By Zephyria 
Ha-jin and Eden’s group were sitting around in the small room to which the old man had invited them.
The room was filled with friendly noise. The soft murmur of conversation, the clinking of cutlery, exclamations of delight at the taste of Korean food after so long….
‘Delicious…!’
Park Chun-beom was practically in tears. The old man patted his back, telling him to eat slowly, his touch so gentle. Thanks to his kind face, which resembled his paternal Grandfather who he used to live with, Park Chun-beom almost burst into tears with the rice still in his mouth. It was the taste of home he had longed for.
He had thought that at best, he would have to make do with a brown banana and tap water that smelled of fish for dinner tonight…. He was sincerely relieved to be able to eat a proper meal before leaving for Yongun.
Jeffrey, who was as sincere about Korean food as Park Chun-beom, was also gobbling down the stew. Byeol was busy slapping the back of Jeffrey’s hand, telling him to please eat slowly.
Grandmother, who was watching them contentedly with one knee raised, carefully poured boiled barley tea into a chipped glass.
Ha-jin, who had just finished eating, bowed deeply to the elderly couple.
“Thank you. I really enjoyed the meal.”
“You must have suffered a lot, what have you been eating all this time?”
Grandfather Kim Yong-su asked with a pitiful expression.
“We had some snacks that we brought, so we shared them little by little, and sometimes we got food from outside….”
“Oh dear, no wonder. You’re all so thin.”
Kim Yong-su clicked his tongue and wiggled his white eyebrows. His gaze swept over the people gathered and stopped at Eden at the end.
“But hmm, I… I feel like I’ve seen this gentleman somewhere before….”
Kim Yong-su tilted his head, wondering if he had seen Eden on TV like Ha-jin. Eden pretended not to hear and poked at the potato side dish with his chopsticks.
“Haha. He just looks like a celebrity. He hears that a lot.”
Ha-jin tried to divert the old man’s attention. There was no point in revealing Jeong Tae-geon’s identity and his abilities to others. It would only attract more people like him.
Ha-jin, who was smiling awkwardly, suddenly hardened his expression. No, what was I just thinking…. He was overwhelmed with a deep sense of inferiority towards himself for recognizing the Grandfather as a rival, even though he should be thanking him for the warm meal.
Eden seemed to notice Ha-jin blaming himself and chuckled softly from across the table.
He finished his meal without overdoing it, securing just the right amount of calories. Eating until his stomach burst would only stretch his stomach, making him hungry again soon, or cause him to get sick.
Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom, who had swept the table clean as if they were doing the dishes, also put down their spoons. They drank the barley tea that Grandmother gave them in gulps and bowed their heads, thanking her like Ha-jin.
“The thanks shouldn’t go to me, but to this friend. It’s not easy to help others without any conditions….”
Kim Yong-su stroked Ha-jin’s back repeatedly, as if he was impressed. His warm gaze was constantly directed at Ha-jin. Mi-so and the rest of the group, who were clearing the table, also looked at the old man and Ha-jin with happy expressions.
“Thank you. Thanks to Do Ha-jin, I enjoyed the meal.”
However, it was Eden who greeted him first. Ha-jin scratched his nose awkwardly, hiding his puzzled expression. It would be fortunate if he could score some points with him through this. While thinking that.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
He saved me, fed me, gave me a place to sleep, and even got me kimchi stew…. Shouldn’t it be the other way around, with him begging me to be his companion? But the world is inherently unfair. No matter what, the moment they stepped outside, it was Eden, not him, who held the key to survival.
Then the old man opened his mouth with his unique metallic voice.
“Come again tomorrow if you want. We can’t provide three meals a day, but we can treat you to two meals.”
Everyone in the group, including Ha-jin, gasped. It was an unexpected favor.
“Really? Can we come again tomorrow?”
Jeong Byeol jumped up and down as if he was excited and hugged Grandmother. Grandmother patted Byeol’s bottom like he was a puppy.
“Oh, of course. Come anytime. Hmm? The menu will be simple, but it’ll be better than just eating snacks.”
The group, after expressing their gratitude, finished cleaning up and went outside. Ha-jin, who was holding the door open, turned to look at Eden, who was coming out last. Eden placed his palm right above the doorknob that Ha-jin was holding. Ha-jin flinched and let go of the doorknob as their skin brushed.
Even as they carefully descended the stairs with their weapons, the hallway was eerily quiet. Not a single whisper or the white noise of a TV could be heard. The motel, which had been noisy all day, had fallen silent at some point.
Ha-jin remembered the weeping of the woman upstairs last night, who was crying because her boyfriend had gone out to get food and hadn’t returned. More and more people were leaving the motel for similar reasons and not returning.
Ha-jin turned to look at Eden, who was following behind. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he was also looking closely at the rooms they passed.
It was when they were coming down the last flight of stairs on the second floor. Crash! Crack─!! Thump—! Suddenly, a loud noise came from downstairs. A zombie had latched onto the blocked glass door. Startled, Ha-jin trembled, and Eden, who was following behind, grabbed his shoulder firmly.
Ha-jin barely swallowed the curse that was about to burst out and gasped for breath.
“Haa. Th-thank you.”
Scoring points, my ass…. He wanted to die of embarrassment.
❖ ❖ ❖
Eden was slightly parting the curtains to look outside. A zombie was wandering aimlessly around the motel, having lost one of its arms. Half-tied hair, a white T-shirt, a camera stick stuck in its pocket, a scratch on its eyebrow….
It was the reckless Room 205 man who had been running ‘Aggro TV’. He hadn’t been seen for a while, but it seemed he had gone outside again and been bitten by a zombie.
Kkeueooo…. The sight of it roaring as it avoided a zombie walking towards it from the opposite side was grotesque. Eden was lost in thought as he looked at the man who had once been human.
What are the weaknesses of zombies? Is breaking their brains the only answer? Except for that dawn when they went out to catch the helicopter, the zombies were busy rampaging through the streets, whether it was night or day, with or without light.
However, no living thing can exist without weaknesses, and zombies must also have a fatal weakness.
‘Something that can be used to move around without being seen by zombies….’
It was around the time that Eden’s eyes were moving busily for analysis that someone patted his shoulder roughly from right behind him.
“Jeong Tae-geon. Don’t you want to eat dessert?”
Eden, who had been looking down at the window for a while, licked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He turned to look at Ha-jin warily at the extravagant word ‘dessert’.
Ha-jin secretly held out the chocolate bar that the old man had given him again—although it was so small that it was embarrassing to swallow it in one bite—and whispered.
“If you eat this, you’re taking me with you.”
At the absurd flirting, Eden stared down at Ha-jin, speechless. Ha-jin shook the crumpled chocolate bar wrapper gently, as if urging him.
“Aren’t you going to take it?”
“…What are you doing right now?”
“I have to appeal to you somehow if I want to live.”
Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom, who were lying on the bed, chuckled and watched the conversation between Eden and Ha-jin.
“Do Ha-jin, fighting!”
[Ha-jin, you can do it, push him!]
Eden glared at Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom, who were whistling as if it were someone else’s business. They had been joking around in a good mood because they were full, but they quickly averted their eyes at their boss’s fierce demeanor.
Eden glanced at Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom and then stared at Ha-jin again.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you really not going to eat it? You wouldn’t give it up to the Grandfather earlier, no matter what.”
When his eyes met Ha-jin’s innocent eyes, a hollow laugh came out of him. Was this trying to mess with him, or was it flirting…. He turned his body and waved his hand quickly, watching the darkening outside.
“I don’t need it, so take it.”
Ha-jin, as if he had expected it, turned away coolly and made eye contact with Jeffrey on the bed. He gestured and whispered something to Ha-jin. Are you giving up like this? Try a little harder!
Park Chun-beom was also sending funny signals with one mind. They were like Dumb and Dumber.
“I’m not giving up.”
Ha-jin smiled slyly, as if to say there was no way. He pointed his finger at the back of them. Jeffrey looked at the back wall with a puzzled expression, and Park Chun-beom scanned behind the bed.
“Oh.”
“Jeong Tae-geon doesn’t want to eat it, so share it among yourselves.”
Ha-jin winked at Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom and went to the room where Mi-so and Byeol were. The chocolate bar that Ha-jin had been holding was now placed between Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom’s thighs.
“No, when did he put this here…?”
“Tune, amazing. This is.”
“Hey, don’t call me Tune. Why do you keep calling me by the name of a radio technology when I have a perfectly good name!”
Park Chun-beom’s face turned red as if he was embarrassed, and he scolded Jeffrey. Then Jeffrey gave him a thumbs up as if to comfort him.
“Good. Embarrassing is sin.”
“It’s weird because it feels like Jeffrey is subtly making fun of people when he speaks Korean….”
Eden, who was scouting outside through the curtains, finally burst into laughter and shook his head.
Ha-jin’s flirting continued until late at night.
Late at night, Eden opened the bathroom door to relieve himself and encountered an unexpected figure. It was Do Ha-jin, sitting curled up on the toilet seat without turning on the light.
Eden rubbed his forehead and asked.
“What are you doing there?”
“Are you in a hurry? Big business? Small business?”
“Stop joking and come out.”
“I’ll move if you promise to take me with you.”
It was mostly like this. He must have realized that he couldn’t get through to him with just conversation anymore, so Ha-jin was constantly pressuring Eden by acting childish.
And a moment later.
“Ugh!”
Eden, with annoyance, lifted Ha-jin’s body like a piece of luggage and threw him onto the bed.