Chapter 24: Encounter
Chapter 24: Encounter
6. Encounter
At the intersection, Seon-yeong and I each scanned our surroundings, compared what we'd seen, and then crossed the road.
There was a zombie inside one of the abandoned cars, but we had no way to break its window quietly.
With no other choice, we crept around the rear of the car.
I made a mental note of that car.
'Should I make a map?'
I could make a kind of tactical map.
Since we'd be moving around this area for some time, a map marking anything unusual would be useful.
I couldn't keep everything in my head.
We reached the entrance of the Hana Trading Building and peered inside.
A Company N store occupied the first two floors, which appeared to have been leased out.
Company N was a large corporation that produced all kinds of outdoor gear and clothing.
At one point, Company N's down jackets became so fashionable among students that they broke countless parents' backs.
This store was exactly why we had cheered earlier.
Our backpacks were good enough for now, but we desperately needed shoes and clothes.
My heart raced at the thought that we might also find all sorts of useful equipment.
God, I wanted to get out of these skin-tight pants.
'Is this the only door?'
A glass door sat at the top of a short flight of steps.
The entrance was wide open.
A straight hallway extended from the entrance, with an elevator and staircase at the far end.
The stores on both sides displayed all kinds of products bearing Company N's logo.
From the view through the windows outside, Company N's store appeared to occupy both floors.
Heart fluttering with anticipation, I entered the store on the left first.
The plan was to clear out the zombies first, then start scavenging.
#
"I'm back!"
I shouted a line spoken by a gunslinger in a game a coworker had once introduced me to.
The words meant nothing, but they were more than enough to draw the zombies' attention.
I felt Seon-yeong's sharp stare beside me and flushed slightly, but I had no intention of hiding my excitement.
What wouldn't I do just to change out of these pants?
How much humiliation had I endured during this long ordeal?
1.2 z/m.
In other words, we'd killed 1.2 zombies per minute.
We swept through the first and second floors without pause, dispatching all twelve zombies in about ten minutes.
I took extraordinary care to use only the minimum force with each swing of my baseball bat.
It slowed us slightly because I even considered the direction in which each zombie's head would be struck.
After all, I couldn't let zombie blood spatter onto precious clothes.
"I only let my attention slip for a second."
Seon-yeong grumbled beside me.
Earlier, I'd given Seon-yeong a look when she swung her bat with reckless abandon, and she was still sulking over it.
But I had something to say in my defense.
I'd clearly seen Seon-yeong hesitate before swinging in the women's clothing section on the first floor.
She felt the same way; she was just being difficult.
"Team Leader. Shall we check the other floors later, then?"
Seon-yeong spoke in a stiff tone.
"Seon-yeong, I'm sorry. I was just in a hurry and my voice got loud; I wasn't angry."
"Mm... okay. So, we're scavenging first, right?"
"Let's do that. I don't think the noise carried outside, but just in case, let's stay together."
"Yeah. Then let's find your clothes here on the second floor first, then head down to the first floor."
Perhaps she'd only been teasing. Her expression quickly softened, and her eyes sparkled as she surveyed the second-floor store.
We began our search in the shoe section directly in front of us.
I wanted something comfortable, light, sturdy, and easy to wipe clean if blood splashed on it.
And well ventilated. Did such a shoe exist?
#
To my surprise, there was.
Since I knew nothing about hiking, I started by looking up the most expensive models on my phone and chose several pairs.
Every pair cost over 500,000 won. I even searched the storeroom in the corner and laid out every model available in my size.
"Tae-sik! What about these? Too drab?"
"They look great on you. Are they comfortable?"
Seon-yeong had also laid out a selection of shoes and was trying them on one by one, asking for my opinion.
At first, I gave each pair a proper look and answered sincerely, but eventually my replies became as mechanical as a macro.
My feet were big, so I didn't have many options to begin with.
I quickly picked out five pairs of hiking boots.
I changed into a black pair because blood probably wouldn't show on them as much.
According to the description, they offered high traction, slip resistance, waterproofing, breathability, and even antibacterial treatment.
If the description could be believed, they had every feature I'd thought too good to be true.
Long live modern technology.
Click-click. Click-click.
"Ugh, stop it! Are you in elementary school?"
Plus, there was no need to tie and untie the laces.
Honestly, the biggest reason they were my first choice was the twist dial that made them easy to put on and take off.
The system had an official name, but I'd already forgotten it.
I went over to Seon-yeong and proudly demonstrated how the dial ratcheted.
I repeatedly tightened and loosened it beside her. She mocked me for acting like a child, then started looking for a similar pair herself.
Expensive really was better.
'Oh? These are comfortable.'
I even jumped in place.
They checked every box on paper. From then on, I'd have to find out how comfortable, light, and durable they truly were.
Actually, the fact that they fit well was reason enough to keep wearing them.
I put three pairs into zipper bags and stored them in my backpack, and used the laces to hang one pair on the side of the bag.
"If you can't decide, just take them all."
"All of these?"
"No... just a few of them. You must have narrowed it down somewhat already."
"Okay. Let me try them on one more time."
Seon-yeong still couldn't decide on a pair.
After urging her to hurry, I moved aside and picked out some socks at random.
Then, at last, I found rows of hiking pants.
Design? Color? Gore-Tex?
None of that mattered. I checked the size.
I pulled out pair after pair and held them against my legs.
"Oh!"
Quite a few pants were the right length.
The problem was that anything long enough was slightly too loose at the waist.
Without any way to alter them, my options shrank drastically.
'Why couldn't there be a zombie that instinctively knew tailoring?'
After indulging that useless thought, I tried on several pairs and found that a thirty-four-inch waist fit best.
Among them, only about ten pairs were the right length.
I immediately changed into a pair of black pants.
Regretfully, I threw away Ga-yeong's father's pants, which had served me well until then.
With my crotch finally free, I felt alive again.
Even breathing felt easier somehow.
I squatted, stood, and moved around, savoring the freedom between my legs.
After picking out shoes and pants, the rest was very easy.
All I had to do was hold each top against my body and put the ones that fit into my backpack.
Functional underwear was on display on a wide rack, so I grabbed a few in the largest size.
Before long, my backpack had swollen as though begging me to stop before it spat everything back out.
By the time I'd finished all that, Seon-yeong was still stuck in the shoe section.
I felt like I was watching a student who was exceptionally slow to make progress.
Back in school, I had usually been the slow one, but now I was racing far ahead.
'How many times could she review her options and still be stuck there?'
From now on, I decided to think of this place as the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
I brainwashed myself into believing I had entered a space where time flowed incredibly slowly.
Whenever Seon-yeong posed a question like the Sphinx, I had to give the correct answer.
That way, I could escape this place safely.
And so, a year passed.
Of course, this was the Hyperbolic Time Chamber: only about two hours had actually passed when we descended to the first floor.
The Sphinx's questions continued on the first floor, too.
"Tae-sik. How about something like this?"
"That's pretty too. It really suits you!"
"What are you talking about? I meant you should try this on. It's yours."
It seemed impossible, but Seon-yeong somehow managed to shriek despite keeping her voice low.
With a glare, she handed me a windbreaker.
It was a long black windbreaker that reached past my hips and covered my thighs.
There was a white one next to it, too.
It had a hood and was waterproof—excellent.
I repeated 'You're the best' and 'Thank you' about ten times, then put it on beneath my raincoat.
I compressed the white one carefully and packed it away.
"Seon-yeong... it's getting late. Let's come back tomorrow."
"Aw... that's a shame. Ga-yeong is waiting, right?"
"Yeah. It's already late."
"Oh, right! I need to get things for Ga-yeong too. Ah, what should I do...?"
Seon-yeong began spiraling into panic all by herself, increasingly unsure what to do.
I stepped in, stuffed the clothes she'd apparently chosen into her backpack, and slung it over her shoulder.
"It'll be hard to travel once the sun has fully set. We can come back tomorrow, so let's head home for now."
She couldn't tear herself away, so I coaxed her out of the store.
Seon-yeong had chosen shoes and clothes similar to mine.
In other words, we were both dressed entirely in black.
In the end, she'd gone with all-black. So what had she been agonizing over for so long?
'Don't say it.'
Asking would only earn me an answer I couldn't understand.
Experience had taught me there was nothing to gain.
It was a trap with nothing but downsides.
Experience really was important.
And so I wisely brought our shopping trip to an end... not.
We had to come again tomorrow.
#
"Mister. How about this one?"
"Yeah. It looks good on you. Cute."
"No? Maybe it doesn't suit me because I have a cool tone, Seon-yeong?"
"Try this one on, too."
Was this déjà vu?
We'd made it home safely, only for Ga-yeong to scold us for taking so long.
That lasted only a moment.
As soon as she heard Seon-yeong's story, she became excited and ended up like this.
Seon-yeong told Ga-yeong that tomorrow she'd return for whichever of the items in her backpack suited her best.
Thus, I was reliving at home that night what I'd endured in the store that afternoon.
As if trying them on back then hadn't been enough, Seon-yeong joined forces with Ga-yeong for another fashion show.
Similar questions drew the same answers.
I felt like it was about time they stopped asking.
Why did they ask when they were only going to ignore whatever I said?
When on earth would we get to eat?
And thus, a day of happiness for all the women in the house drew to a close.