Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 17

“But will there be anything there? We didn’t go in because it looked empty from the outside, remember?”

“We didn’t check inside though. You never know, there might be something left.”

Seokjae’s low voice was heard answering the puzzled Junwoo. Muyoung tried to join the conversation in a voice so small that they couldn’t hear.

“Hyung is right. There will be lots of food there. Because I’m going to fill it up.”

Imagining their surprised faces when they saw the food in the convenience store, Muyoung got very excited. He was so excited that even his pale gray face showed a bit of color.

“They’ll like it, right?”

He wouldn’t be able to hear them say thank you directly, but he hadn’t expected that for a long time. Muyoung was just satisfied with seeing people’s happy faces. Since he hadn’t seen such expressions in quite a while, he couldn’t help but be even more excited.

In fact, as time passed, survivors were more busy being wary than happy when they found food.

Of course, Muyoung understood that it was because of the desperate situation. He didn’t think they were bad. However, he felt dejected, reminiscent of the feeling he had as a child when he showed something for praise but received a lukewarm response.

It was a matter of life and death for the survivors. He hated himself for feeling disappointed just because they didn’t like it.

But he couldn’t give up on this act. It was the only way, albeit one-sided, for him to communicate with others after becoming isolated overnight. Muyoung wasn’t so noble as to expect nothing from even this.

“This time there’s a lot of different things, so I hope they’ll be even happier.”

Those two who were happy even with one box of ramen would surely be pleased enough to be satisfied.

And in fact, what he looked forward to most was something else.

“I wonder if he’ll smile again?”

He wanted to see Seokjae smiling at Kyungho and Junwoo again, like he did in the morning. If he smiled at the food Muyoung had brought, wouldn’t that be the same as smiling at him?

Just thinking about it made him feel good, and Muyoung, chuckling “hee hee,” hugged his bag tighter.

“I should go now…”

He wanted to keep watching from here. Since he didn’t feel cold or hot, it was certainly possible.

However, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t suddenly look out the window again like before, so Muyoung decided to move to a safe place, suppressing his regret.

“That place would be good after all.”

Muyoung, looking around, fixed his gaze on the building across the street. It was a building with windows facing the police substation. It was a perfect place to stay, where he could check their movements while hiding and quickly run over in case of emergency.

Muyoung immediately crawled carefully towards the building. He was worried that his silhouette might be visible through the curtains. Then, when he judged that he had created enough distance, he quickly stood up and ran away.

“…He keeps not showing his face.”

Seokjae, who had been watching Muyoung from start to finish, grumbled discontentedly at the retreating back.

* * *

The evening sun was staining red the glass walls smeared with someone’s blood and the fallen display stands. The sound of small running steps approached the quiet place devoid of any signs of life.

Pitter-patter-

The footsteps quickly drew near, and soon after, the convenience store door was roughly opened. The bell above the door made a dull sound rather than a clear tinkling, such was the force used to fling it open.

The one who boldly invaded the convenience store was Muyoung with a large bag. He strode into the store, scanned the empty interior once, then looked under the counter and muttered with satisfaction.

“Hmm, I guess I can relax for now.”

He had confirmed that there were no zombies inside, and he had cleared the zombies that were on the way from the police substation to the convenience store, so it seemed unlikely that anything worrisome would happen. It took a bit longer than expected to clear the alley, but he had no regrets thinking that the three people would be able to move comfortably.

“Good. Now let’s just put the things down and leave quickly.”

Muyoung, with a proud face, stood up one of the fallen display stands. Then he put down one of the two bags he was carrying. Seeing the setting sun, he was in a hurry, not knowing when the three would move.

He immediately knelt on one knee, opened the zipper, and neatly transferred the food from inside the bag to the display stand. Snacks, ham, instant rice, and so on. Various foods came out endlessly. As time passed, the once bulging bag revealed its bottom.

Muyoung’s hand, which had been busily moving things, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

“Uh…”

Muyoung, who had been quietly looking at the items he had moved, let out a small sigh.

“Is it too artificial?”

Looking at everything he had put up, it didn’t fit well with the chaotic place. Even if the single standing display stand could be considered a coincidence, items arranged in a neat row? It was obvious that someone had touched them.

Looking around, Muyoung decided this wouldn’t do and scattered the neatly arranged items. Then, thinking it should be okay now, he stepped back a bit to check the overall display stand.

“Huh?”

Muyoung blinked in confusion. Even though it was much messier than before, strangely, the feeling of being organized didn’t go away.

“Then if I touch this side this time…”

Rustle. A few snacks fell to the floor. It was better than at first, but it still felt odd. Muyoung’s expression became serious.

“How should I make it messy?”

He thought he could just touch things here and there. Making something moderately messy was quite difficult. Muyoung tried hard to create a naturally messy scene by moving some items to the floor and setting up other display stands.

In his efforts to meticulously mess things up, he completely forgot that he needed to leave this place quickly.

“Hyung, but what if there’s nothing?”

“Then we’ll have to look around elsewhere.”

“But I have a feeling there will be something.”

Muyoung, who was contemplating whether to throw an energy bar far away, was startled by the familiar voices coming from afar and stood up.

“Why?”

“There wasn’t a single zombie on the way here, right?”

“So?”

“It means it’s a lucky day. Maybe there will be food too?”

“I knew it, but you’re really positive.”

Muyoung stomped his feet at the sound of the conversation getting closer bit by bit. At this rate, they would soon arrive in front of the convenience store building.

“Uh, where should I hide?”

If he opened the door and went out now, he would surely face the three people directly. Muyoung first threw away the energy bar in his hand and picked up his bag.

As he rolled his eyes restlessly, a door in a corner came into view.

“Was there a door there?”

It seemed he had just discovered it because it was in such a corner.

‘Is it a storage room for inventory?’

Muyoung only thought that far before quickly running to open the door and enter. There was nowhere else to hide anyway. And there was no time to think deeply.

“Kyaaak!”

“Gasp.”

However, there was already an occupant in the storage room. A zombie wearing a uniform vest reacted to the sound of the door opening and lunged with both arms outstretched.

Surprised, Muyoung reflexively kicked the male zombie away. The zombie, kicked squarely in the abdomen, fell backward and rolled on the ground.

“Grrrr…”

With that impact, the plastic boxes piled up nearby collapsed onto the zombie. Startled by the unexpected commotion, Muyoung bit his lip and looked back towards the convenience store door.

The sound of the three people’s conversation was closer than before, but their figures were not yet visible.

“They didn’t hear it, right…?”

Picking up small conversation sounds from a distance was possible because Muyoung had extraordinary hearing. An ordinary person wouldn’t have noticed the recent commotion.

He stepped on the zombie trying to get up from under the boxes to stop it, while wiping his chest in relief.

“Gosh, there was one here.”

Though startled, Muyoung soon thought it was fortunate that he had discovered this place. If he had gone out without knowing anything, one of the three might have opened this door.

“That was dangerous.”

This time, he luckily discovered it before anything serious happened, but that couldn’t always be the case. The safety of those three was in his hands.

‘From now on, I should look around more thoroughly with a sense of responsibility.’

Muyoung made a firm resolution.

Meanwhile, the three people arrived in front of the convenience store and opened the door. Ding- Although they tried to open it carefully, the bell swayed and made a sound even at the slightest movement.