By Zephyria 
Hee-sung, who had cried so much that he soaked Ha-jin’s chest, mumbled, wiping his snot with the back of his hand.
“Hyung, I really miss Jun-seok.”
Ha-jin chuckled and rubbed his swollen eyes.
“You think you’re the only one?”
Hee-sung gave a silly laugh at the playful remark. Gaining courage from Ha-jin’s reaction, he blurted out things he hadn’t even been asked.
“Jun-seok, he really wanted to go to Hyung’s Magic show.”
“I know.”
“Ah, you knew? Jun-seok said that if he went to the Magic show, Hyung would be too nervous and mess it up, so he held back. I was wondering if you were upset about it….”
Ha-jin forced a smile, but a part of his heart ached, and his breath trembled. What if he had been a little braver? If he had handed Jun-seok, who said he wouldn’t come, a ticket and said just one word: that it was a Magic show for him, so he should come.
If he had, would Jun-seok be sitting next to him now instead of Hee-sung…? He gave another bitter smile at the futile assumption.
“Jun-seok said he would definitely go to Hyung’s Magic show next time. He said he would go secretly even if Hyung stopped him.”
Hee-sung continued, his voice thick with congestion. His heart ached as if it were being crushed by the continuing talk of Jun-seok. But he didn’t feel like running away as he used to. Even in his pain, Ha-jin carefully stored every episode of his brother that Hee-sung told him in his heart.
The two were slowly realizing Jun-seok’s death in that way. When they shared Jun-seok’s ridiculous habits, they would laugh together, but as if by appointment, they had to avert their eyes to a distant place and soothe their surging hearts.
“Thank you, Hee-sung.”
Surprise spread across Hee-sung’s face at Ha-jin’s unexpected words.
“What, what do you have to thank me for…?”
“In many ways. For saving Jeong Tae-geon, and for telling me the truth about Jun-seok.”
“……”
His bright face began to distort unpleasantly. Hee-sung, who had been intimidated by guilt all along, blushed again at Ha-jin’s comforting words of gratitude.
❖ ❖ ❖
Eden was staring silently at Ha-jin’s face, who had fallen asleep before the sun even set. Groans occasionally escaped from him, as if his body, which had been tense with tension, was aching. Eden, who had been guarding Ha-jin’s side all along, shoved a painkiller into his mouth and got up from his seat.
It had only been a day since he woke up, and he had occasional headaches, but fortunately, his condition wasn’t bad. He massaged his temples and looked down at his arm, which was hideously bruised in purple. It was a trace of injury from protecting his head and neck. It was a wonder that his bones weren’t broken.
Eden opened the door to the lounge to find Pie, who must be playing somewhere. Just then, he met Da-yeon’s eyes as she crossed the lobby. She stopped in her tracks as if it were natural.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? Should I give you more medicine?”
Two gardeners who were following her also stopped walking. Despite it being midsummer, the three were heavily armed with long sleeves and long pants. They were even wearing green rubber gloves and holding shovels.
Eden scanned their strange attire and replied nonchalantly.
“I’m fine with the medicine.”
She let out a sigh of relief and explained her flamboyant outfit as if it were an excuse.
“There’s a small container box on the outskirts of the outdoor garden. It’s where we keep the garden management tools, and Min-hyung… no, there’s a Zombie in there, so we’re heavily armed in case we get bitten.”
Eden’s eyebrows twitched at the sudden Zombie story. Da-yeon elaborated.
“He used to work here, but he went outside a while ago and came back bitten. When he still had some sanity left, he volunteered to go inside the container.”
“But why are you going there?”
“We did some experiments on him, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to find out anything more. I’m going to let him rest in peace now.”
She fidgeted with the handle of the shovel she was holding with a pitiful expression. She had been conducting experiments based on the employee’s will to use his body, but the decay had become so severe that it was now difficult to even recognize his face.
The curly-haired man added.
“We should at least make him a grave. And put his favorite flowers on it….”
The man’s face was also quite gloomy as he said that. Eden asked.
“May I come with you?”
“Are you sure? There are a lot of maggots and it’s going to be disgusting.”
“I’ve seen worse.”
Eden followed the three across the outdoor garden, which was stained with crimson sunset. He asked Da-yeon.
“Did you find out anything from the experiment?”
“It’s all just a hypothesis, so I can’t give you an accurate answer.”
“Anything is fine.”
Da-yeon let out a long, nervous sigh as the container approached. Then she stopped in her tracks and pointed to the puppies playing far away.
“Have you ever heard of Hydrophobia?”
“Hydrophobia?”
She frowned at the unfamiliar word, and she took out a 500ml plastic bottle that she had put in her pocket and shook it.
“It literally means a fear of water. It’s the same as rabies, which we all know. It’s only called Hydrophobia when a person is bitten.”
Only then could Eden understand Da-yeon’s reaction to being overly afraid of Pie when they first met. She was suspecting a link between the Zombie virus and rabies.
Da-yeon looked up at Eden with a serious face.
“People with Hydrophobia experience severe pain or muscle spasms when they swallow water. That’s why they become extremely afraid of liquids. You’ve been outside for a long time, so you know that Zombies also show a vulnerable reaction to rain and water.”
“So you’re saying that the Zombie virus is a contagious disease derived from Hydrophobia?”
“Rather than being derived, I’m just speculating that it might be a type of acute encephalomyelitis like Hydrophobia. However, what I can’t understand is that Hydrophobia is a typical viral zoonotic disease, but I haven’t seen any cases of animals becoming Zombified yet. So my guess is….”
“That someone may have artificially spread the virus.”
Da-yeon stopped breathing for a moment, as if surprised by Eden’s nonchalant remark. The eyes of the two gardeners who were listening also widened.
Eden stroked his chin and recalled the early contagious disease called the Cannibal Virus. Why did it start in Sudan of all places? While he was pondering the African epidemic, he arrived at the container where the Zombie was trapped.
Instead of the three people who were hesitating to enter rashly, Eden opened the door. A stench that made his head throb swept the tip of his nose. The corpse was so decayed that it was half-melted, so it was embarrassing to even call it a Zombie.
Eden gestured to the gardeners who were holding weapons. But none of them stepped forward to deal with the Zombie first. It was unclear whether they were afraid of killing the Zombie, or whether they were hesitant to strike the head of an employee they knew.
Unable to watch any longer, Eden struck the Zombie’s softened head and dragged it outside in their place. The gardeners stared at the corpse that came out with the white maggots, and eventually couldn’t stand it and turned their heads away. Eden, who was sensitive to smells, also grabbed his throbbing head and moved away from the corpse.
The gardeners, who had been gagging for a long time, put the Zombie in a pre-dug pit and began to cover it with dirt. Eden asked Da-yeon, who was cutting flowers in the flower bed.
“Did that Zombie speak too?”
Da-yeon widened her round eyes as if to ask how he knew that.
“That’s right, it did make a voice. Were there Zombies outside that spoke too?”
“There weren’t many, but there were.”
“I see. Min-hyung kept calling out names I didn’t know. I guess he was looking for his lover or family….”
“Do you think Zombies have intelligence?”
As Eden asked the question, he recalled the face of Jun-seok, who had been calling out “Hyung.” She pondered for a moment and shook her head calmly.
“No. If the hippocampus, which is in charge of memory, is not completely destroyed, they can repeat certain words, but that’s only in terms of function, not that they’ve developed intelligence.”
Fortunately, Da-yeon also offered a similar view to Eden. The two watched the gardeners making the grave and continued their conversation.
“Then what do you think about the evolution of Zombies?”
“Evolution is definitely possible. But they can’t develop intelligence. Those two things are completely different dimensions.”
Eden made eye contact with her to mean that he was listening. Da-yeon scratched her light eyebrows and calmly laid out her thoughts.
“Just as birds’ gills develop to breathe in water, Zombies may have begun to develop their physical structure or certain senses in order to find prey. Like running faster or developing a sense of smell. But that doesn’t mean they can become human again. They’re biologically dead bodies, so regeneration is impossible. No creature on Earth can go back in time. Of course, this is just my speculation.”
Through her explanation, Eden could understand why Da-yeon was gaining strong trust as a leader here. The closer people got to the reality of the virus, the more they may have glimpsed hope that the situation might improve.
Just then, Pie ran towards them with a dead branch and a flower in his mouth. Eden handed the flower in Pie’s mouth to Da-yeon and turned back to the lounge where Ha-jin was asleep.