How to Gain Trust
Cha Ahyeon was a completely different type from Cha Yejin.
Just as Lee Soyeon and Seol-hwa differed from each other, these sisters stood as opposites as well.
In the half-forced company we now shared, Ahyeon did not speak a single word until we were well past the midpoint of the journey.
Only once did curiosity flicker across her face—when I used my phone to lock onto a GPS position.
“Looks like you’ve got power to spare if you can waste it on a phone.”
“We came prepared. Water, food, the works.”
“Hmm.”
That was the end of the conversation… but if we kept going like this, Seoul Grand Park would be right in front of us before long. Before we reached the next intersection, I deliberately brought the bicycle to a stop.
“Hold up. I think I heard something weird.”
“What sound? I didn’t hear—”
“Stay quiet.”
I claimed to have heard a noise that did not exist, deliberately ratcheting up the tension. Crossbow in hand, I scanned a building that held nothing at all.
Of course no sound came, and no zombies appeared.
“I figure we should check inside, just in case. Maybe I misheard. Still, better to stick behind me than stay out here, don’t you think?”
“No thanks.”
The refusal was expected. But I am the type who commands women and makes them obey. Even after hearing that kind of answer, I ignored it and forcibly pulled her along.
“I promised your sister. I swore I wouldn’t let you get hurt.”
“What does that have to do with anything?! Whether my sister said it or not—”
“You don’t like your sister?”
My deliberate provocation sent Cha Ahyeon’s temper straight to the boiling point; she looked ready to shout.
“Shh.”
In a zombie outbreak, that kind of outburst was pure stupidity. Ahyeon hurriedly clamped a hand over her own mouth and glared at me with nothing but her eyes.
That was the moment I dragged her by the hand toward the building.
“Your brother-in-law probably cleaned this area out already, but better safe than sorry. You don’t want that either, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Cha Ahyeon nodded obediently. The reason I was putting on this little show was simple.
If we just kept riding, there would be no conversation at all. I wanted to confirm the information I had gotten from Cha Yejin earlier and create a window for talk.
“By the way, your brother-in-law is Captain Lee Junhee, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What kind of guy is he?”
“Why do you want to know?”
That was when I noticed her tone had softened compared to before.
Over her brother-in-law?
“No special reason. I’ve been wandering all over, and I’ve never seen a place this free of zombies. I figured he must be pretty impressive.”
“Of course he is. As a soldier he’s got a strong sense of responsibility, and he fights well. He’s an amazing person.”
“Sounds a lot like me.”
“…Do people tell you you’re dense a lot?”
She bristled instantly. Combined with Cha Yejin’s earlier remark that Ahyeon’s personality had turned prickly after the marriage, a thought formed.
I might be jumping to conclusions, but… did she have a crush on her brother-in-law?
“Hey, I made it this far wandering through multiple neighborhoods alone. Your brother-in-law’s got an entire army behind him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Our brother-in-law is— mph!”
The way she clamped her own mouth shut again was almost cute. At any rate, her attitude made it clear she liked the man quite a bit. Good. That was all I needed to confirm for now.
After a little more looking around, I ordered the withdrawal.
“That’s enough. Let’s head back. Guess it really was a false alarm.”
“If it had been my brother-in-law, we wouldn’t have wasted time on something this pointless…”
She muttered, interlocking her fingers behind her head. Girls that age really were best when they were lively.
As we descended the stairs, the sight of her in spats caught my eye. From thighs to calves, her legs were beautifully shaped. And that large rear looked even more substantial—full of meat, you might say.
How was I going to conquer these sisters? How could I absorb them both without letting them ruin each other?
It would be harder than taking them one by one, and for that very reason the satisfaction would be all the greater.
Yes. If there’s a mountain, you climb it.
That was why I was playing around in this place to begin with.
Still riding the cool breeze, we reached the vicinity of Seoul Grand Park and spotted sentries posted on the upper floors of a building.
“Hot. It’s getting hot.”
The weight of my gear and the steadily rising temperature were starting to tell. How did they plan to get through summer here?
Mid-May was almost over. If I held out just a little longer, I would be close to the June I currently lived in.
“I need to talk to those sentries first. Do me a favor.”
“…”
Ahyeon got off and spoke with the guards. There was no reason to ignore them, and doing so would only leave a bad impression.
So I waited near the park, watching for my chance.
Soon Ahyeon waved me forward.
“Nice. Where’s your brother-in-law?”
“You have to go farther inside to find him. And wait. Don’t false-start and get yourself disqualified.”
“Spoken like a true track athlete.”
“Listen. I’m not interested, so no matter what you say I’m not meeting you halfway. And if you so much as lay a hand on my sister—”
“If I what?”
“I won’t let it slide. Hell, before that my brother-in-law might just have you shot.”
Hearing that warning, my whole body trembled.
Why? Because the image of conquering a girl this fresh and green—one who kept shouting that she hated me—rose unbidden in my mind.
Hold it in. This was still the trust-building phase. For my plan to work, I first needed to earn the trust of this “brother-in-law” bastard.
Only then would everything run smoothly. It would also prove useful for emotionally controlling both Cha Yejin and Cha Ahyeon.
Sentries stood at the entrance to Seoul Grand Park as well; soldiers could be seen rotating shifts with those at the subway station.
“I used to come here when I was little.”
The layout was familiar. Beyond the entrance barricaded with various structures stood motionless amusement rides. What lay farther in was easy to guess: the zoo, the botanical garden, the food court. Childhood memories rose one after another.
Cha Ahyeon seemed to know the other soldiers; she entered without trouble. At last I laid eyes on a man wearing captain’s insignia.
Lee Junhee. Husband of the woman I was cuckolding, and Cha Ahyeon’s brother-in-law.
The man, rifle in hand, looked me over alongside the other soldiers.
Those eyes were intense.
“Ahyeon told me about you. She said you’d lend us a drone.”
“Of course. I got along well enough over at the Ecological Park, so this is nothing.”
“It’s good news for us, but we’ve had a lot of problems lately.”
At that moment their rifles swung toward me.
“What’s this?”
“A light inspection.”
“We could just do it right here.”
They were not about to welcome me with open arms.
Seoul Grand Park was not limited to the park itself; they were also making use of nearby apartments and houses. The park grounds simply served as the large-scale hub where people from all over carried out their respective duties.
Inside one of the barracks, Lee Junhee carefully studied the clean-faced man standing before him.
He claims he came from Yongma Mountain? No. That’s a lie.
While conversing with the man, he had already pieced together several facts.
First, the man had never originally belonged to the Yongma Mountain group.
“That’s right. I wasn’t one of them at first, but we ended up cooperating somehow. Then one of my own subordinates stabbed me in the back. They were all wiped out.”
“Wiped out?”
Even that required suspicion. The sole survivor was this man alone. He could be lying and planning to attack them.
“You know a guy named Yu Mun-il? He used to be here, then moved over to the Ecological Park. Ask him.”
That particular point resolved itself easily enough. Their own people already knew that Yu Mun-il had cooperated with the Yongma Mountain group.
Even so, the claim that they were completely wiped out still feels fishy.
Given the situation, Konkuk University might send spies. Even an approach made under the guise of goodwill had to be treated with caution.
That was basic for any soldier.
Lee Junhee intended to extract as much information as possible while sizing the man up.
But the man only smiled with complete composure.
“Look, I get that you’re worried about Konkuk University too. But a little goodwill ought to be accepted. I got stabbed in the back myself, so I need people I can trust.”
“Then may I ask why you’re lending us a drone in the first place?”
“Even if it’s pure goodwill?”
“It matters to us. A single mistake could destroy the peace we have here.”
Instead of answering, the man clapped his hands.
“So that’s why Ahyeon and Cha Yejin keep praising you. Taking something at face value would be stranger than being this suspicious. I don’t mind.”
“So what is the real reason you’re offering your own equipment out of goodwill?”
“Reason? Honestly, after living through a world like this, I want women.”
“Excuse me?”
In front of the startled Lee Junhee, the man grinned with naked greed.
“Simply put, your sister-in-law’s pretty much my type.”
“You—do you really think I’m going to sit here and listen to that?! Hand over my sister-in-law, is that it?!”
The man studied Lee Junhee’s face for a moment, then let out a short laugh.
“Obviously a joke. First of all, the place I need to reach is beyond here. I’ve got business in Seocho-gu.”
“Seocho-gu? I’d like to know the reason.”
“Just someone I need to meet privately. We lost contact a long time ago, but I finally found out where she is.”
Yes—Hyojin of Melonia. To catch that bitch, I had to break through this place.
“So I need information. I hear Yongsan’s gone strange too, right? Tell me everything you know. That’s why I’m offering the gear.”
“Information on Seocho-gu?”
“I’m going through no matter what. I heard they even laid mines.”
Lee Junhee considered for a moment.
If that really was the man’s goal, there was no major problem. The only issue was the complete lack of trust in him.
“Then about what you said regarding Ahyeon…”
“Ah, that? Falling for her at first sight is true. Just set up a blind date or something. Or don’t. Up to you.”
He wrapped it in the packaging of a pure joke. Lee Junhee, unable to see the true intent underneath, stopped paying attention to that angle.
“We’ll run a few tests on this equipment. Rest here in the meantime.”
“And my gear?”
“Once we’ve confirmed everything, we’ll return it.”
Even faced with a measure that looked unreasonable, the man remained unfazed.
He might be more broad-minded than I thought.
Of course, that convenient assumption only existed because Lee Junhee had no idea that Jin Dohyuk’s real targets were his own wife and sister-in-law.
But they were about to run into a problem far larger than Jin Dohyuk.
A warning from the Konkuk University side crackled over their radio.
“How long do you think you can keep this up? We don’t particularly want to fight you either, so we just suggested changing positions. Are you ignoring that?”
The Ttukseom faction that had seized Konkuk University was finally making its move in earnest.
“This is our final ultimatum. We’re sick of being continuous bullet sponges. If this doesn’t get resolved properly, understand that we’ll have no choice but to fight your side as well.”
The other side had ultimately issued a final ultimatum, and the atmosphere of war was thickening.
Especially if the side that possessed two machine guns came biting in, the damage would clearly be catastrophic.
Moreover, the Konkuk University group would join them, so the force was no longer thirty or forty men—it was more than double that.
They were on the verge of being outnumbered as well.
“At least there’s one silver lining.”
The single consolation was that two drones were now in their hands.
Using exactly that, they could seize the advantage in the information war.
At the same time, Lee Junhee sought permission from Colonel Min Taegon and began conscripting civilians.
Numbers were desperately short; for now, they were necessary.
And right then, Jin Dohyuk stepped forward.
“Looks like the situation’s getting serious. You’re going to need my help.”
“You had firearms, didn’t you?”
The man carried a Desert Eagle and a sawed-off shotgun.
Eight rounds for the Desert Eagle, twenty-two for the shotgun. Even just that much…
It would clearly be a major combat asset.
But the man shook his head.
“I’m a third party. I’m not crazy enough to throw my life away. Combat is your job. I’ll just be the smooth lubricant that makes things run.”
“So what exactly do you intend to do?”
“Remember the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? What did Zhuge Liang do against Cao Wei?”
The man spoke of the preliminary skirmish before the Battle of Red Cliffs.
“The important thing is a bullet fight. So just reduce the enemy’s bullets.”
Jin Dohyuk leaned in and whispered the plan into Lee Junhee’s ear. The captain’s expression changed.
“But that—other people will get hurt!”
“Or would you rather lose everything as is? You’ll be crushed in a head-on fight.”
For an instant Lee Junhee thought of his wife and sister-in-law. He had to protect the family he still had left.
“I’ll… propose it for now.”
“Looking forward to a good answer.”
Jin Dohyuk merely whistled. At the same time, Lee Junhee found himself thinking that the man before him felt like a villain.