XG 60 - Mother, your lips are drier than mine

“The place we are going now is Musihada Laboratory. In English, it means ‘Defy’, a name they all think is cool at the time. This laboratory is the research group working with the Winter Fruit company. Their main job is to research the special gene found under the ice. But for more than ten years, they failed to find out any useful information about it. They are wasting resources and money without giving anything in return, so Winter Fruit’s management had them manufacture some useful medicine to earn the money they wasted. Of course, it’s not that other research groups that refuse to join hands with us manage to find anything either.”

Suzie Yap paused her storytelling and passed a mineral water bottle to her daughter. “Your lips are a little dry, baby. Come, drink some water.”

Mother, your lips are drier than mine.

In contrast to her thoughts, Wong Xue Guo smiled and received the bottle gratefully. Then she passed it to the young man next to her.

Chen Yibo twisted open the cap and returned it back to her.

“… You don’t want to drink?” Wong Xue Guo was surprised that he would automatically open the cap for her.

“… Don’t you want to drink?” Chen Yibo had thought she asked him to open it for her.

He was definitely used to being asked for help.

Suzie Yap smiled in satisfaction as she witnessed their interaction from the rear mirror. But the driver of their car narrowed his eyes and a crease appeared between his eyebrows.

“Honey, give the boy a bottle.”

The smile on Suzie Yap’s face disappeared, as if unhappy with her husband’s interference. But she still grabbed a bottle and passed it to Chen Yibo.

They had landed in a part of Korea without being stopped.

Suzie Yap had told them that they had landed directly at Musihada Laboratory, a private and vast land. But they need to ride a car to drive deeper into the land to reach the laboratory.

Wong Xue Guo stared at the testing site beside the wide road and wondered what else the researchers had created that would need such a large testing site. She saw there were few tents pitched, but the car drove past quickly without giving her a chance to see more than that.

They drove for nearly fifteen minutes until the car came to a halt before a group of buildings.

Knowing outside would be cold, which she had already experienced when she exited the helicopter, she zipped up her thick sweater to the end. It was bone-numbing when she thought how cold it would be when winter arrived for real.

“That’s my brother,” Chen Yibo informed with a joyful smile when they saw a tall man in a lab coat standing before a metal door, waiting for their arrival.

Wong Xue Guo had not seen Chen YiWen for at least three years. They were not close and only exchanged polite greetings at most. They only saw each other during the holidays and he does not have much impression in her mind other than the image of a polite, educated-looking man with thin-framed glasses.

But the man she was seeing now was quite different from her memory.

Chen YiWen was much thinner than before, clearly overworked, and did not seem to be taking care of himself properly. He was wearing a thick turtleneck jumper under his lab coat, which he used to cover half of his face from the cold wind. Winter will be coming in two weeks but with how cold the weather was, it might arrive early.

“Yibo.” Chen YiWen reached out to hug his younger brother.

“Brother.”

The two brothers have gotten most of their features from their father, hence they were quite similar looking. But Chen Yibo looked much better than his brother because he looked much healthier.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wong,” Chen YiWen greeted them politely. “My father is now in a meeting and could not walk away.”

Charles nodded. “We will settle down first.”

Chen YiWen eyed the rows of cars and nodded. “Your room is still the same.”

Charles Wong was a frequent visitor of the lab, so he had his own place to stay. It was the size of an apartment with two bedrooms, big enough for a family of three to stay, so they do not need to be separated. As for Chen Yibo, he will be staying with his family. The guards and the gang members will be allocated to bunkers.

After the virus breakout, the scientists had brought their family members into the laboratory compound to stay, so a large amount of space was already occupied.

Gazing at her new room, it was much smaller than her bedroom in the villa and it was also without a window or her own private bathroom. Wong Xue Guo tossed her backpack onto the single bed and watched it bounce.

Reuniting with her parents did make her happy, but when Chen Yibo left her side, she felt a little lost. Who told her to have Chen Yibo constantly sticking beside her for these few days and got used to it?

Her lips formed an unhappy pout for a moment before it was gone.

She went to find her parents in their bedroom and nearly saw something that blinds her eyes. Looks like her mother was not really angry with her father after all! Or her father was too good at coaxing her mother.

Refusing to stay inside their small apartment any longer, she went out with her sword to explore, only to realize she does not know the way.

...Why does she miss Chen Yibo even more at this moment?

Lucky for her, she only needed to walk a little ahead and by chance happened to encounter the Chen family’s quarters. It so happens that their door was open and Chen YiWen was just standing not far away from the door.

“Guo Guo,” Chen YiWen greeted with a cordial smile once he spotted her. “Are you looking for Yibo?”

She was actually not, but she did not mind Chen Yibo accompanying her. “I’m thinking of exploring the place with him if he’s got the time.”

Hearing their conversation, Chen Yibo appeared. “Xue Guo. Is something wrong?”

If they were alone, Wong Xue Guo might just blurt out that she wanted to stay away from her parents’ alone time. “I just want to see if you want to look around the base with me.”

“Yes, this is Guo Guo’s first time here, right?” Chen YiWen recalled. “Yibo has been here a few times, so he’s quite familiar with the place. Just don’t go out of the base, okay? Outside our lab is a red zone.”

Korea, the reportedly first place where the virus appears, was now the worst place in the world. Seoul was completely wiped out and other states also followed along. The army and police force tried to seal off the infected area, only that they could not be contained. The government had long ago imposed an emergency lockdown and forbid anyone from getting out of their house.

But when do those zombies ever listen to the order? They just barged into other people’s houses, ate without paying, and left their mess behind only for more zombies that followed their bad habits being created.

“No worries, I don’t think I will ever get out of the base without permission.” Wong Xue Guo could still remember how tight the security was when they entered. They even had to be sprayed with disinfection but were fortunately exempted from bathing or burning their clothes like how the movies worked.

“I would love to join you, but my team is waiting for my return.” Chen YiWen looked regretful.

Wong Xue Guo was also regretful too, as now that she stood nearer to him, she could see he have scary dark eye bags. He definitely needs rest or he will gradually turn into a living zombie. “Work is important, but remember to take some rest in between.”

“I will. Yibo, bring Guo Guo to the farm where the chickens are,” Chen YiWen said as if he was reminded of something. “Uncle Wong said that Guo Guo wants to play with a chick. There are some chicks, so you can keep one.”

“... Thank you.” She does not want to ask what exactly her father had said about it, or how those that heard it responded.