Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 31

Seokjae, making a strange expression at the child’s innocent remark, had neither the time nor the will to explain otherwise, so he just nodded and answered vaguely.

“…Maybe?”

“Okay!”

The child nodded with an expression as if she had been given an important mission.

‘So the oppa outside was a prince on a white horse!’

Although he didn’t have the brilliant blonde hair like princes in fairy tales, his face was pretty, so she could understand quickly.

“Then go on now.”

“Yes!”

Waving goodbye at Seokjae’s gentle urging, the child ran off on her short legs to find Kyungho and Junwoo, thinking:

‘But if the oppa outside is a prince, is this oppa a princess?’

Seokjae watched the child’s retreating figure. Behind him, the man who couldn’t even protest with just one gesture from Seokjae, belatedly grumbled in annoyance at his own predicament.

“What were you whispering about?”

“I told her if she asks those two for snacks, they’d give her some, and to eat them secretly by herself. Children like special treatment, you know.”

“Tch, that’ll just make kids more clingy.”

“But it’s cute, isn’t it?”

“Cute, my foot.”

No matter what the man grumbled, Seokjae just smiled gently. He was in a good mood because he was able to seize an opportunity he almost missed thanks to the child earlier.

‘That was a close call.’

In fact, Seokjae had been considering dealing with the entire hotel group if he was left alone with them, looking for an opportunity. Since the inside wasn’t visible from the outside at all, it would be difficult for Muyoung to come rescue him at the right timing if he were in danger.

Although careless in his actions, Muyoung seemed cautious enough not to rush in to save him directly unless there was an immediate visible crisis.

So rather than wasting time fulfilling their demands, which were sure to be unpleasant whatever they were, he thought it would be more beneficial to deal with them all and pretend to have barely escaped after being attacked… If it weren’t for the child, he might have made a big mistake.

“Ah, finally here. I thought you might have run away.”

“You went to fetch him, so why did it take so long to come back?”

The group was standing in front of a wide open space that looked like an entrance but had no door. As soon as the two arrived, the balding man and the man with a mustache scolded the man with glasses.

“That’s just how he always is.”

Even the man with slanted eyes, who had been relatively quiet until now, joined in criticizing him. The man with glasses protested, feeling wronged:

“No, it’s because that little freeloader was interfering.”

“Well, you’re here now. What we want to ask is… I noticed earlier that you’re quite strong, could you help us tidy up the kitchen?”

However, his words were ignored by the balding man, and Seokjae stood at the entrance, looking into the wide space beyond.

“The kitchen?”

“We’ve tried a few times, but it’s been quite difficult.”

“You mean just me, alone?”

“Come on, let’s talk as we go. We’ve cleared out the inside of the restaurant, so it’s safe.”

Fearing he might run away if they explained, the hotel group surrounded Seokjae on all sides except the front. Then they led him towards the inside of the restaurant.

“The kitchen is narrow inside, so it’s hard for many people to enter.”

“I see.”

“Well… the truth is, there are about two zombies in the kitchen.”

As soon as the balding man revealed the fact about the zombies, the three men tightly gripped the blunt weapons in their hands. They were planning to threaten Seokjae if he reacted violently or resisted.

“Ah, two of them.”

However, Seokjae just raised one eyebrow and made a single comment, showing no other reaction. Embarrassed by his calm response, the balding man unnecessarily rambled on.

“Well, originally there was just one, but a few days ago, someone went in to clean and then there were two. It’s such a headache, tsk.”

“I see. I understand.”

I understand very well that this group’s humanity is worse than that of beasts. Shortly after Seokjae muttered these words to himself, they reached the innermost part of the restaurant. There was an iron door clumsily blocked by a large table.

There’s no way such cowardly humans would have left it just like this. As he rolled his eyes, he saw potted plants with half the soil removed and sofas that should have been in the lobby, just as he had expected.

‘I knew they were stupid, but…’

It seemed they planned to deceive him by blocking the door just enough to be kicked open in an emergency, then immediately seal it with those objects after letting him in.

‘Have they already forgotten that I pushed through something weighing twice as much as those to get in here?’

Or maybe they thought they could manage if four people combined their strength to block it.

“You’ll have to go in alone, but if you feel it’s dangerous, make a loud noise. We’ll open the door right away.”

He spoke as if worried, but making a loud noise in front of zombies is no different from asking to be killed quickly. Seokjae spent about 0.5 seconds wishing for the person who had been sacrificed believing these words to be reborn smarter in their next life.

“A life for a life, is that it?”

“That’s right, that’s right. As expected of a young person, you understand quickly!”

As Seokjae strode towards the table, the balding man grinned, thinking he had completely fallen for it.

However, Seokjae didn’t open the door immediately. That was because there was someone waiting. Also, he felt it would hurt his pride to pretend to be in danger while fighting just two zombies. He thought it might look more pitiful to be seen being threatened into entering a zombie den.

Seokjae turned around, sat on the edge of the table, and looked at the four men.

“In exchange, I need some time to prepare myself mentally. It’s a life-or-death situation, so I think you can understand that much.”

Then, placing his hand on his chest as if pleading like an actor on stage, he added in a gentle voice:

“I’ll open the door as soon as what I’m waiting for arrives, so don’t worry.”

“What you’re waiting for?”

“My peace of mind.”

Although it was disgusting to have to smile at such people, he could do it any number of times for him. Thinking this, Seokjae gave them what would be their last smile.

* * *

Muyoung ran straight to the back entrance as soon as the child disappeared. However, perhaps due to the difference in height, the child didn’t appear even after several minutes had passed.

“Why is the kid taking so long?”

Just as he was beginning to wonder if he had been tricked by the child, he heard rapid footsteps from inside.

“Here they come!”

Muyoung’s face brightened, but then his eyes widened as he realized the approaching footsteps were more than one. It was then that Kyungho, who had come running with the child, spotted Muyoung. He was carrying a bag in his hand and had a man on his back.

Kyungho approached the revolving door, panting heavily, and asked the frozen Muyoung:

“Are you the memo paper?”

“Uh, what?”

“You’re not?”

Muyoung, caught off guard by the sudden face-to-face encounter, stammered, causing despair to show on Kyungho’s face. Seeing this, Muyoung panicked and shook his head vigorously, revealing his identity:

“No! It’s me, it’s really me!”

“I thought you’d be a muscular man… No, more importantly, is this a dangerous situation?”

“Dangerous?”

Having come to hear about the inside situation from the child, Muyoung was confused and had eyes like a startled rabbit. At that moment, the child, whose face had turned red from following the taller Kyungho, shouted:

“The big oppa went to fight monsters!”

“What?”

“So that’s what the cleaning really was… Those bastards aren’t even human.”

Kyungho’s face contorted horribly with anger. Muyoung pressed his hands against the glass of the revolving door and asked the child urgently:

“W-when was this?”

“Just now!”

Just now? When exactly is ‘just now’? He wanted to ask more, as if to calm himself, but in a situation without clocks or phones, there was no way the child would know that. Overwhelmed by a sense of darkness closing in, he staggered back a step, and the child continued in a clear voice that didn’t match the situation:

“I asked to go with him, but the bad ajussi got angry and said I couldn’t come along.”

“…Did you talk with that oppa?”

“Yes!”

If that was the case, it really hadn’t been long. Thinking it might not be too late, Muyoung sharpened his focus.

If the situation had allowed for a conversation with the child, there should have been a chance to escape. Why didn’t he come here together? As Muyoung wracked his brain, he soon let out an “Ah” with a sigh.

“Did anyone see you talking to him?”

“Yes. The ajussi who always calls me a freeloader saw us.”

As expected. If a third party had witnessed the child stopping Seokjae, and they tried to escape, the group’s anger at feeling cheated would naturally be directed at the child.

No, even so, how could a person give up their life so easily? It’s good to uphold human principles, but when it comes to matters of life and death, people usually hesitate and sometimes deviate from those principles.

‘Is hyung some kind of inflexible scholar who’d rather break than bend? Come on, bend a little!’

While he admired and liked Seokjae for being this way, it also made him feel sick to his stomach. Forgetting his resolution to protect Seokjae so he could remain unchanged, Muyoung internally scolded Seokjae harshly.