Chapter 139
Seokjae muttered to himself while Muyoung rummaged through the counter, looking back at him. It almost appeared as if he had responded to being called a “sucker.” Seokjae nearly burst into laughter at the situation, covering his mouth and waving his hand dismissively.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“…?”
With a gentle face, Muyoung tilted his head curiously before returning to methodically search through the chaotic café, determined not to miss even a single tea bag.
Looking at that round back of his head, Seokjae muttered internally.
‘He really is too good to be with these guys.’
There wasn’t any specific moment that led Seokjae to stop seeing Muyoung as simply a kind but stupid person, and instead view him as someone too good for the others. Like how a gem’s value cannot be hidden, it was just something he naturally came to recognize after spending time together.
“Seokjae! There’s a refrigerator here!”
‘Most people wouldn’t call out to others first in situations where they’re unsure of what benefit they might find.’
The people around him, even before zombies appeared, would always secure their own benefit first whenever they discovered something good. They’d be considered decent if they merely shared what was left over. Especially in the current situation where fights could break out over a single grain of rice.
That was survival instinct, even before judging whether someone was good or bad, and those who couldn’t protect what was theirs would be eliminated. That’s what he thought, but…
“Great, good job.”
The reason he merely praised Muyoung instead of enlightening him about this important fact was because Muyoung didn’t have many days left being taken advantage of.
‘I’m planning to leave with just the two of us, abandoning those burdensome bastards.’
He never intended to stay with this group for long anyway. The idea of taking Muyoung with him started several days ago, when he asked Muyoung why he shouldered all the difficult tasks.
‘I haven’t lost anything. My parents and friends are all somewhere else. But these people aren’t like that. When the mind is weak, the body becomes weak too. So I’m the strongest one here!’
‘I don’t think that’s right.’
‘W-well, of course you’re the strongest now, hyung… Oh, and! Maybe they ask me because they think I can handle it? I must seem really reliable!’
The last comment seemed to be an attempt to lighten the mood after seeing Seokjae’s expression, but…
‘It only annoyed me more.’
So he wanted to tell Muyoung the truth. That those guys didn’t trust him; they just needed someone to leech off of. That if he wasn’t around, they would surely find the next easy target to exploit.
But seeing Muyoung awkwardly smile while watching his reaction, Seokjae ultimately couldn’t say anything. Seeing that innocent face become gloomy would feel as bad as having a zombie jump out right before going to sleep.
So from that moment, he thought that Muyoung needed someone who would appreciate his abilities and value, instead of the current trash he was with. At least someone who wouldn’t just parasitically take from him, but could complement and protect each other.
‘Someone like me, for instance.’
Then even with his tender-hearted mentality that made surviving in this world difficult, Muyoung could survive well.
Of course, it would be difficult to convince the soft-hearted Muyoung to leave those freeloaders behind and depart with just the two of them. But surely Muyoung must have realized something while staying with him: that no matter how capable a person is, a relationship where only one person suffers losses is unreasonable.
‘Since we’re moving from our current guesthouse to a new location, I could convince him that the others won’t need to find separate accommodations. But I need something more significant—something that will make him lose affection for the group.’
After continuously looking for an opportunity for several days, Seokjae internally rejoiced when the perfect timing finally arrived. It was the day when the two of them went down to the city to find food, and…
“Bananas!”
“You finally found them.”
It was the day Muyoung discovered frozen bananas in the café refrigerator.
* * *
“Are you kidding me right now?!”
The pot-bellied man, eyes rolling with anger, threw a bag that was half-melted and dripping with moisture and dark red blood.
“Ugh!”
Muyoung shrank, raising both arms to shield himself from the heavy bag flying toward him. But he felt no pain.
*Thwack!*
“Shit.”
It was because Seokjae blocked it, batting the bag away. The bananas fell out, rolling pathetically on the dirt floor.
“What the hell are you doing? You were whining so much that we worked our asses off to get these in this summer heat. You should be on your knees thanking us, but you dare throw them?”
“H-how am I supposed to eat this! Giving me something covered in blood!”
“Are you kidding? Kang Muyoung was going to wash them for you, but you snatched them away.”
Far from apologizing, the man became even more enraged, throwing a tantrum.
“So you were going to secretly wash them and give them to me? Are you saying you’re tired of taking care of us and want me to become a zombie?!”
“Damn! Then go get them yourself!”
“How can I leave my pregnant wife behind! This is why young unmarried kids don’t understand… Argh!”
Though he had only meant to fake an argument, the man’s excessively rude behavior made Seokjae genuinely angry, and he shouted:
“Hey! Where are you going?! Aren’t you going to apologize?! Hey!”
“…”
Meanwhile, Muyoung was staring blankly at the bananas rolling on the ground. Bananas he had held onto even until moments before being attacked by zombies. He seemed shocked to see those precious bananas being thrown to the ground.
Seokjae had been about to drag the man back, but stopped when he saw Muyoung’s expression. He remembered swinging his weapon toward Muyoung’s direction when dealing with zombies and thought:
‘…I did deliberately make the blood splatter, but is he really that hurt?’
He was concerned, but he still expected Muyoung would surely follow him now, after his efforts had been so disrespected.
But then…
“So come with me—”
“I’m sorry.”
His proposal, made in the quiet dawn inside their room, was cleanly rejected.
“What?”
“I’d love to go with you, hyung, but… what about the old man and the lady if I leave?”
“…”
“Thank you for everything. I really enjoyed being with you. Are you leaving today?”
Without even giving him time to persuade him, Muyoung ended the conversation on his own terms and even left the room, telling him to depart comfortably.
In truth, Muyoung had been happy and joyful being with him, and left the room out of fear that if he kept looking at Seokjae, he might try to stop him from leaving. But Seokjae, not knowing Muyoung’s feelings, was stunned by his seemingly cold and clean-cut attitude.
‘He’s not even going to try to stop me? He said he enjoyed it, how can he act like this?’
With his pride severely wounded, Seokjae left Muyoung’s group as soon as the sun rose the next day.
* * *
“Huh! No matter how much I think about it, it’s ridiculous.”
Two days had passed, but Seokjae’s anger hadn’t subsided. Perhaps because his emotions weren’t settled, he still couldn’t leave the city where he had stayed with Muyoung.
“Enjoyed it, my ass. If he enjoyed it, he would have followed me.”
Sitting on an old chair in an empty store he had cleared out, Seokjae grumbled irritably while shaking his leg, mumbling about the same concern he had already pondered hundreds of times.
“Should I just go back? …Shit, that would look so pathetic.”
He knew Muyoung would welcome him warmly, but he couldn’t easily return because he thought he’d look like someone who couldn’t survive alone.
“Maybe I should just go and kidnap Kang Muyoung.”
It was a sudden thought, but it didn’t seem like a bad idea, so he was about to exhale deeply and work out a detailed plan when—
“Grrrr!”
“Kyaaak!”
A commotion disturbed his thoughts.
“Who’s being chased now?”
It was a sound he had heard many times before, so he calmly got up to check outside the window, then immediately grabbed his weapon and rushed out. It was because he saw the face he had just been thinking about in the distance.
What followed was a scene that would haunt Seokjae’s nightmares for a long time: Muyoung being chased by zombies, his stupid self waiting for Muyoung to come running to him for help, and Muyoung turning his back on him, having given up on life.
After that incident, surprisingly, the first emotion that overwhelmed Seokjae wasn’t regret but humiliation. It was because of what Muyoung had said before to lighten the mood.
‘Oh, and! Maybe they ask me because they think I can handle it? I must seem really reliable!’
“…Did he make that choice because he thought I couldn’t save him?”
Though he knew it was far-fetched, he thought that Muyoung didn’t follow him because he didn’t seem like a good choice. He was consumed by feelings of contempt, making rational thinking impossible.
* * *
‘So I ended up risking my life to save people, showing off as if I needed validation, even though the person I wanted recognition from, Kang Muyoung, was already gone.’
In that process, he met Kyungho and Junwoo, and because of that, zombie-Muyoung came to take an interest in him.
“Thinking about it now, I’m grateful I was crazy back then. Thanks to that, we met again.”
Seokjae whispered, burying his lips against Muyoung’s nape. Feeling the warm body temperature and the throbbing pulse through his lips somehow moved him deeply, and he nestled his face there.
“Uh, w-what do you mean you were crazy?”
“I thought I seemed so unreliable to you that I lived risking my life saving others. I saved Kyungho and Junwoo because of you too. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have even acknowledged them.”
When Muyoung shrank back and asked, Seokjae muttered in a flat voice. Then, making deliberate kissing sounds along his neckline, he asked:
“Do you dislike me like this? Have you lost interest in me?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
