Finally, It's Her Turn!
After two days of pain relief patches and the top stars taking turns giving him heat packs and massages, Kim Jun's back recovered quickly.
Still, he decided to rest from looting for the time being and spend his days handling odd jobs around the house.
That morning the girls headed off somewhere with the fish they'd kept in the freezer. Kim Jun followed and found Mari, Nanika, and Gaya on the rooftop, intently carving away at something.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Ah, oppa!"
They had been carefully working since dawn, whittling branches and inserting them into gutted fish to splay their bellies wide open. The pungent fishy stench that rolled off them was exactly like the seafood stalls at a traditional market. Kim Jun wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh, why are you messing with that? It reeks."
"We're cleaning all of these today and hanging them to dry on the rooftop."
"You're drying every last one?"
"Yes. They should keep for several months."
"Who told you that?"
"In Ah."
Kim Jun let out a small laugh as he watched the girls expertly handling their own specialties without needing his input. He gave them a thumbs-up.
The other idols were bustling around on the second and third floors before breakfast. Shouts echoed down the stairwell.
"Hey, hurry up in there!"
"J-just a second!"
"Fuck! How long does it take to shit?"
"Pfft!"
Kim Jun burst out laughing at their refreshingly blunt way of talking about their morning "big business." By now they'd seen everything there was to see of each other, so the girls spoke without any filter. Clutching his stomach and stomping his feet, he pointed upward at the girls waiting outside the bathroom.
"If it's an emergency, why not use the rooftop bathroom?"
"That's clogged too!"
"Hmm."
When he went up to the third floor and stepped into the rooftop unit, two girls were indeed pounding on the wooden bathroom door.
"Come on, hurry! I'm seriously about to explode!"
"Sorry! I'll be done soon!"
"Whew..."
The third-floor bathroom in the rooftop house was a war zone every single morning. Nine people lived here; excluding Kim Jun's private room, that left two bathrooms for eight women. Problems were inevitable.
With no other choice, Kim Jun decided to open his own room.
"Hey, anyone desperate can use mine."
"Okay! Me first!"
"Unnie, wait!"
After the bathroom crisis subsided and before breakfast was served, Kim Jun stepped outside and headed for the vehicles.
"Hmm~ hm~"
"?"
While lighting a cigarette, he heard Emily humming as she followed him out. Kim Jun asked while organizing the camper van.
"Why'd you come out? Stay inside."
"Oppa~ I want to handle this looting run."
"Get one of the others."
"Huh? So I'm never going to fight zombies outside?"
"...Guess you've got a point."
From the moment they'd met she'd started throwing out sex jokes, always aiming for something other than pure survival. It made him nervous. But he had to put her to use eventually.
Besides, he wasn't some celibate monk. He'd already gone hard with two of the eight girls, so it was only a matter of time before the rest joined in. Well, it's not like I'm a priest or a monk. Since when have I been avoiding women?
In normal times, even if only one of them became his girlfriend, he would have kept her up all night. But in this world, he decided not to overthink it.
"Help me fix up the camper."
"Okay~ What should I start with~?"
Kim Jun gave the camper—which had only been used for hauling cargo—a full overhaul. He diluted bleach and scrubbed the interior until it was spotless. The fishy stench that had clung to everything finally disappeared.
"Wow, it looks amazing from inside like this."
No one had paid much attention before, but the vehicle was something Kim Jun had built with real care. It had a toilet, a simple sink, an icebox that doubled as a fridge, and even a water purifier. A few people could survive inside for days.
The sides folded out to reveal a grill and gas stove, perfect for a proper meat party.
"While we're at it, let's stock water and emergency rations too."
"Should we organize daily necessities in here as well?"
"Yeah, let's do it."
Preparation was the best insurance. Once the zombie crisis ended, he wanted to take this thing out for real camping.
"Phew~ This is nice~"
After swapping the bedding, Emily flopped onto the soft new mattress and patted the spot beside her, beckoning him over.
"Ever tried car sex in a camper before?"
"There you go again with the sex talk."
Kim Jun ignored her and focused on cleaning the toilet. It hadn't been used as a portable unit before, so he filled it with water and disinfectant and stocked it with tissue.
"Oppa~ We've known each other for a while now, right?"
"And?"
"Be honest. You've already done it with some of the others, haven't you?"
"Not telling."
"...So you have. Which bitch got to you first?"
"Think whatever you want."
"Am I not your type?"
"You're just too aggressive. It's a bit much."
"Hmmm~"
Emily made a strange face like she'd just figured something out and let out a coy little hum.
Anyway, after the thorough cleaning they could now use the camper toilet too, bringing their total to four bathrooms. They'd still have to take turns emptying the waste tank outside, though.
After finishing the morning work, today's meal was served. Seaweed soup, rice, lettuce, spinach, braised mushrooms, and even grilled ham—the side dishes were getting more varied by the day.
"It's a good thing we planted vegetables ahead of time."
"These are from last month?"
"Yes. Mushrooms are ready in a week, beans and spinach in a little over a month."
Ever since they'd raided the seedling shop, seeds were plentiful. Thanks to that, they could make enough side dishes to match their mountain of rice for all nine people.
Granted, every side dish was basically a green at this point, but it was more than enough to meet their nutritional needs.
"Haah~ I want samgyeopsal."
"..."
"The lettuce and peppers are growing well. Next time we'll grill some meat and wrap it up!"
Watching Emily blurt that out without reading the room, Kim Jun considered smacking her. Before he could, Nanika wrapped a piece of grilled ham in a lettuce leaf and offered it.
"Try it like this."
"Oh, homemade spam instead of pork belly!"
They'd ground up every scrap of meat they had, so the ham had a much better chew than the store-bought kind. Breakfast as a substitute food ended on that note.
Kim Jun gathered his cleaned protective gear and put it on piece by piece. On the other side of the room, the three girls who'd been looting with him were desperately warning the wildly excited Emily.
"You really have to be careful, okay? If you mess around and get bitten even once, you're dead."
"It's fine~ Jun oppa will protect me. He wouldn't take me somewhere dangerous, right?"
Kim Jun had thought Rana had the strongest mentality among the celebrities, but now he was genuinely anxious about how Emily would handle herself.
What kind of showing would this girl make once real zombie-world looting began?
Amid that nervous tension, the fourth looting run finally started with Emily as his assistant.
As everyone waved and wished them a safe trip, Emily examined the push-stick in the passenger seat, turning it this way and that.
"So it's not swinging like shuk shuk, but pushing them away, right?"
She shook the stick that had a bicycle saddle attached to the end. Still uneasy about her movements, Kim Jun decided on their destination for the day.
"Let's head toward National Route 1."
"Huh? What's over there?"
"Shops along the roadside. Further on there's a mart and a gun store."
"Ooh~ Finally some proper daily necessities."
Emily was happy with anything as they set off for the national highway.
They'd already visited the university area, industrial road, coastal terminal, sashimi restaurant street, and more, encountering countless zombies. The traditional market street still felt too dangerous to approach, and the overpass area clearly held thousands of the creatures.
"Please... please..."
This was their first time on a major road. The scene inside was pure pandemonium.
"Wow, was it always this bad?"
"Wow... Death Road."
Just as Emily said, the road was nothing but death. Burned-out vehicles from explosions littered the area, with zombies slowly crawling between them. The charred cars scattered across the lanes looked like obstacles in a racing game.
"Can we... keep going?"
Kim Jun thought for a moment, then shifted gears upward.
"Fuck it, what's the difference? We have to take them down one by one anyway!"
He pulled the car to the side as usual, opened the window, and thrust the barrel out. Roughly ten zombies were visible. Factoring in the ones moving in the distance, there would be at least several dozen on the way to the shops along the national road.
Considering their remaining ammunition it was tight, but not impossible. Kim Jun calmly picked them off one by one with precise air-gun shots.
Luck was on their side today—no runners appeared. The slow ones fell steadily. It took over an hour and a half to cover a mere six hundred meters, but Kim Jun drove carefully until they reached the target area.
That was when Emily spotted something and shouted.
"Uh!? Over there!"
"!?"
When Kim Jun reflexively turned his head, he saw a shopping area along the national road—an outdoor clothing store he had never paid attention to while driving past before. It stocked various outdoor gear and had an office inside.
"Good. We'll start there first!"
"Okay!"
Taking the still-excited Emily with him, Kim Jun headed inside.
"Whoa..."
The power was out. A musty smell and heavy silence filled the store. Kim Jun turned on an HD light and handed one to Emily.
"If anything happens, blow the whistle around your neck."
"Okay~ Will do."
And so the looting began. They still hadn't properly prepared clothes for the girls, so they gathered hiking gear and women's clothing piece by piece.
"Don't wander too far. Stay in this area."
"Yessir~"
Kim Jun moved to the men's hiking store across the way and began collecting equipment: hiking poles, properly sized Gore-Tex boots, carabiners, ropes, chains, helmets. There was plenty of useful gear.
It was heavy, but perfect for arming the girls when they eventually went out together. He took it all.
"Ungh!"
After hauling dozens of kilograms back, he realized Emily was gone.
"Damn it, where did that girl run off to now..."
Clatter!
The door of a simple changing stall opened and Emily stepped out, having changed on the spot. She wore comfortable running shoes, tight leggings that clung to every curve, and a hat she'd found somewhere.
"..."
"Hmm~ Good thing I kept up with running, huh?"
She checked her voluptuous backside in the mirror, then strapped her arm guards back on.
"...What are you doing?"
"The whole place is a clothing store, so I tried some on!"
"Is this a fashion show?"
"I don't have to wear those baggy fridge pants anymore!"
She'd also gathered cotton pants and training clothes for the other girls, stuffing them full. On a whim she even grabbed several bikini swimsuits.
"It's not ideal using them as underwear, but no choice."
After gathering clothes like it was a free shopping spree, Kim Jun and Emily loaded everything into the cargo area.
Two more stores remained. One was mainly a redevelopment office and real estate agency—skip. The other was an entertainment venue with screen golf and Thai massage. But on the first floor of that building was a convenience store.
"I'm hitting that convenience store."
"Yes!"
Emily bounced excitedly at the prospect of a proper food run. Since it was right next door and the alley behind it was just a smoking spot, it seemed safe enough.
Kim Jun walked through the empty shopping area. Emily followed.
"Graaaaargh!"
"Eek?!"
At Emily's scream from behind, Kim Jun spun and aimed the shotgun by reflex. A zombie had burst from the alley, lunging for her.
It charged straight at her neck. Emily, who had been following along without a care...
Crunch!
Calmly swung the stick and smashed the zombie's head.
As the creature staggered from the surprise blow, Emily used the bicycle-saddle end to shove its head against the wall, pinning it. Before a single nail or tooth could touch her, Kim Jun shouted.
"Get back!"
Bang!
At his command Emily quickly retreated. Not a single drop of blood had splattered on her. She was completely safe.
Seeing the zombie's crushed skull leaking blood and brains down the wall, Kim Jun let out a sigh of relief.
"Surprise~"
The person who'd nearly been bitten simply shook out her sleeves like it was nothing.
"Hey, you okay?"
"No worry! I'm totally fine."
Emily swung the stick with a whoosh, stepped around the fallen zombie, and walked quietly into the convenience store.
When they hurried inside, the place reeked of rotting corpses.
"..."
Kim Jun spotted dried blood leading toward the computer area and warehouse.
"Warehouse in the back is a no-go."
He closed the staff-room door, then swept lighters, medicine, and cigarettes from the counter. Emily gathered water, soju, and preserved foods.
"Oppa!"
"Yeah?"
She held up retort packs—blood sausage soup, seaweed soup, beef radish soup.
"These have about six months left on the expiration date. Is that okay?"
"It's borderline... No refrigeration even in the shade, so..."
He told her to take just a little for now so they could check later. While gathering those, Emily also loaded up canned goods, gochujang, soy sauce, salt, sugar, coffee sticks, tea bags, stockings, nail clippers, and all kinds of daily necessities.
She packed them neatly on top of the clothes in her backpack, picked up some curry powder, and asked.
"Oppa, is dinner curry tonight?"
"Let's decide when we get back."
"There are tons of condoms here too!"
"Focus on the food first!"
Kim Jun gathered the remaining supplies and figured they wouldn't have to worry about food for several days.
It was a small convenience store, but they'd taken everything useful. Kim Jun climbed into the car and started moving.
They'd gathered a lot and hadn't used as many bullets as expected. As he thought about their next move, Emily asked.
"Oppa, heading straight home? Or... are we going somewhere else?"
"The timing's awkward... It'll be completely dark soon..."
If they went just a little farther they might find more stores, so he decided to keep driving while thinking it over.
The engine turned over. The moment the headlights came on, Kim Jun's mouth fell open at the sight ahead.
"Uwoooaaargh!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"Uh..."
"Shit... a zombie horde..."
After looting heavily and trying to leave, an enormous swarm of zombies waited on the national road. There were at least a hundred—no, over two hundred. Breaking through them all looked nearly impossible.
"Oppa! Some of them are runners!"
"Damn it!"
When a dozen running zombies charged, Kim Jun glanced at the rearview mirror, gritted his teeth, and slammed the accelerator.
Straight toward the hundreds of zombies ahead—including the ten runners.