Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 69

“……”

“W-Well, arms are better for comparing colors, right?”

Feeling uneasy under Seokjae’s gaze that seemed to pierce through his inner thoughts, Muyoung hastily added a reason.

“Alright, I got it.”

Fortunately, it seemed to sound plausible. Seokjae shrugged lightly and released the hand he had been holding as if restraining Muyoung.

“Here.”

“Huh? W-What?”

Even though Seokjae had let go, the sensation still lingered, and as Muyoung fidgeted with his hand, Seokjae’s forearm suddenly appeared before his eyes. Startled, Muyoung looked at him, and the thick arm twitched up and down once in the air as if urging him.

“Aren’t you going to look?”

“You want me to roll up your sleeve…? You could just show me yourself.”

“Mmm, I want you to look comfortably.”

If only the gently curving eyes were a little less pretty, Muyoung might have caught the mischief hidden in them. But weak to Seokjae’s face, Muyoung could only inwardly scream, ‘Your kindness is too much, hyung!’

‘If I refuse twice, wouldn’t hyung feel embarrassed?’

Muyoung didn’t have the courage to reject the offer again and ask for something else. In the end, he awkwardly nodded.

“Ahem, then excuse me.”

It was just rolling up a sleeve, but why did it make him so nervous? Muyoung carefully moved to lift the clothing, making sure his trembling fingertips didn’t touch the unusually thick forearm.

Gulp…

With the sound of his Adam’s apple bobbing, the fabric was lifted, revealing the skin underneath, which was a deep shade that seemed to be drawn like a line, exposing the flesh he had been curious about.

“Wow.”

Muyoung let out an involuntary exclamation. The color was healthier than his own pale hand holding the sleeve. The skin looked as clean as white snow and as soft as silk.

‘So hyung was originally fair-skinned too…’

At a glance, it could have looked delicate, but due to the muscles that were so full they seemed almost ominous, it instead gave an inhuman sense of intimidation.

A few seconds passed, and as if the staring gaze was ticklish, the forearm that had been still suddenly twitched, asserting its presence.

“Ah, ah… That’s enough now!”

Suddenly overcome with a strange feeling as if he were peeking at an intimate part, Muyoung quickly dropped his hands. He clearly hadn’t felt this way when looking at Kyungho’s arm. Was it because of the difference in muscles? He was flustered, unable to understand the reason himself.

“Satisfied already?”

Seokjae raised one eyebrow and asked nonchalantly, as Muyoung reacted as if he had been toyed with by a playboy just from looking at a forearm.

“Very, very much so.”

Fearing his stopped heart might not just dry up but turn to ash if he expressed satisfaction twice, Muyoung nodded vigorously.

“That’s good.”

Seokjae found Muyoung’s flustered reaction to the ambiguous act both amusing and cute, and wanted to tease him a bit more, but decided to hold back for now. Pushing too much at once could backfire, and he also appreciated the efforts of the two people quietly holding their breath nearby.

‘There will be other opportunities. If not, I can always create them.’

As Seokjae finished his thoughts and slowly backed away, Muyoung, who had only then relaxed, was too busy worrying whether he had made any lewd expressions, unaware of what Seokjae was thinking.

Watching Muyoung and inwardly licking his lips, Seokjae reluctantly tore his gaze away and spoke.

“Hey, guys.”

As soon as the atmosphere turned unusual, Kyungho and Junwoo, who had distanced themselves and even turned their backs to avoid interfering and drawing attention like last time, flinched and raised their shoulders.

“Y-Yes?”

“W-What is it, hyung?”

Like true friends, their awkward responses were identical. Seokjae smiled kindly and gestured towards the two who were trying their best to help him thoroughly devour Muyoung.

“Now that we’ve rested a bit, shall we talk about how to get to our next destination?”

“Ah, okay.”

“S-Sure, we’re coming.”

As the two approached hesitantly and Muyoung regained his composure, Seokjae took out a map from his bag and spread it out. As if he had never been fooling around with Muyoung, he calmly began to explain once he confirmed all three had gathered.

“As I said before we left, if we go straight from here, there’s nothing but road for a while.”

Thud. A single index finger landed on the map covered with various markings. The area Seokjae’s fingertip pointed to indeed had nothing but mountains and sea around it until the road ended, just as he said.

“It’s quite a long distance to walk, and if zombies start chasing us, we’ll have no choice but to run until the end of the road or head into the mountains.”

What awaited them ahead was a long coastal road built solely for tourism. The scenic route, minimally touched by human hands to allow full enjoyment of the lush scenery, had now become a path that threatened their safety in the current situation.

“But that problem can be somewhat solved by riding what’s in here.”

Seokjae said, turning his gaze to the bicycles filling the store interior.

“The road is right in front, so if we leave when there are no zombies like now, we shouldn’t get chased. Even if we do, they’ll be slower than the bikes, so we should be able to outrun them.”

Even for zombies, it would be difficult to catch up to bicycles with human bodies. Of course, that didn’t mean the over 5km stretch without a single place to hide was safe. Aware of this fact, the faces of the three tensed with anxiety.

“If anyone can’t ride a bike or doesn’t like this plan, speak up now. Going this way would be the fastest, but it’s not our only option. What do you want to do?”

Seokjae waited for the group’s decision with a detached attitude, as if he didn’t care which option they chose.

After a brief silence, the first to speak among the three who had been quiet was Junwoo, who had been frowning as if in deep thought.

“I agree with hyung’s opinion.”

At the rather quick response, Muyoung and Kyungho’s gazes fixed on him. Feeling that the eyes focused on him seemed to demand an explanation, Junwoo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and added:

“If we have nowhere to hide, that also means the zombies can’t hide either, right? So at least we won’t be ambushed.”

The idea of not being suddenly attacked by zombies seemed appealing, as Kyungho immediately agreed once Junwoo finished his explanation.

“I, I also think going by road would be good.”

“I see. What about you, Muyoung?”

Seokjae, who had replied without any objection, turned his gaze to the last remaining person.

“I agree too.”

Muyoung, who had intended to go along with the majority from the start, nodded vigorously at the timely question.

“Then it’s decided. Hmm… Hey, what kind of bike are you going to ride?”

“Well, we should probably choose the quietest ones, right?”

“Can we even test that inside the store?”

As opinions converged smoothly without any opposition, Kyungho and Junwoo chatted while tidying up the bags they had left open.

‘Huh? Are we leaving right away? But it looks like it’ll be dark soon…’

Muyoung was surprised by the two moving in sync as if rehearsed, but soon thought there must be some unspoken rule between them that he didn’t know about, and hurriedly went to find his own bag. And just as he picked up his bag-

Grab.

A large hand shot out from the side and gripped Muyoung’s wrist.

“Eek.”

Startled by the sudden force, Muyoung turned his head and met Seokjae’s gaze, which for some reason looked exasperated.

‘What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong again?’

Due to previous experiences, instead of denying any wrongdoing, he quickly racked his brain, but unfortunately couldn’t think of anything.

“H-Hyung? What’s the matter?”

Unable to find an answer and looking sheepish, Muyoung asked, but Seokjae just shook his head slightly and turned his gaze to the other two instead of answering.

While Muyoung blinked in confusion, unable to grasp the situation, Seokjae inwardly sighed.

‘I was going to see how far they’d go, but…’

In fact, Seokjae had noticed that the two were misunderstanding something from the moment they started moving. He could have kindly pointed it out, but he thought there was no need since they would naturally realize when they saw himself and Muyoung not moving. That is, if Muyoung hadn’t started bustling about with them.

‘Right, it’s the first time moving since Muyoung joined, so he might not notice the change.’

Seeing Muyoung’s oblivious behavior, Seokjae judged that it would be difficult for the other two to realize on their own as well. Moreover, worried that their reactions might negatively affect Muyoung, and wanting to cut off any unnecessary comments before they could make them, he overcame his reluctance and spoke up.

“Guys, are you planning to leave right now?”

The two high school students who had been busily preparing to move were bewildered by the suddenly somber voice.

“Huh? Yes.”

“Aren’t we leaving right away?”

Seokjae nodded towards the store entrance at the two who were looking at him with faces that seemed to ask, “Is there a problem?” A bluish tinge mixed with the full sunset color was coming through the glass from outside.

“If we leave now, it’ll be dark before we find a place to spend the night, so I think it would be better to stay here and leave at dawn.”

Even after hearing the explanation, the two showed confused reactions for a few seconds, only making an “Ah” sound after seeing Muyoung whose wrist was held by Seokjae.

They had become so accustomed to moving with the sticky note locations as destinations that they mistakenly thought the journey wasn’t over this time, not having looked for a sticky note. Even though their “benefactor” was now right in front of them.

“You’re right… We’d be short on time to find a place to stay too.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think of that…”

Although they had simply returned to the time when everything was resolved on its own, the comfort of having everything prepared until now had been so pleasant that a hint of disappointment showed on their embarrassed faces.

‘Tsk, I knew this would happen.’

It might be too much to expect minors to consider others and control their emotions in this situation, but Seokjae was irritated by the two boys who were giving off what could be seen as a negative atmosphere. Careful not to let them notice his reaction, he roughly pulled Muyoung’s shoulder with his other hand and spoke.

“If you understand, unpack your bags and rest.”

After finishing with a dry voice despite his faint smile, he moved the hand on Muyoung’s shoulder to cup his soft cheek. Then, fixing Muyoung’s face towards him, he whispered with a noticeably gentler smile and voice.

“Muyoung, let’s put your bag down too.”

“Huh? O-Okay…”

Having blinked only once to find himself in Seokjae’s arms, face-to-face with his sculpture-like features, Muyoung couldn’t help but become dazed.