Chapter 56

The commotion had drawn people from the sleeping rooms upstairs. Those who had gone to bed after completing their screenings descended into the lobby one after another until a crowd filled the space outside the director’s office.

No one dared come too close.

In the middle of the gathering, Lee Yun-chang shuffled forward, sweat pouring down his face.

“Um… Sister…”

Myeongju turned to him. “Yun-chang, what happened?”

“Well…”

Yun-chang shrank beneath everyone’s attention as though he wanted to disappear into the floor.

Sun-yeong glared at him and bellowed, “Tell them properly! Hurry up! I wasn’t bitten!”

“I-it’s true.” Yun-chang swallowed hard. “She only injured herself. She isn’t infected. If she were infected, she would’ve turned already. This is impossible…”

Myeongju slowly shook her head, pain settling across her features. By now, the truth was already far too clear.

“Sun-yeong, we don’t intend to hurt you. We’ll keep you under observation for a few more days. If you don’t turn, we’ll release you immediately.”

“Liar!” Sun-yeong screamed. “I wasn’t bitten! Why is everyone just standing there? If they tie me up over a simple wound, any one of you could be accused next! You’ll all be dragged away and bound the moment someone decides to start a witch hunt!”

As she thrashed, more blood spilled from her ankle and spread across the floor.

At that moment, the crowd parted. Hyeonseop hurried through the opening with a rope in one hand and a blanket bundled beneath his arm.

The sight of them sent Sun-yeong into a frenzy.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

“Hold still, will you?” Geun-cheol barked.

“Let gooo!”

Yu-su had been watching Sun-yeong closely. The instant her head snapped toward Geun-cheol’s arm, he shouted, “She’s trying to bite you!”

Click.

Geun-cheol instinctively jerked his hand away. Sun-yeong’s teeth clashed together less than an inch from his wrist.

He stared at her in disbelief, his expression hardening into something vicious. “Have you completely lost your mind? Seriously?” Geun-cheol clamped one hand around Sun-yeong’s jaw and forced her mouth shut. “Gag her. Shove anything in there.”

“Yes.”

“No! Hey, wait! N-nooo!”

Sun-yeong fought with the desperation of someone struggling for her life. Her violent thrashing nearly overwhelmed both men, and Muwon, unable to watch them fumble any longer, stepped in.

Thud!

He seized the back of Sun-yeong’s neck with one hand and drove her to the floor, pinning her there with brutal, practiced efficiency. Holding her down, he extended his other hand toward Hyeonseop.

“Give me the rope.”

Startled by the sheer force of the restraint, Geun-cheol quickly passed it over. Within moments, Muwon had bound Sun-yeong so tightly that she could not move a single limb. The others wrapped the blanket around her body, further restricting her movements.

“Mmmph! Mmmph!”

Burst capillaries reddened Sun-yeong’s eyes as she glared first at Muwon and Yu-su, then at Geun-cheol and Myeongju. Finally, her stare settled on Yun-chang.

“Mmmph!”

“Sister… Sister…”

Drenched in cold sweat, Yun-chang approached Myeongju. His entire body trembled like a leaf caught in a gale.

“Y-you know what happened to our child. We had to send them away after they turned into a… a z-zombie.” His voice cracked. “There’s no way my wife would ever…”

“Yun-chang.”

“It can’t be that. It really can’t.” He struggled for breath. “Sister, she’s already weak. If she’s treated this roughly and something happens to her…”

Myeongju said nothing. She merely extended a hand and helped Yun-chang straighten.

“Did you know she had been bitten, Yun-chang?”

“That… That isn’t what happened at all.”

Myeongju held his gaze in silence.

“She told me she wasn’t bitten,” he insisted. “Sister, it really isn’t what you think. Please believe her…”

The conversation went nowhere. Yun-chang continued repeating that it could not be true, while Sun-yeong’s muffled screams dissolved into uncontrollable sobbing.

Whispers of sympathy began spreading through the crowd.

Sun-yeong was still human, after all, and no one had died yet.

Eventually, a couple who had been close to Sun-yeong and Yun-chang stepped forward.

“Sister… when do you plan to release her?”

“I intend to observe her for approximately three days,” Myeongju answered. “It has already been a week since Sun-yeong went out on the search. Three more days will make ten. If she still hasn’t turned by then, it should be safe to assume she won’t.”

“T-that’s true.” The woman glanced uneasily at Sun-yeong. “Please don’t treat her too harshly. Some people are bitten and still don’t turn.”

There had been a handful of rare cases in which people bitten by zombies died while still human. Most of them, however, had only avoided turning because the zombies had chewed their bones to pieces and devoured them before the infection could finish its work.

Someone in the crowd shouted angrily, “Don’t say things like that without thinking! If you release her and she turns later, every one of us will be in danger!”

“Exactly!” another person cried. “How can ten days possibly be enough to reassure anyone? I don’t want to stay in the same building as her!”

Myeongju swallowed a sigh before raising her voice over the unrest.

“I’ll say this again. Being bitten does not guarantee that someone will become a zombie. I will keep Sun-yeong contained and make certain she poses no threat to anyone else’s safety. Until then, please wait.”

The people exchanged anxious whispers. Some stamped their feet, torn between sympathy and fear, while others stared at Sun-yeong with naked suspicion.

Seeing the discontent brewing among them, Geun-cheol stepped forward.

“What are you all still staring at? We’ll keep her properly quarantined, so stop whining and disperse.”

“Geun-cheol,” Myeongju said, “take Sun-yeong to the fifth floor.”

Jo Geun-cheol nodded and hoisted Sun-yeong over his shoulder. Her muffled screams started again, but as he carried her toward the stairs, the crowd finally began to scatter.

Jeong Yu-su remained where he was, staring at the dark pool of blood spreading across the floor of the director’s office.

It had been chaotic, but identifying and isolating the infected person had been much easier than he had expected. Everything had ended quickly.

Was that enough to prevent tomorrow’s tragedy? Had he stopped that puddle of blood from becoming a sea of corpses?

A colder thought followed.

What if it wasn’t?

Sun-yeong was unquestionably infected. Yu-su felt no pity for her. She had concealed the bite and knowingly endangered everyone in the academy.

Instead, a different fear began creeping into him.

What if Sun-yeong wasn’t the one who triggered tomorrow’s outbreak? What else was he supposed to prepare for? What else…

“Yu-su.”

Jang Myeongju’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“You worked hard today. It’s very late, so go inside and get some rest. We won’t be conducting a search today anyway.”

“Yes.” Yu-su hesitated. “Um, Sister?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you worried? What if… What if Sun-yeong doesn’t turn?”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

Myeongju rested a reassuring hand on Yu-su’s shoulder.

“I’ll apologize to Sun-yeong, and I’ll be more cautious so something like this doesn’t happen again. Besides, if we learn that people can survive even after being bitten, the atmosphere in the academy may eventually improve.”

“…I suppose so.”

It sounded like an answer, yet somehow did not feel like one.

Myeongju told him once more to get some sleep before heading upstairs. As she left, Muwon tapped the back of Yu-su’s hand with one finger.

“…Let’s go.”

“Oh. Right.”

Seeing Yu-su’s lukewarm response, Joo Hee-eun and Sim Gorak joined in.

“Yes, Assistant Manager,” Hee-eun said. “Let’s get some rest.”

Gorak nodded vigorously. “She’s right. I don’t have an ounce of strength left.”

The atmosphere inside the academy was utterly fucked.

Normally, people gathered late into the night to talk, but now everyone had locked themselves inside the sleeping rooms. Barely a shadow moved through the corridors.

Inside the eerily quiet Sleeping Room Six, Muwon’s voice cut through the silence.

“Jeong Yu-su. Your hands haven’t moved in five minutes.”

“Ah…”

Even after returning to the room, Yu-su had been too anxious to sit still. He had opened his bag partly to inspect his personal belongings and partly to record the events of the day, but somewhere along the way, his hands had simply stopped.

Pulled from the depths of his thoughts, Yu-su returned the scattered items to his bag.

“You’re right. I guess I can’t organize anything properly today.”

“You do realize you look incredibly anxious, don’t you?”

“…A little.”

“We found the person who was bitten and isolated her. Everyone else passed the screening. What’s the problem?”

“I’m worried there might be another problem I don’t know about.”

A warm, blunt fingertip tapped Yu-su’s pale forehead.

“You’ve done enough. Worrying beyond this point is a waste of energy.”

“…I know, but stopping isn’t easy.”

Muwon sighed at the vague response. He sat beside Yu-su, slid an arm around his waist, and pulled him sharply against his side.

Yu-su’s body tensed involuntarily. Tilting his chin upward, he looked at Muwon’s profile.

“…Why?”

Muwon shifted his eyes just enough to meet Yu-su’s gaze. Then he tightened his arm and pressed Yu-su’s cheek against his shoulder.

“If you can’t stop worrying, then keep worrying. I’ll stay beside you while you do.”

Yu-su blinked, caught off guard, then abruptly punched Muwon in the thigh.

“Ah, fuck! What was that for?”

“I’m grateful.”

“Be grateful one more time and I’m hitting you back.”

Yu-su ignored the ridiculous threat. Closing his eyes, he lightly tapped his fingertips against the back of Muwon’s hand. His tension gradually loosened, but the relief did not last.

Scenes from tomorrow continued surfacing in his memory.

“Help me!”

The woman who had stumbled downstairs, crying out for help before turning into a zombie, had not been Sun-yeong. She had been one of the people who defended Sun-yeong today. Hadn’t someone said the two women shared the same sleeping room?

“Watch out! Aah!”

“We’re evacuating to the spare room on the third floor! Move anyone who can’t walk first. Everyone else, grab a weapon!”

At that time, Sun-yeong had unquestionably been among the zombies pouring down from the fourth floor.

And then…

“Yun-i!”

“Jeong Yu-su!”

The moment Yu-su had embraced Yun, he had made eye contact with Muwon, who had entered through the terrace.

Come to think of it, had the search gone well that day? What had Do Muwon looked like in that moment?

“Hey.”

Muwon caught the hand Yu-su had been absently tracing over his skin and enclosed it within his palm. The warmth of Muwon’s hand felt hotter than usual. Yu-su’s shoulders shuddered at the sudden heat.

“Oh. Yeah?”

“There won’t be any search tomorrow.”

Yu-su lifted his head from Muwon’s shoulder.

“Why?”

“You saw how fucked up everyone was earlier after all that talk about infection.”

“Fucked up…” Yu-su’s face soured. “Yeah.”

Muwon squeezed Yu-su’s hand once before loosening his grip. “How could we go out on a search while everyone’s in that state? The people here would only become more anxious. And I knew you’d be sitting here losing your fucking mind exactly like this, so I already spoke to Sister Myeongju.”

Yu-su felt an urge to punch Muwon’s thigh again, but he restrained himself. Muwon was still holding his hand, after all.

Instead, Yu-su leaned against his shoulder again and gave a faint hum.

“You’re the best, Do Muwon. You handle everything so well. Sharp, clean, and sensible.”

“You’re being really fucking annoying right now.” Muwon clicked his tongue. “Whatever. I’m going to wash up.”

“Go ahead.”

“Don’t go anywhere. Stay right here.”

“Mmm.”

Muwon rose, and the heat that had been pressed against Yu-su disappeared at once, leaving him strangely cold. Yu-su found himself staring at the hand Muwon had been holding.

Muwon looked down at him, then pressed his palm firmly against the crown of Yu-su’s head.

“Answer me properly. I said don’t go anywhere.”

“I understand, I understand. I’m not going anywhere. Really.”

“If you wander off on your own again, I’m carrying you everywhere from now on.”

“Oh, seriously. Just go already.”

Yu-su lightly punched Muwon’s knee, and Muwon grinned before walking away. He returned a little later with Gorak and Hee-eun in tow.

“Found these two on the way.”

Gorak hurried into the room before Muwon could stop him.

“I’m sleeping here tonight.”

“Me too,” Hee-eun added.

Muwon scowled at both of them. “You said the heater in the lobby was warm. Get out.”

“Hyung.” Gorak reached dramatically toward him. “Let’s all stay together.”

“That’s disgusting. Get lost.”

Muwon slapped Gorak’s arm away. Gorak pretended to stagger from the blow, then used the momentum to rush toward Yu-su.

“Yu-su-hyung! I’m sleeping in the same bed as you tonight!”

“Get lost, Sim Gorak.”

Muwon caught Gorak by the collar and flung him onto the lower bunk of the opposite bed.

Hee-eun climbed onto the upper bunk and began spreading out her bedding. From above, she watched Muwon push Yu-su farther across the mattress before climbing into the same bed beside him.

“Starting tomorrow, I’m taking him with me every time we go out on a search,” Muwon declared. “Either that, or I’m keeping him glued to my side at all times.”

Hee-eun looked down at him. “Manager, the Assistant Manager looks like he’s about to blow a fuse. Isn’t this workplace harassment?”

“Hear, hear!” Gorak called from the opposite bunk. “Let’s eradicate workplace harassment!”

Muwon raised a fist in his direction. “Sim Gorak, do you seriously want to die?” Then, as though his answer explained everything, Muwon added, “He can’t sleep alone.”

Yu-su, who had been helplessly shoved toward the wall, stared at him in disbelief. “Why are you slandering me out of nowhere, Do Muwon?”

“Oh?” Muwon arched an eyebrow. “Then tell me I’m wrong, Jeong Yu-su.”

Propping his chin on one hand, Gorak rolled onto his side. “It sounds true to me. Yu-su-hyung gets nightmares whenever Muwon-hyung isn’t around.”

“…I do?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember the morning after we reached the restaurant?”

The morning after they arrived at the restaurant…

That was the day Yu-su had been paralyzed by guilt and nightmares because he had failed to save the siblings. When he woke, Gorak had been watching him with concern, and by then, Yu-su had already been burning with fever.

Yu-su recalled the memory and slowly nodded.

“You slept peacefully while Muwon-hyung was beside you,” Gorak continued, “but the moment he stepped away, you started suffering.”

“Oh…”

“I think the same thing happened when we slept at the bank.”

For some reason, Yu-su’s ears began to burn. He could only blink, too embarrassed to speak. Amid that speechless confusion, the first thought that came to him was painfully absurd.

How am I supposed to react if I want to behave like a friend?

He fell silent.

Friend.

A strange misery washed over him. His body had been warm only moments ago, yet his fingertips suddenly felt cold. Grateful for the darkness, Yu-su secretly pressed one hand against his pounding chest and forced himself to speak.

“I-I see. Thank you, Do Muwon.”

Because they were lying so close together, Muwon immediately noticed the way Yu-su’s body stiffened. Muwon had been lying on his back, but he turned onto his side to face him. He brushed the damp hair from Yu-su’s temple, then wrapped his palm around Yu-su’s cheek and ear as though checking his temperature.

Trapped between Muwon and the wall, Yu-su could not pull away. He merely twitched one eye beneath the touch.

“Are you feeling sick?”

“No. I just got sleepy after lying down.”

At that, Muwon turned his head toward the rest of the room.

“Go to sleep. You two stop chattering and sleep, too.”

Gorak groaned dramatically. “Look at him taking care of Yu-su-hyung again. You’re only telling us to be quiet so Yu-su-hyung can sleep, aren’t you? Ha… Noona, I’m so lonely.”

Joo Hee-eun’s cold, low voice descended from the upper bunk.

“Go to sleep, Sim Gorak.”

“Wow, shit. You sounded exactly like Muwon-hyung just now.”

“I said go to sleep,” Muwon warned.

Yu-su finally turned his back to Muwon and squeezed his eyes shut.

Even with the warmth of Muwon’s body pressed close behind him, a chill settled around his heart for reasons he could not understand.

***