While listening to Seo Ji-hyuk grumble about the design of Jujak-dong, I suddenly thought about my swimming skills. Surely, I wouldn't have to escape by swimming from the leaking underwater base, right? I'm not that good at swimming.
"Mr. Seo Ji-hyuk, are you good at swimming?"
In response to my question, Seo Ji-hyuk said confidently,
"I used to be called the 'Suncheon Seal' in the past."
At this, Shin Hae-ryang, who was walking beside us, suddenly chuckled. Seo Ji-hyuk, seeing this, laughed and said,
"It's a bit embarrassing to say this in front of our team leader, but actually, it was a 'water flea,' not a seal."
We all smiled at his silly joke.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm a good swimmer."
"Anything else?"
"Just that I'm good at swimming."
Yoo Geum suddenly sighed and said,
"Where is that? I tried to learn butterfly stroke but gave up, so I can only barely do freestyle and backstroke. Swimming in the sea is completely different from swimming in a pool. I've never swum in the sea before."
Seo Ji-hyuk mimicked Yoo Geum's tone.
"Where is that? It's the same as swimming in a pool. It's not difficult."
After listening to our conversation, Shin Hae-ryang asked me,
"Can you swim?"
I answered without much thought,
"Yes."
"Then that's settled."
Is that it? I felt a wave of unease at Shin Hae-ryang's words. We are 3 kilometers underwater; how good at swimming do I need to be to escape?
"How good do I need to be?"
"Being able to move forward without drowning is enough."
"Ah, I can do that."
"Then it's fine."
"Can you swim, Mr. Shin Hae-ryang?"
"Yes."
"How good are you?"
"I can avoid drowning."
"Then that's fine."
Seo Ji-hyuk, who had been watching our conversation, looked exasperated.
"Team leader, you do free diving. How can you just say you won't drown? You dive to 100 meters on a single breath. You're not human."
"Which one is correct, then, when you say both that I'm not human and that I am?"
In response to my question, Seo Ji-hyuk put his hand on Shin Hae-ryang's shoulder and chuckled.
"Both."
While listening to Seo Ji-hyuk's chatter, I was so out of breath that I couldn't even speak. I realized that I had been walking or running non-stop for less than an hour since waking up. Seo Ji-hyuk and Yoo Geum kept talking about Cheongryong-dong, and I was envious of their stamina.
"Just out of curiosity."
To Yoo Geum's question, Shin Hae-ryang answered briefly,
"Yes."
"Why do engineers use both Cheongryong-dong and Baekho-dong?"
The northern area, Hyeonmu-dong, is used by personnel for mining. The southern area, Jujak-dong, is for researchers, the eastern area, Cheongryong-dong, is for engineers, and the western area, Baekho-dong, is for other special occupations. After pondering Yoo Geum's question, Shin Hae-ryang said,
"Initially, there were many more engineers when the underwater base was being built."
Seo Ji-hyuk started laughing at this. While his statement wasn't wrong, it wasn't the complete answer. I remembered that the Korean and Russian teams were in Baekho-dong, while the other engineering teams were in Cheongryong-dong. Was there a reason they had to live separately? Seo Ji-hyuk, who looked like he would burst if he didn't speak, was given a nod by Shin Hae-ryang. Seo Ji-hyuk quickly turned to Yoo Geum and said,
"Initially, when the dormitories were assigned, there were quite a few people. The Chinese team refused to stay in Hyeonmu-dong, causing a commotion."
"Why not?"
"The north reminded them of death or something. Moreover, the rooms from 1 to 30 in Cheongryong-dong were considered 'ghost gates' or something, and the Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japanese teams also refused to stay there, causing a big fuss."
I was amazed to see people still believing in superstitions in the 22nd century. Aren't they engineers? Aren't they supposed to be the most scientifically knowledgeable people here after the researchers? I was so astonished that I asked while catching my breath,
"Are you saying they refused to use the dormitories because of feng shui?"
Seo Ji-hyuk nodded vigorously and said,
"Isn't it ridiculous? When the southern building was named Jujak-dong and they planned to paint it red in several places, the Chinese team started causing trouble, demanding that the researchers give up their dormitories. The researchers, of course, refused. The Jujak-dong dormitories are right next to the research center and were built last, so they are a bit larger than the others. Would the researchers give up such nice dormitories to the Chinese engineers?"
"Of course not!"
Yoo Geum shouted. Seo Ji-hyuk, agreeing with Yoo Geum, continued,
"Baekho-dong is where the other staff, not engineers or mining teams, live, so there are quite a few empty rooms. When the Chinese team refused to stay in Cheongryong-dong, they were told to move to the empty rooms in Baekho-dong. But the rooms from 60 to 80 in Baekho-dong were also considered 'ghost gates' or something, so they refused to stay there too. The Russians, who prefer secluded places, ended up staying there."
That's why the Russian engineers are in Baekho-dong.
"The Chinese team wanted either the newly built, spacious, and red Jujak-dong dormitories or the rooms from 70 to 80 in Cheongryong-dong, which were far from the 'ghost gates.' Originally, they wanted rooms 8 and 88, but since those were considered bad feng shui, they settled for those rooms. However, the New Zealand team had already moved in. Do you know what they did?"
"What did they do?"
It's thrilling. There's nothing as interesting as real estate, money, and superstition, even when you're out of breath. Yoo Geum, with sparkling eyes, asked, and Seo Ji-hyuk answered proudly,
"When the Chinese team saw the New Zealand team at work, they forced the emergency door open and moved in, taking over the room."
"Good heavens. Didn't the New Zealand team protest?"
Seo Ji-hyuk's eyes sparkled at my question.
"Of course they did. Do you know how they resolved it?"
"How did they resolve it?"
"The New Zealand team leader, Liam, saw his team's belongings thrown around and was so angry that he went to confront the Chinese team leader, Ha Yoon."
"And then?"
"They paid money. They threw handfuls of dollars. I don't know how much they gave, but seeing the New Zealand team abandon their belongings and start a drinking party, it must have been a lot. That's when I realized how rich Ha Yoon was."
Yoo Geum and I laughed, and Seo Ji-hyuk, looking exasperated, said,
"It's very entertaining and exciting to hear from a third party. But if such chaos happens once or twice a year, it might be funny and frustrating, but if it happens every day, it's exhausting."
I thought about my room in Baekho-dong. It must be completely flooded by now. I only stayed there for five days, but it wasn't bad. I hoped the rooms from 1 to 37 were empty and that everyone had escaped. I remembered Shin Hae-ryang saying he was in room 22 of Baekho-dong.
"Why does the Korean team live in Baekho-dong?"
"There's a long story behind it."
"Let's save that for later."
After chatting with Seo Ji-hyuk, I turned my head and saw Shin Hae-ryang's profile. He was looking at the floor, and I unconsciously lowered my head and closed my mouth. The bloodstains on the floor led to the laundry room.
The escape boat was right behind the laundry room. The bloodstains leading to the laundry room reminded me of Hansel and Gretel leaving bread crumbs to find their way. It seemed like someone had gone in there or was calling for help. As I watched Shin Hae-ryang's back as he moved towards the laundry room, all the thriller movies I had seen came to mind. I asked in a low voice,
"Is it a trap? The bloodstains are leading there."
I could hear Yoo Geum holding her breath. Shin Hae-ryang shook his head.
"If it were a trap, the bloodstains would look different."
Can bloodstains look different? Don't they all look the same when they fall? Shin Hae-ryang didn't seem to want to explain further and stood near the laundry room door. Unlike the sliding dormitory doors, the other doors opened and closed like subway doors. They opened and closed automatically due to motion sensors. Seo Ji-hyuk, standing a few centimeters away from the sensor, waved his hand to signal us to move further back.
Once we were far enough from the laundry room, Seo Ji-hyuk triggered the motion sensor with his fingertips, opening the door. Two seconds later, Shin Hae-ryang entered, followed by Seo Ji-hyuk. The door closed, and it was quiet for a while.
The laundry room didn't release anyone for several minutes. Yoo Geum and I waited in the empty corridor.
The corridor was silent. Time seemed to have stopped. I hate waiting. When you're waiting, time seems to slow down tenfold. It feels like the theory of relativity is wrong. It's not gravity that slows time, but waiting. I was a bit scared and tried to hide it as I asked Yoo Geum,
"Can we go in too?"
"Why aren't they coming out?"
Yoo Geum and I were throwing anxious questions at each other. After a while, I couldn't bear the anxiety and said,
"Stay here, Yoo Geum. I'll go check."
"What are you talking about? If we're going, we're going together."
"What if you can't get out of the laundry room either?"
"Are you saying I should stay here alone in this corridor?"
Yoo Geum seemed more afraid of the quiet, bloodstain-covered corridor than the laundry room where people went in and didn't come out. ... It was scary. As I opened the laundry room door and cautiously stepped in, Yoo Geum followed me. We tried not to step on the bloodstains on the floor. Inside the laundry room, there were long handprints of blood on the walls.