By Zephyria 
The commotion Mi-so caused had briefly quieted the mart, but now it was bustling again. The sounds of carts being dragged, shouts directed at someone, and the wails of a child wanting to go home echoed one after another.
Eden, heading to the furthest aisle, searched for a compass and a map of the country. Ha-jin also systematically gathered the items listed on his memo.
Eden, having found a map of the country, then grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and cut out a large section from the Seoul Metropolitan Area, where Dragon Cloud City was located, to Sangwon City in the Hoseo region. The considerable size of the poster was instantly reduced to a quarter of its original size.
After securing rain boots that fit each of them, the three rummaged through the next aisle and swept up raincoats.
“Yun Mi-so’s killing skills are quite impressive. Is she a black belt?”
Ha-jin, changing into running shoes in response to Eden’s question, replied,
“Well, she’s involved in so many different things… As I mentioned before, she used to be a volleyball player, and now she does judo, mixed martial arts, jiu-jitsu, things like that, as hobbies.”
Only then could Eden understand Mi-so’s behavior, which, unlike Ha-jin, hadn’t shown any particular eagerness to join them. She seemed to have complete faith in her own tenacity and physique.
“Mi-so is something else, right? What did I tell you?”
Ha-jin, somewhat excited, didn’t hold back in praising Mi-so. He even added the story of how Mi-so was the one who reached out to him when he was being bullied by a bad crowd in high school. He spoke particularly fast when he described how Mi-so turned the face of the worst of them into a potato pancake.
“Honestly, ‘bodyguard’ suits Mi-so better than ‘manager.’”
“Bodyguard, huh…”
Eden, savoring the word for a moment, let out a dry chuckle.
“True. Do Ha-jin seems to need a bodyguard more than a manager.”
What was that supposed to mean? Ha-jin narrowed his eyes at Eden’s cryptic smile.
After acquiring a few portable hand axes, the two moved to the middle aisle in search of food. As expected, long-lasting foods like canned tuna were already gone. Disappointed, they searched for solid soups and high-calorie energy bars.
As they skipped past another aisle, they heard the sound of a fierce fight, with people clawing at each other.
“Can’t you give this up?! You’ve already taken so much, you’re being too greedy!”
“Why should I give up anything here? I’m starving! Is there no respect for elders here? Huh?”
A middle-aged woman with an empty cart stood facing off against an old man with a cart piled high with necessities. They were struggling over a bag containing ten energy bar bundles. The old man’s cart was already overflowing with various types of food.
“I even picked it up first! I had it in my hand, and then Grandfather suddenly snatched it from behind!”
“Then why did you let go? Huh? Finders keepers!”
Ha-jin, approaching them, rummaged through the empty shelves. Aside from a few bags of chips with excessive packaging, the only things rolling around on the floor were dust.
Ha-jin glanced at the old man’s cart and then back at Eden. Eden, as if waiting for Ha-jin’s gaze, twisted his lips into a sly grin.
“Do Ha-jin.”
He whispered like a devil.
“The weak aren’t necessarily good.”
Ha-jin immediately understood what he meant. The old man was clearly an evil person, unfairly exploiting food in a nasty way.
“I’m faster with my hands, so why don’t you go talk to Jeong Tae-geon for a bit?”
Ha-jin, whispering back, naturally passed Byeol’s hand to Eden.
Eden led Byeol and approached the woman and the old man, who were still arguing heatedly.
“What’s going on?”
Eden asked, stepping between them, and the old man became even angrier.
“What’s it to you! Mind your own business and get lost!”
“Please calm down.”
“Hey, Grandfather. Can’t you see there’s a kid here? Watch your mouth, seriously!”
The woman tightly covered Byeol’s ears with both hands as he approached.
“Hmph. These guys are ganging up on me…! Aha. You’re all on the same side, aren’t you? That’s why you’re ganging up on me like this to give me a hard time?! Well, you’re never getting any of this!”
“How many times do I have to tell you that I picked up that food first? Are you going to be like this until you’re drawing on the walls with poop? Where did you eat all your age?!”
“W-what? You ungrateful…”
There was no need to put in any extra effort to draw attention. Whether Eden intervened or not, the woman and the old man continued to snarl at each other like they wanted to kill each other.
“Do you think I didn’t see you? You snatched the tissue someone else picked up earlier, didn’t you!”
“Do you have proof? Do you have proof, I say!”
“An eyewitness is proof, I saw you?! Stop being so mean and just go your own way, you damn old geezer!”
Eden glanced over the old man’s shoulder. Ha-jin was quietly tearing open the bundles of energy bars in the old man’s cart with a portable knife. The speed at which he stuffed the food into his backpack was faster than lightning.
Having quickly acquired the food, Ha-jin hesitated for a moment, left a reasonable amount for the old man, and turned around. In sync, Eden also quietly left the scene with Jeong Byeol.
Ha-jin, turning his bulging backpack to the front, circled around the aisle. He saw the woman who was fighting with the old man from behind. Tap, tap. He tapped the woman’s cart, and she turned around, still heated.
“I think you dropped this earlier.”
Ha-jin dumped ten energy bars into the woman’s cart.
“Huh?”
Before the flustered woman could ask again, Ha-jin turned and ran away. He immediately turned right and started walking, only to collide hard with someone.
“Oof!”
Ha-jin almost fell, but a strong grip caught his waist. The grip that tightened around his half-bent waist was considerable.
Jeong Tae-geon, perhaps. Ha-jin unconsciously gritted his teeth. He remembered Eden’s arrogant face as he caught him when he stumbled on the motel stairs and at the hardware store.
Ah, I really hate being indebted….
But when he looked up, the face in front of him was quite unfamiliar. Moreover, the clothes he was wearing were….
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to catch a thief.”
The man was about the same height as Ha-jin but had a larger build. The police officer lowered his arm, which had been holding Ha-jin, as if to reassure him. A friendly smile, the kind you might see in a men’s magazine, appeared and disappeared on the man’s face.
@Public Funds
Meanwhile, Eden, searching for Ha-jin, who had disappeared from his sight, met up with Mi-so’s team. It seemed they had secured the necessary items to some extent, as their individual backpacks were bulging.
“I was worried we wouldn’t find anything because everything was gone, but luckily, there was some left,”
“But we hardly got any medical supplies. We might have to stop by a pharmacy if we see one along the way.”
Mi-so and Park Chun-beom reported the situation while glancing behind Eden.
“By the way, where’s Ha-jin?”
“We’re on our way to find him. He went to steal some food.”
“Weren’t you together?”
Byeol, chewing on a stick of jelly, shook his head.
“Ha-jin Hyung is a thief, so he has to hide for a bit!”
“Huh? A thief? What are you talking about?”
Had they been playing hide-and-seek or something? While Mi-so blinked her big eyes, the commotion inside the mart only grew louder. With almost no items left, people’s anxiety and resentment were reaching their peak. Several carts filled to the brim were blocking the aisles in various places.
Park Chun-beom looked around anxiously. He frowned, as if the cracked lenses of his glasses were bothering him, and spoke rapidly.
“We need to get out of here quickly now. If zombies start gathering near the mart, it won’t be easy to escape.”
Jeffrey nodded.
“Quick, let’s find Ha-jin. Let’s go.”
Just then, Mi-so raised her hand high, pointing towards something.
“Do Ha-jin!”
Everyone in the group standing in front of the frozen food section turned their heads, following Mi-so’s gaze. In the distance, they saw Ha-jin walking and talking with someone. The stranger standing next to him was wearing a police uniform.
Soon after, Ha-jin, spotting the group, raised his hand high.
Eden sharply questioned him as he approached.
“Where have you been? I told you to refrain from acting alone.”
“Ah, sorry. I was avoiding that old man earlier and ran into this person.”
Ha-jin gestured with his palm towards the police officer standing behind him, as if introducing him.
“This is Lee Chang-yeol. It seems like he might be able to help us. Would you like to hear what he has to say?”
“I clearly said we wouldn’t take in any more companions. Did my words sound like a joke to you?”
Eden’s voice was as cold and sharp as an icicle.
“No, it’s not about taking him as a companion, it’s…”
Ha-jin stood in front of Eden as if to clarify the misunderstanding. Then, the police officer, taking off the hat he was wearing, defended himself.
“It’s not about joining you, it’s about asking for protection.”