A Quiet Day Indoors
Kim Jun woke up with a groan, his back stiff and his legs trembling.
He remembered things clearly up to around three in the morning, but after that he’d lost count of how many times they’d done it.
Still, unlike with Gaya, his nose hadn’t bled this time. He figured he really needed to hit the weights harder.
“Let’s shower together.”
“Hm?”
Rana, who had woken up with him, was fastening her bra hook and slipping back into her underwear. Kim Jun stepped behind her, kneading the strap across her full back before giving it a playful tug. Rana turned her head and wiggled her finger at him.
“So that’s why you wanted me to put it back on?”
“Ah, this texture feels way too good.”
Rana leaned into his arms, running both hands down his back. At the sight of their affectionate display, Nanika stirred awake as well.
Her swaying breasts left nothing obvious to latch onto, so Kim Jun opened a drawer and tossed her one of his T-shirts. Nanika and Rana, now both wearing nothing but oversized shirts that reached dress-length on them, headed straight for the master bathroom with him.
When they looked in the mirror, the evidence was overwhelming.
“Whistle~”
“These are definitely marks of love.”
Kim Jun’s body was covered in lingering kiss marks, and there were plenty of flushed, smeared traces from how thoroughly they had tangled together.
“This one’s gonna need some serious scrubbing.”
“All three of us?”
A tall man and two top-star idols wearing nothing but underwear and oversized T-shirts stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Kim Jun let out a small laugh, draped his arms around their shoulders, and simply admired the aftermath of last night.
If he still had a smartphone, he would’ve taken a picture, but that probably would’ve caused a massive scandal later.
Both Rana and Nanika had flushed cheeks. Thanks to waking up earlier than everyone else, the three of them were able to enjoy a proper shower with clean water.
“Whoa~ It’s been forever since I’ve seen rolled omelets.”
The eggs and duck eggs they had received from Myeong Guk and his wife last time turned out to be excellent side dishes.
High mounds of rice sat beside the carefully prepared banchan that In Ah and Eun Ji had worked hard to make. Everyone ate until they were full, enjoying a pleasant breakfast.
After the meal, while the others handled the dishes, laundry, and cleaning, Kim Jun threw himself into an intense workout for the first time in a while.
After yesterday’s wild threesome, he knew he had to keep building his stamina if he wanted to lead them properly.
And though it was still just a dream, the day might eventually come when he could be with all eight of them…
If Eun Ji or In Ah ever heard that thought, they might slap him, but for now it fueled his happy workout circuit.
Emily and Do Kyung were also running on the cycle as usual.
It was a peaceful day—the first in a long time.
Nothing broke today either, so the hours passed lazily with nothing but exercise and relaxation.
The quiet continued all the way until lunch.
After his workout, Kim Jun went up to the third-floor rooftop room and spent his free time making something again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He was building a storage cabinet out of the leftover plywood.
No matter how relaxed things were, he couldn’t sit still unless he was making something. Besides, the finished products could be used for bartering later.
While Kim Jun was absorbed in his personal project, he ran out of nails and went downstairs to grab some wood. There he found Eun Ji, Mari, and Gaya—the big-sister trio—practicing with their slingshots.
Tap. Tap.
Thwack!
“Ugh~ My zeroing is getting better, but still…”
When Gaya sighed in frustration, both Eun Ji and Mari comforted her.
“I was the same the first time I shot. It’s sneakier than it looks.”
“Do Kyung said she hits everything she aims at, right?”
“Well, she’s an athlete, so…”
Kim Jun greeted the three older girls warmly.
“Looking good over here?”
“Ah, Oppa!”
As Gaya, Eun Ji, and Mari greeted him happily, Kim Jun reached out toward the girls who were shooting at the target board.
He took Eun Ji’s slingshot, picked up a few nuts that had fallen on the ground, assumed a proper stance, and fired.
Thwack! Thwack! Crack!
“Whoa… insane!”
The nuts Kim Jun fired struck the center of the target repeatedly until it finally shattered.
He handed the slingshot back to Eun Ji with a smile.
“Keep practicing hard.”
“Yes, I really need to train seriously now.”
When Eun Ji picked up the slingshot again, Mari muttered thoughtfully.
“First the cane, now the slingshot… I wonder what weapon we’ll learn next.”
“Hmm.”
Kim Jun thought for a moment, then pulled the revolver from his waistband.
“!?”
He took out a few of the revolver rounds he’d been carrying, examined them, and immediately handed the gun to Mari.
“W-wait, what!?”
“Here, if you press this lever…”
Click.
The revolver’s cylinder swung out to the side.
“You open it like this.”
“Um… Oppa?”
Mari, who had suddenly been handed a real handgun, was far more nervous than she had been with the slingshot.
Kim Jun passed her a bullet.
“Load it in here like this.”
“Ugh…”
She couldn’t exactly refuse, so she followed his instructions and loaded the round.
Clack.
“There are revolvers where you have to cock the hammer first, and ones where you can just pull the trigger. This one is…”
As Kim Jun explained how to handle a handgun and told Mari to actually fire it on the spot, Gaya stepped back with a face that clearly said how am I supposed to do that? while Eun Ji watched intently but kept her distance since she was unarmed.
“Go ahead and shoot.”
“U-uuu…”
Mari gripped the gun tightly with both hands, but she was shaking like a leaf.
Even though she had survived several months in a zombie apocalypse, this was her first time properly handling a firearm.
Kim Jun had decided to give her a demonstration today, but she was trembling so badly that he placed his hands over hers to steady her.
“Don’t be so tense.”
“But I’m scared…”
“Just relax. This is only practice.”
When Mari finally managed to hook her finger around the trigger, Kim Jun spoke calmly.
“Don’t yank it all at once. Count it out—one, two, three—and squeeze like you’re pressing a button…”
“Haa… two…”
BANG!
The gunshot made Gaya and Eun Ji flinch hard behind them.
Mari herself was trembling violently after firing.
And on the target… there wasn’t a single mark.
“D-did I miss?”
“Nope. It was a blank from the start.”
“…?”
Kim Jun dug through his pocket and showed her the bullets. There were three different kinds.
“These are blanks. These are live rounds.”
“Ah…”
“Even if I wanted to train you right now, how could I waste real bullets?”
Especially revolver ammunition—they had to be extremely frugal with it.
Gaya and Eun Ji, who had been covering their ears and cringing, let out sighs of relief and stepped closer.
“Were you messing with us?”
“Messing with you? I was just testing whether I could even teach you how to shoot.”
“Huu…”
Eun Ji shook her head, Gaya looked visibly relieved, and Mari’s face turned bright red from the feeling of having been tricked. Still, she stared at her tingling hands, deep in thought.
Kim Jun took the three of them outside, where they drank some beverages and talked for a while.
It was also an excuse for why, despite having other weapons, they had never once tried to arm themselves with guns.
“Out of the eight of us, has anyone actually fired a real gun before?”
“No.”
“Oh, Emily mentioned her grandfather in America used to shoot a lot. Said hunting deer was his hobby.”
“Very American.”
Maybe he should start teaching Emily next.
“We can get more bullets somehow, but the real problem is finding more guns.”
“Where would we even get them?”
“Like I said before, there’s a police station in Sinreung-myeon. I remember where their ammo storage is and the passcode.”
“We’ve failed every time we’ve tried to go there, though.”
When Eun Ji spoke cynically, Kim Jun scratched his head.
“I’ve been thinking about it. If we could get revolvers there—or even better, something like a K2—then I was planning to start seriously arming everyone.”
“Huu… when that time comes…”
Gaya looked anxious just thinking about it.
She had acted as the strong eldest sister this whole time, but she was gradually losing confidence and had been working out hard to forget her fears.
Mari and Eun Ji had supported her and acted the most maturely, but even they were afraid of real guns.
“If we really do get firearms, I’ll let Emily try first. Or I can go first.”
When Eun Ji volunteered to take on the challenge of learning firearms, Kim Jun gave a small laugh.
“If guns are really that scary, there are other options. Like tasers.”
“Ah, tasers…”
There was no way a police station wouldn’t have them. If they could get some, it would be an enormous help.
Of course, they had no idea how many cartridges were left, so they might end up hunting police zombies specifically to loot more.
Whether it would happen in the distant future or sometime soon, they didn’t know. For now, the big-sister line had at least been briefed on the firearms they might soon possess.
The three of them continued slingshot practice under Kim Jun’s guidance until late, only heading back inside when evening came.
That night.
Kim Jun stood outside smoking a cigarette, lost in thought.
“Jun oppa~ What are you doing?”
Emily quietly came outside, walked over, and sat down beside him. She leaned her head—shimmering with golden curls—against his shoulder.
Kim Jun stroked her hair and gently rubbed her back.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Weapons.”
“Ah! Are you making a new weapon?”
“Well… ideally, I want something the girls can shoot easily that still delivers a fatal blow to zombies.”
“In that case… a shotgun would be best.”
“Can you shoot one?”
“Mmm, my grandfather taught me how to shoot one for deer hunting, but I messed up the shouldering and hurt my shoulder.”
“What did you shoot?”
“I think it was called a Mosin-Nagant?”
“…That’s not a shotgun.”
It was a standard-issue rifle used by the old Russian army—extremely heavy and dangerous—but he had heard that in America it was often used for hunting deer or bears.
Either way, he needed to seriously think about what weapons would be useful in their situation.
And while he was at it, he should gather materials that could be used for making weapons.
“There’s so much to do…”
“Starting with touching my chest?”
“…”
Emily looked at him with a bright smile and slipped her hand inside her clothes, reaching for her bra clasp.