Sentimental Shower

#009



 

#009

Old Man Chang came to visit, seemingly grateful for the favor of receiving the items on his behalf before.

“Mr. Yoo, you live alone. You probably don’t eat properly, do you?”

Surprised by the large container full of side dishes, Mr. Yoo couldn’t say anything as Old Man Chang entered the hospital, put the container in the food storage unit, and even completed the food data entry.

“You didn’t have to go this far…”

“When you live alone and no one takes care of you, you become loose. That’s why we should help each other.”

He was an excessively meddlesome old man. Not knowing what to say, Mr. Yoo stood there awkwardly, just touching his arms, when Old Man Chang suddenly looked him up and down.

“What’s wrong with your face? Your already small face has shrunken even more.”

“…I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

Clicking his tongue, Old Man Chang even organized the inside of the food storage unit. Only after neatly arranging the ingredients, things to eat immediately, and things not to eat for a long time, did he ask Mr. Yoo again.

“Are you having trouble sleeping again these days?”

He regretted it. He shouldn’t have told others about himself.

It seemed the old man still remembered what he had casually mentioned before about sometimes not being able to sleep.

“I’ll get you a charm that’s good for insomnia soon. Hm? It’s very effective.”

How should he explain to this old man trying to give him a product of shamanism, not knowing that the person in front of him was the epitome of science?

When he just smiled bitterly, the old man seemed to take it as permission and smiled, his wrinkled eyes crinkling.

Because of getting new medicine, Choco received treatment a few days later than planned. Fortunately, the recovery was quick. The owner smiled brightly for the first time.

“Thank you, doctor. Really, thank you.”

Mr. Yoo pulled up his mask and wrote out the prescription. The medicine would need to be taken for a while even after discharge. He had to pay a higher price to get the new medicine than at Dr. Kim’s animal hospital, but there was no need to tell the owner.

As he was about to go inside to get the medicine after organizing the prescription, there was a loud bang outside.

Mr. Yoo pulled Choco’s owner inside and shielded her with his body. As he turned his head to check behind, another bang was heard.

“You son of a bitch, won’t you come quickly?”

Following that, a sharp male voice echoed through the alley. The man was swinging a long metal pipe recklessly.

In front of him, another man was lying on the ground. Seeing blood flowing from his head, it seemed he had been hit with the pipe.

Mr. Yoo could hear what the fallen man was saying.

“Again, wrong, I’m not, won’t, never again, sir, sir, sir…”

People who were approaching to help the fallen man scattered one by one the moment they heard that unrefined language.

As the man with the pipe came closer, the fallen man trembled and clutched his head.

“Sir, sir… Sir! Sir!”

“Shut up. Did I say I’d kill you? Let’s just go home. Okay? That’s safer for you too.”

The one called ‘sir’ seemed to be the owner, and it appeared he had come to catch the escaped android.

The owner threateningly swung the metal pipe again at the gathered people.

“What are you looking at, you bastards. Get lost!”

The situation was roughly understood. As more people were harming androids, the owner probably tried to protect the android in a more violent way. Mr. Yoo noticed the vivid marks on its wrists and ankles.

And when the frightened android escaped, the owner must have gone berserk and chased after it.

Mr. Yoo went back to preparing the medicine. Choco’s owner, still curious, glanced outside.

“Doctor, I heard there are android models that can distinguish humanoid androids, is that true?”

High-end androids looked exactly like humans, so they couldn’t be distinguished externally. So humans created androids that could identify their own kind.

“Can they really distinguish them for sure?”

Choco’s owner asked, turning around. The android and its owner had already disappeared from the alley.

“Yes. It’s certain.”

“How do you know?”

As he handed over the paper bag containing the medicine, Choco meowed with perfect timing.

“I’ve seen it myself.”

A familiar person was visible through the glass door. Yeon Tae-soo was leaning against the opposite alley, smoking a cigarette.

Chapter 2

It was a quiet day. It wasn’t raining, and there were no patients with severed fingers. There were no animal patients either.

Popo had entered self-rest mode for once and was quietly in the corner. Unless Mr. Yoo woke it up directly, it would continue sleeping even if lightning struck nearby.

Fitting the calm day unusual for the rainy season, he finished carving the camellia flower. The petals, now quite well-formed, were meticulously carved and rubbed with sandpaper multiple times, making them smooth like real flower petals.

The slowly moving carving knife suddenly stopped. Then it fell onto the desk with a loud noise.

Mr. Yoo stared blankly at the desk, not even thinking of picking up the fallen knife.

His own dullness felt unfamiliar. Was it a symptom of malfunction? No, it wasn’t. The scene he had seen earlier wouldn’t leave his mind.

As if someone was forcibly replaying it over and over, he kept seeing the fallen android. The sound of the metal pipe striking. The owner of the android, shouting with wild eyes, wouldn’t disappear from his vision.

Why was he so shocked by that single scene, when he wasn’t even human?

He knew he was different from other androids. He also knew he was excessively similar to humans. Because that’s what his creator wanted.

That’s probably why he clung so desperately to his remaining life, even knowing he would die. Because he was so similar to humans.

Just as he managed to move his fingers to pick up the carving knife, the door that had been quiet all day suddenly burst open and someone ran in. He thought it would be a patient with a severed finger as usual, but it wasn’t.

“…Old Man Chang?”

Old Man Chang staggered in. Right on cue, thunder rumbled outside and lightning struck. Blood was dripping from Old Man Chang’s feet.

***

After the shop was turned upside down once to catch the runaway traitor, Eden became peaceful again. At least in Yeon Tae-soo’s eyes.

Although he always wore a pitch-black suit, he was always aware that he was a gangster.

But when he said that being a gangster and doing gangster things were different, the uneducated thugs didn’t understand and just blinked their eyes.

Well, anyway, discipline had been established and his inner circle was filled with trustworthy guys again, so at least for the time being, there shouldn’t be any trouble at Eden. Yeon Tae-soo was satisfied with that.

“Boss, um…”

Hyun-joo, the closest to Yeon Tae-soo among his close associates, approached hesitantly.

“The, uh, veterinarian is here.”

As soon as Hyun-joo finished speaking, a commotion was heard. Following that, Mr. Yoo’s figure emerged, squeezing through the thugs, and Yeon Tae-soo’s eyes widened.

“P-please call a doctor.”

Mr. Yoo’s hands were covered in blood, and the half of his face visible above the mask was pale.

Yeon Tae-soo approached and grabbed his hands. The blood stained his fingers too. Mr. Yoo was trembling violently.

He quickly looked over his body, but there didn’t seem to be any injuries. Then this must be someone else’s blood.

“What do you mean, a doctor?”

“I need a real doctor. Not someone like me, not me, a real… proper…”

Had he ever seen him tremble like this? The two eyes visible above the mask were filled with terror.

“Please help me.”

That look reminded him of certain eyes he knew from the past.

“Please help me, Mr. Yeon.”

Yeon Tae-soo gritted his molars, trying to suppress the disgust arising from his memories.


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