I took the central elevator up and filled a tray with one of each type of bread from the Third Undersea Base. The bakery in the Third Undersea Base is called [Babylonia], and although I don't know why it has such a name, the bread was really delicious. Freshly baked bread came out every day, and there were many varieties. At first, I didn't understand why people would line up and wait for the bread, but now I could understand. I looked at the challenging phrase engraved inside the bakery.
[Man can live on bread alone]
If I had to choose between bread and rice, I would choose rice, but the bread from this place was so incredibly delicious that I couldn't argue with the phrase. I thought I had swallowed the first red bean paste bun I tried without even chewing because I was so hungry, but it was still delicious even when I was full.
The restaurant food was decent, but the bread was so good that I imagined some people might be using it for their meals. I considered filling the tray with only my favorite bread, but I decided to take one of each type as a safe choice, since I didn't know what others might like.
Kang Soo-jung's next shift was in 3 hours. She was chatting and playing with friends in her dorm when she was asked if she could come. I remembered my appointment in 2 hours, asked if it was okay for me to come, and after getting a positive response, I went to her dorm with 4 cups of coffee and a bunch of bread, and knocked on the door. Kang Soo-jung, wearing a light shirt and jeans, opened the door.
"You're here, sir."
"Hello!"
"Hello."
"Hello. I'm the new dentist, Park Mu-hyun."
Both of them were engineers from different teams; one was Tzu-shian from Team L and the other was Lily, a Canadian from Team A. They said they were workout buddies and met at the gym in Central District. They encouraged and teased each other when they didn't want to exercise. All three of them were over 180cm tall, and the muscles in their arms as they picked up the coffee cups were impressive.
While listening to their chatter, I realized that most of the female engineers in the undersea base regularly exercised. Thinking about my own body, which only had living muscles, I started to reflect on myself. I should probably build some muscles while I'm here in the undersea base.
"I should start exercising."
"That's a good idea. The men exercise a lot. For women, there's a trainer named Emily, and for men, there's James."
"Speaking of which, I remember James used to curse a lot because the men broke so much equipment in the early days."
"Who is James?"
"James Miller, a trainer from the U.S. You can tell him you're new to exercising, and he'll guide you well."
Tzu-shian, seeing my confused expression, explained in more detail.
"He's a 195cm tall man with muscles all over his body, wearing a red training suit. He wears the same training suit every day, and I wonder if he washes it."
"Most of the men living in the undersea base seem to have good bodies."
Kang Soo-jung shook her head at my comment.
"Not all of them."
"Only those who exercise do."
Tzu-shian, who said this, wiped the cream from her lips with her thumb, licked it, and quickly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. When I lowered my hand, which was a bit late in offering a napkin, Lily, who was sitting next to me, smiled and took the napkin I was holding to wipe the cream from my fingers.
I was about to ask if Team Leader Shin Hae-ryang, who is Kang Soo-jung's superior, goes around hitting people like a storm, but I held back when I remembered that there were other engineers present. It would just turn into gossip. Silence is always golden. Besides, I couldn't tell if the psychologist Elliott or the researcher Yoo Geum exercised just by looking at them.
"Did you use to exercise? Or did you start after coming to the undersea base?"
I asked, hoping that if I stayed in the undersea base long enough, I would naturally develop muscles like breathing. Tzu-shian surprisingly agreed easily.
"Since I came to the undersea base. There's nothing light in the sea."
While saying this, I noticed that I might have underestimated the amount of food. The three of them ate more than I expected. I bought about 17 different types of bread, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye. Maybe I should have bought more. When I mentioned this, Kang Soo-jung shook her head.
"We're having a cheat day, so we're eating like this. Actually, I don't eat much bread."
Lily immediately contradicted her.
"I eat a lot, though. You eat rice instead of bread, don't you?"
"Then you should eat rice too."
Kang Soo-jung's calm response made Tzu-shian chuckle. Lily, who was licking her fingers after picking up a donut, said it had been a while since she had sugar and asked why the dental clinic was called Deep Blue. It was a question I could answer confidently about the undersea base. After listening to my explanation, Lily wiggled her fingers and said:
"That's definitely a name an American gave. Canadians don't name things like that."
"The names here are a mess. The restaurant in Central District is called Manhanjeonseok, but the only Chinese dish they serve is dumplings."
When Kang Soo-jung looked at Tzu-shian, Tzu-shian said, somewhat resentfully:
"You wanted to name it Sura-gan. What's Sura-gan? I think my idea was better. I wanted to name it Sichuan cuisine!"
The chat was so interesting that I stayed until just before my consultation time. I got up first, holding the half-finished coffee, and said to Kang Soo-jung:
"Thank you for inviting me to the carrier and tea party."
"I have an appointment next week, so please take care of it."
"See you later."
"Enjoy your meal!"
Kang Soo-jung handed me two cup noodles. I quickly threw them onto my bed in Room 38 after leaving Room 24 in Baekho District and hurriedly ran. In my rush, I almost spilled my coffee when I bumped into someone coming from the escape pod. I caught the person, who was short, just in time to prevent them from falling. I recognized the person by their face.
"Hello, Mr. Tamaki. Is your clothes okay?"
The person looked at me with a shocked expression and fidgeted. Looking at their clothes, it seemed the coffee hadn't splashed on them. Tamaki hesitantly asked:
"Are you on duty tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is my day off. How is your injury?"
"······It's fine."
"I'm glad. I'm still deciding what to do tomorrow. It's my first day off since coming to the undersea base."
"Is that so?"
Tamaki tried to say something but closed his mouth. After a few seconds of awkward silence, I said I would see him later and started running again. I only had two patients this afternoon, but I couldn't keep them waiting. I ran across Central District and barely made it to Deep Blue on time.