Chapter 7: The Sensitive Girls
Gaya slipped quietly out of the master bedroom and pressed her ear to the door, listening for any sound that might tell her whether Kim Jun was asleep.
Once she confirmed he was out cold, she crept forward on tiptoe without bothering to rinse the lingering taste of semen from her mouth. She opened the refrigerator as silently as she could.
Inside were the ham and canned goods Kim Jun had prepared during the day, along with vacuum-sealed packages, but the shelves already showed worrying gaps. The freezer was no better.
It wasn’t nearly enough to feed eight people indefinitely.
…
Kim Jun’s mutter from earlier that day kept echoing in her head: “If we can’t find more food outside, we’re going to have a real problem.”
Gaya counted every item in the fridge with her fingers, then opened the kimchi refrigerator beside it to check how much was left. Finally she stepped into the laundry room where the ramen had been stored and inspected the boxes on the shelf.
“Huuu…”
Gaya let out a long sigh, rubbing her stomach as she murmured to herself.
“It’s not just one or two people… Eventually it’s going to wear on everyone’s nerves.”
Sooner or later, competition over the dwindling food would break out, and the man who had saved them—Kim Jun—would be forced to control every last crumb.
Anticipating that moment, Gaya had decided to move first.
She needed to earn his favor, to secure even a slightly larger share of the remaining supplies. That meant continuing to please him with her mouth, her hands, or even offering herself without a condom—anything to raise her standing in his eyes.
With nothing left but her own body, Gaya sighed again and spent the rest of that night staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
And she wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines.
“Wow, rice!”
After days of nothing but porridge and powdered soup, a steaming pot of real rice finally sat on the table. Thickly sliced kimchi, a bubbling stew, and the spam Kim Jun had fried earlier turned the meal into a genuine feast.
The girls attacked their bowls with glee and emptied them in seconds.
“Oppa~ Can I have another bowl?”
Emily twisted her body cutely as she asked. Kim Jun scooped her another serving with the rice paddle. Immediately the others clamored for seconds too.
“Uh, we’re already out? Should I cook more?”
Once the rice disappeared, one by one they set their bowls down with disappointed expressions. All except Eun Ji.
“Give them to me. I’ll clean up.”
Without being asked, she took charge of cleanup and quietly began washing the dishes. She had been the most prickly from the moment they first met. The warm soup had briefly softened her, but now she was back to her cool, reserved self.
While everyone moved on to their assigned tasks, Emily—who had eaten two full bowls—climbed onto the treadmill. Do Kyung followed, mounting the stationary bike to begin her morning workout.
“Yeah, that’s it. Keep at it, both of you. Every bit of power counts.”
Kim Jun eyed the batteries connected to the cycle and treadmill. He calculated that running them could at least keep the fridge or rice cooker going. Satisfied, he prepared to head out for another looting run.
“Gaya, you okay to come out with me today?”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
Another survival run was beginning. Gaya strapped on the well-washed arm guards and picked up the staff they used to lure zombies away.
Before stepping outside, Kim Jun checked the area with his smartphone and selfie stick. Confirming it was clear, he opened the car door, started the engine, then closed the gate the moment they were through and drove off.
It had been nearly a month since the zombie outbreak.
The creatures still roamed the streets, and the rotting stench was growing stronger. Kim Jun sprayed the maximum amount of air freshener inside the vehicle.
“Ugh!”
When Gaya, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn’t hold back her gag, Kim Jun knocked on the partition.
“There’s a mask in the glove box. Put it on.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
Kim Jun scanned their surroundings, searching for a decent looting spot. But the longer they drove, the more zombies seemed to appear. Finding a safe route was becoming nearly impossible.
Ding—
He picked off three zombies with the air gun from a distance, but when more poured in from behind, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Goddamn it, we can’t take this road either!”
The traditional market was a no-go, so he headed toward the wholesale district, but that area was swarming too. Pushing through the horde would be far too dangerous.
“Oppa, what about here?”
Gaya had taken out the map while grabbing her mask. She pointed at a spot on their current route.
Kim Jun glanced over and let out a small laugh.
“That’s right under the overpass.”
“Under the overpass… Oh!”
It was a place they had already looted once. He clearly remembered tearing through the whole area.
“I know these roads well! And don’t mark that spot.”
“Ah, yes!”
Her eagerness to help was admirable, but right now they had to rely on Kim Jun’s experience living in this area.
After two full hours of searching, however, the sheer number of zombies forced them to give up for the day.
Back home, he immediately topped off the fuel tank and checked the remaining gasoline.
“Aigoo, first time looting and we come back empty-handed?”
Kim Jun clicked his tongue and lit a cigarette. Gaya watched him with an anxious expression.
This can’t keep happening, right? If we keep failing… Huuu.
If they had raided a convenience store she could have at least grabbed condoms, but coming back with nothing only deepened her worry.
When Kim Jun walked inside empty-handed, the idols—who had been expecting supplies—looked bitterly disappointed and returned to their chores.
Do Kyung, Emily, and Nanika continued generating electricity for the fridge and rice cooker. In Ah and Eun Ji handled laundry and cleaning.
Rana said she wasn’t feeling well, so Mari listened to her heart and lungs directly with her ear since they had no stethoscope.
“It’s fine. You have a slight fever, but it’s nothing serious.”
“Really? I’m okay?”
“Yes. It would be nice to have vitamins, but we’ll have to endure for now.”
While everyone was busy, Kim Jun started preparing the next meal.
The three girls exhausted from exercising complained of boredom and discovered the VCR while looking for something to watch. They popped in a movie.
“What is this? Is it dirty?”
“Unnie!”
They tried to figure out what film it was, but the BGM already blared throughout the living room.
[Doo-doo-doo-dum~ Dum~ Doo-doo-doo~ Doo~ Dum~]
“Oh, that’s a classic.”
“What is it?”
Gaya, who was helping with dinner in the living room, asked.
“Apocalypse Now. All the tapes in that VCR are war movies. Looks like they picked that one.”
Before rescuing the eight of them, Kim Jun had watched zombie films nonstop. He had put them away just in case the girls might get too scared.
Today he was busy slicing potatoes and carrots for a vegetable stew, but the idols were clearly getting sucked into the movie.
“Heh.”
Anything that could relieve the stress of being cooped up inside was welcome. He decided to let them use the VCR freely from now on.
That was when the trouble started.
Sudden intense English dialogue poured from the speakers, followed by unmistakable moans.
“!”
“What the hell is this?!”
Kim Jun rushed into the living room the moment he heard it. The scene playing on screen was exactly what he feared.
A USO show for the Vietnam War. Playboy performers. Excited soldiers. A helicopter crash leaves them stranded in the jungle. To escape, they trade two barrels of fuel for two hours with the Playboy girls in a raw, desperate scene of prostitution and survival.
The showgirl moaning beneath a soldier. The helicopter rocking violently.
Kim Jun killed the power instantly.
…
“Don’t watch stuff like this.”
The seven idols had assumed it was just another Hollywood classic and turned it on. The sudden shift in atmosphere was painfully awkward.
“Ah~ I got so into the movie I almost went full method acting.”
Emily spoke while once again trying to lift her T-shirt in front of Kim Jun.
“My chest is bigger than that Playboy girl’s anyway.”
“…Ugh, shut up.”
Kim Jun forced a laugh to clear the heavy mood and they continued with dinner.
Later, when he checked the refrigerator again, the empty spaces were becoming impossible to ignore.
“All right, all right. I’ll go out again tomorrow, so just wait a little longer. I’ll definitely bring back supplies this time.”
Kim Jun made the promise and tried to soothe them.
For now, things were still okay. Even after today’s failed run, all eight of them trusted Kim Jun completely and still believed there was enough food.
But the next day was the same.
The neighborhood was completely overrun. Moving carefully enough to loot anything was no longer possible.
Kim Jun grilled ham for the girls and comforted them with it.
Then, when the third looting run a few days later also ended in failure… the atmosphere finally began to shift.
“Goddamn it…”
“Oppa, we still got some results, didn’t we?”
They had circled back to the gas station and gun shop they visited last time. They returned loaded with fresh pellets for the air gun and shells for the shotgun, plus several jerry cans of fuel from the station and plenty of bottled water.
But they had failed to secure the one thing that truly mattered—food.
They found a small street stall and hoped for the best, but everything was rotten: rice cakes, corn, and the like. The only salvageable item was bottled water from an icebox.
“Fucking hell…”
Groooan— Groooaaan—
In his foul mood, several zombies were now shambling straight toward them. Four or five. Kim Jun clenched his teeth and floored the accelerator.
Crunch— Splatter!
He ran them down without mercy. The reinforced steel bumper smashed their bodies to pieces before the tires finished the job.
Kim Jun drove in a rage all the way home. Once there, he sprayed bleach over the foul-smelling blood and zombie remains, scraped them off, and hurled the mess outside.
When Kim Jun and Gaya walked back inside, they were met by the bitterly disappointed faces of the top stars.
And that night, the incident finally erupted.
“Oh! Fuck!”
“Speak Korean, you fucking Yankee bitch!”
“What? Who the hell are you calling a Yankee?”
A fight had broken out between Do Kyung and Emily.
The fridge was emptying faster every day. When Do Kyung saw Emily taking food outside the designated times and snapped, “Are you only thinking about your own stomach?” the argument exploded.
“I burned all those calories training and took one piece of ham. Is that such a crime? You eat in secret too!”
“We’re living as a group. Why are you only looking out for yourself? When the food runs out completely, are you going to go out and get it?”
“Hmph~ Then why don’t you go hunting, you beanpole? All you’ve got is height…”
“You bitch! I’ll rip every strand of that yellow hair out!”
Both girls rushed at each other with claws out. The others hurried to pull them apart.
At that exact moment, Kim Jun came down from checking the rooftop fridge and witnessed the whole scene.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?!”
At Kim Jun’s roar, he grabbed the tangled pair and forcibly separated them. A former volleyball player and a Western-built woman were no match for a former sergeant.
“You two… Come with me!”
Kim Jun immediately called both girls into the master bedroom.
Before that, he spoke to Gaya.
“You two were sharing a room on the second floor, right? Switch rooms.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“!”
Mari, who had been on the third floor, came down quietly, gathered Do Kyung’s belongings, and carried them upstairs. She decided to sleep on the second floor tonight.
“Gaya.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
“There are cup ramens in the cupboard. Give one to each person.”
“Ah, yes!”
“And boil three packets of the bagged ramen in here.”
Since they had grown sensitive over food, he figured the best way to calm them was with more food.
When he entered the bedroom, the two girls were glaring at each other.
Kim Jun took out a bottle of soju from the veranda, opened it, and asked.
“Anyone who can’t drink?”
…
“Even if you can’t, I’m filling your glass anyway.”
He sat the two idols down with three boiled ramens as snacks and poured the soju.
Emily downed her first shot in one go, touched the collar of her white T-shirt, then emptied her ramen bowl first.
“You two really fought over something like that?”
When Kim Jun looked at them with a pitiful expression for bickering like children over a single piece of ham, Do Kyung answered first.
“Oppa, we’ve been following all the rules you set while following you this whole time.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“But… secretly taking food like that isn’t right, is it? There are nine of us living together!”
Kim Jun had been genuinely grateful that they had followed the rules without him ever needing to put a lock on the fridge.
But after three consecutive failed looting runs, fear was spreading, and cracks were beginning to form. He now understood that clearly.
“Your turn, Emily. Speak.”
“I’m seriously wronged here. I spent all day running on the treadmill and riding the bike to charge the fridge battery. And taking one piece of ham is a problem? I made that ham too, you know.”
“Technically we all made it together.”
Emily downed another cup of soju and continued.
“If I want a meat side dish, is doing it once enough?”
She lifted her T-shirt again. Her large breasts swayed heavily.
“Ugh, this crazy bitch… Seriously!”
“Why? You can do it too.”
“Hey!”
“In this situation, what can’t we do? If we want to survive, we should at least offer sex.”
…
Do Kyung cursed at her, but her eyes wavered as she watched Kim Jun—who wasn’t stopping Emily—and stared at those exposed breasts.
She had already shown her body once. In this increasingly desperate situation, it seemed the reality of having to offer their bodies to keep surviving was becoming unavoidable.
“I’m not joking. I’m ready anytime.”
“…You’re an idol. A celebrity who used to be on TV.”
“Huuu~ Does that even matter right now? We’re on the verge of starving to death!”
Kim Jun thought back to how Gaya had willingly used her mouth the other night after drinking. He had thought she was acting out of character after half a bottle of soju, but maybe she had realized the situation sooner than the others.
He organized his thoughts, took a sip of soju, and spoke.
“Put your clothes back on properly!”
“Hmm~ Really?”
“Just shut up and make up already!”
At Kim Jun’s command, both girls drank their soju with uncomfortable expressions still lingering between them.
After staring each other down for a while, Emily finally extended her hand.
“Shit… Fine. I’m the older one here, so I’ll be the mature one.”
“I debuted first, you know?”
“Ugh~ Shut up. Let’s just call this a reconciliation!”
In the end they shook hands. Kim Jun cleared away the empty bottle.
“Don’t fight over food. Stop talking nonsense about offering yourselves, and take care of your bodies!”
After giving them that warning, Kim Jun quietly sent both girls out.
Then he reached under the pillow and silently pulled out the key to the storage room.
Rice isn’t a problem yet, but the side dishes are…
Well, he had patched things up for now. Kim Jun resolved that on the next looting run he would make absolutely sure to bring back a mountain of food.