Good. The events in my dream and the current situation aren’t completely the same. But why do the injuries from my dream affect people in reality? If that’s the case, shouldn’t my stomach hurt and make me roll around? After all, Baek Sang-ari messed with my stomach so much. Just thinking about it made me rub my lower abdomen. Kang Soo-jung, after looking at the child carefully, asked,
"Is this your child?"
"No, it’s not."
"Where did you find him?"
"He was sleeping in room 80 of Baekho-dong."
Upon hearing this, Kang Soo-jung frowned and said,
"Isn’t that room supposed to be empty?"
"I’m not sure about that."
"Is that so? Hmm. He sure is sleeping well in this situation."
I thought about the sleeping pills in my bag and tried hard not to mention Henry’s name.
"Maybe someone drugged him and left him there."
"He couldn’t have come here by our helicopter. Did the Americans put him in a helicopter? If not, why would they leave him in Baekho-dong instead of Jinmu-dong? Hey! Nikolai! Is this a Russian kid?"
Nikolai, who had been talking to his team, walked over when his team leader nodded. After looking at Henry’s face, he said to Kang Soo-jung with a look of disbelief,
"Look at him. He doesn’t have a single Slavic feature. Does he look like someone who runs across the frozen steppes of Russia, gulping down the cold air that hurts his lungs?"
"How would I know? All white people look the same to me."
Nikolai sighed in exasperation.
"He’s clearly not Russian. Ask someone from a warmer place. Oh, right. Have you guys seen our team members Dmitry and Irina?"
Kang Soo-jung shook her head. Nikolai looked at me, and I hurriedly shook my head as well.
Kang Soo-jung sighed and walked over to the team members. She checked the child’s pulse, then searched his pockets. Seeing that she found nothing, she scratched her cheek and took a photo of Henry’s face on her pad. Then, she started writing a post on the underwater base bulletin board. The title began with "You Shitty Bastard Who Lost Your Kid," and I was stunned as I read it over her shoulder.
[Maybe I don’t know how your parents raised you like a piece of shit, but the child left in the empty room 80 of Baekho-dong would have drowned if a kind person hadn’t found him. If you had any brain in your head, you wouldn’t have brought a child under ten years old to this underwater base, where only adults are allowed, and drugged him to sleep. Don’t think this kindness will continue. In the current situation, we’re struggling to save our own lives. If you don’t find your kid soon, I’ll find you and beat you half to death with my own hands.]
She then paused, skipped a line, and added a softer sentence: [If anyone knows the child’s parents, please leave a comment on this post. Thank you.] She attached the child’s photo and posted it.
I pondered for a moment. In my dream, Henry was the child of Neva and Leonard, but I don’t know either of them, and the dream and the current situation might be different. I hesitated to speak too soon. What if they’re not the actual parents?
People were gathered in their respective teams, talking. In my dream, everyone on the escape pod gathered together and talked, but now, Engineer Team A’s leader, Shin Hae-ryang, had escaped on the pod. ...Come to think of it, in my dream, almost everyone who escaped on the pod ended up dead. Thinking about how Shin Hae-ryang, Baek Ae-young, and Seo Ji-hyuk all died made me shiver. ...It’s just a dream. Surely it can’t be true. Reality will unfold differently. It can’t be true. ...Right?
If I reveal that in my dream, someone intentionally sabotaged the escape pods of the Fourth Underwater Base, who would believe me? If I say that in my dream, some of the other engineer team members brought weapons and started a gunfight, would anyone believe me? If I mention that in my dream, armed fanatics took hostages in the 123 Underwater Bases, would they agree? If I say that the underwater cable car crashed and people were torn apart by sharks, would they believe me? They’d probably think I’m crazy. When should I speak up?
Suddenly, the bag I had strapped to my chest started to move. I hurriedly opened it slightly to check on the cat and the snake. Despite being suddenly confined in a small bag, the cat was well-behaved and didn’t meow. Does it like small spaces? You’d only know if you’ve raised animals. The snake in the small pocket also seemed uncomfortable, but it barely moved. Ah, such good creatures.
Walking through the narrow corridor, submerged up to my chest in icy water, I wondered if it even made sense for me to be saving these animals. The thought of escaping alone crossed my mind dozens of times. Each time, I told myself that if I left them behind, I would definitely regret my decision. If I survived and returned, every cat and snake I saw would remind me of the ones who drowned in the sea. I’m that kind of person. When the cat and I made eye contact, I locked the bag and watched the people around me who were discussing the situation.
Nikita, who had been talking with his team, stretched like a cat, arching his back and extending his body. He then said to Kang Soo-jung, who was talking with Lee Ji-hyun,
"Everyone’s making a fuss over the earthquake. The base probably just flooded a bit."
He yawned widely. Kang Soo-jung laughed and poked Nikita’s waist while he was stretching.
"Then you guys stay here. We’re going out."
"Fix that thing."
Kang Soo-jung and Nikita seemed to be close, and Nikita, still drunk, was rubbing his side where she had poked him. Nikolai, pointing at the escape pods that looked broken, with several red warning lights flashing, said to Kang Soo-jung,
"There’s nothing here. You fix it. ...How much did you drink?"
"I didn’t even have time to put on underwear."
I didn’t want to know. ...At least he found some pants. The Russians still smelled of alcohol. The members of Engineer Team A were wearing black suits, but the others looked like beggars. My clothes were soaked top to bottom, but everyone else’s lower halves were wet from the escape. They had rushed out to avoid the seawater, so they were all in a mess. Viktor was only wearing pants, exposing all his muscles. Sofia was wearing just a thin T-shirt and shorts, both of which were soaked. She must have fallen in the water.
All the Russians were barefoot. It must have been hard to find shoes, as everything was floating in the water. Nikita squeezed the water out of his wet pants and cursed, then rolled them up. I took off my shoes and squeezed the water out of my socks. Then, despite feeling uncomfortable, I put my socks back on and rolled up my wet pants to make shorts. Yoo Geum-i, looking at Sofia, took off the long-sleeved cardigan he was wearing and handed it to her. Sofia initially refused, but Yoo Geum-i, seeing her shiver, added,
"You look really cold."
Sofia, looking at Yoo Geum-i’s long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, took the cardigan and said,
"Thank you. I’ll wear it."
Sofia shivered and quickly put on the cardigan. I, too, took out a towel from my bag and silently handed it to Sofia, whose hair was drenched. She nodded at me and used the towel to dry her hair, then passed it to Viktor. Viktor passed it to Vladimir without using it, and Vladimir threw it at Nikolai, who was loudly complaining. Nikolai, drying his wet face and hair with the towel, said,
"What should we do, team leader? It might be better to go to another block instead of fixing this. I’m still seeing double."
"Let’s move to Jinmu-dong. If the miners couldn’t get into the base, there might be escape pods left."
Kang Soo-jung, Lee Ji-hyun, and Jeong Sang-hyun had slightly different opinions. They were discussing whether to use the central elevator, with Jeong Sang-hyun advocating for it and Lee Ji-hyun opposing it. Lee Ji-hyun calmly said,
"Sang-hyun. The elevators can’t function properly with this level of shock. If the elevator stops halfway, we’ll be in a dire situation. There’s no solution other than praying."
"What if there are no escape pods in the other block?!"
Lee Ji-hyun thought for a few seconds and then said,
"Then we’ll have to find another way to escape. We could try the submarine in Cheongryong-dong or move to another block. We won’t know just by talking here. According to the current records, no escape pods have been launched, but there might not be any left. It also says that all the elevators have stopped, but they might still be operational."
"What if we can’t get out?!"
"Then we all die together. Don’t worry, Sang-hyun. You won’t be alone."
Kang Soo-jung smiled kindly and patted Jeong Sang-hyun’s back. Jeong Sang-hyun grumbled and, unable to think of a response, sat on the floor in frustration. For some reason, it seemed like he was trying to channel his frustration and anger at the team members over the current situation. He must not like being here. Who would?
I realized my mouth was full of salt and took out a strawberry-flavored candy from my bag, putting it in my mouth. My wet clothes clung to my body, and I suddenly felt the emptiness where my strength had drained away. I, too, sat on the floor. Yoo Geum-i, who had been talking with Nikita, came over to me. I fumbled in my bag, took out a few candies, and gave them to the people around us, including Yoo Geum-i.