Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 41

“You need a card to use the elevator and open doors, so I thought there might be survivors, but there were only zombies inside. Maybe someone who got bitten hid it and went in.”

“That must have been scary.”

“There weren’t many though, so we managed to deal with them somehow. The doors seemed sturdy, so we decided to spend the night there. But lying in the empty department store lounge felt strange. It was like we had rented the whole place. Don’t you think? When would an ordinary person ever get to use a VIP room?”

“That’s true.”

“Right?”

Unlike with Seokjae or Kyungho, Junwoo was excited to have found a conversational partner who responded well, and he continued talking enthusiastically, even suppressing his cough.

“So when I said it felt amazing, like we had rented the whole department store, do you know what hyung said?”

“What did he say?”

As Junwoo paused at a crucial point, as if controlling the rhythm, Muyoung asked with bated breath.

“‘Is that so?'”

Junwoo raised one eyebrow, perhaps imitating Seokjae’s expression at the time. He even mimicked his calm intonation. Though not a perfect imitation, it was enough for Muyoung to imagine how Seokjae would have looked and sounded saying those words, making him burst into laughter.

“Really?”

“I’m telling you! We were alone in this huge, empty space, and I asked again if it wasn’t incredibly strange, but hyung just couldn’t understand until the end.”

“That’s suspicious. Maybe he couldn’t relate because he was used to it?”

“Yeah. He often says things that make him seem like he’s from a different world. Like when I asked if he had any pets, he said he had a horse, or that his hobby was shooting.”

“Wow…”

Muyoung pictured Seokjae horseback riding and shooting, and found that these activities suited him so perfectly, as if he was born to do them, that he unconsciously let out an exclamation.

“I think hyung doesn’t realize how unusual that is, which makes him seem even more impressive. Who would believe he’s just a job seeker?”

Junwoo chuckled, thinking Muyoung’s amazement was due to Seokjae sounding like a typical chaebol son.

‘He really was an extraordinary person after all.’

Muyoung had always thought Seokjae was unusual, but he never imagined their worlds would be so completely different. If an absurd situation like zombies hadn’t occurred, he and Seokjae would never have crossed paths in their entire lives. He felt certain of this.

‘I guess I was destined to become Seokjae hyung’s fan.’

If zombies hadn’t appeared in the city, if he hadn’t become a zombie himself, and if Seokjae hadn’t come to that supermarket, they would never have met in their lifetimes. All those coincidences led to the present, so couldn’t it be called fate?

He had been sad about not being able to escape the city with Seokjae, but ironically, that’s what allowed them to meet. It was something to be grateful for.

Considering all the possible turning points, this was indeed the only chance to fanboy over hyung. Realizing this anew, he had a thought.

‘Until hyung leaves the city, I should enjoy fangirling to the fullest during this limited, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, without worrying about conscience or being self-conscious!’

* * *

Whoosh.

The sound of the strong water stream from the shower head hitting the floor and shower booth filled the bathroom.

“Ugh. Urk.”

Mixed in were small sounds of dry heaving.

“Urgh.”

After suppressing the chilling sensation of something rising up his esophagus several times, Muyoung finally managed to vomit out all the food in his stomach.

“I’m dying…”

Muyoung collapsed on the bathroom floor. He had been full of expectations about enjoying a happy fangirl life, but with each passing day, he grew weaker.

“I thought I could handle eating dirt…”

Naturally, living together meant eating together, and he had been prepared for that even before rescuing Seokjae.

Just as people could force themselves to eat dirt if necessary, he thought he could bear it too. But that was a big misconception. He didn’t realize that when it comes to eating not just a mouthful but a whole bowl of dirt, it goes beyond simply enduring and causes the body to reject it.

Until he threw up everything he had swallowed, like just now, the dry heaving continued repeatedly. Like being unable to stop hiccups, no matter how hard he tried, the retching wouldn’t stop, forcing him to rush to the bathroom after meals, trying not to be noticed.

Three days of enduring the torture of eating mud at least twice a day and then vomiting made it difficult to even carry on with daily life, let alone fangirl.

“Ah, my stomach is in knots…”

It didn’t end with throwing up. As if trying to recover his worn-out energy, the intervals between meals became shorter, and he had to eat as much as he threw up.

Eating wasn’t much of a problem as he could do it behind locked doors, but the aftermath was an unexpected obstacle. He was anxious about simply piling it up in his room, not knowing when it might be discovered.

‘Even if I try to throw it away secretly, it only works for one or two cans.’

With three or four coming out each day, there was a risk of being caught even if he buried them at the bottom of the trash bag. Throwing them out the window wasn’t an option as the sound might attract zombies, so he temporarily sealed them in plastic bags and hid them in his backpack.

“Tsk, I think I need to throw these away today.”

But even this method had its limits. After lunch, his bag was completely full. He needed to empty the trash somehow.

Muyoung planned how to dispose of the garbage while taking a shower for the third time today, aiming for a perfect alibi.

“…You showered again?”

As soon as he left the bathroom, he met eyes with Seokjae passing through the corridor.

“Ah, I was exercising a bit in my room.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes… Well, I’ll be going to my room now.”

As he tried to quickly leave, fearing his lie would be discovered, Seokjae, who had somehow approached right in front of him, leaned his head down towards Muyoung. His large hand gently held the back of Muyoung’s neck, and then their foreheads lightly bumped together.

“You look weak. Did you catch a cold from Junwoo?”

Although he knew that Muyoung wouldn’t catch something like a cold, Seokjae, who had been worried because Muyoung had been cooped up in his room except during mealtimes for the past few days, didn’t miss the opportunity.

“You seem to have a fever.”

Thanks to just finishing his shower, the heat hadn’t dissipated from Muyoung’s forehead, so there wasn’t much difference from Seokjae’s body temperature. Finding it curious that he couldn’t feel any coolness, Seokjae slightly tilted his head while their foreheads were still touching.

Gulp.

Muyoung, who had been watching this without breathing, swallowed hard. The sound from his throat resonated in his ears like thunder.

Did he hear that? Startled by the sound he made, Muyoung pushed Seokjae away forcefully.

“I’m! I’m fine… Not sick at all.”

Did I just swallow because of hyung? Even though there was no smell of blood?

“I, uh, I’ll go to my room now!”

People often swallow when they’re nervous or excited. But Muyoung, not trusting his zombie instincts, felt like he needed to stuff something in his mouth to feel at ease, so he quickly fled to his room.

Bang.

The door closed with a sound loud enough to shake the entire corridor. A few seconds later, it opened slightly, and a voice that sounded like it was crawling came out.

“It was just the wind…”

And then, unlike before, the door closed again, noticeably more carefully.

“…Did he just push me away and leave?”

Left alone in the corridor, Seokjae stared at Muyoung’s room door with an unbelieving expression.

* * *

“This should be enough to feel at ease.”

As soon as he entered the room, Muyoung, who had eaten twice as much as usual, patted his bloated stomach. Even his organs, which had been complaining about the unsuitable food ingredients, should have quieted down. Now it was time to deal with the remaining problem.

“So how do I throw this away now?”

There were more empty cans than he had expected. Although there was still room in the plastic bags and he could carry them all at once, it had become an amount that was impossible to hide in his backpack.

“If only I could get outside the house.”

If he could just get out, he could come and go silently by climbing over the wall instead of using the front door, making disposal not difficult.

“Why does the window have to be so small?”

It would be great if he could go out through the room window, but unfortunately, the window in his room wasn’t large enough for a person to pass through. Muyoung looked at the window with regretful eyes and then proceeded to neatly pack the empty cans into bags, ready to go out at any moment.

After waiting quietly for the optimal timing for several hours, even the occasional footsteps he had been hearing had stopped for over an hour.

“I wonder if everyone’s asleep now?”