Sentimental Shower

#002

Today’s only patient was a dog. The brown dog, born without one eye, was so affectionate that it kept licking Mr. Yoo’s hands throughout the examination.

“It’s just because it ate too many snacks. There’s a tendency for constipation, so especially reduce hard foods, and don’t skimp on walks because you find it bothersome. I’ll prescribe some probiotics.”

As he wiped his damp hands while speaking, the dog’s guardian expressed great relief and repeatedly thanked him.

After the dog patient, who had merely gained weight from eating too many snacks, left, it was quiet as usual. Popo chirped an odd song from somewhere, and Mr. Yoo carved wood.

Mr. Yoo’s hobby was sculpting. When Mr. Jang, who ran the hardware store, occasionally procured wood pieces for him, he would make various things out of them.

What he carved varied each time. Sometimes he would sculpt animals that had come as patients, and other times he would carve abstract shapes without any particular meaning.

Today, he was carving a camellia flower. Carving one of the many now-extinct flowers didn’t particularly evoke sadness. He just carved whatever came to mind.

Mr. Yoo’s official profession was that of a veterinarian. Unlike with humans, he didn’t charge extra for anesthesia when treating animals.

However, in reality, there weren’t many people in this neighborhood who leisurely kept pets, so his Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital was always quiet.

And that quietness was occasionally broken by human patients who came.

People who had their fingers cut off after being caught cheating at gambling, or those who were beaten and chased out after causing a disturbance. Or even those who gave up their fingers for someone else.

In Haeya-dong, where ruined lives gathered, Mr. Yoo was the one visited by the most ruined lives of all.

All medical procedures Mr. Yoo performed on humans were illegal. Reattaching severed fingers, aligning joints, removing bullets, or suturing split skin – all these procedures were unauthorized.

Nevertheless, there was a constant stream of patients, and Mr. Yoo treated those who came to him without prejudice. He would even accept a murderer if they paid.

And no one in this neighborhood complained about it. After all, Haeya-dong was a place where people died easily. Anyone could become Mr. Yoo’s patient.

But even Mr. Yoo didn’t expect to have Yeon Tae-soo as a patient.

And he certainly didn’t expect Yeon Tae-soo, whom he had treated, to return after just a few days.

Being the owner of Eden meant being the owner of this Haeya-dong.

The entire 20-story building, the largest and most dazzling even on the glamorous street, was a gambling house. No one knew exactly how much money that monstrous thing sucked in each day.

Shouldn’t the man who owned such an Eden have a proper personal physician? Not someone like a veterinarian who ran an animal hospital and practiced illegally.

“My stomach feels strangely itchy. This isn’t something wrong, is it?”

The comically distorted expression was predictable even before the emotion analysis result appeared on the retinal display. He had come to pick a fight, or maybe he was just bored. Sure enough, the word ‘curiosity’ filled the retina largely. As Mr. Yoo ignored him, Yeon Tae-soo thrust his face close to Mr. Yoo’s.

Two eyes of different colors stared at Mr. Yoo as if reading him. Though his face was clearly smiling, there was a subtle edge to it.

Mr. Yoo ignored the warning messages appearing in his visual information. He didn’t need to be told that he was tense. Why were these unnecessary parts designed to be so similar to humans when he wasn’t human?

“What, ignoring me? Is it okay for a doctor to ignore a patient?”

As Mr. Yoo averted his gaze and tried to turn away discreetly, Yeon Tae-soo seemed ready to invade all the way to the side of the chair.

“If there’s something wrong, please go see a proper doctor.”

Mr. Yoo replied casually while tidying up the desk with one hand and pulling his mask up just below his eyes with the other.

“That’s why I came. Doctor, can’t you just check my body one more time?”

If he had pressured with power, Mr. Yoo might have driven him out even at gunpoint, but with him claiming his body was strange and perching on the desk, Mr. Yoo didn’t know how to push him away in this situation.

“Please move aside.”

Even though he spoke with some force, it seemed to have no effect. Mr. Yoo acknowledged that he couldn’t send him away and chose to ignore him instead.

As he was cleaning, pretending the other wasn’t there, suddenly a hand entered his field of vision. Yeon Tae-soo’s hand gently gripped Mr. Yoo’s wrist that was holding the broom.

Though the touch wasn’t rough, strangely, he couldn’t shake it off. Maybe it was because of the stare that seemed to be observing an object.

“I’m curious about something… Why are you wearing a mask?”

Instead of telling him to let go, Mr. Yoo glared at him with force in his eyes. Yeon Tae-soo was still smiling only with his mouth.

Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze touched every corner of the face that was more than half covered by the mask.

“What’s the point of wearing a mask… Your eyes are f*cking, ugh…”

The vulgar tone and an expression even more vulgar than the tone. Mr. Yoo turned his head to look for Popo, but Popo was stuck under the closed glass door, playing with a passing cat. A robot as useless as himself.

As Yeon Tae-soo pulled the hand he was holding closer, Mr. Yoo’s upper body leaned forward.

“You can’t hide these eyes, so what’s the use of a mask?”

Mr. Yoo pointed to the large dog bed behind him.

“Take off your clothes and lie down.”

Only then did Yeon Tae-soo obediently take off his black shirt and lie down on it.

The wound had healed a lot. The recovery rate was surprisingly fast.

“How is it?”

“It’s showing a very rapid recovery. I’m surprised.”

“Hmm, I’m quite healthy. A healthy man is the best, right?”

Mr. Yoo disinfected his wound as if scrubbing it hard. He thought Yeon Tae-soo would exaggerate the pain, but he seemed to endure pain quite well.

As he reached around his back to wrap the bandage, their bodies almost touched but not quite. Yeon Tae-soo’s body temperature was a bit higher than average humans. Mr. Yoo’s tactile sensors could clearly detect the heat.

While he carefully tied a knot on top of the bandage, Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze never left his face.

Looking again, the scars on Yeon Tae-soo’s body seemed to have formed at different times. His well-trained body was packed with muscles, and the traces left by that sculpture-like body being worn and rolled seemed like patterns.

How long had this man been holding the throne of this sordid neighborhood?

It had been just over two years since Mr. Yoo came here. He thought he had lived well, keeping a low profile, but he ended up catching the eye of the biggest figure in this place.

“Looks like you’ve got good skills, why aren’t you working as a doctor instead of doing this here?”

“Didn’t you say earlier that something seemed wrong?”

As Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze fell on the camellia flower he had been carving, Mr. Yoo unnecessarily stood to block his view.

“Is there a reason you can’t practice as a doctor?”

Mr. Yoo pointed to the door again with his finger.

“Please leave now.”

“What a temper. Alright. I’m going, I’m going.”

Yeon Tae-soo leisurely buttoned up his white shirt and draped his jacket, as black as his shirt, over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

Mr. Yoo sighed as he watched Yeon Tae-soo disappear along with his subordinates who had been waiting outside. Popo rolled around, trying to be cute, but he wasn’t in the mood to play.

When he turned on the tablet, today’s news automatically flashed by in video.

50 cases of brutal android murders this week alone

Estimated twice as many unreported victims

Android Protection Law becomes useless

Mr. Yoo was indifferently flipping through the news when he stopped at one headline.

What is the ‘Black Moon Stone’ in the heart of androids?

Pressing on the text brought up a photo of a black stone. This stone, which seemed to emit a strange light despite being black, was called the Black Moon Stone.

And it was also one of the components that made up an android’s heart.

Severe shortage of Black Moon Stones… The cause of indiscriminate android hunting

This Black Moon Stone had been used in most android models produced since about 30 years ago.

The Black Moon Stone in an android’s heart was traded at very high prices on the black market. It was said that in some places, you couldn’t get it even if you had money.

And there was a Black Moon Stone in Mr. Yoo’s chest as well.

Mr. Yoo was an android. Because of this, he could be killed at any time.

Someone like Yeon Tae-soo could dispose of him without a trace. Should he leave Haeya-dong? That was the reason for his concern.

He found himself ridiculous. Even if he wasn’t killed, he was an old piece of junk with not many days left before being discarded.