Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 75

A brief silence fell between the two after the voice filled with embarrassment. Muyoung couldn’t help but sneak a glance.

‘Is the reward too pathetic after all?’

He had blurted it out because nothing else came to mind at the moment, but a “Kang Muyoung wish coupon” as a reward for a bet that could be considered life-threatening? He wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do for someone as perfect as him.

‘What has hyung asked me to do all this time? Sleep together and don’t move alone, and also… Ah, the name!’

Muyoung, who had been groaning inwardly, suddenly opened his eyes wide as he remembered one request that he had wanted but couldn’t fulfill.

At the time, he had brushed it off and even painfully practiced, but had completely forgotten about it. Seokjae hadn’t brought it up again either, so he probably forgot about it amidst everything that had happened.

‘But is calling him by name really worth using a wish coupon?’

Had he become overconfident because Seokjae said he liked him? Muyoung felt even more embarrassed than when he had offered the “Kang Muyoung wish coupon.” He felt a wave of shame that would have made his ears turn bright red in the past. Just as his shoulders, which he had been trying to keep straight, were starting to hunch again.

“That’s a nice wish.”

“Huh?”

Seokjae spoke with perfect timing, as if to comfort him. While Muyoung was floundering in embarrassment, Seokjae had a faint smile on his face, like a fox wagging its tail in excitement.

“Shall we start the bet after sunrise?”

Seokjae was in high spirits after hearing Muyoung’s promise to “come back no matter what.” Since zombies didn’t react to Muyoung, there was no chance of him getting infected, and even if other humans got involved, he would do his best to stay by his side as promised.

It was just a verbal promise, and he couldn’t completely relax since he didn’t know what outrageous things might happen, but the important thing was that Muyoung had developed the will not to leave. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about him following someone else like last time.

‘It’ll be a bit easier from now on since I won’t be able to say anything even if he acts up.’

Moreover, Muyoung seemed to think that Seokjae would let him go because of this bet, but that wasn’t the case at all. The more freedom Muyoung gained, the more Seokjae could use the bet as an excuse. If he made the first move before Muyoung, things wouldn’t be much different from before.

‘I wonder if he’ll lose twice.’

Muyoung had the big advantage of not being threatened by zombies. But Seokjae was physically capable enough to cover for this. So in unexpected situations requiring quick reflexes, Seokjae was more likely to move first than Muyoung.

‘Except for his strength, his athletic ability didn’t seem particularly good… No, come to think of it, he was rather clumsy, wasn’t he?’

Recalling the image of Muyoung struggling to climb over a wall in the past, Seokjae was confident he would win the bet unless zombies inconveniently swarmed them.

Moreover, the thought of getting another blank check-like wish right after obtaining what he wanted most excited him immensely.

“If I win, you’ll grant whatever I ask for, right?”

He had always shown a worried expression before, so to avoid seeming strange for accepting the bet right away, he pretended to hesitate. But it was difficult to completely hide his joy. Seokjae, who had shed his usual mature facade for a naive expression for the first time in a while, tilted his head to the side and asked.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Muyoung was taken aback by how quickly Seokjae started to concretize the details of the bet. He was bewildered that Seokjae had agreed to his proposal, and somehow he seemed pleased about it. But it was good news for him, so he quickly nodded.

‘Was he always this competitive?’

After briefly glancing at Seokjae’s unfamiliarly enthusiastic attitude, Muyoung started to feel guilty. It was because he judged that the bet was absolutely in his favor.

‘I can do things that hyung can’t even attempt without any risk… While he’ll probably approach the bet fair and square, not knowing anything?’

Not realizing who actually didn’t know anything. Falling into the delusion that he was deceiving the innocent Seokjae, Muyoung fidgeted with his clasped hands and tried to soften the excessive stakes.

“How about we make it so you don’t have to grant unreasonable requests? Or we could list several wishes and choose one from there…?”

His conscience pricking him, Muyoung couldn’t even look at Seokjae properly. Then, a firm hand crept under his chin and grabbed his face.

Following the hand’s lead as if entranced, Muyoung turned his head to the side and froze. It was because Seokjae was staring at him intently with eyes like a predator that had found its prey.

“Since you proposed the bet first, I’m sure you’re confident about winning.”

Slowly scanning Muyoung’s face without blinking, Seokjae raised one thick eyebrow.

“Are you trying to go easy on me because you think I might lose?”

“Of course not!”

Struck right on target by the question full of “Surely that’s not the case, right?” meaning, Muyoung denied it without a moment’s hesitation, driven by survival instinct that sensed big trouble if the truth was discovered. Unable to move his captured head, he waved his hands quickly instead.

“Then let’s keep it as is. If you win, I’m confident I can do whatever you ask, so don’t worry about that.”

After observing this reaction, Seokjae soon smiled, his eyes curving into crescents.

‘If it were the same conditions, I absolutely wouldn’t have thought you’d lose either, hyung.’

Muyoung, forcing an awkward smile to match Seokjae’s, muttered inwardly. He felt bad for trying to go easy on Seokjae thinking he would lose, but objectively speaking, this bet was in his favor.

“What if I ask you to buy me a house or a car? Or make me a building owner?”

Confident, Muyoung started listing what he thought were excessive wishes that couldn’t be granted, to give Seokjae another chance.

But.

“I’ll buy it for you then?”

“…”

Right, hyung was rich.

Receiving such a ready answer, as if someone had been asked to buy an ice cream in passing, Muyoung, who had already been worried about the value of the “Kang Muyoung wish coupon,” couldn’t help but feel deflated.

“Hyung, um… I can’t do things like that for you…? I still think you’re losing out too much, how about we bet on something else?”

Seokjae burst into laughter at the sight of Muyoung confessing as if in penance, with a face that looked like it might make a squeaking sound.

Not stupid enough to forget about the sleeping children and the zombie horde roaming outside, Seokjae buried his face in Muyoung’s shoulder and chuckled softly for a while. Then, like a coquettish mistress, he rubbed his face against the pale skin.

“Don’t worry about that either. I plan to ask for something only you can do, so I definitely won’t lose out. By the way, it’s not related to money, so rest easy.”

Seokjae felt an unexpected sense of pity at Muyoung’s naively innocent reaction, unable to even guess how valuable his wish coupon was to him. He wanted to advise, ‘You should worry about yourself.’

“Then shall we set the bet’s deadline as the day we leave this city?”

Of course, he merely wanted to say it, not actually being kind enough to attempt it, so Seokjae decided to finalize the bet instead of giving advice.

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing Muyoung make a sound as if he had realized something, Seokjae frowned one eye in confusion, and Muyoung shook his head to indicate it was nothing.

“N-no. That’s right. Let’s make it until the day we leave here.”

Something seemed suspicious, but he had gotten an immediate answer, so that was enough. Seokjae wore a satisfied expression.

Meanwhile, looking at him, Muyoung felt a chill run down his back as if cold sweat was trickling.

‘…I’ve committed fraud.’

* * *

Muyoung felt a piercing gaze on his cheek and rolled onto his side, making a groaning sound, “Umm…” while lying face up.

“Liar.”

But perhaps his acting skills weren’t sufficient this time either. Despite his efforts to pretend to be asleep, a grumbling voice pierced his ears, convinced he wasn’t really sleeping.

“I’m never trusting hyungs again.”

“I trusted Muyoung hyung…”

He briefly considered continuing to pretend to sleep, but when his name was mentioned, he could no longer ignore it. Muyoung sat up with an embarrassed expression.

As he pretended to fix his messy hair from lying down while glancing sideways at the two, the first thing he saw was two lips protruding like duck bills.

He almost burst out laughing at their sulky faces, but if he did, any chance of appeasing the already upset pair would vanish far away, so he barely managed to hold it in.

“Ahem… It wasn’t on purpose, the situation really left me no choice.”

Muyoung cleared his throat to remove any trace of amusement and made an excuse, but Junwoo’s gaze grew even sharper.

“You mean that situation where suddenly a lot of zombies appeared outside and you couldn’t wake us up because it might be dangerous if there was too much noise?”

It was what Muyoung had told them to calm them down when they woke up well after dawn, with eyes full of betrayal.

“Um…”

Whether it was due to good memory or memory enhanced by anger, faced with words that sounded like they had been copy-pasted, Muyoung awkwardly smiled and responded. Then, as if he had been waiting for this, Junwoo vigorously pointed towards the glass door covered with boxes and paper, so forcefully it made a whooshing sound.

“Then where did all those zombies go! I can’t see a single one!”