By Zephyria 
Sweat streamed down Kim Yong-su’s face, a sign of his nervousness. His helplessness tugged at Ha-jin’s heart. He seemed too weak to venture out and find food.
Ha-jin wrestled with his conscience, thinking of the last chocolate bar in their room. He looked so hungry; maybe he could spare half. Besides, Park Chun-beom had found ripe bananas today, so dinner was covered.
Ha-jin was lost in thought when Eden spoke.
“We don’t have anything like that.”
Eden’s voice was cold as he grabbed Ha-jin’s arm. Startled, Ha-jin was pulled up the stairs. The old man retreated towards the wall, watching them with a pitiful gaze.
Ha-jin stopped halfway between the first and second floors. He couldn’t just ignore the old man.
“Excuse me, Jeong Tae-geon.”
As if expecting it, Eden immediately released Ha-jin’s arm.
Ha-jin rubbed his tingling arm and looked up at Eden’s icy face. He felt an unspoken pressure, as if Eden was watching to see what choice he would make.
Why should I care what he thinks? It’s my food, after all… Annoyed, Ha-jin puffed out his chest.
“The food is my decision. You’re relying on me too, Jeong Tae-geon. Do you have to be so stingy?”
“…….”
“Well, if you’re going to keep traveling with me, I’ll consider your opinion.”
Eden narrowed his eyes at Ha-jin, who didn’t miss the chance to appeal to him even in this situation. A sneer touched his lips, as if to say, ‘It’s too late to bargain now.’
He lowered his head, his face close to Ha-jin’s ear. Ha-jin flinched back at the sudden closeness, but Eden ignored it and spoke.
“Do you know that’s the only chocolate bar we have left?”
He whispered so the old man couldn’t hear. Ha-jin’s neck prickled at the ticklish breath on his ear. Trying to hide his embarrassment, Ha-jin whispered back.
“We have bananas today.”
Eden paused for a moment, then clicked his tongue and straightened up. Ha-jin felt a sudden chill at Eden’s stern expression.
‘You’re too kind and selfless.’
His reason for rejecting him flashed through his mind.
Shit… I think I just lost points.
The old man, who had been watching their silent battle without understanding, waved his hand.
“Don’t fight. It’s okay if it’s difficult. I shouldn’t have asked…”
Eden left Ha-jin and headed up the stairs to the second floor. Watching him go, Ha-jin turned to the old man and offered his hand.
“Would you like to come up?”
He took the old man’s arm and led him up the stairs. Eden was waiting in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his back to it, having secured the door of room 202 with a hammer. He sighed and turned around as Ha-jin finally brought the old man into the hallway.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Ha-jin left the old man at the door and entered the room with an awkward expression. Was he really doing the right thing, giving away the last chocolate bar to a stranger when there were so many mouths to feed? It wasn’t as if Ha-jin didn’t have his own concerns.
But he couldn’t just ignore a frail old man who looked like he was about to burst into tears. He might not be able to abandon someone who needed social protection.
Ha-jin sighed heavily. To think that a single chocolate bar could be a matter of life and death. He felt a renewed sense of futility at his surreal situation.
“Ha-jin, Chocolate, why?”
Jeffrey, who was sitting on the sofa, asked as Ha-jin took a chocolate bar out of his carrier. Park Chun-beom glanced nervously at the old man outside the door.
“Ha-jin? What’s going on? Where did you meet that old man?”
“He’s staying here long-term. I met him on the first floor. He said he needed chocolate, so I’m going to give him a little bit. I hope you all understand.”
Ha-jin quickly explained and left the room with the chocolate bar wrapped in a yellow bag. Eden, whom he thought had gone inside, was already outside, facing the old man.
Ha-jin stood in front of the old man, grabbed the end of the long chocolate bar wrapper, and tore it open.
“Sir, I can’t give you the whole thing, but here’s half… Huh?”
As he was explaining, the old man suddenly snatched the chocolate bar from Ha-jin’s hand. Ha-jin’s eyes widened in dismay as he tried to break off a piece.
“Hey, if you take the whole thing…”
Before he could finish, the old man clutched the wrapper tightly and hurried towards the stairs with unsteady steps.
“Hey…”
Ha-jin could have easily caught up, but he was too stunned to react. The heat was already oppressive, and the added shock made his face flush.
Eden, who had been watching the situation, finally chuckled and went back into the room.
“Sir! I didn’t say you could have it all!”
Ha-jin belatedly came to his senses and followed him up to the third floor, where he saw the old man standing in front of room 305, frantically turning the key. Ha-jin quickly ran and barely managed to grab the door before it closed.
“Ugh, you can’t just do things like this without asking…!”
Ha-jin was about to scold him from the doorway when he heard a tender voice soothing someone inside.
“Slowly, swallow it slowly, okay?”
He took off his shoes and cautiously entered the room. He saw an old woman lying on a single bed and the old man kneeling beside her.
His claim that he was staying long-term with his wife seemed to be true, as the room was filled with household items like a real home. The old woman was chewing on the chocolate that the old man had given her, her pale face with her eyes tightly closed.
A few minutes passed. She slowly opened her eyelids and smiled at Ha-jin, who was standing there blankly.
“Thank you. I feel much better now. I suddenly had a hypoglycemic shock, and my vision was blurry and I was having convulsions.”
Ah. Ha-jin belatedly realized the situation and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. The old man had been so flustered because his wife was ill.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re okay.”
The old man, who had been kneeling beside her, rose to his feet with a groan.
“I was in such a hurry that I didn’t even thank you properly. Thank you.”
The old man placed the already melted and soggy chocolate bar in Ha-jin’s hand. It seemed she had only eaten a tiny bit, as there was still a generous amount left. Ha-jin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and gave the chocolate back to them.
“…It’s not much, but please use it when you need it.”
Then he slowly looked around the room. There was an electric rice cooker, an electric kettle, a microwave, and so on. The space where a side table should have been was filled with cooking utensils. Next to the sofa, a sack of rice and boxes of what appeared to be food were lined up.
Ha-jin’s eyes widened when he saw the rice. It seemed they were cooking their own meals here, despite staying long-term. He wondered why they didn’t have any candy or chocolate. The old man, sensing Ha-jin’s curiosity, explained the situation.
“We ran out of candy, and I was about to go out and buy some when this happened. We have plenty of rice, but my wife has been having a hard time these past few days because she doesn’t have anything sweet.”
“I see. That must have been difficult.”
The aloe juice and tangerine juice in the motel’s storage room had all been taken by people scrambling for them, leaving nothing behind. The old man hadn’t managed to get any juice for himself in the chaos.
“Excuse me, young man.”
The old man patted Ha-jin’s shoulder and continued.
“You probably haven’t been able to cook properly these past few days. Would you allow me to treat you to dinner?”
The old man explained that he had knocked on other doors and explained his situation, but had been turned away without even a chocolate or candy. Ha-jin was the only one who had offered food without conditions, so the old man wanted to repay his kindness in any way he could.
“I’d be grateful. But it’s not just me. There are five adults and one child.”
“A child?”
The old woman, who had struggled to sit up, joined the conversation.
“If there’s a baby, you should bring them here right away. The old man and I will start preparing the meal, so don’t worry about the number of people. Bring them all.”
Was this what it felt like to find an oasis in a parched desert? Although they didn’t show it, they were all gaunt from not having eaten a proper meal in the past five days. They had been filling their stomachs with high-calorie, low-nutrient snacks, and the food that Eden had brought back from his scouting trips was more like snacks than meals.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Ha-jin quickly ran down to the second floor to share the good news. The three men who had been gathered in the room were planning a concrete timeline for going to the Maintenance Depot. Ha-jin approached them with an excited expression.
Eden smiled briefly as he saw Ha-jin approaching.
“Did you get the stolen chocolate back?”
It was an undisguised sneer that he couldn’t hide. But Ha-jin snorted and got straight to the point.
“No. But I got kimchi stew instead of chocolate.”
The three men looked puzzled at the sudden mention of kimchi stew.