By Zephyria 
As if he had been beaten by someone, he felt like all his joints were dislocated.
“Ugh….”
Ha-jin tossed and turned in the unusually uncomfortable sleeping place, his body stiff, and eventually lifted his closed eyelids.
Only after facing the light blue sky surrounded by fog did he realize that he was lying on an asphalt highway.
“Phew….”
The events that had occurred overnight played back one by one on the screen-like sky. Being caught by delinquents and robbed of food, hearing news of the group, and the surprise attack by the zombie that appeared out of the darkness….
Fighting the Aberrants who rushed in with the delinquents according to Pie’s signal, and then lying down on the asphalt with his exhausted body was his last memory.
To think he spent the night mixed up with looters without fear. Reviewing the situation, he wiped his parched face with a resigned feeling.
Chop, chop, at that moment, a moist sound was heard. Tilting his head while lying down, he saw Pie wagging his tail from side to side and the leader kid squatting in front of him.
A look of embarrassment flashed across the man’s face as their eyes met. At the same time, the hand stroking Pie’s head awkwardly stopped.
‘…What. Is he feeding Pie now?’
A breath filled with absurdity escaped from Ha-jin’s mouth as he belatedly grasped the situation.
20 minutes later. Eden, who had been lying down using a bundle as a pillow, also woke up.
He stared blankly at the dawn sky covered in fog, then turned his head at the commotion that caught his ear. Pie, Do Ha-jin, and the leader kid sitting side by side came into view.
Do Ha-jin was explaining something diligently to the kid.
“He’s a senior in high school, but he’s as skinny as a middle schooler. His eyes are a bit slanted, and he’s shorter than me.”
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know his name, I didn’t ask.”
“So, to summarize, you’re saying that a guy in a police uniform and an unknown boy might pass by here?”
Where did the guy who was spewing vulgar curses last night go? He was accepting Ha-jin’s words with a considerably docile attitude.
“Are they also part of Hyung’s group? Why is everyone so scattered?”
“No, they’re not part of the group, we just met briefly, anyway…. But do you really have to take their food? If he’s a senior, he’s still a kid. You guys don’t touch kids, right?”
“Huh? Seriously, a senior is hardly a kid. He’s only a year younger than me. And we absolutely can’t give up the food. That’s why we’re suffering here.”
“You call taking other people’s food suffering?”
A deflated sound escaped from Eden’s mouth, who had been listening to the conversation quietly.
He must be asking the kid to look out for Chief Kim and the child. It was amazing that he hadn’t left with them, considering how concerned he was.
‘Seriously, Do Ha-jin. So soft.’
He watched Ha-jin and the kid bickering for a while before getting up.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“Yes. Did Do Ha-jin wake up early?”
“I woke up about 20 minutes ago…? Shall we get going?”
The air touching his skin was quite cold in the foggy dawn. As he picked up the Pickaxe and bundle and started walking, Do Ha-jin and Pie immediately followed beside him.
“Hyungs! Goodbye! We’ll enjoy the rice!!”
The leader kid’s ridiculous farewell continued from behind. In that moment, Eden barely managed to suppress the urge to kill all the men sleeping in the tent and take back the food.
“What are you doing? Let’s go quickly.”
Ha-jin, noticing his hardened face, grabbed his arm and added soothingly.
“Just think of the food as the price for staying overnight. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known the road was cut off and might have been in big trouble walking at night. Besides, we got to hear news about Mi-so, Jeffrey, and Byeol….”
Eden sighed and slung the Pickaxe over his shoulder.
“When did you get so close to that bastard?”
“We didn’t get close. As soon as it was morning, he recognized my face and started begging me to show him magic.”
“So, did you show him?”
Ha-jin raised his eyes as if he was dumbfounded.
“Ha, I have my pride. I’m not that easy. Why would I show magic to the guy who stole our food?”
Of course, he had suggested returning the food in exchange for showing magic, but he was rejected, so he decided to omit that story for the sake of his pride.
Taking advantage of Eden’s short laugh, as if he liked the answer, he quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, why did they cut off the perfectly good bridge?”
“I don’t know. Whether they were trying to save at least the metropolitan area or the opposite, it looks like we’re just wasting time on a meaningless act.”
Eden glanced at Ha-jin, who kept rubbing his arms.
“Are you cold?”
Although the fog was thick, it wasn’t cold enough to make him shiver.
“Maybe it’s because it’s dawn… I feel a bit chilly. I’m not sick, I’m okay.”
“If it’s too much, tell me honestly. It’s okay if we’re a little late.”
“I’m really okay, we need to catch up with Mi-so soon.”
His face was fine, considering he was shivering. Eden carefully examined Ha-jin’s complexion before turning his gaze back to the road shrouded in fog.
❖ ❖ ❖
Tap… tap, tap….
Ha-jin, who was staring blankly at the burning flames, waved his hand to chase away the sand mosquitoes buzzing and tickling his ears.
Perhaps because he had been wandering through the rough mountains until the afternoon without rest, his body felt languid after eating some unidentified bird meat that Eden had somehow obtained, and he couldn’t move anymore.
“Do Ha-jin, I’ve finished making the shade, so come here and rest.”
As soon as he turned his head at the call, his forearm was grabbed. Soon, his body was pulled up as if a radish was being pulled up by a strong force.
“Oh, thank you.”
Ha-jin familiarly grabbed Eden’s hand. As he walked towards the shade following him, he heard a small laugh above his head.
“Why are you laughing?”
When he looked at him with a puzzled expression, he shook his head silently. Ha-jin suspiciously glared at Eden, who seemed to be laughing more often lately, then stiffened. He didn’t know when, but his hand was entwining his fingers between his.
Before he could pull his hand away in surprise, his body was seated on the thickly laid leaves. Pie, who had come next to him, flipped his belly over and rubbed his back as if he was in a good mood.
Eden sat down next to Ha-jin without letting go of his hand. Ha-jin tried to escape, but he only tightened his grip even more strongly.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what? Do Ha-jin grabbed it first.”
“…Did I grab it first?”
“Yes.”
Perhaps because of the survival-type gay acting he had done at the Ranch, Ha-jin often grabbed Eden’s hand without realizing it. He tried to shake off his hand again out of embarrassment, but he didn’t budge as if to show off.
“Let go of my hand, stop joking around….”
Despite Ha-jin’s request, Eden nonchalantly took out ointment from his pocket.
“I’ll apply ointment, so Do Ha-jin, just stay still.”
Only after the ointment was applied to his wrist did Ha-jin release the strength in his fidgeting hand.
He should be used to it by now, but every time he witnessed his kindness, his whole body itched, and his toes kept curling inward.
Ahem…! Ha-jin cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the shade spread diagonally above his head. The bundle, with both ends tied with rope, was spread wide between two trees.
A companion who not only caught animals but also quickly created temporary shelter using the surrounding terrain.
‘As expected.’
He wanted to praise himself to his heart’s content for recognizing Eden’s survival skills early on and desperately clinging to him in the past.
“Stretch out your feet too.”
He was startled by the sensation of his calf being grabbed and hurriedly waved his hands.
“Oh, my feet are okay. They smell because I haven’t washed them…!”
“Is it just today or yesterday that they smell?”
“Excuse me…?”
Ha-jin momentarily gaped with a blank expression.
Did he just say that they smell every day? Is he saying that I smell all the time?
He had never missed the passion to desperately secure brushing his teeth, even creating time, and carefully washing his neck with drinking water.
He had tried to maintain at least a minimum of dignity in this harsh and cruel environment.
“Do I smell a lot?”
He, who prided himself on being second to none in cleanliness, asked again in disbelief.
Eden was already pulling down his socks to his heels and applying ointment thickly. He glanced at Ha-jin and replied nonchalantly.
“I’m just kidding.”
Ha-jin, who was not relieved by the word joke, lifted his shirt and sniffed the smell with a reddened face. Eden, who was applying medicine with delicate hands, raised his head again at the continuous sniffing sound.
He thought he was unusually picky compared to ordinary people, but he didn’t know he would react so sensitively to a single joke. It was a reaction that didn’t suit Ha-jin at all, who usually had a brazen and cheeky side.
There was no suitable place to wash, and he was constantly fighting monsters that smelled bad, so it was not strange at all that his body smelled bad, but Ha-jin was restless as if it was something that had happened due to his carelessness.
Eden swallowed the laughter that was about to burst out as he watched him become confident at the wrong times and shy at the wrong times. He had a cute side the more he looked at him.
He wondered if he should tease him more, but he had to barely suppress the rising playfulness because he seemed like he would really dig a tunnel and go inside.
“I was just joking. You don’t smell.”
In fact, Do Ha-jin’s body had never smelled unpleasant. His scent was so much to his taste that he had secretly buried his nose in his neck and savored the scent of his skin more than once or twice. He often found himself seeking his scent, especially on days when he encountered a lot of zombies.
Ha-jin, who had turned his head and was sniffing his shoulder, shot back with distrustful eyes.
“Don’t lie.”
“I really don’t. Don’t you trust me?”
Even after trying to appease him, the blush that had colored his cheeks did not subside easily. He wondered if he was getting a fever, so he reached out his hand, but Ha-jin flinched and pulled his head back.
In that moment, Eden’s eyes twitched slightly. Ha-jin, who did not notice the intensifying gaze, scratched his neck and pulled out his caught foot.