Chapter 102: Moving
Chapter 102: Moving
24. Moving
I left the building and headed toward Na-yeon's studio apartment.
The midday sun baked the asphalt.
The weather was so hot that I wondered whether it was truly June.
The street was empty of both zombies and people.
The surrounding windows were shattered, and abandoned cars sat haphazardly along the road.
I alone moved through that deserted street.
In a world that had stopped, loneliness suddenly struck me.
'Loneliness? What was this feeling...? It seemed as though I had forgotten something.'
As I looked at the desolate street, I felt that something important was missing from my memory.
A hollow ache filled my chest.
Why did I suddenly feel truly alone?
I'd always lived alone.
Had the heat affected me?
I blamed the unpleasant feeling on the weather and forced it aside.
'Perhaps I was simply hungry.'
After all, an empty stomach naturally weakened one's spirits.
Only the day before, I'd been delighted merely to feel full.
At least I seemed to be a remarkably simple man.
Comforting myself that way, I knocked on the studio door.
Knock, knock.
No response.
Had she gone outside?
I waited, then knocked again.
Knock. Knock-knock. Knock-knock-knock.
My hand unconsciously tapped out a rhythm against the door.
Anyone hearing it might think I was sending a signal.
Or playing some kind of prank.
"Who is it?"
Just as I was about to leave, a weak voice came from inside.
What was I supposed to say?
"It's me. I came by a few days ago."
Creeeak.
"Come in..."
Na-yeon appeared, looking somewhat gaunt.
Had something happened?
"You're alive?"
"Yeah, fortunately. Nothing happened to you?"
"No. I've only been at home..."
When I last saw her, she'd seemed to have a fair amount of food stored.
Why did she look thinner after only a few days?
"I look rough, don't I?"
She must have noticed the confusion in my gaze.
"I'm trying to conserve food, so I eat only once a day."
"Ah... right."
I'd forgotten.
I had nothing more to say.
Was that simply normal now?
"I try to stay as still as possible, and this is the result. I was asleep just now, so I didn't hear you. Sorry."
"Yeah, you've lost a lot of weight. Look at this first."
There had once been a trend of eating only one meal a day.
Of course, choosing one balanced meal was very different from being forced to survive on one.
Na-yeon ate only the bare minimum necessary to stay alive.
Even so, she had grown alarmingly gaunt in only a few days.
Feeling sorry for her, I held out one of the duffel bags.
It contained rice, canned goods, instant noodles, and a few seasonings.
"Wow... What is all this?"
"Have you eaten? I came because I thought we could have a meal together."
"Ah... just a sec."
Na-yeon checked the duffel bag, then stared at me in surprise.
Soon, tears welled in her eyes.
The situation felt awkward, so I looked away.
After calming down, she began unpacking the duffel bag.
Then she seemed to choke up again.
"Can you wait a little? You're hungry, right?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"I'll make something quickly. If you're bored, read a book or something."
Na-yeon organized the food I'd brought and moved to the kitchen sink.
Though in such a small studio, the kitchen was directly in front of us.
From behind, I watched her fill a pot with water using her thin, bony arms.
I wondered whether she could carry it, but the space was too cramped for me to help easily, so I remained seated.
"These are all textbooks for your major. What am I supposed to read?"
"Well, yes... but they become interesting once you start."
The world truly had gone mad.
How bored must she have been, trapped inside all day?
Once I settled somewhere, I should search for a bookstore or library.
"Hey. Let's eat."
"Oh? You still had kimchi?"
"Yeah. My mother made it for me a while ago. I was saving it."
"Thanks. I'll enjoy it."
"I'm the one who should be grateful... You must have been through so much."
I didn't feel as though I'd suffered much, but I stayed silent.
We sat across from each other at the cramped table and ate the meal Na-yeon had prepared.
Steamed rice, soybean-sprout soup, and canned side dishes.
Along with a plate of the kimchi she'd been saving.
"The table is too small, isn't it? I wanted to repay you with something grander, but this meal is so modest..."
"What's modest about this? It's a feast. It tastes incredible."
I meant it.
I emptied the table as though it were the most delicious meal in the world.
"Ah, right. Do you like coffee?"
"Absolutely. I just haven't had any."
I opened my backpack and took out a bag of coffee beans, still more than half full, along with some cookies.
"Should we have dessert too?"
"Wow~ We're living extravagantly today! Hehehe."
It was the first time I had seen her laugh.
She must have loved coffee even before the apocalypse.
She owned a hand-drip set, so we could brew some properly.
"Holy shit. This is insane."
"Hah... It's so good. I feel like I could die happy."
"Hehehe. Where did you learn to say things like that?"
"What do you mean, learn? Sometimes you sound like my father, you know."
"..."
Na-yeon didn't know my age.
She knew only that I was older than her.
Still, I wasn't old enough to be her father. Slightly wounded, I focused on the aroma of the coffee.
"So where did you scavenge all of this?"
"Here and there. The coffee was left in a café."
"Some of these are marked as military supplies. Was there a base nearby?"
"Yeah. Apparently there was one near your university."
"That's strange... How did I never know? What happened to the soldiers?"
"They had all turned into zombies."
"Sigh... I suppose even soldiers are helpless if their guns don't work."
"What do you mean?"
Na-yeon stared at me strangely.
I asked again why the soldiers couldn't use their guns.
She asked whether I'd just come down from a mountain, then explained.
"I heard even toy-store fireworks won't ignite."
"Ah... I see. I had no idea."
According to her, every weapon that relied on combustion had become useless.
Guns, grenades, missiles—none of them worked.
The same applied to transportation.
Cars, motorcycles, ships, airplanes—anything with an engine had stopped functioning.
"Hah... I suppose I should find a bicycle."
"Is the place you need to reach very far?"
"Somewhat. It's in Gyeonggi Province. Before all this, it would have taken more than an hour by car."
"That's too far... Why not just stay here...?"
Of course she wanted me to remain.
In the short term, staying would have suited me as well.
It would be less lonely than wandering alone.
But if I'd forced myself this far before losing my memory, there had to be a reason.
A reason I'd regret ignoring if I settled now.
"Ah, that was a wonderful meal. I've been chewing the beans raw, so drinking properly brewed coffee is amazing."
"Didn't that upset your stomach? You can chew them, but don't eat too many."
We cleared the table and tidied up.
After eating my fill, my body felt pleasantly heavy.
"The place is messy, isn't it? Sorry... Give me a minute."
Na-yeon clearly understood why I'd visited.
She repeatedly glanced at me while cleaning the apartment.
I wouldn't have minded a rough cleanup, but she apparently couldn't leave it that way.
Sitting idle felt awkward, so I helped.
"Oh, come on. Why do you keep making me feel even more indebted? I should be treating you better..."
"I told you, it's fine."
"I'll wash quickly and come right out."
Sweaty from cleaning, Na-yeon gathered a towel and underwear.
I hadn't shed a single drop of sweat. Had it truly exhausted her that much?
Her stamina must have declined from eating poorly and barely moving.
"Actually... It's cramped, but do you want to wash together?"
"Why not? I need a wash too."
"I'll undress you. Stay still from now on. I'll do everything I can for you."
What exactly was she planning?
At the sight of her grim determination, I approached her with my erection leading the way.
#
Four hours later.
I said goodbye to an utterly exhausted Na-yeon and left the room.
She had spoken as though she'd do something extraordinary, but nothing had been particularly unusual.
In the bathroom, she gently washed me and brought me to climax once with her mouth.
Back in the room, she attended to me with care and affection.
The duffel bag had apparently moved her deeply; she treated me almost like a husband returning alive from war.
Even afterward, she kept trying to endure until I was satisfied.
It felt like an unlimited pass.
She accepted every request and even tolerated rougher treatment.
Thinking back, perhaps that truly counted as doing everything she could.
I'd never continued for so long without resting.
Had Na-yeon not passed out, we might have continued even longer.
Still, it had been deeply satisfying.
Even at the end, she wanted to keep me there.
The frightening power of post-sex attachment nearly made me waver.
But I had no intention of taking responsibility for her for life, so I forced myself to leave.
Visiting occasionally after settling somewhere would have been one thing, but living together was different.
I had no plans to settle, and we'd met only twice.
I had hidden the handcart and my other luggage in Won-ho's room on the top floor.
I didn't know the total weight, but carrying the entire cart downstairs posed no problem.
What in the world had happened to my body?
'Anyway, what should I do with these?'
The guns and ammunition were useless but heavy.
Not knowing that, I had happily packed them...
After some thought, I kept one K2 and a small amount of ammunition.
I couldn't sell the rest as scrap, so I discarded them.
I left the building and followed the traffic signs.
The sun was setting, but the roads would remain visible for a while, so I planned to travel into the night.
"Oh, a real-estate office."
At an intersection, I spotted one on the ground floor of a corner building.
Perhaps I could find a map.
"Anyone here? I'm looking for a house."
A customer had arrived, but no one answered.
The shop was empty of both people and zombies.
A huge map covered one wall.
"Wow, this scale is far too large."
It showed only the immediate neighborhood and would become useless once I left the area.
I wanted the kind of road atlas I'd seen in my father's car as a child.
One that included the entire country and marked regional roads.
I searched the desk drawers and cabinets.
"Oh. Found them."
I discovered two map books.
A Detailed Map of the Seoul Metropolitan Area and a Detailed Road Map of Korea.
I sat at the desk and studied them to plan my route.
"I can reach it by following National Route 6."
My first destination was Cheongpyeong Station.
Students often visited the area for group retreats, while hikers came for the surrounding mountains.
It was somewhat indirect, but I could reach it by staying on major national roads.
I memorized the route in case I lost the maps.
I tore out the page covering the nearby area and put it in my pocket.
I placed the metropolitan-area atlas in my backpack and stored the national road atlas in a duffel bag.
With my preparations complete, I left the office and pushed the handcart along the road.
This time, I didn't intend to stop.
The true journey had begun.