Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Max Intimacy
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As the meal was winding down, a loud knocking echoed from the front door, reverberating through the house.
“…Right now, from the entrance.”
Baek Min-ah, startled by the sound, froze for a moment.
“Oh, it must be my husband!”
Thinking her missing husband had returned, she jumped to her feet.
“Wait a second, Min-ah. …Something’s off.”
“Huh? But the only ones who’d knock on our door are you, Seo-ho, or my husband…!”
“No, listen carefully.”
“…Pardon?”
I stopped Baek Min-ah from rushing to the door and hushed her quietly.
Then, the knocking from the front door started up again.
Bang! Bang-bang!
Normally, when someone announces their arrival with a knock, it follows a certain pattern.
It’s rhythmic, just meant to let people know someone’s there.
If it were Yoon Kang-hyun outside, he’d have knocked the same way.
Of course, it wasn’t Yoon Kang-hyun out there.
It was the two zombies I’d indebted myself to on the way up to the ninth floor.
They were knocking on the door again at my command.
And the way zombies knocked?
Unlike intelligent humans, it was erratic, giving off an eerie, unpleasant vibe.
“…S-so, right now outside…”
Baek Min-ah’s face, who’d felt relatively safe from zombie threats thanks to the ninth-floor height, turned pale.
“Let’s stay quiet and wait it out for now. They won’t keep it up forever.”
Zombies were actually sensitive to noise.
Especially human voices, which seemed to retain some lingering intelligence—they reacted most sharply to those.
Their instinct drew them more to chattering human voices than the roar of a big engine.
So Baek Min-ah, me, and even Yoon Hyun-seo, who’d been gaming, all froze and made no sound.
‘…This feels awkward.’
Of course, I felt zero threat from those zombies, so I was just putting on a tense act.
I’d ordered the two outside to knock a few times and then leave.
After a hushed wait,
Bang—….
The unpleasant knocking faded away slowly.
……Hoo.
“Ahh…”
“A-are you okay?”
As the sound died, the tension broke, and Baek Min-ah’s legs gave out, collapsing her back into her seat.
She leaned on my arm nearby for support, and I caught her in surprise.
“Yeah…. I-it was just so scary.”
As she said, her hand gripping my arm was trembling.
Her large chest pressed naturally against my arm, but she was too tense to notice.
Seizing the moment, I carefully sat her down and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I’m here now.”
“S-Seo-ho…”
Until now, she’d probably subconsciously thought being inside this ninth-floor apartment kept them safe from zombies.
But after that incident, the seed of doubt was planted—that the house wasn’t completely safe.
That amplified her longing for someone to protect her and her daughter.
With her husband gone, the void in that role felt even bigger.
—Ding.
[ ‘Baek Min-ah’s’ intimacy has increased. ]
As she grabbed my hand on her shoulder with a relieved smile, the expected message popped up.
‘Not much longer now.’
The side quest window next to it showed the goal at [68%].
A bit more, and I could probably push it to 70 or even 80.
I reassured the slumped Baek Min-ah, then stood, slinging on my backpack.
“I’ll check out those zombies outside on my way back. If they’re nearby, I’ll take care of them.”
“…Huh? Y-you’re leaving?”
Her eyes, which had just relaxed, trembled slightly at my words.
“Yeah, we finished eating, and leaving those guys out there isn’t smart.”
I extended a hand to Baek Min-ah, still on the floor, helping her up.
Holding her hand, I smiled.
“I’ll handle it, so don’t worry, Min-ah. …I’ll definitely come back.”
At my final words, her hand trembled in mine.
Her face paled, as if some trauma had resurfaced.
“…Well then.”
I let go of her hand, gave Yoon Hyun-seo a greeting, and stepped away.
Without hesitation, I headed straight for the front door.
“W-wait…!”
Suddenly, my arm was grabbed by both of Baek Min-ah’s hands, stopping me.
I turned to her with a feigned puzzled look.
Baek Min-ah clamped her mouth shut, as if holding back words, head bowed while clutching me.
Yoon Hyun-seo nearby set her game down, grabbing her mom’s hem with an anxious face.
“…D-Dad too. …He said that and still hasn’t come back.”
Yoon Hyun-seo muttered in a quivering voice, on the verge of tears.
Baek Min-ah’s grip loosened slightly, her anxiety transmitting through.
—Dad said the same and never returned.
My actions probably overlapped in her mind with Yoon Kang-hyun leaving to scavenge food.
She’d believed he was alive and well.
But like Yoon Kang-hyun, who still hadn’t returned.
Would I, their only current reliance, do the same and not come back?
That anxiety seeped through.
But Baek Min-ah wouldn’t voice fears I might not return like Yoon Kang-hyun.
That would mean accepting his death, so she said nothing.
She just lifted her head carefully, meeting my eyes with trembling ones.
“…Sorry, Seo-ho.”
Her hands slid down from my arm to grasp my hand.
“…I-I know this is a burdensome request, but… if it’s okay…”
Tears welled in her anxious, trembling eyes.
To me, those tears seemed less about zombie fear and more about dread of losing me if I left.
“Could you… stay and sleep here tonight…?”
So she tentatively asked me to stay.
I smiled as if I had no choice and nodded.
“If that puts your mind at ease, sure.”
Anxiety lifted from the mother-daughter duo’s faces, replaced by smiles.
Realizing I wasn’t leaving made everything feel resolved.
“Then tonight, wanna game all night with Uncle? Pokémon?”
“Yeah! Let’s do it!”
Though intimacy alerts only came from Baek Min-ah, Yoon Hyun-seo was visibly warming up to me.
Before, she’d hide behind the door, peeking.
Now, she sat beside me, chattering away.
Baek Min-ah watched us with a smile.
A subtle emotion flickered in her glancing eyes.
。 。 。
Yoon Hyun-seo and I dove into the pirated Pokémon game, finishing only when she dozed off late into the night.
The cheerful gaming vibe lightened the heavy mood from the zombie scare earlier.
“Thanks, Seo-ho. You must be tired, but you played with Hyun-seo so late….”
Baek Min-ah, back after tucking Yoon Hyun-seo into her bed, handed me a blanket.
I took it with a gentle smile.
“No big deal. It felt peaceful for once—like I forgot about the zombie apocalypse for a bit.”
“Hehe, not just me then. It’s been ages since it felt this way, right?”
“Yeah, seeing a kid smile really makes life feel worth living.”
At my last words, Baek Min-ah went quiet for a second, then blushed faintly.
She hugged her own blanket and sat gently beside me on the sofa floor.
“Honestly, I can’t remember the last time Hyun-seo looked that happy.”
She started the conversation carefully.
“Even when my husband was here, we were always tense about food and monsters. …And then he left to scavenge too.”
Recalling those times, her expression darkened, her grip tightening on the blanket.
“After that, Hyun-seo kept asking for Dad, got bored stuck here. …She’s still young, so this environment’s tough on her.”
She glanced at me.
Her previously gloomy face brightened subtly, a soft smile forming as she looked my way.
“But you coming made everything better, Seo-ho. You brought food. …Today’s game made her so happy. I couldn’t even pay attention to her boredom before.”
Her trembling shoulder brushed closer, touching mine.
“I guess… I really can’t be her real mom, huh.”
Baek Min-ah smiled sadly, bowing her head slightly.
I overlapped my hand on hers, clutching the blanket.
Her hand twitched, but she didn’t pull away.
I spoke quietly, comfortingly.
“Anyone would’ve been the same in a crisis. Even her real dad, Yoon Kang-hyun, was like you.”
“…….”
“And from what I’ve seen, you love Hyun-seo more than anyone and take responsibility like a mom. Not being blood-related makes it even harder—not everyone could do that.”
“…Seo-ho.”
“So don’t blame yourself. You’re doing great.”
Her eyes, glistening slightly in the moonlight, sparkled as they looked at me.
I grinned playfully.
“And I’ll keep helping. Lighten that load on your shoulders. I can handle keeping us fed, no problem.”
—Ding.
As I finished, the familiar chime rang, a message appearing in my view.
[ ‘Baek Min-ah’s’ intimacy has increased. ]
[ ‘Baek Min-ah’s’ intimacy has reached maximum. ]
Confirming the messages, I felt her hand grip mine back.
A warm, soft woman’s hand.
Even raising an 8-year-old like a mother, she was still a woman in her twenties.
Through her grip, I sensed not a mother’s tension, but a woman’s excitement and heartbeat.
“You’re… such a good person, Seo-ho.”
Blushing, she smiled tenderly, glancing at me.
“You’re too kind—being near you makes my guard drop…. It oddly makes me nervous.”
Our shoulders, which had touched before, pressed closer.
“It’s late. You should head to bed too, Min-ah. I’ll keep watch on the door.”
“…….”
In the subtle mood, I checked the clock and spoke considerately. Her hand twitched in mine.
She hesitated, then spoke carefully.
“Could we talk… just a bit longer? I’m fine with it.”
Still smiling wistfully, I smiled back.
Though my smile hid different intentions.
We chatted endlessly about all sorts of things, losing track of time.
Eventually, Baek Min-ah nodded off, unknowingly lying on my lap.
I looked down at her peacefully sleeping on my leg, smirking in the moonlight.
‘Just one last puzzle piece to find.’
Then I’d know if she was a virgin or not.
Stroking her fine hair, I admired her alluring figure and dozed off sitting up.
。 。 。
The next morning, Baek Min-ah woke on my lap, shyly fixing her messy hair and greeting me.
“S-sorry. I fell asleep without realizing….”
Her face shifted from responsible mother to a girl harboring fluttering feelings.
I felt her gaze, full of that sentiment, directed at me.
“It’s fine. Thanks to you, I slept warm too.”
“…Hehe, glad my mistake helped.”
Human hearts can’t be controlled at will.
No matter how strong her feelings for Yoon Kang-hyun,
In this zombie crisis, cornered to the brink, it was inevitable her heart would sway toward someone reliable extending a hand.
She hadn’t fully realized it yet.
But her fussing with her clothes and hair in front of me, minding her appearance, looked quite nice.
“Then I’m really heading out now.”
“…Yeah, please be careful.”
“Of course. I’ve got more people to take care of now. I’ll come back for sure, so relax.”
At my bright smile, Baek Min-ah blushed faintly.
Yoon Hyun-seo was still asleep in her room, worn out from late-night gaming.
Leaving now would cause the least fuss.
I left Baek Min-ah waving goodbye behind and exited the apartment.
I immediately headed out.
My destination: the national library nearby, where I’d previously gathered a horde of zombies, shown them a photo, and given orders.
Only one reason I was going there.
“…Look at this.”
To check if the zombies had properly fetched the target I’d told them to bring.
“Quite the crowd.”
Soon, at the national library, as many zombies swarmed as the ones I’d gathered before.
The zombie horde stood still, encircling an awkward empty round space at their center.
Pushing through the horde to reach that circular space,
There lay the coldly stiffened corpse of a certain man on the floor.
Comparing it to the photo in my pocket, I smirked.
Naturally, the identity of the corpse the zombies surrounded.
Was Yoon Hyun-seo’s missing dad—Yoon Kang-hyun.