Sentimental Shower

#039

It didn’t make sense. The European Union wouldn’t let a defector live. Especially one who sold military secrets and led to the war’s defeat.

Yet the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Defense was targeting him instead of protecting him from the European Union.

As if it didn’t matter if the hero died. Even the military didn’t know about his contribution to the victory. There could only be one reason.

‘The Republic of Korea military doesn’t recognize him as a hero.’

If Yeon Tae-soo’s defection was some kind of deal.

If it wasn’t a vague reason like patriotism that made him re-naturalize, but a deal with the Ministry of Defense. Then it would make sense.

If so, what was that deal? Why was the Ministry of Defense still after Yeon Tae-soo years after the war ended?

There’s something more. There was something unfinished between Yeon Tae-soo and the Ministry of Defense.

As his thoughts developed to this point, he suddenly remembered Yeon Tae-soo’s black jacket soaked in blood. And his wounds that healed abnormally fast.

‘Could it be… that the Ministry of Defense knows about his body’s condition?’

Is that why the Ministry of Defense is after him? It was entirely possible. If they were pressuring Yeon Tae-soo to get him into their hands.

‘If he falls into the Ministry of Defense’s hands, he’ll be used as an experiment subject.’

He remembered again his expressionless eyes when he stopped acting and took off his mask. Those eyes so indifferent they seemed lifeless.

Those eyes that didn’t seem human.

“What are you thinking about?”

Kim Ji-heon’s question snapped him out of his thoughts. Yoo Seong-woo quietly shook his head.

“It’s nothing. I’m just a bit tired.”

Is this the end now? Have we said everything? As he was reading the atmosphere, Kim Ji-heon’s gaze lingered on his face for a particularly long time. He needlessly pulled up his mask.

“Is there something on my face?”

“…Seeing you again, I can clearly understand why Representative Yeon keeps you so close.”

Ah, is that entertainment function that seduced men activating again? It was sickening. Of course, it seems Yeon Tae-soo also took a liking to him because of this function.

He was tired of it. He couldn’t turn off this function like he did before. Not unless he changed his entire face and eye expression. Maybe he should just wear sunglasses all the time.

The reason your representative likes me is because I’m a machine made to enchant people. The sarcastic words rose to the roof of his mouth, but he barely swallowed them.

When he glanced up from his averted gaze, Kim Ji-heon, who had been staring at him, smiled kindly.

“It’s a compliment.”

I know. Even with his emotion detection function turned off, he could tell this man had taken a liking to him.

Kim Ji-heon had a very different atmosphere from Yeon Tae-soo. Unlike the all-black Yeon Tae-soo, Kim Ji-heon with his brown hair and beige suit had a much softer image.

Disliking the awkward atmosphere, he decided to change the subject.

“I understand you’re in charge of accounting, Mr. Kim Ji-heon.”

“Yes, well. You could say I’m a secretary.”

“You seem to know a lot for just a secretary.”

Kim Ji-heon smiled brightly again at the subtly pointed remark. A smile that curved his eyes, openly showing his affection.

“Numbers tell a lot. You can even see information that you can’t get from physical work.”

It was such an obvious answer that Yoo Seong-woo could only nod.

***

On the hospital’s day off, Yoo Seong-woo went to buy paint for his mask.

He had never used paint while woodcarving. He was always satisfied with just shaping. Because of this, he felt a strange trembling. He bought red paint as well as black. He thought Popo might like it if he painted him.

It rained on the way back to the animal hospital after buying the two colors of paint. Although seasons had lost their meaning long ago, it was technically summer now. It was natural for rain to fall frequently.

Oil leaking from various machines and pipes for machines mixed with rainwater, creating small rainbow-colored strips on the ground. Public cleaning robots moved slowly over them.

Yoo Seong-woo pulled up his mask and waited for the bus. Street billboards wildly displayed hologram advertisements for things like “Radiation-free Supplements” and “Safe Portable Food.”

As he was pulling his umbrella down deeply, he suddenly noticed the bakery across the street.

Did Yeon Tae-soo like bread?

He didn’t know much about him. Probably he didn’t know much about himself either.

Should I buy bread, would he even like something from a neighborhood bakery when the chef at Eden surely serves top-class cuisine every day, he was thinking such things when he heard a voice from behind.

“…so I’ll go to Eden…”

There are plenty of people talking about Eden, but somehow this felt off.

At that moment, one of his built-in functions activated for the first time in a long while, instead of human intuition.

His function as a performance android automatically began to read the surrounding atmosphere. Numerous sensory sensors responded in turn, reaching one conclusion. Turn around. He commanded himself.

In the alley, a man was standing in front of a public cleaning robot, doing something. The man’s face looked familiar.

‘I think I’ve seen him at Eden.’

Even if he had seen him at Eden, there was no particular reason for him to be concerned. If anything was suspicious, it would be filtered out when entering.

Even while thinking this, he couldn’t shake off the sensation that felt like a warning. The bus to the animal hospital came, but he didn’t board, instead observing the man from the corner of his eye. He only glanced because staring directly might alert him.

The man disappeared after a while. He considered following but decided against it, judging it might be dangerous.

Instead, Yoo Seong-woo approached the public cleaning robot the man had been touching.

When the cylindrical robot, about knee-high, tried to move but was blocked by Yoo Seong-woo’s legs, it bumped him a few times before changing direction. On the side of the robot, something white stood out against the smooth black exterior.

His brain, which should have electronic circuits attached, memorized hundreds of thousands of songs but was useless in situations like this. He didn’t have high-performance calculation functions that could quickly judge and read situations like in old 4th era movies.

‘Think, think.’

So he had to think like a human.

His mind felt like it was in a jumble. But one thing was certain. The man earlier had mentioned Eden, and he needed to be helpful to Yeon Tae-soo.

How long would he maintain his affection for him? Not knowing immediately made him anxious.

Eden was a perfect hideout. No chance of encountering android hunters, and protection from the king of Haeya-dong. He had encountered a security android before, but because of that, androids probably couldn’t enter Eden again.

Protecting Yeon Tae-soo was protecting himself. Yes, that’s all it was.

Yeon Tae-soo’s expression when he saw his face, showing the emotion of ‘relief’.

The harmlessly curved eyes that came to mind were just a malfunction. It was just part of a serious error of a broken machine, something not human and without life, desperately trying to live. That’s all it was.

He looked around. The bus had left, and there were no people. This was a narrow, dark alley and the rain impaired visibility. No windows were visible in the alley.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Yoo Seong-woo whispered to the cleaning robot, bent down, and placed his hand on the white part. Someone had inserted a USB. Was it that man from earlier?

He blocked the robot trying to move away from him again. Then he dragged the robot to a shadowy spot in the alley where it couldn’t be seen from outside. After checking several times that there were no passersby and no possibility of someone looking down from above, he covered the USB port on the robot’s body with his entire palm.

‘I’m not sure if knowing the theory will be enough.’

Half in doubt, he concentrated sensation on his fingertips. The robot, which had been turning its head this way and that trying to complete its cleaning mission, suddenly stopped moving.

Beep, beep, something like a warning sound rang out, and then suddenly a database poured into him.

The hacking had succeeded.

Whoosh, Yoo Seong-woo’s neck involuntarily tilted back. His eyes rolled back, showing the whites.

In that state, Yoo Seong-woo’s body completely stiffened. Without even the movement of a single eyelash, not even breathing. With his neck tilted back and whites of his eyes showing, he looked just like a discarded doll. He also resembled a statue abandoned mid-creation by a frustrated artist.

If a passerby had seen, they would have been startled by the grotesqueness, but the darkness settled in the deep alley and the curtain-like rain covering it concealed his appearance.

After several dozen seconds passed like this, Yoo Seong-woo awoke with a deep inhale.