Chapter 130: Traveling Together
Chapter 130: Traveling Together
#
The earlier visitor was the black monster cat.
Only a few days had passed, yet it was even larger than the last time I saw it.
It had grown nearly as large as a mid-sized motorcycle.
The cat crouched beside the stream and drank.
Delighted to see it again, I approached.
"Uh-oh? That's dangerous..."
Ignoring Hye-ji’s startled warning, I deliberately made some noise and moved closer.
Not that it mattered. The creature had already rolled its eyes toward us.
"Cat. Have you been well?"
"Meow~ nyaaow."
A smile spread across my face as though I had reunited with an old friend.
The creature cried back as if returning my greeting.
It stood close enough for me to touch.
Although it could effortlessly butcher Mutated Zombies, I felt no particular fear.
I crouched to meet its gaze and extended one hand.
Sniff. Lick.
The cat sniffed once, then licked me.
Eun-ah and Hye-ji, who had watched from behind, approached at that moment.
"My goodness... What is happening?"
"Quiet..."
Hye-ji made a fuss, and Eun-ah immediately rebuked her.
As the two women drew closer, the black cat nimbly leaped onto a low embankment.
It stretched out there with its belly against the ground, seemingly content to observe us.
I waved once and turned to our task.
"That cat is... Well, a friend of mine, more or less. Ignore it and prepare the fishing gear."
"Your friend? Ah... Understood."
Garam Stream, a tributary of the Bukhan River.
A sign classified it as Grade II water.
I had no idea how deep the center became.
Near the bank, however, the clear current exposed everything beneath the surface.
"They say fish don't live in water that's too clear..."
Hye-ji muttered after completing the preparations and casting her line.
The three of us sat side by side and stared vacantly at the sunset-reddened water.
"Ah... This..."
"Whoa? What the hell? Amazing."
How long had it been since we cast?
Less than five minutes seemed to have passed when something bit Eun-ah’s line.
Eun-ah lifted the rod and began reeling with a flustered expression.
"It's heavy..."
"I'll help."
Once Hye-ji took hold of the rod with Eun-ah, I quickly stripped.
Disarming outdoors was dangerous, but this time I trusted our safety net.
The black cat.
If another threat appeared, the creature would help us.
Sploosh.
I removed my clothes and plunged into the water.
The cold snapped me fully alert.
After swimming a short distance, I saw a silver fish thrashing nearby.
It was about the length of my forearm.
Remembering the giant carp from before, I'd dived in immediately, but that level of effort proved unnecessary.
I seized the hooked fish, which couldn't escape, and returned to shore.
"Oh? Another large one! Dinner is taken care of."
"There are countless fish down there. They're swimming in schools."
"Really? Should we catch several more?"
"Let's do that."
Any excess could be smoked for preservation.
Besides, we weren't the only hungry mouths nearby.
'I should feed the cat friend I haven't seen in so long.'
As though reading my mind, the cat sat upright on the embankment with its ears pricked.
It looked exactly as if it were standing guard for us.
"Another one..."
"Oh! Eun-ah, your fishing luck is incredible."
"Wow~ Our Eun-ah is a real blessing."
I had no time to climb out and dry myself.
Another bite came immediately, so I plunged straight back underwater.
It was another forearm-length silver fish.
I didn't know the species, but dense schools of them moved beneath the surface.
Exaggerating only slightly, the stream seemed half water and half fish.
#
"Eat well. We're leaving now."
"Nya~ow. Nyaaang."
After finishing our fishing, we parted from the black cat.
We had caught nine fish in thirty minutes.
We had nearly landed one every time a line entered the water.
We gave six of the nine to the cat.
Apparently satisfied, it sent us off with a long cry.
"Ah... It's such a shame we can't eat them raw. They're so plump."
"Exactly. Mentioning sashimi has made my mouth water. Let's hurry back and eat dinner."
We left the stream and headed toward the vegetable garden.
It required only a short detour on the way to our tents.
"Big Brother Tae-sik."
"Hm?"
"We can't eat the fish raw? Why?"
"They may contain parasites. Some people eat freshwater fish raw, but with no hospital available, we have to be careful."
"Ah... I want to try sashimi."
Eun-ah spoke in her usual flat tone without changing expression.
Even so, I could sense anticipation mingled with disappointment.
"Eun-ah, have you never eaten sashimi?"
"No..."
"I see."
For some reason, even the back of her head looked dejected.
Any mention of ordinary experiences made Eun-ah’s past seem painfully sad.
What kind of life had she lived?
"We're here. You may not get sashimi, but perhaps we can eat fresh vegetables."
"They taste bad..."
Even at the garden, Eun-ah’s spirits didn't recover.
I, on the other hand, couldn't conceal my excitement.
"Oh? There are onions. Eun-ah, should we make spicy fish stew?"
"No... it's spicy."
"All right... Look at this. There are squash too. This one is ready. At this size, it'll still be tender and delicious."
"You eat plenty, Mister..."
A variety of vegetables grew vigorously throughout the garden.
Onions, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, squash, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, and more.
The plot was small but densely stocked.
"What are you two doing? First come, first served."
"What should we pick, and how?"
"Ah... Did neither of you visit a weekend farm as a child?"
"No..."
"All right, Eun-ah is understandable, but... Never mind. You two return first. It's close anyway."
"Understood. I'll clean the fish. We're grilling them, correct?"
"Let's do that."
Hye-ji turned and strode away.
Eun-ah, despite being told to leave, crouched beside me instead.
"Hold the stem here and snap it off like this. Easy, right?"
"Older men know all kinds of things."
"Not everything. There's plenty I don't know."
Eun-ah watched me harvest and began copying my movements.
As she gradually found it enjoyable, she started working in earnest.
"That tomato isn't ripe yet."
"Ah... how can you tell?"
"Heh heh. Just leave it on the ground."
I was delighted by the prospect of fresh vegetables.
Eun-ah became absorbed in the act of harvesting itself.
With both of us working enthusiastically, the pile soon became excessive.
We had no proper way to preserve it, but the amount should still feed the three of us for roughly three days.
"Let's stop picking and head back."
"Okay... There was nothing tasty..."
Eun-ah regarded the harvest with disappointed eyes.
Her briefly improved mood plunged again.
I patted her shoulder as we left the garden.
Plod. Plod.
"Eun-ah. Are you upset?"
"Yeah..."
"Why?"
"Sashimi... And the garden had only bad-tasting things."
I'd probably raised her expectations too high when describing the vegetable patch before we went fishing.
Remembering myself at twenty, I understood her profound disappointment.
I hadn't liked vegetables at that age either.
Of course, even now I still preferred meat.
"Hmm... Eun-ah, do you like strawberries?"
"Strawberries?"
At the word strawberries, Eun-ah looked at me with sparkling eyes.
Simply asking restored color to her face.
"Yes! I love them. They're the most delicious. But they're expensive..."
"Ah~ So strawberries are our Eun-ah’s favorite?"
"Yeah... They were the best fruit. I had them a few times."
She became excited briefly, then sank again.
Her expression barely moved, but her emotions were surging dramatically.
"I left my wallet behind, so I can't buy you any strawberries."
"What does that even... Pfft."
"I may be able to pick some for you instead."
"Huh?"
Wild-grown strawberries.
While walking away from the garden, I found a greenhouse.
Beneath a fence beside it, strawberry plants grew outdoors.
The berries were small but beautifully red and ripe.
Roughly half had already softened beyond use.
"Look here. Do you see these? They're all strawberries."
"Wow..."
"Hold it like this and snap it off. See? Let me taste one."
It was sweet.
The strawberry, barely the size of my thumb joint, seemed to melt the instant it entered my mouth.
"Mm, not bad. Here. Open your mouth."
"Ahh."
I picked another strawberry and placed it in Eun-ah’s mouth.
Her eyes widened as she chewed.
Her eyes curved softly, and a smile spread across her lips.
"How is it? Good?"
"Yeah! It's delicious."
"Should we pick all the strawberries here and take them with us?"
"Okay..."
Excited, we crouched beneath the fence and began gathering berries.
Eun-ah worked deftly with her small, pale hands.
Although darkness settled around us, her innocent smile seemed to shine.
#
"Wow... Thank you for the meal. I've never feasted like this before."
"Me too... Thank you for the meal."
We enjoyed an extraordinarily luxurious dinner.
Steamed white rice, grilled fish, and fresh vegetables.
Even onions became sweet simply from grilling.
We finished with strawberries for dessert.
It was an absurdly lavish meal for the apocalypse.
"Let's clean up quickly and wash. You want a shower, right?"
"Yes!" "Yeah..."
We washed the dishes with the water remaining in the tank, and I collected more from the stream.
There were no leftovers, so we poured the dishwater onto bare soil.
We decided to shower by placing the tank on a sturdy nearby branch.
Night had fallen, visibility was poor, and there were no actual shower facilities nearby.
After finishing the setup, I sat beside the campfire until Hye-ji and Eun-ah emerged from the tent.
"Don't look..."
"I don't mind if you look!"
"..."
Eun-ah silently glared at Hye-ji.
Hye-ji wore nothing but slippers, while Eun-ah remained in her underwear.
Both carried bathing supplies and laundry.
'Hye-ji certainly is bold...'
Regardless of what she and I had done together, my gaze could still have felt burdensome.
On top of that, we were outdoors.
Even after confirming that no one was nearby, most people would instinctively cover themselves.
By that standard, Eun-ah was hardly ordinary either.
Ever since revealing her face to me, she'd behaved as though nothing else mattered.
She could feel embarrassment, but she no longer seemed inclined to hide much from me.
Step. Step.
I couldn't help stealing glances as the two women walked past.
I pretended otherwise, but my eyes moved automatically the moment they passed.
'One swayed gently... The other bounced heavily? Or perhaps flopped?'
Once they reached the tank and turned their backs, my furtive glances became open observation.
'This can't be helped.'
Something might happen, so I needed to watch over them.
Drip... trickle.
We had attached another makeshift shower head to the tank valve by punching holes in a plastic bottle.
The two women began wetting their hair beneath the weak stream.
Their differently shaped, water-slick buttocks gleamed red in the flickering campfire light.
"Mister. Mister."
"Big Brother Tae-sik..."
Had I become too absorbed in watching them bathe?
Only belatedly did I notice both women beckoning to me.