Chapter 120
‘…What’s going on?’
Muyoung furrowed his brow at the man’s strange behavior. At first, he thought the man was acting that way because Seokjae was holding him like a kidnapper… but the man’s gaze was fixed not on “Muyoung and Seokjae” but on “Seokjae alone.”
“Hmmmm…”
Taking it even further, he now placed his hand on his chin, making it obvious that he was deep in thought, all while scanning Seokjae’s face.
‘Even if hyung is handsome, isn’t it rude to stare at someone like that?’
The impression of the man, whom Muyoung had thought was modest, instantly degraded to someone with no manners. Unpleasant, or perhaps disagreeable. Feeling oddly uncomfortable, Muyoung unconsciously pouted his lips.
Squeeze.
Suddenly, something hard and rough touched his lips. At the same time, he felt the hand holding his jaw tense up. Only then did Muyoung realize what he had done.
“…”
Whether intentional or not, to suddenly kiss someone’s palm while confronting a stranger—he wondered what Seokjae, who had been unexpectedly teased, would think. He was curious but didn’t want to know.
So Muyoung just rolled his eyes to the side like a dog that had caused trouble. He pressed his lips together with a “mmph” to avoid making the same mistake.
‘It’s just my imagination, just my imagination…’
Baaaam-
Muyoung tried to hypnotize himself against the hot gaze drilling into the top of his head.
After spending an anxiety-inducing moment like that, the man who had been noisily pondering to himself suddenly laughed as if relieved and said:
“Ah! Now I remember. You’re Seokjae, right? You bastard, so you were alive!”
Huh?
* * *
“Come on, come in. Don’t be shy. It’s not much, but…”
The four of them entered the building following the man’s gesture. The man, who introduced himself as “Lim Sangjin,” kept acting friendly with Seokjae, saying how glad he was to see him and how he hadn’t changed, then invited them to the place where he was staying alone, saying it would get dark soon and they needed somewhere to rest.
The three showed reluctance at the stranger’s overly familiar attitude, but surprisingly, Seokjae was the first to say they should go, leading them along.
After walking quite a distance, they arrived at a study cafe. When Sangjin pressed the key card he said he had obtained with difficulty, the door opened.
“That blue door is the bathroom, and over there is the lounge.”
Under the soft lighting, rows of desks and chairs were visible. Sangjin pointed here and there, explaining the interior.
“Aaah…”
“Yeees.”
“…”
Muyoung and the boys awkwardly followed him, giving lifeless responses. Meanwhile, Seokjae, who was actually acquainted with Sangjin, had already settled in a chair in the corner as soon as they entered the cafe, as if refusing to participate in the conversation.
“This is my bed. You can make your own if you want. There should be some blankets left over there.”
Sangjin introduced his makeshift bed made by pushing several desks together and covering them with cushions and thick blankets, then graciously permitted them to make their own beds as if bestowing a great favor. Following his nod, they saw a few remaining blankets in an otherwise empty space.
The three shook their heads.
“N-no, that’s okay.”
“Me too.”
“Me too…”
“Really? Well, do as you please. Oh right, do you have food?”
Tilting his head as if finding their refusal strange, he soon glanced at their bags and asked the question. Junwoo frowned at that blatant gaze and responded sharply.
“Why?”
“Well, I’m about to have dinner and wondered if you would too. I don’t have much, but if you don’t have any, you’re my guests after all. Shouldn’t I offer some hospitality?”
“Ah… it’s fine. There’s no need. We’ll take care of our own food.”
Embarrassed at having reacted harshly to someone trying to be kind, Junwoo awkwardly answered, to which Sangjin nodded as if he had expected that response.
“Oh, really? Well, I guess you wouldn’t go hungry with Seokjae around.”
“…”
It was practically the same as stating that the three did nothing while Seokjae solved everything. Though Junwoo’s pride was hurt, it was true, so he could only move his lips without saying anything.
“…Well-”
Kyungho, noticing his friend’s dampened mood, tried to awkwardly end the situation with a smile, but someone else stepped in first.
“Of course, hyung’s contribution is the biggest, but it’s thanks to everyone working hard together. No matter how capable someone is, it’s absurd to leave everything to one person.”
Muyoung had subtly stepped in front of the boys as if protecting them. His eyes were intense with anger as the two became dejected at the untrue statement.
‘Why is he talking like that?’
It was true that they were always lower priority in dangerous situations, but that wasn’t because the boys wanted it that way. It was Muyoung and Seokjae’s choice. And while they were busy blocking zombies, if the boys hadn’t searched around and found items, they would have had to kill all the zombies in the many places they had visited.
Thanks to the two boys, they had been able to gather enough supplies and escape at the right times.
‘There have been times when they saved us too.’
They had often caught him when he nearly fell. It was the same at school. Thanks to them, he hadn’t fallen from the ladder.
On top of that.
‘He doesn’t seem that close to hyung and probably didn’t get permission, but he keeps calling him Seokjae, Seokjae like it’s nothing?’
Even Muyoung had barely managed to call him by name on his birthday. Hearing him call Seokjae with a voice full of unpleasant intentions made his eyes involuntarily narrow.
Grrrr.
This was the moment when Muyoung, who had been a Maltese cared for by his grandmother, transformed into a Maltese living with a mischievous owner. Even though the man had only spoken harshly so far and hadn’t done any harm. This was the first time Muyoung had so quickly disliked someone.
‘Completely rude! He is a bad person!’
Naturally inclined to like people, Muyoung had lived without knowing the emotion of “jealousy from seeing someone close to another person.” Because of this, he thought his aversion to Sangjin was all due to the man’s character.
“Isn’t that right, Seokjae hyung?”
As he said this, Muyoung deliberately used Seokjae’s name, which he had even been formally asked to call him by. With a brave expression like he might bark at any moment.
“…That’s right. You guys don’t do that shameless thing of making one person take all the responsibility.”
Even though it wasn’t a name he normally used. Seokjae, who had been staring at Muyoung, twisted his lips into a smile and nodded.
“Ah, no, well… why are you jumping at a compliment like that?”
Sangjin, flustered not only by Muyoung’s fierce reaction but also by Seokjae’s unexpected support, stammered an excuse. Then, seemingly irritated, he tried to maintain his dignity with a huffing sound.
“It’s just a figure of speech, did I really mean they didn’t do anything? Why is this kid so twisted? Ah, no. Is it because you’re young?”
Muyoung momentarily thought, ‘Isn’t an adult insulting high school students also twisted?’ But… gulp, he swallowed it down.
His mood had improved considerably since Seokjae had taken his side, and he didn’t want to risk being thrown out for speaking up. He could handle being thrown out himself, but he didn’t want to cause trouble for Seokjae and the boys.
‘I should have at least suggested not following him earlier…’
Back then, there would have been enough time to find another place to stay. Because of the considerable distance between where the zombie mannequin was and the study cafe, they had wasted all their golden time for finding shelter just by traveling.
“…”
As Muyoung remained silent with a blank expression, Sangjin, thinking he had won, became more confident and cleared his throat once before pointing outside to take control of the atmosphere again.
“Ahem, anyway. Look outside. It’s already dark. What would you have done if you hadn’t met me?”
“Y-you’re right…”
We would have found somewhere else. Like you said, Seokjae hyung is very capable!
While Muyoung sharply answered in his mind like a teenager going through puberty, outwardly he played along with the man. The two boys flanking his shoulders whispered quietly in touched voices.
“Hyung, thank you.”
“Hyuuung…”
“What are you thanking me for, I just told the truth…”
Like a father returning from work to children running toward him saying “Dad~”, his anger melted away. Unaware of their emotional moment, Sangjin, who had told them to follow him, headed toward the lounge.
Rustle.
“Um- hyung.”
“Yes?”
“Is Seokjae hyung really not going to eat dinner?”
Kyungho, unwrapping the plastic from a cup of ramen for dinner, asked Muyoung.
“Yeah, he says he’s not feeling well. His stomach isn’t good either.”
“So hyung gets sick sometimes too…”
Though Junwoo’s comment seemed rude, Muyoung had thought similarly and had asked him about it several times. Having already caused a commotion once over whether it was a deadly illness, Muyoung just smiled awkwardly, unable to point out the inappropriateness.
“…”
He also glanced at Sangjin, who was holding a few snack bags at the table and pretending not to look their way—no, he was staring as if coveting their food. What Sangjin had said to Seokjae when they first met kept echoing in his mind.
‘To think we’d meet like this. I’m sorry about that time. It couldn’t be helped, you understand, right?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
