"Mmh... Agh... What the fuck is this?"
Fang Raon groaned in pain inside the pod as his body was burning with exhaustion.
There was also something wrong with his arms, as if his muscle had pulled or ripped. It was difficult to tell.
His legs also felt like he had suffered from a cramp.
He was also sweating a lot.
’What the hell is wrong with my body? It’s the same as yesterday, but of course, even worse since I trained more!’
The shirt was drenched and clinging to his skin. The pod’s comfy bed was also wet with his sweat.
"Chaewon!"
He shouted.
It wasn’t nine yet, so he hoped that she was still working, and a moment later, the door opened to his room.
Soft footsteps approached the Virtual Reality Pod, and the glass lid opened up.
"...Raon? What’s wrong?"
Chaewon asked, concern etched in her voice, but then noticed that his face was red, and it looked like he had been outside in the sun for too long.
"...I need a bath."
Fang Raon said through gritted teeth.
"Of course, but why do you look like this? What happened?"
She asked and carried him into the wheelchair and rolled him into the bathroom.
"...I don’t know. Maybe the machine malfunctioned. I felt really hot once I came out, so maybe it’s that..."
Fang Raon said.
"Should I get someone to check it out?"
Chaewon asked.
"That would be nice."
Fang Raon said.
She then prepared the bath, and once it was done, got Fang Raon out of the sweaty clothes and lowered him into the warm water.
"I will be back shortly!"
She said, and left the room.
’...I feel stronger for some reason. I, of course, can’t test the strength, but that’s how I feel. Really, what the hell happened?’
Fang Raon frowned.
A moment later, the bathroom’s door opened and closed as Chaewon entered and checked the temperature of the water.
"How’s the water?"
She asked.
"...Good."
Fang Raon said.
"Do you want to wash off now?"
She asked gently.
"..."
Fang Raon thought for a moment, remembering the last time they did it, and then he just took a deep breath and said.
"Yes, please..."
She lowered him onto a stool, took a sponge, and started gently scrubbing his back with warm water and soap.
"...Your skin looks like you’ve suffered from heatstroke. How could that happen inside the Virtual Reality Pod?"
Chaewon asked.
"Yeah... I don’t know."
Fang Raon said with a conflicted look.
In that moment, Chaewon leaned slightly forward, and her soft breasts touched his back, but there was something off this time.
’...She is wearing a bathing suit this time around? I guess I must’ve embarrassed her last time.’
Fang Raon thought.
Chaewon then moved to his front and cleaned his arms and legs but also noticed the hands that looked rough.
"Oh my god, your hands also... I think I will put some ointment on those before I go off work. Those don’t look good."
Chaewon said with a worried voice.
Fang Raon couldn’t see the condition of his hands, but he had a good guess that they were in the worst condition compared to the rest of his body.
Lastly, Chaewon glanced down at his "thing" and saw that it was hard, but she just shyly avoided it at all costs.
"And we are done~ I’ll get you on a new pair of clothes, get you to the bed, and find some ointment for you. Is that alright?"
She asked with a smile.
’She isn’t cleaning that part today?’
Fang Raon wondered and would’ve nodded if he could, so he just said, "Yep," and heard her wet-sounding footsteps as she walked away.
She wiped him off with a towel, put him in new garments, and carried him back to the bed.
In a couple more minutes, she returned with ointment and applied it to his hands, which looked worn-out.
"...It stings. Is my flesh peeled off or what?"
Fang Raon asked.
"It doesn’t look like it, but it is very red, as if you had been climbing a rope for hours. It’s truly strange."
Chaewon said.
"Okay..."
She finished putting on the ointment, clicked the cap shut, and then looked into his face for a moment.
It turned quiet as she forgot to say anything as she just kept staring into his face, and then, Fang Raon spoke.
"Chaewon? Are you here?"
"Ah, yes. My shift is over now, so I will be heading back home, but I will see you tomorrow. I will also get someone to check out that machine!"
She said with a smile, picked up her stuff from the room, and lastly, said, "Good night," and then left the room.
...
In the changing room of the Caretaker Facility.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The locker doors kept being banged shut.
Click!
In that moment, Chaewon opened her locker, took off her nurse clothes, and stuffed them into her bag.
She was taking her nurse clothes with them back to her place to clean them off, as the nurses were responsible for laundering their own uniforms.
’...What am I doing? I must look even weirder to Fang Raon now. I made myself look so suspicious by wearing a bathing suit now and the way I... avoided cleaning that part even though I talked about how important it is to keep that place clean last time.’
Chaewon banged her head on the locker room, thought of herself as stupid, and the nearby nurses looked at her worryingly.
"...Chaewon, are you alright?"
"Is everything good?"
"Yep, just heading back home!"
Chaewon said with an awkward smile, said "Goodbye" to the other nurses, and headed straight to the first elevator on the 59th floor.
She entered the elevator, pressed the "98th" floor button, and the elevator started slowly making its way up the floors.
’I never expected the nurse job to be like this!’
Chaewon covered her face with her hands and let out a muffled scream. She then banged her head against the elevator doors.
Ding!
In that moment, the elevator doors opened, and she immediately hurried to the corner of the elevator.
A family of three—a mother with her two children—entered the elevator, and the mother looked at Chaewon with an "Is she alright?" gaze.
Chaewon awkwardly waved at her and felt her cheeks burn up with embarrassment.
’This is all his fault!’
She pouted and crossed her arms and started thinking about ways to get revenge on him for making her suffer through this embarrassment.