Mutant 3
When Yeong-ju and Yang Jin-ju returned to the cafeteria, the atmosphere around them had shifted completely. The taut tension from earlier was gone; they looked almost like friends who had finally cleared up some long-buried misunderstanding — at ease, somehow lighter.
"…Tsk."
Of course, even in that peaceful mood, Yeong-ju still clicked her tongue now and then and shot me dirty looks, while Yang Jin-ju watched the two of us with a faintly knowing smile.
I was dying to know what the two of them had talked about, but Yeong-ju's vicious warning from a few days ago — don't stick your nose into conversations between women — was still fresh enough that I didn't dare open my mouth.
So I just muttered empty small talk like, "This coffee tastes unusually good today," and the quick-witted Nam Jin-ju chimed in with an awkward, "Right, Oppa! Same here!"
But for all our efforts, Yang Jin-ju and Yeong-ju barely joined the conversation after coming back to the cafeteria. They just kept glancing at each other and smiling for reasons I couldn't begin to guess — like two people who had sealed some secret pact I alone wasn't in on.
Early night, after dinner was done.
On any other evening I would have gone back to my room to rest like everyone else, but not tonight. The muscular-armor mutant's bizarre behavior outside kept gnawing at me; the thought of rest wouldn't settle, and the fear of what it might try next made sleep impossible.
In the end I sat alone in front of the support room's large monitor, watching its every move.
On the screen, the thing was still stubbornly hurling rocks at the Shelter. Then I saw something astonishing. After a long stretch of stone-throwing, as if its strength had finally given out, it grabbed one of the ordinary zombies shambling nearby. And then, the way someone might tear into a chicken leg, it savagely ripped the zombie's arm off and stuffed it into its own mouth.
What the hell… Do mutants cannibalize their own kind when they get hungry?
Come to think of it, that dog-like mutant I'd seen before — the one that ran on all fours — had been hunting other zombies too. Maybe every mutant treated normal zombies as prey, using them to replenish their strength and evolve even further.
"Seo Yeong-chan?"
I'd been so absorbed in watching that I only noticed the presence behind me when she spoke. I turned. Yang Jin-ju was standing there.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
She quietly took the chair beside mine and spoke.
"Could we… talk alone again tonight? Like before?"
The quiet question caught me off guard. The mood was different from ten days ago. Back then her face had been tight with anxiety and restlessness; now her eyes held the calm of someone who had made a major decision.
"Yeah. That's fine."
"Then… I'll come to Room 1 in about an hour."
Leaving only those words, Yang Jin-ju slipped quietly out of the support room, and I stayed behind, sinking into thought.
What on earth had she and Yeong-ju talked about to change her this much? And what was she planning to say to me tonight?
In a restless, unsettled mood, I checked the Shelter's power and water levels on the support room screen one last time. Still watching the monster outside continue its feast, I waited out the hour with a complicated heart.
After leaving the support room, Yang Jin-ju did not head straight for Room 1. She paced the corridor, fretting through the promised hour. When enough time had passed, she made her way to the Shelter's shower facilities as if preparing for some kind of ritual.
Three semi-transparent glass shower booths stood side by side — shaped a little like phone booths, but far more spacious. No one seemed to be using them; not a single sound of running water came from inside.
"…Haa. Why am I so nervous?"
She undressed and stepped in. Sensors registered her presence, and warm water cascaded from the ceiling like rain. She closed her eyes under the stream and let her thoughts drift.
…I've steeled myself. And I already got permission from Seo Yeong-ju — the part I thought would be hardest. I can't start hesitating now. This is for all of us.
She repeated it to herself again and again, but her heart still beat with uneasy force.
She squeezed fragrant shampoo from the wall dispenser and began washing her hair. Feeling the rich foam rise, she suddenly thought of Seo Yeong-ju.
Seo Yeong-ju… had long hair, didn't she. Does Seo Yeong-chan prefer long hair? Should I… grow mine out too?
She looked at herself in the mirror. The short bob had been her trademark since before the zombie outbreak. She'd always thought it was practical and suited her. But the reflection looking back at her now seemed somehow incomplete — hair that didn't even reach her shoulders.
She tried imagining herself with long hair. The image felt strange and awkward; it wouldn't quite take shape.
Finally she studied her body in the mirror from head to toe with careful attention.
…Five months of hardship did have exactly one upside. Automatic diet?
The belly fat and thigh softness that used to bother her a little were gone without a trace. In their place was a lean body forged by the grind of survival. She touched her stomach and hips and found a faint thread of confidence.
Stepping out of the shower, she steeled herself once more. She changed into clean clothes and began walking toward Room 1 — slowly, but without hesitation. With every step, she made herself another promise.
As the hour drew near, I left the support room and headed for my quarters. My heart was pounding with a different kind of tension than usual. What was she going to say? Could whatever she'd decided actually lead somewhere good for all of us?
I went into Room 1 and sat on the edge of the bed the way I had last time. Then I pulled out the desk chair and set it across from the bed so she'd have somewhere to sit. Fully prepared, I waited.
Before long, a careful knock sounded — tap, tap. Nothing like Yeong-ju's impatient rapping; polite, deliberate.
I took a breath and opened the door. And the moment I saw who was standing there, I caught my breath.
Yang Jin-ju. But not the Yang Jin-ju I knew.
"…Have you been waiting?"
She must have just come from the shower. She was wearing one of the Shelter's clean grey tracksuits, and her short hair, not fully dry, still held a faint sheen of moisture as it settled softly around her face. The scent of shampoo mixed with a subtle warmth of her skin brushed my nose. The cool, rational presence I was used to was nowhere to be found — standing in front of me was simply a woman, unguarded and somehow fragile.
"Can I come in?"
She looked up and asked in a small voice.
I was completely captivated. Damp hair. Pale cheeks faintly flushed from the steam. I just stared, blank.
"Seo Yeong-chan?"
…Crap. Had I been staring that hard?
I snapped back to myself and hurriedly stepped aside.
"Y-yeah! Come in!"
Once she was inside I closed the door, sat back on the bed, and pointed to the chair.
"Sit over there."
But she didn't go to the chair. She hesitated a moment, then came toward me instead. Keeping a little distance, she carefully perched on the edge of the bed beside me.
"Huh?"
I looked at her in surprise. She gave me a faint smile that somehow still looked resolute.
"Tonight… let's talk like this."
Slightly damp hair. An atmosphere nothing like usual. The faint warmth reaching me. Overwhelmed by all of it, I found myself nodding without thinking.
Yang Jin-ju hesitated for a long time. She clenched and unclenched the hands resting on her knees, unable to find the words.
"You saw us earlier."
At last, as if she'd made up her mind, she began — slowly, but in a voice that didn't waver — to tell me what she and Yeong-ju had discussed.
"Today… I talked with Seo Yeong-ju alone."
She went on as calmly as a prisoner waiting for a verdict.
"I spoke first. I said the only option left to us seemed to be raising your favorability. But that method would look to anyone like we were trying to seduce you, so I wanted her permission first. I didn't want to scheme behind your back."
I held my breath and waited for what came next.
"At first… I thought she'd be furious. Of course she would. What woman would want someone else going after her man…"
She paused and took a breath.
"But Seo Yeong-ju said something completely different from what I expected. She said if we were going to build favorability, we shouldn't do it half-heartedly — we should just commit to seducing you outright."
"She said for all of us to survive, personal feelings were a luxury right now. And… she said she was fine with it. It was like she had this confidence about her relationship with you? Like no matter what I did, you wouldn't fall for it… That's how it seemed she saw it."
When she finished, my head was a tangle. Yeong-ju had really said that? I felt like the lead actor in a play who'd never been shown the script.
Seeing I couldn't hide how complicated I felt, Yang Jin-ju looked down at the floor and said that the conversation with Yeong-ju was over — but there was still one last thing.
"This has nothing to do with favorability or Companion conditions… I'm just saying it."
She paused again, as if the next words mattered more than anything, and drew a deep breath. Then, gathering her courage, she went on.
"I… honestly have feelings for you."
Slowly she lifted the gaze she'd fixed on the floor.
"At first I just thought you were completely insane. Like you were denying reality and living trapped in your own delusion…"
Her eyes stopped near my knees.
"But when everything you said turned out to be true, and this Shelter actually appeared, I just thought it was incredible. I kept wondering what kind of person you even were…"
Her gaze moved to my hand — the one still mottled with new skin where the wounds had healed.
"And at the end, when you activated the Shelter even while your whole body was being torn apart — honestly, I thought you were amazing."
At last her eyes rose fully and met mine head-on.
"So the conclusion is… whether it's big or small, I'm sure I have feelings for you."
The moment I heard those words, it felt like my breath caught in my throat. A confession. This was unmistakably a confession. In this world, I had never once imagined I would face feelings like these from anyone other than Yeong-ju.
Yang Jin-ju didn't look away. Holding my gaze, she asked her final question.
"What about you…? Do you have even a little feeling for me? It doesn't have to be something big and deep like what you have with Seo Yeong-ju. Just a tiny bit of affection… is that there?"
The question left my mind blank. Words wouldn't come easily. Seo Yeong-ju was clearly in my heart. But could I really say I felt nothing for this kind, brilliant woman who had looked after me these past few days — who had laughed with me and worried with me?
Even while I struggled, Yang Jin-ju didn't push. She simply waited for my answer in silence.
After a long quiet, I finally managed to nod and open my mouth.
"There is…"
At those words, a bright smile bloomed across Yang Jin-ju's face — relief and joy tangled together.
"Then that's enough!"
She cried it out and threw herself into my arms. The sudden soft warmth froze me for a second — and then, without quite meaning to, I carefully wrapped my arms around her back and held her.