By Zephyria 
Ha-jin, with an unbearable shame hanging on his reddened ears, continued to speak in a rapid-fire manner.
“I should probably look for something like mouthwash when I stop by the supermarket later. And hand soap, too. Actually, paper soap is convenient, but I don’t know if they’ll have any. Oh, and it would be good to stock up on some more socks. Maybe we could stop by an empty house next time… Ugh?”
Suddenly, Ha-jin’s collar was grabbed, and his body was pulled forward powerlessly.
“…?!”
At the same time, he felt a vivid intake of breath, as if the skin near his Adam’s apple was about to be sucked in, and a humid exhalation. Eden, like a dog, had buried his head near Ha-jin’s collarbone and was sniffing.
As the blatant breath touched him, goosebumps rose all over his body.
“W-what are you doing…!”
A thick hand embraced his struggling waist with a rough force.
“You don’t smell.”
“Okay, I get it!”
“Just try to avoid my hand one more time.”
“I said I get it?!”
After pounding his shoulder a few times, Eden finally released his grip on his collar and waist. Ha-jin grabbed his dizzy head and glared at him with eyes that said he’d seen all kinds of crazy people.
“Talk with your words, use your words!”
“I tried talking, but you didn’t listen, so I showed you directly.”
“Why did you have to confirm that, of all things…”
However, Ha-jin couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because he had witnessed something particularly prominent on Eden’s thigh.
Noticing his wavering eyes, Eden casually glanced down at his lower body. His penis, which had grown to a terrifying size as if a serpent had taken refuge there, was ominous.
He clicked his tongue briefly, as if he was annoyed. Whenever he had the chance to touch Ha-jin or smell him up close, his lower body would stand up regardless of the place, so the inconvenience was indescribable.
He had felt it under the overpass, but Ha-jin’s vaguely sweet scent, which he couldn’t quite put his finger on, had a strange addictiveness that relaxed his body and mind like a sedative while also stimulating his lower body fiercely.
After enduring his arousal for a while, Eden asked casually.
“Shall we rest? I’ll go take care of it and come back.”
“……”
“Or we can take care of it together.”
Take care of what together? He didn’t even know how to answer, so he swallowed hard, and Eden got up from his seat.
Eden picked up the blood-stained Pickaxe and walked into the sunset-lit forest path, leaving the frozen Ha-jin behind.
❖ ❖ ❖
Ha-jin was moving his feet at a more unreasonable speed than ever before.
The superficial reason was to meet the group quickly, but the biggest reason was that he was embarrassed to face Eden, who had returned from masturbating last night.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with the act of relieving his desires itself. The problem was that he had been stealing glances at his neat right hand, which had been used for that act, and had even overslept.
‘What is he really trying to do?’
Since when did sexual frustration become a contagious virus? Ha-jin rubbed his tired eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Eden, who had no idea what he was thinking, grabbed his shoulder, which seemed to be straining somewhat, and stopped him.
“Let’s eat something and rest for a bit. It’s only 12 o’clock, so we have plenty of travel time today. There’s no need to overdo it.”
Only after being forcibly stopped did the entire soles of his feet tingle painfully. After hesitating, Ha-jin eventually followed him to a nearby village hall.
The sliding door to the entrance was tightly closed, but fortunately, there was no lock.
“Shall we go in?”
As soon as Ha-jin spoke, Pie bared his teeth and raised his tail high. It was a sign that there was a zombie. The two of them took a defensive stance and stepped back.
As soon as the door opened, a black, dead hand suddenly popped out.
“Kieeeek…!”
However, before he could even raise his Pickaxe, the white-haired zombie, whose leg had caught on the threshold, collapsed to the floor with a thud.
They prepared for a possible additional attack, but it only writhed like an earthworm and couldn’t get up easily. Ha-jin’s shoulders, which had been tense, drooped down.
“Let’s go in.”
Eden mercilessly stomped on the back of the old zombie and entered.
On the linoleum floor, there were piles of corpses of old people who had died even before becoming zombies. Ha-jin, who tried to turn his head away, rummaged through the kitchen while enduring the stench of corpses.
A considerable amount of sweet bean jelly, jerky, puffed rice crackers, and vitamin drinks came into his hands. Eden, who had taken out a few bottles of mineral water from a small room, suggested.
“If you’ve found everything, let’s go up to the roof. We can’t eat anything here.”
At that moment, a faint sound of crying was heard. The two, who were about to go outside, stiffened at the faint sign of life.
“Grandmother, hngh…”
The sobbing was coming from beyond the open sliding door of the entrance. When they turned their heads, they saw two boys who looked like elementary school students kneeling in front of the zombie.
The fingertips that desperately grabbed the shoulder of the Aberrant, who was not yet dead, were white with fear.
Ha-jin, realizing the situation, quickly ran out from under the shoe rack.
“What are you doing! Get away, it’s dangerous!”
As he waved his Pickaxe to stop them, tearful gazes turned to Ha-jin all at once.
“I said get away! What if you get bitten!”
He put down his weapon and grabbed the brothers by the scruff of their necks, lifting them up at once. He was taken aback by the much lighter weight than he had expected.
“Hngh, Grandmother…”
The children struggled and desperately looked at the zombie. Their sorrowful tears showed no sign of stopping.
As if responding to the crying, the zombie’s body writhed along with it.
“Kieeeek…”
While he was wondering what to do, Eden crossed the threshold with Pie. Ha-jin hurriedly stopped him when he saw him trying to step on the fallen zombie as he came out.
“Jeong Tae-geon! Don’t step on that zombie, or Grandmother, and come out to the side.”
“Huh?”
“I said don’t step on Grandmother and come out.”
Ha-jin frowned as if to say he had no sense and sent an additional signal. Eventually, Eden, who had lifted his foot, frowned and avoided the zombie’s body, stepping outside.
Pie, who was whimpering and watching, also jumped over the old zombie and approached Ha-jin’s side.
The children, who now had snot on their faces, were looking at Eden, Ha-jin, and Pie with curious eyes. Ha-jin smiled awkwardly and released the scruffs of their necks that he had been holding.
“Friends, why are you two wandering around alone so dangerously?”
His unique, friendly voice cut through the silent air. One of the children, who had been rolling his eyes warily, answered in a small voice.
“…Dad… went to find food.”
“Are you two brothers?”
“Yes…”
“Okay, okay. But why are you out here, it’s dangerous. You should go home quickly.”
The child, without answering, only shook his head and reached out his hand again towards the zombie lying down.
“Uh-oh, it’s dangerous, I told you not to! You can’t touch it. If you do, you’ll get bitten…!”
As he desperately tried to stop him, the child grabbed Ha-jin’s arm tightly. He was surprised by the tremendous grip, considering how skinny his body was. Startled by this, he met his gaze, and his plump lips opened hesitantly.
“I’m sorry…”
The way he dragged out his words was unusual.
“I’m really, hngh, sorry, but…”
What was he trying to say? Was he perhaps asking him to save his already zombified Grandmother? Or was he asking for food? Or maybe he was asking them to take them with him.
Ha-jin, counting the obvious possibilities, waited for the child’s next words with an anxious face.
“Because our Grandmother is in a lot of pain… just…”
“……”
“Could you… kill her? I hope she won’t, hngh, have a hard time anymore…”
But the request that came out of the child’s mouth completely deviated from his expectations. While he was frozen in bewilderment, Eden, who had been watching the situation, turned the children’s bodies outwards.
“Don’t look. And don’t cry.”
At his firm voice, the children closed their eyes and hugged each other tightly, as if suppressing their fear.
He strode towards the zombie and swung his Pickaxe without hesitation. Thwack! With the sound of the skull being crushed, the zombie’s writhing movement stopped completely.
Ha-jin and Eden hurriedly moved the corpse inside the village hall. Even after the situation was settled, the children were still hugging each other tightly, unable to open their eyes.
“The uncles are leaving now.”
When he patted their backs, the brothers bowed deeply in greeting. Suppressing their sorrowful cries, asking him to kill their Grandmother, and now greeting him so politely were all things that didn’t seem like their age.
They were at an age when they should have been busy protecting their innocence. Ha-jin’s heart ached at the thought that the children had become wise to the cruel world too early.
“Let’s go rest now.”
At Eden’s urging, Ha-jin, barely managing to gather his stinging heart, nodded. He wanted to help the brothers more than anything, but their given relationship ended here.
“Go home quickly because it’s dangerous, and stay healthy and endure.”
He hugged the children tightly one last time before finally turning his body. Eden pointed to the stairs behind the hall. He followed him straight away, but for some reason, Pie didn’t follow.
“Pie?”
Puzzled, he returned to the entrance and saw Pie’s back, wagging his tail and pacing anxiously.
“Pie, why aren’t you following and what are you doing there…”
Ha-jin’s mouth dropped open as he turned his gaze to where Pie’s gaze was directed.
The children, who he thought had returned home, were opening the sliding door of the village hall.