I'm still alive

'Oh, Dong-yoon, is your guest here?’

The researcher man had kept his mouth shut for a while with a very dark face. And as soon as I was about to ask him how he is, Kang Soo-ryeon, who was preparing a meal back there, walked here wiping his hands on the apron.

Having recovered a lot of health, she returned to work, and now she was taking care of all the company in her quarters and playing a role as a bridgehead. A bright smile and a lively voice, I smiled face-to-face at her and said to the researcher man.

'What brings you here? I still have the medicine I gave you back then.’

Most of the guys and strains we've caught so far have been transferred to Eden's lab. Is it because there are many different samples? The lab staff began to step up their full-fledged activities, and good news was coming in from day to day. And this man, who is in charge of the research center in recognition of his contribution, must have been busy, but somehow he came to our accommodation.

Sir, could you spare me a moment?’

His voice was unusually subdued and gloomy. Why is he doing this all of a sudden when he was focusing on his research yesterday? I looked at his expression with a face full of questions, and I had no choice but to look back at Kang Soo-ryeon and say that I would have a meal when I came back.

Then the quick-witted woman smiled brightly and quickly escaped from her seat. A brief pause, he bowed his head to me as if to go with him, and I followed him without saying much.

* * *

It was quiet in the street, perhaps because it was early dawn. We walked the streets in silence and headed to the lab where research was going on for a long time. Apparently, like our executives, the lab staff are working hard on their research day and night. And the lab building from afar was brightly lit with lights that seemed to say the news was true. I knew their hard work, so I thanked them with all my heart, not empty words.

We've benefited a lot from the drugs that the labs have created. It's hard to list all the benefits. Our team and I are very grateful.’

It keeps them away.

This short sentence gave us a new paradigm living in this city. Although the limited materials made it impossible to mass-produce, they may not know how easily the bottle they made helps with the operation. And to my thanks the researcher man slowly took off his glasses and said,

'It's all thanks to the group leader. I've always been a scumbag, but now I can't help......... I'm so happy.’

It's me to thank, but I was ashamed to have my face painted like this. I laughed awkwardly and scratched my head, and walked in with him opening the door into the lab. Is it because it's early in the morning? Most of the researchers were sitting on chairs and dozing off, whether or not I or a man came in.

Shh, I crept into the room so that the researchers who were taking a nap wouldn't wake up, and followed a man waving his hand to come this way, quietly into the room. And when I opened the door, my face welcomed me in the room where I thought no one would be there.

'Dongyoon, it's been a long time no see. Are you well?’

A doctor who always takes care of our health and wounds. It was Kim Chul, whom I saw a week ago when I treated the wound. I don't know why he's here, but he smiled brightly and shook hands with Kim Chul, who welcomed me. Perhaps because the number of people coming in is increasing these days, there are no days when hospitals don't have patients. I said hello to him for a long time, looking unusually tired, and soon asked him implicitly why he was here. However, the person who answered instead of Kim Chul was a researcher man next to him.

I called because I needed help. I don't know... ...because I'm not in my field.’

Sections? I think there's an area where this job overlaps with that of a doctor. As soon as the researcher man's answer was over, Kim Chul, who was smiling brightly, hardened his expression and naturally began to calm down. At this point, I slowly began to worry about what they were trying to say, with a dark face and a hesitant mouth. I hasten the two as if to speak quickly.

So what's going on? Is there an epidemic going on?’

I thought that these two could not be solved if they had a private meeting with me. But even as I guessed, they shook their heads, and soon they brought one chair by one and sat closest to me. And the man, looking around and confirming that no one was listening, quietly recited to me.

There's anomaly you mentioned last time. You said the people facing the head of the group were making the first moves.….’

I nodded quietly. That's right, I treated the snow strain at the water restaurant that day, and the next day I met Jin-suk's house and saved my life. But the problem was the moment when time passed and I faced them.

The men who were fighting with me made a suspicious move that I had never seen before, and soon lost their fighting spirit and ran away. Literally, it was an ideal phenomenon that broke the rules that had been set.

'Yes, I remember.’

I answered him. Of course, I forgot about it now because I was busy with work, but at that time, I remembered giving my sample to a researcher man just in case. Is there something wrong with my body, or is there something wrong with them? I left it to an expert, and in a shorter time than I thought, the researcher man, who solved the secret, dropped his head and whispered quietly to me.

"From the head of the organization......, we've found a component similar to the strain.’

I felt as if someone had hit me hard on the head. For a moment I couldn't understand what the man was saying, and I just gulped down my saliva and lost my words. The words, which broke through the eardrum, hovered in empty air with denial that it could never be real.

A beep.

And the truth that hovered in the air exploded into a bomb. Lee Myung-eun barely survives for the reason that makes my ears dizzy and my mind remains a ray.

My hands are shaking.

My eyes are twitching constantly.

But the voice that broke through the tinnitus held my trembling hand. Turning his head, Kim Chul was angry at the man in the lab.

You shouldn't have said that! I told you it was definitely a different case!'

Survivors, who were turning into strains after being injected with their blood before their eyes, pass by. That look, as if to take off the human mask, the seeds of hell that came upon the Inse, were traces of the end I had killed countless times. But I never thought I'd be like that. Well, then what should I do now? Kill them, kill them, kill them. Do I have to kill myself now?

'No, Mr. Dong-yoon! It's definitely different from other people. Although detected, has Dong-yoon changed to a variant now? No! If you're late, it'll mutate in a day or an hour at the earliest, but Dong-yoon's test is over and everything is fine until this week passes.’

Kim Chul held my hand tightly and explained to me hard. Although I couldn't hear well buried between the two birds, the close-up action in a situation where I might become a variant contained a mournful sincerity. And the lab man who informed me of the results was at his wit's end and soon gave Kim Chul's words a boost.

'Kim Chul is right. Although it's infected, it's extremely slow to mutate. What should I say?...... Just the beginning? The process is slow, just as something stops the mutation. By any chance, have you ever felt that there was a change in your body?’

When I was told that there was a substance similar to a strain in my body, memories of the past passed like a short story and began to explain everything. An abnormal ability that erupts at dangerous moments. And an instinct that sometimes shone incredibly sharp on itself. It all coincided with reality and concluded that it was not normal for itself not normal.

I remember hearing their voices near the police station where I first met Detective Kang on a snowy day. When all the party members didn't hear it, it was the only voice I ever heard. It was not a coincidence, but a beginning that was telling the present result. I nodded helplessly at the lab man, gazing into the air where only darkness was visible.

'Gee, we're shutting down all the projects and starting to develop treatments. All the researchers are doing their best, and there are many variants samples, so don't worry too much. I'll risk my life to make it.’

Is it because of me who let everything go? The lab man stammered to the horse and gave me a hurried answer, and he kept nodding his head and comforting me with Kim's stiff face, who was holding my hand next to him. But what I said was not a thank-you, but a heartless reality.

'Is there anyone else who knows this except you two?’

Looking at me, who suddenly regained reason, the two of them lost their words for a moment and shook their heads. According to the story, the first thing he learned was a lab man, who hid the secret under the pretext of making the treatment development in advance.

And secondly, Kim Chul, who heard the news, was not such a light-mouthed man. That said, after all, this story is a matter that can be buried in me forever unless someone tells it. I asked the man.

'You said it was slow, can you predict how long it will last?'

Perhaps because it was an unexpected question, the lab man was out of his mind for a while. But as an expert, he quickly regained his consciousness, and for a moment began to calculate the time period I wanted. And he gave me a rough time frame.

'I don't know exactly, but at least three to four months will be fine. But after that, you may experience physical or mental abnormalities. If you'd like to, you can be hospitalized now, or we can...….’

I held his trembling hand and cut him off. And the coldness breathed out a deep breath, and the heart is firm. The heart, which was tempered endlessly, contained a firmness that made it look right in front of its eyes rather than a tearful pain.

At least three to four months......... good. That should be enough. After a short thought, I asked them not to forget.

'Please keep it a secret from your companions and people. Then I'll trust you two and go ahead because I have an important meeting.’

"Mr. Dong-

"Leader!

Seeing me get up without hesitation, the two of them were startled and shouted at the same time, but I shook my head as if not to worry. I understand that they are concerned about my mental state. But I left the lab building, as always, saying, "It's okay, everything's going to be fine." The wind blows when I open the door, a little warmer.

I can see the street where people started to go. But I quietly began to walk through the alleys that existed between buildings, avoiding the main street, and quietly looked around and fell into a little imagination. My steps were heading to the group chief's office where the meeting was to be held in ten minutes, but my mind had long been blown away by the already blowing wind. When I open my hand, I see countless scars and calluses.

I think a lot has changed. I have a precious relationship and a precious place. Countless hardships and hardships have changed my environment day by day, and now I am in a position to stand at the forefront and watch everything. But it was strangely me who experienced the most changes. The tremor that stopped earlier comes again and bothers me. For a moment I felt like everything was falling apart, and when it was confirmed that there was no one around me, my legs became weak.

To flop.

I sat on the floor lousyly and leaned my back against the alley wall. The mind is blank. Sadness rises from the inside with injustice. It's too hard. It's too painful. I don't think I can stand it, but the reality that I have to endure it has thrown even terrible grief into the mud. Perhaps this venomous and heartless, I resent an object that does not exist.

I think I knew vaguely that there was something wrong with my body the day they saw me and ran away. But the busy routine made the worry disappear for a moment, and the occasional happiness forgot everything like drugs. As the oblivion grew old, anxiety became unclean. And reversed with the conviction that it would never.

But the real-life train with the truth hit me. Time cannot be reversed. Now that it has changed, it cannot go back. Then... ...then what should I do? And the answer was being told by all the baggage weighing heavily on my shoulder.

Dongyoon, Dongyoon. I got up on the floor calling my name over and over again.

* * *

All the agenda was passed in a flash. The executives gathered one mind and one mind to gather thought and strength, and detailed plans began to be made slowly. Women and men, the only surviving journalists to enter the blockade area. I'll give these two classified documents and send them out. And let everyone know we're alive.

The only problem was how they got out, which was easier than I thought. The men, accompanied by journalists and catchers, are said to have crossed over here through smuggling brokers who work illegally. And as long as the satellite phone works normally, a couple of men and women can get out through a broker, Kim Chang-sik said.

At first, I was wondering if there was a smuggling broker, but I quickly gave up when I heard that it was too dangerous and that only a relatively small number of people could move. And when all the routes and plans were completed, progress moved forward with a tailwind, and only a decision remained on when to carry out the operation soon.

The road to meet the broker was longer and harder than I thought. Frankly speaking, the brokers and escape routes were located outside the containment area to the point of questioning how these journalists got here. But we had drugs to kick them out, and we had rescue teams that were better than anyone else. Moving is not a problem at all, even though it may take a long time.

But the problem was somewhere else than I thought.

'You're not in a hurry! At least you should go that way first and meet a broker. How important this is, are you trying to slip it through?’

This is the position of the old man, who is holding the operational deadline back a month.

'Let's leave in a week.’

And this is my position that I have to leave in a week.

The old man and I, who have always been in agreement and fantastic partners, began to confront each other for the first time today. Is it because we, who have the greatest power of decision and influence, are fighting? All the officials and the party were tight-lipped and watched our fight, looking nervously at the glance.

"Kwak Dong-yoon!!!"

And the old man, with my stubbornness of shit, ended up hitting the desk with a loud noise. Right, I knew the old man was right. As this was a matter of great importance to our fate, we had to deal with it with prudence. But I couldn't. I closed my eyes tightly and bit my lips hard. When I saw an angry and upset old man, I felt like I was cutting his chest with a knife.

A month was too long for me. At least a week, the limit line I thought of was only a week. Within that short period of time the two had to get out of the blockade and bring about something change in the desperate situation. I don't have any more time. He was so impatient with himself, and the old man could not have understood the impatience.

Boom.

The old man ended up leaving the conference room. And only silence embraces my surroundings.