As Thin as a Thread
Chirp… chirp-chirp…
Morning sunlight flooded the living room. Clear birdsong drifted in through the window and pulled me awake.
“.....”
For a while I just lay there on the sofa, eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Last night, after Jonghun and Jiyoon had come down to thank me and we’d traded a few warm words—ending with a promise to share a meal sometime—they’d gone back upstairs, and Yejin and I had gone straight to bed.
With the TV and computer both dead, there wasn’t a damn thing to do in the evening, so we’d turned in early. Except Yejin had insisted on sleeping in the living room, which meant I’d had to forcibly shove her into my room.
This isn’t even my house—why should I be the one sleeping in the bedroom!
Because I’m not tired at all right now, and you, on the other hand, are completely wiped out.
It wasn’t simple kindness. It was a cold calculation of efficiency, nothing more.
From inside the room, Yejin had pounded on the door my body was blocking and shouted.
Even if Oppa says you’re less tired, you never know! Fatigue builds up and actually—
I know my own body better than anyone. Just go to sleep. See you tomorrow.
That had been the end of it. I’d flopped onto the sofa, closed my eyes, and when I opened them again it was morning.
“…So Kim Yejin was right after all.”
Except my head was far too clear for that to be true. Normally, when you were bone-tired, even if you didn’t feel it at the time, you’d wake up half-dazed and foggy. I stared at the sunlight pouring through the veranda window and muttered,
“Slept like a damn rock.”
Body and mind both felt so refreshed it almost seemed wrong. Overnight, my upper-body muscles had grown enough to show even through clothes. I checked them in the full-length mirror hanging in the living room, laughed in disbelief, then walked over and yanked the bedroom door open.
I started toward the bed to wake Yejin, who was sleeping soundly—then glanced at the living-room clock and simply turned around and came back out. It wasn’t particularly because of the tear stains still on the sheets and her cheek. I just figured it was better to let her sleep a little longer while I put breakfast together.
I set a few pieces of bread and a carton of milk on the kitchen table and sat there blankly. After a moment, rustling and hurried movement came from the bedroom. Then the door flew open and Yejin stumbled out in baggy pajamas, hesitating as she looked at me.
“I’m sorry, Oppa. I overslept…”
“It’s not even eight. What oversleeping?”
“Still. I should have gotten up first and prepared breakfast.”
I was mid-chew on a red-bean bun when I heard that, and I snorted a laugh.
“Preparation? All it takes is pulling out some bread and milk like this. It’s not like you’re cooking a whole meal.”
“I was going to fry eggs on the gas burner.”
She muttered something about eating the stuff in the fridge before it spoiled. I waved her off.
“Just eat simple. We’re heading straight to the department store.”
“…What?”
Her eyes went round. I shoved the remaining half of the bun into my mouth in one go, stood up, dumped the rest of the milk in after it, swallowed, and said,
“Before anyone else claims it, we’re going to loot it first.”
Meat, mainly. Eggs weren’t the only things that needed eating before they went bad.
One of the classic clichés in zombie movies was the scene where you wanted supplies from a mart or department store but couldn’t get them—either because the place was crawling with zombies, or because some tough, well-armed group had already staked it out and you were too weak to challenge them, so you had to go somewhere else.
That wasn’t going to happen to me.
If I showed up at the department store and someone picked a fight? If it was a zombie, I’d turn the bastard into ground meat. If it was a person, I’d make sure they never ate meat again for the rest of their life—nothing but gruel.
Nobody’s stopping me from eating meat.
Feeling the massive appetite writhing in my skull, I grabbed the large brand-name duffel bag from the house.
“Kim Yejin, you stay here. If anything happens, stick with the two upstairs.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The zombies between here and the department store I could handle. But I had no idea what kind of trouble might be waiting at the store itself, so bringing Yejin along would be suicide. She seemed to know that too—she agreed without argument and nodded.
“Anything you need?”
“…Uh. There are a few things.”
She’d been perfectly calm about me charging into the department store alone, but now she hesitated.
“What is it? Spit it out. Cosmetics?”
“There’s no way I’d need cosmetics right now.”
She took the joke at face value, looking flustered, then whispered in a tiny voice.
“W-well… since I’m a woman… there are things you absolutely need for daily life….”
“?”
So what was it, then. I racked my brain, finally figured it out, and let out an “Ah.”
“Got it. The more the better, right?”
“…Yes.”
While Yejin was thoroughly embarrassed, I slung the bag over my shoulder and almost asked something—then stopped.
Does the brand or type of pad even matter?
I’d just grab everything I saw. I ended up taking a hiking backpack as well, thinking,
Even just meat and clothes are going to take up a ridiculous amount of space.
I had no choice but to resolve to shop as efficiently as possible.
Beep—
As I unlocked the front door and made a mental note to grab a ton of batteries too, I saw Yejin bow her head deeply toward me.
“Thank you so much, Oppa.”
“…What are you thanking me for this time.”
“Just… everything. For saving me. For always looking after me.”
“.....”
There’s no one as kind as Oppa. Really.
She said it with a bright smile. Looking at her, I thought to myself,
I’m not as kind a person as you think I am.
I was only looking after this burden named Yejin because my body and mind were this free right now. If this power disappeared tomorrow, or if some side effect kicked in…
I wasn’t even sure how I’d treat her anymore.
Would I keep taking responsibility and looking after her? Or…
Force myself on her and throw her away. One of the two, probably.
I was very well aware of the desire living inside me. Right now appetite was stronger, so the other thing barely crossed my mind—but if I slipped even a little, this gasoline-like lust could catch fire at any moment.
Just look at the scene in front of me. Wearing the size-105 pajamas I’d given her, long sleeves fluttering—honestly, even with that haggard face, she looked incredibly cute.
I stared at her as she blinked under my gaze, then turned my head and opened the front door.
“Be careful, Oppa!”
I didn’t look back. Just raised a hand in reply.
When your head was a mess, a walk was still the best medicine.
I stepped out of the villa and drew in a lungful of cool morning air—though it was thick with the smell of blood, so that part was less than ideal. I glanced up at Yejin waving from the second-floor veranda railing, then set off toward the department store.
She’s a careful kid. She’ll handle herself fine.
Best not to worry and just get there and back as fast as possible.
I was walking down a road full of blood and silence when I locked eyes with the pair of zombies—man and woman—from the alley I’d seen from the house last night.
“Krrrrrr…”
The female zombie, dragging her guts along the ground as she half-crawled upright, pointed at me with one arm. Given her condition, the look in her eyes said she’d already torn me apart and then some—but her approach speed was pure snail.
The male, on the other hand—
“KRAAAAAAAAH!”
—charged at me in a straight line like a madman, screaming so hard that anyone hearing it would have sworn someone was branding flesh with a hot iron.
I watched calmly. The moment he shoved his face at me, I grabbed him by the collar and threw him.
THUD—
All the inertia concentrated on him converted straight into force and drove his head into the opposite wall.
I’ve never learned ground techniques like judo or jiu-jitsu. Doesn’t matter with these things.
Even at my level of just knowing the theory, with zombies mindlessly throwing their bodies at you, all you had to do was grab a collar and flip them. Of course, that only applied to someone like me—someone who didn’t care about getting bitten or hurt.
I dealt with the charging zombies skillfully, occasionally dodging when the numbers got high, and kept heading for the department store. Then my eyes fell on the tattoo on my right hand.
So what the hell is this, anyway?
Standing in the middle of a road littered with sprawled zombies, I studied the tattoo. A specimen trying to get up with its jaw half-twisted got a kick for its trouble while I thought.
Looking closely, the color seemed darker than yesterday. That made me thoroughly uneasy. And of all things, the shape was a skull—no matter how hard I turned it over, I couldn’t land on anything good.
When it turns completely black, do I die or something?
Wondering if this might be a side effect of the ability I’d gained, I kept glancing at it with a sour look as I walked. Gradually the commercial building from yesterday’s accident and the department store across from it came into view.
The zombies I’d wrecked yesterday were still sprawled in the street with their heads smashed open, and because of that the surroundings were remarkably quiet for such a vast open space. The few shambling in the corners were all defective ones.
Still, being careful never hurt. I stopped walking openly down the center of the road and quietly slipped toward the edge. Checking the shops of the commercial building one by one, I spotted a few people hiding inside.
Well. Good luck surviving on your own.
I ignored them, approached the department store slowly, and glanced at the main entrance.
Just as I thought.
Boxes piled high behind the reinforced glass doors. I felt the situation getting annoying and narrowed my eyes.