Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 28

“Huh? Why are they going there?”

Muyoung was taken aback by the sudden change in direction of the three people.

“What’s going on?”

Muyoung’s face turned serious when he spotted Junwoo on Seokjae’s back, but he soon became confused when he realized they were heading towards a hotel.

“They’re so close to where they need to go!”

As always, Muyoung had been carefully tailing them, and even after yesterday’s urgent encounter with Seokjae, he hadn’t forgotten to organize the area and prepare a shelter. He dealt with the nonstop rain by making holes in a plastic bag he had found at a convenience store and wearing it over his head.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t find an umbrella, but he quickly gave up on the idea, thinking it would be cumbersome to use one hand to clear zombies. Besides, since no one was watching, he didn’t mind looking ridiculous.

However, the three had stopped moving before reaching the shelter he had prepared. It was an unfortunate situation caused by not anticipating that Junwoo’s condition would shorten their travel time and speed.

But even though Muyoung didn’t know Junwoo was sick, he knew Seokjae was injured, so he had prepared a shelter closer than usual.

“They’d arrive in just 10 more minutes!”

With no immediate way to convey this crucial information to them, Muyoung could only watch as the three headed towards the hotel.

Eventually, watching from behind a pillar as the three pushed through the revolving door to enter, Muyoung muttered while glancing at the building,

“This place seems to be already occupied by another group…”

Sure enough, not long after, Muyoung let out a sigh as another group of survivors appeared from inside.

If it had been his naive past self, he might have thought it fortunate to meet other people. But having directly experienced human cruelty just yesterday, Muyoung’s faith in anyone other than Seokjae’s group was currently shaken.

“Four men, two women… and a child?”

As he hid in a corner, intently watching the inside, a child came into view. It had been a very long time since he’d seen a child. The child seemed scared but looked healthy with lively, chubby cheeks.

“If there’s a child, could they be a good group?”

Just as his wavering faith began to solidify a bit, Muyoung overheard the conversation from inside and his expression hardened.

“They’re clearly dangerous people.”

Despite openly criticizing the child as a “mouth to feed,” no one except the bald man stood up against it.

“Aah, should I just go in now and bring them out? But what would we do after that…”

People who don’t protect children can’t be good people. Muyoung stomped his feet, wanting to drag the three out right away.

However, unaware of Muyoung’s feelings, Seokjae said things like “How kind of you” and personally restored the barricade they had pushed through before entering the hotel with the group.

“Ah, hyung! Please…! Why are you so naive!”

He doesn’t know about the nearby shelter that’s been prepared. So it’s understandable that joining the hotel seems like the best immediate choice. But to not even think of doubting their hospitality despite the group’s suspicious atmosphere?

Muyoung liked Seokjae’s firm trust in humanity, but it was also frustrating, making him pound his chest with his fist.

Left alone in front of the now-empty back entrance after everyone had moved to the lobby, Muyoung worried about the overly trusting Seokjae’s future. Suddenly realizing his own stupidity, he slapped his forehead.

“No. Hyung has done nothing wrong.”

It was strange to blame the kind person when it’s those who try to deceive kind people who are wrong. After all, the reason he admired Seokjae in the first place was because of his good character. It was nonsensical to hope for him to change now.

“Right, I just need to work harder.”

What he needed to do wasn’t to pull his hair out over Seokjae’s naivety like just now, but to help him survive while maintaining his kind heart.

It was embarrassing to talk big when he had failed to prevent Seokjae from being attacked and injured by others just yesterday, but that accident was caused by his own carelessness. It’s a problem that can be solved if he stays more alert.

“I’ll just focus on protecting Seokjae hyung and the kids.”

Just because Seokjae is strong and has been safe without any accidents so far doesn’t mean the city suddenly becomes peaceful. Yet, because of his conscience, he had compromised, thinking they would be fine.

Having witnessed with his own eyes the consequences of one mistake, Muyoung intended to set clear priorities from now on.

It might be hard to ignore people who need help, but people can’t live doing everything they want to do. It would be one thing if he alone suffered, but the impact absolutely cannot extend to Seokjae. If weighing Seokjae’s safety against the pain of conscience, the former was obviously the priority.

If it was truly an urgent and unavoidable situation, he was prepared to step up and attack, even if he was scared.

“This is the only time I can do this anyway…”

As much as he wanted to take responsibility for a lifetime, in reality, he could only protect Seokjae within this city. After all, there’s no way he could escape with them in his zombie state.

Muyoung became depressed thinking about having to part with Seokjae someday. But he soon regained his spirits and clenched his fist, vowing to do his best to leave no regrets, especially given the limited time.

“Ah, this isn’t the time to be doing this.”

Quite some time had passed while he was gathering his thoughts. Muyoung hurriedly circled the hotel, looking for gaps where he might see Seokjae, but it wasn’t easy. No people were visible through the front or back entrances, and all the large windows were completely blocked with boxes or fabric without a single gap.

There was absolutely no way to look inside the hotel. Even when Seokjae’s group blocked windows, there was always a small gap to be found if you looked carefully, making it easy to peek.

Muyoung was at a loss, facing his first major obstacle since he started spying on the three.

“Is hyung actually a really careless person?”

There was the unlocked window from yesterday, and the windows always had gaps. Seeing how he treated Kyungho and Junwoo, Muyoung had thought Seokjae was meticulous about safety. His expression became strange as he wondered if his perception might have been wrong.

Of course, the level of security for a permanent settlement would naturally differ from a temporary stay.

Suddenly, imagining Seokjae clumsily blocking windows with his large hands made the always cool Seokjae seem a bit cute.

“So this is what they call a reversal charm.”

While a perfectly flawless Seokjae was good, a Seokjae with clumsy aspects was also plenty charming.

As Muyoung was grinning at his fan-like thoughts popping up at odd times, he felt a gaze from somewhere. Turning his head, he gasped as he made direct eye contact with round, bright eyes staring at him.

“Gasp.”

The other person also widened their eyes in surprise, probably not expecting to suddenly meet someone’s gaze. But when Muyoung reacted with an even bigger surprise, trembling, they seemed to judge him as not dangerous and kept staring. The two blinked at each other for a while, doing nothing else.

Muyoung was the first to gather courage.

“Uh, h-hello?”

As he awkwardly smiled and raised a hand to wave, the child, after hesitating for a moment, slightly waved their small hand back. Seeing this cute gesture, Muyoung forgot his awkwardness and approached slowly with a broad smile.

‘Why didn’t I notice a gap this big?’

Tilting his head to examine, he saw that the gap the child was looking through was created by making a cut in one side of the box carefully covering the window. It was like a pet door that could be opened and closed.

It seemed to have been made out of consideration for the child feeling cooped up unable to go outside. Perhaps it was made by the woman who had been prioritizing the child’s protection earlier.

“Is this your own private window?”

When Muyoung pointed at the window and whispered the question, the child tilted their head. Muyoung’s voice was muffled by the glass and hard to hear.

Realizing this, Muyoung took out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down the question to show. The child nodded.

After that, he wrote more questions asking the child’s name and age. The child was about to answer but looked back as if checking something, then breathed on the glass and wrote ‘8, Kim Hayun’ there as an answer. Judging from the cautious gesture, this gap seemed to be a secret between the woman who made it and the child.

After hesitating for a moment, Muyoung wrote one request on the paper:

[I’m really sorry, but could you lend me this window for a little bit?]

It was an apologetic request to make to a child who might be scared of others discovering their small joy of looking outside, but there was no other way to see inside the hotel except for this spot.