Chapter 48

Muwon surged to his feet and pulled Yu-su into a crushing embrace. The sheer breadth and weight of his massive body engulfed him like a wave of heat.

Yu-su stiffened, uncertain, then tentatively wrapped his arms around Muwon’s back. The instant he did, the embrace tightened. Hard, powerful forearms locked around his back and the nape of his neck, while the pounding of their hearts traveled clearly between their pressed chests.

That was how Yu-su knew Muwon’s heart was beating even harder than his own, racing with a frantic, restless intensity.

Do Muwon, you really are….

His heart stinging unexpectedly, Yu-su smiled faintly and rested his head against Muwon’s neck, allowing his entire body to relax.

“Were you scared?”

“Don’t be a fucking asshole. Fuck….”

The vehement denial was as good as an admission. Even while cursing, Muwon showed no sign of releasing him.

Yu-su let out a weak chuckle and lightly patted his back. “I’m in pain. You’re hard as a rock.”

“Paper doll.”

“What was that?”

Gasping for breath, Yu-su pulled away from the scorching heat of Muwon’s embrace.

In truth, his own heart was beating so violently that it left him dizzy. He cleared his throat and glanced awkwardly around the room.

“Where are Joo Hee-eun and Sim Gorak?”

“They went to sleep.”

“To sleep…?” Yu-su looked around again. “Where are we?”

Only then did Muwon begin explaining what had happened during the two days Yu-su had been unconscious.

“Those fucking bastards threw us out because you had a fever.”

“….”

“You know what was even more fucked up? The bastards you saved didn’t lift a finger to help.”

Yu-su felt Muwon’s body temperature rise with his anger. He quickly patted Muwon’s shoulder before the man could accuse him of trying to comfort him.

“It couldn’t be helped. That place had a lot of supplies, and it would have been difficult for an injured person to survive alone.”

“Still, fuck. Even a dog wags its tail after you save it.”

“Don’t get angry.” Yu-su hesitated before asking, “What happened to that man?”

Muwon fell silent, then shook his head. “I couldn’t hear the rest. We were being thrown out.”

“I see.”

The man had asked them to remember his wife’s name, but in the end, they had never heard it.

Now we’ll never know either of their names.

Yu-su lowered his gaze and tucked away the sorrow that had briefly surfaced in his eyes. When he looked up again, his expression had steadied.

“And then?”

“I carried you out and went into the bank building.”

Muwon glossed over the part where he had fed Yu-su the medicine, and Yu-su failed to notice anything strange.

The story moved through their search of the surrounding area, their visit to the convenience store, and finally their arrival at the academy building, where Joo Hee-eun and Sim Gorak had returned and reported what they had found. As he spoke, Muwon’s voice gradually slowed, and his body began to list to one side.

Yu-su patted the back of his hand. “All right. That’s enough talking. Go lie down and sleep.”

“Move over.”

Before Yu-su could respond, Muwon climbed onto the bed. His massive frame invaded the narrow space so thoroughly that Yu-su was forced aside until his back pressed against the wall.

“It’s narrow….”

“Come here.”

Muwon did not wait for an answer. He wrapped an arm around Yu-su’s shoulders and pulled his slender body against his chest. Only then did he close his eyes and release a satisfied breath.

The wall was cold, so being pressed together like this was unexpectedly warm and pleasant. Muwon’s body heat was far more comforting than a heating pack that had nearly gone cold.

Sensing Yu-su’s contemplative stare, Muwon moved only his lips.

“If you’re going anywhere, wake me before you move.”

“Overprotective.”

“Shut up, Jeong-yak.”

He must have been utterly exhausted. The moment the last word left his mouth, Muwon fell fast asleep. His chest rose and fell at a steady rhythm, and his breathing settled completely. Held firmly in place, Yu-su could do nothing but blink, unable to move so much as a muscle.

I’m not even sleepy….

A profound heaviness and lingering dizziness clouded his senses, but Yu-su had no desire to surrender to sleep. Even if he had wanted to, it would have been impossible. His heart continued to hammer against his ribs with frantic force.

“….”

Do Muwon’s face, still unbearably close, remained the anchor at the center of that storm.

Stop deluding yourself.

Whatever he had felt earlier must have been a misunderstanding, nothing more than a momentary error in judgment. The ambiguous atmosphere he had sensed was obviously a product of his own imagination.

Do Muwon would never feel affection for a man. He despised the very idea, loathing it with such visceral intensity that even mentioning it filled him with disgust.

A dull chill spread from the center of Yu-su’s heart, leaving his entire body aching as though fever had taken hold of him again. Waves of inexplicable anxiety rose within him, urging him to cry or perhaps unleash a primal scream.

But what would I even scream? Do Muwon, you fucking asshole?

…I’m so ashamed of myself.

He needed to stop. There were mountains of problems ahead of them, all far more pressing than these useless, self-deprecating thoughts that only made him feel foolish. Had he not collapsed, Muwon, Hee-eun, and Gorak would never have been forced to endure those harrowing, grueling days. They had done everything they could. Now it was his turn to plant his feet firmly on the ground and think about the road ahead.

Suppressing the tremor rising within him, Yu-su swallowed hard and mentally retraced the events that had led them here.

He began with the attack on the restaurant, back when everything had seemed so blurred. He remembered the despair of that moment, and the suffocating weight of knowing that he could change everything while, paradoxically, being unable to change anything at all.

Everything came back to death and the loop.

What am I supposed to do?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like the lone survivor of a shipwreck, clinging to a scrap of debris in an endless sea.

Kreeeeak….

The door to the sleeping quarters slowly drifted open. A small head appeared through the gap with a faint, sharp creak.

“…?”

A boy of perhaps six stepped inside. He wore a bowl cut that looked as though a mouse had gnawed uneven chunks from his bangs, leaving them ragged. He clutched a box tightly against his chest, concealing its contents from view.

As Yu-su wondered how he should react, the boy spoke in a soft voice.

“Are you hurt too, hyung?”

“…Hm. I’m all right now.”

When the boy opened his mouth, the gap left by a missing front tooth gave him an irresistibly round, endearing expression. Yu-su could not help offering him a faint, weary smile.

Perhaps encouraged by it, the boy trotted over to the bedside.

“Then do you want to say hello to Scarlet? Everyone likes her.”

“Scarlet…?”

The boy nodded and raised the box he had been hugging to his chest.

It was an iguana enclosure. Inside sat a small, bright yellow iguana, evidently a hatchling, staring at Yu-su with eyes no larger than grains of rice.

The boy holding the enclosure gazed at him with large, dark eyes of his own.

Still smiling gently, Yu-su carefully extended one hand, mindful not to disturb Muwon, and patted the boy’s head in a soft, steady rhythm.

“What’s your name?”

“Scarlet O’Hara the Third.”

“Hmm…?” Yu-su blinked. “No, I meant your name, not the iguana’s.”

“I’m Lee Yun. I’m six years old, and I live at 605 Garam Apartments in Jiyeon-dong, Gyeonggi-do.”

As if he had been taught precisely what to do if he ever became lost, he continued by reciting his address, his mother’s phone number, and his grandmother’s phone number. When he finished, he grinned brightly, immensely proud of himself.

Yu-su’s voice softened further. “I see. Who are you staying with right now?”

“It’s just me and Scarlet. They said the animal hospital around here was the best place for iguanas, so I took the subway by myself. Then some scary people showed up, and a nun saved me.”

Muwon had mentioned a nun earlier.

Yu-su wanted to ask more, but before he could, Lee Yun’s attention abruptly shifted, as children’s often did. He suddenly dashed away as though he had remembered somewhere important he needed to be, pausing only to offer a polite bow before pulling the door shut behind him.

He had been an intriguing little visitor.

Lee Yun had arrived and vanished in an instant, like a tooth fairy drifting through someone’s dream, and Yu-su felt the tension inside him loosen in the boy’s wake. He shifted into a more comfortable position.

Muwon’s chest continued to rise and fall with a steady rhythm. Yu-su gently rested his head against Muwon’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

As he drifted in and out of consciousness, the world outside brightened completely, and the space beyond the door grew increasingly clamorous.

Everyone seemed to be waking for the morning.

Yu-su wanted to go outside and look around, but when he tried to sit up, he found the broad, sturdy wall that was Do Muwon blocking his way.

“….”

Muwon had told him to wake him before moving.

But how could Yu-su wake him when he was sleeping so soundly?

Just as he was about to lie back down, the door opened with perfect timing.

“Oh, hyung?”

The moment Sim Gorak saw Yu-su sitting upright on the bed, he threw aside the pillow he had been carrying and sprinted toward him.

“Hyuuung!”

“Why are you crying?”

Yu-su knew Gorak was naturally affectionate. He had barely graduated from high school before being thrust into the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and he had come to rely heavily on Yu-su and the others who had rescued him. The past several days, with Yu-su unconscious and possibly dying, must have been a living hell.

Eyes glistening, Gorak clasped Yu-su’s hands and anxiously rubbed them between his own. “I was so worried…. You’re not in pain anymore, right?”

“Yeah. I’m really all right.”

“Assistant Manager, your complexion looks much better.”

Joo Hee-eun, who had entered behind Gorak, placed her palm against Yu-su’s forehead before offering a faint smile.

A deep, gravelly voice cut through the heartwarming scene.

“You’re loud….”

Yu-su lightly tapped Muwon, whose eyes remained closed and whose brow had furrowed, then turned back to Hee-eun and Gorak with a gentle expression.

“I heard what happened. All of you went through so much. Thank you. I mean it.”

“It was nothing, hyung,” Gorak replied at once.

Hee-eun shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t think I was much help.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Gorak added. “I was basically a pack mule.”

“Don’t say that. I was able to recover because all of you were there.”

“Aww….”

Even as Gorak shook his head, he could not hide the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Then he suddenly brightened. “Ah! We’re boiling water outside. They don’t have any rice here yet, so we’re having ramen for now, but there are a lot of different kinds. What do you want to eat, hyungs?”

“Hmm….”

“Do they have shrimp ramen?” Muwon asked without opening his eyes.

“Yes!”

“I’ll have that.”

Muwon finally opened his eyes and stared at Yu-su. While he watched him, Hee-eun considered the options.

“Eating flour immediately might upset your stomach, Assistant Manager. Why don’t you start with some gomtang ramen broth?”

“That sounds good.” Yu-su placed a hand over his stomach. “I’m actually a little hungry.”

Muwon’s expression softened.

“Whoa. That’s the most welcome thing I’ve ever heard Jeong Yu-su say.”

Rubbing his stomach, Yu-su gave Muwon a playful nudge on the shoulder. With that, the morning bustle finally drew to a close.

Muwon had devoured a shrimp ramen along with two additional packs he had salvaged from the convenience store. Yu-su managed only a little of the noodles and broth from a bowl of gomtang ramen, while Gorak polished off two sesame ramens, and Hee-eun chose the spicy variety. Paired with the convenience store kimchi they still had on hand, the meal left everyone pleasantly satisfied.

After washing up, they set out to explore the academy. They had not gone far before Yu-su found himself leaning against a railing, drawing short, shallow breaths.

“Walking isn’t as easy as it looks…”

Muwon clicked his tongue. “Since you understand that much, eat properly, sleep properly, and keep moving whenever you can.”

A teasing voice cut in. “Manager Do, you were the most worried about him, and now you’re already nagging him again.”

“When the fuck was I ever that worried? Yeah, right.”

Laughter in an assortment of pitches rippled softly through the corridor.

“You’re awake.”

Jang Myeongju approached them. Beside her stood a middle-aged man with a fierce expression. He was shorter than Do Muwon, but broad, thickset, and dark-skinned.