Road Movie (4)
"Ah, Jeong Hoon! Over there!"
Kim Seyeon, who had been silent until now, whispered as close to my ear as she could manage, keeping her voice as low as possible. Even so, she couldn't quite suppress her excitement as she raised a hand and pointed somewhere ahead.
At the tip of her finger lay the residential neighborhood we had been aiming for.
SC District is one of Seoul's three Gangnam districts. Teacher Kim Seyeon… is she from a richer family than I imagined? Or maybe it was her husband's side that had the money?
Then why was she herself working out in Gyeonggi Province? XX City isn't that far from Seoul, but it isn't exactly close either.
It was puzzling, but one thing was certain.
If we made it back to Kim Seyeon's house, all of it would come to light.
We stepped into a residential alley. Unlike the main roads, zombies and monsters were scattered only sparsely here. Of course, on a narrow path even that small number was thoroughly irritating.
Thud. Thwack!
"Kieeek!"
"Uwoogh?"
Ah—by "irritating," I didn't mean "dangerous."
Park Seeun and I, taking the lead, were clearing the way with single kicks and punches that sent every last one of them flying clear over the far end of the alley.
From the rear, Han Sora planted arrows through the skulls of any monsters that appeared behind us.
We walked like that for quite a while.
"There. That one… that was my house."
In a slightly trembling voice, Kim Seyeon pointed. Beyond a gate and a wall stood a house of at most two stories.
Wow. It's… smaller than I expected. Still, the only reason it looks lower than the neighboring places is relative height. Owning a detached house like that in Seoul would have been impossible without serious money—especially here in SC District, one of the so-called Gangnam Three.
Tap. Tap!
I pressed the doorbell beside the gate. Pointless. With the power out, the button produced neither light nor sound.
Kim Seyeon tried pulling the gate.
Rattle. Rattle!
"Ah…"
It was locked.
If I put real force into it, maybe—no. This didn't look like something that would tear free easily. No matter how strong I was, ripping open a steel gate that wasn't even brick was no simple task. Maybe if I had gauntlets on, but as things stood…
"I shall climb the wall. Would that be acceptable, Teacher Kim Seyeon?"
I still made a point of asking permission from the person closest to being the homeowner.
Kim Seyeon stared past the iron gate for a moment, then gave a heavy nod. After telling Sora and Seeun to keep a careful watch on the surroundings, I vaulted the wall without hesitation.
Thud—my feet landed in the courtyard. A lawn. Untended, of course. It would have been stranger if it had been otherwise.
A short flight of steps led up to the front door of the house.
I approached slowly. The door had some rather ornate fittings, but it didn't look nearly as solid as the outer gate.
Creeeak…!
Damn. It wasn't even locked. Had they put too much faith in that front gate?
"…Woooorr…!"
The moment I stepped inside, a cold sensation sliced through my mind. There was no mistaking the sound that had just reached my ears.
I squeezed my eyes shut for an instant.
Teacher Kim Seyeon had just earned herself another nightmare. There was a zombie inside the house. She had said her husband and daughter lived here, and that her younger sister and in-laws dropped by from time to time.
Which meant the one who had turned was…
I carefully eased the rest of my body through the doorway.
The interior was fairly spacious—and desolate. Dust had settled over everything; the furniture practically screamed that no one had used it in a long time.
"…Uwooorr…"
The zombie's voice came from above. A staircase caught my eye.
Stairs leading to the second floor. Right—so it really was a two-story house. A common layout for detached homes. I decided to clear the first floor first.
As I scanned the rooms, one door snagged my attention. A pink heart decoration hung from it. Obvious at a glance.
A child's room.
It had to belong to Kim Seyeon's daughter, Seo Minji.
My stomach twisted. Even so, the feeling that I couldn't look away from the truth pushed me forward. Without hesitation I took hold of the doorknob.
Creeeak…
I pulled the outward-opening door just far enough to leave the barest crack, then focused every scrap of my hearing through the gap.
Huff… huff…!
Someone was breathing in sleep. Not an adult—the soft, shallow rhythm of a small child.
I drew the door open a little farther. The interior came fully into view. Toys, a wide but cozy little bed, a desk and wardrobe, even a small television—everything you would expect in a child's room. Play mats covered the floor.
And on those mats, a little girl lay asleep under a blanket, her back turned toward me. Given the breathing I had heard, she was definitely sleeping.
…Still, an ominous premonition flickered through my mind. Is that really a living person asleep? Zombies don't sleep, do they? The anxiety flared for only a second before vanishing. No—I had seen it plenty of times in the early morning hours. Zombies never slept; they just kept wandering. There was no way.
Reassured, I carefully approached the child and knelt. A little girl slept with the blanket pulled up to her chin, her expression faintly uncomfortable.
I was sorry, but this was no time for sleeping. Carrying a small weight of guilt, I gently tapped her shoulder.
"…Minji, won't you wake up for me?"
"…Uuung…"
She fretted in her sleep.
Whew. Definitely a real little kid. One of Teacher Kim Seyeon's worries had just been lifted. The child—Minji—rolled onto her back so that she faced the ceiling, eyes still closed.
Her condition was enough to make me frown. Her cheeks were sunken, and she was grimy all over from what must have been a hard stretch of survival.
Ah—looking around properly now, the room itself wasn't clean either. Empty drink bottles, cups, and snack wrappers littered one corner. A few crackers lay scattered on the floor.
"Minji…?"
"Uuung… Daddy… I'm up… huh?"
She fretted and scrunched her face, then suddenly stopped. She must have caught a glimpse of my face through barely opened eyes. Her eyes snapped wide.
Then she bolted upright. The sheer shock on her face left a little wound in my heart. Did I really look that terrifying?
No—more likely a complete stranger calling her by name had set off every alarm she had. Staring at the child who kept her mouth clamped shut while glaring at me, I spoke in the gentlest voice I could manage.
"Be at ease. I am a friend of your mother… Teacher Kim Seyeon. I have come to rescue you."
"…M-Mom…? Mom's… friend…?"
"Yes. Your mother is here as well. She came to save you."
Mom.
That single word seemed to melt the child's heart. Suddenly her eyes went watery and round.
H-huh…! W-why is she suddenly—!
Outwardly I was still under the control of Lawful Good, but inside I plunged straight into panic the moment the child started welling up.
Wh-what do I do? How do you even calm a crying kid…?!
…Except she was crying so weakly, so exhaustedly, that it barely counted as crying at all.
"Hic… hic… R-really…?"
Damn. She really had gone hungry for a long time. Watching her cry with so little strength left made my chest ache. At this rate she might pass out mid-sob. That couldn't be allowed.
Without hesitation I reached behind me. Inside the Feather Bag there was definitely… here.
I pulled out a chocolate bar—emergency rations. I tore the wrapper, broke off a small piece, and held it out to her.
"It's something sweet. Eat a little."
I had no idea how long she had gone without food, but giving her too much at once would be worse than letting her take a small bite and recover even a scrap of strength.
The little girl—Kim Seyeon's daughter, Seo Minji—sniffled as she reached out with grimy hands for the chocolate piece… no, better if I just fed it to her myself. I wiped my hands with wet tissues often enough.
"Munch, munch…"
Watching that dirty little face chew the chocolate was oddly endearing.
And it filled me with pity. Seeing children suffer under the catastrophe of an apocalypse was never a pleasant sight. The kids who had lived with us at the villa had felt secure enough to laugh and giggle all the time, but…
This child, Minji, had survived completely exposed, without any of that protection. Imagining the hardships she must have endured in this ruined world made my insides twist with a raw, sharp ache.
"Drink just a little of this as well."
From behind me I produced a 500 ml bottle of water and a disposable cup.
I poured a small amount into the cup and handed it over. Minji took it and sipped carefully. Once a bit of strength returned, she gave me a little bow.
"Thank you…"
Still in that watery, tear-choked voice.
Good. Now I could finally ask some questions.
"Where are the adults… where is your father? If it is too hard, you need not answer."
I already had a fair idea, but I asked carefully all the same. Fortunately the child showed no particular agitation as she answered in a small voice.
"Up… upstairs…"
Just as I thought.
"I understand. Thank you. Will you wait here just a moment? Uncle is going to go upstairs for a little while and come right back. Is that all right?"
The moment I said it, the child seemed to understand—and reacted.
She buried herself against my chest with a soft thump, trembling.
Oh no… Was it the warmth of another person after so long? She seemed desperate not to lose it.
What now? Forcing her off felt wrong, but staying put wasn't ideal either.
"…Hm?"
"Huff… huff…"
Even, steady breathing reached my ears.
I carefully checked her face. Eyes closed—she had fallen asleep.
Food, water, and the warmth of a human embrace had apparently dragged her under before she even realized it. She had already been sleeping earlier, yet she dropped off this fast again.
I carefully transferred her onto the bed, then slipped quietly out of the room.
"…Uuuuooo…!"
Still there. The zombie's moan. Without hesitation I climbed the stairs toward the second floor where it waited.
At the top, a hallway lined with several doors came into view. The first floor had already seemed well-supplied with rooms, and there were plenty up here too. Even as I marveled, I tracked the room the moaning came from.
…Ah. Here. A door that practically screamed this is the master bedroom.
Unlike the child's room earlier, a passionate red heart was stuck right in the center of the door. I yanked it open without a second thought.
"Uwoooooorr…!"
I took in the scene before my eyes and made sure to scowl.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Creeeak, clack!
"Jeong Hoon!"
"Oppa!"
"Hoon-oppa!"
The moment I unlocked and opened the iron gate, all three of them rushed inside like a shot.
Kim Seyeon in particular looked at me with an expression caught between hope and dread. Anyone who saw that face would know better than to hesitate over reporting the situation inside.
"Teacher Kim Seyeon—the child… Seo Minji is safe. She was asleep in her room on the first floor—"
Thud-thud-thud!
Without even waiting for me to finish, Kim Seyeon bolted into the house. Incredible agility. As long as she didn't go upstairs…
"J-Jeong Hoon-oppa! Teacher Seyeon's kid is really okay?"
"Is it true?"
The other two immediately launched a barrage of questions, faces lit with hope.
I nodded and answered as I stepped into the house after them.
"She was asleep on the first floor. Rather thin, but her overall health looked sound. No injuries to speak of."
"Th-thank goodness…"
"Even if she were sick, Unnie Seyeon could heal her, so as long as it's nothing too serious… Wow, though—it's been forever since I was here…"
Park Seeun looked faintly nostalgic; she must have visited before. She might have forgotten the route, but the interior of the house had stuck with her.
We followed the trail Kim Seyeon had left and entered the child's room.
"My Minji… thank goodness, thank goodness…"
Inside, Kim Seyeon was half-sobbing in a tiny voice so as not to wake the child.
She stroked the sleeping girl's hair, kissed her cheek, and murmured motherly frets and laments about how thin she had become.
"Unnie…"
"I'm so glad, Unnie…!"
Han Sora and Park Seeun quietly approached and wrapped their arms around Kim Seyeon.
Even back in XX District, the three of them had often sat together chatting late into the night. One of the reasons Sora and Seeun had decided to follow her to Seoul was surely the empathy they felt after hearing her circumstances.
But… as the saying goes, what comes around goes around. She still had another truth to face.
And for that, I was fully prepared to play the villain today.
"Teacher Kim Seyeon."
"Hic… Yes?"
Her tear-filled eyes turned toward me. Seeing the face of a woman crying tears of pure relief stabbed hard at my conscience.
…But you know this too, Lawful Good. This is something someone has to do.
That's why your conscience stings, and yet you aren't actively stopping me. Right?
"Would you come upstairs with me for a moment?"
"Th-the second floor…?"
I didn't answer her further. Instead I spoke to Sora and Seeun.
"Sora, Seeun. Stay here and look after Minji for me. Teacher Kim Seyeon and I have business upstairs."
"H-huh?"
"O…ppa?"
Both of them looked at me with puzzled faces, but I only held their gazes steadily.
As if that look had gotten through, they slowly loosened their hold on Kim Seyeon and stepped back a little.
And Kim Seyeon herself—
"…Is it about my husband?"
—had already figured it out.
"It is."
We climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Thud. Thud…
Unlike when I had first broken in, no zombie voice could be heard.
Of course not. I had already taken measures.
"He was in the bedroom."
"…I see."
"He was not alone."
"Not… alone?"
There truly was no other way to describe it, so I answered her repeated question with silence.
Instead—
Creeeak…!
—I opened the bedroom door, letting that serve as my reply.
"…!"
"…!…!"
Inside were two people.
No—two who had once been people. A man and a woman roughly the same age as Kim Seyeon and me, tangled together on the bed as zombies. Bound tightly to each other with rope. Completely naked, thrashing weakly atop the mattress. From mouths I had sealed shut with tape, they drooled endlessly and let out faint, muffled moans.
"Ah… Seo Jeonggu… you…"
A hollow, deflated sound slipped from Kim Seyeon's lips.