Good Cop, Bad Cop
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Washing someone else's body without proper equipment was more strenuous than I'd expected.
It took over an hour.
Every time she touched cold water, she threw a fit like some kind of cat, which slowed things down considerably.
I understood, though.
She'd been beaten relentlessly, so her whole body was covered in bruises—even the slightest stimulation must have been excruciating.
Once we'd gotten roughly cleaned up, we started walking again.
We moved along the train line.
Seoul's subway was like an ant colony—haphazardly intertwined and leading everywhere—so for safety and efficiency, it was the best route.
It would take a while, but we could just stop at other stations along the way to rest.
"Hey, Hui-ryeong. Where did you say Hansarang Apartment is?"
"Dobong-gu. We were just at Hoegi Station, so it's not as far as you'd think."
Assuming, of course, we were actually riding a train.
If we walked the entire way along the tracks, it'd take forever.
Given the current state of things—we could barely see a living soul, let alone operate a train—I'd generously estimate three days. No, maybe a week?
"Maybe I should've driven us a little closer."
It really would've been nice if the way toward Nowon-gu hadn't been blocked.
Then again, if it hadn't been blocked, I never would've met Ha-yoon. Should I call that a stroke of luck?
With those thoughts rattling around, I followed behind Ha Hui-ryeong as she led the way.
Our formation was: vanguard, Ha Hui-ryeong. Lieutenant, me. Rear guard, Kim Ha-yoon, in that order.
Now that we had a convenient pack mule, both our footsteps felt lighter.
Not that the pack mule in the back would share the sentiment.
"Hey, Ha-yoon. You doing okay?"
"...I'm fine."
When I glanced back and spoke to her, Kim Ha-yoon averted her gaze and answered quietly.
Even carrying two people's worth of luggage on her shoulders, she tried not to show any sign of strain.
Having once talked back and received a merciless slap from Hui-ryeong for it,
she'd become passive and obedient to an almost excessive degree.
Like a neurotic chihuahua turned into a cowering rescue dog, I suppose.
That wasn't entirely a bad thing either.
"Just say something if it gets tough. We'll stop and rest."
"...Okay."
I tried my best to play the nice guy, but she was still very much on guard.
Well, of course she was.
No matter how warmly I treated her, right now I was nothing more than a rapist in her eyes.
But it didn't matter.
Building affinity could be done slowly.
We had more than enough time.
"Can you walk a bit faster?"
Just as I was lost in thought, Ha Hui-ryeong turned her head and snapped at me in a prickly tone.
Judging by how blatantly displeased she looked, she didn't like me chatting with Kim Ha-yoon.
This pattern had repeated itself a few times already.
Whenever my attention shifted even slightly to Kim Ha-yoon, she'd check me like this.
As if Kim Ha-yoon's mere existence was an irritation she couldn't tolerate.
For me, the whole situation was beyond awkward.
It wasn't like I was hoping they'd become best friends.
I just wished they could coexist without openly clashing, since we'd be moving together from now on.
'There she goes glaring again. The girl's already beaten down enough as it is.'
But our dear Hui-ryeong seemed to have absolutely no intention of playing nice.
I could only sigh over that fact.
I shrugged lightly and answered.
"Cut me some slack. If we speed up any more here, I'll collapse."
"For fuck's sake, you premature-ejaculation bastard. Should've worked out more."
"It's not easy to exercise when you're pulling night shifts as an editor, you know? My whole body aches when I get off work."
"Then start doing it now."
"Do I even need to? I work out hard every night."
"What?"
She looked puzzled for a moment, chewing over my words, then caught the meaning and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Ugh, you're seriously a perverted bastard. Is that the only thing in your head?"
"A man's brain is 80 percent sex and 20 percent other miscellaneous crap. So by that standard, I'm perfectly normal."
"...You're even more of a dumbass because you're so shameless about it."
Though she said that, she let out a small chuckle, so she wasn't entirely displeased.
Thinking back, she secretly enjoyed this kind of pointless chatter.
Cheap, empty talk like this.
"But not tonight. I'm tired."
"I wasn't planning on it either. Even if we did, I wouldn't do it in a place like this. Maybe if we reach the next station."
This place was cold, damp, and dark.
On top of that, dust was piled up everywhere, so doing anything here would be terrible for hygiene.
"I'll save it up and wreck you later all at once."
"Who says I'd let you? You're just assuming I'm all yours, huh?"
"What, why are you being like that? You enjoy it too."
"Spouting that greasy crap with your own mouth. If you act like that in front of my mom, you're dead."
"Of course I'll be polite in front of my mother-in-law. I have some sense of decency."
"Hah, that damn 'mother-in-law' again. Do you seriously want to get hit?"
As I snickered, Ha Hui-ryeong let out a short sigh.
The atmosphere, which had been thoroughly deflated, improved noticeably with our back-and-forth.
Of course, there was one member of our party left out of it, but I didn't bother paying attention to her.
She probably didn't want my attention anyway.
We walked on for a long while, chatting about trivial things like that.
"Hahh... Hahh..."
Labored breathing came from behind.
It was Kim Ha-yoon.
I'd vaguely suspected it when the gap between us started widening, but it seemed her stamina had genuinely hit its limit.
"Hey, Hui-ryeong. Let's rest here for now. Actually, since it's late, let's just get some sleep and move on."
"Shall we?"
Rarely, Ha Hui-ryeong gave a positive response.
That told me something.
She hadn't shown it, but she was also considerably exhausted.
Then again, she'd personally handled zombie cleanup in the afternoon,
and anyone who'd walked for two hours straight without feeling fatigue wouldn't be human.
"If we're sleeping, right here?"
"We'll have to sleep here. There's no other option."
"Wow, I've never slept rough before. And spending a night in a gloomy underground place like this is so..."
"Exciting?"
"As if."
Yeah, I figured.
Even I, the one who suggested it, wasn't too keen on the idea.
I clicked my tongue bitterly.
Ha Hui-ryeong let out a groan and scratched her head.
"Still, if we walk for about another hour, I think we'll reach the next station..."
"That's true. But you never know. There might be zombies or other weirdos around."
"Hmm."
At that, Ha Hui-ryeong pondered for a moment.
"Fine. Let's sleep here tonight and move on."
Then she nodded in agreement.
She was reluctant to sleep rough in a cold, stuffy place,
but after careful consideration, she'd accepted this was the best option, since no other solution came to mind right now.
There was no disagreement that we needed to conserve our stamina in case of an emergency.
That was when Ha Hui-ryeong casually tossed a remark at Kim Ha-yoon, whom she'd been consistently ignoring.
"Hey, give me the bag."
"Ah, yes!"
At that, Kim Ha-yoon flinched in surprise and scurried over, handing over the bag she had slung on her shoulder.
Even while doing so, she was so tense she couldn't meet Hui-ryeong's eyes.
"You heard us talking earlier. We're sleeping rough here. Find yourself a spot and sleep too."
"...Yes, unnie."
Waving her hand as if shooing away a pesky fly, Ha Hui-ryeong prompted Kim Ha-yoon—who wore a sullen expression but obediently nodded.
Looking at her like this, she was pitiful.
How regrettable. Truly regrettable.
As I swallowed my pity inwardly, Ha Hui-ryeong tapped me on the shoulder.
"Don't pay attention to her."
How could I not?
She was trembling violently right now, whether from cold or fear.
"You said we're sleeping. Come here already."
Even having read my inner thoughts, Ha Hui-ryeong paid no mind whatsoever.
She tossed her backpack against the edge of the wall and buried her back against it.
Tap. Tap.
Then came the insistent hand gestures.
Her scolding gaze pierced me, demanding to know what the hell I was doing not coming over.
I let out a sigh deep enough to crack the ground.
"Haaaah... Fine. But before we sleep, let's decide on the watch shifts."
"Watch shifts? Why?"
"What do you mean, why? This place is wide open on all sides. If we all just pass out thoughtlessly, it's game over."
Maybe she thought I had a point, because Ha Hui-ryeong nodded readily.
I plopped down beside her and continued.
"How about we rotate three-hour shifts among the three of us?"
"Not bad. But she does five hours."
...What a vicious bitch.
Did she really have zero sense of kinship or solidarity with another woman?
Even I thought Ha Hui-ryeong's attitude toward Kim Ha-yoon was excessively harsh.
Though, given that I was the one who took the girl's virginity on a whim, maybe I wasn't one to talk.
"M-me alone?"
Kim Ha-yoon seemed quite flustered by the sudden declaration that she'd be stuck with the bulk of the duty.
But regardless, Ha Hui-ryeong answered firmly.
"What, you have a complaint?"
"Ah, no... Even so, five hours all by myself is a bit..."
"...."
"...No. I'll do it, unnie."
The protest she'd mustered the courage to voice shriveled up the moment Ha Hui-ryeong's eyes lit up with anger.
Hmm. I didn't like this.
Watching silently, it almost felt like that girl was acting more like the master than I was.
No, in reality, Kim Ha-yoon seemed more afraid of Ha Hui-ryeong than of me.
Should I switch up my strategy?
Rather than being relentlessly harsh, it seemed like a decent idea to occasionally offer a carrot.
Right. The so-called Good Cop, Bad Cop tactic.
Efficiency suffers if it's all pressure all the time.
Since things had turned out this way, I figured I could leave the whip-cracking role to Ha Hui-ryeong and just skim off the benefits myself.
After roughly organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth.
"Don't be so harsh. Five hours alone is too rough. She might doze off midway, so let's just all do three hours equally."
"Hmph. You're pretty soft on her. What, have you already grown fond of her?"
"It's not that. It's just from my actual experience in the military. I can't even count how many times I dozed off on watch duty. You think she wouldn't do the same?"
At that, Ha Hui-ryeong's eyebrows twitched.
"Fine, whatever. We'll do it your way."
She was clearly just going along with it reluctantly, but at least she'd decided to follow my opinion.
Well, I'll take what I can get.
I didn't want to argue any further either.
"Here. Take this."
Ha Hui-ryeong pulled two blankets out of her backpack and spread them over us.
Then she wriggled her body and subtly pressed herself closer to me.
She's being extra clingy today.
I let out a hollow laugh and quietly accepted the warmth of her body where we touched.
The blanket wasn't thick, but being stuck tightly together lessened the cold, however slightly.
"Who's taking first watch? For the record, I'm last watch."
"First watch? That's the one from the start?"
"Yeah. Last watch is the final shift."
"I want the last one."
"Did you hear what I just said?"
"I said I want the last one. I'm tired. Okay?"
After saying that, she clung to me like she was hugging a log and nuzzled her face against my chest.
It was uncharacteristic of her to act so spoiled.
But if she was this tired, then at this point, I might as well indulge her.
"Fine. I'll take first watch. Happy?"
"Thank you~. As expected, you're my one and only~."
"Just go to sleep already..."
When I stroked her head, she made a purring sound and quickly fell asleep.
Seeing this, she was really no different from a cat.
Anyway... this meant our Ha-yoon automatically got stuck with the second watch.
Couldn't be helped, I guess.
I, as the master, couldn't exactly take on the most annoying second watch shift myself, now could I?
Unless I took in a new slave, right now Ha-yoon was at the very bottom of the pecking order.
I subtly glanced sideways and spoke to Kim Ha-yoon.
"You heard, right? You're second watch. I'll wake you later, so don't doze off and stand your three hours properly."
"...I'll manage on my own."
What came back was a curt tone.
She was leaning against the wall a little distance away, shivering all over from the underground chill.
She must not have noticed while she was actively moving, since her body was generating heat.
But now that her activity level had plummeted, she was finally feeling the ambient temperature.
The fact that this place was fucking freezing.
"...."
That girl, she's stubborn as hell.
If she'd just grovel a little, I'd toss her a blanket at least, but she was sitting there resolutely enduring.
Was her pride more important to her than her life?
Then again, I suppose that's exactly why she keeps snapping back at me every chance she gets.
But at this rate, she might actually freeze to death.
Tsk. As awful as it is, it'd be troublesome if she died, so once she closes her eyes, I'll sneak the extra blanket over her.
"Alright. Good night then."
Having made up my mind, I left a brief remark and pulled out my phone.
I turned the brightness down as low as possible and went to a familiar website.
The 'Apocalypse Gallery'.
A gathering place for doomsday cultists hoping the world would end someday, and every variety of societal reject.
The reason was that I'd suddenly gotten curious about the current state of those bastards who'd been living lives more fucked up than a B-movie even before the zombies ran rampant.
'This lot's info will at least be more helpful than the news.'
Damn right. These were guys who prayed every single day for the world to go to shit, so there's no way they didn't have at least one contingency plan.