Convict Unit: Black Parade

The side effects of the Refill Injector hit him the day after the mission.

“Aaaargh!”

The moment he woke up, Jae-hee started screaming and rolling around on his bed.

A horrific muscle ache shot through his body, followed by a wave of exhaustion, nausea, and dizziness.

“Gyaaaaargh.”

His roommates watched in fascination as he writhed in agony.

“What’s wrong with him? Why’s he raising hell first thing in the morning?”

“He’s still at that age… maybe it’s just growing pains?”

“What, he’s getting taller? Dammit, I’m so jealous. Yo, spare me five centimeters.”

As Razor and Patissier bantered, Status Window pulled Jae-hee’s blanket up over him and shook his head.

“Don’t tease him too much desu. He almost got a Game Over on this last mission desu.”

“When you say that while pulling the blanket over his head, it looks like he’s actually dead.”

Just then, Jae-hee threw off the blanket and shot up, yelling, “I was fine yesterday! Why do I wake up like—aaaargh!”

“Pain is the price of youth desu. And suffering is the mother of creation desu. Anyway, you’ll be taller after you get through this desu.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? I’m in real pain! Call a doctor!”

But here on the prison cruise Paradise Lost, doctors were a top-tier resource.

A house call was a luxury he couldn’t hope for. Especially not on Deck 1.

In the end, Jae-hee had to crawl all the way to the 10th Deck Clinic. His heartless roommates offered only half-assed cheers of “You can do it!” without so much as lifting a finger to help him.

When he finally managed to take the elevator and drag himself to the clinic, he was greeted by the Doctor, who was lying down, just as drained as he was.

“Side effects from the Refill Injector, right? It’s a natural phenomenon.”

The Doctor gave him a cursory look-over and waved a dismissive hand. “You’ll suffer a bit today, but you should be better by tomorrow.”

“For… real, Doctor?”

“Yeah. So there’s nothing I can do for you today.”

Ignoring her patient, the Doctor crawled into an empty bed, pulled the covers up, and muttered, “Go get some decent food and rest up.”

“Don’t you have… like, a super-effective IV drip or something?”

“I do, but it’s expensive. And the effect is mostly placebo. Just go eat something tasty.”

And with that, the Doctor was sound asleep, snoring softly. She, too, was clearly exhausted from yesterday’s deployment.

“Even if you tell me to eat something tasty…”

He had no appetite whatsoever.

Jae-hee staggered out of the clinic and across the 9th Deck shopping arcade, but the myriad delicious smells and appetizing displays failed to catch his eye. With his body in such pain, he had zero interest in delicacies or anything else.

Still, I should probably eat something… but what…?

As he stood there wondering, a familiar face appeared before him.

“What are you doing here?”

Jae-hee’s eyes widened. “Master!”

“Here to get something to build your strength back up?”

It was Ghost.

Her complexion wasn’t great either. Likely because she’d had a hole punched through her body and healed yesterday.

Jae-hee asked cautiously, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. That medic may be a piece of shit, but she knows what she’s doing.”

Ghost hesitated for a moment before reluctantly adding, “It’s just…”

“Just?”

“Quitting smoking… this is tougher than I thought.”

Her hand trembled as she chewed on the lollipop stick in her mouth. The candy was long gone, and the plastic stick was frayed from her molars.

“Should I just give up?”

“Don’t say that after just one day.”

“Dammit. I need to buy a bunch of different things to chew on instead of cigarettes. What is there?”

“Candy, gum, silver cachous… stuff like that, I guess.”

“Guess I’ll head to the supermarket.”

Ghost started toward the supermarket, and Jae-hee naturally fell into step beside her.

She watched him shuffle along for a moment before asking bluntly, “This is a weird question, but…”

“Yes?”

“Did you get circumcised?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you walking like that? Like a dog that needs to take a shit.”

Jae-hee indignantly explained about the Refill Injector he’d taken yesterday. 

Ghost clicked her tongue. “You got shot up with some nasty stuff. It might be cleaner than an Awakening stimulant, but that just means you’re taking the full brunt of the side effects.”

“They said pain is the price of youth…”

“That’s bullshit, too. If you’re in pain, you’re a patient, not some symbol of youth.”

Ghost changed course, turning away from the supermarket and heading down a restaurant alley.

“Follow me, patient. Food is the best medicine. Let’s eat first.”

“But I don’t have an appetite…”

“That’s when you need to eat well. Now stop whining and get over here.”

Soon, Ghost stopped in front of a restaurant.

It was the hangover soup place that Silken Bodhisattva and Little Lamb had recommended before.

Jae-hee hesitated for a second, but Ghost opened the door without a second thought and stepped inside.

The two froze in silence.

There, in a corner seat… sat Silken Bodhisattva, her face haggard.

She’d ordered a single bowl of soup and rice but had apparently downed several bottles of soju by herself. Her face was flushed bright red, and she was hiccupping continuously, her head lolling forward.

Ghost let out a low sigh and tried to ignore her, moving to sit at another table.

“I told you before, didn’t I…?” Silken Bodhisattva slurred, her voice thick with drink. “That my fortune this year… was fucked.”

“…”

“But I also said that you, Ghost, had worse luck than me.”

She let out a choked sob, her trembling hand reaching for her soju glass.

“But I was wrong. The one with the worst luck… wasn’t you. It was me.”

Her grip loosened, and the soju glass slipped from her fingers. The alcohol spilled across the table.

“Haha, goddammit…”

Fumbling to pick up the glass and scoop up the spilled soju, Silken Bodhisattva swept her disheveled hair from her forehead.

“I should just quit this shaman gig…”

“Silken Bodhisattva.”

Just as Ghost was about to say something—Crash!

Silken Bodhisattva toppled sideways off her chair.

She had drunk herself into unconsciousness.

With a long sigh, Ghost gestured to the owner at the counter. “Call the 8th Deck concierge and have them take her back to her room.”

Before long, people in butler uniforms arrived from the 8th Deck and carried Silken Bodhisattva away.

Watching her being taken out, Jae-hee looked on with pity and asked Ghost, “Will she be okay?”

“And what if she’s not?”

“Uh…”

“This isn’t something anyone can comfort her through. She has to overcome it and get back on her feet herself.”

“…”

“If she can’t, then that’s as far as she goes.”

Though her words were cold, Ghost paid for Silken Bodhisattva’s bill.

Jae-hee smiled faintly. He was starting to understand his master’s way of showing she cared.

He and Ghost sat down at the table next to where Silken Bodhisattva had been. 

Without even asking Jae-hee, Ghost ordered, “Two bowls of bean sprout and rice soup.”

Only after the server took their order did Ghost finally turn to Jae-hee.

“Ever had bean sprout soup rice?”

“Uh… I’ve actually never heard of that variant. I’ve had just the bean sprout soup, though.”

“The soup and soup rice are a little different. This place serves it Jeonju-style.”

“Jeonju-style!”

“Jeonju has a lot of seriously good food.”

Jae-hee’s eyes sparkled. “I wanna go to Jeonju someday! Not just Jeonju, but all the places famous for their food!”

“…It might be better if you don’t.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because if we go, it means something bad has happened there.”

“Oh, right.”

Come to think of it, he’d been to Seoul for two missions in a row and hadn’t gotten to try any of its specialty dishes.

“I want to try some of Seoul’s famous restaurants, too.”

“…”

Ghost was about to say something but trailed off as the server brought their food.

It was a bubbling stone pot filled with a clear broth and a generous pile of bean sprouts, topped with salted shrimp, minced kimchi, and chopped squid.

A raw egg was served separately in a small, hot bowl, its heat already starting to cook the egg.

“Whoa!” Jae-hee clapped like a seal. “So this is the legendary Jeonju-style bean sprout and rice soup!”

“Didn’t you say you just heard of it today?” Ghost asked, dumbfounded, before jutting her chin toward the bowl. “Go on, eat.”

“You got it!”

Jae-hee quickly scooped up a spoonful of broth and brought it to his lips.

“Ahhhh!” he groaned, sounding like a man three times his age. “This is so refreshing! I haven’t even been drinking, but I feel like it’s curing a hangover!”

“You took a shot of something stronger than booze. You need this. Nothing’s better for settling your stomach.”

Ghost took a spoonful of the clear broth herself.

“Ahhh!”

After making a similar sound, she smacked her lips and glanced at the menu. “I’m craving some soju.”

“It’s still morning, Master…”

Why did adults cure a hangover just to start drinking again?

It was a perpetual motion machine that Jae-hee, still a kid, couldn’t comprehend.

Despite Jae-hee’s protest, Ghost went ahead and ordered a drink. It wasn’t soju, but another liquor in a plastic bottle.

“This is called moju,” she explained as she poured the drink into a bowl-like cup that came with it.

“It’s a liquor that pairs well with the soup… or rather, it’s more of a beverage. Most of the alcohol has been boiled off.”

“I see…”

It was clearly alcohol, right down to the name, but Jae-hee decided to let it slide. It didn’t seem right to tell someone who was quitting smoking that they couldn’t drink, either.

Ghost took a sip of the moju. “Mm, that hits the spot.”

“By the way, Master.” Jae-hee pointed to the raw egg that came with his soup. “How am I supposed to eat this?”

“However you want. You can sprinkle a little salt on it and slurp it down, whisk it up first, mix it with some seaweed and rice, or do what I do and put it in the soup.”

Ghost carefully slid the egg into her stone pot. “I don’t like it when the yolk breaks—it changes the flavor of the broth—but it’s a real treat when it cooks just right in the hot pot.”

“Ooh…”

Hearing that, Jae-hee tried to put his own egg in the soup but accidentally poked it with his spoon, breaking the yolk.

“Agh!”

“Knew you’d do that.”

With a long face, Jae-hee took a spoonful of the now-cloudy broth. His eyes widened. “Oh? This is really delicious, too!”

“Then you’re all set.”

Ghost smirked. “We’re stuck living in a prison anyway. We might as well be free in how we eat, don’t you think? The right way is whatever tastes best to you.”

After that, master and disciple ate in silence.

Jae-hee finished his soup, experimenting with the side dishes, while Ghost focused on the broth, sipping her moju.

“Phew!”

After the meal, Jae-hee stepped out of the restaurant and patted his full stomach.

“I definitely feel better. My stomach’s settled and my energy’s back!”

“Koreans run on rice power, after all.”

Ghost bit down on a green starch toothpick, chewing on it. It seemed her mouth was constantly bored now that she’d quit smoking.

The two of them headed to the supermarket. At the counter, the muscular black man—callsign Cashier—was touching up his makeup. He flashed them a broad, cleft-chinned smile.

“Oh my, hello, you two! What can I get for ya?”

Ghost sighed and placed her order. “Candy, gum, silver cachous… anything I can chew on.”

“Goodness, Ghost! Don’t tell me you’re quitting smoking?”

“Something like that.”

Cashier glanced at Jae-hee and gave him a knowing wink. “You did it, Boy!”

“Haha, yeah. I guess so.”

Cashier bagged the items, then added something extra. “This helped me a lot when I was quitting. It’s on the house.”

It was a small pack of mixed nuts, the kind served with drinks.

“…”

When Ghost’s eyes immediately darted toward the liquor aisle, Jae-hee quickly stopped her. It would defeat the whole purpose if she quit smoking only to become an alcoholic.

Ghost also bought Jae-hee an ice cream bar. He happily accepted it and started eating the melon-flavored treat.

“Kid.” Ghost unwrapped a piece of bubble gum and said, “You mentioned earlier you wanted to try some of Seoul’s famous restaurants, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

As Jae-hee blinked his wide eyes, not understanding what she meant, Ghost expertly blew a bubble with her gum and grinned.

“We got an outing permit. Let’s go get some fresh air.”