WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 66: A Proper Vacation
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“...Dating?”
“...Well.”
No wonder there had been such a commotion from the moment they saw us in the engine room.
I recalled what happened right after the incident ended.
I remembered their reactions when they first found Jang Chae-yeon and me.
Song A-rin smacked her forehead and sighed, while Yoo Da-on's eyes went wide.
Then Jang Chae-yeon and I went to the infirmary, where we came out with bandages and splints.
“...For now, I altered the memories of everyone except the Management Bureau personnel.”
“You can do that too?”
“I nearly died doing it.”
In my room, Song A-rin glared at me, let out a deep sigh, then sat down on the bed.
“Most of them will think they had a good time or drank themselves into amnesia. Of course, this is only a temporary measure, so the Management Bureau will take further action when we get off the ship.”
“What? You got in touch with the Management Bureau?”
“No, but they're strangely good at noticing when an incident happens, so they'll come.”
Song A-rin sighed and explained the situation to me.
Apparently, once the incident had been resolved, the changes in people's bodies vanished as well.
Those who had completely transformed did not return to normal, and the Management Bureau employees aboard had joined forces to “handle” them.
Altering even such minor memories had become Song A-rin's responsibility, while everyone else had been busy assisting her.
While Jang Chae-yeon and I struggled to recover from our injuries, they worked hard.
And as a result...
“...”
“...”
Silence stretched between us.
I stared at Yoo Da-on.
Her jet-black hair fluttered in the wind. Her eyes, which should have shone in the sunlight, held emotions I could not read as she looked away from me. Her hands were clasped over the pit of her stomach, her fingers fidgeting anxiously.
At times like this, I wished my eyes could see people's emotions.
They were perfect for people I had just met, but the more deeply I got to know someone, the more useless my eyes became.
In the brief silence, Yoo Da-on watched for my reaction. When I noticed, I opened my mouth to answer.
“No.”
“No?”
“Yes.”
Yoo Da-on's eyes darted around at my answer.
She repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, then shut it again before nodding.
“...Okay. I understand.”
“We're busy trying to survive from one day to the next. When would we have time to date?”
Honestly, it was not wrong.
Even here, someone could have come on this cruise to date and ended up leaving as a fish. It might have actually happened.
“Then... do you...?”
“Yes?”
Her words were so quiet that I asked her to repeat them, but she flinched slightly, then smiled and shook her head.
“Right. How are you feeling?”
What an abrupt change of subject.
“I'm fine.”
“You really are okay, right?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Jae-heon and the others don't recover quickly, so I think I'm always worried.”
“...I am a little jealous of how quickly your injuries heal.”
Of course, considering the pain she had gone through, it was not something I could say lightly. But I could not exactly say, Oh, you're cursed, either.
“...It's not like that.”
Yoo Da-on answered in a calm voice.
I had heard that voice before.
Before going to Room XX, when she said she was happy.
Without realizing it, my gaze turned toward her. As if nothing had happened, she was smiling.
“Can I ask you one thing, Mr. Jae-heon?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Mr. Jae-heon... are you enjoying yourself right now?”
“Enjoying myself...?”
Of course I was not enjoying myself.
My finger had been wrecked and my arm injured on a cruise. If I were enjoying myself, could I even be called human?
But the enjoyment Yoo Da-on meant was probably not limited to my current situation.
After considering what to say for a moment, I nodded.
“Yes, I am. I suppose.”
Getting caught up in incidents was not enjoyable, but having pointless conversations with someone and sometimes talking honestly.
Maybe that was what enjoyment was.
“That's right! The Mr. Jae-heon I know would be enjoying himself!”
“...What?”
Yoo Da-on answered with a smile.
It was no different from the bright smile she always wore, but the moment I felt something strange in the unreadable emotion behind that smile...
“What are you doing?”
At the offhand voice, I turned around.
Song A-rin was walking over with her hands in her pockets, carelessly sweeping back her purple bangs.
“Talking.”
“What kind of conversation are you having that the kid looks so miserable?”
“Miserable?”
She was only smiling.
I looked at Yoo Da-on for a moment.
She was smiling brightly, just as always.
“...Forget it.”
Looking at Yoo Da-on, Song A-rin sighed, leaned her arms on the railing, and looked out at the sea.
Then Yoo Da-on clapped her hands and looked at the two of us.
“I think you two might both be uncomfortable if I'm here, so I'll go wait in the dining hall!”
“You don't need to...”
“No, it's okay! I'll go!”
With that, Yoo Da-on hurried off.
Song A-rin clicked her tongue in displeasure as she watched her go, then turned and hooked her arms over the railing before looking at me.
“Are you okay?”
“What did I do? I just went to the engine room with her and nearly died, that's all.”
“What happened?”
“We ran as hard as we could, then got swallowed by seawater. Did either of us look like we could fight? We got taken out in the blink of an eye.”
“At least you didn't die.”
Song A-rin narrowed her eyes at me.
“Was that supposed to comfort me?”
“You worked hard.”
“Then buy me a meal.”
Song A-rin waved one hand, then glanced at my left arm.
“How's that?”
“My arm hurts, and so does my finger.”
“Obviously. ...It was broken so cleanly. You didn't break it yourself, did you?”
“Ms. Jang broke it.”
“...She certainly is clean when it comes to using force.”
“What an unpleasant bitch,” Song A-rin muttered quietly.
Come to think of it...
“Ms. Song.”
“What?”
“What kind of relationship do you have with Ms. Jang?”
“...”
Song A-rin fell silent.
“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”
“I don't want to tell you, but when you put it that way, I feel like I have to.”
Song A-rin sighed as she looked up at the sky.
Sunlight poured from the blue sky, brightly illuminating her hair. After hesitating several times, she opened her mouth.
“We're former colleagues.”
“Is that all?”
“If that was all, I would have treated her like a friend.”
“...”
“There was a bad incident.”
“I see.”
“You're not going to ask?”
“Asking any further would feel like an invasion of privacy.”
“Then you shouldn't have asked in the first place.”
A sharp pain pulsed through my temple.
“...”
“I'm joking. You're not someone who can be hypnotized anyway.”
Song A-rin snickered, waved her hand, and stood up.
Oh, right. Why had I been entranced by that song?
“There was something I wanted to ask.”
“It's not about me, is it?”
“No. Actually...”
I told her about being entranced by the song. As she listened, her expression gradually became more serious.
“...You're right. That's strange. If it was a mental attack, you should have been unaffected.”
“Exactly.”
“...Nothing comes to mind right now. But I'll ask the old man too, and look into what else was happening around us.”
“Thank you.”
At my thanks, she raised one hand as if to say it was nothing.
“I'm only giving you a gift like this because you can't be hypnotized.”
“What do you mean?”
Song A-rin, who had been staring up at the sky, quietly looked at me.
After a brief exchange of looks, she smirked and shook her head.
“Never mind if you don't know.”
“Are women in Human Resources Team fond of being mysterious?”
“Maybe the white-haired one isn't a woman after all, but a man.”
Song A-rin waved her hand and started down the stairs.
“See you at lunch.”
“Where are you going?”
“To stop by the Theater, then the dining hall.”
“Did you find something?”
“I didn't, so I'm going.”
As she finished speaking, her body rounded the corner and was about to disappear.
Then white hair shone brightly as it passed by her. The two walked past each other without saying a word.
Jang Chae-yeon walked toward me.
“...Are you okay?”
“No, what is this deck, some kind of meeting place?”
She tilted her head at me in confusion, then pointed at my arm again.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I'm fine. What about you, Ms. Jang?”
“I was lying down until just now.”
“Have you recovered some of your stamina?”
“I'm strong now.”
She nodded and raised both arms.
“I'm glad you weren't hurt, at least.”
“It's thanks to you.”
Jang Chae-yeon looked at me.
“Me?”
“You have good judgment.”
“Well...”
I could see more than other people, so I simply thought faster. But I did not bother saying so.
“And you're decisive.”
“...Why are you saying such embarrassing things?”
“I mean it.”
Jang Chae-yeon stared at me with her arms crossed just below her chest, and naturally, my gaze could not help drifting in one direction.
I'd carried that on my back while running and hadn't thought a thing of it.
“Thanks to you, everyone was able to survive like this. If it had only been the Containment Team, everyone would have died.”
“Please don't say something so dangerous.”
I could get dragged into the Containment Team.
As I waved my hands in protest, she gave me a soft smile.
“Honestly, accidents happen when I'm with you.”
“...”
Yeah. I could not argue with that.
“But.”
Jang Chae-yeon smiled with her eyes.
“I think I like that too.”
After saying only that, she turned around.
“Where are you going?”
“To eat.”
“Ah.”
“Want to come with me?”
“...Yes. Sure.”
I stood beside Jang Chae-yeon and started walking.
Yoo Da-on and Song A-rin were sitting in the dining hall. The two of us took seats beside them, and we ate while chatting.
In conclusion, the cruise had been pretty miserable at first, but it still had a good finish.
* * *
The moment we got off, everyone except the Management Bureau personnel was immediately taken somewhere under the pretext of infectious disease testing.
The man in sunglasses did not come looking for us, and surprisingly, no one paid much attention to us.
The next day, the person who greeted us as we happily came to work was our team leader, lying sprawled across a sofa that had appeared out of nowhere and playing a mobile game.
“...Aren't you working?”
“You went off and had fun. Why should I work?”
“...Come on, Team Leader...”
“Hey, hey, don't talk to me.”
“Team Leader... We really went through a lot...”
It took a full day to appease our sulking team leader.
As the sweltering summer approached, a broadcast played from the radio our team leader always listened to.
[A new theme park opening in Gangbuk! Sora Land is now open! Fun for men and women of all ages...]
Sora Land. I had never heard of it. Should we all go, including the team leader?
No, maybe I should not go. I had a feeling another incident would happen if I did.
Even so, apparently the team leader had already finished all the paperwork.
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