NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86
It seemed my explanation didn’t convince the other person. The man crossed his arms, looked at the dark water engulfing the 2nd floor, and said,
“If we’re lucky, sure. But I don’t want to go into that dirty water.”
… Well, even looking from here, the color of the water flooding into the deep sea pollution center wasn’t very beautiful. And to think it had submerged the 2nd floor and above. That meant the water level was at least 6m high. The thought of diving to that depth to find and turn the drain valves somewhere on the bottom sounded like a daunting task.
But if not that, how else were we supposed to get out of here? Why were they so reluctant to escape? Was there another way besides the elevator? The man shrugged and spoke to me as if I was somewhat pitiful.
“You Asians are probably Chinese. You might not even know the word “rescue team,” but I’m an American. A rescue team will come to save me somehow. I’m going to relax and wait without wasting my energy. God bless America!”
At the man’s last words as he bent his fingers around the phrase “rescue team,” a few other men whistled and high-fived. A sigh welled up from my stomach. I was at a loss for words on what to correct first.
Even though Jihyun believes her guardian is God, she still dove into that polluted water to try to operate the stopped elevator, yet these bastards are spouting this bullshit, believing their backup is some country not even 300 years old. Jihyun, her brows furrowed, clenched her fists tightly, trembling with rage. She looked like she wanted to punch one of those three in the face at any moment. Before Jihyun could say anything, Ga-young spoke in a flat voice.
“Dustin. The connecting passage that was blocking the deep sea creature center and this deep sea pollution center is open now. Go to the deep sea creature center before the 3rd floor is submerged. Even if the deep sea pollution center gets flooded up to the 7th floor, the deep sea creature center will still be relatively fine if the bulkhead is lowered.”
Dustin addressed Ga-young as “Miss Kim.”
“But you guys could open the bulkhead after we go to the creature center.”
“Still, it’s more advantageous to go to the creature center. Between the two research centers, the deep sea creature center you’ll be going to will be submerged much later than the deep sea pollution center we’ll be in anyway.”
Ga-young was right. Seeing how the rare earth center and the deep sea pollution center had cut each other off with bulkheads, it seemed the bulkheads did block the water. If they planned to hold out in the undersea base for a long time, the deep sea creature center, which wasn’t submerged yet, would be much better to endure in than the deep sea pollution center where the water was rising.
Suddenly, I remembered the cable car crashing in my dream. Thinking about it again, it’s still not a good memory. The blood, the bodies, that despair. … Ah, damn it. It felt like my stomach was tightening with tension all of a sudden. How long did it take for the collapse in the dream? It didn’t take too long. The fear that we needed to get out of here as quickly as possible struck my brain. Even if I mentioned the dream in this situation and said the undersea base might collapse, would they listen to me? Wouldn’t they treat me like a crazy person? Ga-young rubbed her shoulders and arms firmly and said,
“It’d be best to cross over there quickly before the 3rd floor here gets submerged. If you’re going to wait for the rescue team.”
“Then what about you? Are you going to stay here?”
To Dustin’s question, Ga-young politely pointed with both palms in the direction Jihyun was standing, raised the corners of her mouth, and replied,
“Rather than running away with you and waiting for the rescue team, I’d rather drown in that polluted water with this lady.”
Silence. As a pause in the conversation suddenly arrived, gazes soaked in anguish looked at each other. Soon, sighs and the sound of people talking to those next to them began to grow louder. Jihyun wiped her hair with the towel again, and when it reached the point where no more moisture would fall, she received the pad she had entrusted to Yoo Geum-yi. Then, after glancing around at the people, she said,
“Those who are going to the deep sea creature center, start preparing to leave now. I’ll lower the bulkhead in 5 minutes.”
Jihyun’s gaze scooped up the seawater, and taking her eyes off that blue and dark water, she said,
“If there are those who want to attempt escaping with me via the elevator, take off your shoes and outerwear, prepare to swim, and gather here in 5 minutes.”
Jihyun rubbed her hair with the towel one more time and let out a sigh that seemed like it would extinguish. Then, holding the pad, she slowly walked into the office from earlier. As I followed her into the room, Jihyun gently placed the pad on the table.
Judging by her expression, she seemed desperate to punch something. Jihyun, her whole face expressing annoyance, noticed my presence, bit her lip hard, and spoke.
“Yeah, then let’s die! Rather than thinking that elevator is the ark sent by the Lord and working hard to fix it and go up! Like you guys, until the seawater fills our lungs completely! Let’s wait for the rescue team that we don’t know when will come until we’re nothing but bones! I wanted to scream like that! Argh!”
Jihyun huffed, her voice overflowing with resentment.
“I want to beat them up so bad! … I’m sorry. Today, I am once again failing to love my neighbors. Seeing how difficult it is for me to practice the teachings the Lord has given me, I think I am still very lacking.”
I felt sorry for Jihyun like that. Jihyun walked around the room, slouching like a predator that had failed to hunt. I couldn’t even imagine how frustrating this situation we were in would be for an engineer. Thinking about the actions of the engineer team who prioritized speed and maximizing efficiency, I whispered softly,
“You held back well. … Like an adult.”
“I held back because there’s nothing I can do even if I get angry.”
Jihyun flopped onto an empty chair as she wandered around the room aimlessly, closed her eyes, and said,
“Ah, is it because I lacked the capability and the team leader was good at this kind of thing? I rarely take the initiative to suggest or assert that we do something as a leader to others. I don’t like doing that either. I just needed to do the given tasks well and follow instructions.”
Then, sighing, she continued,
“I’m good at doing what people tell me to do. I didn’t really need my own autonomy while living. Because if I just kept saying yes, yes, yes, I could live an ordinary life. … Today, there are too many things where I have to make a choice or take the lead. I get the team leader, but how on earth does the deputy team leader endure this?”
“Do you mean Deputy Team Leader Kang Su-jeong?”
I thought Kang Su-jeong would also be a martial arts expert like Shin Hae-ryang since they had similar builds and were on the same team. … This is also a prejudice.
“Team Leader Shin thinks there’s no need to talk at length with those who won’t listen, so when he goes into a meeting alone, everything gets processed very quickly. When Deputy Team Leader Kang goes into a meeting, she discusses for 2-3 hours, asserting her opinions with teams that have differing views. She debates with the other side. Reaches an agreement. Coordinate opinions again. … It hasn’t even been 5 minutes, but I feel like I’m going to go crazy with anger. How does she look at and live with those things every day?”
Kang Su-jeong must also be enduring something to live. It’s not easy to understand others through conversation in the first place. Everyone thinks differently, and if there’s no overlap in interests, they won’t try to cooperate. If humans could solve everything through dialogue, there wouldn’t have been a single war until now. To console the distressed Jihyun, I spoke slowly,
“That can happen. I’m really angry too. You worked so hard today. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even survived this far. It’s the same now. You’re the first to figure out a way to escape and try to attempt it.”
Jihyun got up from the chair like a zombie, staggering. Then she answered somewhat gloomily,
“… Any engineer would have thought the same. It’s not that I’m particularly smart or anything.”
“In my eyes, you’re the best engineer.”
At those words, Jihyun smiled, and as she shook her head from side to side, Yoo Geum-yi, who had entered the room, walked over like a ghost and silently hugged Jihyun tightly, patting her back a couple of times. Jihyun spoke to Yoo Geum-yi in a depressed tone,
“You’ll get wet.”
“Yeah. It’s okay. You did well, Jihyun.”
I watched the two of them with warm eyes, trying not to scratch my itchy mouth with my hand, and asked,
“Should I go and try to persuade them again? One or two of them might change their minds. Those people don’t seem to know how hard it is to just wait for a rescue that may or may not come. And we don’t know when the undersea base will collapse. In my dream, it collapsed like a reed in less than a day. … If we stir up their anxiety, there might be people who reconsider.”
Ga-young, who had entered the room and heard my words, shook her head at me and said. Ga-young also looked tired.
“I think it’s better to just leave them be, Moohyun. Those who will understand will stay anyway, and if not, they’ll leave.”
I remembered Ga-young’s words about easily giving up on the other person if they don’t listen. It’s us who lose out if there are fewer people. The side that wants to escape via the elevator right away is the one that needs their manpower. What’s the best way to go about this? Is there anything that can hold back those who say they’re going there? Ga-young asked Jihyun,
“Jihyun. Can you turn the lights back on the creature center side? It’s still in a blackout state, right?”
Jihyun checked the engineer system with her wrinkled fingertips from the water and said,
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll have the lights come back on.”
While Jihyun was restoring the electrical system on the creature center side, uploading complex approvals again, I put down my bag, took off my shoes, and then took off my socks. And I rolled up my forearms.
When I opened the bag I had put down, my eyes met the cat’s, who was taking a deep breath. … Would the cat really like being in a small, dark, cramped place like a bag? It’s an animal with free will too, so shouldn’t I let it out a bit? I’ve never raised a cat, so I need to know something.
When I lifted the cat out of the bag, it quickly left the bag as if it had wanted that. It walked lightly and made a big lap around the room. As the cat brushed past her calf, the startled Jihyun looked under the table and sighed.