103. A Moment's Respite (1)
After taking down the ninth remnant, I returned to base. That afternoon, I talked with Jeong Suhyun and the others about what had happened in the City of the Dead—the fog-shrouded nightmare—and then crawled into bed. The next morning came.
Clink. Thud. I set the glass cup on the table. Glancing at the ice inside, I turned my head toward the exercise yard.
Unlike yesterday, the sunlight blazed bright and clear.
"!!!!!!"
"!!!!!!"
The base residents were gathered in one spot, jogging laps around the yard. Part exercise, part roll call... it had become their daily routine now. Soon they'd head off for breakfast. A few were missing—probably off on other duties. Made sense; they had to eat, stand guard, all that.
They're handling it well.
Jeong Suhyun and Kim Jungshik were up front leading the stretches, guiding everyone smoothly.
...Honestly, it was weird having some crisis pop up every damn day.
Clink. I spun the glass around once.
As long as no unavoidable bullshit happened—like someone swapping out on us like last time—we'd be fine.
Yoo Soyeon's got that radar ability, but...
If she got hit, it was useless. Jeong Suhyun's power hadn't worked on the ninth remnant, and that had stung.
Haa...
Still, the base had stayed quiet so far. Sure, we'd dealt with black fog hordes, Liberation Army raiders, faceless ones—shit kept piling up, which was the real anomaly.
It's like the calm before the storm.
I looked across the table at the woman sitting there, watching me silently.
"...Boss?"
"...Yunjin."
Kim Yunjin stared back. I opened my mouth.
"...Why are you here?"
She tilted her head and yawned.
"......Can't I be?"
"...That's not it."
I spun an Ash Spirit in a loop outside me, gazing down at her calmly. The second woman I'd met in this ruined world after Jeong Suhyun.
"...What about breakfast?"
"Seoyul and Soyeon are handling it."
"...Aren't they tired?"
"Eh, they don't have much else to do. Soyeon's a crap cook, sure, but better than sitting around zoning out."
True enough. Even if smartphones worked, no internet.
"What about Yuri?"
"Yuri? She's with Dojin..."
Kim Yunjin made a circle with her thumb and index finger, then poked it back and forth with her other index finger.
No.
"...What the hell are you doing?"
"What else? When you've got nothing to do, you do that."
That wasn't my question. I sighed.
Kim Yunjin. Ever since that hammer to the back from Hwang Jinseok, her personality had gotten even weirder. Or maybe it was always like this.
Probably hanging with Suhyun's rubbing off on her.
Who knew.
"...What about everyone else?"
"...No clue. Soyeon's radar doesn't catch that stuff. Saw those two heading upstairs hand-in-hand last night, though. Obvious."
Yoo Soyeon's radar, huh. Then she'd know. More importantly...
Suhyun might not, but the deputy would know everything going on inside base.
Yoo Soyeon's radar surveillance. Lee Yoon's waves and eyesight. They'd spot anything inside the walls. But they'd pretend not to notice.
"Anyway, you eating?"
Kim Yunjin asked as I mulled it over. Breakfast. It was past 7:30 now.
But I shook my head.
"Gonna grab some fruit here."
No appetite.
"...Why? Come eat."
"Nah. Feels like they get uncomfortable with me around."
"Uncomfortable my ass. The crazy fucks are the uncomfortable ones."
Her language roughened. I sighed. We'd been over this before.
Maybe switch up the repertoire.
"...Just saying."
"Still. Like I said before..."
Kim Yunjin started rambling. I cut her off.
"Got it, Yunjin. But I'm skipping breakfast today."
"Why?"
"Just am."
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
Truth was, beyond making folks uncomfortable, there were other reasons. Mainly...
After killing the ninth remnant and clearing the fog, I still had a ton to think about.
Seol Minyoung and Seol Juyeong's siblings hadn't shown yet. Yuseong University's humanities camp. The Liberation Army. Those people I'd seen inside Southdong Office. The Savior from the City of the Dead.
And moving for family reunions... and the reunions themselves.
Haa.
A sigh slipped out naturally. My head was clogged right now. I planned to drop everything and rest for a few days, but mulling these issues killed my appetite every time.
Probably dropped a bunch of weight already.
Still gotta eat.
But after skipping dinner last night, I was hungry too. Maybe tagging along with Yunjin today wouldn't be so bad.
"Well then..."
I started to speak to her—
Mm.
Something soft touched my lips. Peach scent followed.
I froze stiff. Processed the situation.
...What the fuck?
"....?"
"......"
I opened my eyes. Kim Yunjin stared back calmly.
I wiped my lips with my finger without thinking.
This.
She's lost it.
No warning, straight to kissing now? I stared at her.
She spoke in her usual cool tone, measured.
"...There. Breakfast done."
"No."
Then Kim Yunjin grinned like an idiot and headed out.
I gawked after her, but she didn't look back.
"Aw, embarrassing."
Just spouted nonsense as she walked.
Haa...
Another sigh. I leaned back in the chair again, eyes closing.
In this ruined world, the sunlight at Gaeseong High School felt warm.
I woke at noon. Lunchtime had already passed.
"That's how we're running things."
"...Looks good."
I flipped through the binder Jeong Suhyun handed me, scanning status windows, personal info, and base operations.
"...But Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena aren't on night watch?"
"Ah, yeah. They're doing six-hour shifts as backup."
"Why?"
"They just joined yesterday."
Jeong Suhyun yawned.
"Plus, their abilities are iffy for it. Lee Yoon handles nights anyway, so they're assisting me during the day."
"...What if you doze off?"
"That's fine. Both can use their powers at night anyway."
I nodded. That worked.
"...Any other issues?"
I asked more. Quick-witted Jeong Suhyun sighed and shook his head.
"...Nothing major."
"So there are some."
"...Yeah. Kinda awkward to say."
He slurped his coffee and picked up his rifle.
"Folks don't wanna use guns."
"Why?"
Didn't make sense. But his explanation clicked immediately.
"If someone swaps like last time, we're all dead."
"......"
"So, only in my... well, the duty room." He pointed at the on-duty office. "Room 408. Like that one by the window."
He gestured to the rifle there.
"If shit hits, we'll distribute them. To Kim Jungshik and other trusted guys. Any ideas, Junyoung?"
"Nope."
Even I couldn't think of better.
They're on it.
I asked again.
"Anything else?"
"Else... hmm."
Jeong Suhyun rubbed his chin.
"Daily necessities are running low. Some are even talking about scavenging outside."
"...Ridiculous."
"Exactly. Contradictory as hell. Honestly, I'm grateful infrastructure hasn't collapsed."
Daily goods. We'd touched on this when Kim Yunjin confessed before.
Need to handle this somehow.
Shelter, clothing, food. Sort of. Had to solve it.
"I'll talk to them nicely. Some discomfort's okay, but..."
"No."
I cut him off.
"Let's schedule a group run to a mart or something."
"...A mart?"
"Yeah."
My current state wasn't great for solo outings. I'd seen too much horror lately.
Acting fine so far, but...
No mental breakdown or anything. Just sage mode after all the blood, guts, malice, monsters, and freakish lifeforms.
So a group outing would be good.
"Leave Lee Yoon, Jeong Yena, and a few trusted folks. We'll go."
"When?"
"...Hmm..."
When. Best to go when decided.
"Announce at afternoon roll call. Go tomorrow afternoon."
"Solid plan. We'll do that."
Jeong Suhyun nodded.
"Next up..."
We discussed food, watches a bit more, then wrapped up.
......
......
"That's it?"
"Yeah. This covers it. Nothing else to ask."
"...Isn't that everything?"
True. We'd hit all major base issues.
But.
"If I dig into every little thing, it'd be interpersonal stuff too..."
"No."
Jeong Suhyun cut me off, shaking his head.
"...We'll handle that. If you step in, they'll just dump everything on you later."
"Fair. I trust you and Kim Jungshik for that."
Once I dove in, I'd see it through—my limit was here. Mess up relationships, and it'd breed discord, dumping every problem on me later.
"Haa. Got it. Now... picking the mart location."
"Location."
Hmm. I pondered.
Southdong's lawless. South Office has Liberation remnants—risky. Can't go back to Northdong either.
Then an old memory hit.
Perfect.
No raids, no Liberation Army, low chance of ninth remnant.
"Isn't there that place? Where we killed Bae Sungkwan."
Northdong old downtown. Near Northdong Station, second remnant infested.
But.
"....No way. Not there. Can't."
Jeong Suhyun freaked.
Made sense; the visuals were nasty.
Still.
"Why not? Safest spot. Second remnant pings on detection—we avoid it, no problem."
"No."
"Plus, small group of five, spread out—no issue."
"Tch... true, but..."
Nothing else fit. No gunfire, no seventh or ninth remnants, no other survivors.
"Plan for it. Tell everyone at dinner."
"Got it. Numbers?"
"I'll say at dinner. Or chat with me later."
"...Dinner it is."
"Yeah."