Chapter 38. Routine

Chapter 38. Routine

We had felt good right up until we entered the Hospital Building, but we left the building emotionally drained.

On the way back home, we had planned to discuss how to naturally approach Minsu again, but for now, we simply walked in silence.

Only the sound of the empty Trolley’s wheels rolling and the uneasy creaks from various parts of the building frames echoed through the quiet street, signaling our presence. I stopped Seonyoung, who was walking blankly as if lost in thought.

“Seonyoung, just a moment. Let’s organize the medicine and deliver as much as we can to the Client before heading home.”

“Heh. Are we the ones delivering? Sigh, even with the world ending, I’m always the Eul.”

“Sometimes you’re the Eul, sometimes you’re the Gap. When we get home, my Seonyoung is the Gap.”

“Ugh… Mister, why do you have to say things so cheesily? And even at home, I’m probably the Eul, you know?”

I felt relieved seeing Seonyoung smile faintly, as if her spirits had lifted a little. I’ve felt it from the beginning, but even without any Physical Abilities or mental powers, Seonyoung is truly a strong person.

It’s a relief her mental state hasn’t collapsed.

“Sir. Sir, we’re on the Rooftop here.”

“We’ll come up. Please stay there.”

When we arrived at the Client’s Officetel building, we heard someone calling from above.

Manager Lee was peering down from the Rooftop. I gave a brief reply, and when we climbed the stairs to the Rooftop, Manager Lee and Assistant Manager Jeon were both there.

“You returned earlier than expected. It must have been tough, wasn’t it?”

Assistant Manager Jeon bowed in greeting, and Manager Lee approached, speaking to us. Just like the first time we met, Assistant Manager Jeon seemed to be a person of few words. Seonyoung also wasn’t good at conversing with strangers, so Manager Lee and I handled most of the conversation.

“It was nothing. Did you stay here all afternoon without going out?”

“Yes, our stamina hasn’t fully recovered yet, so we decided to rest today. While resting, we were also keeping an eye on the building where Minsu lives.”

“I see. But I think it would be best to be careful. I don’t know the exact details, but Minsu himself said his Ability is Observation. He mentioned he can see things as if through a telescope.”

“Ah, then he might notice that we’re observing him. I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, both of your lips look quite dry. Hyeon-seung, could you go to the room and bring some iced tea?”

“Yes. Would you like it cold with ice for both of them?”

“Ah, thank you.”

“I’d like that too. Thank you.”

Assistant Manager Jeon went down from the Rooftop, leaving just the three of us with Manager Lee for a moment.

Come to think of it, he’s calling Assistant Manager Jeon by his name now, not his title.

“Sir. And Seonyoung. You both must have had a very difficult day, didn’t you? Honestly, I wanted to go with you earlier and help, but I thought you might be reluctant, and I might even get in the way, so I didn’t say anything. Are you both alright?”

Manager Lee spoke to us as soon as Assistant Manager Jeon left, as if he knew everything. Well, he did say he knew the Hospital Building’s Director, so he probably had a rough idea of the situation.

“You two truly did a good thing. I don’t know if these words will bring you comfort, but… you have no need to feel even a shred of guilt. On the contrary, everyone will be grateful. Even the parents and the deceased children. So please, don’t grieve, just shake it off.”

“Is that really true, Manager? Oppa, we did do a good thing, right? The truth is, we only went in there to survive…”

“Manager Lee is right. So don’t blame yourselves. There’s absolutely no need for it.”

“Of course, Seonyoung. Even I am smiling and praising you right now. Sometimes in life, good things happen for everyone. So please, don’t torment yourselves by thinking it was a selfish act. Your visit to the Hospital Building was neither selfish nor motivated by such intentions. No one in this world can blame you two. Only your own thoughts, which wound yourselves, are needlessly tormenting you. So please, don’t suffer.”

Manager Lee continued speaking, looking at Seonyoung, but occasionally glanced at me to check my expression. Manager Lee is quick-witted, and while I’d need to experience more to be sure, at this moment, he’s a truly good person to us.

He slowly continued his words of comfort, telling us we hadn’t done anything wrong, but rather, had done well.

“Hearing you say that, Manager, I feel a little more at ease. Thank you.”

“I was tormenting myself all along…”

Seonyoung’s eyes were red-rimmed, but it was different from before. Manager Lee’s comfort seemed to have helped.

As we talked, Assistant Manager Jeon returned with glass cups on a tray. The iced tea we drank at the Client’s was incredibly sweet and refreshing.

“Unnie! What’s wrong? Did you cry? Why? What happened? Are you okay?”

“No, nothing happened. Something just splashed into my eye outside, so I washed my face. Are my eyes a little swollen?”

“Really? You didn’t fight with Mister, did you? You two shouldn’t fight…”

“We didn’t fight, so you don’t need to glare at me. Was everything alright at home?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine here. Unnie, are you really okay? Should we go inside and talk, just the two of us?”

“I’m really fine, Gayoung. I didn’t fight with Oppa, and nothing happened, so don’t worry. More importantly, it looks like you have something on your hands. Did you wipe it all on Unnie?”

“Oh, right! I was kneading dough to make Donkatsu… Hehe, sorry, Unnie.”

Gayoung, who had greeted us at the entrance when we returned home, scurried off to the Kitchen.

Seonyoung and I finally went inside, took off our Farming Clothes, and began tidying up.

After distributing the medicines we had farmed from the Client, we returned straight home. In the end, we couldn’t meet Minsu and had to wait for another opportunity.

I took out the medicines we’d acquired from my Backpack, gathered them in the Living Room for now, and headed to the Restroom to prepare for a quick wash. I usually shower after coming back at night, but whenever I return from outside, I always take off my clothes to check if any Zombie blood or other foreign substances have splattered on me.

No matter how tightly I covered my entire body, sometimes, strangely, I’d find bloodstains on hidden skin. Fortunately, today there were no bloodstains, so I simply washed my face and wiped my hands and feet.

Some days, even with a hat, blood would splatter on my exposed hair, leading me to shower four times a day. Even if I wasn’t infected, the feeling of uncleanliness was unavoidable. And I hated dirtying the house.

I sat at the Kitchen table and waited for a moment, and soon Seonyoung emerged. We all began preparing dinner. Seonyoung’s showering speed had also become incredibly fast. I suppose this counts as Adaptation, if anything.

“Let’s eat well!”

“Gayoung, I’ll enjoy the meal.”

Usually, we talk about what happened outside during the day while eating dinner. But on the way home today, we had agreed beforehand not to tell Gayoung. We figured it would just bring down the mood and make her worry too much… Plus, if we kept talking about it, the memories would resurface, and we didn’t want that. Perhaps because of this, a quiet dinner continued.

“Gayoung, was there still pork left?”

“Yes, there’s still a little. I’ve kept all the meat frozen in the Kimchi Refrigerator.”

“Ah… but won’t it spoil? Shouldn’t we eat it all quickly?”

“I thought so too, but with the help of the MeTube teachers, I found out you can store it for quite a long time. So I’m planning to portion it out appropriately and eat it for as long as it lasts. What do you think?”

“If we can store it for a long time, then it’s good to eat it slowly. Let’s manage it well then. Gayoung is really good at managing the household.”

“Hehe… I’m not really good at it, I just follow instructions. When I defrosted it today, it was perfectly fine. It took a lot of effort, which was a bit tiring, but it feels rewarding to eat it like this.”

I was surprised when she said she made Donkatsu, as I thought it would be difficult to eat meat now. It tasted good too. When Gayoung receives a lot of praise, she gets even more excited and studies diligently on her own, and that’s been a great help. I should praise her more often from now on.

Once I broke the silence and started talking, perhaps finding the quiet meal awkward, Gayoung began to chatter on about various things. How much food we had, how she processed and froze it, telling us to just say if there was anything we wanted to eat tomorrow, or what her plans were and what Unnie and Mister thought… Once her mouth opened, it seemed unlikely to close.

“Seonyoung?”

“Yes, Oppa. Why?”

I called Seonyoung while Gayoung paused her chatter to pick up a piece of Donkatsu. I had only been listening and eating, so my meal was already finished.

“You know, now that I think about it, I gave too much.”

“Huh? Too much of what?”

“I think I gave too much medicine to the Client. I had originally intended to give a little less than that…”

“Hehehe. Suddenly? We have plenty of spare, isn’t it fine?”

“That’s true, but it would be better if we kept more, even if it’s just extra. If they need more later, we can always give it to them then. I just got swept up in the grateful atmosphere earlier and didn’t think clearly.”

“What, did you get played? Manager Lee couldn’t have calculated that far, could he?”

“Whether he calculated it or not, this much is fine. It’s not a big problem. Though the iced tea was a bit expensive.”

“Hehehe, I guess so. But I don’t think it was that expensive for what we got. Let’s just consider it payment for counseling.”

“Why, Mister? Did you drink expensive iced tea? Where? What about me?”

Gayoung, who had already finished her Donkatsu, chimed into the conversation. Thinking we had eaten something good by ourselves, she clung to Seonyoung, pestering her to tell her the story too.

Seonyoung, with a much more relaxed expression than earlier in the day, smiled and told her about the Client’s people.

It didn’t matter if Manager Lee had truly said those pleasant words just to get a little more medicine. What was clear was that his comfort had helped us greatly, and it wasn’t as if we had given away all our medicine anyway. If Manager Lee had even anticipated that we would be okay with this level of ‘greed’ today, that would be a bit chilling… But it’s still fine. I don’t really feel like I was played. Seonyoung’s mental state is far more important to me. After all, protecting the person beside me is ultimately the same as protecting myself.