Red Dot - 31

Chapter 31 –

At first, Hanseo and Taeju were assigned to a double room, while Junseong got a single room.

However, Junseong, claiming to be friends with Hanseo even more than she did, took the initiative to share the double room together. Taeju, who ended up with a spacious single room, showed no signs of discontent. On the contrary, Hyunje, who had assigned the rooms, briefly seemed disappointed but quickly changed his expression and left, saying they could make themselves comfortable.

“Mr. Junseong, about the rescue helicopter… Oh, I’m not supposed to talk about it, right?”

Taeju, who had come to Junseong’s room, covered his mouth with his hand as if realizing his slip. Junseong had cautioned him about this during the car ride to the hospital, and he hadn’t asked Nurse Park Hyunje about the rescue helicopter until now.

“When it’s just us, you can talk about it. It’s just that other people shouldn’t know.”

“Ah, I see. So, when is the rescue helicopter coming? You didn’t mention the time.”

“The rescue helicopter will arrive at 4 o’clock.”

“4 o’clock… That means we have less than 5 hours.”

Taeju, checking the analog clock on the wall of the room, had an excited expression. The current time was a little past 11:30 AM.

“It’s so great to think that we’ll leave here in just 5 hours. Is this all due to the zombie issue?”

“That’s right. I know that the military quickly closed the area due to the zombie situation.”

“Thank goodness!”

The military had swiftly closed off the area, preventing zombies from coming out, as repeatedly confirmed in recurring dreams. Junseong expected this situation to be no different.

Junseong approached Taeju, who was excited, and made a small request in a low voice. It was because he thought Taeju was more suitable for this task than himself.

“Sir, could you please listen to what I’m asking? It’s not something difficult.”

“Whatever it is, just let me know. If there’s something I can help with, I should help. I owe you for saving my life.”

Taeju turned his twinkling eyes toward Junseong and leaned in, covering his ear with his hand.

“… That’s all you have to do. You don’t have to force yourself, just do it naturally.”

“It’s not difficult, and there’s nothing I can’t do… but why are you asking me?”

Taeju widened his eyes, curious about why Junseong would ask him for such a simple task that he could do himself.

“You easily get along with anyone, sir.”

It was one of Taeju’s characteristics that Junseong had noticed.

“I want to have a proper understanding of the situation here.”

Junseong recalled Park Hyunje and the other six evacuees who were wandering outside the room.

“Otherwise, we could all be in danger.”

In Junseong’s memory, there were 13 hospital evacuees.

Including the sole surviving hospital staff and nurse Park Hyunje, there were a total of 14.

This number remained unchanged until the second day when the rescue helicopter arrived at 4 PM.

But now, more than half of them—7 people—had disappeared, and even the caring nurse Park Hyunje had been replaced by someone else.

This was by no means a small change.

Junseong first examined what he knew about Nurse Park Hyunje.

He was a quiet and reserved male nurse in his twenties who diligently performed his duties. When compared side by side with the current “fake” nurse, they were entirely different from head to toe, even if they wore the same clothes and name tag.

So, Junseong could tell immediately that they were different people.

In reality, Nurse Park Hyunje fortunately survived.

Thanks to him and other nurses who came forward to block all paths leading to the 5th floor, zombies were contained up to the 4th floor. Among those who risked their lives at that time, Park Hyunje was the only one who survived and stepped onto the 5th floor.

The surviving individual across the hospital’s 5th, 6th, and 7th floors, all undergoing remodeling, was that one person.

It took three hours from the first evacuee reaching the 5th floor through the emergency stairs.

“The first evacuee to reach the 5th floor was a woman in her 20s.”

The first evacuee Junseong recalled was now invisible, one of the disappeared seven.

The second was a man in his 30s, the third was another man of similar age, and the fourth was a man in his 40s who was among the people currently present.

Junseong recalled each of the 14 individuals in his memory one by one.

Dream memories were clearer than remembering something in reality, so recalling their faces and appearances was not challenging.

“How do you know the order of evacuation? When we arrived in my dream, all 14 were already here.”

Hanseo, who had been listening to Junseong reminiscing, raised a question.

“At that time, Nurse Park Hyunje assigned rooms to people in the order they evacuated. Room 701 for the first evacuee, Room 702 for the second, and so on.”

Thanks to that, just by recalling the faces of the evacuees and their room numbers, Junseong could determine the order of evacuation.

On the other hand, the current ‘fake’ nurse was assigning rooms as he pleased.

Junseong found a commonality among the 14 individuals by remembering their evacuation order.

“Only people in their 20s and 30s are missing. And only those who were alone.”

Among the remaining six, there was only one young couple in their 20s. The recently married couple always stuck together, even holding hands tightly when boarding the rescue helicopter.

“Why did only young people disappear?”

Junseong explored his memories and thought about the fourth evacuee, the man in his 40s with a protruding belly, who was among the disappeared young people.

The man, still sitting on the hospital bed, was puffing on a cigarette, filling the room with smoke. He was so addicted to smoking that he risked his life to bring a pack of cigarettes during the evacuation. Ironically, he didn’t bother to gather water or food.

The man, so devoted to smoking, was just as Junseong remembered.

“Oh, I thought I was going to suffocate from the smell of cigarettes.”

Taeju, who had visited the room at Junseong’s request, shook his head in the stifling and acrid air. Following that, Junseong relayed the full story of the ‘cigarette pack saga.’

Then Taeju revealed one more fact that differed from Junseong’s memory.

“He claims he was the first evacuee. When he opened the door and entered, it was the 5th floor.”

If the man, who was actually the fourth evacuee, claimed to be the first, it probably meant that all three evacuees disappeared before arriving.

Moreover, he said that upon entering the 5th floor alone, the ‘fake’ Nurse Park Hyunje warmly greeted him and even guided him to the 7th floor.

Similarly, Taeju had visited the other five remaining people and reported that the seventh evacuee, a man in his 60s, also claimed to be the second.

“Well… does this help understand the situation?”

“Of course. Thank you for your help.”

Taeju scratched his head, smiling awkwardly.

“I’m glad it was helpful even though it was just casual chatter. Call me anytime if you need anything!”

With a friendly smile, Taeju left the room.

The tension gradually built up in the room as Hanseo and Junseong were left alone.

“That red writing… At first glance, it seems like it’s trying to inform about zombies up to the 4th floor. But when you think about it, it doesn’t seem like a special device to assure us about the 5th-floor door, right?”

Junseong, organizing his thoughts, spoke.

“And the young people who are alone can’t even come to the 7th floor and disappeared on the 5th floor. What happened to them?”

Junseong asked, and Hanseo smirked.

“Not showing up until now probably means they died. On the 5th floor.”

“Are there zombies on the 5th floor?”

Hanseo sent a gaze that seemed to ask if Junseong really thought so.

“Sometimes, people can be scarier than zombies. You should know, having experienced it yourself.”

Hanseo’s voice was colder than ever, as if he, too, had gone through something similar.

Junseong bit his lip and lowered his gaze, as if trying to suppress something.

In the end, he had to give an answer in the direction he least wanted to think about.

At the same moment.

Park Hyunje stopped Taeju, who was just about to enter his own single room.

“Taeju, can you spare a moment?”

“What’s the matter? How can I help?”

“Yes, there’s something I’d like Taeju to help with.”

Taeju, the kind-hearted person who liked to help others, eagerly took on an active posture, seeing Hyunje’s troubled expression.

“Tell me anything!”

Hyunje chuckled with a twisted smile.

“There’s something I urgently need from the operating room on the 5th floor. It’s a bit challenging for me alone. Will you help?”