Aftermath (5)
The chaotic night of revelations had passed, and a new morning began.
From early on, the sounds of people coming and going, materials being hauled about, and the heartbreaking voices of those searching for lost family members pulled me from sleep.
Yeonseo was still deep in dreamland, breathing soft and even, and in that quiet window I hurried to the washbasin. I showered, rinsing away what little drowsiness remained, then stepped out past the curtain—
Hyeonseok was cooking.
Up this early and cooking on top of it? What a capable guy, huh?
"Morning. Sleep well?"
"Yeah. You're already hard at work, Hyeonseok. Making breakfast already?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I was the first one up anyway, so I was just making enough for myself. If you want some too, Charlotte, just say the word and I'll whip some up."
"Then I'll take you up on that."
With practiced hands, Hyeonseok used the remaining ingredients to put together a simple fried rice and set it down in front of me.
"Oh! Looks delicious. Thanks! Digging in!"
"Don't mention it."
The fried rice he'd made was pretty good. Of course, stir-frying ingredients and tossing in rice could hardly turn out bad no matter how poorly you cooked it—but somehow his tasted even better, and I found myself smiling without meaning to.
Afterward I insisted on doing the dishes in exchange for the free meal. Hyeonseok said it was fine, but wasn't this the least I could do?
"Ah, once I finish this, I'm heading over to see the uncles. I should tell them about those pills from yesterday."
"That makes sense. Then I'll wait until Yeonseo wakes up, and once she does, I'll go help the others. Look after her for me while I'm gone, okay? She won't try to go outside anyway."
"Got it. Not sure when I'll be back, but leave it to me."
I pulled on a fresh hoodie and shorts and headed quickly toward the uncles.
I figured the uncles would be at the Community Hall at the center of the settlement—everyone called it that, so I'd started calling it that too—and as I made my way over, the atmosphere around me was rather dark.
Probably because of those heartbreaking cries I'd been hearing since morning.
Most of them were people I'd seen once in the shantytown. For them, yesterday must have been hell. The people around them had suddenly transformed like that—the shock alone would have been devastating. And right after, the attack had begun, so they hadn't even had time to properly grieve. But now that the crisis was resolved, they finally had time to mourn.
Thinking that, I slowly looked around, and somehow a wave of guilt washed over me.
I'd drawn my sword to protect them when those people turned into monsters, but looking at it another way… I'd killed people who, until moments before, had been their family, right before their eyes.
I wondered whether they resented me for moving without a single flicker of emotion—or whether they were grateful, thinking I'd freed those people.
Standing still in place, I clenched both hands white-knuckled inside the front pocket of my hoodie, etching the scene before me into my heart—when a voice called "Unnie!!" from beside me. I turned my head to find Ara waving and coming toward me.
Because of that, a few of the people nearby started looking at me, and I found myself lowering my head under their gazes.
I'd believed what I'd done was right, but after talking with Hyeonseok my thoughts had shifted a little—and their stares felt heavy enough that I kept my head down.
"Unnie! Did you sleep well?"
"Ah, yeah. You? How's your body feeling?"
"Thanks to you healing me, I'm good as new! Ah! Though the shoulder Uncle Dusik grabbed still hurts a little, haha. More importantly, why do you look like that?"
"Huh? What about my face?"
"Hmm, you look dark—like someone who's done something wrong."
"Ah, no. I was just looking around and feeling sorry that I couldn't properly protect these people."
At that, Ara patted my back.
"Come on, Unnie! Everyone's grateful to you! Who would hate someone who protected them like that? So stop worrying and walk with your back straight!"
"Oh? Okay. More importantly, why are you here?"
"I was just helping some people out when I spotted you. What about you?"
"I was on my way to see your dad—Uncle Hancheol—and Uncle Dusik. You know those pills from yesterday? I need to talk to them about that."
At the mention of the pills, Ara wrapped her right hand around her left wrist, trying to hide the slight tremor in her body from me.
"Sorry. That must have been a hard thing to remember."
"It's okay. If it weren't for you, Unnie, I wouldn't even be standing here right now. Anyway, let's go together. I was planning to head back anyway."
Talking with Ara, I learned quite a bit about the Mokdong Settlement—why they'd built it around the stadium, how people divided up the work, and their plans for expansion going forward.
As we talked, we arrived at the office where I could hear the uncles' voices.
I knocked and entered the office to find a stranger talking with the uncles.
"Then we'll take him with us. You've suffered serious damage, so thank you for cooperating like this. As compensation, we'll send supplies for reconstruction. We'll be on our way."
The man was wearing a rather neat black suit and black sunglasses, even in times like these.
He left right away, so I couldn't talk further, but the uncles explained who he was when they saw me.
He was from the Blue House Settlement's management division, as the uncles had mentioned before. Currently, devices could run radios and websites, but functions like phone calls hadn't been unlocked yet—so if you posted on a site, they would respond quickly and come over.
Anyway, he'd raced through the night to take Han Jin-o, who might hold important information.
"So those people are taking him now?"
I said it while watching them through the window—binding Han Jin-o, locking him in an iron cage, and leading him away on a cart.
"Yeah. Getting him out of here fast is better for them and for us. So, Charlotte, what was it you wanted to say?"
Uncle Hancheol asked, sipping warm tea, while Uncle Dusik sat on the sofa with an expression that said he didn't want to think about Han Jin-o, looking at me alongside Ara.
"Well, having Ara here will make this easier. First, when I went to rescue Ara…"
I described the behavior of those guys I'd seen when I went to save her, showed them the pill that had been placed in front of her, and explained the anomaly that had occurred at the settlement along with why those attackers had become so powerful during the raid.
Uncle Hancheol soon pressed his right hand to his brow and began sighing, while Uncle Dusik stroked his rough beard and tapped the desk as if he'd just heard some very serious news.
Ara, given what she'd been through, looked like she didn't want to stay any longer and left, saying she'd go help the aunties.
"So I'm planning to go to the Blue House side and tell them about this too. But since I don't have any connections with those people, I was thinking of first going with Yeonseo and Hyeonseok to the settlement where those two live."
"Hmm, this is serious enough that you could go straight to the Blue House."
Uncle Dusik said it would be better to head straight to the Blue House Settlement, adding that if he'd known, he would have stopped that management guy earlier—
"But without knowing anyone, there's no guarantee they'd believe us, right? That's why I wanted to talk to people at the Garam Settlement, where we have some connection."
"You don't need to worry about that. Do you remember the person I mentioned before—Yu Jiseong?"
Yu Jiseong—wasn't he the first person to conquer a tower, and currently a high-ranking figure at the Blue House Settlement because of that achievement?
"Yes, but what about him?"
"Actually, I'm a bit close with that guy. Well, not close exactly—more like he was a regular customer of mine."
"Sorry? What do you mean…?"
"Ah, Dusik here used to run a chicken restaurant. A pretty successful one, too."
"How far back are you going, hyung? Haha! Anyway, so I have a connection with him and we keep in touch occasionally. I'll give him a heads-up in advance, so… Charlotte…?"
Listening to the uncle's story, I gradually started remembering where I'd heard the name Yu Jiseong.
"Ah! Yes. So you'll contact him ahead of time and arrange a meeting for us? Got it."
"Right. It's a bit of a shame you're leaving, but given how serious this is, going is the right call."
"Ah, but we'll stay here about a week. I heard you're checking out the situation around Paris Park, so I'll come along."
Uncle Hancheol's face lit up at the news that we'd stay about a week, and he thanked us.
"We'd be grateful for that. We're thinking of expanding the settlement from that park out to the mountain where the tower was. There are quite a few buildings around there, so gathering resources should be easier. Looking at the current situation, the shantytown alone won't cut it."
"Yes, understood. Then I'll head back."
"Alright. Let us know if you need anything."
Uncle Hancheol then started working through the documents on his desk, and after asking Uncle Dusik for a moment of his time, I left the office with him and headed to the break room.
"So, what did you want to tell me, Charlotte?"
"I wanted to thank you for letting us rest so comfortably. And I brought this—I thought you might need it."
I handed the photo from my pocket to the uncle.
Looking at the photo, tears gradually welled in his eyes.
"This… photo… Yes, so this was still here. Thank you."
"Not at all. If anything, I should apologize for us using a place filled with such memories."
"It's fine. Without you all, I'd just keep managing it myself, so no need to feel sorry."
"That's a relief, then. I'll really be going now."
"Alright. Take care on your way."
After that, I heard a muffled sound of someone holding back sobs from the break room, so I quietly closed the door, left the Community Hall behind, and headed toward the camper.
More than that—Yu Jiseong… I'd been wondering where I'd heard that name, and it was my older brother's name.
Having spent so long in another world, my memories of my family seemed to have gradually faded.
It wasn't that I couldn't remember their faces or names—most of the shared memories had disappeared, so recalling them was a little difficult.
Ah, but I do remember one thing. That's probably why I remembered my brother's name first.
Yu Jiseong—my brother used to buy chicken all the time.
And chicken isn't exactly cheap, is it? If anything, it's expensive.
But my brother would always take money from my wallet while I was sleeping, eat the chicken by himself, and then play dumb—he was a total little puppy.
If the Yu Jiseong that uncle knows really is my brother…
First thing when we meet, I need to punch him once to feel better!