The seawater rushed in at an incredible speed, already reaching my ankles. I had tried to bring Shin Hae-ryang back to his senses, but then I thought that in this situation, it might be better for him to remain unconscious. However, Shin Hae-ryang opened his eyes, seemingly regaining consciousness. He quickly assessed his condition and the situation of the cable car. His gaze turned to me. From that look, I realized that something like a piece of metal had pierced my abdomen. Until now, the adrenaline had numbed the pain, but it was starting to hurt terribly. Damn.
"I'm sorry."
Shin Hae-ryang's voice was hoarse. I shook my head as I slumped into the broken chair.
"There's no need to apologize."
"What about Ae-young?"
I tried to speak but realized it hurt every time I tensed my abdomen, so I shook my head. Then, realizing that conserving words was pointless, I decided to say what I wanted to say.
"You've gone through a lot to bring me here."
"Better than I expected, as a companion."
"How did you see me?"
"·····As one of the Infinite Bridge believers."
Oh my God. I laughed at Shin Hae-ryang's words. Then, the pain in my abdomen made me gasp, and I replied.
"I'm an atheist."
"·····I'm an agnostic."
"Does that mean you're reserving judgment on whether God exists?"
"If He exists, I'll go kill Him."
Why is this guy trying to make me laugh right before he dies? I smiled, but the seawater had already reached my calves. I lifted Shin Hae-ryang as much as I could and placed him on the broken chair. My legs and waist got wet, and the pain from the wounds made me groan involuntarily. Shin Hae-ryang looked at the gun slung over his shoulder and said to me.
"I don't want to drown."
"Excuse me?"
"·····I decided I wouldn't die by drowning."
"Uh... Why?"
Shin Hae-ryang tapped the gun a few times with his finger. Damn. I had seen Seo Ji-hyuk's actions before. I shook my head involuntarily.
"Will it do any good if I try to stop you? Besides, what's the difference if you die from drowning, bleeding out, liver damage, or a gunshot wound?"
Shin Hae-ryang ignored my words. Or, maybe the guys I met at the underwater base just don't listen to dentists. He searched inside his clothes, pulled out a necklace hanging around his neck, and threw it into the seawater. The lapis lazuli necklace glowed before disappearing into the dark seawater. Shin Hae-ryang said to me.
"Turn your head. Close your eyes. It won't be a pretty sight."
"I'll watch. I'll watch very closely! So don't do it. ······Can't you stay with me?"
Shin Hae-ryang thought for a moment, then smiled at me and shook his head.
"It's my last moment, so I'll do what I want."
As soon as I turned my head and closed my eyes, a gunshot rang out. Something splattered on my face, but I didn't want to touch it or see it. I kept my eyes tightly shut, as if that would help me escape this place.
When the water reached my chest, I lifted my head. Everything inside the cable car was floating in the water. It was cold. I tried to wipe my shoulder with my arm and noticed the bag I had slung over my chest. I opened the bag and took out a snake coiled inside a pocket.
I wasn't worried about the snake biting me anymore. The snake wrapped itself around my wrist, arm, and hand. The yellow snake moved its head around, and I thought, "Sorry. I brought you here but couldn't take care of you or take you out."
The seawater rushed in at an incredible speed. The water was now at my shoulder level. I sat in the chair, then stood up, and now I was floating due to the water rushing into the cable car. Breathing was difficult. I couldn't tell if it was because of the seawater, the water pushing out the air, or the piece of metal in my abdomen.
I was looking for something to place the snake on, but there was nothing suitable. With no other choice, I placed the snake on my head. The screen of Baek Ae-young's pad was cracked and damaged, but the light was still on. I was grateful for that, as it helped me endure the darkness inside the cable car. I tried to control the impulse to escape through the cracked part of the cable car where water was seeping in.
This is deep. If I go out, I'll die from the water pressure. Or, the air in my lungs will make my body float, and I'll drown more slowly. I didn't have the courage to kill myself. Now that death was approaching, I understood. The people who pulled the trigger were incredibly brave.
For a while after Shin Hae-ryang died, the fear of dying like a wave hit me continuously and fiercely. But after crying for about three minutes, that fear and anxiety soon disappeared. My heart had nothing left to break. With the snake on my head, I had mentally accepted that I would die by drowning.
Is this -100 meters or -200 meters? I touched my ear and found it was bleeding. I had no idea where or how I was injured. Now, thinking about it, dying from nitrogen narcosis inside the cable car seemed like a pretty clean death. But the body would still be left, right? If the underwater base collapses, would that not be the case? No one will recover my body. If I die by drowning, my lungs, bronchi, and stomach will be filled with seawater. All kinds of fish will come to tear apart my body, and crustaceans like shrimp and crabs, and sea creatures similar to insects, will enjoy a buffet. Only bones will remain, or even the bones will corrode due to the seawater.
What if my family looks for me? ······I hope my family forgets me and lives well as if I never existed. Just thinking about my mother or younger brother crying because of me makes my heart feel like it's being torn apart. I'm the eldest son and have the responsibility to support the family in place of my deceased father. I have to pay for my younger brother's college tuition and my mother's medical bills. What if my mother is shocked by this?
I sobbed and realized the seawater had risen to just below my chin. I thought the snake would bite and thrash around, but surprisingly, it was calmer than me.
It didn't panic and just formed an anxious coil on my head. I had all sorts of thoughts, and then I felt something hit the cable car's outer wall with a thud.
Startled, I looked in that direction and saw a shark's snout hit the transparent glass of the cable car again. I was so scared that I couldn't move for a few seconds, but then I calmed down.
Rather than becoming a drowned body floating in the sea, I thought it might be better to be eaten by a shark. Our blood must have flowed into the sea, and the smell must have attracted the shark, which was now circling the cable car. Hey. The dental clinic I ran for five days was called Deep Blue! There's a great white shark in front of the clinic, bigger and more handsome than you. If it fought you, you'd be a single bite.
Bang!
Each time the shark hit the cable car, it shook, and water seeped in through the holes. I was so scared I felt like I was going crazy, but since I was going to die anyway, I didn't want to tremble in fear of the shark.
Shin Hae-ryang said he would choose what he wanted to do last. Is this a choice?! Damn.
They say sharks are the hounds of the sea. What a cool nickname. Those hypocrites say the Greenland shark is their friend but have no sacrificial spirit to offer their bodies as shark food. I watched the shark, which had revealed its terrifying teeth and slipped past, in the dark water.
The snake didn't move on my head. It seemed to know the surroundings were filled with water. When my head touched the ceiling, the snake swam over and climbed onto the broken wall in the corner. It stuck out its tongue nervously.
Good boy. It must have been scared traveling with me, but it never bit me. I wanted to stroke it one last time but stopped, thinking it might not like it.
I tried to tear open the cable car door where water was seeping in. My palms were cut and bleeding, but the blood quickly dispersed in the seawater. With all my strength, I managed to make a gap large enough for a person to pass through. Just as I was exhausted, I heard another thud and shouted, even though the shark couldn't hear me.
"Don't rush me!"
I grabbed the lit pad with my blood-soaked hands, took a deep breath of the remaining freedom, and stepped out of the cable car. My whole body hurt. Was it the pressure? Were there many injuries? There was no part of my body that didn't hurt.
Moreover, I couldn't see anything. Everything was blurry. Humans can't see clearly underwater, which is why we use goggles. We chose land over the sea.
I rubbed my palms. They must have been bleeding. I ignored the excruc