Stumbles into the Hidden Truth
Crash, bang—.
“Ugh, my head…”
“……”
We'd both dived under the table together and ended up banging our heads against each other.
“Ah, are you oka—.”
Flinch—.
…But how do I even begin to explain this?
“W-What's this?”
The sight before my eyes filled me with a profound sense of wrongness. And the reason was simple. Yoon Yerin's pants, as she lay fallen backward, had a massive outline bulging there—and no matter how you looked at it, this wasn't from an injury.
“Um, hey…!”
Yoon Yerin didn't answer my startled question. Instead, she got up from her spot with surprising naturalness for someone who'd just been flustered, and sat back at the table.
“What's what?”
Then she started playing dumb, as if nothing was amiss.
“Why are you pretending not to know? I clearly saw it bulging. You're not hurt, are you?”
“…Does that mean you want to see me naked too?”
“N-No, that's not what I—.”
In an instant, I felt like a total pervert. Worse, she'd pulled out her signature move: extreme statement followed by shutting down all rebuttal. Only someone who's experienced it knows—when she hits you with that, you really have nothing to say. That's why it used to frustrate me so much back in the day whenever she left me speechless.
“If you're done eating, let's get up. We'll do the dishes after I've shown you around.”
“…Okay.”
Her complete composure sparked a rebellious streak in me. Sure, it wasn't right for someone freeloading like me, but I had to find out.
'It's not a bite wound or anything, right…?'
And so, Operation Investigate Yoon Yerin's Down There officially began.
*
“This is the cultivation room.”
“Whoa…”
The first stop on the bunker tour was the cultivation room. It was exactly what it sounded like—a vast space growing all sorts of crops, big enough to feel like they'd transplanted an entire rural field.
“If you need vegetables or fruit, just pick them here. The machines handle all the maintenance, so you don't have to worry about it. Oh, bugs show up sometimes, but they're tiny ones, so no need to be scared.”
“B-But how can there be such a huge field like this?”
“All thanks to money. Money can buy anything, right? Don't ask about the source. And these aren't ordinary varieties—they grow almost infinitely.”
“I-Infinitely? Is that even possible? No matter how much breeding or modification…”
“Money can buy anything.”
…What the hell happened while we were out of touch? Did she win the lottery or something?
'No, this is way beyond lottery winnings.'
Especially the infinitely growing crops—that was something I'd never even heard of. Guess it's true that money can do anything.
'…Anyway, that's beside the point.'
My goal right now was, as I said, to uncover the mystery of Yoon Yerin's bulge. So I needed a natural excuse to get close, and luckily, she'd handed me one on a platter: those bugs she mentioned.
I mean, if they're small, one could totally be on her pants, right?
“Ahh—there's a bug here—.”
Now's my chance—!
“…!”
Whoosh—.
“Kuugh…!!”
But I'd forgotten one crucial thing about Yoon Yerin.
“A-Are you okay?”
“……”
Her reflexes were insanely good. I ended up face-planting right into the field.
“Why'd you lunge like that all of a sudden…”
“…I thought something was stuck to your pants.”
First Mission: Total Failure!
After leaving the cultivation room behind, we arrived at a dark corridor.
“Next is…”
The moment we stepped into the corridor, Yoon Yerin suddenly hesitated.
“…Well, you couldn't get in here alone anyway.”
After that faint mutter, something incredible awaited.
“G-Guns…!?”
It was an armory. Not just the K2 rifle I'd glimpsed earlier, but rows upon rows of all sorts of firearms.
“D-Did you buy these with money too?”
“You could say that. Though I didn't get them in Korea, of course.”
“…So how did you end up building a bunker like this? The size makes it seem like it was built before the zombies appeared.”
Yoon Yerin seemed to ponder my blunt question for a moment. Then, with a somewhat bitter expression, she answered.
“…There's someone I like.”
“Someone you like…?”
A bunker because of someone she liked? It was hard to wrap my head around.
“Yes. I wanted to always be together with them, so I confessed, but got rejected.”
…No way.
“How come…?”
“I found out later there were circumstances. It's personal, so it's hard to talk about.”
“I-I see.”
“…They liked stuff like this. So I took it up as a hobby, and every time I thought of them, I'd add more, and it ended up like this.”
“……”
I liked bunkers? When did I ever say that? It wasn't wrong, but I couldn't remember saying it to Yoon Yerin's face…
'…I did.'
‘…Sunbae, what are you doing?’
Smooth—.
‘A game…? I didn't know you liked games too. A survival game—it suits you somehow.’
Stare—.
‘Sunbae has a ton of supplies. Must've stockpiled a lot.’
Nod—.
‘…But what do you think it'd be like to actually have a bunker like this? And if real zombies showed up?’
‘…….’
‘…You think it'd be kinda fun? Sunbae's tastes are pretty unique.’
Digging through my memories brought back a conversation from the break room long ago.
“…That was in the past. We can't go back now.”
“Ah…”
It was in the past, but hearing it from the person herself right now felt… weird.
“…Do you have a cold or something? Your face suddenly got red.”
“No, it's not that…”
For some reason, it felt like another reason piled onto why I couldn't reveal my identity.
“…But why can't you go back now?”
Yoon Yerin answered my question immediately.
“Because the world's like this now. Of course, I'd love it if they were safe, but there are more dead people than living ones these days.”
She had a point. The last news I'd seen said over half of humanity was gone. And even among survivors, the odds of anyone holding out normally were slim.
“…So you still think about that person?”
Yoon Yerin paused at my sudden question. Then, with a complicated expression, she continued.
“…Even yesterday.”
“Huh?”
“I thought about them yesterday, I'm thinking about them now. Probably tomorrow too, and from here on out.”
“…Why?”
“Because I really love them.”
Meaning she'd think of them until the day she died. With those words, Yoon Yerin closed the door to the armory.
“…I sure rambled on. Anyway, you won't have any reason to come here. As you know, you can't access this without the entrance, and it's just for emergencies.”
When she even relocked the padlock, a strange feeling washed over me. Like a stinging in one corner of my chest. It seemed connected to Yoon Yerin, but exactly…
“……”
Exactly what it was, I couldn't pinpoint. It was an emotion too hard to articulate right now. So unconsciously, I decided to set that stinging aside for the moment.
“There are also a gym, game room, theater, and such, but we'll check those out later.”
“Huh, why?”
“It's late.”
Turning at her words, I saw it was already 8 PM.
“Oh, already this late…”
“It's your first day, so you must be tired. We'll start chores tomorrow. You'll sleep in your own room, but I'll lock your door from the outside. I'll unlock it in the morning.”
She added that she usually woke around 6 AM.
“The room for you, Lee So-yul-ssi, is down there at the end.”
She pointed to the far room.
“Each room has its own shower, so if you're sticky, wash up again before bed.”
“……”
“Something to say?”
At this rate, investigating that would have to wait. The atmosphere wasn't right anyway, and honestly, my gratitude for her care outweighed everything.
“Um, I-I haven't properly thanked you yet.”
“…Pardon?”
“Like I said earlier, getting into a place like this in this world… it's honestly incredible luck. S-So, I wanted to say thank you for taking me in…”
Even though it was something I obviously needed to say, I found myself fumbling awkwardly.
Snicker—.
“Good night.”
“Ah, yes, good night to you too, Yoon Yerin-ssi…!”
Clunk—.
That was when it happened. Crash, bang—.
“Ugh, s-sorry! My foot got caught…”
I'd only taken one more step to reply, but tripped over my own foot and fell.
“Huh…?”
But the current situation wasn't just a simple fall. On top of that, I heard flustered breathing from somewhere, and when I looked up, Yoon Yerin's face was flushed red.
The reason was obvious. One.
“Eek…”
I'd grabbed onto Yoon Yerin's pants as I fell.
“Eh…?”
The sight that met my eyes left me utterly speechless. The kind of speechless where words just wouldn't come—like, is this what it really means to be at a loss for words?
And the reason was obvious.
Because between Yoon Yerin's legs was something that absolutely shouldn't be there.
“……”
For someone so flustered, Yoon Yerin quickly stood, pulled up her pants.
“…Lee So-yul-ssi.”
Then she called my name and stepped closer.
“Y-Yes?”
“Since we're living together now, there can't be any secrets, right?”
“Uh, y-yeah…”
“…Then I'll show you.”
“Huh? Sh-Show me what…?”
“You've already seen it all.”
With that, Yoon Yerin slowly lowered her pants again.
Thud—!
A clean but enormous cock sprang into view right before my eyes.
“…I tried to find the cause, but no luck.”
“Uh, that…”
“I was going to keep it hidden and live with it, but I changed my mind.”
“Ch-Changed your mind…?”
“…Better than agonizing alone.”
Did that mean… she'd look for the cause together? But no way could headbutting brains figure this out. More importantly, was this a real dick? And why was it so huge? Oh, but thinking about it, my body changed too. So maybe something similar happened to her?
'My head hurts…'
My mind was a total whirlwind of confusion.
“…Or rather, I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor…?”
Suddenly, Yoon Yerin mentioned a request. Naturally, I had no idea what it was. But shoving her dick in my face while blushing…
“…Can you take it in?”
N-No way, right?
“…Thank you.”
When I came to, I'd unconsciously agreed to it.