Chapter 205
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Guilt and a Steel Pipe
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"I'm going with you."
Im Jangwoo scowled at Go Joowon's words.
The boy had spoken the moment Im Jangwoo announced he would go outside in Go Joowon’s place.
"Aren't you scared?"
"Mister. You know you almost died without me, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks for that."
Go Joowon grinned. But Im Jangwoo wasn't finished.
"That doesn't mean I'm taking you with me."
In a situation where even adults were trembling, why did this boy, who was only in middle school, seem so calm and composed? From the moment Go Joowon had found him on the first floor, Detective Im Jangwoo's professional instincts had kicked in.
‘Denial, a hero complex common at his age, or maybe….’
"This isn't a game. You could die."
For a moment, a shadow fell over Go Joowon's face.
He wasn't thinking of this situation as a game, but he thought he might be in denial.
He had encountered his zombified friends, couldn't return to his own hospital room, and the adults he finally met were relying on him, a mere middle schooler. Then he saw Im Jangwoo, fighting zombies and protecting people.
When an adult he could finally lean on appeared, the fear that had been consuming his mind and body made him try to lighten the mood, a small part of his true feelings slipping out.
"...I know that."
Go Joowon fiddled with the bow he was holding. It was his bow, but somehow, it felt like a memento from his friends.
"But if I just stay here, I really feel like..."
He would die.
If he didn't do something, if he just sat here, the images of his friends as zombies would creep into his mind. He could hear their resentful voices asking why he hadn't come to save them sooner. He knew they weren't the kind of friends to say that, but Go Joowon's heart had grown weak.
*It's my fault I was sick. It's my fault they came to visit me.*
His chest felt like it was on fire with guilt, but Go Joowon laughed and talked with even more energy. The brighter he appeared on the outside, the more his heart sank into a damp gloom.
With guilt piling up every second, all the still-living people around him started to look like his friends, and he felt he had no choice but to save them.
"So I'm going too."
The expression on Go Joowon's face, now finally visible, was just like that of a victim with PTSD. Seemingly fine on the outside, but rotting on the inside. Im Jangwoo knew all too well how things ended for people like this. He knew the words left unsaid.
Seeing the pressure to act chasing Go Joowon, Im Jangwoo rubbed his face dryly.
"...Joowon."
"Or I'll go by myself."
At Go Joowon's declaration, Im Jangwoo clutched his forehead and let out a groan. He had just heard the story of how the boy had managed to roam the hospital and save two people before meeting him.
Im Jangwoo glanced to one side of the hospital room. He saw people sitting on a mattress taken from a bed and placed on the floor. They had opened the door promptly at Go Joowon's text, but they seemed terrified by the current situation. The couple, who had just found a safe place, was the same.
The only ones willing to move were Im Jangwoo, a detective whose professional instincts had taken over, and Go Joowon, a middle schooler in denial due to his guilt.
Faced with this bleak reality, Im Jangwoo's gaze, while rubbing his throbbing forehead, fell on the bow Go Joowon was holding. This middle schooler, who was only strong on the outside, also possessed a very useful weapon.
‘I shouldn't….’
The problem was that only Go Joowon could use this weapon.
If he took Go Joowon with him, the chances of saving more people and returning safely were much higher than if he went alone. But then, the boy would be in danger.
‘But he said he’ll go alone if he has to.’
Leaving the unreliable adults here, all by himself. He would wander the hospital, driven by guilt and pressure.
After agonizing over it, Im Jangwoo finally threw in the towel.
"...You have to listen to me carefully."
"Yes!"
Go Joowon smiled brightly.
"Cut, OK!"
Director Choi Daeman shouted loudly.
***
Today's shoot was the scene where Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo, having left the hospital room to save people and find food, meet Yeon Jaehee at the garden cafe on the third floor of the main building while exploring the hospital.
O.W.C. Hospital was ㄷ-shaped, with the top building being the main building, the side one the east wing, and the bottom one the center. Go Joowon had been hospitalized on the 7th floor of the center, and their current shelter was a room on the 4th floor of the east wing.
They had to conserve the hard-to-find cell phones and the impossible-to-replace arrows, so most of the combat was close-quarters. Seojun, Kim Jongho, the stuntmen playing zombies, and the martial arts director choreographed the fight.
"You have to hit this exact spot."
"Yes, sir."
The martial arts director said, pointing to the arm of a stuntman who would play a zombie. Seojun nodded with a serious expression.
"Then, you move this way, and dodge the zombie lunging from here."
The martial arts director demonstrated the final test himself.
Kim Jongho and Seojun, who had practiced together at an action school whenever they had time, remembered the sequence and were confident they could do it well. But they focused on the director's movements once more, as if etching them into their brains.
In action scenes like this, one mistake could lead to someone getting hurt. Fortunately, they weren't shooting a long take but rather filming cut by cut, so it wasn't overly difficult.
"Alright, we'll start filming!"
After a perfect rehearsal, the main shoot began.
"Ready, action!"
"Let's only use the phones when absolutely necessary. We might not be able to get more."
"Okay. Same for the arrows."
Im Jangwoo slung Go Joowon's arrow bag over his shoulder. Go Joowon still held the quiver with ten arrows and the bow. Im Jangwoo, who had made a few weapons by breaking the legs of a hospital bed, stood in front, patting the inner pocket of his jacket, which held two powered-off phones for real emergencies.
"Let's go."
"Okay."
Music flowed from a Bluetooth speaker. As the zombies were drawn away, they descended from the 4th floor, which was practically a safe zone. Go Joowon looked at his recent call list.
3rd floor.
[Phone without a case]
When he pressed the call button, a faint sound was heard. Relief washed over Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo's faces.
‘That saves one phone.’
The two made eye contact and headed down.
The main building, east wing, and center were connected by bridges on the odd-numbered floors.
Although there was a bridge on the 3rd floor, it was just a long corridor with no good hiding spots. Even if they used a phone, the only place to throw it was to the end of the bridge. If zombies gathered there, Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo would be trapped like rats.
So, the two decided to go down to the 1st floor. The path connecting the main and east wings was landscaped like a garden and spacious, making it easy to use both phones and arrows.
They passed the 3rd floor and the 2nd. They reached the 1st floor without any trouble. It seemed the zombies that had flocked to the bell sound earlier were still lingering near that staircase, ignoring this side.
The two moved quietly.
They didn't go outside immediately. They entered a nearby room and observed the zombies through the window, looking for the best place to throw a phone. Finding a suitable spot, Im Jangwoo took a phone from his bag. Go Joowon found the number on his own phone.
Im Jangwoo opened the window and threw it with all his might. A ringtone sounded, and the zombies in front of the side entrances of the east and main buildings shrieked and rushed off in a horde.
The side entrance of the main building on the 1st floor was now clear of zombies.
From here on, it was unfamiliar territory even for Go Joowon.
Im Jangwoo gripped the steel pipe he was holding, and Go Joowon held his bow tightly.
A few minutes later.
Im Jangwoo was beginning to understand why Go Joowon had turned off his phone.
"Of all the damn times...!"
Im Jangwoo muttered under his breath and swung the steel pipe at a zombie's temple. With a thud, the zombie collapsed.
He didn't utter the classic revival line, "Did I get him?" There was no time. He kicked away a lunging zombie and swung the steel pipe in his left hand at another one.
Not long after they entered the 1st floor of the main building, a phone inside rang. It was probably someone from outside the hospital calling someone inside. He understood their worried hearts, unable to get in touch.
The problem was, it happened to be near Im Jangwoo and Go Joowon.
The zombies, drawn by the faint ringtone, caught sight of two fresh meals. And now, this was the situation.
Go Joowon took down four charging zombies with his bow. It was an impressive rapid fire, but it wasn't enough to deal with the remaining ones. A fight broke out between the six remaining zombies and the two humans.
"Joowon...! Are you... okay...?"
"No...! I'm... not...!"
They attacked the zombies lunging at them between words, making it difficult to complete a single sentence.
To guard against zombies attacking from behind, Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo fought with their backs to a wall, just as they had discussed in the hospital room. Im Jangwoo handled the close-range zombies, while Go Joowon used his bow on the ones at a distance.
Unlike Im Jangwoo's steel pipe, which only momentarily stunned the zombies, Go Joowon's arrows pierced their brains, bringing them down for good.
However, Go Joowon needed a certain distance to draw his bowstring, making it difficult to attack. His only option was to bash zombies with the lower limb of his bow and then shoot the moment he created some distance.
Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo's eyes darted around, their movements becoming faster. They had to escape quickly before the commotion attracted more zombies.
"Duck!"
Go Joowon instinctively crouched, and Im Jangwoo swung with all his might at a zombie's cheekbone. The sound of bone shattering was chilling, but there was no time to react to every little thing.
Quickly retreating to a zombie-free area, Go Joowon pulled an arrow from his quiver and immediately shot it at a zombie. The attack was fluid and swift.
After defeating a total of ten zombies, only two exhausted humans were left standing in the hallway. Catching his breath for a moment, Im Jangwoo spoke.
"...Let's collect the arrows first, then find a place to hide and rest."
"...Okay."
The arrows were essential but now irreplaceable.
The detective and the middle schooler, covered in zombie blood, carefully pulled out each arrow, like farmers harvesting in the fall.
"Cut, OK!"
Director Choi Daeman's voice echoed.
The staff moved busily to set up for the close-up shots.
The zombies hit by Seojun's arrows had been pierced through the right or left eye. Since they were shot from up close, the impact seemed to have been powerful, with some arrows embedded deep inside their heads. The precise shots were nothing short of amazing.
"Lee Seojun, shouldn't you take up archery for real?"
"Did you see him rapid-firing earlier? He shot one and then another right after. Whoa. I've never seen anything like that. It was like watching a movie!"
"...This *is* a movie."
"No, I mean it felt like I was watching an edited scene!"
The staff, who had been marveling at Seojun's archery skills, carried off the zombie mannequins, and the extras in zombie makeup appeared. Since these were close-up shots, the focus would be more on facial expressions than on action.
"Ready, action!"
A camera with a large lens moved in close to film the faces of Seojun, Kim Jongho, and the zombies. With the staff and camera director milling about in front of the zombies and actors, it certainly lacked the flair of the full shot where zombies were seen charging from a distance.
It felt like a clueless reality had intruded upon a desperate apocalypse.
Zombies and staff members. A blood-stained steel pipe and shining lights.
The atmosphere was incongruous and light, but one place was different.
Go Joowon and Im Jangwoo on the monitor.
Even with the camera lens right in front of them, Seojun and Kim Jongho acted with the same intensity as in the full shot, as if they were facing real zombies. Every bead of sweat, every glance, every twitch of an eyebrow seemed genuine.
Inspired by the two actors' performances, the zombie actors also got into character, opening their mouths wide and letting out guttural screams, completely ignoring the camera.
"...He's really incredible."
The eyes of the extras and staff were glued to Go Joowon on the monitor.