Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 72

Muyoung quickly pressed his ear against the door and reached his hand behind him, afraid that Seokjae might answer because of the sound he made. He stretched his hand in the direction where he guessed the mouth would be.

Fortunately, he seemed to find the right position on the first try, as if Seokjae had conveniently placed his face there. Muyoung’s palm felt Seokjae’s lower jaw. While he instinctively focused on the sensation in his hand, the sounds coming through the glass door quickly brought him back to his senses.

‘…It doesn’t seem like just one or two.’

Groooak, grook…

Screech- splash. Screech-

Strange sounds as if their vocal cords had melted, along with dragging and squishing noises, grew louder. It wasn’t because they were getting closer to where they were.

‘At least ten… no, more than that.’

He thought the street was empty and they had moved elsewhere, but he couldn’t tell where they had come from. As if they had been intentionally hiding and started their activity at the sound of the can, the noise increased bit by bit, mixing together.

‘It would be big trouble if they find us here.’

The situation wasn’t good. Fortunately, the zombies outside didn’t seem to have noticed their presence, but if they were discovered by any chance, the zombies would easily break through the glass door and attack.

If they left on bicycles before the zombies reached the front of the store, they could escape, but to do that, they’d have to take the bikes out of the metal display stands. Since they were tightly packed, it would inevitably make noise.

Moreover, the folding door and door lock were also likely to create noise.

‘Riding bicycles on a dark road would be dangerous too…’

After considering various options, staying quiet and waiting for them to pass seemed to be the safest choice. Judging from the empty street when they moved earlier, there was a high chance that the zombies outside now would also disappear somewhere if they waited it out.

‘The boxes might be okay, but the paper might let light through, so it’s better to turn off the light.’

Although it seemed excessive since the faint light had never attracted zombies’ attention before, in a situation like this with no escape route, it seemed best to use all available means to erase their presence.

‘It can’t hurt to be careful.’

Having finished his thoughts, Muyoung immediately moved towards the bicycle light on the floor.

Just as he was about to raise his knee from the floor after detaching his body from where it was pressed against the glass, a force gripped his wrist, which had been stretched out behind him. Muyoung lost his balance and fell.

“Gasp.”

His body, swaying like a paper doll, was caught in thick, long arms that appeared like snakes. He was snatched like prey caught on a hook.

In the brief moment Muyoung reflexively gasped as his solar plexus was squeezed, his helplessly dragged body was securely settled somewhere.

‘What, what is this? What’s going on?’

Muyoung blinked with a bewildered expression, trying to assess the situation that had unfolded in an instant. The first thing he recognized was the changed view and the thick arm wrapped around his waist. Next, he realized he was sitting on something contoured, unlike the hard, flat floor.

“Eep.”

As soon as he realized it was Seokjae’s leg, Muyoung jumped up like a cat thrown into water. If it weren’t for the hand quickly covering his face, as if anticipating this reaction, he might have made a loud noise, forgetting about the zombies outside.

“There seem to be some of those things outside, we need to be quiet.”

In reality, Seokjae hadn’t heard anything, but he had made his judgment based on Muyoung’s reaction. Frowning slightly as if troubled, he looked down at Muyoung, who was buried in his arms, and whispered.

“Mmph.”

Muyoung tried to answer, but under Seokjae’s palm, his squished lips could only produce unintelligible mumbling. Although only his waist and face were caught, due to the size difference between the larger-than-average Seokjae and the smaller-than-average Muyoung, he looked as if he was tied up.

‘It wasn’t intentional, but I like this.’

Seokjae’s body had moved instinctively before his mind when Muyoung suddenly tried to go somewhere without a word, and when he came to his senses, Muyoung was in his arms.

Knowing that Muyoung would be excessively startled like a fox hopping in a snowfield at the slightest touch, Seokjae had covered his mouth, anticipating a big reaction. Muyoung’s face looked smaller than Seokjae’s hand, with only his round eyes and the tip of his nose visible between his fingers.

Suddenly, a childish desire bloomed in Seokjae’s heart.

‘…Just like this, only his legs.’

He deliberately tucked Muyoung’s feet, which were sprawled on the floor after hastily sitting him down, between his own legs. Now, there truly wasn’t any part of Muyoung’s body that was free from him. Somehow, it felt like Muyoung was completely in his hands.

As the corners of his mouth started to rise in satisfaction at this fullness, he felt a weak ‘tap tap’ on his arm. Slowly rolling his eyes, he saw Muyoung rapidly blinking, sending signals with his eyes instead of his mouth, which couldn’t speak due to being tightly wrapped up.

“Mmm…”

Muyoung was worried that if he stayed like this, he might lose his tension and become giddy despite the dangerous situation, distracted by Seokjae. So, he had requested to be released, but… Seokjae, unaware of this, was feeling like a child who doesn’t want to give up his toy and lies down on the floor.

‘Tsk. When will I be able to touch him as I please?’

Of course, apart from his dissatisfaction, he had the sense to judge that they weren’t yet close enough for him to act as he pleased. Seokjae lowered the hand that had been covering Muyoung’s face, leaving his regret behind.

Although still in his arms, Muyoung was able to separate his upper body a little thanks to Seokjae releasing his hand. Leaning his waist forward as much as possible, he said:

“W-why did you suddenly do that?”

“You were the one who suddenly tried to go somewhere.”

“T-that wasn’t me trying to go somewhere, I was just trying to turn off the light.”

Muyoung, who had been taking deep breaths to calm his heart that felt like hundreds of thousands of butterflies were fluttering, looked up at Seokjae, tilting his head back at Seokjae’s protesting voice.

“You suddenly tried to turn off the light?”

“Thin paper doesn’t block light, right? I was worried the zombies might see it and come…”

Did he think it was an absurd action? Seokjae asked suspiciously.

He was just trying to do his best. Muyoung, feeling like Seokjae thought of him as a troublemaker again, continued speaking with a look of injustice in his eyes.

“It seems like there are many gathered outside, too many to be blocked by the glass. So I was just trying to make it as safe as possible.”

As soon as he heard Muyoung’s plea, Seokjae thought this was the perfect timing for ‘wait’ training. He immediately let out a faint, intentional sigh and frowned as if troubled.

“I told you not to move alone.”

“…Are you doing this because you’re afraid I might cause trouble?”

Seokjae’s actions of stopping him whenever he tried to do something for them. Muyoung was convinced that Seokjae didn’t trust him.

‘If this keeps up, I might not even be able to lift a finger later.’

Finally, Muyoung decided to argue against his words for the first time to prove his capabilities.

“I’ve secured food and shelter all this time, and I even saved you, right? I can do helpful things too.”

“What?”

He didn’t mean to brag, but he thought Seokjae needed reasons to trust him again, so he brought up his past achievements. Seokjae’s eyes widened a bit. Noticing his surprised look, Muyoung regretted mentioning saving him and hurriedly added an explanation.

“I’m not saying I’m more amazing than you, I just… I just want you to trust me a little…”

“…”

Even after he finished speaking, Seokjae just stared at him with the same surprised expression, without any reaction. While Muyoung fidgeted uncomfortably, Seokjae was quite shocked by Muyoung’s mild rebellion and was reconsidering his training method.

‘Did I scold him too much?’

Thinking about it, whether it’s people or animals, what’s needed to correct behavior is both carrot and stick. You should scold firmly for mistakes but praise for good points. But he had been so focused on stopping Muyoung from acting alone that he only scolded him even when his intentions were right.

‘Right, who would change if you only hit them? If it were someone else, they would have torn me apart long ago. It’s only because it’s Muyoung that he’s so docile.’

Just a moment ago, if he had wanted to train properly, he should have first praised Muyoung’s attempt to turn off the light as a good idea. Scolding him for moving alone should have come after that.

If he had said he was worried because Muyoung was too kind, it might have been more effective as Muyoung would have felt guilty.

‘Training my ass. I wonder if I just stressed him out unnecessarily.’

Muttering thoughts that a novice animal trainer might have, Seokjae quickly changed his attitude, pretending to be pitiful in case Muyoung had developed even a slight negative feeling towards him.

“Worried that you might cause trouble? That’s impossible.”