Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Yoo Geum-yi, having received a candy, said,

“Moohyun-ssi, thank you for waking me up. I was too caught up in the moment, and only now can I finally have a conversation.”

“It’s nothing. It’s what I should do.”

I could feel Jung Sanghyun, standing a few meters away from us, snorting derisively while rolling a candy in his hand. Yoo Geum-yi turned to look at him and then completely ignored him. She then asked Kang Sujeong and me,

“Where are you planning to go?”

Kang Sujeong, looking at Lee Ji-hyun lying on the floor and Jung Sanghyun sitting, then spoke to Yoo Geum-yi and me, who were sitting on the ground.

“Our team is heading to the East District. Even if we can’t use the escape pod, we can use a submarine, and if that’s not possible, we’ll just ride the elevator, assuming we’re dead.”

“The Russian team said they’re moving to North District in two minutes to use the escape pod.”

Kang Sujeong nodded her head upon hearing this from Yoo Geum-yi as she gazed at the people sprawled out far away. Then she asked Yoo Geum-yi,

“Are you going to come with us?”

Yoo Geum-yi shook her head in response.

“I’m going to the South District. I need to see how much damage the South District has taken. The researchers and professors I know are all in the South District.”

Yoo Geum-yi was a marine biologist. I had completely forgotten that she worked in the South District. Kang Sujeong, looking troubled, said,

“Hmm. In this situation, it might be better to look after Yoo Geum-yi’s personal safety first.”

Yoo Geum-yi pondered Kang Sujeong’s advice for a moment before speaking.

“South District has four 7-story research buildings, with about 400 people residing there. When I arrived at South District, the professors and fellow researchers might have already escaped, but there could be people unaware of the water leakage because they were asleep in a frenzy, and there are marine animals trapped there too. I don’t know much about the Rare Earth Center or the Marine Pollution Center, but I’m familiar with the Deep-Sea Biology Center, so I’ll stop by there briefly before taking the escape pod from South District. If there’s no escape pod, there’s also a cargo elevator in the South District Research Center.”

Kang Sujeong and Yoo Geum-yi’s eyes turned towards me. I hesitated. Should I tell them now? If things go as they did in my dream, the research center will be completely gone, but I can’t send Yoo Geum-yi to such a place. What should I say? That the South District was destroyed by a missile in my dream? Anyway, we need to go to the South District soon. Kim Ga-young is trapped in the South District dormitory.

“…Yeah. Then I’ll go to the South District with you.”

Kang Sujeong’s expression subtly changed. Then, after a moment of contemplation, she nodded.

“Alright. Then we’ll part ways at Jungang-dong.”

The Russian people were groaning as they got up. Kang Sujeong looked at the child lying on the floor, grabbed their arm, lifted them up, and carried them on her back. It looked so natural, like water flowing. Given Kang Sujeong’s height of over 190 cm, it looked as though she was wearing Henry like a scarf. After adjusting Henry’s arms around her neck, Kang Sujeong steadied the child on her back and said,

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Unlike in my dream, I slung a bag over my back. The weight of the cat was heavy. It was then I realized that candies were scattered all around the cat. Does a cat eat candy? Don’t eat it. Animals shouldn’t eat things like candy. It’s not even good for humans to eat. …I then began to worry whether the cat would eat a snake. As I walked beside Yoo Geum-yi, I wondered if she had knowledge about terrestrial animals and decided to ask her.

“Yoo Geum-yi, by any chance…”

“Yes?”

“Can a cat eat a snake?”

Thankfully, Yoo Geum-yi didn’t berate me for asking such a question in this situation. She just looked at me strangely and then nodded.

“Cats are predators that can catch snakes.”

“I see.”

My list of worries suddenly grew. What if the cat in my bag started a ruckus trying to catch the snake? I had separated them, but it was only a thin separation. Contemplating this new concern, I reopened my bag and saw the cat calmly curled up. The sight of the cat, curled up neatly on top of the towels, made it seem absurd to even suspect it of hunting. I murmured to myself as I closed the bag, “If they don’t want to annihilate each other, they need to coexist peacefully.”

I then realized Yoo Geum-yi didn’t know about the cat and snake in my bag. Probably nobody here knew. I was about to ask if anyone knew the owners of these animals but then stopped myself. The thought that, in case of an emergency, the lives of these animals might have to be weighed against human lives stopped me. Keeping their presence unknown seemed like the lesser of two evils.

It’s strange. In the dream, revealing the presence of these forbidden animals in the underwater base seemed like it would only worsen the already chaotic atmosphere. Moreover, since I was the one who saved them, the responsibility would fall on me. That’s why I didn’t mention it then, but now, not saying anything seemed like the safer option.

Looking around, I noticed that the only ones assisting with taking care of Henry were Kang Sujeong, who had checked the child’s condition and carried them on her back, and Yoo Geum-yi, who had dried the child’s wet feet and legs with the hem of her T-shirt. The others were either indifferent or pretended not to notice the child.

Was the unconscious child, weighing over 20 kg, considered a burden in the situation of the underwater base flooding? Then what about the cat weighing over 6 kg and the snake of uncertain venomous status, long enough to wrap around a wrist several times? Feeling the weight of the bag, I was startled to notice Nikita approaching me silently. His footsteps made no sound, perhaps due to being barefoot. His disheveled blond hair even more tousled, Nikita asked me,

“Did you see anyone else when escaping the West District?”

“What kind of person are you asking about?”

“A Russian like me. A man.”

“There wasn’t anyone. If there had been, I would have brought them along.”

Nikita glanced at the child Kang Sujeong was carrying on her back, then at me, said “Alright” in a brief manner, and ran off to catch up with his team. Lee Ji-hyun, walking beside me, watched Nikita’s back and said,

“It seems he doesn’t have a younger brother.”

“Weren’t minors not allowed to enter here?”

Hearing my question, Lee Ji-hyun looked incredulous and chuckled a bit. I realized my mistake from her laughter. Ah, if they entered here, they must be adults.

“There’s a tall guy named Dmitri, blond with a half-shaved head, but he’s not with that group. And Irina’s not there either. Looks like he’s lost two of his teammates.”

I recalled my room number, 37, and at the same time, I realized I had never checked the numbers before 36. …I hope no one’s there. Even if there are people, I hope they’ve already left their rooms. I can’t save everyone. I pushed away the sudden wave of guilt. Everyone in this underwater base is an adult. They should have the ability to take responsibility for at least their own lives. As soon as I had this thought, I saw those who had been drinking vodka or something similar, emanating a strong smell of alcohol, still staggering along.

…I hope the other adults are more responsible than them. I walked while momentarily gazing at Henry’s face, asleep on Kang Sujeong’s back, and then paused. It was Viktor who first found the person collapsed on the floor. He leaned over to check if the person was alive and then told his team that the person was dead. He shook off his hands that had touched the corpse and started walking again. Kang Sujeong sighed and said to Jung Sanghyun next to her,

“Sanghyun, go take a picture of the face with the pad.”

“…I feel uncomfortable saving a picture of a dead body in my photo gallery.”

Despite grumbling, Jung Sanghyun did as Kang Sujeong asked and ran over to take two photos of the man’s face with the pad. Yoo Geum-yi, walking beside me, gasped upon seeing the body and stuck close to the wall, distancing herself from the corpse lying in the corridor.

Except for Viktor, I was the only one who approached the body. I checked for signs of life. It was just like the person I had seen in my dream. This person was Kevin Wilson, wasn’t he? Shin Haeryang said he was American. His head was smashed against a metal handle installed in the corridor.

As the person’s eyes were open, I licked my dry lips, mentally prepared myself, and then closed his eyes with the palm of my hand. Ugh, damn it. The sensation of the warm eyelids brushing against my palm was strangely unsettling, especially the long eyelashes brushing my hand made me want to flee the scene immediately. I took a deep breath to steady myself, somewhat relieved that at least the deceased had their eyes closed. Jung Sanghyun, who was retreating after taking the photos, saw my action and commented,

“Do you really have to put on such a pretense?”

“I just did what I felt like doing.”

Jung Sanghyun looked at me as if I was strange and then walked away towards Kang Su-jeong. Yoo Geum-yi, who had been waiting for me, asked,

“Shall I carry your bag?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“…This is the first time I’ve seen a body up close.”

“Me too. You don’t usually see people dying at a dental clinic.”

“That’s not supposed to happen, right?”

“Right.”

As I laughed lightly, Yoo Geum-yi exhaled a sigh of relief and chuckled along. Carlos was approaching me. Then Carlos greeted Yoo Geum-yi and me with a bright smile,

“Hey. Saw you back at the dorms. What’s your name?”

“Moohyun Park.”

“I’m Carlos Ruiz. Where are you two heading?”

“I’m Yoo Geum-yi. Moohyun and I are going to the South District.”

“Really? I’m following the Russians to North District. Why South District? Are there many escape pods there?”

Swallowing the words ‘I’m going to save someone trapped in the South District dormitory’, which would have followed the pattern of my dream, I gave a vague response.

“No, we’ll take an escape pod if there is one available. It’s probably better than everyone crowding into one place, don’t you think?”

“Is that so?”

“Why are you going to North District, Carlos?”

Yoo Geum-yi’s question prompted Carlos to lower his voice and glance at the people walking ahead before answering.

“The Koreans here in West District took all the remaining escape pods for themselves. I begged for a spot, but they completely ignored me. The Russians arrived too late and just watched the escape pods being launched. If they had arrived earlier, there would have been a bloody fight. Have you heard about Viktor smashing an Australian guy’s face?”

“No.”

“The researchers practically live in the South District.”