He asks extremely cautiously, as if worried about some misunderstanding. Somehow that made Yeoul laugh. Looking at the cautious Taewoong, Yeoul answered casually as if it were nothing.
“My father is a film director and my mother is a screenwriter.”
“…Wow. That’s crazy!”
“What’s crazy?”
At Taewoong’s loud voice, Hyunwoo, who had been lying stretched out, cut in and everyone’s attention focused on them. Yeoul flinched and shrank back. Taewoong sighed deeply.
“Oh my… Yeoul, sorry. No, I meant it’s crazy that we survived!”
He had accidentally raised his voice while whispering. Taewoong apologized quietly to Yeoul, then jumped up, smiled, and clapped his hands once.
“Come on everyone, let’s give a silent round of applause for surviving.”
He wanted to clap excitedly, but there were zombies next to the cafeteria. Just in case, he gently hit his hands together in a soundless applause.
Taewoong suddenly telling everyone to clap. Everyone who had been serious, sad, and depressed looked up at him with questioning eyes.
After being bewildered by the sudden applause, one by one they began to clap silently as if hypnotized.
“Th-that’s right. Everyone really did well.”
Watching them clap, Yeoul’s face turned bright red as he awkwardly encouraged them. At his uncharacteristic behavior, everyone clapping broke into small laughter. Taewoong also giggled.
“Everyone did great, let’s keep going a little longer. Anyone have something to say?”
“Nope!”
“I don’t either.”
“Me too.”
Everyone said they had nothing to say as they stood up. They dusted off their wet bottoms and stretched after sitting briefly. Scanning everyone, Yeoul slightly raised his hand.
“Um… is anyone hurt or bitten?”
“Oh, right! Anyone hurt?!”
Taewoong alone heard Yeoul’s voice that had become small like a whisper due to embarrassment. When Taewoong asked loudly for everyone to hear, they all checked their condition while stretching.
“Oh, me here.”
“Me too.”
After checking himself for a while, Hyunwoo showed his left hand and Jaeseong showed his neck. Everyone who had been preparing to move froze.
Could they have been bitten by zombies? Would they turn into zombies? Each person gripped their weapons while holding their breath. Yeoul swallowed dryly, then took Hyunwoo’s hand first.
The wound wasn’t very big. It wasn’t a bite mark either. He nodded and then examined Jaeseong’s neck.
“…Yeah. Both of you just have scratches.”
“…Ah, damn. Got nervous for nothing.”
“Tell me about it!”
Fortunately, they weren’t serious injuries. Everyone who had been tense let out audible sighs of relief at Yeoul’s diagnosis and relaxed their grip. Yeoul smiled awkwardly and brought over the medicine box he had placed on Taewoong’s backpack, spreading it open on the table. Hyunwoo and Jaeseong, who had been secretly nervous, sat on chairs.
Though they were just scratches, you never knew. He picked up alcohol swabs with tweezers to disinfect thoroughly and applied medicine with cotton swabs. He didn’t forget to put bandages on.
“Is anyone else hurt or un-uncomfortable?”
The minor wounds were quickly treated. Before closing the box, he asked just in case, and Jian extended his right hand. Yeoul looked at it with a “why” expression, then quickly applied medicine to the blister before briefly pausing. He swallowed dryly, trying not to show it, and carefully spoke.
“…Um, earlier… when you killed that zombie, it, it couldn’t be helped. So… don’t worry about it.”
Jian had killed a zombie earlier. Perhaps because of the shock, he became less talkative and more careful in his actions while not taking the initiative. Yeoul put a bandage on Jian’s silent hand as if it really was fine. Then, pretending he hadn’t said anything, he organized the medicine.
“…Yeah.”
While neatly putting the medicine back in the box, he heard a small voice. Yeoul raised his head in surprise. He blankly stared at Jian’s back as he walked toward Yechan, then secretly sighed in relief and smiled slightly.
For some reason, the box felt lighter than before, he thought as he approached Taewoong who was planning their route.
“Um… it’s all done.”
“Is it? Good job. There’s really nothing you can’t do!”
Taewoong said it was truly impressive and ruffled Yeoul’s hair all over. Not stopping there, he hugged him tightly and randomly patted his back. Suddenly embraced, Yeoul opened his eyes as wide as saucers and silently screamed.
Why does our Taewoong hug so casually! I really can’t let my guard down for a moment! While having an internal scream and trembling, Yechan cut in with a “Hey!”
“I’m hungry! Stop that and hurry up with the explanation!”
At Yechan’s irritated words, Taewoong said okay jokingly and gestured for everyone to gather around.
“Okay, we’ll get food from the cafeteria then move to the store. There, grab as much food and water as possible, then go straight to the dorm without taking any detours. I’ll go to the security office with Yeoul and join you later. Anyone have questions?”
Everyone listening to Taewoong’s briefing either said no or shook their heads. Taewoong nodded once.
“Okay. Let’s pack quickly and get out of here before it’s too late.”
They cleared the zombie with water, but their clothes got a bit wet. They could catch a cold at this rate. Plus, the emergency alarm was still ringing. With the words “Let’s hurry before it’s too late,” everyone put down their bags and belongings and ran to the kitchen area inside the cafeteria.
“Quickly, ugh!”
“Kaaak!!”
As expected, the moment Taewoong, who was at the front, opened the kitchen door, a zombie in chef’s clothes jumped out. Taewoong was startled and unconsciously shouted while stepping back. Then with a “tch,” he raised his right hand. He grabbed the zombie’s head and pushed it hard against the wall. With a thud, the zombie slid down helplessly.
“…Can’t let my guard down. Wait here.”
Taewoong exhaled and picked up a large ladle that was lying nearby. He searched the kitchen alone on behalf of his friends who were frozen in shock.
“Kaak!!”
There was another zombie that seemed to have turned before it could evacuate. Taewoong hit it with the long ladle, but after the weak impact, he put down the ladle and clenched his fist. He drove his fist into the zombie’s solar plexus – the exact spot his hyung, who did boxing as a hobby, had taught him never to hit. The zombie fell, spitting out black saliva.
“Ugh… my hand hurts like crazy after using it instead of my feet.”
Face, neck, chest, side. With no time to spare, he aimed for the vital points of each zombie that appeared. Whether from repeated strikes or lack of practice, his clenched fist was stinging.
It hurt, but he couldn’t show it in front of Yeoul! He quickly shook his reddened hand and wiped the unknown liquid on his face with the back of his hand as he went to the entrance.
“Hey, come in.”
“…That was so cool.”
“Damn… I’m falling for him.”
From inside came the zombie’s howls and the rough sounds of hitting. While everyone was waiting with bated breath, Taewoong returned unharmed! Jaeseong and Yechan whispered in admiration as they watched him casually nod. And Yeoul clutched his own pounding heart.
I was already in love, but I fell for him again!
How can he be so cool? At this rate, I’ll get butterflies just from watching Taewoong breathe!
While Yeoul was overcome with emotion, unable to control his racing heart, everyone entered the kitchen and spread out.
“Oh, boxes here!”
“There are bags too!”
Taewoong brought out a stack of empty cardboard boxes that were organized in one corner of the food storage room. Next, Jaeseong brought bundles of large bags from the warehouse. Everyone brightened up and took one each.
“Anyone have tape?!”
“Oh, me! Me!”
Those who had tape assembled boxes, while those without bags raided the refrigerator and freezer.
“Ah! Meat!”
“Grab it all!”
“There’s cheese! Should we take this?”
“Take everything!!”
“Ah, this feels like we’re robbing a restaurant?!”
Everyone moved quite efficiently, perhaps because they all had experience packing things before. Yeoul, who joined late after admiring Taewoong, marveled again at how amazing everyone was before looking for relatively light cooking utensils.
Since this was a place for cooking in large quantities, it was hard to find the small frying pans and pots common in homes.
“…Ah.”
While rummaging around, he discovered several kitchen knives placed neatly in the sterilizer. His body froze.
Should I take just one knife, or all of them?
Thinking about food, one would be enough, but if he needed to kill zombies, he should take them all.
While stuck in a dilemma he’d never faced before in his life, someone tapped his shoulder.
“Yeoul, what are you doing?”
Looking to the side, Taewoong was standing there holding a baseball bat in one hand. Yeoul made a troubled face.
“Um… I was wondering if I should take the knives.”
When he whispered quietly so the busy friends wouldn’t hear, Taewoong sighed “Ah” and looked inside the sterilizer.
He stared quietly at the rather sharp-looking blades illuminated by the blue light, then met Yeoul’s eyes.
“Let’s take them.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
