# 05.
“Don’t lie! That person is full of pheromones, not me!”
I shouted, pointing at Cha Heegeon in frustration. Kim Dongyoung stood up, releasing intimidating pheromones toward me.
“What, you little omega? Acting up when you’re being sold off because you can’t pay your debt.”
“H-how can I be sold when zombies are appearing!”
I yelled, hiding behind Junhee out of fear. Despite the distance, Kim Dongyoung’s pheromones made my body stiffen. Angry at me, he snorted and kicked the folding chair he had been sitting on.
“This crazy bastard. To be honest, I got bitten on my way to pick you up… Oh, shit!”
“You got bitten?”
At Cha Heegeon’s question, Kim Dongyoung’s lower lip trembled. Seeing him suddenly break into a cold sweat, I became even more certain.
“I-I was bitten a little bit. Really.”
He forced a smile, curling up the corners of his mouth while receiving everyone’s stares. Despite trying hard to act normal, this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by pretending. Maybe that’s why Junhee stood up.
“W-what are you doing?”
Kim Dongyoung muttered, stepping back cautiously as he watched Junhee standing alone. The pheromones he had been aggressively spreading toward me now dispersed weakly.
As if by instinct to protect himself, he tucked away the pheromones he had scattered around and stared at Junhee.
“How long ago were you bitten?”
Cha Heegeon asked calmly as the tension rose. Kim Dongyoung looked back and forth between Junhee and Cha Heegeon, swallowed hard, and said:
“A-about an hour ago. When I was leaving home, some crazy guy was hanging around in front of my car. I tried to chase him away and he bit my forearm…”
“One hour.”
Cha Heegeon said quietly, looking at the clock on the office wall. It showed 9:16.
“Honestly, I was just bitten a little bit. There was barely any blood.”
“We don’t know if infection happens because you’re actually bitten, or what causes people to change like that. We can’t make judgments based on assumptions.”
“T-then…”
“We should only believe what we’ve seen. That’s the most certain thing. He was bitten on the shoulder and transformed about two hours later. That’s all we know. You might be an exception.”
“Ah… Haha. Right? I knew you wouldn’t abandon me…”
“Still, I don’t plan to take unnecessary risks. We’re tying your hands and feet.”
“What? Why?”
“I told you. I don’t plan to take risks.”
At Cha Heegeon’s words, the men who had been quiet got up. Kim Dongyoung complained that this was unfair, but eventually gave in and had his hands and feet tied.
At first he struggled, but after being tied up, he sat quietly on the folding chair as if he had given up.
“Um…”
After all the commotion, things had calmed down, but what came next was more problematic. I cautiously approached Cha Heegeon, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking out the window.
“Do you want to be tied up too? You’re walking around too freely.”
Cha Heegeon said without even looking at me. Seeing his unpleasant attitude, I was at a loss for words, but after taking a deep breath, I spoke.
“What’s going to happen to me now?”
“…Do you want to leave?”
At his question, I briefly looked outside. The streets were full of people wandering with strange gaits. This was the scene I was seeing after about an hour.
The government, which had claimed they would identify the problem and find solutions, was still broadcasting the same news and just repeating instructions to stay at home.
The emergency contact information provided by the government for disaster situations only returned automated messages saying connections were difficult due to high call volume.
“N-not right now.”
It was obvious that if I went out now, I would get infected like those people. Since I very much wanted to live, I answered honestly.
“If you want to leave, leave now. I wouldn’t risk my life to catch just one person like you, so it would be easy for you to escape.”
“Escape?”
I asked because something about his tone seemed strange, and that’s when Cha Heegeon finally looked at me. His indifferent, arrogant eyes looked down on me.
“Otherwise, if you just leave like this, I’ll never get my money back. Do you think I’d let you go so easily?”
“The w-world is like this, and you still want to collect money from me?”
“What’s the world like right now?”
“Zombies have appeared! The government calls it an infection, but if those aren’t zombies, what are they? In movies, they call this kind of situation the apocalypse.”
Cha Heegeon’s question was absurd, especially since I thought he understood the situation more clearly than anyone. He snorted at my words.
“As long as I don’t die, my life isn’t over. I can always start again, and there will come a time when I need to reclaim everything I’ve built. Are you suggesting we give up everything out of fear?”
“If th-that’s how you think, I have nothing more to say, but anyway, that person might turn into a zombie too, so who are you going to sell me to?”
“There are so many people in this business who need omegas, I can easily find someone. Don’t worry about that and just stay quiet. Or risk your life and run away.”
I was amazed that Cha Heegeon was still trying to collect money even in this situation. He seemed heartless, truly acting as cold as he looked. I gave him a disapproving look before turning away.
As I walked, I glanced back at Cha Heegeon, who was still looking out the window. His indifferent attitude suggested he really wouldn’t care if I left, but I was afraid of what might happen if I did leave in anger.
Unable to decide what to do, I sighed heavily and quietly moved next to Junhee. He had been quietly watching YouTube videos about the zombie outbreak, and now he looked up at me. When our eyes met, I stopped, startled.
“Want to sit beside me?”
“…Yes.”
Junhee lifted his hips and moved over, leaving space at the edge. I sat down cautiously, and he handed me his phone. As I stared at it blankly, he said:
“They say false information and conspiracy theories are spreading out of control right now.”
“What?”
“They say communications might be cut off at any time.”
“…”
“If there’s anyone whose safety you want to check on, do it now.”
He seemed quite kind, unlike what you’d expect from someone in this line of work. I approached him because, unlike the others, he occasionally smiled when our eyes met and didn’t move away when I hid behind him.
“I’m… fine.”
I smiled awkwardly. I never had family to contact in difficult times, and though a few friends came to mind, confirming whether they were alive wouldn’t improve my situation. They wouldn’t come to rescue me anyway.
The only person I had shared feelings with was my ex-boyfriend Ban Baesu, but he had dumped his debt on me and disappeared. What could I expect from him?
Even if we met, I would obviously just be used and discarded. Feeling disillusioned with people after this incident, I just stared at the phone before shaking my head.
“Isn’t there anyone you want to see right now?”
“No.”
When he asked again as if encouraging me, I answered firmly, and he took the phone back.
“You’re twenty-four, right?”
“Yes. And… how old are you?”
I asked since he seemed to want to chat, and a smile appeared on his face.
“I’m thirty. My name is Gong Junhee, and I’m an alpha.”
“Ah, so you’re a hyung.”
“Do you want to call me that?”
“What? Well…”
When he said he was thirty, it did seem quite old, but looking at his face, calling him uncle felt too strange, so I hesitated. Maybe calling him hyung would feel more natural.
“If that’s comfortable for you, call me that. I’ll call you Jihong.”
“Then you can speak comfortably too, hyung.”
“You mean speak informally?”
“…Yes.”
Gong Junhee chuckled as if something was funny, then said:
“Okay.”
This felt a little less awkward. Having been tense, I cautiously let out a sigh.
“Since it looks like you’ll be with us for a while, let me introduce everyone.”
“What?”
I had chosen to stay by Gong Junhee’s side thinking I could be quiet, but he naturally called over the men nearby. While I was confused, I greeted them, making eye contact.
I learned that most of them were in their late twenties, and Cha Heegeon was thirty-one. Having seen their faces while being with them, I could easily memorize their names too.
“You’re getting along well.”
Cha Heegeon, who hadn’t shown any interest in us, suddenly spoke while looking at me. Everyone went quiet at his words.
“I’ve been watching for an hour, but there’s no sign of change. Outside, it seems like the number of infected is only increasing.”
“What should we do?”
Kim Yuho, one of the men, was the first to respond. He was twenty-nine years old and had a strong build, second only to Kim Donghu, who had turned into a zombie. His body seemed tense, perhaps because of his muscles rather than fat.
“There’s no point going outside right now, so we should plan to stay here for a few days.”
“They said the situation was serious, but will it really get that bad?”
This time, a man called Choi Yunjun carefully spoke up. He was twenty-eight years old and had been the most worried when Kim Donghu had the seizure, volunteering to carry him.
“We can’t know for sure. Just in Seoul, and even in this Gangdae-dong neighborhood, there are tens of thousands of people. They can’t save everyone individually. If they want to ensure citizens’ safety, dealing with infected people in the streets would be the priority.”
“Then we shouldn’t move carelessly until then.”
Gong Junhee, who had been listening quietly, said.
“That’s what I think. I’m not going to do anything dangerous without a plan or reason, at the very least.”
“Ah, if that’s the case, should we first check how much food we have?”
Choi Yunjun was the first to move. Then, Lee Yegang followed him. He was the same age as Choi Yunjun and had been the first to call 119 earlier. He seemed to follow others quickly and efficiently.
When one person stood up, the others rushed over and searched every corner.
Eventually, they gathered several packs of ramen, a burner, wooden chopsticks, coffee mix, and green tea. Then they found a few cup noodles and some chocolate cake boxes. Water wouldn’t be a problem since there was a water purifier.
This amount would be enough to fill our stomachs for now, but the future was a problem. Including me and Kim Dongyoung, there were 10 people to feed, and this amount wouldn’t last long.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
