normal person to worry about superhumans… but, if you want to ask, then ask.

“I met him a little while ago when I was working. It’s nothing special, so don’t worry about it.”

It was obvious that he was telling me not to get involved. What is this? You’ll get hurt if you touch me, so just stay still. Is that your stance?

“You said we were partners, but when something dangerous happens, you’re not partners, you’re more like a nanny and a child. What do you think, sir?”

For the clueless old man, I gave him hints and nuances in my speech.

“No, that’s not my intention at all. If we get involved, it’ll only be a headache for us. I don’t plan on going to see you for a week or anything.”

The man opened the shelter door wide and gestured for us to come in like a chauffeur.

“Is this what you don’t like? I don’t have hands or feet. I should be able to figure it out myself. You don’t usually care, but you’re the one who makes a fuss in strange places?”

“Did I do that?”

It was obvious. When I showed my discomfort, he tried to somehow pick it up because he thought, “Oh no.” But since he was going to bow down and come in, I decided to accept it.

Even if I kept trying to set up the angle, I would only get tired, and the old man wouldn’t get tired. It seemed like a good choice, both in terms of efficiency and humanitarianism.

“But if he’s the kind of guy who orders around a monster-like girl, isn’t he a bit of a jerk?”

“Researcher. An ordinary researcher. Well, it seems like he grew a separate organization after the research center collapsed.”

“You’re a researcher, how do you know that guy?”

“Me, a lab rat. She’s a researcher. Okay?”

Well, I guess that makes sense.

Considering that the old man was quite large for a lab rat and was very interested in human women, and that the other man was still in love with someone he had broken up with for years, to the point of sending someone to contact him, it was clear that the old man, unlike the other man, had no feelings for her at all.

Unrequited love? It’s not easy. And to an old man.

To be honest, the fact that someone had a crush on the old man was ridiculous when you look at him as a person, and it was safe to say that it was a blessing for the old man.

Do you like this kind of person? What kind of crazy bitch is that?

“Mister, let’s go and eat quickly. It’ll be over sooner than I thought, so I guess they haven’t cleaned up yet.”

‘Ugh!’ I heard a sound of phlegm boiling from the old man. I knew what that sound meant from previous experience, so I patted the old man’s back a few times.

“Oh my, wouldn’t it be nice if we could use something like the interest method to find out if someone is just passing by or if they came to fight?”

Blood was gushing out of the old man’s mouth. All winter long, I wondered if this was okay, but since both I and Cheon Deuk were confident that it wasn’t a big problem, I decided not to worry about it.

“No, Danhwa, you touched me, so it would be shameful for you to just sit still as a partner. I have to get out of there hard… Ugh!”

Before the old man could finish his sentence, he vomited blood once more. The blood vessels that had been standing out had subsided and his complexion had brightened, so it was obvious to the naked eye that he was getting better.

Foolish human being.

“Come quickly, eat something to fill up what you’ve lost.”

I held the old man’s hand and dragged him diligently into the shelter.