The Service Creed
I took the elevator up to the floor where my room was and crept toward it on quiet feet. Then something I hadn't counted on happened.
"Hana?"
Haru's voice came from behind me. I turned around, wearing the most unbothered expression I could manage.
"What's up, Haru?"
"Why'd you buy so much?"
She said it while eyeing the bag in my arms. She wasn't wrong — there was enough stuffed in there to block my view.
"Want me to carry some of it?"
"No! I've got it!"
If she found out there was beer in that bag, there was no telling what would happen, so I bolted. Thankfully, Haru didn't come after me.
I made it to my room in one piece, set the bag on the floor, and started putting things away. Snacks went into a box, drinks into the fridge, and by the time I was done, only the beer was left, sitting there all by itself.
"Hmm..."
The best way to get rid of evidence was to consume it immediately, right? With that thought, I hurried over to the computer and got everything properly set up.
I pulled out snacks that paired well with beer and put on a favorite video on YouTube. Preparations complete.
I broke into a giddy little grin and lifted a can. The cold seeped into my palm — ice-cold, fresh from the store.
That chill... it had been so long. Nearly moved to tears, I raised the can.
Then I went for the tab. Whether the seal was just that stubborn or I simply lacked the strength, it refused to give under any ordinary effort.
"Hah!"
I hooked a finger into the little gap I'd managed to pry open and yanked upward with everything I had.
Pssht!
The tab popped. A clean hiss of carbonation spilled from the can, and the sharp smell of beer bloomed into the air.
"Mmm..."
Before I drank, I took a sniff. That familiar scent of alcohol greeted me like an old friend. This was beer, all right.
Smell confirmed, I didn't hesitate. I tipped it back and drank. It had been so long I couldn't even remember the last time, and the flavor flooded my mouth all at once.
Cold enough to make my head ache, the beer slid down my throat. The fizz prickled so hard it almost tickled.
Behind the bitterness came that faint, tipsy beer taste — familiar, in its own way.
I felt it settle in my stomach, and the buzz climbed fast. My old body had held its liquor well, so I didn't think twice about pouring more down my throat.
"Uh... uh...?"
This frail little body, though, didn't stand a chance against even beer's alcohol. A weak body was nothing — you endured on willpower! I set the empty can on the desk and pulled out another.
With beer, the important thing was not to break the rhythm. Even without the snacks, the beer alone left my stomach tight and round.
"Three Rumis...?"
I'd been drinking without paying attention, and now the room was spinning. There was supposed to be one Rumi. On the YouTube video, she'd multiplied into three.
Up until yesterday I'd followed the story just fine, but today's episode made no sense at all, as if something in my head had broken. I stared at the screen like a machine that had shorted out.
Before I knew it, empty cans crowded the desk, and I couldn't fight the rising drunk anymore. My awareness went dark.
I used to drink three bottles of soju without getting drunk. I'd never blacked out before, so the feeling was strange. It wasn't an unpleasant kind of drunk, though, so I simply let it take me.
"Hana~"
Stopping by Hana's room before heading home had become a habit for Bora. Seeing the girl's face on the way out put her at ease.
There was the fresh air, too, and the absurd little notion that so long as Hana was around, she might not even need to go hiking.
Today, though, something was different. She opened the door, and woven through the clean air was a smell she knew all too well: alcohol.
The room was a disaster five minutes from total collapse. Snack crumbs were scattered everywhere, and beer cans lined Hana's desk...
The smile Bora had walked in with began to crack. She approached Hana, who was face-down on the desk. The girl had buried her face in the keyboard, drunk past the point of no return.
"The service creed... our resolve..."
Whatever nonsense that was, all Bora could manage was a hollow laugh. Where in the world was the lunatic selling alcohol to a little kid?
She let out a long sigh and looked around. At least the mess hadn't climbed as far as the bed. All she had to do was sweep up the crumbs and trash on the floor.
She lifted Hana onto the bed, fetched a big garbage bag, and started cleaning the room. There was a mountain of things she wanted to ask, but in this state the girl wouldn't understand a word.
The one mercy was that nothing seemed seriously wrong. Once Hana woke up, Bora decided, it was time for a punishment she hadn't handed out in a while. No — first she was going to that convenience store that had sold a child alcohol.
If they ever sold Hana liquor again, she'd make sure they tasted something bitter.
"Air-raid alert! Air-raid alert! All police forces, mobilize..."
Listening to Hana's bizarre drunken rambling, Bora stayed beside her until she fell asleep, then headed home. Just in case a drunk Hana tried something strange, she didn't forget to tell Haru — on night duty tonight — to keep checking the room on her rounds.
"Earlier Hana went into her room grinning ear to ear... I never thought it'd turn into this."
"Haru, if you could just get through tonight, I'd appreciate it. I'll give her a proper scolding tomorrow."
"She's still a child. Go easy on her. It's not like she did anything truly bad."
"Still, she lied at the convenience store to buy it, so for now..."
Talking it over, Haru and Bora felt the shared misery of people who had suddenly acquired a child that wouldn't listen.
They had signed on as researchers, and now they were looking after a kid on top of it. Of course Hana was cute, and the compensation was generous, so they had no real complaints. It was just that every time she pulled off a disaster like today's, it gave them a headache.
"Uwaaaaah..."
The moment I woke up, a vicious hangover had me. My head felt like it was going to split. A few cans of beer, and this was the result — this body's tolerance was pitifully low, no question.
Clutching my throbbing skull, I climbed down from the bed. After the chaos I'd caused last night, the room ought to have been a complete wreck.
But when I got down and looked around, yesterday might as well have been a dream. Everything was spotless. I had definitely eaten snacks and drunk beer, and yet the trash had vanished without a trace.
"Ugh..."
The hangover hit again immediately, and I had no choice but to roll around on the floor.
A groan slipped out of me. The headache kept at me without mercy. What had even happened last night?
Through the fog of broken memory, I writhed on the floor and fought desperately to remember.
The memories came in scraps, but it felt like someone had come into my room... I thought hard, and at last the severed pieces came back together.
The moment I remembered, my face went pale. Now that I'd been caught drinking beer, I couldn't stay here another second. I had to run before Bora arrived.
I grabbed Bora's debit card and moved fast, aiming to get out of the building. Judging by the time, it was cutting it dangerously close to when she would come in for work.
I threw on clothes any which way, shoved my feet into my shoes, and slipped outside. In the office, Haru was fast asleep with her mouth hanging open. Lucky. I rose onto my toes so my footsteps wouldn't carry and crept toward the elevator.
I pressed the down button and, thankfully, managed to get on. Once I was inside, I could finally breathe. Stage one — escaping my floor — was a clean clear. The rest of the stages should be easy.
The elevator chimed that we'd reached the first floor, and the doors opened. I was about to step out wearing a bright, foolish grin. The moment they parted, though, my face had no choice but to go bloodless.
Bora was standing right there. Smiling sweetly, she pulled me into her arms.
"Aigoo, and where does our Hana think she's going?"
I twisted this way and that with everything I had, but I couldn't break free of her hold.
"Ah... ahh!"
Arms flailing uselessly in the air, I was carried back to my room in Bora's embrace.
And once we got back, she spanked my backside without an ounce of mercy. I swore I would never drink beer again.