The People We Must Live With
“If it were Yuna...”
The couple, who had been staring blankly at Kim Ha-yun with trembling eyes, flinched. Soon after, Kim Hui-yeong offered an awkward smile.
“Ah, no. I must have been mistaken...”
“She is the daughter I mentioned before.”
“H-honey...”
As Kim Hui-yeong panicked, Choi Ui-su looked at her with a sorrowful smile and nodded, as if to say it was alright. Kim Hui-yeong bit her lip and looked away, and Choi Ui-su continued.
“It’s already been seven years since our Yuna... passed away. She was exactly that child’s age.”
“...I see. My condolences.”
“No, no. There is no need for you to say that, Lee Jun-ho. The ones who were wrong were those people, and us...”
Choi Ui-su spoke calmly, though he occasionally revealed the deep, unhealed emotions he still carried regarding his late daughter. Their daughter, Choi Yuna, had been in a traffic accident on her way to school early in the morning and was rushed to the nearest hospital emergency room. The intern on duty at the time had treated her, and due to his mistake, Choi Yuna died. It was clear medical malpractice.
However, the problem was that the intern was the nephew of the hospital’s chairman. To make matters worse, the chairman was a close friend and schoolmate of the director of the general hospital where the couple worked. For years, the couple fell into deeper despair amidst a legal battle, accompanied by inevitable threats and pressure. Eventually, when both the first and second trials ruled it a medical accident rather than malpractice, Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong decided to let it all go.
“...So, four years ago, we packed everything up and came to Mokuri. It’s where I lived until I was in elementary school, and there were still quite a few people I’d known since my father’s time.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been coming to the Hanalreum Nursing Home for medical volunteer work every month?”
“Yes. There were quite a few nursing homes and hospitals in places like Gahyeon-ri, near Mokuri. The metropolitan light rail made them very accessible.”
“I see.”
Even while answering, the couple’s eyes couldn't leave the children. Jun-ho asked casually.
“By the way, she must look a lot like Ha-yun?”
“......!”
Kim Hui-yeong, startled by Jun-ho’s words, looked at Kim Ha-yun, who was naturally tending to Kim Jun-seo and Choi Ji-woo in the distance. Then, she shook her head weakly.
“No. Looking closely, they don’t look that much alike. It’s just... that child has a round face and big eyes, just like our Yuna, so I suppose that’s why.”
“......”
Despite her words, Kim Hui-yeong kept glancing at the Kim Ha-yun siblings and Choi Ji-woo. Jun-ho said softly.
“Why don’t you go and say hello?”
“Pardon? Ah, no, that’s...”
“You’ll see them again in a few days anyway. Besides, you’ll be living together in the shelter for a long time from now on.”
“Ah...”
The couple finally nodded, realizing that they were in an environment completely different from before, one where they might have to live for the rest of their lives.
“Ha-yun, Kim Ha-yun!”
“Yes, Mister!”
Kim Ha-yun, who had been folding the hem of Choi Ji-woo’s pants, came running at Jun-ho’s call.
“You can walk slowly. Just be careful not to trip.”
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Anyway, say hello. These are the people who will be living in our shelter. They’ll probably be moving in starting next week.”
“Ah, hello. I’m Kim Ha-yun.”
As Kim Ha-yun bowed, the eyes of Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong trembled once more. Unlike what she had said a moment ago, it seemed Kim Ha-yun really did look quite a bit like their late daughter.
“Y-yes. Nice to meet you. I’m a nurse, and this man is a doctor. Ha-yun... was it? How old are you, by any chance?”
“Uh... I’m in eighth grade.”
“I-I see. Oh my, I’m being thoughtless, aren’t I? Asking your age the moment we meet. I’m sorry, student Ha-yun.”
“No. It’s okay.”
Although it hadn’t been long since she lost her grandmother, Kim Ha-yun tried to act brave, perhaps because of her younger brother, Kim Jun-seo. To the couple, her demeanor made her seem even more like their late daughter. Noticing this, Jun-ho said to Kim Ha-yun.
“If you or Jun-seo feel sick, make sure to go to these people. They’ve worked at a general hospital for a long time.”
“Yes, Mister. Then... may I go back to the kids?”
“Go ahead.”
“Yes.”
Kim Ha-yun bowed once more to Jun-ho and the couple before returning. The couple’s gaze couldn't leave her and the other two children.
“The smallest one over there is Ji-woo; she lives here with her father. Her mother passed away recently.”
“I-I see.”
“But as you know, Ha-yun and Jun-seo don’t have guardians. Baek Su-ah and others look after them, but there are bound to be limits. Their grandmother passed away like that, and they’re still at a sensitive age.”
“That must be true. Sigh, for such a young thing to have already...”
Kim Hui-yeong’s expression and voice were dripping with pity and ‘lingering attachment.’ Choi Ui-su’s expression was calm, but his gaze remained fixed on the Kim Ha-yun siblings.
“Why don’t you approach them slowly?”
“...Pardon?”
“In this world, I think it’s a good thing for people who have lost precious ones to meet and create a new family. No...”
“......!!!”
Jun-ho continued to the visibly surprised couple.
“In a hellish world like this, shouldn’t we do that even more? We are people who have to live together for a long time.”
The couple’s eyes, which had been wide and trembling incessantly, slowly returned to the Kim Ha-yun siblings. In their profiles, Jun-ho could clearly see that it was no longer just pity and sympathy, but ‘expectation’ beginning to bloom.
***
The adaptation period for Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong in the container residential area was short. They were people already in Jun-ho’s plans, and because of their expectant hearts toward the Kim Ha-yun siblings, the couple tried even harder to adapt to the regular shelter life.
Above all, even after tragically losing their daughter, they were people with good basic characters, having volunteered at nursing homes and hospitals every month. Of course, in Choi Ui-su’s case, dark thoughts had bloomed during that time, but to Jun-ho, who had lost his parents both in his childhood and after becoming an adult, it was something he could fully understand.
Anyway, the couple, who had officially become shelter members, began to greet others with faces that were still a bit awkward.
“...What is all this?”
“These are the health checkup results and vaccination records for me, my daughter, and my son. Oh, I also have the medical certificates and copies of medical records; would you like those too?”
“Ah, no, when did you get all this...”
Choi Ui-su was flustered by the pile of documents Baek Ha-il handed him.
“As I said earlier, before coming here, we got comprehensive checkups. We got all sorts of vaccines, from tetanus to hepatitis. At the time, Jun-ho, the boss here, said it would be good to get medical certificates, so we just got them.”
As Baek Ha-il spoke proudly, Choi Ui-su looked around at the others.
“Then, the others too...?”
“Yep. The boss did it for me as part of welfare, too.”
“I did it with my brother.”
“Oh my. I wondered why my brother came suddenly back then, but it was for this. I don’t have a medical certificate, but I have no health issues and I’ve had all my vaccines.”
When Jun-hyeok and Choi Ha-neul said they had all received comprehensive health checkups and essential vaccines following Yun Yeong-su, Choi Ui-su was left speechless.
“W-we haven’t yet...”
“Me and Jun-seo, too.”
Choi Jung-woo’s daughter and Kim Ha-yun said cautiously, noticing the mood. At that, the expressions of Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong brightened.
“Ah, then shall we get simple checkups and examinations here in the medical room? I see you have most of the vaccines, so we can administer those if needed.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you, Doctor. Ji-woo, say thank you?”
“Thank youuu!”
“Thank you, Jun-seo.”
“Thank youuu.”
The couple nodded with pleased eyes as they watched Choi Jung-woo, who was grateful, and the three children bowing at the waist. Indeed, it seemed that when people have expectations and ‘work to do,’ they can heal from or forget past hardships. Of course, there was no guarantee they would be completely healed, and it would take a long time, but there was plenty of time in our shelter.
***
About a week had passed since Choi Ui-su and Kim Hui-yeong joined the shelter. It was mid-September, a little over a month since the apocalypse began. In the meantime, the ‘outside world’ had its electricity and water completely cut off. Gahyeon-ri, which had occasionally had lights, was now completely engulfed in darkness. The high-performance PTZ cameras installed at each guard post and the Hanalreum Nursing Home, as well as the drones, now had to film exclusively in night thermal mode once the sun went down.
“I’ve already mapped out the entire area with drones and 3D mapping, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“Good. Keep a close watch on the points I’ve marked for the drones.”
“Yep. I can grasp the situation to some extent with the nursing home PTZ cameras and the CCTV cameras for the safe houses you made before, boss. I’m also flying drones morning and evening.”
Indeed, taking over the communication relay station and turning the Hanalreum Nursing Home into a base was a strategically correct decision. The CCTV cameras in the safe houses built on the high floors of villas and apartments could only see a limited area of 200–300 meters around them, but thanks to the PTZ cameras installed at the relay station and nursing home, and the installation of repeaters, it became possible to see almost all of Gahyeon-ri like the palm of their hand. Of course, to truly see it that way, a drone would have to be in the air 24 hours a day, and considering the quantity and lifespan of the drones, that was impossible. But if they really set their minds to it, it wasn't something they couldn't do.
Anyway, as the infrastructure was cut off, the speed at which the world was heading toward extinction accelerated. They didn't bother trying to get news from large cities like Seoul. It would be the same as before the regression, and if the shelter people saw it, their mental state would be shaken and they would get stressed. So, Jun-ho only paid attention to Gahyeon-ri and the surrounding areas.
First, the thugs completely occupied the detached housing village and advanced toward the townhouse complex. Since the electricity and water had just been cut off, the townhouse people, who hadn't yet formed a proper ‘group,’ were dragged away by the thugs two or three houses at a time in a single night, or met a tragic end at the hands of zombies while going out to find water or food. Looking at the situation, it seemed they would be completely occupied by the thugs within two weeks, just like before the regression.
Jun-ho continued his surveillance activities. He focused on monitoring the area between ‘Sang-dong,’ where the population was most dense in Gahyeon-ri, including two apartment complexes and nearby villa villages, and ‘Jung-dong,’ where the natives of Gahyeon-ri mainly lived along the road. Specifically, he focused on the midpoint between them. That was because that exact point was the only road currently accessible by vehicle that led to the shelter’s main entrance.