When Our Time Stops (On-hold)

8

We spoke with Doctor Lee a few days after the incident, and she told us that they can take in the guy because they have a separate room for everyone. The man was really appreciative and continues to apologize for hurting me. The wound is healing, but I still need to clean it every day.

Haein and Pops are working on the solar panel this morning. They needed to repair it because it wasn't working. We anticipate that we will not have power tonight because it may take some time. While there was still daylight, Nana prepared food that would last till dinner. I assisted Jisoo in gathering batteries and flashlights for tonight's use. This morning, Chaeyoung and Jennie are at the vineyard.

Then, around midday, they returned because they intend to convert the former employee cabin into private space. Doctor Lee told us that she has a room where she is experimenting with potential cures. She asked if we could provide Chaeyoung with a space where she could experiment and come up with something. We have no idea what flu it is, and no one knows anything about it, so it's a gamble, but they're ready to take it.

"Are you also helping Chaeyoung with the cabin?" Jisoo asked as Jennie went home to get their lunch.

"Yeah," she agreed. I take two bottles of water because I'm standing next to them and give them to Jennie.

Jisoo jokes, "Are you also a doctor?" as Jennie takes both of my bottle water.

"No, I'm helping so I can stay there whenever I can to be away from both of you; it's difficult being around really loud people," she explained.

"Chaeyoung also talks a lot," I said, defending both Jisoo and myself.

"She does, but she speaks gently, unlike you two." I squint my eyes at her, "what? I'm just telling the truth."

Jennie then left us there to return to the cabin outside.

"She's not entirely wrong," Jisoo said as we went about our business. When the night arrives, we attempt to use only a small portion of what we have. We ate dinner together, and now that there are no lights, it feels more like the night of the apocalypse. It's strange and seems quieter than our typical dinner.

"Did you fix it?" Nana inquires.

"Not completely... we'll continue tomorrow," Pops says.

"Your soup is extremely salty, Nana," Chaeyoung remarks. Nana examines the bowl in front of Chaeyoung and grabs the flashlight to shine a light towards the bowl.

"Dear, that bowl has soy sauce in it." As a result, we all laugh. Nana takes the actual soup bowl and places it in front of Chaeyoung.

"I was confused because Nana had never prepared anything bad," Jennie adds.

"Here you go, let's trade plates so my beloved grandchild can eat better," Pops says as he exchanges plates with Chaeyoung, who had actually put so much soy sauce into her rice.

"It's extremely stinky here... smells like favoritism at its finest," Jisoo remarks.

"I'll give my other chicken to my other jealous grandchild," Pops adds, transferring his chicken to Jisoo's plate to pacify her.

"Do you suppose that chicken is one of our few, Nana?" Haein asks.

"Yeah, we don't have much meat. The ones we found in other houses went bad because there is no electricity, so it lingered in the fridge without any cold," she explains.

"It's tough," Chaeyoung says, and we all agree. Pops rises from his seat and walks to the cupboard to grab a bottle of wine. He suggested we could all drink and he'd stay sober in case anything bad happened. I don't drink much, but when someone offers me a drink, I take a couple of sips. Nana stands up to bring us some glasses. Nana just poured us some wine because she doesn't drink. Jisoo doesn't appear to enjoy drinking either, since she is too preoccupied with devouring the chicken. Haein has some in his glass, but I don't think he gets drunk easily. Chaeyoung and Jennie, on the other hand, have their glasses so full that Nana has to go get a second bottle.