Chapter 38: Routine
Chapter 38: Routine
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We'd been in good spirits before entering the clinic, but we left emotionally drained.
We'd planned to discuss again how to approach Min-su naturally on the way home, but for now we simply walked in silence.
The empty trolley's wheels and the uneasy creaking of its frame were the only sounds echoing through the silent street. I stopped Seon-yeong, who was walking in a daze.
"Seon-yeong, wait. Let's sort the medicine and deliver whatever we can spare to our business contacts before going home."
"Heh. We're making deliveries? Sigh, the world ends and I'm still the underdog. Always."
"Sometimes you're the underdog and sometimes the boss. At home, our Seon-yeong is the boss."
"Ugh... why did you have to say that so cheesily? And I'm probably still the underdog at home."
I felt relieved when I saw Seon-yeong smile a little, as if she'd gotten some of her energy back.
I'd thought this from the beginning: even without an ability that strengthened her body or mind, Seon-yeong was remarkably strong.
Thank goodness she hadn't broken down.
"We're up here on the roof!"
"We'll come up. Stay there."
When we arrived at our business partners' officetel building, we heard a voice calling from above.
Manager Lee was peering down from the rooftop.
I gave a short reply and went up to the roof via the stairs, where Manager Lee and Assistant Manager Jeon were waiting together.
"You're back sooner than I thought. You've had a rough time, haven't you?"
Assistant Manager Jeon bowed his head in greeting, and Manager Lee approached and spoke.
Just like the first time I'd met him, Assistant Manager Jeon seemed to be a man of very few words.
Seon-yeong had trouble talking with people she didn't know well, so Manager Lee and I carried most of the conversation.
"It was nothing. You didn't go out this afternoon and stayed here the whole time?"
"Yes, our stamina hasn't fully returned yet, so we decided to rest today. While we were at it, we were also looking over the building where Min-su is staying."
"I see. But you should be careful. I don't know the exact details, but Min-su himself said his ability is Observation. He said he can see things as if looking through binoculars."
"Then he may have noticed us watching him. We'll keep that in mind. Your lips look completely dry. Hyeon-seung, could you bring us some iced tea?"
"Would you both like ice in it?"
"Ah, thank you."
"I'd like that too. Thank you."
Assistant Manager Jeon went downstairs, leaving the three of us alone with Manager Lee.
Come to think of it, he wasn't calling him Assistant Manager Jeon anymore, but by his first name.
"You two had a difficult day, did you not? I wanted to go with you and help, but thought you might be uncomfortable or that I might get in the way. Are you all right?"
As if he knew what had happened, Manager Lee spoke the moment Assistant Manager Jeon left.
Then again, he'd said he knew the hospital director, so he probably had a rough idea of the situation.
"You did a genuinely good thing. I don't know whether this will comfort you, but you have no reason to feel guilty. Everyone would be grateful, including the parents and the children who died. Don't torment yourselves over it."
"Do you really think so, Manager Lee? Tae-sik, we did a good thing, right? Honestly, we only went in there to survive..."
"Manager Lee is right. So don't blame yourself. There's no need for that at all."
"Of course. I'm standing here smiling and praising you, am I not? Sometimes an act truly is good for everyone. Don't punish yourselves by calling it selfish. Going to that clinic wasn't selfish, and no one could blame you. Only your own thoughts are hurting you now, so please don't torment yourselves."
Although Manager Lee spoke to Seon-yeong, he occasionally glanced over to gauge my expression.
Manager Lee was quick-witted. I still needed to know him better, but in that moment he was genuinely kind to us.
He went on, slowly offering words of comfort, telling us we hadn't done wrong, that we had actually done well.
"Hearing you say that, Manager Lee, puts my mind a little more at ease. Thank you."
"I had just been tormenting myself..."
Seon-yeong's eyes were reddened before I knew it, but it was different from earlier. Manager Lee's comfort seemed to have helped.
Assistant Manager Jeon returned with a tray and offered us glasses of iced tea.
The iced tea was incredibly sweet and refreshingly cold.
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"Seon-yeong! What's this? Were you crying? What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"
"No, nothing happened. Something splashed into my eye outside, so I washed my face. Is it a little swollen?"
"Really? You didn't fight with Tae-sik, did you? You two shouldn't fight..."
"We didn't fight, so you don't need to glare at me. Was everything okay at home?"
"Yeah, nothing here. Seon-yeong, are you okay? Should we go inside the room and talk, just us two?"
"I'm really fine, Ga-yeong. Tae-sik and I didn't fight, and nothing happened, so don't worry. More importantly, what is on your hands? Did you wipe it all over me?"
"Ah, right! I was breading pork cutlets and... hehe, sorry, Seon-yeong."
Ga-yeong, who had greeted us in the entranceway when we got home, scurried away into the kitchen.
Only then did Seon-yeong and I go inside, remove our scavenging gear, and begin tidying up.
We gave our business contacts some of the medicine we'd scavenged and returned straight home.
In the end, we didn't meet Min-su and left it for another time.
I emptied the medicine we'd brought back into the living room, then went to the bathroom for a quick wash.
I usually showered after going out at night, but even so, whenever we came back from outside, I took off my clothes and checked to see if any zombie blood or other foreign matter had splashed on me.
No matter how tightly I covered myself, blood sometimes appeared on skin that should have been protected.
Fortunately, I found no blood today, so I simply washed my face, hands, and feet.
Some days, blood would splatter onto my exposed hair even when I wore a hat, and on those days I'd shower four times a day.
Even if it could not infect me, the blood still felt filthy.
And I hated making the house dirty.
I waited at the kitchen table until Seon-yeong came out, and then we prepared dinner together.
Seon-yeong had become incredibly quick at showering too.
I supposed that counted as adapting too.
"Thank you for the food!"
"Thanks for the meal, Ga-yeong."
Usually, we'd talk over dinner about what had happened outside during the day.
Today, on the way back, we'd already agreed not to tell Ga-yeong.
It seemed like it'd just bring the mood down for no reason, and she'd worry a lot...
Perhaps she didn't want to talk because it would bring the clinic back to mind.
Maybe that was why the meal continued in silence for a while.
"Ga-yeong, did we still have pork left?"
"Yes, there's still a little. I'd frozen all the meat and stored it in the kimchi refrigerator."
"Ah... but it'll go bad, so shouldn't we eat it all up quickly?"
"I thought so too, but MeTube's experts taught me that it can be kept for quite a while. I plan to portion it out by date and eat it while it lasts. What do you think?"
"If it keeps, eating it gradually is fine. Let's ration it carefully. You're good at managing the household, Ga-yeong."
"Hehe... I'm not especially good. I'm only following instructions. It was still fine when I thawed it today. The work was tiring, but eating it like this makes it worthwhile."
I'd thought eating meat would be difficult from now on, so I was actually quite surprised to hear she'd made pork cutlets.
And it tasted good, too.
When we praised Ga-yeong, she became excited, studied harder on her own, and produced genuinely useful results.
I would have to praise her more often.
Once I opened my mouth and started the conversation, as if the quiet meal had been awkward for her, Ga-yeong began chattering on about all sorts of things.
She talked about how much food we had, how she had prepared and frozen it, what we wanted to eat the next day, and what we thought of her plans...
Once Ga-yeong got going, she didn't seem likely to stop.
"Seon-yeong?"
"Yeah, Tae-sik. What is it?"
While Ga-yeong paused her chatter for a moment to pick up a piece of pork cutlet, I called out to Seon-yeong.
I'd already finished my meal while listening.
"You know, I was thinking about it, and we gave them way too much."
"Huh? What?"
"I think we gave way too much medicine to our business partners. Originally, I'd meant to give a little less than that..."
"Hehe. Why all of a sudden? We still have plenty to spare, so is that not fine?"
"True, but it would be better for us to keep plenty in reserve. If they need more later, we can share it then. Earlier, I was swept up in their gratitude and wasn't thinking clearly."
"What, did you get played? Don't tell me Manager Lee calculated even that?"
"Calculated or not, this much is fine. It's no big problem. The iced tea was a bit expensive, though."
"Hehehe, I know, right. But I don't think it was that expensive, all things considered. I'm just going to think of it as paying for counseling."
"Why? Did you drink some expensive iced tea somewhere? What about me?"
Ga-yeong, who had already finished her pork cutlet, joined the conversation.
Thinking we'd eaten something good just the two of us, she clung to Seon-yeong and pestered her to tell her the story too.
Seon-yeong, looking far more relaxed than she had that afternoon, smiled and told Ga-yeong about our business contacts.
Even if Manager Lee had deliberately said pleasant things to obtain more medicine, I didn't mind.
What mattered was that his reassurance had helped us, and we hadn't given away all our medicine.
It was a little chilling to imagine that Manager Lee may even have predicted we would tolerate that much greed...
Even so, it was fine.
I didn't particularly feel like I'd been played.
Seon-yeong's state of mind mattered far more to me.
Because protecting the person beside me was, in the end, the same as protecting myself.