Episode 57
[Do-yoon’s POV]
I didn’t like the fact that I had to leave her behind. Especially to be alone with that guy… He looked so frail that he seemed more likely to fall over with a light push, and if something happened, rather than protecting her, he would probably get beaten first.
But taking her with me didn’t feel right either. There was definitely a strong zombie in that screening room unlike the regular zombies we had seen so far. It was better to leave her with that guy who seemed unreliable in a safe place rather than taking her with me when her body wasn’t fully healed.
‘Ha…’
I looked at her for a brief moment, not knowing whether she knew how I felt or not, then soon turned my gaze towards the theater. Unlike the other noisy rooms where zombies were banging on the doors, the last screening room, located at the very back, was eerily quiet.
I was sure the clear condition was in that place…
‘Clear condition’ — the term felt strange. This wasn’t a game… I found it absurd that I was using these words in real life. It made me want to laugh bitterly. But I couldn’t take it lightly. It was an important issue directly related to our survival, so I had spent time thinking deeply about it on my own. And to confirm if my thoughts were correct, I had asked her.
When she heard my words, she chose to avoid them, neither affirming nor denying. But that was enough. I could understand what it meant. It seemed she knew a lot.
“Then I’ll go and check. Rest here.”
While I was thinking about this, she finally stood next to him and decided to stay behind, telling me to be careful as I went. I responded briefly as well to show that I understood.
“Noona, I’ll be back.”
As I looked at her one last time, I saw her hesitating, as if she wanted to say something more. But it seemed she had no intention of speaking, so I turned around to head towards the theater. Just as I was about to leave, however, she hurriedly grabbed me and dragged me a bit away from the others.
“As soon as you go in, tear the screen. You have to tear the screen first.”
I was startled by her sudden words, wondering what on earth she was trying to say.
‘Screen…?’
Since there was no way she would give me wrong advice, I replied that I understood.
“And don’t fight the other zombies. Go to the projection room as quickly as possible and destroy the machine. After that, it will be easy. But breaking the machine will be difficult.”
She continued to spit out the words in rapid-fire, and then looked at me with the eyes of a parent watching their child by the water, worried.
“Don’t get hurt. No, it’s okay if you do get hurt. I can heal you. But you have to come back alive.”
After repeatedly reassuring her that I understood and would be careful, I managed to get away from her.
I wondered just how dangerous the creature was that she was so worried… Pushing aside my own growing anxiety, I headed towards the last screening room.
“Are you worried about Ji-ah?”
“…”
The woman I hadn’t been close to or talked to more than a few times with before suddenly spoke to me first. I didn’t feel like answering, so I remained silent.
“You must like her a lot.”
“…”
“I like Ji-ah too.”
Even though I didn’t answer, she kept talking to me, which was a little annoying. I looked at her with a questioning gaze asking what she wanted.
“Do you dislike me?”
“…”
When I continued to ignore her and moved past her, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Annoyed by her behavior, I turned around sharply and spoke bluntly, asking what the hell she was doing.
“….”
I kept ignoring it and trying to move on, but suddenly the woman stopped. I turned angrily and said bluntly, wondering what the hell she was doing when she no longer followed me.
“Instead of wasting time with pointless talk, let’s finish this quickly and leave. I don’t want to waste energy on unproductive conversations like this.”
“Do you dislike talking to me?”
“Why should I waste time having trivial conversations with you? If you need someone to talk to, go back. It’d be more convenient for me to go without you.”
“You’re completely different when you talk to Ji-ah.”
“Oh no. Do I have a reason to be nice to you?”
Thinking that further conversation would be a waste of time, I turned around and walked forward, leaving the woman behind. As I had just said, I thought it would be more convenient to go alone. However, just as I was thinking I had dropped my troublesome burden, a heavy weight suddenly pressed down on me from behind. Startled, I tried to push it off, but it was no use.
“Even if you’re a man and I’m a woman, I’m stronger than you.”
“Ugh… What are you doing! Let go of me right now!”
Annoyed by the pressure on my head and the chokehold around my neck, I shouted, but the woman didn’t seem to have any intention of releasing me.
“Do you think you’re the first guy I’ve met that’s like this? Among sports people, there are many who think they’re great and ignore others like this. Well, you’re a bit different fromt that, but still.”
“Stop talking nonsense and let go of me right now!”
“Oh dear, I didn’t want to say this, but you’re a bit lacking in manners. Since I’m older than you, you should speak nicely to me.”
At this point, I was starting to think she was really crazy. I knew she was a sports person, but still. How could she be so strong…?
“I’m not asking you to treat me like you treat Ji-ah. We’ll be together from now on, so if you keep being cold like this, it’s a bit… I know you and Jun-woo don’t like me.”
So what, was she expecting me to treat her like a colleague? I scoffed at her ridiculous words and tried to force the girl’s arm off my neck.
“But for Ji-ah’s sake, can’t you be a bit nicer to me than you are now? If not, Ji-ah will feel uncomfortable like she’s caught in the middle.”
“Are you threatening me now?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t do that. I’m just asking. I know you’re a good person at heart.”
“Ha, what basis do you have to say that?”
“You helped me. Even though you were annoyed, you helped me at the supermarket… ”
“It was because Noona asked me to. It wasn’t because I liked you.”
“You helped me at the hospital too. That black puppy. Even if you made it because of Ji-ah, you could have gotten rid of it halfway. But you didn’t ignore me and helped me when I was being chased by zombies.”
“That was also because of Noona…”
“Don’t always use Ji-ah as an excuse… Look now. You can get away from me using that ability, so why aren’t you?”
“…”
No matter how much I tried to get it off, her grip didn’t loosen. As my pride began to be hurt, I wondered if I should really just use my ability. But when she said words, the force in her arm holding mine loosened. Consequently, the arm wrapped around my neck also loosened, and she eventually let go of me.
“I know you like Ji-ah. I also know that you and Jun-woo don’t like me being in the middle. I have no intention of interfering between you two.”
“…”
“It’s okay if you treat me like this, but could you be a bit nicer to Jun-woo? We haven’t known each other for long, so I might be wrong, but he seems to be very conscious of others and tends to be timid. If you treat him like this, he will find it very difficult.”
After finally being freed from her, I tidied my messy hair and clothes while silently listening to her words.
Seo Ga-eun, was it? She really seemed to have an unnecessarily wide range of concerns. What did I know about how that guy was feeling?
“If you’re so worried about him, take care of him yourself.”
“I plan to, but… I think there’s something that men understand better between each other. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”
“Haah…”
“I really like Ji-ah. She’s like my little sister. She helped me a lot during my difficult times… Even though I lost my younger sister, I don’t want to lose Ji-ah. I feel the the same way for you and Jun-woo.”
“…”
“It might sound strange to say this, but since I’m the oldest here, I feel like I should protect everyone because you’re all like my younger siblings.”
Like a younger sibling? Protect others? That was funny. How long had we known each other to feel like siblings? But I refrained from sneering at her and telling her to just take care of herself instead.
“Jun-woo’s in a bad condition because of being stuck here, and he seems to be scared all the time, so I’m concerned about him. Ji-ah gives the impression that she’s the center of our group and supports everyone, but she’s taking on too much burden by herself, which makes me worried. I’m afraid she might collapse.”
“…”
“And you’re the one I’m most concerned about. Something about you bothers me… when I look at you, you seem very precarious.”
I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way she was treating us like children, trying to pay attention to every detail as if being a caretaker. As if she was something just because she was a bit older.
It suddenly made me remember the first time I entered the school. I felt even more nauseous when the close “friends” I met there and what happened to them came to mind.
“If I were stronger, I could protect you all. But honestly, I’m weaker than you. That’s why I’m asking for your help. I want you to help me. I want us to survive. We don’t need to be close-knit. I just hope we can trust and rely on each other a little.”
“..Hurry up and come quickly.”
I stepped forward past her.
“We don’t have time to talk like this. They’re waiting for us. We can’t leave those two alone for too long. Let’s finish this quickly and go back.”
“…Yes, yes. I’ll wait, then. Let’s finish this quickly and go back.”
🙁 Do-yoon has his own reasons. Maybe Ga-eun reminds him of himself in a way, being the older one in the school and trying to save everyone, getting betrayed, and after five lives, realizing there was no way to save everyone.
WELCOME BACK AMI!!! New chapters yippie itadakimasu 😋😋