Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 108

Seokjae frowned at the unexpected variable and immediately faced the door as if confronting whatever might be inside. Holding onto the handle, he quietly rolled his eyes to examine the interior.

“…”

Inside the glass door was an entrance with empty shoe racks arranged on the left and right. Beyond that, a dim hallway was visible.

The area past where the entrance bent sideways wasn’t visible, but what could be seen was as clean as the other classrooms, with no traces of anyone—it looked as if they had done a thorough cleaning before the vacation.

‘If there were survivors, there should at least be a barricade… but there’s nothing.’

A peaceful and cozy space with the main door openly unlocked. It could be a trap set by ill-intentioned groups pretending to be safe to lure people in before robbing them. However, given the location’s open surroundings, there were no places for people to hide.

‘They wouldn’t hide inside while leaving an escape route open. And we didn’t see even a shadow of anyone on the mountain.’

Of course, it was difficult to survey the entire mountain. There might be people they hadn’t noticed. But even so, unless they had guns, a small number of people wouldn’t pose much threat if they couldn’t be sensed or seen.

‘Other possibilities are that an employee who had work to do opened the door and fled, or that they turned into a zombie and remained inside.’

“Hmm…”

While Seokjae was assessing the safety, the three people behind him remained silent. Kyungho and Junwoo were too frozen with anxiety to speak.

‘What if hyung suddenly rushes in alone?’

Muyoung, worried that Seokjae might engage in a dangerous fight alone, was busy craning his neck to peek inside.

‘Ugh, I can’t see anything.’

Seokjae’s large body blocked most of the entrance, and some areas were obscured by stickers, making it difficult to assess the situation inside. He desperately wanted to ask “Is someone there?” or “Can you see anything inside?”

But even before they knew the door was open, Seokjae had offered to go in first. If he realized Muyoung was just waiting for his chance to step up, he would likely create an ironclad defense, so a surprise approach was the only option.

The silence that continued with everyone having different intentions ended when Seokjae, having concluded there was no major issue, opened the door.

Whoosh… creak…

The glass door, which had been barely open enough for a toe to fit through, swung back with a whoosh. The low sound of friction echoed from the rusty hinges that hadn’t been maintained.

“Huh?”

“Gasp.”

“H-hyung?”

From the perspective of the three who didn’t know what Seokjae was thinking, it looked like he had suddenly opened the door after standing still. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, and Seokjae shrugged as if to shake off the piercing gazes on his back.

“I can’t see some areas, so I’ll have to go in to check. We can’t just keep standing here like this, can we? I’ll—”

“I’ll go with you!”

Muyoung urgently shouted, cutting off Seokjae’s words. He could guess what Seokjae was about to say without hearing all of it.

“You…”

Seokjae, who had been leaning against the glass door watching the corner where the hallway continued, instinctively turned his head at the clear voice, but was left speechless. The determined expression on Muyoung’s face overlapped in his mind with the image of a puppy holding a harness in its mouth, eager for a walk.

‘Statistically, it’s safer to be outside, but…’

Being with him was equally dangerous whether standing outside or going in together, at least when considering physical safety rather than mental.

Besides, for Muyoung, zombies would probably be less threatening than humans.

‘…Wait, is that certain?’

A question mark suddenly appeared in the flow of his thoughts. In fact, Seokjae had thought Muyoung was a being that zombies wouldn’t attack, so he assumed what happened last night was just bad luck—that Muyoung had been pushed and fallen when a zombie jumped through the window during the thunder.

‘Was that really a coincidence?’

Now as he reviewed the scene, he began to have doubts. Seokjae tapped the door handle with his index finger as he recalled every detail of Muyoung from the night before.

Soon, he nodded readily.

“I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

Seokjae’s gaze, which had been looking somewhere in the empty space, fixed on the brightly smiling Muyoung.

“If you come, Kyungho and Junwoo will have to stay here.”

“Huh? Why?”

“This kindergarten could be a trap set up to rob people. Just in case, someone needs to guard the exit.”

Despite thinking it was a near-zero probability, Seokjae sighed as if worried.

“What, robbery?”

“Yeah. There are groups who make buildings look safe, pretend no one’s there, set traps, and when someone enters, they block the exits and steal everything, down to their underwear.”

While helping survivors, Muyoung had seen people’s bags being stolen a few times, but never a trap designed to make a place seem safe before completely robbing someone. He was shocked by this creative malice that he couldn’t have imagined.

‘C-could there be such bad people around here?’

Seeing Muyoung’s startled reaction as he looked around, the con artist kept talking enthusiastically.

“Even if they’re just keeping watch, it would be dangerous alone, so at least two people should be there. If you come with me, Muyoung, the kids will have to stay alone. Is that okay?”

This was a question directed at Muyoung, who would never leave behind the boys who, despite being sturdy 19-year-old high school students, were frail compared to Seokjae. But the answer came from elsewhere.

“Yes, it’s fine. Kyungho and I will stay here, so go ahead.”

Junwoo lightly patted his chest as if to say “trust me.” As Seokjae expected, Muyoung, who had been fidgeting, hesitated.

“B-but.”

“We’ll be fine, really. If anything, shouldn’t we be the ones worrying? We’re still human, but you hyungs might encounter zombies.”

Even Kyungho assured him it was fine, looking embarrassed as if sorry for making them do something more dangerous. Muyoung looked around once more at the wide-open surroundings where they could see far into the distance, and slowly nodded.

“…Alright, we’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Okay, take care.”

“We’ll guard well!”

Despite their confident responses, Muyoung couldn’t hide his worried expression, but he didn’t go back on his decision. However, with each step into the kindergarten, he kept looking back and repeating his instructions.

“If anyone appears, call for me right away, okay? Even if it’s just a rustling sound, it’s fine to call, understand?”

“Yes.”

“We understand. Go ahead.”

Perhaps finding him like an overprotective parent, the two boys chuckled and waved their hands. Seeing they weren’t scared, Muyoung finally relaxed and walked straight ahead.

But after just a few steps, he stopped and looked back again.

“Hyung?”

This time, it was to look at Seokjae, not the boys. He was frozen in the same position holding the door, staring at Muyoung as if in a daze.

Finding it strange that there was no response to his call, Muyoung went back and grabbed his arm.

“Hyung? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“…No. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

Muyoung didn’t know, but Seokjae had been holding his breath until Muyoung’s hand touched him. Only after being touched did his body start moving normally again, as if coming back to life, and his mind returned.

‘Did he choose me…?’

He had momentarily fallen into a state similar to cardiac arrest, shocked by the fact that Muyoung had chosen him rather than the weaker ones.

‘Kang Muyoung chose me not because he had no choice, but by his own will…?’

Even though his mind had returned, it took time to fully recover from the shock. Though his rigid expression didn’t show it, Seokjae walked around the kindergarten in a half-dazed state.

“Hyung? Hyung, is there something there?”

“No, nothing…”

Fortunately, no zombies were discovered during that time. There were a few situations where Muyoung tilted his head in confusion at Seokjae standing blankly with the door open, but it wasn’t a big problem. Not compared to the stupid behavior of failing to notice subtle danger signals, unlike his usual self, because he was too excited.

Tap… tap…

Flinch. Worried that there might be something wrong with Seokjae, who was acting differently than usual, Muyoung had been following him closely. Now he froze at the sound that penetrated his ears. Barely restraining himself from turning his head, he rolled his eyes to look at Seokjae.

‘Hyung… didn’t notice?’

Unusually, Seokjae seemed not to have heard the faint noise and was walking toward the nearest door. Muyoung only rolled his eyes to the direction of the sound, careful not to alert Seokjae.

[Infirmary]

A space in the most secluded part of the hallway, with no windows. He sensed something moving there.

‘If I say I heard a sound from there, hyung will definitely try to open the door. So…’

Anxiously, Muyoung quietly waited until Seokjae had checked all the other rooms. And finally, when Seokjae headed toward the long-awaited infirmary, Muyoung rushed ahead and grabbed the doorknob.

“I-I claimed this one!”