Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 68

“Huh? I…”

Until he started hanging out with them, Muyoung had found it convenient and pleasant not to feel the heat or sweat. But after hearing Junwoo’s question, he realized that even such a small characteristic could create a sense of discomfort.

Thinking about it, he figured it would seem strange if everyone else was struggling in the blazing sunlight while he alone remained fresh and dry.

“I, I don’t get affected by heat much. I don’t sweat either.”

Flustered, Muyoung’s eyes darted around as he told a partial truth that wouldn’t seem too strange. It wasn’t a lie since he truly didn’t feel the heat or sweat.

“Can this level of heat be overcome by genetics? I’m so jealous of your genes, hyung…”

“R-really?”

Since it was a casual question, Junwoo didn’t press further despite the clumsy answer. As Muyoung let out a small sigh of relief, Kyungho, who had just returned after turning on the air conditioner, joined the conversation.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Hey, look at Muyoung hyung. Isn’t it amazing that he’s not sweating at all? He says he doesn’t get affected by heat much. I didn’t know it was possible to overcome this kind of heat just by constitution.”

Hearing Junwoo’s words, Kyungho stared intently at Muyoung’s face. Suddenly finding himself under observation, Muyoung avoided eye contact and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’re right, that is interesting. Come to think of it, your skin is really white too, hyung. I got really tanned.”

Kyungho rolled up his short sleeves, revealing a stark contrast between his darkened arms and the noticeably lighter skin above.

“Wow, it’s true! Hyung, is this your tanned skin?”

Junwoo exclaimed as if he’d discovered something new, and with curious eyes, he reached out towards Muyoung’s sleeve in agreement. However, instead of grabbing Muyoung’s sleeve, he found himself holding a lukewarm bottle of water.

“Huh?”

Surprised, Junwoo looked at the person who had handed him the water bottle.

“Junwoo. Let’s stop talking and drink some water first. We don’t want you to get dehydrated.”

As Seokjae smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth, Junwoo suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, perhaps due to the cold air from the ceiling air conditioner.

“Yes, sir.”

“I-I’ll drink from the bottle in my bag.”

Junwoo, with his excellent survival instinct befitting a survivor, nodded obediently and immediately lost interest in Muyoung. Kyungho, having started the conversation topic, hurriedly pretended to open his bag, averting his gaze to avoid any potential backlash.

‘I haven’t checked if it’s okay to drink water yet…’

Meanwhile, Muyoung discreetly rolled his eyes, pretending not to notice the situation. He knew that eating beef bone soup didn’t upset his stomach. But he hadn’t thought to check if it was really okay to drink liquids after that, and if so, how much he could drink.

‘If they tell me to drink water too, how should I refuse?’

Just then, Muyoung’s eyes caught sight of Seokjae’s large hand resting on the floor.

‘Hmm…’

Seokjae, who had been intently watching the two drinking water as if monitoring them, turned his gaze as he sensed someone quietly approaching from the side.

“…Hyung.”

“Yes?”

As Muyoung crouched down, hugging his knees and fidgeting with his fingers while calling him, Seokjae couldn’t help but wonder what cute act he was about to pull this time.

“You too…”

Although he had responded immediately to the call, Muyoung hesitated, his lips moving a few times before he finally seemed to make up his mind and spoke.

“Your skin color must be much darker than usual too, right?”

Seokjae couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the question.

‘I thought he was being shy about something, but he was just looking at my hands.’

Realizing that Muyoung’s gaze, which he thought was avoiding eye contact by looking at the floor, was actually fixed on his hand, Seokjae lightly tapped the floor as if playing the piano.

‘Why is he so curious about my original skin color?’

But it always felt good when Muyoung showed interest in him, so he nodded lightly.

“That’s right. But I wasn’t as pale as you originally.”

“I see…”

Hearing the answer seemed to make Muyoung even more curious, as his gaze intensified. Watching this silently, Seokjae suddenly felt the urge to play a small prank.

Suppressing a laugh that threatened to escape, he slowly moved his hand that was resting on the floor. Muyoung’s eyes followed the movement like a cat that had spotted its prey.

Seokjae’s hand, easily a size larger than Muyoung’s, lightly grasped the bottom of his shirt and slowly lifted it. Just as the waistband of his pants and the taut muscles of his waist, previously hidden by the shirt, were about to be revealed, the movement stopped.

“Ah…”

At some point, Muyoung had been staring at the scene in a daze, and he unconsciously let out a sigh full of disappointment. A teasing laugh fell from above.

Reflexively lifting his head, Muyoung’s gaze met with the pitch-black eyes looking down at him.

‘What a silly face.’

Seokjae’s eyes softened as he looked at the dazed face with a slightly open mouth, showing just how focused Muyoung had been. He lowered his head, bringing their faces close enough for their noses to almost touch, and whispered.

“Curious?”

“What?”

Muyoung, unable to immediately understand the short question, opened his eyes wide like a rabbit. His brain wasn’t working properly due to the sudden proximity of Seokjae’s sculpture-like face.

Seokjae briefly clicked his tongue internally when he saw no trace of the emotion he had expected in those round eyes.

‘He’s not even embarrassed.’

Muyoung seemed completely unaware that he had just been disappointed at not being able to see someone else’s bare skin.

‘I kind of expected it, but it seems he’s not conscious of that aspect at all.’

Seokjae was more displeased by the fact that Muyoung felt no sexual tension towards him than by the failure of his prank. So he decided to be a bit more aggressive than he had initially planned.

“If you’re curious, you can look.”

Whispering softly, he pulled Muyoung’s hand, which was hugging his knees, towards his own body. Not detecting any malicious intent, Muyoung’s hand followed without any resistance. Seokjae overlapped their fingers and semi-forcefully made Muyoung grasp his shirt.

“Ah!”

Muyoung gasped at the presence that couldn’t be hidden by the thin t-shirt. He tried to pull his hand away in surprise, but Seokjae wouldn’t allow it. He pressed down on the hand that was trying to escape, causing Muyoung’s soft palm to be firmly pressed against his well-defined abs.

‘Aaaah!’

This was Muyoung, who had spent the entire night clenching his fists for fear of fainting when he was held in Seokjae’s arms. The firm, contoured sensation he encountered in this defenseless state was too stimulating, and he kept screaming internally.

“No, no. It’s okay!”

He felt dizzy. Afraid that he might unconsciously give in to his instincts and grope the magnificent body like a pervert, he shook his head violently.

‘How did it suddenly turn out like this?’

It was true that he had asked out of a subtle expectation to see. But he thought Seokjae would just roll up his sleeve like Kyungho did. He had no idea he would end up lifting Seokjae’s shirt with his own hand.

“H-hyung, please let go.”

He tried to pull his hand away immediately, but for some reason, Seokjae wouldn’t let go. As a second-best option, Muyoung stiffened his fingers and resisted. It was a tearful effort to maintain his sanity by minimizing the contact area.

‘There might be a possibility after all.’

Seokjae observed this quietly and muttered to himself. He had been considering whether to make a stronger move if there was still no reaction even after going this far, but contrary to earlier, Muyoung was now visibly tense. He had thought Muyoung was weak to visual stimuli since he showed interest in his face, but it seemed touch was more effective than sight.

“Why? You can really look.”

Seokjae, having regained his composure after achieving a satisfactory result, spoke in an amused tone. The continued permission made Muyoung’s resolve waver.

‘Would it be okay to just lift it a little and look…? I can just look quickly and put it down.’

As soon as Muyoung hesitantly lowered his gaze, he caught sight of the skin revealed beneath the shirt. During their struggle to free his hand, the t-shirt had unintentionally rolled up more and more.

‘Ah, this won’t do!’

Even though he had only seen an area as small as a fingernail, with shadows cast on it, preventing him from properly confirming the skin color he was curious about, Muyoung quickly averted his gaze. By this point, what he wanted to see was no longer just the ‘skin’ but the entire ‘body’.

‘I’m sure I’ll make a perverted face!’

If he had been confident in his ability to control his expressions, he would have looked at the abs without hesitation. But who was Muyoung? Just this morning, he couldn’t even pretend to be surprised and had to pass the role to Kyungho. As a master of bad acting, he had no confidence in maintaining a calm expression while looking at Seokjae’s body.

“It’s really okay!”

With the sole determination not to be misunderstood as a pervert by Seokjae, Muyoung barely overcame the dark temptation. Then, after clearing his throat which had become tense in that short moment, he cautiously added:

“Instead, can I look at your sleeve area?”

He could have just refused and ended it there, but it felt impolite to just brush it off after Seokjae had even put his shirt in his hand. So he specifically requested to look at a place that could only be viewed innocently. It definitely wasn’t because he was reluctant to let the opportunity pass entirely.