Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 11

‘Where did he go?’

The experience of being chased by Seokjae was terrifying, but when his presence suddenly vanished, it made Muyoung anxious, wondering if something had happened.

Muyoung carefully stepped down the stairs, one by one. Even after reaching the fifth floor, there was still no sound. He couldn’t see Seokjae either. Nevertheless, drawing from his earlier experience, Muyoung did not let his guard down.

He cautiously peeked out each half-floor to check for Seokjae’s presence. And just before reaching the fourth floor, Muyoung caught sight of Seokjae’s well-defined silhouette through the railing.

‘There he is!’

Muyoung bit his lip, afraid that if he moved too quickly, he might make a sound. He clenched his teeth and held his breath, then steadied his mind and carefully looked down again.

Seokjae was leaning against the railing, staring at the closed emergency exit door. It seemed like he was scanning the area, as his head turned in small circles. Muyoung, watching him from behind, also turned his head in sync with Seokjae’s gaze until it came to a stop.

‘What is he doing over there?’

Before he knew it, curiosity replaced the fear in Muyoung’s eyes. No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t figure out what Seokjae was doing, and he tilted his head in confusion, hoping that thinking about it might spark some ideas.

‘I don’t get it…’

However, with no progress, Muyoung sighed inwardly. Among the survivors he had met so far, Seokjae was the first person whose thoughts he couldn’t grasp at all.

Most acted emotionally in urgent situations, making it easy to understand their feelings. It was only natural, given that their lives were at stake.

But Seokjae was different. From yesterday until now, he hadn’t expressed any real emotions. Even when fighting zombies, his expression remained calm. The only time he had shown any emotion was when their eyes met.

‘Is there anything ordinary about him?’

Yesterday, he had selflessly sacrificed himself for others, and today, he had returned alone to this zombie-infested place. Even though they had only known each other for two days, it was clear that he was anything but ordinary.

His composed and calm demeanor was impressive, but it also meant there was little to read from him, which was somewhat disappointing.

‘If I had known, I should have taken a psychology class or something.’

Even if he had taken a general education course in college, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference now, but he regretted not having done even that.

Just as Muyoung was pouting at his past self, Seokjae tilted his head and muttered.

“It’s clean, huh?”

His low voice echoed in the emergency stairwell. Hearing Seokjae’s mumbling, Muyoung quickly stopped his thoughts and naturally shifted his gaze toward the emergency exit.

‘Clean, you say…?’

The gray iron door appeared clean at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, the bloodstains left by zombies near the doorframe gave off a sinister vibe.

He couldn’t have missed those bloodstains. Muyoung was puzzled. Yet, it seemed that Seokjae was done with his inquiry, as he turned away without lingering.

‘Is he leaving now?’

The moment Seokjae moved, Muyoung felt a pang of fear that he might be heading back up, but he soon sighed in relief when he saw him heading downstairs.

‘Once he’s far enough, I’ll follow him down.’

Muyoung watched Seokjae’s back as he sat on the stairs, sharpening his senses. In doing so, he didn’t notice Seokjae glancing up toward the upper floor before completely leaving the fourth floor.

Compared to Seokjae, his own small hands and footsteps were distinctly different. If they hadn’t been stained a dark red, they might have looked quite cute. Following those traces with his eyes, Seokjae soon withdrew his gaze and headed to the first floor.

Still completely unaware of this, Muyoung squeezed his eyes shut and focused on listening.

‘If I wait this long, it should be fine, right?’

Once he felt the sounds had faded enough, he cautiously moved his body.

Matching his steps to Seokjae’s footsteps, he quickly reached the first floor. The door had only just been opened, and it was slowly closing, so he hurriedly slipped through the gap.

“There he is.”

Fortunately, it seemed he had timed his movements well. Seokjae was striding over the corpses of zombies scattered across the first floor, heading toward the exit.

Once outside, he would surely move faster. Just as Muyoung thought to close the distance a bit, Seokjae suddenly stopped in front of the entrance. Did he notice that he was being followed? But he was just standing still in front of the glass door.

‘What should I do?’

Feeling restless, Muyoung quickly dropped to the ground in a crawling position. He intended to blend in with the other zombies. There was no way he could mix in with the headless bodies, but he couldn’t just go back through the closed emergency exit door either.

‘Please don’t look back.’

As Muyoung silently broke into a cold sweat, Seokjae continued to stare at the glass door, making vague gestures as he swung his weapon in the air to shake off the blood. Drip, liquid fell to the floor.

‘What’s that?’

At the sound, Muyoung, who had been pretending to be dead, flinched and peeked up. Straining his eyes, he saw Seokjae wrapping a suitably cleaned weapon in a leather case and putting it into his bag.

‘So that’s why he stopped.’

Relieved, Muyoung quickly got up and ran as soon as Seokjae opened the door to leave. He didn’t even have time to put his shoes back on. Following him in a hurry while only wearing socks looked somewhat pitiful, if not for the bright expression on his face.

—

Muyoung muttered as he placed his foot on the wall.

“I’m grateful for my strong body today…”

At first, he had worried about whether he should protect himself from the zombies outside. However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that he was the one who needed to be cautious.

Seokjae made excellent use of his strong and agile body. He moved between buildings, using cars and promotional banners as cover, easily leaping over walls. When in trouble, he would throw stones or cans lying on the ground to lure the zombies away.

Trying to keep up with his skilled movements was exhausting. Due to their height difference, if they moved at the same speed, the distance would gradually widen, forcing Muyoung to keep running.

Moreover, every time they had to climb over a wall, it was a struggle. He had no experience climbing walls except for that one time in elementary school when he lost the key to his front gate. He barely managed to get up, but he couldn’t jump down, which delayed him.

Especially the second time, he had to alternate his gaze between the retreating Seokjae and the wall, and only when Seokjae was obscured by a truck did he muster the courage to jump down. He vividly remembered the chill in his chest, fearing he would lose sight of him.

“Still, I’m getting a bit better at this.”

As Muyoung jumped over the third wall, he sighed. He still had to close his eyes and jump down, but compared to the first time, the hesitation time had significantly decreased.

“If I’m going to keep following him, I need to get used to this…”

The determination to only check on Seokjae’s safety had long been forgotten. As Muyoung naturally began to plan for a future of following him, he hurriedly moved his feet, seeing the distance widen as he jumped over the wall.

How long had it been since he embarked on this arduous journey chasing Seokjae? At some point, he stopped walking.

“Is he staying over there?”

Seeing the sturdy-looking police station exterior, Muyoung felt relieved. It seemed like a decent place to stay.

Standing in front of the building, Seokjae knocked on the shutter in a steady rhythm. Before long, as if they had been waiting, familiar faces popped out as the shutter rose.

“Hyung!”

“You were cutting it close!”

Unlike yesterday, when they had looked like they didn’t want to leave, the two were now beaming with smiles, making Muyoung’s lips curl up as well.

“You both made it back safely.”

In a city overrun by zombies, it was common for someone seen just five minutes ago to be encountered again as a zombie or not even that. Yet, against those odds, they were alive and well. Of course, Muyoung had guessed that Seokjae had come back in one piece, but seeing it firsthand was much more joyful.

“You timed it perfectly, didn’t you?”

“I was really going to go looking for you if you were just a little late…”

“No need for that; I’m glad you weren’t late.”

Seokjae smiled at Junwoo, who was sulking. Kyungho, who was beside him, exclaimed, “Ah!” and grabbed Seokjae’s wrist, pulling him inside.

“Seokjae hyung, hurry up and come in. We’ve prepared breakfast for you.”

Muyoung, who had been busy admiring Seokjae’s charming smile, blinked a couple of times and then broke into a wide grin upon hearing that.

‘His name is Seokjae! It suits him well.’

He was glad that he could now think of him by name, rather than just as this person or that person.