The Shelter’s New Faces
"Wait, what is all this? Who are these kids?"
"These are the kids I rescued from the thugs down in Sang-dong. I don't know if it'll be for a while or longer, but please, let them stay here for now."
At Jun-ho's words, Go Jeong-nam waved his hands dismissively.
"Aigoo, of course! Come on, come on in. Goodness, look at the state of you all. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Thank you, Grandpa…."
"W-we're okay. But this oppa got hurt a little."
"Oh, dear! Hey, child. Su-ah, go take a look at them."
At Go Jeong-nam's call, Go Seok-jin's wife and the nursing home's assistant, Kang Su-ah, hurried over to tend to the students.
"Did you get hurt from being hit? Let's go inside quickly. Unni, please check on the girls."
"Right. Oh my, they're scraped up all over, too. Come this way, quickly."
Perhaps having already bonded as sisters, Go Seok-jin's wife (in her early 30s) and Kang Su-ah (in her late 20s) divided the work and efficiently ushered the children inside. Jun-ho turned his gaze to the remaining Lee Seul-gi and spoke to the father-son duo, Go Jeong-nam and Go Seok-jin.
"This is an academy instructor who was with those kids. They all know each other, and for now, she's their guardian."
"I see. Welcome, miss. Are you alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine, sir. Thank you for taking us in."
Lee Seul-gi bowed her head immediately, feeling much more comfortable with the elderly Go Jeong-nam than with Jun-ho, whose very presence naturally brought to mind the 'bloody massacre' she had witnessed. However.
"Haha, you don't quite understand, miss. This nursing home and everyone here—this friend, Jun-ho, saved us all."
"Ah…?"
"My son and I, just like you and those kids earlier, owe our lives to this friend. This place is essentially running thanks to him. Isn't that right, Seok-jin?"
"Y-yes, yes… Father is right."
Go Seok-jin nodded hurriedly, glancing nervously at Jun-ho, who was still covered in blood. He had thought he lived a rough life before joining the military, but just looking at Jun-ho made his knees weak and his heart pound. It wasn't just because of their first meeting; it was just how he was. Honestly, he was much more afraid of Jun-ho than his own father. That was why, ever since entering the nursing home, he had sought his father's permission for everything to avoid getting on Jun-ho's bad side. He never made a decision on his own.
"Ms. Lee Seul-gi."
"Y-yes!"
At Jun-ho's call, Lee Seul-gi froze instantly, snapping into a rigid posture.
"This isn't a place where we just take people in and feed them for free. There are injured kids and everyone is exhausted, so you can rest for a few days, but once you've recovered, everyone has to work."
"Yes, sir."
She almost preferred it when he used casual, commanding language earlier. With this terrifying man using polite, formal speech, Lee Seul-gi felt her body stiffen even more.
"And one more thing. You, Ms. Lee Seul-gi, and those kids—if I hear any nonsense about wanting to go home or needing to go save family, leave right now. Out of courtesy, I'll give you water and a day's worth of food. You can survive on that and try to make it home yourselves."
"N-no. We won't go. Yes, w-we will stay here quietly."
"Good. Make sure you pass that on to the kids. Now, Ms. Lee Seul-gi, go get some rest."
"Y-yes."
Lee Seul-gi answered while still stiff, and as she hurried away, she suddenly stopped like a robot.
"T-thank you. Thank you so, so much for saving us! Thank you!"
She bowed deeply to Jun-ho several times.
"A young lady who knows her manners, at least. Anyway, Jun-ho, you've had a lot of trouble. But are you hurt anywhere… well, obviously not."
"Yes. I'm fine. Anyway, nothing unusual happened, right?"
Although he watched them constantly through the PTZ Camera and CCTV, and communicated twice a day, Jun-ho asked out of courtesy.
"Unusual? Well, there is something."
"Yes?"
To Jun-ho, who narrowed his eyes instantly, Go Jeong-nam replied with a chuckle.
"It's good news, so you can relax your expression. Come on, come over here."
Tilting his head, Jun-ho followed the Go father and son. Upon arriving at the nursing home parking lot, Jun-ho couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.
"How is it? Not bad, right? We're planning to try farming with the supplies you gave us, Jun-ho."
"Potatoes and sweet potatoes, you mean?"
Go Seok-jin replied with a bow.
"Yes, yes. One greenhouse for potatoes and sweet potatoes, and the other for side dishes."
Two vinyl greenhouses had been built where the parking lot used to be. It seemed Go Seok-jin and the nursing home employee, Lee Jae-seok, had completed them under the direction of Go Jeong-nam, who had farmed in his hometown for years.
"You've done well. With greenhouses this size, there should be enough to feed everyone here."
"Indeed. Even though we have plenty of rice and side dishes, we should replace at least one meal a day with potatoes or sweet potatoes. It's better for your health. Oh, and also. Seok-jin."
"Yes, Father."
At Go Jeong-nam's signal, Go Seok-jin immediately opened the door to one of the greenhouses. He glanced at Jun-ho, looking somewhat proud.
"We're raising these, too."
"Oh?"
Inside the greenhouse, which had just been finished and wasn't yet used for crops, were several rabbits. Go Jeong-nam pointed at them with a proud expression.
"These guys are tricky if you've never raised them, but I raised plenty back home, so it's no problem. If you cut the grass and dry it well, you don't have to worry about feed even in winter. They eat things like lettuce very well, so it'll be fine."
"I see."
In fact, Jun-ho had considered raising rabbits at The Shelter, but he was told it was difficult for beginners, so he had stuck to chickens. However, with the experienced Go Jeong-nam in charge at the nursing home, it seemed like a good idea. No, considering the reproductive rate of rabbits, it would be a great way to obtain fresh meat regularly.
"Anyway, we'll raise them well and send some your way, too. Rabbit meat is very delicious."
"Yes, I'll look forward to it. Oh, and I caught a water deer on the way here. We should drain the blood immediately, right?"
"Oh, that was a water deer? I thought it was a..."
Go Jeong-nam hurriedly swallowed the words about thinking Jun-ho had brought a human corpse to dispose of, and instead awkwardly urged his son.
"Seok-jin, bring the deer over quickly. You have to drain the blood from a water deer right away. Otherwise, it'll smell and you won't be able to eat it."
Thinking it was fortunate that his son's name started with an 'S', Go Jeong-nam hurried him along.
Jun-ho adamantly refused their offer to stay the night and leave early in the morning, and departed from the Hanalreum Nursing Home.
"…If things like this keep happening, I'll have to bring them here."
Park Deok-cheol, his sister Park Seon-hui, and Jo Yu-na had been lucky with the timing, getting selected as worker candidates and brought to the Container Residence. At this rate, there was a high possibility they would become The Shelter members as necessary personnel within a month. However, Lee Seul-gi and the three high school students hadn't had the right timing, and since he had already secured the necessary candidates, there was nothing he could do. Of course, from their perspective, they might call it a matter of luck, but that was the unavoidable reality.
Therefore, Jun-ho decided that if he rescued survivors who weren't in his original plans, he would send them to the Hanalreum Nursing Home for the time being.
"…They can't even see me, so why are they doing that?"
Seeing the people at the nursing home waving at him from far away, Jun-ho felt a bit awkward and gave a small wave back.
"But why of all names is it Hanalreum? It keeps making me think of her every time I come here… Tsk."
One of the reasons Jun-ho had quit the fitness center in Bucheon was because of a person who shared the same name as the nursing home.
"It's not like there's something wrong with my eyes. Why would someone like her like an ahjussi like me…."
Jun-ho muttered bitterly, thinking of the part-timer at the gym who was nearly 10 years younger than him. Her name was 'Han Ah-reum'—a girl who was incredibly bright, cheerful, and, true to her Gen-Z generation, direct. She had been a track athlete until high school, but after an injury, she had changed her career path to lifestyle sports. Even though she was young, pretty, and had a great figure, and made it very obvious she was interested, Jun-ho only felt burdened. Most of all, he didn't have enough time just preparing for the apocalypse and building his shelter. He couldn't waste time on dating, and he shouldn't rashly create 'new connections'. That was why he had quit the gym and cut ties with Han Ah-reum before anything could even start.
However.
"Still… I hope she's alive."
She had never been absent or even late, and she would arrive at dawn to diligently clean the place. Hoping that the bright-spirited Han Ah-reum was safe, Jun-ho climbed the mountain path.
September 21, 2024, 22:30, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.
"Hey. You're a girl, why are you digging in your ear with your finger? Ugh, that's so gross."
"It was itchy, what do you want me to do? Oh, I got a big one."
"Oh god, seriously."
Choi Hyun-woo, who made a disgusted face at Han Ah-reum as she flicked her pinky finger, turned back to Kim Tae-young, the MMA gym coach whose name he had finally learned for sure.
"So, Jun-ho hyung-nim sent texts and supplies to the coach, too, a day before everything went to hell?"
"Yeah. Yu-chan hyung-nim got them too. Our director. At the time, we were all asking each other what the hell was going on. But the very next day…"
Kim Tae-young couldn't continue for a moment, but soon let out a long sigh as if to shake off the emotions.
"Whew. Anyway, because of what Jun-ho said last year, Yu-chan hyung-nim's family said they wouldn't go anywhere for the holidays and would just stay home. But I, like an idiot, went to the gym that morning and got trapped there."
If he had been at home like the MMA gym director Baek Yu-chan, he would have lived comfortably for at least a year on the supplies Jun-ho had sent. But Kim Tae-young, who lived alone, had nothing to do at home and had gone to the gym early in the morning, which led to his situation.
"And the coach and Ah-reum knew each other from before?"
"Yeah. The director and I once went to Ah-reum's department as guest self-defense instructors. She showed a lot of interest in MMA back then. She came to our gym a few times, too."
"Wow… the connections in this world are truly unpredictable. But why didn't you do MMA?"
"It costs too much money. If you want to go pro, the training is incredibly intense."
"Ah, that can't be helped."
Choi Hyun-woo, who knew well about Han Ah-reum's circumstances—having lived at her aunt's house until high school and taking out a loan to move out as soon as she graduated—nodded.
"But what about the other people at the gym and the fitness center…."
As Choi Hyun-woo trailed off, Kim Tae-young's expression darkened. However, Han Ah-reum, who was naturally bright and had worked all sorts of part-time jobs since she was young—even special cleaning for solitary deaths—shrugged without much change in her expression.
"Luckily, our fitness center was empty at that time because of the holidays. As soon as things broke out, I locked the door and blocked the entrance with exercise equipment. And…."
Because she had exercised for a long time, she was strong, so she said she was able to block the entrance to some extent with furniture and exercise equipment without much difficulty. Moreover, since it was a place for working out, there was a vending machine full of bottled water and sports drinks. She also said she was able to hold out on her own because there were protein drinks, protein bars, and even frozen chicken breast and diet convenience foods in the refrigerator.
However, people who knew that there was a fitness center in the same building and that there was food to replenish 'protein' eventually attacked.
"I had a similar thought. Because there are too many zombies near the convenience store, and restaurants are all on the first or second floor, so if you make a sound, you're finished. But this place is on the 6th floor, right? Since it's a place for working out, it would be soundproofed well. So…."
Kim Tae-young had spent three days reaching the fitness center building, crawling through back-alley flower beds and over walls, sleeping in bathrooms, thinking he would only cross one or two buildings a night. He finally went up through the emergency exit, but—
"Those fucking bastards were pinning her down and trying to do that to her. So, for a moment, I lost my mind and…."
Although he had a weapon, ordinary men couldn't withstand a surprise attack from a former MMA pro like Kim Tae-young, who weighed well over 80 kilograms. Moreover, since they were trying to do that to Han Ah-reum, they had their pants half-off and had dropped the knives and tools they were using as weapons anywhere.
"The bastard who was on top of me had his neck broken by the coach's low kick and died."
"……!"
"And the other two had their noses crushed and all their teeth knocked out. Their arms and legs were broken, too. Oh, and they won't be able to use their 'thing' anymore, either. I stomped on them really hard. But this is seriously delicious. Jun-ho oppa's taste is insane, as expected."
Speaking nonchalantly about a horrific and cruel experience that was terrifying just to imagine, Han Ah-reum finished the canned tropical fruit that Jun-ho had prepared in the basement, even licking the syrup clean.