Ghost Writer

Miserable Meeting and Nebulous Night

THE SECOND RESIDENTS' MEETING of the day; Chung-Cha wanted nothing more than to skip it. However, she was the only one on her floor who was able to physically attend it, and she didn't trust the others to keep her up-to-date, so she had no choice but to attend.

For the first time, Chung-Cha was early. After spending the entire yesterday with Bo-Ram, the empty house felt lonelier than ever (she hadn't returned). It was too quiet, and Chung-Cha had to escape before she drowned in the silence.

She rang the doorbell. Andrew opened the door. "Ah, hello. Sae-Bom said to gather here."

Chung-Cha tried to gather evidence to support her male-cleaner-was-a-serial-killer theory by asking him personal questions, which in hindsight wasn't very smart. Every question she asked made him more agitated, until he flat-out refused to talk to her. Even when she tried to ask him if he had seen her notebook, he had ignored her. Afterwards, she just lingered beside Andrew.

"Oh, I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for helping me that day. So, uh, thank you."

Andrew bowed slightly, and their conversation ended.

More people started arriving. When Joo-Hyung walked in, Chung-Cha whispered a "hello" to Min-Ji. He looked at her weirdly, and she feigned a cough. She hoped her spit landed on his face.

Arguments broke out; started by the male cleaner, Chung-Cha noted. If Hyun-Kyung was here, she would have intervened, driven by righteous anger. But Chung-Cha wasn't her. She simply observed, her faith in humanity steadily decreasing. Was arguing all they knew? Why were they the ones alive and well, when good people like Hyun-Kyung and Soo-Min were hurting?

"Excuse me, can you get out of the way?" Sae-Bom called out, snapping Chung-Cha out of her thoughts.

A military man walked in, and Chung-Cha remembered seeing him on the news. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Han Tae-Seok from the Crisis Management Center."

At once, people interrupted him, asking him whether the lockdown was over. 

He held up his hand, and everyone immediately quietened down. "The whole city will be under lockdown, and the electricity will be cut off tonight. We're planning to fix it as soon as possible."

Again, people started protesting. "Are you trying to get us killed?" Hae-Sung yelled. They continued squawking, annoying parrots who only knew how to say the same things over and over and over again. Chung-Cha was getting sick of it.

Shut up. Shut up. ShUT UP. SHUT UP SHUT UP—

There was a deafeningly loud siren, and everyone rushed to the windows like mindless sheep. Chung-Cha breathed deeply, trying to compose herself. Throwing a temper tantrum would make her look like a child. Beside her, Andrew glanced at her. "Are you alright?"

Chung-Cha laughed bitterly; it sounded foreign to her. "Everyone sucks." She walked away, not letting him press further.

"This is not a drill. As of now, Martial Law has been declared all over Seyang. Citizens, this is not a drill—"

The Lieutenant Colonel herded them back. "As you heard, it is also dangerous outside. Just four days. In four days, Martial Law will be lifted and the lockdown level on the apartments will be lowered."

Yeon-Ok took over. "Come on, we've been enduring it quite well until now. Four days? That can actually be pretty short, don't you think? Trust me, and let's endure it just a bit longer."

She spoke as if she actually cared about them; as if she didn't constantly separate the residents from public rentals, or had almost gotten people killed because she refused to open the door and let them in.

"About Mad Human Disease, I heard that there's a drug that causes it if you take it. Is that true?" Joo-Hyung asked.

He was talking about NEXT. Chung-Cha listened attentively, pushing down her ugly feelings. If he was correct, it would explain why Min-Ji and Trainer Kim were infected in the first place; why Sae-Bom had asked her whether she had taken NEXT.

The Lieutenant Colonel paused. "We're still checking on its relations to the disease." 

In other words, it was true. NEXT and Mad Human Disease were connected.

He turned back to the others. "Now, go home and charge what you need to charge, and fill your sinks and bathtubs with water. Once the electricity is off, water will be off too."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Chung-Cha was the first one out. Her patience was wearing thin; if she had to spend another moment there, listening to their pointless complaints and jabs, she might have snapped.

She stood in the middle of the living room, letting the stillness engulf her. But no matter how hard she tried to calm down, she could not control her bubbling anger. All she could think about was how unfair everything was. Why was her apartment the only one under lockdown? Why was she stuck with two murderers for almost a week? Why was she expected to be friendly to the others, when they never gave a damn about her?

Yelling, Chung-Cha grabbed the nearest thing and threw it to the ground. The vase shattered; glass pieces littered the floor. Chung-Cha had to admit that she felt a bit better, but she immediately regretted it. As she swept the mess, she tried to focus on what needed to be done. First, stock up on water. Second, avoid the others (they were useless anyway). Third, look out for Hyun-Kyung.

The first task was easy. Chung-Cha filled the bathtubs and sinks, and all the containers she could find. The second and third were harder. She could easily avoid the others by not attending any of the meetings, but she was still worried about Hyun-Kyung.

That evening, Chung-Cha went over to Hyun-Kyung's (who woke up because she heard a loud crash) and helped her with the water. Afterwards, they ate dinner together. It was a quiet meal; Hyun-Kyung wasn't in the mood to talk, and Chung-Cha was still prickly and didn't want to accidentally lash out at her. In the end, Chung-Cha didn't need to convince Hyun-Kyung to stay at home until the lockdown ended; it seemed her thoughts were already preoccupied with the disappearance of Soo-Min. Still, nobody commented on the extra packed dinner laying on the table.