Reference Point
"What do you want from him?"
Sehee rolled her languidly half-lidded eyes to meet the gazes of the two girls.
Watching Chaeyeon and Soeun with idle interest — both bristling with wariness like beasts whose fur stood on end — she began to write.
Don't know. What do you mean.
"Don't play dumb. You've been like this since the first time we met. You're after Sijun-oppa."
Chaeyeon spoke with a murderous edge, as if she might draw her sword and level it at Sehee any second.
Even so, Sehee paid her no mind whatsoever. She gently smoothed her long straight hair — the same style as Chaeyeon's — and held up her notebook.
You're right. Definitely. What I'm after. As a man and a woman.
"What is an alien like you even saying?"
Soeun snorted, uncrossed her arms, and took a step closer, glaring at Sehee.
"I heard everything from the crows. You force-fed Sijun-oppa your blood to make him a slave, and you take his blood as your meals?"
No. Not a slave. A friend.
"You're toying with Oppa, aren't you? Treating him like a toy."
"Kya-u?"
Sehee shrugged as if she had no idea what they were talking about, playing completely dumb — and Chaeyeon could no longer hold herself back.
She strode forward, stopped less than a meter away, and shoved a face full of killing intent right up to Sehee's.
"Back then at the hospital. You knew Oppa was struggling with his lust and deliberately seduced him, didn't you? And after that you kept flirting and teasing him."
You knew?
She didn't answer, but the smile dancing in Sehee's eyes seemed to say exactly that to Chaeyeon.
Can't be helped. But.
It's hard. For a man. Holding back.
And it's not like you'd relieve it for him. Would you?
You kids.
She didn't actually write that last part. She merely looked at the two girls with a meaningful gaze that said as much.
High school girls smaller in build than she was, yet looking down on them with eyes that were thoroughly, deeply unpleasant.
I'm helping. That's all.
So he fits better. In his position.
You should be thanking me. You two. Actually?
"What?"
Chaeyeon was so dumbfounded by the reply that she shot back — but Sehee simply rose from the sofa, looked down out the window, and continued writing.
In this world. With nothing to enjoy.
I'm providing. Entertainment. In your place.
Sehee's pale lips moved soundlessly, mouthing words to Chaeyeon and Soeun.
Pathetic things who value purity more than their lives.
You have. A life debt. To that man?
You should have taken responsibility. Then. At the very least. Long ago.
Giggling softly, Sehee looked past the classroom door as if thinking of him.
Seeing how he has. That kind of power. And still doesn't force himself on you.
I can tell. How much he treasures you.
A little disappointing, though. I prefer it rough.
This morning I was sure he'd jump me. I'd even set the mood for it.
And yet that clumsy altruism still remains.
But that's exactly what makes him so interesting.
Sehee couldn't help but be genuinely curious. How could someone still have that kind of consideration while living in a world like this?
Surviving the apocalypse required armoring yourself head to toe in selfishness.
And she wrote the answer to that question in her notebook and showed it to the two girls.
Because he's strong. Strong enough that he can afford to. In the end.
Sehee wrote on, recalling the men from her previous life.
The ones who don't know. Always in heat. Even though they could die any moment.
He's relaxed. Enough to deliberately control himself. That man.
Or maybe he just doesn't want to lose to his own desires.
You get it. By now. How lucky you are?
If that man were even a little less special. Your relationship with him. Would have fallen apart.
Sehee wrote one last message and plunged Chaeyeon and Soeun into silence.
I'm filling in. For that role of yours. In your place.
While also filling my own pleasure, of course.
Playing with a special friend like that is always fun.
Right after Sehee finished, the classroom door slid open with a rattle, and the subject of their conversation walked in.
When I stepped into the classroom, the razor-edged atmosphere immediately softened.
Chaeyeon's raised double-wicked glare came down, and the strength slowly drained from Soeun's clenched fists.
"What are you all doing in here?"
"...Nothing."
Avoiding my eyes, Chaeyeon slowly backed away from Na Sehee — whom she'd been pressed up against as if ready to strike — and asked quietly:
"But how did you know we were here?"
"Kang Haejun told me."
"...He's dead."
"I was the one who asked him?"
"Still doesn't matter."
Soeun muttered murderously, and I added something, but it didn't seem to help.
Well, I did my best.
Anyway, I was about to ask why they were here in the first place when the high schoolers, sensing that, quickly brushed past me and left the classroom.
I considered chasing after them, but they seemed sensitive lately, so I decided to leave them alone.
After that, I met Na Sehee's gaze — she was leaning against the windowsill, looking this way with clear amusement — and asked:
"What were you talking about with the kids?"
Just. Adult circumstances?
"Yeah. Figured you wouldn't tell me."
Adult circumstances, my ass. Women are all the same. I shook my head and stepped closer to her.
Then, without looking at Na Sehee, I said:
"A patient woke up just now. Thanks to you, that is."
Fast.
"Seemed like a pretty sturdy type."
But it won't work. For them.
Comparing anyone to me would be harsh for all of humanity, every living creature — even elephants.
At the very least, even the strongest creature on earth dies when its heart explodes.
Then I changed the subject and pointed at the bastard dog staring intently this way from the parking lot outside.
"When we go out later, you're taking that with us too, right?"
Of course. Because it's a friend. Same as.
"Not a personal vehicle?"
She covered her mouth and chuckled as if the joke was funny, but I was always completely serious.
And "same friend"? If you heard that wrong, it sounded like she was treating me like a dog.
I stared at the bastard dog uncomfortably and muttered:
"Then I'd better break some habits in advance."
No. If you hurt it.
"Fine. There are plenty of ways without beating it myself."
When I cracked my knuckles and said that, Na Sehee's face turned sour this time.
"But you really didn't say anything weird to the kids, right?"
Don't need to. Worry.
Good kids. All of them.
Hearing her put it that way, maybe there really was nothing to it. Seemed like they'd just chatted to get closer.
Manageable. Enough. That level of jealousy.
Nice. Being popular. Sijun.
"??"
...Or not?
Na Sehee met my questioning gaze and smiled with her eyes.
How do you train a zombie dog big enough to kill a wolf with one bite?
There's the method of putting a choke chain on it all day and walking it around the neighborhood like last time, but there's also a cleaner, more intellectual approach.
"You said it eats, right?"
When I asked Na Sehee, she confirmed it did. Just like regular zombies, it knew how to chew, tear, and taste meat.
I approached the thing as it lay sprawled out, looking up at me sullenly, and waved a corpse with a smashed face back and forth.
But contrary to expectations, it showed no interest — just watched.
The way it looked at me like I was an idiot, as if asking what the hell I was doing, pissed me off so much I almost threw the corpse away. I held back and recalled my conversation with Na Sehee — or rather, the contents of her notebook.
It likes. Only specific parts. Especially.
Seeing how it had no interest when I held up and shook a whole corpse, that meant those parts weren't on the limbs.
Which left only one answer...
I tossed the corpse over the wall and trudged toward the front gate, where I spotted Chaeyeon elegantly practicing her footwork in a corner where the snow had been cleared.
In the past she would have latched onto me the moment she saw me and started talking nonstop, but now the moment she noticed me she bowed her head deeply in greeting, then went right back to focusing on practice — and it felt strange.
Still better than being completely ignored, I guess.
Then Na Sehee's words suddenly came to mind, and I said something to Chaeyeon.
"I heard something from Na Sehee just a bit ago."
"...?"
She seemed curious enough to pause and look at me, but somehow she couldn't quite meet my eyes.
I have no idea why a confidence machine like her turned into this. She'd even gone from dressing lightly for winter because movement was inconvenient to wrapping herself up completely tight.
"I heard some weird words about jealousy or whatever? She was saying some strange stuff about how that much was manageable."
"?!"
"Do you happen to know what she me—"
Before my question could even finish, she quietly sheathed her sword and, full of killing intent, went into the main building and headed up to the second floor.
Leaving Haejun — who'd been weakly coming out of the book café only to get spooked by that aura and duck back inside — behind.
"....."
I should just go finish getting that zombie head.
I scratched my temple as I passed through the school front gate, when suddenly a few bird bastards sitting on the power lines over the road, preening their feathers, caught my eye.
Normally I would have ignored them as annoying little shits.
...This time I kind of hope they just come at me.
Looking at the pheasant sitting in the middle of them, my mouth watered.
At that size, maybe I could adapt to beast zombies appearing reasonably well.