Sentimental Shower

#036

There was talk of a major audit of Eden. Contrary to Yoo Seong-woo’s thought that they should lay low for a while, Yeon Tae-soo made Eden even more bustling.

“I’m planning to throw a party. We’ll invite guests from everywhere, not just District 2. If our Seong-woo has anyone he wants to invite, just say so.”

“I don’t.”

“Then be my partner at the party.”

“No.”

Despite the firm refusal, Yeon Tae-soo, undeterred, seemed excited about the idea of hosting a party.

“Isn’t Eden a place where parties are held every day? It seems plenty glamorous to me already.”

“What are you talking about? Right now, it’s just a dim gambling hall. We need to make it more glamorous.”

I see. Feeling the flickering golden light wavering in his vision, Yoo Seong-woo nodded indifferently.

Yeon Tae-soo really sent invitations everywhere. He said there would be an incredible party and invited people to attend.

And he said that on that day, there would be no restrictions on who could enter Eden. This was truly a groundbreaking move. Eden wasn’t a place you could enter just because you had a lot of money.

Probably when this news spreads, everyone will want to come to Eden. A golden paradise that not just anyone can enter. To think it would be open to everyone.

‘He plans to deliberately contaminate the place before the audit.’

It wouldn’t be strange no matter what was discovered. When all sorts of people from District 2 flood in. Even if auditors come, they can just claim ignorance, saying they don’t know how many guests there were.

“Oh, and there’s something our Seong-woo darling needs to do.”

Yeon Tae-soo, who had been casually flipping through the hologram of the plan he had written with his prosthetic hand, blurted out in an indifferent tone. Yoo Seong-woo nodded reflexively. He should have asked what the favor was. The thought occurred to him a beat late, but facing Yeon Tae-soo’s smiling face, he couldn’t take back his decision.

***

After a long time, he opened the doors of Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital wide and did a thorough cleaning. Popo also helped Mr. Yoo, rolling around with a cloth wrapped around its round body.

What Yeon Tae-soo asked for was one thing: to perform on that day.

Of course, by others’ standards, this wouldn’t be a difficult request. Yoo Seong-woo objectively recognized that his performance skills were excellent. Despite being in an artistic field where objectivity doesn’t play a large role, he could perform in a way that anyone who listened would find appealing.

However, as an “unfinished product,” he had never performed in front of many people. It meant he had no performance experience at all.

Instead of refusing, he said he would think about it.

And when mentioning the piano, he naturally conveyed a piece of information that came up from his database to Yeon Tae-soo.

‘Come to think of it… Do you mean the man with almost blonde brown hair, as tall as you, President Yeon? The one I met in the room with the grand piano.’

‘Ah, Kim Ji-heon? That guy likes music. He looks refined and likes classical music like a young master.’

Kim Ji-heon seemed to be his name.

‘That person… on the day when there was a commotion because an android that entered Eden stole money, he came to the front of the room where I was. He just passed by, but I thought I might have been too sensitive, so I wasn’t going to mention it, but…’

As soon as he said this, Yeon Tae-soo’s face changed so much that you could see the blood drain from it. Mr. Yoo could sense the fear.

‘Did that bastard do something to you?’

‘No, no. He didn’t do anything. He just stood in front of the door for a very short time and left. I looked out because I heard footsteps.’

Yeon Tae-soo was silent. He was facing him, but his blue artificial eye was frozen like ice.

‘Well, I’m glad nothing happened. If that guy approaches you again, tell me.’

Then Yeon Tae-soo checked if he had the portable transmitter he had given him before. He nodded reluctantly to Yeon Tae-soo, who said to use it anytime if anything happens, that he would come running. He was glad that he was a model not prohibited from lying.

Just as he finished cleaning, a patient arrived. However, it wasn’t a living being.

The owner came running, holding a half-broken robot pet dog.

Under the peeled coating, the structure made of metal and circuits was clearly visible.

“Um, this is…”

“Please save it, it’s precious to me.”

Yoo Seong-woo, who was about to say this was an animal hospital, closed his mouth. The owner’s wet eyes stopped his words.

He had no choice but to place the broken robot pet dog on the examination table. Since machines are often used for humans and animals, he was somewhat familiar with how to repair bio-robots.

The robot pet dog was so broken that it couldn’t even make a whining warning sound. Its appearance, frozen with eyes open, looked more like a corpse than a robot.

Mr. Yoo closed his eyes tightly and then opened them before beginning the operation. Popo helped beside him.

Several hours passed during the surgery. Although he knew how to handle bio-robots, it wasn’t his specialty, so he was struggling.

The biggest problem was a few hard-to-find parts. If he couldn’t replace those parts, it would be difficult to make it work.

If only Mr. Jang were here, he could ask for help. He was swallowing his regret.

“What do you need?”

Hearing a familiar voice from outside the operating room, he took off his gloves and went out. Yeon Tae-soo was standing in his characteristic crooked pose, nudging Popo with his foot.

– Popo is not a ball! Don’t kick it!

In one corner of the waiting room, the exhausted owner was curled up asleep. He seemed to have fallen asleep like he had fainted, unaware that Yeon Tae-soo had arrived. Yoo Seong-woo, who had been looking at that scene, shifted his gaze back to Yeon Tae-soo.

***

In less than 30 minutes, Yeon Tae-soo had accurately procured the parts he mentioned. Yoo Seong-woo was a bit surprised.

Aside from the fact that these parts were so hard to find that one would have to go as far as District 3 to see them, he didn’t think Yeon Tae-soo would willingly procure parts knowing the patient was a robot.

“I thought you… disliked androids.”

“That’s not a humanoid robot.”

Beyond the dispensary that he pointed to indifferently with his chin, the repaired robot pet dog was wagging its tail vigorously at its owner.

As he was putting the ointment to apply to the robot’s coating into a tin case, Yoo Seong-woo thought he was fortunate to be wearing a mask. It was difficult to manage his expression.

“So you only dislike humanoid ones.”

“Yeah. And I like animals.”

The closed tin case was put into a white paper bag. Yoo Seong-woo left the dispensary holding the bag stamped with Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital.

He knew that someday he would have to reveal the secret. But he kept making excuses. Because there would soon be an audit, because he must be busy now too.

So he was putting it off just a little longer. Revealing the fact that he was an android.

***

Like most government agencies, the Ministry of Defense was particularly unpopular with the public.

People were still unable to move past the invasion war they had experienced in this land and the destruction of Mount Jiri. It was a local war, and most citizens hadn’t even seen the enemy.

The shocking incident of the explosion of the Mount Jiri vein, the treasure trove of black moonstone, had already become a trauma for the people. Mount Jiri was a famous mountain that everyone used to climb in hiking clothes, and it was even more proud as the peak of Korea because of the black moonstone.

So the responsibility for losing that place lay with the Ministry of Defense and the national army.

The Ministry of Defense’s actions of rooting around here and there, claiming to root out remnants of the European Union or increase soldiers at the border, were struggles to make up for that enormous mistake, even if only a little.

In that sense, Eden was a good opportunity.

‘A soldier died, and drugs were discovered.’

It was a chance to clean up the most glamorous palace in Haeya-dong, where the dirtiest people of District 2 gathered.

‘Perhaps remnants of the European Union, or a mole, might be in Eden.’

New rumors began to circulate. Anyone could see they were rumors spread by the Ministry of Defense.

It was loud enough for Yoo Seong-woo to hear, but Yeon Tae-soo seemed unconcerned.