Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 48

Seokjae barely managed to hold back a laugh that threatened to burst out at the sight of his relationship with Muyoung crumbling in real-time. He felt that if he laughed now, his reputation would be irreparably damaged.

As he bit his lip, at a loss for how to fix the blunder he had just committed, a cool touch covered the back of his hand.

“Absolutely not,” Muyoung said firmly, regretting that he couldn’t hold Seokjae’s hand with both of his since one was already being held. Though initially stunned by the question of whether he didn’t trust Seokjae, he was able to regain his composure when he felt the hand gripping his trembling slightly.

“I just didn’t want to bother you. I thought I might have woken you up.”

Although he still didn’t understand why Seokjae was so shocked, Muyoung felt sorry seeing him look so anxious.

‘I wonder what happened to hyung?’

And then he realized belatedly. While it had seemed natural to him that Seokjae would be with Kyungho and Junwoo, it was entirely possible that they hadn’t always been together from the beginning.

He had assumed that Seokjae’s willingness to take risks in front of the two as a good adult was simply due to his heroic nature. But now a new possibility arose that it might not be just for that reason. Perhaps there had been some incident that had driven him to act that way.

He knew it was an excessive thought based on just one occurrence today. But in this city, one could experience dozens of trauma-inducing events in a single day. So naturally, his worries continued.

If his guess was right, it meant that Seokjae wasn’t as perfect a person as he had thought.

“Come to think of it, why didn’t you wake me up when you left?”

“You seemed to be sleeping so soundly, I felt bad about waking you.”

“There’s no need to feel bad at all, so from now on, wake me up no matter what. Don’t worry about bothering me, just bother me. You’re allowed to do that.”

Muyoung thought as he looked at Seokjae, whose eyes were now filled with strength as if he had never been dejected. Although it had only been a few days, he wondered if the childlike side Seokjae was showing might actually be his true personality rather than an unexpected aspect.

As Muyoung stared at Seokjae, who was complaining with a grumpy face about why he always did something while he was sleeping, he opened his mouth.

“Hyung, you know.”

Meeting Seokjae’s rebellious gaze that seemed to ask if he had something to say, an odd emotion arose that didn’t quite fit the situation.

“Even if I do something alone, the reason will never be because I don’t trust you. Not now, not ever.”

Even though he might have been disappointed if the reason he had come to admire Seokjae wasn’t actually his true self, he found himself liking Seokjae even more.

Muyoung had seen many people behaving aggressively due to trauma while helping survivors. But Seokjae was the first person he had seen trying to be good. While people who were born good were admirable, the sight of someone striving to be good seemed even more impressive.

‘But no matter how cool it is, if that effort is becoming an obsession that’s tormenting him, I need to stop it.’

For now, there were no professional institutions available to help, and for some reason, Seokjae always showed a mature side in front of the children, so it seemed that only he had noticed this. Therefore, only he could help Seokjae.

He wasn’t sure how to quell the obsession, but wouldn’t it work out somehow if he kept reassuring him?

“…You-“

Seokjae stared blankly at Muyoung, who seemed to have spoken with some understanding, and his lips moved. At that moment, the door that had been half-closed pushed open with a thud.

“Oh, Hayun.”

“…”

“Uh…”

Behind the door stood the child in an awkward pose.

In fact, after checking the kitchen and utility room, the child had come out to the hallway and found Muyoung long ago after hearing the two talking. But the young seeker, despite not understanding the conversation at all, had become engrossed in the atmosphere between the two that was like a morning drama, forgetting what she was supposed to do and secretly watching.

Then, too focused, she hadn’t noticed her body leaning forward to the point of losing balance, and eventually pushed the door open.

The child, receiving the gaze of the two, stiffened for a moment before quickly clinging to Muyoung’s leg.

“F-found you! Hayun won!”

“Y-yeah! Hayun is the best!”

Feeling guilty for not focusing on hide-and-seek with the child and getting completely distracted elsewhere, Muyoung hurriedly congratulated the child on her victory. Then, feeling a bit guilty but citing their promise, he sent the child back up to the second floor.

Seokjae’s eyes, watching this B-grade sitcom-like scene from behind, were fixed on Muyoung as if entranced.

* * *

“Argh!”

One person was running away desperately, leaving behind zombies that were rushing in with disgusting screams.

“Grr.”

“Huff, huff, huff.”

The body, already panting as if at its limit, gradually slowed down and even lost balance. Each time this happened, the distance with the zombies running behind narrowed.

Seokjae suddenly realized that he was standing in front of a building, quietly watching this scene.

‘…It’s starting again.’

Just in case, he tried to put strength in his legs, but they didn’t move an inch as if they weren’t his own. But he didn’t panic. He had already tried to move hundreds of times, and each time the result was the same.

This dream never listened to its owner. It was a nightmare that wouldn’t let him wake up until he saw the end.

Seokjae gave up and looked at the small, fragile man approaching where he was. Unlike now, his face was covered in sweat tinged with red. The face that had been smiling at him just moments ago was now distorted with fear.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Seokjae chewed on a self-deprecating curse, but his lips remained tightly closed. No, he vaguely remembered that he might have been smiling a little with anticipation.

He felt sick to his stomach at himself for standing still even after seeing that face. Judging him to be no different from other humans without knowing anything was the biggest mistake of his life. Not knowing that it might be the last time. That it wasn’t a certainty that this was the chance given to him.

Although he hadn’t looked back, Muyoung seemed to sense the zombies getting closer, and a sound like a sob escaped his lips.

“Huu.”

To be honest, the distance between him and Seokjae wasn’t that close. Add to that the cries of numerous zombies, and there was no way he could have heard such a faint sob. So it must have been an auditory hallucination created by his distorted memory.

‘Damn it.’

How long had it been since he had seen that smiling face again? Even though it was the painful expression he had replayed every day until reuniting with Muyoung, it was as difficult to watch as when he first had this dream. He wanted to run over right away, kill those disgusting things, and save him.

‘Come here. Come this way.’

But he couldn’t move a finger. All Seokjae could do now was to desperately plead inside.

At that moment, as if hearing Seokjae’s wish, Muyoung’s head turned towards him. Their eyes met, and a change occurred in Muyoung’s eyes that had been filled with fear.

‘…I thought it might be different after so long, but it was a vain hope.’

The moment he confirmed that there was no relief in those eyes this time either, Seokjae wanted to bash his head against the wall and lose consciousness right away. Because he already knew what was about to happen.

As he had seen in the dream many times before, a faint smile appeared on Muyoung’s distorted face. Only then did his body start to move, but it was already too late. As if to caution him from approaching, Muyoung painfully raised his hand and tapped his lips with his index finger.

“I’m sorry!”

Then, to draw the attention of the zombies behind him, he shouted loudly with a trembling voice before turning his body and starting to move away from the building where Seokjae was standing.

The sight of Muyoung’s back as he fled between parked cars on the street, barely avoiding the blackened, rotten arms, was obscured by the zombies before Seokjae could rush out.

‘You’ve seen it all, so that’s enough. Please wake up and stop this.’

As he stared endlessly in the direction where Muyoung had disappeared, listening to the constant screams from rotted vocal cords, his vision turned black as he had wished.

“…Gasp.”

As soon as Seokjae woke up from his sleep, he sat up, breathing heavily. His bloodshot eyes scanned the room aimlessly before fixing on the closed door.