The view of the ocean through the cable car was pitch black. This cable car is going from -200m to -50m, where the first underwater base is, right? I held my nose with one hand and looked outside through the transparent window. There was almost no light in the small car running through the deep blue darkness, probably because the inside of the cable car was too bright to see outside. If it were any other situation, it might have been a bit fun to ride this. I swallowed the blood that had entered my mouth and said,
"This is my first time riding an underwater cable car."
"Me too."
Shin Hae-ryang, after saying that, immediately checked Baek Ae-young as if a switch had been flipped. I opened the bag with the snake inside. Inside, there was a towel that was no better than a rag and an orange whale stuffed animal named Nureul. As soon as I saw the stuffed animal and the towel, I immediately handed them to Shin Hae-ryang. Shin Hae-ryang tightly held them and pressed them against Baek Ae-young's waist. The orange stuffed animal began to turn bright red. Shin Hae-ryang looked up and met my eyes, then asked,
"What happened to Muhyeon?"
"My nose started bleeding. I'm fine. How about Ae-young?"
"She needs medical attention quickly."
I wiped my messy nose with my blood-soaked hand and nodded. The nosebleed was almost over. However, the cable car was moving at a snail's pace. The number next to the oxygen level, which read -195m, was gradually decreasing, but the speed was excruciatingly slow. I sighed deeply when I saw the snake lying still at the bottom of the bag. Then, leaning my head against the glass wall, I asked,
"Is the cable car usually this slow?"
Thinking it might be broken, I asked, and Shin Hae-ryang, who was looking at the meters the cable car had passed, replied,
"Yes, it has to be slow because of the water pressure."
...So, if it goes too fast, the cable car might explode. Shin Hae-ryang laid Baek Ae-young flat on the floor, and I occasionally grabbed my forehead as a headache threatened to split my head. I wished I could take an aspirin. Shin Hae-ryang, after checking his gun and the bullets in the gun attached to Baek Ae-young's body, closed his eyes and said,
"There might be armed personnel waiting for us at the end of the cable car."
I nodded, but then realized Shin Hae-ryang had his eyes closed, so I answered in a loud voice,
"Yes."
It was unclear whether Baek Ae-young was unconscious or asleep. The fact that her chest was rising and falling gave everyone in the cable car some mental comfort. I just hoped she wouldn't die. If we could escape this wretched underwater place and get quick medical attention, Baek Ae-young would be fine, right?
Shin Hae-ryang, who was pressing on Baek Ae-young's wound, had blood streaming down his left cheek from a cut near his temple. No matter how hard I tried not to look at the wound, it kept catching my eye whenever I turned my head toward Shin Hae-ryang. I rummaged through the bag with my left hand, trying to find something to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing useful. Most of the contents were trash from the food we had eaten while climbing the stairs. I couldn't bring myself to throw the trash on the floor, so it remained in the bag.
I sighed, looking inside the bag, and tried to tear the left sleeve of my long-sleeved hoodie. However, no matter how hard I tried to rip it with my teeth, it wouldn't tear. Why won't this tear! They make clothes so well these days! I met Shin Hae-ryang's eyes, who was already looking at me, and he seemed to be questioning what I was doing. Seeing my struggle, Shin Hae-ryang asked,
"Are you trying to tear your clothes?"
"Yes."
Shin Hae-ryang then pulled out the knife attached to Baek Ae-young's thigh with one hand and bent down. I quickly pulled my left arm out of the sleeve and stuck it through the body part. Shin Hae-ryang easily cut the sleeve with the knife and handed it to me. I shook my head without taking it.
"Use this to press on your forehead. Blood is coming from your left temple."
Shin Hae-ryang looked at the piece of cloth, then instead of pressing it to his face, he wrapped it around his left forearm. I didn't know he had been shot in his left arm. I took my hand off my nose, which I had been pressing with my right sleeve. The pooled blood flowed down my nostrils and lips. I wiped the blood off my right forearm and, after hesitating, spat the blood in my mouth into a corner of the floor. I was afraid it would get stuck in my throat if I swallowed it. Shin Hae-ryang, who had been watching me, asked,
"Is it because of the gunfire?"
"I don't know. My nose just started bleeding suddenly."
My blue hoodie was a mess. I had put it on by chance in the laundry room in Cheongryong-dong, but I didn't know who the owner was. If I ever met them, I should buy them a new one. I looked up at the cable car door. -170m. It's moving very slowly. Thoughts of Yoo Geun and Seo Ji-hyuk flooded my mind like a tide.
I looked outside to try to think less. The ocean was pitch black. It was only after staring at it for a while that I realized it was a deep, ink-like blue. Although I couldn't see it, there must be countless marine creatures in that color. Maybe I was watching creatures without gills or swim bladders struggling to survive in the ocean.
Suddenly, the cable car stopped. It didn't move at -150m. I watched the number for a few seconds, hoping it would change, then said to Shin Hae-ryang, who was looking at Baek Ae-young,
"Hae-ryang, it seems to have stopped."
"......Yes."
"Is there anything we can do to get the cable car moving again?"
"No."
Sharp as a knife. I was about to ask if we were doomed, but I closed my mouth, thinking that I might not be able to accept Shin Hae-ryang's answer. Shin Hae-ryang, after looking around the cable car, said,
"Let's wait. It might be an emergency stop."
"I hope it starts moving again."
I sat anxiously, occasionally wiping the sweat from Baek Ae-young's forehead with the less dirty part of my sleeve, or staring at the number -150m, which had stopped moving. The situation was worse than being trapped in an elevator. At least then, it wasn't as difficult and desperate. It was scary then, but it can't compare to now. The absurdity of being trapped in this cable car made me laugh in a daze.
"I never imagined we'd be trapped in a place like this."
"Neither did I."
Shin Hae-ryang, despite being trapped in a small space less than 3 pyeong (9.92 square meters) at -150m underwater with two people in poor condition, looked completely fine. He looked similar to how he did when we climbed the stairs, and I admired him internally. I was so scared I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to cry right then and there.
"How can you be so calm?"
"Do I look calm?"
"Yes."
"It's a relief that at least one of us looks calm in this situation."
That guy must be going crazy too. I tried to think of something else rather than despair over being trapped in a device suspended in the ocean with no safety measures. When I thought about my recent past, there wasn't much good. I thought about Yoo Geun and remembered the things she had said. A lady who doesn't want to live infinitely without a brain or heart. She could have lived longer. She shouldn't have died in such a terrible place.
"......If we were to live an infinite life."
Shin Hae-ryang looked up at me.
"Wouldn't being trapped at -150m underwater be easy to escape from? Without dying, I mean."
"......If we were unlucky, we might keep drowning while trapped, infinitely."
Shin Hae-ryang's words sent shivers down my spine. Damn. Should I be grateful that I might die soon? Shin Hae-ryang rummaged through the bag he had taken off Baek Ae-young. A few empty water bottles and some candies I had given him came out. Does he dislike candy? A cracked pad and a bottle of Valentina 50-year-old whiskey came out from under it. I laughed in disbelief when I saw it. The cat on my back had been shot by an unknown bullet, but the bottle on Baek Ae-young's back was completely unharmed. As Shin Hae-ryang opened the brownish bottle, I was surprised and stopped him.
"Are you going to pour that on the wound?"
"......I'm going to take a sip."
"......Okay. Have a lot."
Pouring alcohol on a wound in a movie is only possible in movies. Anything less than 80% alcohol can actually worsen the