What the Hell Kind of Crazy Dream Was That?
What the hell? What kind of insane dream was that? A prophetic one, maybe?
As the rainy season wrapped up, September loomed—the month of the academy entrance ceremony. In other words, my sweet newlywed bliss with Eori was about to end in just one or two months. When I should’ve been squeezing in as many dates with her as possible to play around.
And yet.
“Mister, can’t you go any faster?”
“Heh heh. With traffic this bad, how could I?”
Traffic jammed us up, and I ended up late for our date.
“Mister! Just let me out here!”
“Sure thing! That’ll be three nyang!”
“Too pricey! I’ll ride with you again next time!”
“Aw, come on! Normally I wouldn’t, but make it two and a half nyang!”
“Nothing’s ever really ‘not possible’ in this world.”
Normally I would’ve haggled more, but I couldn’t afford to keep Eori waiting any longer. I paid the taxi driver what he asked and hopped out. Now all that was left was to sprint like hell.
All that training for the military academy exam had paid off. I ran to the theater without breaking a sweat.
There it was in the distance—the theater, and Eori standing out front. Her skin dark as chocolate, taller than most grown men, with a glamorous figure to match her height. The fateful love I’d found after coming to Joseon.
“Eori!”
Eori, who’d been blankly staring at her smartphone, heard my voice. She spotted me right away and waved, flashing a youthful smile that contrasted her mature looks.
“Heehee! Oppa! Take it slow! The movie hasn’t started yet!”
Huh? A sudden sense of wrongness nearly stopped me in my tracks. But being late for our date mattered more. I picked up speed and rushed toward her.
“Eori! Sorry!”
I arrived panting and apologized immediately. “Sudden traffic jam! You’ve been waiting a while, right? I’m sorry!”
“Heehee, no! I just got here too!”
She shook her head with the same bright smile she’d had when she first saw me. Then she sidled up and hooked her arm through mine.
“Let’s go, oppa! Hurry—I wanna buy popcorn with you!”
“Y-yeah! I’ll get the popcorn and tickets!”
“Heeheehee! I already bought the tickets, though? You just handle the popcorn!”
“No way, I should pay for both. I’m the one who kept you waiting.”
“Aw, oppa!”
Eori leaned into me, arm still linked, her shoulder pressing against mine. Her mature beauty drew closer, and her sweet scent brushed my nose, making my head spin.
Oblivious to what she was doing to me, she whispered, “I wanted to go on a date with you too, my lord!”
“Huh?”
Her breath tickling my ear snapped me out of it. I started to ask what she’d said, but she was too excited about our date to give me a chance.
“Heeheehee! Oppa! Come on! We’re short on time for popcorn!”
“Y-yeah. Let’s go.”
With Eori tugging me along by the arm, we headed into the theater. It was packed since the show was starting soon. We pushed through the crowd to the concession stand, where a long line snaked in front of it.
“Eori, why don’t you go ahead and grab seats? I’ll buy the popcorn and catch up.”
“Aaaaw, don’t say that. In movies, the guy who says that always fails to show up and dies.”
“That’s just zombie flicks.”
I figured she just didn’t want to be apart from me even for a second. But her face wore an expression like I’d said something ridiculous.
“This place is already a zombie movie theater, my lord.”
“Huh?”
“Kyaaah!”
Before I could ask what she meant, a woman’s scream echoed through the theater. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, revealing the source.
Crunch! Crunch!
“Grrrugh…!”
A man in shabby hanbok was biting into a woman’s neck, turning everything below it into a bloody mess. She’d tried pushing him off but soon went limp, collapsing to the floor.
“Grraaaarrrgh!”
The blood-smeared man let out a dragon-like roar from his gore-covered mouth. Only then did the frozen crowd snap into motion, screaming and fleeing.
“Grraaaarrrgh!”
“Aaaah! Help!”
“Oppa! Kyaaah!”
It was pure chaos. People bolted every which way as zombies—god knows where they’d come from—pounced on them.
“Grraaah!”
One charged straight at us. Even in my confusion, my hand went for the royal sword at my waist.
“My lord! Be careful!”
Eori had already drawn her bow and arrows from her pouch, nocking one and drawing the string.
Twang—thunk!
Her arrow pierced the zombie’s forehead dead-center. It crumpled like a marionette with cut strings.
“Eori! Let’s go!”
That was enough to shake off my daze. I grabbed her hand and bolted for the exit.
Zombies blocked our path, of course, but I slashed with my sword while Eori loosed arrows, carving a way through.
Huh? How was Eori shooting with me holding her hand?
“Grraaaarrrgh!”
“Ah, shit! You scared me!”
The hand I’d been holding this whole time wasn’t Eori’s—it was a zombie’s. I hastily decapitated it and turned on her.
“Eori! You knew the thing I was holding was a zombie?!”
“Heeheehee! Yes! I knew, my lord!”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Heeheehee! Isn’t it more fun that way?!”
We cut down and shot zombies between words as we fought our way out. Outside was a far cry from five minutes ago, when I’d arrived for the theater.
The taxi I’d taken was smashed into a lamppost, burning black. Zombies leaped between cars, hunting people.
Honk! Hoooonk!
A car horn blared across the road. Eori and I turned to see a black sedan speeding our way.
Not just any sedan—an antique, like something from the early days of automobiles when inventors were still alive.
Screeech!
It braked hard with a tire-shredding shriek right in front of us. A girl about our age—maybe sixteen—leaned over from the driver’s seat and flung open the passenger door.
“What’re you doing? Get in! Zombies are coming!”
“Uh, uh!”
No clue what was going on, but I nodded anyway. I shoved Eori into the back first, then hopped into the passenger seat.
“Great! Let’s roll!”
The second I shut the door, she floored it. Zombies chased us, but her insane driving skills blasted through them.
Thud! Crush! Crunch! Splut!
“Woo-hoo! Die, you zombie bastards!”
“You crazy bitch?!”
She was driving like a maniac, alright. We plowed through zombies and escaped danger thanks to this sudden girl savior.
She focused on driving until we hit a clear stretch without zombies. Then, catching her breath, she side-eyed me and yelled,
“Dad! There’s your gun under the passenger seat! But it’s not loaded!”
“You brought my gun?”
I rummaged under the seat without thinking. There it was—my matchlock musket, bestowed by King Sejong himself.
…Wait. Hold up.
“What’d you say?”
I finally registered what she’d called me and stared at her. But she ignored me, twisting around to the back seat.
“Mom! There’s a peach in the back seat! Eat that!”
“Nom! Slurp!”
“Ah, yeah. You’re already eating it. Good girl!”
Eori was chowing down on a peach in the back, juice dribbling from her mouth. She looked like she was enjoying it immensely…
No. That’s not the point.
Taking advantage of the girl focusing on the road again, I asked, “What did you just call me?”
“Huh? What? I called you Dad!”
“Why would I be your dad?!”
“What? Your? No, seriously! Dad, what’s wrong with you?!”
Screeech!
“Whoa?!”
She slammed the brakes, stopping dead in the middle of the road. She pounded her chest in frustration and shouted,
“Dad! Don’t you know me? I’m your daughter!”
“Wh-who?”
“Your daughter! Your daughter, Kim **!”
“Huh? Who?”
“I’m your daughter! Kim **!”
Her surname was muffled; I only caught her given name. Even reading her lips was no use—suddenly my vision blurred like something covered my eyes. What did this girl even look like again?
The thought hit me, and I woke up.
“……”
I stared silently at the ceiling even after waking. I mulled over the dream I’d just had.
Heading out on a date with Eori, stuck in traffic, zombies at the theater, fighting through them, rescued by an old car whose driver…
“…called me Dad?”
What the hell? What kind of crazy dream was that? A prophetic one, maybe?
I finally sat up and glanced at the spot beside me.
“Mmm, mm, my lord… It’s too big…”
Eori lay there deep in sleep, her chocolate-smooth skin bared.
It’d been over three months since our wedding. For a normal couple, pregnancy news should be rolling in by now. And last night, timing had been a bit off too.
“Nah, no way. Couldn’t be.”
But there was no way that ridiculous dream was a prophetic one. It wasn’t the first time timing had been late, either.
“No. It’s nothing. Probably not.”
A vague unease washed over me, and I lay back down. Normally I’d be dressing for morning exercise, but right now, I didn’t feel like it.
I carefully slipped an arm under her head so as not to wake her, pressing skin to sweat-slick skin despite the summer heat.
As we lazed through the morning like that, I pondered deeply.
Having a daughter like that… wouldn’t be so bad.
For the record, this was one hour before Eori started dry-heaving in the middle of breakfast.