Chapter 6
Suddenly feeling a tight pain in my heart, I reflexively rubbed my chest in surprise.
“Huh? Why does my heart feel like this…”
“There’s a bit of blood on your face…”
Hesitating, Baek Yi-heon came a bit closer to me.
Right. This is not the time to worry about trivial matters. Now is the time to stay calm for survival.
I calmed my pounding heart and suppressed my emotions, as usual.
Then, like a cat, I looked up at him with wide eyes.
He still had an inscrutable expression, but his ears were honestly flushed red.
My mother said I took after my father and found it creepy.
However, despite being the daughter of a murderer, my appearance was decent enough to attract some moths to the flame.
I smiled at the corner of my eye toward my survival cheat key.
“Won’t you wipe it off for me directly?”
Unlike his burning red ears, Baek Yi-heon calmly handed me a cut piece of gauze.
“Here.”
‘Tsk.’
“It seems the nosebleed has stopped, so let’s go back to the main room. Everyone will be waiting.”
Then, without giving me a chance to do anything else, he swiftly turned around and left the room.
‘Well, after all, he’s just a mouse in a trap… or rather, the protagonist in a bunker.’
Hiding my disappointment, I followed him out of the sleeping quarters.
✦
April 1st.
7:23 PM.
In a dim room lit only by an oil lamp, nine people gathered to distribute food rations.
After setting aside the uneven portions as emergency rations, this was the share each person received:
2 cans of fruit
3 cans of tuna
1 bag of hardtack
4 chocolate bars
3 1-liter bottles of emergency drinking water
It was far from enough for one person to survive a week.
“I can’t possibly live on just this!”
Glasses Guy yelled irritably at the meager rations in front of him.
“Seriously. This amount isn’t even enough for one meal. I’ll lose muscle mass from the lack of protein. Geez.”
Soccer Guy examined a can, looking at the nutrition facts.
Then he shot a nasty glare at the mom with her child.
“Hey, Auntie! You’re getting way too much! Kids can eat just half that much, can’t they?!”
The middle-aged woman hugged her child tightly and retorted,
“No, they need more food when they’re growing. And we agreed to split it evenly, didn’t we!”
Park Ji-in mumbled anxiously,
“We’ll be rescued by the military soon if we just hold on…right?”
Now that the rations were divided, everyone seemed to realize their situation was real.
That they had to wait, in this underground shelter with no light, for a rescue of unknown timing.
Glasses Guy decided to conserve and ration carefully since we don’t know when we’ll be rescued.
“What the f**k. Who wants to shove this up their nose…”
Meanwhile, Soccer Guy eyed the others’ portions greedily, his gaze lingering on the most vulnerable child.
He looked ready to try something, if not immediately, he might cause trouble later.
“Mom, Mom. What about our food?”
Mom and Park Ji-in put their heads together, discussing seriously, and decided to share their food.
I, however, simply opened a can of tuna and ate it without a care.
There would be tasty laxatives waiting for me in the bathroom anyway.
In the dark, narrow room, all we could do was talk.
As we ate dinner, naturally, we started introducing ourselves.
“My name is Lee Se-hoon! I’m eleven years old, from XX Elementary School, Class 3!”
“I’m Choi Chul-nam. My job is used car dealer. It was Friday, so I played a quick soccer game after work and was heading to a company dinner when this suddenly happened.”
Soccer Guy introduced himself, mixing informal and formal speech oddly.
“I’m Ahn Young-min. Just an ordinary office worker. I was out on a field assignment when I got trapped in this shelter out of nowhere.”
Glasses Guy grumbled.
“I’m…a nurse.”
The middle-aged woman said with a deeply troubled expression.
“It was my night shift, so I took my child out for an outing…I never imagined something like this could happen…”
Even the silent man in a suit reluctantly joined the introductions.
“I’m…a job seeker. I had my final interview yesterday but failed, and then this…monster suddenly appeared…”
Suit Guy muttered gloomily, hugging his knees.
“I wanted the world to end, and it really did…”
Then, rudely ignoring Suit Guy’s lament, Park Ji-in cheerfully piped up.
“My name is Park Ji-in! I’m twenty-one years old! And my ‘job’…hehe, I’m a re-taker.”
‘It’s her third time retaking the exam.’
I thought indifferently.
She always insisted on calling herself a ‘re-taker’ instead of using the more accurate ‘third-year repeater’.
“What about you, Yi-heon Oppa? I heard your name yesterday.”
Park Ji-in batted her eyes at Baek Yi-heon seated to her right.
“Your name is really unique! So, what’s your age and job…?”
“My name is Baek Yi-heon. I’m twenty-seven.”
Baek Yi-heon, who had kept his lips sealed, slowly opened his mouth. At his deep baritone voice, Soccer Guy muttered under his breath loud enough just for me to hear.
“What an arrogant prick…”
“I was in the Navy Special Warfare Unit.”
“Aha! So you were a career military man!”
Park Ji-in laughed brightly.
“What kind of work did you do there?”
“I can’t say.”
Baek Yi-heon replied bluntly.
“Come on. He’s probably just a petty officer, acting all high and mighty…”
Soccer Guy next to me muttered again, just loud enough for me to hear.
But I, having read the novel, knew his job already.
He worked in the Navy Special Warfare Unit’s anti-terrorism team.
That was why he adapted so quickly to this extreme situation.
‘It’s also the reason I need to stick close to the protagonist until I reach the shelter.’
“Then, what about this beautiful lady here?”
After the round of introductions, Soccer Guy started to pester me since I was still silent.
“How old are you? What’s your job?”
“…Twenty-one. My job is—”
“Ah, our Noah drives trucks!”
Park Ji-in cut in with a giggle.
“Tr-Trucks?”
“Yes! What was it…A cargo truck, I think?”
As Park Ji-in tilted her head innocently, the mother looked embarrassed and lowered her gaze.
That’s right. I obtained a large vehicle cargo transportation license after graduating high school and was working as a cargo truck driver.
The reason I chose this job was simple—a job with minimal human interaction that would keep me away from home as much as possible fit me perfectly. Luckily, I had the physique and driving skills for it.
“Wow…You don’t look it at all with those slender arms! Impressive!”
Seemingly trying to get on my good side, Soccer Guy exclaimed in an exaggerated tone.
Glasses Guy scoffed quietly at his behavior.
And Baek Yi-heon?
As usual, he just observed me with calm and cold eyes, his intentions unreadable.
Strangely, that indifferent look put me at ease.
“Wow, look at how thin you are. Do you want to try this snack? Have you ever had something like this before?”
People who would offer me patronizing kindness out of cheap pity.
“Hey! Does that taste good?”
“You should be eating stuff like this.”
Park Ji-in’s friends used to mock and bully me.
Hypocrisy, contempt, a sense of superiority and desire to dominate—those were human nature in my view.
That’s why I find such expressionless and indifferent gazes reassuring.
Suit Guy muttered gloomily, eyes glued to his phone screen.
“It’s night…”
April 2nd.
12:04 AM.
A day had already passed since the Gate Outbreak that caused the apocalypse and death of most humans. We had endured one day at least.
“Then let’s get some sleep first. Not like we can do anything.”
Glasses Guy spoke tiredly, massaging his nape.
“What, didn’t you serve in the military?”
Soccer Guy immediately mocked.
“You think you can just sleep in this crisis? We need to stand guard. Guard duty.”
He added in a commanding tone.
“Eight of us in total, excluding the kid…One hour each should work!”
“No way. Why would we only have one person on guard at a time?”
Glasses Guy swiftly countered.
“What if that person secretly steals food while the rest are asleep? We need pairs.”
“Geez, so demanding.”
After discussion, we decided to pair up and take two-hour guard shifts in rotation.
“Then we need to pair up…”
Soccer Guy openly leered at me as he moved closer.
Park Ji-in also seemed unwilling to miss a chance to be alone with Baek Yi-heon at night, quickly raising her hand.
“Ah, then I’ll pair with Yi-heon Oppa…”
“I’ll stand guard with Noa.”
Baek Yi-heon calmly cut off Park Ji-in’s words.
Likely he wanted to help since Soccer Guy seemed to be eyeing me.
He couldn’t just stand by while the weak were preyed upon.
“Okay.”
I simply nodded.
I could feel Park Ji-in’s distorted expression as she glared back and forth between Baek Yi-heon and me.
“We’ll sleep in this room too! It’ll be easier for the guard shifts that way.”
“And we can prevent food theft too.”
Glasses Guy added, prompting a spiteful remark from Soccer Guy.
✦
Soccer Guy and the middle-aged mom took the first guard shift tonight.
The only sleeping bag was given to the child.
The bespectacled man grumbled about the unfairness, but didn’t protest further when Baek Yi-heon spoke up.
Being underground, the shelter interior was quite warm.
However, sleeping directly on the cold concrete floor radiating a chill was no easy feat.
“Wouldn’t it be better to use your padded jacket as a mat?”
The man with glasses asked Park Ji-in, who was about to lie down on the bare floor while wearing a thick padded jacket.
Startled, Park Ji-in awkwardly rolled her eyes.
✦
Thank you for reading! ♡
