Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 20

It had only been two days, but having experienced being able to hover around him all day, the current fleeting moments were far from enough.

The only times Muyoung could see Seokjae were at dawn and evening when they moved. During the hours when they couldn’t move, he was busy cleaning the streets and searching for good places to stay.

Of course, any aspect of Seokjae was good, but… for Muyoung, who wanted to observe his daily life, it was very disappointing to only see him walking tensely on the road.

In other words, Muyoung was currently in a state of severe shortage of fan content to enjoy.

“I want to see Seokjae hyung eating too… I want to see him sleeping too…”

While Muyoung was making pitiful sounds as he hung on the wall like laundry, the door of the house the three had entered opened again, and Seokjae appeared.

“Oh, oh oh?”

Surprised, Muyoung flailed and fell backwards. Thud- He fell straight into the bushes, bruising his bottom.

“Ugh.”

Though he shouldn’t be able to feel pain, he frowned as if it stung.

While Muyoung was like this, Seokjae glanced at the noisy wall once and attached a paper where the original memo had been. Then he went back inside without hesitation.

“W-what’s going on?”

By the time Muyoung had managed to cling to the wall again, the entrance was already empty. Unable to follow the situation that had unfolded so quickly, Muyoung belatedly noticed the change.

“Why did he put it back?”

He had intentionally left large traces for dangerous paths or buildings to help other people too, but temporary shelters were different. As it was a mark only for the three of them, he had stuck memos so that traces could be easily removed once they served their purpose.

Seokjae seemed to have noticed this intention, as he had always collected the memos before entering. Today too, he had taken it inside well, so why did he suddenly put it back?

“This could be dangerous…”

He didn’t know what the intention was, but it wasn’t good for traces of their stay to be visible from the outside. After weighing his options internally for a while, Muyoung finally made up his mind and climbed over the wall into the house’s yard.

‘Surely no one will suddenly jump out from inside the house?’

He approached cautiously, on guard. And when he got close enough to read the small writing on the memo, Muyoung’s mouth opened slightly.

“Huh…?”

Blinking with a blank face, Muyoung forgot his caution and quickly approached the wall. It wasn’t the paper he had been using.

Carefully peeling off the paper, Muyoung couldn’t take his eyes off the neatly written letters.

[Thank you.]

A simple word. It was the first gratitude Muyoung had received from someone since becoming a zombie.

Muyoung slumped to the ground right there.

‘Wooow…’

His face, silently screaming, seemed to regain life for a moment.

“Is this, is this a fan letter? No, since I received it, what should I call it?”

Muyoung was restless, pressing his fingers hard so as not to drop the paper, yet not gripping it too tightly for fear of crumpling it. It took him quite a while to calm down.

“Gwanghun said fans can never climb the ladder, but I guess that’s not true…”

Muttering as if deeply moved, Muyoung got up, glanced towards the house door, and decided to keep the paper. They might think it strange if the memo disappeared, but… wouldn’t they just assume it had blown away in the wind?

And even if he became suspicious, he really wanted to keep this.

“How could I not take the first letter exchanged with hyung?”

Although it wasn’t exactly an exchange of letters since Muyoung had only left marks, it was true that a reply had come, so he decided to consider it two-way communication.

It seemed Seokjae had left the thank you note thinking that the person who left the marks might return here. Not knowing that the other person was actually hovering around them.

“Isn’t he really an angel?”

His joy was doubled because he truly never expected to receive a thank you. If Seokjae had been in front of him, he might not have been able to resist hugging him. Thanks to Seokjae’s note, which seemed to read and soothe his tired heart like magic, Muyoung was brimming with enthusiasm.

‘Hyung, I’ll make sure you only walk safe paths from now on.’

Muyoung made an internal promise, tucked the paper deep into his bag so as not to lose it, and left the yard.

Even so, he didn’t think this would continue. He decided to read this note, a one-time luck born from Seokjae’s whim, hundreds of times and rejoice.

* * *

[I’ll eat well.]

A note was attached to the supermarket shelf. Muyoung’s expression became serious as he looked at it.

“Could it be that he knows I’m around?”

He thought it would be a luck that wouldn’t come again, but contrary to expectations, he was receiving Seokjae’s notes almost daily. Moreover, this time it wasn’t even at a temporary shelter, but at a place where they had just gathered food and left.

At this point, Seokjae’s notes were starting to feel like rewards received for successfully completing a quest in a game.

“I should take it for now.”

Although it had become common, it didn’t mean he wasn’t happy, so after a moment of doubt, Muyoung peeled off the sticky note. It was a quick movement without hesitation, as this was a place where they wouldn’t have time to check if the paper had disappeared or not.

“Hmm…”

Though there was nothing more to do, Muyoung rolled his eyes as if pondering something, staring intently at the memo before muttering softly.

“Should I write something too?”

He wanted to have a conversation with Seokjae. Receiving notes like this every time made a desire he hadn’t had before bloom. It was something he had given up on from the start, thinking it was impossible. But in this form… maybe it really was possible?

It was already half successful, even if it was one-sided from both sides. If he left a question instead of a shape, it seemed Seokjae would answer accordingly.

However, if that happened, it would confirm that he was hovering around Seokjae, making it difficult to attempt easily. If Seokjae had left the notes because he had somewhat noticed his presence, there would be no problem, but if it was for any other reason, it would be a major incident.

‘I’ve just gained their trust as a sort of Daddy Long Legs figure.’

The moment they considered the person following them suspicious, not only would this small communication disappear, but in the worst case, they might even reject his help.

“…I’ll put it on hold for now.”

Unable to muster the courage, Muyoung muttered dejectedly, then realizing he had wasted too much time, hurriedly followed the three.

“Found them.”

As he went outside the building, he saw the backs of the three entering the path he had guided them to. Relieved, Muyoung followed them with now quite skillful movements, constantly looking around.

Although he had cleared away as many danger factors as possible, all Muyoung could handle were zombies. Since there were survivors as well as zombies in the city, he couldn’t be completely at ease.

“What if they really show up?”

Muyoung was still unsure about what to do if other survivors met the three.

Whether they were bad people or good people, accepting them was up to Seokjae and the two. It wasn’t something he could step in for.

However, having seen how people change in crisis situations, Muyoung hoped they would avoid meeting new survivors as much as possible. Because not everyone in the world was as kind as them.

“But if anyone bothers hyung and the kids, I won’t let them off…”

Just as he was tensing his eyes, imagining someone extending a black hand towards them.

‘Huh?’

Muyoung’s head suddenly turned sharply in one direction. As he stared at the empty alley without even blinking, the sound he had just heard pierced his ears again.

“Aah!”

It was definitely a human voice.

“That place…”

The problem was the direction of the alley where the scream came from. At its end was a building where he had hastily herded the zombies from the street due to lack of time.

What if someone else had opened the door where he had confined the zombies?

“What should I do?”

With a bad feeling, Muyoung alternately looked at the receding backs of the three and the alley, then eventually turned his body. The temporary shelter he had prepared wasn’t far from here, so they should arrive safely.

Unable to ignore someone who might be in danger because of him, Muyoung ran towards the voice.

“S-someone please…!”

And not long after, he could see a man standing on the sunroof of a car. About a dozen zombies surrounded him, reaching out towards the man.