Chapter 6
The doctor finished the examination and then rolled up my pants.
“How did you get injured?”
“…Ah, I was kicked by some people.”
“Tsk, you should be more careful.”
“No, that’s not true. The mister got hurt while trying to save me and my mom.”
As soon as the doctor began to scold me, the child jumped in to defend me. Since it was true, I gave a bitter smile, and the doctor’s eyes widened. The doctor looked at me with admiring eyes and patted my back. I never thought I’d be praised like this for something I did unconsciously. When words of praise—”well done,” “that’s admirable”—poured out right in front of me, embarrassment rose all the way to the top of my head.
I cleared my throat to dispel the embarrassment. Ms. Yoon So-young looked proudly at the child who spoke so clearly and properly, then took out some gauze and wiped the child’s face, which was covered in grime. The child also seemed to not dislike Ms. Yoon So-young, quietly allowing her to clean their face.
“I should move her to a patient room for now. We can’t leave her on this cold floor.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
I asked cautiously. The tremors had happened not just once, but twice. I couldn’t definitively call it an earthquake because of the pattern that emitted light peculiarly when the ground shook. That pattern was still settling in the sky, and that strange vibration might strike again. But the doctor shook his head.
“We can’t move a sick person around either, and if something worse happens, it would be a disaster. Besides, if we clear away dangerous objects, this hospital should be able to withstand it.”
I nodded. Come to think of it, there was no safer place for injured people than a hospital. Even though he was an internist, there was a doctor, and all necessary supplies for treatment were available. Since there was a cafeteria inside the hospital, there would be food ingredients too, and they could somewhat cook until rescue came. The doctor carefully examined my leg, massaged it briefly, and then patted my knee with a reassured face.
“It seems like a sprain, and the bone doesn’t appear to be damaged… honestly, I’m not completely sure though.”
“Still, I feel a bit more at ease hearing it from you, doctor.”
“Even though I’m an internist?”
“You’d know better than others, I suppose.”
I massaged my still-aching leg. After Ms. Yoon So-young applied some taping, it seemed a bit better than before, and the pain was less. I massaged it diligently, hoping it would heal quickly. Meanwhile, the doctor, with Ms. Yoon So-young’s help, carried the child’s mother on his back, and Ms. Yoon So-young held the child’s hand. However, before moving, they gestured to me as I sat on the floor massaging my leg.
“Are you coming with us?”
I shook my head. They probably meant I should rest in a patient room since I was a patient with a painful leg, but I declined their offer. As much as I wanted to rest comfortably, and seeing the child waving their hand at me made me want to grab it right away, I felt that if I followed them, my body might be comfortable, but my mind would be uneasy. Now that I knew my leg wasn’t seriously injured, I decided to choose a path that would be more comfortable for me mentally, even if physically uncomfortable.
“I’m going to check the situation outside and look for other people. If I meet a rescue team, I could also inform them about the hospital’s situation.”
My parents, whom I thought of the moment I saw the doctor. Since then, I had wanted to hear their voices and confirm they were safe. I wondered how things were over there. When the news first broke, they only focused on Seoul, so I was relieved. But what if the range of the sky pattern had widened? Once the worry started building, all sorts of thoughts jumbled up in my head.
“What about the hospital phone?”
“I saw it earlier when passing by, but it was all broken.”
“Seems like people trampled over it.”
The doctor clicked his tongue. Then he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and checked it. But either the signal was dead or something else was wrong, because as soon as he took it out, he stuffed it back in. He thought for a moment, then this time took out a pen and held it out to me. He grabbed my puzzled hand, made me open my palm, and wrote something on it. The round tip of the pen tickled my palm, making my fingers curl.
“It’s my wife’s phone number and our home number.”
Only then did I understand his intention. He was asking me to call on behalf of him since he couldn’t go out. I nodded, but he seemed to have more to say, hesitating as he carefully spoke up.
“…Tell her I’ll be back soon, so, well… to my wife…”
“Shall I tell her you love her?”
“When did I ever say such a thing!”
The doctor was startled and quickly denied it. But his denial had no effect, as his ears turned bright red. I smiled, asked him to take care of the child, and they promised they would.
“What will Mr. Do-yun do?”
Ms. Yoon So-young threw a question at the last remaining person. Kim Do-yun, as if there was nothing to think about, took something out of his pocket. His car key gleamed as it reflected the fluorescent light.
“There’s nothing for me to do if I stay here, so I’ll go with this person. He doesn’t seem to be in good shape, and two people would be better than one.”
“…Ye-es.”
Ms. Yoon So-young bowed her head with a face mixed with relief and disappointment. She seemed to have such an ambiguous reaction because while she was worried about me, having someone to help at the hospital was reassuring. The doctor patted her dejected shoulders and adjusted the child’s mother on his back.
“If the decision is made, let’s go quickly. There’s a lot to do. There will be patients who can’t move, and there might be doctors who can’t get out like me… a surgeon would be nice.”
The doctor smiled as he dusted off his collar, which was dirtied with food. Only then did Ms. Yoon So-young nod and take the child’s hand to lead them away. The child, who had been rolling their eyes and watching cautiously, seemed to know we were parting, waved their hand at me.
“Mister, be careful. Don’t get hurt.”
“Alright, I’ll be careful.”
I found it cute that the child was worried about me amid all this, so I patted their head.
I rejected Kim Do-yun’s kindness to support me again and slowly moved my steps. Thanks to the taping and vigorous massaging, walking became a bit easier. Kim Do-yun matched his pace with mine, moving his feet slowly like a slowpoke.
He could have gone ahead. His steps, exactly matched with mine, positioned him where he could help anytime if I fell. I felt both gratitude and uneasiness from his behavior. Perhaps it was because I had never received such kindness from another man before.
“The car… seems unusable.”
I raised my head at Kim Do-yun’s words as he suddenly stopped. Though it hadn’t been long since we met, this was the first time I’d seen such an expression on his face. The person who had been faintly smiling or attentively listening to others with a neat face was now staring outside with a stiff expression. I tilted my head and looked outside, only to be dumbfounded.
It was vegetation. Lush vegetation that had risen so densely it could collapse buildings was spread everywhere. But its appearance was far from a manicured garden. I could see the road, crushed like tofu, and the tips of trees that had broken through it. If not for the natural color and grain of the trees, I might not have even thought they were trees—they looked like iron skewers stuck in the ground.
The trees covering the soil had a relatively decent appearance, but they were simply too abundant and magnificent. Like a section of the Amazon rainforest had been transplanted here.
But strangely, there were no bird calls or insects here. As if announcing they had suddenly appeared, there was only abundant vegetation, and everything else was quiet.
“This is… still Seoul, right?”
“Yes.”
“Was there something like a park at this hospital?”
“I remember there was a lawn, if that counts.”
I took off my hat and ruffled my hair. If I had been alone, I might have pulled at my hair, doubting my own sanity. I felt momentarily grateful for Kim Do-yun’s presence.
“Do you think we can find a rescue team?”
“If the facilities are intact, they won’t just sit around. Even if not, all those people couldn’t have suddenly disappeared…”
Even the usually decisive Kim Do-yun trailed off ambiguously this time.
I anxiously reviewed the current situation. There was a strange pattern in the sky, and meteor showers had fallen from the dark clouds. In a situation where bizarre trees were breaking through the ground, it wouldn’t be strange if people disappearing was added to the mix.
“Let’s go for now. There might be people once we get out of here.”
After glancing at the flooded scene before us, I added without confidence:
“It’s going to be extremely difficult though.”
“I suppose so.”
Kim Do-yun took a big step forward. Then he extended his hand in front of me, his eyes twinkling with a hint of a smile.
“Shall I support you?”
“I’ll ask for your help when I really can’t manage. I don’t want to drain the strength of my companion like a burden right from the start.”
“I’m stronger than I look.”
“I know. Your strength was really impressive. Have you always been like that?”
Kim Do-yun’s smile momentarily stopped. He thought for a moment and then shook his head.
“I was just average before. Becoming strong is a recent development.”
“Hmm, maybe you started working out?”
“Haha, who knows.”
Kim Do-yun, who had been answering precisely every time, evaded with a laugh this time.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
