Room 38 in Baekho-dong was laid out like a typical small studio, with a bed, desk, chair, and wardrobe. Whether no one else had used it or it had already been cleaned, the room had been spotless from the moment I arrived. They said Baekho-dong itself was the most recently built building, excluding Jujak-dong, the research wing.
The excitement of having my new room still lingered in my chest even five days later. It was a cramped room made up of a bed, desk, chair, and wardrobe, but the moment I lay down, I was the happiest person in the world. Why did lying down feel so good? My body naturally sought out soft bedding, and I found myself wondering why humans had to live walking around on two legs.
If I had enough money, would I not work? I didn’t know. No matter how I thought about it, I felt like working for something other than earning money would make me happy. If I had a lot of money, first I’d put some in my mother’s hands, pay all of my younger brother’s university tuition, and then I would lie in bed and never get up. I rolled my body this way and that on the bed, brainwashing myself that this, too, was stretching, before the thought that I should probably brush my teeth slowly made me sit up.
The Fourth Undersea Base itself was shaped like a large cross. To the north was Hyeonmu-dong, where the mining teams lived with the mining robots; to the east was Cheongnyong-dong, where the engineering team lived; to the south was Jujak-dong, where the researchers and research facilities were concentrated; and to the west was Baekho-dong, where people in special positions like me, as well as resident staff such as cleaners and cooks, lived.
Each of the four zones had accommodations, facilities, various equipment, escape boats, shower rooms, laundry rooms, and lounges arranged throughout. In the past, they said, the accommodations had been on Daehando, Floor 0, and people would come down to the undersea base to work, then go back up to Daehando where the lodgings were.
But once the undersea base began operating on a system of shifts twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, temporary accommodations were made inside the base, and later, as the facilities were expanded, they simply built permanent lodgings. Eventually, most of the base personnel working under the sea came to live underwater rather than on Daehando.
Before joining this place, I had agreed to data collection regarding mental and physical changes while living inside the base. The information on the roughly thousand people here at the North Pacific Undersea Base would probably be used later for the construction of an Atlantic undersea base or as research material for someone. While staying here, I also had to collect data on the dental condition of the people living inside the undersea base, but fewer people came than I had expected.
Most of them worked rotating shifts in four teams, eight hours each, so they didn’t seem to come unless the time matched their work schedule. Most of their breaks were spent sleeping or eating, and since the internet worked, there were also plenty of people who watched dramas or movies.
There seemed to be quite a few people who made phone calls, played games, or, as Gang Sujeong had said, exercised. I had tried to take exercise up as a new hobby, but my new hobby became the aquarium inside the undersea base where they had gathered jellyfish.
They said some research team was raising jellyfish inside the undersea base for jellyfish-related research. My first thought was that it must really be rewarding to raise them. Watching the glittering jellyfish was dazzling, like looking at the lights on a Christmas tree. As I watched the jellyfish drifting through the water and thought they were beautiful, realistic concerns like how they cleaned the tank would pop into my head, and then I would head somewhere else.
These days, I would brush my teeth at the dental clinic, walk to the aquarium to look at the jellyfish, spit out all the toothpaste foam in the restroom in Jungang-dong, look at the aquarium again, then return to my room. It was a sight and luxury I could never enjoy if this weren’t an undersea base. I rubbed my toothbrush while looking at my pad. In five seconds, unless there was an urgent matter, I would enter my official day off. With the toothbrush in my mouth and the pad in my hand, I left the dental clinic and started walking.
[Dentist Bak Muhyeon *On Duty]
4, 3, 2, 1. 0. The moment it hit zero, “On Duty” changed to “On Vacation.”
[Dentist Bak Muhyeon *On Vacation]
Vacation. Ah. What a sweet word. It wasn’t [Resting], as if I was just taking a break because work was over. It was truly [On Vacation]. Ahh. This was so nice. I liked that I wasn’t on four-shift rotation like the others. Of course, since four teams took turns working the four shifts, it wasn’t bad, but for a human like me, who had grown used to working five days and resting two, it was more comfortable to have separate days off.
Instead, I didn’t have the ten days of vacation every three months that only shift workers got. I’d envy them when the time came. For now, I was too pleased with my current day off. I was on my way to the laundry room to wash Noeul, the whale plushie that had been abused by patients, together with my clothes.
Once the laundry was done, I’d go play at the beach. Would they sell beer near the beach? I hoped they did. I wanted to walk along the beach carrying a beer. Had they said they didn’t sell alcohol on the artificial island? I hoped they at least sold sparkling water. Thinking that, I heard a voice from the utility room right beside the laundry room.
“You think you’re worth that much?”
It was a harsh voice. When I turned my head, all I could see was a man’s back. Only after the curse reached my ears did I realize that my translator could translate profanity too, and that was the kind of thought that came to me first. The man, who looked over 180 centimeters tall, suddenly staggered and pulled back, and then I saw that a woman was standing in front of him.
Before the man could even raise both arms to guard himself, the woman slammed her fist straight into his jaw. She hit him so hard that the man’s head, which I could see from the side, snapped up at a right angle. As if her fist still hadn’t vented its anger, she drove it into the man’s undefended solar plexus. Before I could stop anything, the grown man collapsed onto the floor in an instant.
The person who had thrown the punches was a small woman who looked about 160 centimeters tall. She was wearing long training pants and a short-sleeved T-shirt, her long hair tied into one, and she was as nimble as a squirrel. While I stood there stupidly with my mouth open after witnessing the assault, the woman, whose knuckles were slightly scraped, approached me.
There were CCTVs in every section of the undersea base, so blind spots were practically nonexistent, but when I craned my neck like a crane to check, the place where the man and woman had been standing was just outside the CCTV’s range. Was this witness disposal? When I took one step back, the woman smiled brightly, raised both palms, and said awkwardly,
“Hello.”
She spoke clearly in Korean, probably because she had seen the title of the [Undersea Base Guidebook Korean Edition] in my hand. No matter how I thought back on it, it seemed like the man had been one-sidedly beaten like a dog and knocked unconscious. The woman walked over with nimble steps.
“Since I’ve never seen your face before, you must not have been here long.”
“Uh... yes. Hello. I’m Bak Muhyeon.”
Only after those words left my mouth did the thought cross my mind that it might have been better to just shut up and run. It couldn’t be helped. For the past five days, I had been reflexively greeting everyone whose eyes met mine.
“I’m Baek Aeyeong. Nice to meet you.”
She offered a handshake, so I took her hand without thinking. I pretended not to notice the scraped skin on the back of Baek Aeyeong’s hand, where beads of blood had formed. I didn’t want to let go of that hand in case her fist came flying, but after the handshake ended at a reasonably unawkward length, I made the most important request in this situation.
“Um... please avoid the teeth when you hit people.”
Because I was the only dentist in this undersea base and on Daehando. As if I had misunderstood, Baek Aeyeong waved her small hand.
“What? No. I’m not the kind of person who beats people up for no reason.”
It was hard to believe that, considering what I had seen twenty seconds ago.
“That... that man over there.”
“As a woman goes through life, there are all kinds of situations where she needs to use her fists.”
I see. For a very brief moment, I almost accepted that there must have been a justified reason and moved on.
“Doesn’t he need medical assistance?”
When I asked Baek Aeyeong while looking at the man lying obediently on the floor, she shook out her hand and lightly shook her head. Baek Aeyeong might not need help, but that man who seemed to have fainted looked like he desperately did.
“Ms. Baek Aeyeong, are you perhaps an engineer from Team Ga?”
“Yes. You’re the new dentist, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Apparently, Team Ga of the engineers solved everything with their fists. Or maybe the name of the undersea base’s boxing team was simply “Engineer Team Ga.”
“Doctor, you’re the most famous person in the undersea base right now.”
“Because I’m new?”
“That too. And none of us thought a dental clinic would really be made in a cramped place like this. This isn’t somewhere that makes everything just because people ask.”
“Is that so? ...How is life in the undersea base? I’m curious.”
I said that while indicating the fallen man with my eyes. I thought it was a double-edged question, but Baek Aeyeong smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“For me, it’s a bit much now.”
“Why?”
“You’ll find out if you stay here. I’ll come by for scaling later. For now, you should go first.”
“There’s an injured person here.”
What if I left him and he died right there? When I didn’t clear out as Baek Aeyeong wanted and instead kept standing there, she let out a long sigh. It felt as if my tiny courage had been soundly beaten by that sigh.
“This guy talked shit to me and threatened me because his body was bigger than mine.”
“According to your account, Ms. Baek Aeyeong, it seems that bastard did everything wrong. ...But won’t he die like that?”
I said, looking at the back of the man sprawled out like a frog. Baek Aeyeong answered coldly.
“He won’t die. In fact, I handled it rather gently this time.”
Scary. It looked like his nose was broken. Had she punched him in the nose at first? I wasn’t sure about his ribs. Having seen her punch him in the solar plexus, I nodded extremely awkwardly.
“...If the gentle way of handling it is punching, what’s the rough and vicious way?”
“Well, suddenly disappearing from the undersea base, for example.”
I couldn’t hide my horrified expression. Was this place actually some kind of den of demons where violence happened all the time and ordinary people like me could get dragged in if they were unlucky?
“Are engineers gangsters?”
“Oh. Please be sure to say that to the Chinese team and the Japanese team too. Their accidental death rates are enormous. Ah. Canada and Australia too. Those guys are surprisingly petty.”
“...What are you going to do with that man?”
“There’s nothing to do or not do. I’ll kick him in the side a few more times and leave him here. When he wakes up, he’ll go back to his room on his own. Or go to the hospital.”
I desperately wanted to run away from here. Not because I was afraid of someone who swung her fists, but because I didn’t want to stand beside someone who used violence against another person as if it were nothing. But if I left Baek Aeyeong here, I didn’t know what might happen. The guy sprawled out on the floor might suddenly get up and attack Baek Aeyeong, claiming revenge, or Baek Aeyeong might wreck the man beyond his nose or ribs.
“...Let’s go together.”
At those words, Baek Aeyeong looked at me, thought for a moment, then nodded. I handed her the cleanest-looking towel among my laundry and told her to wipe the back of her hand. But Baek Aeyeong looked at the towel she had been given, then shook her head.
“A bloodstained towel. Washing it is a pain.”
Was it? I tucked the basket of laundry under my arm and went to the café with Baek Aeyeong. On the way, I thought I should have just thrown this into the laundry room first, but it was already too late. As we walked to the café, Baek Aeyeong high-fived the people we passed, bumped fists with them, or raised her middle finger. She must have been quite famous, because most of the people we met knew her.
Meeting people and hearing voices made the remnants of the violence I had seen earlier feel like they were being washed away little by little. Once we came out into an area with lots of CCTVs and lights, my mind calmed down somewhat. But contrary to my heart, my head was flustered, and as I got lost on the way to the café, Baek Aeyeong naturally guided the way.
Baek Aeyeong’s long hair, like a horse’s tail, swayed every time she strode forward. There were two cafés in Jungang-dong of the Fourth Undersea Base. One was [Red Coral], and the other was [Agulhas Current]. I didn’t know where the Agulhas Current was, but judging by the fact that I didn’t know it, it probably wasn’t a current in the North Pacific.
I ordered coffee, received two cups, and handed one to Baek Aeyeong. Once I sat at a table with warm coffee in my hands, all creation felt trivial. I kept recalling that feeling and took several huge breaths inwardly. Baek Aeyeong looked at the guidebook on top of my laundry basket and asked,
“Who gave you that book?”
“When I said I was in a bind because I only had the English edition, Mr. Seo Jihyeok kindly helped me out.”
“I heard they only printed about ten copies and distributed them to the engineers, so I was curious when I saw you had one.”
“Was it made by the team leader of Engineering Team A?”
“Uh… I heard they outsourced the translation. They supposedly paid quite a lot to make sure the quality was good. They probably gave a few copies to the naval base too.”
“I see. I’m enjoying it thanks to that.”
“If you meet Team Leader Shin later, you should tell him. He might like that.”
Then silence fell over us. While I sipped my coffee and treated myself for the terrifying time filled with blood, collapsed people, and the sound of breaking bones, Baek Aeyeong held her coffee cup and bit at her small lips for a long while before speaking.
“About what just happened. I hope Team Leader Shin doesn’t find out.”
Does the team leader do personnel evaluations for his team members? Or had Baek Aeyeong disposed of someone Shin Haeryang was supposed to handle with his fists?
“Why… is that? I’m asking because I really don’t know anything.”
“I don’t want to worry Team Leader Shin. He’s a delicate person.”
“……He.”
There were a tremendous number of words rising up my throat. Had the people who came to the dental clinic mispronounced someone’s name several times? Or were there several more people called Team Leader Shin?
“I see.”
So his fists are hard, but his heart is delicate? Or is his body delicate too, and only his fists are hard? ……I have no idea.
“I have never even seen Team Leader Shin Haeryang. And I’d also like to pretend I didn’t see anything today.”
Baek Aeyeong had only been holding her coffee, but after hearing my answer, she let out a sigh. In this place, even revealing your age was forbidden. Especially for Asians. Early twenties? Mid-twenties? At most she looked like she was in her mid-twenties, and relief spread across her youthful face. It seemed the thought that this story wouldn’t reach her team leader’s ears reassured her that much.
Seo Jihyeok was like that, and Baek Aeyeong was like that too; they both wanted to hide the unethical things they did from their team leader. Strangely enough. It didn’t seem like a man named Shin Haeryang lived all that morally.
“Thank you.”
Then she drank the coffee she had only been holding. For a while, only the quiet sound of us drinking coffee could be heard. I looked at my coffee, then asked after something suddenly occurred to me.
“I heard the beach is pretty. Do you happen to know where I should go to see it?”
“You can take the central elevator and walk from Floor 0, but it takes a while. Or you can take the Cheongryong-dong elevator or the Hyeonmu-dong elevator nearby, go up to the Third Undersea Base, then at the Third Undersea Base, if you turn the corner by the bakery, you’ll see the elevator to the Second Undersea Base on the left. Take that up, then take Elevator 3 at the First Undersea Base, and you can get to Floor 0. If you walk just a little farther from there, there’s the beach.”
“……Thank you.”
I had no idea. I’d have to take the central elevator up and walk around on the surface. I probably wouldn’t miss the beach once I was on the surface. Baek Aeyeong had likely explained it in as much detail as possible, but right now my abilities only extended to reaching the bakery in the Third Undersea Base without getting lost. Either that or wandering around desperately until I made it up.
But I didn’t want to spend the first golden bit of free time I’d gotten at the undersea base wandering around lost. I just wanted to finish this coffee and go back to the laundry room. If that unidentified man was lying there, I would contact the hospital, call a medic, or make sure he received treatment. If, as Baek Aeyeong said, he had woken up in the meantime and gone somewhere, then I didn’t know anything. If he’d hurt his jaw or teeth, he’d probably make an appointment as my patient.
We were sitting at a table right in front of the café, and I could feel eyes on us. The gazes of the people passing by the café or sitting inside made my face itch. As I turned my head, my eyes met a man’s.
He had been waiting for coffee, but when our eyes met, he scowled and left. A man sitting a couple of tables away drinking coffee reacted the same way when I looked at him. Wondering what was wrong with them, I kept turning my head this way and that. Then, within one second, I realized I was not that attractive a human being and looked at the woman in front of me.
Baek Aeyeong was, quite literally, pretty as a doll. Her face was incredibly small, her bangs were cut neatly so they just slightly covered her eyebrows, and she had ebony-black hair that reached her waist. Baek Aeyeong undid her hair tie to fix her disheveled hair, held it between her lips, and used both hands to gather the strands around her forehead and ears. On top of that, she sat with perfect posture, naturally drawing the eye.
“The men are staring at me passionately. I’m afraid love letters will be arriving at my room soon.”
At my words, Baek Aeyeong raised the corners of her mouth and dropped the hair tie she had been holding between her lips. Afraid it would fall into the coffee, I quickly caught it and made my hand serve as a hair-tie holder. Baek Aeyeong took the hair tie lying on my palm and finished tying up her hair. A splendid ponytail was completed.
When we were nearly out of things to say and nearly out of coffee, I stretched and suggested we get up. Baek Aeyeong nodded, then literally tossed her coffee back in one gulp and swallowed it. Seeing me stare blankly at her, Baek Aeyeong said,
“Wear sandals when you go to the beach. Crazy bastards drink beer there and break glass bottles.”
Then she went off to the other side of the café. I picked up my laundry again and started toward the laundry room. The man who had been beaten unconscious was already gone. There weren’t even any bloodstains. Had a cleaning robot come by? If I had just arrived here now, I probably would have thought nothing had happened.
It felt very strange. All of a sudden, I thought the undersea base felt like a massive prison. Imagining that this sort of violence might be happening dozens of times in places I didn’t know about, I entered the laundry room, where a man wearing a T-shirt with a large shark drawn across the chest greeted me. I greeted him as well and introduced myself. He was running black clothes and the like through the dryer. I shoved all my laundry into one washing machine, then took out only the whites separately and ran them in the machine beside it.
After starting the washing machines, I returned to my room, lay down on the bed, and read the undersea base guidebook until my arms hurt, then rolled onto my stomach. The very first chapter of the guidebook was about how to escape the undersea base. Thinking that a guidebook should begin with an introduction to the undersea base, shouldn’t it, I looked through the book and found the page numbers were a mess, as if something from the very last chapter had been moved to the front during editing. I rolled around on the bed as I read.
[The Fourth Undersea Base currently has a total of 234 employees, and a total of 220 escape craft (usable: 218, under repair: 2). Because this undersea base was originally designed with the assumption that 300 people would reside here, the number of escape craft does not meet safety management regulations. We have already submitted multiple requests to ISO, recommending that the number of escape craft per person be increased, but this has remained on hold for two years.]
When I arrived, they said the Fourth Undersea Base had around 400 to 500 people, so I pressed my chin into the pillow while thinking that if we boarded in order, I wouldn’t be able to get on an escape craft.
[The evacuation guidelines in the undersea base guidebook state that priority should be given to escaping via the elevators that move vertically through 3,000 meters, but in reality, should any problem occur at the undersea base, there is a high probability that the elevators will become unusable due to water pressure. If an external impact occurs, all elevators connecting each undersea base will automatically stop. Even if the engineers manually force the elevators to operate, there is a high probability of death before reaching the destination. Therefore, rather than using the eight elevators, depending on your current location, running toward an escape craft will give you a higher chance of survival—.]
The text was dense. It seemed Mr. Shin Haeryang had received the translated material and diligently added annotations to it. Looking at pages filled with the guidebook’s escape instructions and the criticisms written by someone who had read those instructions, drowsiness came over me of its own accord. Before I knew it, I was using the guidebook as a pillow, and in my dream, I dreamed of swimming like a mermaid among fish.