Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 52

‘Was his earlier comment about being uncomfortable with someone next to him referring to himself? Or did he notice my subtle touching and couldn’t sleep because he was on guard? Or was it because I pretended to be asleep and kissed his forehead?’

Seokjae recalled how Muyoung had flinched like a fish caught by a cat the moment his lips touched him.

‘Hmm…’

While he had many guesses, if it was any of those reasons, Muyoung wouldn’t have been so careful not to wake him up while he was pretending to sleep. Above all, his reaction towards Seokjae was still gentle.

“What’s wrong? Are you cold?”

As he approached, the gentle face looking up at him couldn’t have hidden wariness if his major had been theater and film instead of Korean language and literature.

“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

Muyoung, who had been rubbing his white arms visible below his short sleeves, answered with an awkward smile. Hugging the white blanket with one hand, Muyoung had the charm of a dazed hamster that had just woken up from hibernation, so Seokjae didn’t hesitate to pat his small head.

‘I’ll have to check again whether he’s sleeping or not. No matter how uncomfortable he is, if he can sleep, he’ll eventually doze off. If he can’t sleep… should I put a bell around his neck or something?’

After confirming Muyoung’s reaction, who didn’t show any signs of wariness or anxiety and seemed more adapted than before, not even startled but obediently offering his head to be patted, Seokjae made plans to continue exploring his body, following up on yesterday.

“Hmm, we woke up a bit later than usual.”

He stretched widely after looking at the clock. His face was smooth without a hint of puffiness, and he looked bright as if he had never had a nightmare.

“Thanks to you, I slept well for the first time in a long time. Thank you.”

“…I’m glad.”

Seeing Seokjae’s mood so dramatically different from when he had asked to be put to sleep with an anxious face, Muyoung felt that his struggles during the night hadn’t been in vain. Although his mind was tired, he felt a sense of accomplishment and couldn’t help but smile proudly.

“Can we sleep together next time too?”

“N-next time too?”

But he immediately stiffened at the following question.

Seeing Muyoung’s lips awkwardly trembling, Seokjae’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Ah… it’s okay if you’re uncomfortable and want to refuse. I guess I made an unreasonable request without realizing it because it’s been so long since I slept this comfortably.”

“…”

Seokjae intentionally turned his gaze to the side and rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed, his lips moving slightly.

“…As I said yesterday, I’m much older than the kids, so if I show them that I’m shaken just because of a dream, they’ll be anxious. So I tried not to show that I had nightmares at all. Because of that, once I have one, it takes quite a long time to recover my condition.”

“Ah…”

“But sleeping with you made me feel so light. Maybe it’s because we’re only a year apart, but unlike with the kids, I felt like you were a friend, so I guess I acted unlike myself and tried to rely on you.”

Despite his large build, his pitiful face and voice made him look like a large dog whimpering from an injury in Muyoung’s eyes, so Seokjae’s act was more than effective, it was excessive.

And above all, there was one word that touched Muyoung’s heart.

‘F-friend…’

While Muyoung had hoped that Seokjae would treat him as comfortably as he did Kyungho and Junwoo, he thought it was greedy deep down. Not only was the time they had spent together different, but he wasn’t as young and cute as those two.

‘I thought at best I’d be in an ambiguous position like a comfortable group member 1!’

But friend! Isn’t that an even closer relationship than a close younger sibling? Certainly, with their similar ages, if one wasn’t sensitive about hierarchy, they could easily become friends.

Although becoming friends might shake his position as a fan… But to be Seokjae’s only friend? Even if being the only one was temporary, he couldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

“Well… feeling like we’re friends is just my thought. You might want to keep treating me just as an older brother, and if that made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

It seems he interpreted Muyoung’s lack of response as a negative sign because he was too moved by the beautiful sound of ‘friend’. Seokjae tried to withdraw his friend proposal.

“Ah! No! I like being friends! I really like it!”

Muyoung, who almost shouted ‘How can you give and then take it back!’, held onto his reason and shook his head quickly.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“You’ll be friends with me?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Then you’ll come to me next time too?”

“Yes… Huh?”

“Thank you for accepting my request.”

While Muyoung was grinning happily about becoming friends with Seokjae and having a friend after a long time, Seokjae smoothly extracted a promise from him.

‘…Somehow, I feel like I’ve been tricked?’

His face had stiffened reflexively only because he was worried whether he could hold onto his reason to the end and not do anything shameless, but he never intended to refuse Seokjae’s request in the first place. He had already decided to become his sanctuary yesterday, and he had seen how desperate Seokjae looked.

But seeing Seokjae extract an answer so quickly without giving him a chance to think, he somehow felt like he had been scammed.

‘It’s too late to worry about it now, he won’t back down anyway.’

What on earth was he pondering about? As Muyoung tilted his head with a strange expression, Seokjae sat on the edge of the bed and met his gaze.

“I’m sincerely grateful. I’m so happy thinking that I won’t have to suffer from nightmares anymore, so I’m wondering, is there anything you want, Muyoung?”

As Seokjae spoke, his fingers slowly traced up Muyoung’s hand, finally enveloping it as if covering it.

“I-I didn’t do anything except sleep next to you?”

“Still. I want to do something for you. I’ll do anything I can.”

Muyoung’s eyes trembled wildly, all his nerves focused on where Seokjae’s fingers touched his skin. When he thought that those deep black eyes somehow seemed to be seducing him, Muyoung rolled away to the side, got off the bed, and shouted:

“I didn’t do it expecting anything in return, so it’s fine! A-anyway, I feel stiff from sitting for so long! I should have stretched earlier when you did.”

Muyoung, who had hurriedly gotten down to the floor, pretended to stretch with creaking sounds, avoiding eye contact and squeezing his eyes shut.

They say you see what you want to see! Was this an extension of the indecent desire to kiss from yesterday? He almost interpreted Seokjae’s innocent eyes as seduction. Bad Kang Muyoung! Pervert Kang Muyoung!

“S-shouldn’t we go out now? The kids are probably awake!”

He was startled as if receiving his reward would be like getting cursed, and ran away. Seokjae, watching Muyoung’s back as he awkwardly changed the subject, squinted one eye and muttered:

“…Right. You said you didn’t need any reward.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. As you said, the kids are probably waiting, so let’s go out.”

Muyoung heard Seokjae’s muttering but found it difficult to understand, so he asked again. However, Seokjae shook his head as if he had no intention of answering as he got up.

He walked straight to the door and grabbed the doorknob, causing Muyoung to completely miss the timing to ask again. Muyoung was rolling his eyes in curiosity when he completely forgot about Seokjae’s muttering due to the people he met outside.

“Huh…? Why are you two coming out of the same room?”

They had encountered Kyungho and Junwoo coming out of the opposite room. Junwoo, who had been surprised to see the empty room, looked relieved next to Kyungho, who was asking in confusion.

“What? We thought Seokjae hyung had gone somewhere since he wasn’t in his room. Were you in Muyoung hyung’s room?”

Normally, the two would have been in the living room earlier than them, but they had come to wake them up personally since there was no sign of them even after breakfast time had passed.

“Yeah.”

Seokjae answered briefly. Muyoung, standing behind him and feeling warmth towards the younger brothers who had come to wake them up, suddenly gasped at the unexpected question.

“…But did you sleep together, hyungs? Why?”

They must have looked like they had just woken up, with messy hair and wrinkled clothes. Junwoo asked directly, genuinely curious why the two, who each had their own room, had slept together in a narrow bed.

As Seokjae’s eyebrows twitched as if pondering something and he opened his lips to answer, Muyoung peeked out from behind him and said:

“Tog-“

“Ah, no, that’s not it. We just had some things to talk about.”

Muyoung hadn’t forgotten that Seokjae wanted to hide the fact that he had nightmares from the kids. So when Seokjae seemed to have difficulty answering, Muyoung suddenly intervened, wanting to help.