Sentimental Shower

#011

The sky was cloudy from the morning, as rain was forecast.

The rainy season in Haeya-dong had an iron-like color. Before the rain fell, the smell of metal spread throughout the streets. The clouds stole the color from the streets, replacing it with shadows. Even though it was daytime, when it got dark, neon signs lit up one by one, baring their colorful teeth as if rebelling against the darkness.

Mr. Yoo, returning from his jog, planned to shower and check his medical supplies. Today was the day for medicine delivery.

As he was about to remove his mask while wiping off sweat, someone knocked on the door from outside. It was Old Man Chang, leaning on crutches.

Mr. Yoo quickly ran to support him, and Old Man Chang smiled awkwardly.

“I heard you were supposed to rest for a few days.”

“I can’t just sit still at home. It’s suffocating.”

It had been a few days since Old Man Chang had collapsed, bleeding. Fortunately, his appearance with crutches didn’t look too serious.

“Please come in.”

“No, no. I just came to say hello. I owe you my life. Thank you. Really, thank you.”

As the much older man bowed deeply at the waist, Mr. Yoo also bent his waist as if returning the bow.

“It’s nothing. What did I do?”

…It was all Yeon Tae-soo, he swallowed those words. He didn’t feel good about owing a debt to Yeon Tae-soo. Even though Old Man Chang received the treatment, he was the one who asked for it.

He wanted to ask what had happened, but he didn’t think he’d get an answer. He could only assume that this seemingly ordinary old man had his own complicated circumstances.

“I heard you need to rest for quite a while longer.”

“Yes. I can manage the store alone, but I can’t go out on service calls in this state. Well, what can I do? I’ll have to pause service calls for a while.”

Mr. Yoo knew that most of the hardware store’s work involved service calls. He would probably struggle for a few months.

“But it’s okay since I saved this old body. I should consider it as getting a vacation.”

After pondering for a moment, Mr. Yoo hesitated briefly before going inside and coming back with something in an envelope.

“Please take this.”

Old Man Chang received the envelope and looked inside, his face surprised.

“What’s this money for?”

“It’s payment for the side dishes you brought before.”

Although he knew they weren’t bought but personally cooked, he deliberately said it that way to mean not to feel indebted. Old Man Chang, almost frowning, tried to return the envelope.

“Don’t do this.”

“I really want to give this to you. Please accept it. If it’s hard for you to accept, please think of it as an advance payment for Popo’s future parts.”

Faced with this firm statement, Old Man Chang couldn’t respond.

“Then I’ll pay you back later. No, I’ll pay you back by next month.”

“I don’t engage in debt transactions. I only give and receive. Please understand, it’s my principle.”

“Oh, my…”

Old Man Chang scratched his head with the hand not holding the crutch. His face showed his difficulty.

“I’ll make sure to get you the right parts for Popo when they come in.”

“Thank you.”

Old Man Chang looked intently at Mr. Yoo, who responded expressionlessly, and smiled bitterly.

After he left, Mr. Yoo, showering in the bathroom barely big enough for one person, suddenly recalled a past incident.

In fact, what he had said to Old Man Chang was a lie.

Before coming to Haeya-dong, he had borrowed money. Being not human, he couldn’t even open a bank account, let alone get a loan, so he naturally used private loans.

Mr. Yoo had a rough understanding of the psychology of loan sharks. For them, repayment of the principal wasn’t important. What mattered was the interest. They liked debtors who consistently and continuously brought them money.

Mr. Yoo was the type of debtor loan sharks liked best, diligently paying interest. At least until he came to Haeya-dong.

Mr. Yoo, who had been pretending to diligently pay interest, suddenly fled to Haeya-dong.

If they had been more vicious, they would have held hostages or properly grasped his weaknesses to prevent him from escaping, but those guys weren’t that level. They only placed surveillance personnel in front of his house. It wasn’t too difficult to escape from the clumsy surveillance of guards dozing off on duty.

Of course, that wasn’t the reason he covered his face.

The reason he insisted on wearing a mask even in this hot and humid rainy season was because he feared someone might recognize his face.

More precisely, he was afraid someone might recognize the person who was the original model for this body.

His eyes met the splashed mirror. The body he had never owned was reflected hazily.

***

Once a week, President Min, who supplied medicines, came. She was one of the few people who didn’t wonder about Mr. Yoo’s bare face behind the mask.

After confirming all the ordered medicines and verifying the bank transfer, President Min carefully spoke before leaving.

“Mr. Yoo, did you fight with Dr. Kim from A Animal Hospital?”

Although there must be many Dr. Kims, he immediately understood who she meant. It was that veterinarian who had tried to grope him when he went to get medicine for Choco.

Thinking his lack of response was an affirmation, she shook her head and clicked her tongue.

“What did you do to make him so angry? He was raging, saying he’d catch you and beat you up.”

It seemed his pride was quite hurt from being punched a few times.

“Be careful. You know Dr. Kim’s temper.”

Mr. Yoo didn’t respond and started taking the medicines on the floor inside. President Min helped him, sighing deeply.

“I bet that guy did something wrong. I know how kind you are, Mr. Yoo.”

He didn’t think he had done anything to be called ‘kind’. Even searching his memory, he couldn’t find anything. Since it wasn’t a bad thing to say, he didn’t bother to deny it.

“By the way, Mr. Yoo, you’re so unlucky. Why do so many weird guys keep bothering you?”

“…I wonder.”

Sometimes he thought he was strange too. The way men kept bothering him was quite severe.

Maybe it was just terribly bad luck, or maybe…

A thought tickled his mind briefly before disappearing.

***

It was a quiet day. People coming in with fingers cut off from gambling dens were rare these days. Mr. Yoo guessed it was because of the rain. Humans found many things bothersome when it rained. He thought it was inefficient for a species that had evolved for so long.

While watching the alley slowly get wet, Mr. Yoo checked Popo and cleaned the hospital. With time still left, he did some carving and then web surfing on his tablet.

The local news reported that the android who had been assaulting people still hadn’t been caught. With no more victims, the investigation seemed to be fizzling out. This was fortunate for Mr. Yoo. There was nothing good about getting involved.

As he was flipping through various articles, an ad popup appeared. He was about to habitually press the close button when he paused.

The Mystery of the Universe – Celestial Photo Exhibition

June 9 – July 12 at District 2 Public Exhibition Hall

Including First-Time Revealed Photos

The photo behind the ad text was of a galaxy. Mr. Yoo looked down at the stars densely packed like sprinkled powder in the small blackness, then clicked on the popup to enter the exhibition hall’s homepage.

The District 2 Public Exhibition Hall was about 40 minutes away from here. Unlike Haeya-dong at the edge of District 2, that place was where rich people lived.

The problem was the date.

‘July 12th means it’s until tomorrow.’

Why hadn’t he seen this ad until now? Mr. Yoo’s gaze brushed past an unusually thick and large book among those on the bookshelf.

The exhibition hall would be full of star photos larger and clearer than those in that book.

Mr. Yoo, who had been fiddling with the tablet, suddenly stood up.

He took off his gown, folded the tablet and put it in his pocket, then used the remote to change the hospital’s external sign to ‘Closed’.

It was the first time he had acted so impulsively. No, was ‘impulse’ the right expression? Shouldn’t it be called an ‘error’?

He hurriedly got into the self-driving taxi he had called with his tablet as soon as it arrived. Confirming the passenger had boarded, the taxi departed for the entered destination.

“Thank you for using our taxi. Your destination is District 2 Public Exhibition Hall.”

He urgently checked the time. He wasn’t sure if he could arrive before the admission closing time. To make matters worse, as soon as they got onto the main road, traffic started to jam.

Mr. Yoo took in the road situation one by one with his eyes. And not long after, he requested to get off midway. As soon as he got out of the car, he ran to the bus stop, getting soaked in the rain without even thinking of opening his umbrella.

He was in the middle of running to catch a bus that had just arrived. Someone blocked his way and stood in front of him.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

It was Dr. Kim.

He had felt uneasy after hearing President Min’s warning, but he didn’t expect to meet him less than half a day later.

Mr. Yoo pulled his already soaked mask up to just below his eyes as if it was his last line of defense. Dr. Kim twisted his lips into a smile.

“I thought about it, and our transaction wasn’t finished.”

“…What transaction are you talking about?”

The previously gentle rain suddenly intensified, drowning out the latter part of his words.

“The only thing I received that day was the medicine payment, you see.”

As if to say his voice was being drowned out by the rain, Dr. Kim naturally took a step closer.