Chapter 41: Carelessness
Chapter 41: Carelessness
9. Carelessness
"How is it? Does it match the one at home?"
"Yes, I think we can take this one. Maybe because it's the same chain..."
"That's a relief. Then let's clear the stuff off the racks and take it. I think we can leave it over in that corner."
"Tae-sik, we can't carry two at once, can we?"
"Hmm... I'd have to try lifting them to know? I feel like I could carry one in each hand, braced over my shoulders, if I balance them right. Let's take two outside first, and if it doesn't work, we can always make another trip."
I couldn't tell whether Min-su didn't know we were here or just wasn't inside the building right now.
Even as we entered the convenience store and cleared out the few remaining items on the racks, it stayed quiet with no sign of him.
"Ga-yeong, let's start by clearing the stuff near the door. You think two will be enough?"
"Yes, for now. Actually, one more would be enough right away, but I thought supplies might increase later. One is a spare."
"Oh, that's why? Hold the baseball bat for a moment."
I moved the display rack by myself while Ga-yeong trotted along beside me.
With Ga-yeong trotting beside me, I felt as though I had acquired a pet. I crossed the road, set the rack on the pavement, and returned to the convenience store.
Thud, thud, thud, rattle.
As Ga-yeong and I stepped inside the convenience store, an empty plastic bottle suddenly rolled and fell.
Had Min-su left it there after drinking it?
No one was likely to worry about recycling in these circumstances. Besides, he might plan to reuse the bottle.
"Eek! That scared me... Why did it suddenly fall?"
"Maybe the open door made a draft. It startled me too."
I grabbed one more emptied convenience store rack and carried it out.
I tried lifting both racks at once, but I couldn't find a workable grip.
The problem was not their weight but their size. I could not balance them, and they kept tilting.
"Ga-yeong, I think we have to move them one at a time after all."
"Looks like it. It's not urgent anyway, so let's just take one for now. We can always come back if we need more later."
"Alright. Let's just take one and stand the other one over here."
I stood one rack upright in a corner by the roadside, then went back into the convenience store to get the backpack I had briefly set down.
I came back outside, handed the baseball bat to Ga-yeong, and was just about to hoist the rack onto my back.
Just then, Min-su walked out of the building entrance and spoke to me.
"Team Leader, when did you arrive?"
"Oh, Min-su. It's been a while. About twenty minutes ago."
"I see. And that display rack... what's it for?"
"Ah, I need it for something. I stacked the other stuff in a corner of the convenience store. It's okay if I take this rack, right?"
"Sure. I've got no use for a display rack."
As we talked, Min-su kept glancing at Ga-yeong behind me.
He was probably wondering why I was with a stranger instead of Seon-yeong—and who she was.
"Everything been all right, Min-su?"
"Nothing major. It's just... we have less food than I expected. Are you busy right now, Team Leader?"
"Yes. I have people waiting for me, and my schedule is fairly full. We have to keep moving if we want to survive."
"I understand. Take care, then."
Min-su seemed to have more to say, but after hearing I was busy, he turned and went back inside without another word.
After all those glances, he didn't even greet Ga-yeong or ask who she was.
I had thought about prodding a little and asking questions of my own, but the way he just finished speaking, spun on his heel, and left made me give up.
Had his group grown, increasing food consumption?
He had said only what he wanted, like a sulking child, then gone inside. It was baffling.
Back when he was the one in need, he had been so polite.
"Ga-yeong, let's go too. Help me lift this."
I gave the baseball bat, which I had taken back when I heard Min-su coming out, back to Ga-yeong.
Then we headed home, walking faster than we had on the way out.
"Tae-sik, was that Min-su?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"Like Seon-yeong said, he kept glancing over throughout the conversation. He did it so often it was strange, but he never looked at me directly."
"He was, right? Maybe because you're a new face. He knows I usually move around with Seon-yeong, so he might have been curious who you were. I'm not sure either."
"Seon-yeong said that even though she's seen him a few times, he does that every time they meet. She said it's not like he gives you a gross up-and-down look, but he glances so often it feels off. I get what she means now that I've met him today."
The reason both Ga-yeong and Seon-yeong said that was because Min-su's glancing was far more frequent than normal.
It wasn't an occasional glance past my shoulder; his eyes shifted toward her about once every ten seconds.
When people are focused on a conversation or speaking themselves, their gaze usually stays fixed on the other person.
But even when Min-su was the one talking, his eyes kept moving.
That's why I had first wondered if he had some kind of nervous tic.
As I listened to Ga-yeong on the way home, I tried to guess his reason again but couldn't make sense of it.
I was not directly involved, and it felt like pointless speculation, so I pushed it out of my mind and headed home.
#
"Tae-sik, you worked really hard. Here, have some water. It was tough, right?"
"Thanks. I'm not just saying it—I'm really fine. That was nothing."
We returned to the apartment, left the display rack in the hallway for the moment, and went inside.
Since there had been no fight, I set down my backpack, told Ga-yeong to rest, and went back outside for a cigarette.
Ga-yeong had sprawled out on the sofa, probably because she had been so tense even during the short trip outside.
When I stepped inside, the air conditioner was on, and the cooled air wrapped pleasantly around my body.
It wasn't physically hard—the problem was the heat.
Even though it was still early morning, the heat was enough to make us sweat.
It was only May, yet several times a day I found myself wondering how we would cope if it was already this hot.
I carefully opened the master bedroom door and saw that Seon-yeong was still asleep.
I changed the damp cloth on her forehead and quietly left again.
"Ga-yeong, are you really tired?"
"No, I'm fine. I was just so tense that my shoulders are stiff."
"I suppose that's natural. Once you've cooled down, shall we move the rack and organize the apartment next door?"
"Okay. But there isn't really that much to organize. Oh, right. Do you want some ice cream?"
"Yeah, let's go together. Let me see what flavors there are."
Ga-yeong and I went to the freezer, each picked out an ice cream, and took a short break.
It seemed Ga-yeong had similar tastes to Seon-yeong.
She glanced at the section I had chosen and immediately reached for the premium ice cream.
After we finished the ice cream, we started organizing the storage unit.
Unit 501 was just as hot, so we indulged ourselves by running the air conditioner while we worked.
While Ga-yeong gathered the items she had organized on the rack into a pile on the floor so nothing would get mixed up, I wiped down the newly brought rack.
There were spots with blood splatters, so I brought out a scrubber and cleaned them with baking soda.
After refilling the basin several times, I finished cleaning at about the same time Ga-yeong finished sorting.
"Tae-sik, put this one on top of that, then line these two up."
"Step outside for a moment. I'll do it."
Following Ga-yeong's instructions, I loosened the bolts and assembled the rack to fit the ceiling height.
Then I brought in the newly acquired rack, and the spacious living room became almost completely full.
With every piece of furniture except the air conditioner removed, the storage apartment no longer felt like a home.
I helped Ga-yeong organize the stored supplies back onto the racks, and quite a few spare shelves remained.
Working like an ant made me want to fill every remaining shelf.
"We're done!"
"Yeah, you worked hard too, Ga-yeong. Tired?"
"No, I'm fine! Actually, I feel relieved. It had been bothering me for a while. Everything looks much neater now."
"It was already well-organized to begin with, but still, the space efficiency has definitely improved a bit."
"Right? Your help made this so much easier, Tae-sik. I could never have done it alone."
"All this work makes me want to order delivery. Not that delivery exists anymore..."
"Tell me about it... We have naengmyeon broth. Want naengmyeon for lunch?"
"Let's do that. What should we do about Seon-yeong, though? I wonder if she can eat naengmyeon."
"Seon-yeong should have porridge. The naengmyeon is practically a meal kit, so it won't take long. Come on, Tae-sik. I'm hungry."
By the time we finished organizing and cleaning the storage unit, lunchtime had almost arrived.
We had gone outside as well, and the neatly organized living room made the busy morning feel worthwhile.
I stood admiring it until a hungry Ga-yeong urged me back home for lunch.
#
When we got back, Seon-yeong was in the kitchen getting lunch ready. Had she rested a bit in the morning and started feeling better?
"Seon-yeong! What are you doing? I'll take care of it."
"No, I kept lying down and got stiff, so I wanted to move a little. Let me make the meal—rest for a moment."
"Seon-yeong, how are you feeling? Do you seem better?"
"Mm... way better than before dawn. But still a little weak, I guess? Anyway, what have you two been up to?"
"After you fell asleep this morning, I took Ga-yeong out. We went to the convenience store where Min-su is, grabbed a display rack, and spent the whole morning organizing the storage unit."
"Oh! Ga-yeong, how was it going outside?"
"Ugh... at first, I was so scared..."
Thanks to Seon-yeong already preparing lunch, it looked like the naengmyeon would have to wait for another opportunity.
While I was checking on Seon-yeong's condition, Ga-yeong had already washed her hands and stuck herself right next to Seon-yeong.
Standing side by side as they prepared lunch, they fell into conversation.
Today, Ga-yeong, who had been outside, was doing almost all the talking.
She seemed ready to recount every moment of the trip, from leaving the apartment to coming home.
Seon-yeong listened with what looked almost like a maternal smile.
There was an eight-year age gap between them, but because Ga-yeong was small, she often seemed much younger than she was.
Seon-yeong also looked young for her age, so at a glance they could have been sisters only a few years apart.
"Oh really? You had it rough, didn't you? I should go see it after lunch. So those racks could be assembled together?"
"Yeah, yeah. I wanted to do it that way from the start, and Tae-sik told me to make all the decisions, hehe. So I took care of it."
"Good job. I thought you'd be resting, but you both worked too hard. You must be hungry—let's eat quickly."
After the meal prep was done, the three of us sat down together and ate lunch.
Even though Ga-yeong had only been outside briefly, she seemed to have an endless supply of things to say.
I ate while listening to their now-familiar chatter...
No. To be honest, sometimes I still felt as though my ears might bleed.
I wondered if a day would ever come when I actually got used to it.