By Zephyria 
The onlookers who had been secretly observing the situation from the next bed whistled. This time, there were four, not two. Jeffrey, Park Chun-beom, Mi-so, and Byeol sat side by side, stifling their laughter.
“Ah, is there no popcorn? This is too fun.”
As Mi-so scratched his nerves, Ha-jin glared, sprawled out on the bed.
“Yun Mi-so. You should appeal too.”
“I’m not lacking anything?”
Mi-so flicked her tongue as if asking what the problem was.
Yeah, your physique is great, I get it. Ha-jin thumped the back of his head against the pillow several times. Poof—He sighed, then rose from the bed with a renewed look on his face.
Just then, Eden came out of the bathroom. When their eyes met, he turned away and crossed over to the next room. Ha-jin hurriedly followed him before the door could close.
Watching, Park Chun-beom fiddled with his glasses and asked Byeol.
“Byeol, you want to go with them too, right?”
“Yes!”
“Hehe. You like Unni that much?”
Mi-so interjected, pinching Byeol’s chubby cheeks, and Byeol stammered on.
“Actually, I’m going to marry Ha-jin the magician, so of course I have to go with him.”
At Byeol’s unexpected claim, Jeffrey, Park Chun-beom, and Mi-so, who were sitting side by side on the bed, opened their mouths in surprise. Marriage? Speechless, the three exchanged glances in the air, then burst into silent laughter.
While the group was gathered together, chattering, Ha-jin quietly closed the door. Click.
At the sound of the door closing, Eden, who was sitting on the bed, turned his head. What is it now? Eden was asking with a frown as he found Ha-jin.
Ha-jin, who had approached in one stride, abruptly pulled the blanket over his shoulders.
“I’ll stand guard. Sleep well.”
Eden was unexpectedly docile. His face was firm, showing his determination not to react to the ridiculous flirting any longer.
“I’m fine.”
Supporting his upper body with his arm, he leaned back and stared at the black TV screen, which had lost its signal.
Is he really not going to talk to me anymore? Ha-jin pouted, feeling a strange sense of disappointment, and abruptly sat down next to him.
“I know it won’t work even if I flirt, so I’ll stop now. But let me make one last appeal.”
At the different, serious voice, Eden looked at Ha-jin’s profile reflected in the TV. His face was resolute and anxious. The childish playfulness that had been bubbling up was nowhere to be seen.
“First of all, I’m not as nice as Jeong Tae-geon thinks.”
At the sudden humility, a look of bewilderment crossed Eden’s eyes. Ha-jin’s head dropped.
“Actually, the reason I saved Jeong Tae-geon, and the reason I tried to give a chocolate bar to a complete stranger, was all for me, not for others.”
Ha-jin, taking a deep breath, looked like a rookie salesperson giving a presentation to an important buyer. Eden stared at Ha-jin’s head, which was deeply bowed in the TV, and asked.
“Not for others, but for you. What does that mean?”
“You might not understand, but it’s just that I can’t stand feeling uncomfortable. The reason I saved Jeong Tae-geon was purely to make myself feel better. Because I thought that even later, the moments I had turned away might suddenly come to mind.”
Eden turned his gaze from the blank TV screen to Ha-jin, who was sitting next to him.
“And if I were really nice, I would have just shut up when Jeong Tae-geon refused to go with me, so as not to cause trouble. But I can’t do that. I really want to survive, and I have a younger sibling I need to save. Actually, I was planning to follow you even if you didn’t allow it.”
Ha-jin, who had poured out his words without taking a breath, slowly raised his head. Eden, whom he had expected to be frowning as if annoyed, was surprisingly making a strange expression.
Dazed, Ha-jin caught his breath and added.
“You said you needed someone who could kill zombies with their bare hands if possible. Not bare hands, but somehow, I think I can manage with a hammer. I can do it if I try. Jeong Tae-geon wasn’t born wielding an axe, either.”
Is this not it? It felt like the more he opened his mouth, the more his words got tangled.
“No, anyway, the conclusion is, I’m fully aware that this is a world where you can only survive if you’re rational and selfish, as Jeong Tae-geon said, and I can act that way at any time if necessary. Of course, sometimes people save people, but…”
“Is your appeal over?”
“No.”
Ha-jin, taking one last deep breath, stared straight into Eden’s deep, ink-black eyes.
“Jeong Tae-geon needs someone like me. Someone who can show him that there are other options besides just one answer in front of him. Of course, the same goes for me. Please, seriously consider accompanying me one more time.”
Eden raised his head, following Ha-jin as he got up from his seat. The rookie salesperson, who had successfully completed his presentation, had a relieved look on his face.
It was purely out of impulse that he stopped Ha-jin, who was about to open the closed door.
“Do Ha-jin.”
At just the name, Do Ha-jin’s back flinched. He looked back at Eden with a clearly nervous expression.
“Even if it was a choice made to make Do Ha-jin feel better, I sincerely appreciate all of these things. But accompanying me is a different matter, so I trust you’ll understand whatever choice I make. I’ll give you my answer by tomorrow. And,”
“……”
“I know what you mean, but that’s enough to say that Do Ha-jin is nice.”
Eden nodded, as if telling him to leave. Ha-jin scratched the back of his neck, feeling his ears burning. Hesitating, he bowed his head and opened the door.
Left alone, Eden listened to the sound of conversation overflowing from the next room.
“How did it go? Is it settled?”
“No. He said he’d think about it a little more and let me know…”
[Ugh! Eden, that worthless jerk is acting so high and mighty. Should we just leave him behind?]
“Does Samchon not like him?”
“No. He didn’t say he didn’t like him, he just said he’d think about it. Don’t worry too much…”
“I wanna go with Ha-jin Samchon!”
“Hahaha.”
“By the way, is it okay to go to the third floor for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Didn’t he say to come for lunch? Or was it?”
“My, tummy, hurts.”
“You’re hungry?”
“Ah, yeah. Hungry.”
How they had become so close in such a short time, the voices of the four people gathered together harmonized like a chord.
Leaving the cozy atmosphere behind, Eden leaned back against the head of the bed alone, lost in thought. Do Ha-jin, whom he had expected to act childishly and stubbornly, like offering a chocolate bar, had surprisingly appealed to him logically and calmly.
‘Jeong Tae-geon needs someone like me. Someone who can show him that there are other options besides just one answer in front of him.’
There was no room to refute Do Ha-jin’s words. After all, it was thanks to his altruism that he had narrowly escaped death, and thanks to him not turning away from the old man, he had been able to replenish his insufficient calories.
Besides, the saying that people sometimes save people was quite touching. And that confident look in his eyes as he stared straight at him, even though he was nervous…
Swallowing a sigh that flowed from deep within, Eden quietly closed his eyes.
❖ ❖ ❖
Ha-jin, who had been tossing and turning all night with disturbing dreams, groggily opened his eyes. His vision was hazy. In one corner of the double bed, Jeffrey was snoring loudly. Ha-jin stared blankly at Jeffrey’s curly brown hair and turned to his side.
Right next to him, the single bed was empty. What’s going on. He rolled his eyes, but only Park Chun-beom was lying sprawled out on the floor, snoring.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Ha-jin got up and crossed over to the next room, which was wide open. On the bed, Mi-so and the child were asleep, hugging each other. Similarly, Eden was nowhere to be seen.
After hesitating, Ha-jin carefully shook Park Chun-beom, who was lying on the floor.
“Chun-beom, Chun-beom, wake up.”
“Ugh…”
“Tune!”
As he shouted the nickname Jeffrey called him, Park Chun-beom finally opened his eyes wide.
“Eh… uh?”
“Sorry for waking you up. Have you seen Jeong Tae-geon by any chance?”
Park Chun-beom, with a bewildered look, blinked for a while and slowly raised his upper body.
“Ah… Director is, well, if you can’t see him, he’s probably on the roof.”
“The roof?”
“He sometimes goes up there early in the morning. To check on the zombies… haaam, oh, sorry, a yawn. Anyway, to check on the zombies’ movements.”
Since he hardly ever woke up early in the morning except on days when he was on guard duty, he had no idea that Eden even went up to the roof. Ha-jin nodded and patted Park Chun-beom’s shoulder as if to apologize.
“I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”
“Haaam. But Ha-jin, you didn’t call me Tune just now, did you?”
Don’t become like Jeffrey. Park Chun-beom added a warning as if complaining, and then lay back down.
Ha-jin, after confirming that he was fast asleep, straightened his bent knees. There was no weapon in the shoe rack, so he must have taken the hammer with him. After hesitating, he picked up Mi-so’s weapon, the pliers.