Chapter 149: Side Story - Bunker (7)
Chapter 149: Side Story - Bunker (7)
The first thing I thought as I soaked myself in the bathtub, stripped bare, was that the tub was holding water much better than expected.
It helped that I’d only just finished assembling it and filling it up.
The water temperature was holding steady at a nice level.
Since it was made of a flexible material, it didn't feel unstable even when two people climbed in and caused it to wobble. The material itself seemed to have some sort of insulating property that kept the heat consistent.
It wasn't bad. I’d been a bit skeptical since it was a folding tub.
The thought crossed my mind that this was actually quite decent. As I submerged myself fully, the water sloshed over the sides.
"Haaaa..."
A sound escaped my lips involuntarily. But I wasn't the only one making noise. When I slowly opened my eyes and glanced over, I saw Kang Yu-min.
My older sister was submerged up to her neck, letting out a long, deep sigh.
"Hwaaaaa..."
"Stop moaning. Are you a pervert?"
"Ugh, stop nagging me..."
With an exclamation that sounded like a moan to anyone else and an expression of pure, melted bliss, Kang Yu-min enjoyed her half-body bath. It was the first time she’d smiled like that since we entered the bunker.
"Seriously, is it that good?"
"Hmm? Mmm-hmm... Of course it is. We’ve done nothing but take showers... Haa."
I thought she was being a bit much, but I could understand to some extent.
Showers. They were our only means of washing, and I hadn't dared complain because I was grateful we even had that.
But every now and then, I did miss a good soak.
I wasn't even asking for a sauna...
I just wanted to submerge my body in water. In fact, considering the overwhelming lack of stimulation in this bunker, I should have been grateful for any sensation at all.
Once you’ve tasted a certain comfort, it’s hard to let it go. Knowing I’d likely be coming back to this tub regularly, I grumbled anyway.
"I don't really get it. Washing is just washing..."
"Ugh, whatever... Don't ruin the mood..."
It was a little funny seeing her try to act annoyed while looking so drowsy and relaxed.
I let out a small, mocking smirk before leaning my back against the wall of the tub.
"Whoa, whoa..."
I felt a slight creak and quickly straightened my back. It didn't seem sturdy enough to fully lean my weight against.
Tsk. If they were going to give us something, they could've given us something solid. As I clicked my tongue, Kang Yu-min tried to find her balance in the wobbling tub and looked at me with a hint of tension in her eyes.
"Hey..."
"What."
"Come closer."
When I looked at her with disgust, she seemed to realize what she’d just said a second too late. She had a brief "oops" expression before lightly raising a fist.
Thump. The punch she landed was weak. Weak, but still.
"Ow."
"Who said anything? I’m just saying don't lean on the back because the tub is unstable..."
"Then you should've said that. You're the one who phrased it weirdly."
"You little..."
"Fine, I'm coming closer. Just so you know, I'm suing if we touch."
Kang Yu-min let out a faint laugh at my words.
"Is there even a police station or a cop left to report me to?"
"Well, there’s probably at least one left somewhere."
"Yeah, right."
Laughing, Yu-min scooted her butt toward me, and I moved a bit closer as well.
The tub was cylindrical, feeling similar to the drum-can baths I’d seen in movies or manga.
So, even if it seemed spacious when leaning against the outer rim, it felt quite cramped once we were close together.
Perhaps that was why I could feel Kang Yu-min’s soles, knees, and legs brushing against mine.
I felt her smooth, hairless legs, her long feet—quite large for a woman—and her firm knees that had a strangely nice skin texture.
If I glanced up, I’d probably see other things, but you don't look at family like that. I just sniffed the air indifferently.
"Smells like plastic."
"Maybe because we just unpacked it?"
"Probably. Or who knows? Maybe it’s the kind of plastic that sheds as you use it. You know, microplastics."
"Do microplastics even smell like plastic?"
"Uh..."
Good point. Since I couldn't answer, I stayed silent. Kang Yu-min watched me for a moment before shrugging.
Even though our faces were close and our bodies were near, we remained nonchalant. We’d called each other perverts when the idea of a mixed bath first came up.
But in reality, Kang Yu-min and I were family; we’d spent a long time as bickering siblings.
It meant that, at this point, we weren't flustered or embarrassed by each other's nakedness or bathing together.
...Though I had no idea what the entity giving these instructions was trying to achieve by ordering this.
I’d initially refused because it felt suspicious, but it also meant there was no real issue with actually carrying it out.
I sat in the tub with Kang Yu-min and enjoyed the warm water for a while.
In fact, I took it a step further.
"Hey."
"Is that any way to address your sister?"
"Should I turn the water back on?"
"Oh, that’d be great."
There’s something about water hitting the top of your head that feels surprisingly refreshing.
It makes it hard to see or hear, but still.
It offers a different kind of sensation. Considering how much time humans spend just standing blankly under the stream during a shower, there was no arguing with the appeal.
I slowly stood up and twisted the faucet. Kang Yu-min giggled.
"Ah, what? Aren't you going to put that dirty thing away?"
"Dirty? This is cleaner than your face."
"Bullshit. Seriously."
I lightly ignored the giggling Yu-min and turned the water on. As if it had been waiting, water sprayed out from the showerhead attached to the ceiling.
It would have taken forever to fill the tub this way, but for a tub that was already full, it was perfect.
It could reheat the cooling water, and the sensation of water hitting my head felt fulfilling.
Above all, it was a decent form of entertainment.
Kang Yu-min and I sat in the tub in silence, letting the water hit us. The water overflowed from the tub, soaking the floor, but it kept pouring down.
No one was going to complain about the water bill, and there was no mother to scold us for using too much.
It was just the two of us, me and Kang Yu-min.
...It felt a little depressing for some reason, but still. Whatever.
This part was nice. As I bathed with Kang Yu-min, I realized a bit late that I had been smiling quite a lot myself.
After the bath was over, and while our hands and feet were all wrinkled and pruned.
I drained the tub, flipped it over to set it down, and stepped out of the space that had become our shower-slash-bathroom.
I was naked since I didn't have any fresh clothes.
But so what? We were family, we’d already seen plenty of each other’s naked bodies, and there was nothing new to see at this point.
Feeling a sense of liberation, I hung up the clothes I’d hand-washed and stepped out.
Kang Yu-min was there.
Just like me, she hadn't been able to pack clothes when we rushed to the bunker, so she only had one outfit. She was naked, too.
"Oh, hey. You're just in time. Here—"
Before she could even finish her sentence, I walked up and smacked her butt with a loud thwack. Kang Yu-min let out a startled "Hee-it!" and hurriedly spun around.
"Wh-what! You crazy pervert!"
"What? You were asking for it."
"Wh-what?! When did I?!"
"If you're sticking that big butt out like that, you're basically asking to be hit. No?"
"You crazy pervert..."
"Uh-huh, you better watch your mouth before I become a 'crazy domestic abuser.'"
When I gave her that warning with a click of my tongue, Kang Yu-min let out a hollow laugh as if she couldn't believe me, all while rubbing her backside.
For some reason, the red mark in the shape of my palm was strangely satisfying to look at, but it must have been quite painful because she didn't stop rubbing it.
What a drama queen.
Snorting, I draped a towel around my neck and stood beside her, looking around.
"So, what are you doing?"
"I was trying to tell you, but then you..."
"Yeah, yeah. So what were you doing? Why was I 'just in time'?"
Kang Yu-min narrowed her eyes and pouted for a moment before gesturing with her chin.
What could it be? It was only then that I remembered I’d forgotten something, and I was able to confirm it with my own eyes.
There was chicken.
"...Huh?"
There was no smell. The packaging was so high-quality that not a single scent was leaking out.
And yet, I could tell instantly that it was chicken...
The chicken was contained in a transparent, otherworldly container.
It was a box that looked like transparent glass, almost like a hallucination or a high-end graphic. Inside, a familiar logo and advertising slogans were ostentatiously displayed alongside a piece of chicken peeking out.
The memory finally came flooding back. The archived Directive, and the reason we had encountered these strange instructions in the first place.
I hurriedly turned around, leaving wet footprints as I rushed to the terminal. I wiped my hands roughly on my towel and tapped at the keyboard.
[Archived Directive]
[Goal: Joint half-body bath for Resident Kang Yu-jin and Resident Kang Yu-min (60) minutes]
[Reward: (2) boxes of Fried Chicken]
[Status: 60/60]
The screen announced that we had fulfilled the Directive without even realizing it. We’d just happened to use the tub since I’d made it.
The Directive had faithfully granted us two boxes of chicken.
And while I thought it would drop right in front of us like the cola or the tub.
It seemed that wasn't the case.
I blinked blankly at the terminal, then listened to the voice coming from behind me.
"Hey."
"...Yeah, yeah."
"You're gonna eat, right?"
I was bewildered. I mean, of course I was going to eat it, but...
The fact that I was about to eat chicken gave me an indescribable sense of emotion.
Chicken?
At a time like this?
While I was moved, I was also dazed. I slowly turned my head to see Kang Yu-min already sitting on a towel she’d spread out. Shivering slightly against the cold concrete floor, she was already tearing into the chicken packaging.
I soon swallowed hard as a powerful aroma teased my nostrils.
"Good thing there are two boxes. We can each have two legs and two wings."
"Yeah, yeah. Right."
"Then what are you doing? Go grab some cola. Let's eat."
Looking at Kang Yu-min, who was grinning for once, I actually did as she said.
I felt a bit uneasy for some reason.
But soon, sitting across from each other in the nude, we siblings began to eat the chicken.