By Zephyria 
Mi-so, who had frequented Hwayeonsa Temple with her parents since childhood, led the group and introduced them to various parts of the temple. Jeffrey, unfamiliar with Eastern culture, was busy examining the unfamiliar Buddhist architectural style with his mouth open.
After the introduction of more than twenty large and small buildings, the sound of rumbling stomachs echoed from here and there.
Just in time, Hongju Bosal, who approached, guided the group near the Iljumun Gate to the Gongyanggan, the dining hall. There, more people than expected had already taken their seats. It seemed there were no separate rules about silent practice, as they were eating while having small conversations with each other.
“I prepared it in advance because I thought you might be hungry. Temple food empties quickly, but it will taste good.”
Hongju Bosal held out her palm as if telling them to sit down quickly. On one side of the table, a separate table was set for the number of Mi-so’s group. Inside a large earthenware bowl were freshly cooked white rice, various seasoned vegetables, and red pepper paste.
[Hey guys? Am I already dead?]
Jeffrey vigorously rubbed his cheeks as if he couldn’t believe their angelic kindness. The people in the restaurant were busy glancing at the unfamiliar guests with curious eyes.
“Wow, there’s Pie’s food too, Uncles!”
“Jeong Byeol. You have to be quiet.”
With Eden’s scolding, the group, feeling awkward, sat down and soon devoured the meal as if possessed.
The spicy and sweet wild vegetable bibimbap was so wonderful that it was beyond words, and the cool barley tea in the teacup completely relieved the fatigue of the day.
Even in the midst of all this, Ha-jin was busy looking around, feeling both happy and awkward about the noise created by ‘others’. Including the people he saw in the yard earlier, there were a total of fifteen survivors in this place. Judging by their attire, it seemed that most of them were people who had come to ask for help like them.
Ha-jin, who was concentrating on spooning, suddenly became curious and raised his head.
“But where were you earlier?”
He whispered softly to Eden, who was sitting across from him, and dark brown eyes turned to him. Ha-jin rubbed the sesame oil on his lips with the back of his hand and added.
“When Mi-so was introducing the temple earlier. You suddenly disappeared.”
“Ah.”
He nodded his chin as if it were nothing.
“I went to the room.”
“Why?”
“I checked the bags of the people staying here. There wasn’t anything special.”
“…Wow.”
Ha-jin could only shake his head at his thorough vigilance, regardless of time and place. It was a stark contrast to himself, who had completely relaxed just because it was a temple that Mi-so used to attend as a believer. I guess not just anyone can be a leader.
“I guess that’s something you’re born with?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Being rational and sharp in everything… how should I put it, without any gaps? Anyway, I want to be like you.”
Eden chuckled at Ha-jin’s sudden grumbling, which was hard to tell whether it was a compliment or a complaint. He was silently moving his spoon for a while before he belatedly opened his mouth.
“It’s not that good. It’s tiring here.”
A small shadow fell over his face as he tapped his temple indifferently with his index finger. From several versions of scenarios in preparation for the worst situation to the physical distribution of the group, Eden was constantly burning his thoughts without resting even for a moment when he fell asleep.
He soon muttered to himself as if talking to himself.
“I want to rest a little.”
Ha-jin was speechless for a moment at his unexpected confession. While he was blinking his eyes, stopping the chewing motion of grinding rice, the friendly conversation sounds in the restaurant filled the silence between them.
Suddenly, Eden’s figure, who was suffering from a paralyzed sense of smell in the cylindrical underpass and leaning on him as if collapsing, flashed through his mind. Whenever he unreservedly revealed his weakness, Ha-jin felt like his thoughts were paralyzed with embarrassment.
That the words, I want to rest, were a sentence that could come out of his mouth. A subtle emotion resembling pity settled thickly in the middle of his chest.
“You don’t have to look at me so pitifully. I’ve always lived like this, even if this situation didn’t happen.”
Ha-jin had nothing to say, so he just nodded in response. While carefully scraping the remaining rice, Eden gave up his share of barley tea and tapped his mouth as if telling him something.
“You have sauce on your mouth.”
Ha-jin nodded awkwardly and quickly wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
“Not there, here.”
This time, he reached out and rubbed his thumb over Ha-jin’s mouth. Ha-jin, who was about to avoid the touch out of embarrassment, reflexively stiffened as he remembered the warning Eden had given him fiercely sometime ago.
‘Don’t avoid my touch.’
‘I’m telling you one last time because you seem to have forgotten.’
Eden smiled with dimples as if he was proud of Ha-jin for obediently accepting his touch like a well-behaved child.
[You crazy bastard. Can’t you just do it moderately?]
Jeffrey muttered a curse as he watched, and Ha-jin coughed.
“Ha-jin Uncle’s face is red!”
“Shh, you have to be quiet when you eat.”
Eden shamelessly raised his index finger to his lips, silencing the commotion. Mi-so, who was talking to Hongju Bosal about this and that, belatedly turned her head.
“Why, why. Is there something fun?”
Jeffrey frowned exaggeratedly at her, who was surprisingly clueless, as if teasing her.
“You’re an idiot, Mi-so.”
“Ugh, why am I suddenly an idiot?”
“Why is Mi-so Unni an idiot? The idiot butt is Jeffrey Uncle, right?”
“That’s right. Our Byeol is only saying the right things as if she’s smart.”
[Haa… I don’t know why babies like butts so much.]
While the attention of the group was diverted from him due to the sudden idiot debate, Ha-jin hurriedly quenched his dry throat with barley tea and finished his meal. Eden, who didn’t know what was so funny, was still chuckling, unable to take away the smile hanging on his lips.
“Thank you for the meal, Bosal.”
After finishing the meal, the group thanked Hongju Bosal again and stepped out of the restaurant.
“Excuse me….”
As if waiting, someone blocked their way. A short-haired man with hair grown to his shoulders, who looked to be in his late 20s at most, stood with his arms spread out.
“If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind having a short conversation with us?”
“Yes?”
“It’s been so long since someone came looking for us from below, so we have a lot of questions. You can rest assured that we’re not strange people.”
The man, who took a gesture of reassurance by spreading his palms, gave an awkward smile. Ha-jin turned his head and looked at the group still sitting blankly in front of the table. The people were giving awkward smiles to appeal their harmlessness like the short-haired man.
Everyone, including Mi-so, naturally turned their eyes to Eden, the leader. After hesitating for a moment, Eden checked the clock hanging in the restaurant and nodded his chin as a sign of permission.
Mi-so’s group sat down facing the group of survivors. The survivors consisted of various groups such as a family of two, a family of four, a child and a single mother, a middle-aged man and a brother and sister in their 20s who had lost their families, and members of a hiking club.
“To be honest, when I heard the knocking sound earlier, I thought it was a hallucination. I haven’t seen anyone for almost two weeks…. I even went down the mountain for a while, but there were only zombies in the vicinity.”
A woman in her 20s with yellow bleached hair scratched the top of her head where the black roots had grown out and sighed deeply. For someone staying in a safe place, her face was full of worries. One of the middle-aged women sitting next to her also responded, “Yeah, yeah.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I really thought everyone except us had died. There were quite a few people who went down to get supplies and couldn’t come back, yeah. After that, we were too scared to even think about going outside recklessly….”
“That’s right. I just thought we should live by self-sufficiency in the mountains, and that we would never see people again, but, whew, anyway, I’m glad to meet you again like this, and I even feel like crying.”
“Oh my, why is this Unni crying again, making me want to cry too?”
The kindness of opening the door to strangers without hesitation, treating them with scarce food, and giving them a room was all due to the fear and loneliness brought about by social isolation. Some joked and tried to laugh, but others sniffled or silently shed tears.
Ha-jin smiled bitterly as he looked at the faces of those who were pouring out their grievances.
“Of course, we were lucky compared to other people. Thanks to the monk and Hongju Bosal, we have a place to lie down comfortably. But since we don’t know the outside situation at all, we can’t just laugh and have fun.”
“That’s right. I don’t even know if my family is dead or alive. I can’t sleep because of worry, so I’m getting thinner day by day.”
To those who had struggled to survive day by day, fighting zombies on the dangerous streets, it was just a cute complaint, but even so, Ha-jin tried not to arbitrarily judge the scale of pain. Because the hardships he had experienced did not give him the justification to ignore the pain of others.
At that time, a middle-aged man who looked old knocked on the table as if to gather the survivors’ complaints.
“Okay, everyone. Let’s stop talking among ourselves and listen to these people. You must be tired from coming from afar.”
A woman of similar age nodded in agreement. She then carefully held Mi-so’s hand that was placed on the table.
“Excuse me, miss. May I ask where you came from? I think I heard you say you came from Sangwon earlier.”
Mi-so, who was secretly nudging the dozing Jeffrey with her shoulder, quickly raised her eyes.