Chapter 95: Record-Breaking Heavy Rain
"...So, what should I do?"
After calling Song A-rin aside, I asked her about Yu Daon.
What kind of worries I was having, and how I should treat Yu Daon. And what was Song A-rin's opinion on all that.
"..."
As she listened to me, Song A-rin's expression grew increasingly sour, and by the time I finished speaking, she was glaring at me with dagger-like eyes.
—Thwack!
Song A-rin's fist planted itself squarely in my back.
"Argh!"
"..."
"Damn it...! Why are you hitting me?!"
"..."
Without saying a word, she started punching my back with her fist.
"Ouch. No. Wait! Use words! Hold on! Don't use hypnosis!"
Enduring a throbbing headache, I desperately blocked her punches.
"You!"
—Thump!
"Argh!"
"What! Kind of! Mindset! Do you think! I had! Rushing! To stop you from changing clothes! And fixing your hair!"
—Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Wait, stop! Whatever it is, I must have done something wrong...!"
It was only after I was kicked outright and took several more punches from a fuming Song A-rin that she finally began to calm down.
"You... Make sure you talk to White Hair exactly like you did just now."
"You're telling me to talk like I just did, not to avoid talking like that?"
"So she can get a taste of her own medicine."
Panting angrily, Song A-rin leaned her back against the wall and looked at me.
"So. You and Black Hair have been a bit distant lately, right?"
"To be precise, it's just me feeling that way."
"Why? There must be a reason you think that."
"..."
Should I tell her this?
While I was pondering, Song A-rin waved her hand.
"Never mind. I get it even if you don't say it. You must have said something inhuman again and disgusted her."
"..."
"From the beginning, when she says crazy things, you and White Hair just stand there with expressions like 'Oh, that's just how she is~', didn't you think that was strange?"
"Did I do that?"
"You did."
Song A-rin sighed and ruffled my hair.
"But there's nothing to be done about it. Her way of thinking is fundamentally different from ours."
"Because she's a human who isn't afraid of death."
"Right."
Song A-rin nodded and made eye contact with me.
"But that's not the problem with her. She lacks a sense of self."
"Lacking a sense of self..."
Doesn't Jang Chae-yeon also lack a sense of self?
"White Hair isn't without a sense of self."
As if reading my expression, Song A-rin shook her head and answered.
"She has a clear sense of self, but she sets it aside for your sake. It's the first time I've seen that brat act like that in all her time in the world, but anyway."
"..."
"Black Hair doesn't even try to think. She acts as if thinking itself is some kind of sin. So she has no opinions of her own."
"..."
"She occasionally says pointless things, but if you ask her twice or press her persistently, she gives up quickly."
"...That's true."
"So, well, what can you do? You just have to encourage her more and praise her more."
"Will that be enough?"
"If I did it, it wouldn't mean anything, but if you do it, it will."
I nodded at Song A-rin's words.
Yeah, we are kinda close.
"As expected, you're the only person I can discuss this with, Ms. Song A-rin. Thank you."
"...Ahem, well, I am the 'only one'."
As if the person who had been pounding me earlier had vanished, Song A-rin was clearing her throat exaggeratedly and speaking with apparent pleasure.
"Anyway, is that all?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then, shall we..."
Song A-rin twisted a strand of my hair and muttered.
"...get some coffee or something...?"
"Found you."
A voice overlaying her muttering was heard, and Jang Chae-yeon appeared.
"Oh, Ms. Chae-yeon. Did the heavy rain make you late?"
"Yep."
"But you're not wet at all?"
"I blocked it."
That's an enviable ability.
Showing off her completely dry clothes, Jang Chae-yeon looked at me.
"Want me to take you home?"
"Oh, is that okay?"
"Yep."
"Great. Ms. Song A-rin, you can come along too..."
"I'm not going."
Song A-rin, who had already made a scrunched-up face again, stamped her foot and walked past us.
"Why does she act like that?"
"...She's immature."
Jang Chae-yeon laughed while watching Song A-rin leave.
It was less a soft laugh and more like a smirk, twisting one corner of her mouth upwards.
"Want to get coffee?"
"Sure."
An office worker without coffee? You'd have to be either crazy or have stamina beyond human limits.
I'm neither.
*
When I entered the office carrying five cups of coffee, the Team Leader wasn't there.
"Where's the Team Leader?"
"Sick."
Song A-rin answered coldly as she snatched a coffee.
I felt worried.
Lately, whenever the Team Leader gets sick, I can't help but feel like some incident is about to happen.
"I'm suddenly worried, what should I do?"
"Why, because the Team Leader isn't here?"
When I nodded, Song A-rin snorted dismissively.
"Then go to the Team Leader's house and sleep with him."
"What a terrible thing to say."
"Worrying won't solve anything. And he's just absent because he's sick."
"But still, I'm worried..."
"Enough. I have a feeling, it seems like nothing will happen."
Based on what?
Just then, Yu Daon, who had been quiet until now, laughed and nodded.
"That's right! Nothing will happen, so don't worry too much!"
"..."
For a moment, my eyes met Song A-rin's, and Song A-rin let out a low sigh and got up from her seat.
"Fine. We don't have anything to do anyway, so let's go sightseeing around the Management Bureau."
"Sightseeing?"
Song A-rin nodded in response to Yu Daon, whose eyes were wide open.
"Yeah. The Research Team or... well, or just walk around."
"But... is that okay? We still have work left."
"Honestly, they send us to the forest yesterday and expect us to finish the paperwork by today? If that's the case, I'll really go find them and kill them."
At Song A-rin's threatening words, we all fell silent.
It wasn't so much fear as a deep-seated agreement.
We just filmed 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and were immediately sent to the forest; isn't the fact that we even came to work proof enough that we're doing our jobs well?
And so, the four of us ended up wandering around inside the Management Bureau again.
"But I haven't really wandered around inside the Management Bureau much, have I?"
"It's big."
Jang Chae-yeon answered calmly as she walked.
"The exterior is a normal building, but the Management Bureau expanded its size."
"How?"
"Don't know."
She shook her head.
As I walked, I looked out the window.
—Swoooosh...!
The rain fell endlessly.
"Wow, it's raining incredibly hard."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon looked out the window with a serious expression.
"Why?"
"My place is on the first floor. Will it be okay?"
"Uh..."
Hearing Jang Chae-yeon's words, Yu Daon also made a serious face and looked out the window.
"My dorm is on the first floor too..."
"Dorm?"
Yu Daon is also a Management Bureau employee, so why a dorm?
As if sensing the meaning in my words, Yu Daon opened her mouth.
"My house got destroyed, remember?"
"Ah."
Right.
I recalled the incident at the hospital.
"Is the dorm livable?"
"It's not as good as my old house, but well..."
"So why is everyone living on the first floor?"
Song A-rin said with a triumphant expression, puffing out her chest.
"I live on the 12th floor. There's no way my place will flood."
"I live on a high floor too."
At least it's not the first floor.
"Hey, aren't you Kim Jae-heon?"
While we were walking and chatting, I heard a familiar voice and looked down.
Eileen, with her still dull eyes and faded blonde hair, was looking up at me, waving her hand.
"Ms. Eileen. Long time no see."
"Lots of incidents have been happening, so it hasn't been that long."
Eileen chuckled and stared straight at me.
"I heard you did something in the forest too. Did you come to work today as well?"
"Couldn't get leave."
"Good grief. The Management Bureau is no different from a trash company."
Clicking her tongue, Eileen shook her head.
"I heard the HR Team drove the eastern wedge, right?"
"Ah, yes. That's correct."
"We were in charge of supporting the northern wedge."
"Ah, I didn't know."
So the Response Team participated too.
"We're kinda field personnel within the Management Bureau, after all."
Eileen shrugged and answered.
"I heard an Isolation Team member caused an accident, which led to it."
"An accident?"
"Yep, I forgot the name, but his face was memorable. A man with a burned face."
"..."
I have a pretty good idea who that is.
"Thanks to that, that person got disciplined, and only the Response Team's workload increased."
"Were there any casualties?"
"There weren't."
She answered with an uncharacteristically gentle smile.
"Lately, we've been doing HR Team-style training."
"...What's that...?"
It sounded like something that would be very unpleasant to hear.
"Throwing people into moderately dangerous situations, and if they survive, immediately deploying them into the next situation."
"..."
I looked at the other three.
All three had the same expression on their faces.
"...What, you didn't know? It's a term often used in the Response Team."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use it, as it's unpleasant."
"It's a compliment, so what's the problem? Enjoy it a little."
Despite being much younger than me, she patted my shoulder, let out a hearty laugh, and then waved as she passed us.
"Doesn't it mean you're that good? I have a meeting, so I'll go ahead."
And then she vanished like a storm.
"...Should we go back?"
"..."
What on earth does the HR Team think we are?
*
The moment I sat back down and turned on the computer, a broadcast started to come through.
<Ahh,>
"I knew something had happened again!"
I knew this would happen.
Just as I was about to pull out the pistol from my inner pocket and prepare, I heard a tap, tap sound of someone tapping a microphone, and the broadcast continued.
<Ahh, broadcasting from the Management Bureau Broadcasting Team.>
It was a lifeless male voice.
There was a Broadcasting Team too?
While pondering this and looking around with the pistol in hand, the lifeless voice continued.
<Due to the excessive rainfall, leaks and flooding have been reported on the first floors of some apartments and dormitories affiliated with the Management Bureau.>
<The affected apartments are as follows. Happy Dormitory...>
"That's my dorm!"
Yu Daon's eyes widened.
<...C-Dong Apartment. That is all.>
"...My place too."
Jang Chae-yeon also muttered with a blank expression.
"Ahahaha!!!"
And Song A-rin, holding her stomach and laughing at the sight.
"Look at your faces! Ahahaha!"
<Repair work by the Management Bureau Residential Team is expected to take one to two days. You may sleep at another employee's house or book a hotel.>
With a thud, the broadcast cut off.
That's it? No sudden creepy voice saying 'die' or anything?
While I was frantically looking around, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey."
"...Ah, yes."
It was Jang Chae-yeon.
She looked up at me and blinked.
"Can I sleep over at your place?"
"Ahaha! Ahahaha! ....Aha.....?"
Against the backdrop of Song A-rin's insane laughter that suddenly stopped, Jang Chae-yeon looked at me.
"I'll sleep over."
But, you're younger than me...
"What about your parents'..."
"I don't have a family."
I was momentarily speechless at Jang Chae-yeon's answer, and she stared straight at me.
"If you're worried, bring her too."
"...Me?"
Yu Daon, who suddenly found the spotlight turned on her, blinked and pointed at herself.
"Yep. Wanna sleep over?"
"...Uh, well, um. ...Sure!"
"She says yes."
"First of all, my opinion is, no... Ms. Daon, your family also..."
"They're all dead!"
I was left speechless by her cheerful statement, and in the meantime, Jang Chae-yeon got up, grabbed Yu Daon's arm, and started walking.
"Let's pack."
"Uh, wait a moment! I'll be right back!"
And the two of them slipped out the door like the wind.
As I stared blankly at the door, Song A-rin spoke to me.
"...My place is fine, so I'll sleep at my own house."
"Huh? No. Of course. Why would you sleep at my place?"
Song A-rin's place isn't flooded.
"..."
Song A-rin glared at me with dagger eyes, then turned away and started booting up her computer.
"Shall we work?"
"Shut up."
She's being prickly again.
*
<As the record-breaking heavy rain continues, water is entering beyond the capacity of the sewage system, and the government is also requesting people to refrain from going out and to stay on higher floors.>
The sound came from the news playing at home.
I stared blankly out the window.
It was raining so hard I couldn't see ahead.
I've never seen rain like this in my life.
"It's raining incredibly hard!"
Yu Daon muttered behind me with wide eyes, and along with clattering sounds, Jang Chae-yeon was cooking in the kitchen.
"..."
My head hurts.