Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 59

‘He’s asking me too.’

While Seokjae was cautious on his own, Muyoung, who hadn’t thought about leaving the group for even a second, was deeply moved by his action of making sure he wasn’t left out.

“I-It’s good, but…”

Muyoung was about to nod in agreement but hesitated as something bothered him.

“But what?”

Why is he trailing off when he seemed so happy? Seokjae raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

‘Is hyung really okay with this?’

Muyoung thought it was cool that he suggested leaving food for others, but he was concerned that Seokjae didn’t deny it when Kyungho asked if they were giving everything. It sounded like he was willing to give everything if someone suggested it.

Sharing food was already a difficult decision, let alone giving it away without regret. Muyoung worried that Seokjae’s compulsion might have influenced this decision too.

‘If I had a little time alone, I would have gathered separate food supplies to leave behind.’

Unable to say it was okay not to share, Muyoung decided to at least convey his wish that Seokjae wouldn’t overexert himself.

“It doesn’t have to be everything…”

Dissatisfied with his pronunciation that didn’t match his serious feelings, Muyoung moved his tongue diligently, enduring the creepy sensation.

“I think it’s okay if we don’t give everything. The intention to help is what’s important.”

Satisfied that he seemed to have spoken with normal pronunciation this time, Muyoung glanced at Seokjae’s reaction. His sharp eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal, as if he thought Muyoung’s words were out of the blue.

“Right, intention… It’s important.”

Seokjae, who actually lacked that important intention, didn’t catch the meaning behind Muyoung’s words at all, but he played along as it seemed like Muyoung was waiting for an answer.

“H-Helping others is really good, but I think we shouldn’t neglect taking care of ourselves because of it.”

“…Is that so?”

“So, I think it’s enough to be a great person by helping as much as we can without overdoing it… right?”

Muyoung, who wasn’t very articulate, did his best to convey his feelings even while rambling. As Muyoung continued speaking, Seokjae, unable to hide his strange expression, finally let out a small laugh like a breath.

‘Who’s comforting whom now?’

He wondered why the person who would be most disappointed about not being able to help them fully was the first to say it’s okay to do just enough. Did he think Seokjae would be upset about not being able to help them as much as he wanted?

Seokjae didn’t realize that Muyoung saw him as a pitiable person with a compulsion to sacrifice himself for others, and thought Muyoung was just trying to comfort him out of worry that he might be upset.

‘You see what you want to see, I guess.’

He realized for the first time that this saying could be used in a positive sense. He had been managing his image, but he never expected Muyoung to see him as good a person as himself.

‘He’s really naive.’

Even if he had shown him saving children a few times, did Muyoung really think it was common for people to care so much about strangers they weren’t even close to?

Thanks to this, he was confident that even if he acted more selfishly than now, Muyoung wouldn’t doubt him and would still see him in a good light. It would be even better if that naivety was reserved only for him.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter since I’ll be by his side anyway.’

If some snake-like bastard tried to deceive him, he would just wring their neck.

Completely overlooking the fact that he himself was also a snake-like bastard deceiving Muyoung, Seokjae remembered to convey what he had wanted to say earlier.

“Muyoung.”

“Yes?”

Wondering if his feelings had been well conveyed, Muyoung, who had been quietly waiting for an answer, puzzled by Seokjae’s sudden laughter, immediately responded to his call.

“You know that applies to you too, right?”

“What do you…?”

“Taking care of yourself first. Not just in situations like this, but in any situation. Especially don’t make decisions about dangerous actions alone. Never.”

Seokjae emphasized the importance by repeating “never” to Muyoung, who might rush out without regard for his safety at any time or place.

“Yes!”

He expected at least one question about what to do when it was absolutely necessary, but Muyoung nodded vigorously.

“Really?”

“Of course. Thank you for worrying about me.”

Even when asked again, Muyoung answered without a hint of hesitation. The answer was so clean-cut that it made him suspicious, but he decided to let it go, believing that Muyoung wasn’t the type to casually break promises.

It was a decision he could make only because he didn’t know that Muyoung’s answer was based on his extremely subjective standards as a mutant zombie.

* * *

Although it had been temporarily pushed aside by her bombshell statement, there was another reason they had gathered in the living room. Not forgetting this, they made moving plans based on Junwoo’s claim that “the cough had completely stopped.”

“Then let’s agree to leave in the evening tomorrow, regardless of what decision is made.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to Seokjae’s summary, and for the first time since breakfast, they had some free time.

Junwoo and Seokjae immediately returned to their rooms to pack, while Muyoung headed to the kitchen. Perhaps because of the stimulation from correcting his pronunciation while talking with Seokjae, the sensation in his tongue had become more sensitive. Kyungho advised Muyoung, who was awkwardly keeping his mouth open, to try holding cold water in his mouth.

“Hah…”

Kyungho, sprawled alone on the sofa, sighed as he imagined the outside world they would soon be facing again. Fidgeting with his hands due to the tension rising from deep within his chest, he called out to Muyoung, who was just coming out of the kitchen. He was trying to shift his focus elsewhere.

“Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

Muyoung, who was holding cold water in his mouth, blinked in response as if asking what was wrong.

“How much food do you have left, hyung?”

“Umm…”

Muyoung, who had almost swallowed the water out of habit, paused. After glancing around for a moment, he pretended to drink, putting the cup to his mouth and spitting out what he had been holding.

“It’s still okay. People didn’t really take my food, so it was easy to find.”

After tentatively running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, he answered, relieved at the noticeably improved condition in such a short time.

“Really? That’s good. But when we’re finding food with us, I hope there’s a lot of food you can eat like today, not just snacks. Right?”

“Yeah- Huh?”

Muyoung was about to agree with a smile at Kyungho’s kind words, but his eyes widened at a sudden thought.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

When Kyungho asked in confusion at his reaction, Muyoung absently stroked his solar plexus area with his hand and shook his head.

“Well, I think I’ll go pack my things now.”

“You too, hyung? Hmm… I’ll go in a little later. Who knows when we’ll be able to sit and rest like this again.”

“Okay. Rest a bit more before you go in.”

Finding it difficult to manage his expression due to the sudden realization of a new fact, Muyoung quickly ended the conversation and left the living room.

“…”

Standing alone in the hallway, Muyoung rubbed his surprisingly calm stomach with his palm and tilted his head.

‘It’s really okay?’

He had just spit out even a sip of water out of fear, but his stomach, which had taken in food a while ago, felt comfortable without any discomfort, let alone nausea.

‘Is it because the amount was small? Or are liquids okay?’

As he slowly walked to his room, pondering why he felt fine, he heard a high-pitched voice whispering from a short distance away.

“Oppa!”

Recognizing the owner of that voice instantly, Muyoung quickly relaxed the tension in his brow and raised his head. Sure enough, the child was resting her chin on the stair railing.

“Hayun. Why are you here? Did you sneak down again?”

When Muyoung asked in a voice mixed with half joy and half surprise, the child put her index finger to her lips and made a “Shh” sound.

“Oppa, come here.”

Although confused, he closed his mouth at her gesture to be quiet. The child, who had been constantly watching her surroundings with a tense face, waved her small hand.

‘What’s going on?’

He still didn’t understand, but seeing the child’s serious expression, it didn’t seem like she was playing around.

As he approached carefully, lowering his voice, the child tiptoed down the stairs to match him and held out a neatly folded note.

“Hm? Is this for me? Can I read it?”

After receiving the note and pondering for a moment, Muyoung asked, and before answering, the child thoroughly checked the surroundings to see if anyone was around, then nodded.

“Yes. But only you can see it, oppa.”

“Okay.”

What could it be that she’s giving it so secretly? Muyoung unfolded the small piece of paper, full of curiosity.

“This is…”

The paper was written in handwriting too neat to have been written by the child.

[3 AM, kitchen. Alone.]

“Unni told me to bring it.”

As expected, it seemed the child’s older sister had sent the note.