Chapter 79 - The Hustling Leader
The girls listened quietly as Nanika recounted her very first outing for supplies, offering gentle comfort.
“I had no idea it was like that outside.”
“Mmm~ Yeah, I get it.”
“I tried leaning out to shoot the slingshot… but I missed, and I froze up so bad I couldn’t even duck properly.”
“Unnie went through the same thing. She even screamed right next to me while I was shooting.”
The rest of the girls were taking care of their personal tasks late into the evening.
Eun Ji and In Ah sorted through the new food and supplies, while Do Kyung and Rana ran on the treadmill and stationary bike for both exercise and power generation.
Emily had already slipped into the shower.
Watching them, Kim Jun sat at the living room table with a notebook open, sketching something intently.
“Hmmm.”
He drew a rough layout of the house and began planning a storage shed.
If only we had a container. But there’s no way to bring one back, and if zombies climb over the wall using it…
The house was already completely surrounded by a fence, with electric wire mesh installed along the front.
Considering the half-buried rainwater tank, there simply wasn’t enough space.
Or should we trust the bottled water and the well we’ve secured so far and just repurpose the rainwater tank as a shed?
Since it was already half-buried with concrete reinforcement, they could empty the inside, dig deeper, and turn it into an underground storage.
But with rain unpredictable and the need for a reliable water reserve, he scrapped that idea too.
With a clatter—
Emily emerged from her shower, hair still damp as she toweled it off. She wore nothing but a thin bathrobe that proudly displayed her dynamite body.
“Whatcha doing?”
“Hm?”
The sudden moist touch and scent of body wash from behind made him turn. There was Emily, smiling brightly with just a towel wrapped around her.
She hadn’t dried off properly, so droplets of water slid down her legs.
“Put some clothes on.”
“I’m wearing panties, though.”
“Ugh, come on!”
Emily playfully lifted the bottom edge of the towel, revealing black lace panties underneath.
Even though he had seen her naked countless times, Kim Jun’s face flushed red. He shoved her toward the bedroom.
If the others hadn’t been watching, he would have given her ass a good smack.
“Ugh…”
In Ah, who had seen the whole thing from the kitchen, scrunched her eyebrows in clear distaste.
When Kim Jun shoved Emily into the room and sighed, he met In Ah’s gaze. Feeling awkward, he scratched his cheek and returned to his seat.
That expression wasn’t so much contempt as it was pure disgust.
Anyway, as Kim Jun continued sketching, the other girls who had finished their conversation slowly gathered around.
“What are you drawing?”
“Blueprint for an oil storage shed.”
“Hmmm.”
Gaya, Mari, and Nanika stared at the drawing, lost in thought.
“Is there even space left to build a shed?”
“I’m squeezing out every inch I can, but it’s tight.”
“We really need to separate the oil somewhere. Fire hazard and all.”
“That’s what I was thinking…”
Kim Jun pointed at the jerry cans of oil currently stored in the first-floor warehouse and gave an example.
“You know the well pipe attached to the wall?”
“Oh, the one that pumps water up to the third floor?”
“Yeah. What if we build a roof next to it, bury some drum barrels, and run the pump outside with them?”
“Wouldn’t having oil drums outside be even more dangerous?”
“That’s why we’d build a temporary shed to cover them. We’d put a steel roof on top, and set up a fire hydrant nearby too.”
The spot Kim Jun mentioned used to hold an LPG tank fifteen years ago, connected by pipes.
He remembered how, when they later dismantled it to switch to city gas, someone tried to reuse the empty tank and it exploded, sending several neighbors to the hospital.
“We definitely need to gather all the oil in one safe place and manage it properly.”
“And we have to be careful about mixing fuels too.”
“…I’m sorry, Oppa.”
At the mention of mixing fuels, Nanika hung her head, her face turning bright red.
Last time, when they ran several camping generators at once, she had accidentally put gasoline into a diesel generator and ruined one.
It was a good thing they managed to get replacements from the junkyard. Otherwise, they would have been in serious trouble trying to find more power.
“It’s fine. If anything else breaks, we’ll just cannibalize the parts.”
They couldn’t afford to throw away a broken generator. Instead, they completely dismantled it—bolts, engine, everything—and kept the pieces as spare equipment.
As they continued brainstorming, Kim Jun brought up another topic.
“We should visit the other survivor groups at least once.”
“Oh, where will you go first?”
“We’re completely out of eggs, right? Then we should head to the couple’s place.”
“What about the temple? Don’t you think they might have more stuff?”
Jeongto Temple, which had always exceeded expectations in trades, and the farm run by Myeong Guk and his wife, where they raised ducks, chickens, and quails for fresh meat.
Kim Jun decided to visit both locations while he was at it.
“Let’s go back in three days. For now, rice is still the best thing we can offer in trade for both.”
They had plenty of unpolished rice stored in the second warehouse, and every time they raided a convenience store they brought back more mixed grains and 20-kilogram bags of rice.
If they left it like this, they’d have more than they could eat in years. They were even considering making rice cakes or brewing makgeolli.
“So what we’ll trade is rice, and maybe juice powder we can use as vitamins?”
“Yeah. Neither the temple nor that couple seem like they’d need alcohol.”
One followed Buddhist precepts against drinking, and the other had a pregnant woman. Neither side would have any use for booze.
“They’ll both need oil too, right?”
“We should stock up on kerosene.”
Since the topic had come up, Kim Jun decided to look after both survivor shelters from now on, not just their own group.
No matter what, they had to keep interacting with other living people.
As the girls gathered and shared their ideas while Kim Jun wrote everything down, In Ah watched from the living room. She seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Eun Ji noticed.
The next day, Kim Jun visited Eun Ji’s bar for the first time in a while.
“It’s been a while.”
“Suddenly felt like having a cocktail.”
Eun Ji, who hadn’t been sleeping, immediately lit a candle and whipped up a cocktail on the spot. She even made some silkworm pupae soup to go with it.
“Ah~ This is perfect as a side dish for soju.”
“I’m not sure if it goes with whiskey.”
Eun Ji gave a gentle smile as she prepared an on-the-rocks and handed it to him.
Kim Jun drank it with a happy smile. Taking the opportunity, Eun Ji spoke up.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Is it about the girls?”
“Well, maybe… I need a few things.”
“What do you need?”
Kim Jun spoke with full confidence that he could get her anything he was capable of obtaining. Eun Ji answered calmly.
“I need steaming trays for growing bean sprouts and mung bean sprouts.”
“Hmm, steaming trays… If I know the shape, I could probably make them at home.”
They had been doing indoor farming on the first floor, especially growing a lot of beans, so bean sprouts frequently appeared as a side dish.
“We also need a new blender. And stainless steel molds.”
“What are you trying to make?”
“Tofu.”
“…Oh!”
It seemed they were now seriously preparing for long-term survival and expanding their food options.
Kim Jun mentally noted everything and promised he would definitely bring them back on the next outing.
Eun Ji made him another cocktail. As he drank, the conversation continued.
“How have the other girls been lately?”
“They’re all doing fine. Except In Ah.”
“Hmmm.”
It was obvious even to Kim Jun that In Ah had been avoiding him lately.
“Well, maybe it’ll pass with time?”
“It might.”
Eun Ji herself had never been intimate with Kim Jun either, but compared to the thorny atmosphere in the beginning, things had calmed down. She now saw him as a comrade.
“Wouldn’t it be fine as long as it doesn’t happen in the morning?”
“I’ll try my best.”
Eun Ji nodded at his words and prepared a fresh cocktail.
Kim Jun ended up having a long conversation with her for the first time in a while before getting up to leave.
It ended cleanly without any lingering tension. As Eun Ji cleaned up, she muttered to herself.
“Looks like I have to speak for her again…”
The entire list of supplies Eun Ji had requested today had actually come from In Ah. She simply couldn’t bring herself to say it directly, so Eun Ji had relayed the message instead.
The following day.
“Alright, today’s route is gonna be pretty tough.”
“Yes, Oppa!”
Nanika and Emily, heading out for their second supply run, first made their way toward Jeongto Temple, where many survivors lived.
They took out a few zombies wandering the path up Deokwon Mountain, stayed alert, and scouted the area before heading into the mountain trail.
“Whoa~ Looks like this place got completely cleared out too?”
When Emily commented while looking around, Nanika asked,
“What do you mean by cleared out?”
“Last time I came with Volleyball Girl, we smashed about ten of them with slingshots and canes.”
“Eek!”
Nanika’s face tensed up again at the story, but fortunately, no zombies appeared after that.
“Okay, let’s head up.”
The camper van climbed the slope without issue.
When they reached the middle of the mountain, Kim Jun quietly waited and scanned the forest.
“Brr~ It’s gotten a lot colder.”
Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but it was clearly winter now. Christmas would pass soon, and they would be welcoming the new year in the middle of this disaster.
Knowing that, Kim Jun scratched his head and prepared to head out.
He skillfully navigated the familiar path. When they arrived, the monks were harvesting inside the greenhouse.
“Ah! The donors are…”
“It’s been a while, Monk Seongjeong.”
Kim Jun greeted Seong Jeong, the monk he had spent the entire night talking with last time, warmly.
He then introduced his group to the small-statured monk beside him.
“This is the person who saved that poor Bodhisattva and the child last time.”
“Ah~ I see. Now I understand. My name is Myeong Jin.”
As they exchanged greetings with joined palms, Emily and Nanika smiled and bowed to the monks as well.
When they were guided into the main hall, the Old Monk welcomed Kim Jun with delight.
“Hehehe, it seems the Buddha has sent us another precious guest.”
“The mountain felt quite chilly on the way here, so I brought some oil and rice.”
“Goodness, we already have enough, yet you still offer us more. We are truly grateful.”
The Old Monk served them hot tea and slowly showed them around the temple.
“Everyone here is doing well. Thanks to the Buddha’s protection, the evil spirits no longer come near.”
“Huh? You didn’t have a wave here?”
Emily’s eyes widened at the Old Monk’s words, but it was apparently true.
They only had wooden fences the monks had built themselves as barricades, and the temple was deep in the mountains where attacks could come from any direction. Strangely, there had been no large-scale invasions.
“Is it because the situation is different here?”
Kim Jun nodded as he looked at the temple, which was eerily peaceful and treated like a true holy ground.
At that moment, a woman in Buddhist robes emerged from the kitchen stove area and was startled to see him.
“Ah! You are…”
“Oh, it’s that mommy, right?”
Emily recognized her first and greeted her. The woman, flustered but wiping her hands on her apron, returned the greeting with joined palms.
“Hello.”
“Yes, you look healthy.”
It was Ha Jun’s Mom.
“Where’s the baby? I want to see him.”
“He’s… over there…”
A door to one of the annex buildings opened, revealing a woman who used to be a nurse taking care of the baby.
Emily’s eyes sparkled with hearts as she happily hugged little Ha Jun. Nanika also smiled at the sight of the baby she hadn’t seen in a while.
They provided supplies and received immediate medical treatment in return.
“Aaaah!”
“It might sting a little. If we had an electric tool it would be quick…”
Scrape— Scraaape—
Sharp instruments mercilessly dug around inside Emily and Nanika’s mouths.
A retired dentist happened to be among them. Taking the chance, he examined their teeth.
They received manual scaling, and he scraped out small cavities on their molars.
What would have taken ten minutes with an electric drill took much longer with probes and explorers. He dug at their gums until they bled, but as the black tartar fell away, Kim Jun frowned.
I made them brush so thoroughly, yet this much still came out.
“Alright, just apply this and we’re done.”
Fortunately, they had temporary filling material. He applied it to the scraped areas and had them bite down firmly.
“Don’t chew on this side for the rest of the day. It’ll fall out easily.”
“Ugh, okay.”
“If there are parts that need serious filling later, bring gold or silver. We can melt it and use it.”
Nanika clutched her face and grimaced, while Emily kept checking her bleeding gums in the mirror and rinsed with mouthwash.
Dental treatment in an apocalypse world.
It was an incredibly valuable service.
Kim Jun decided he would bring Mari next time for a full health checkup for everyone here.
When he mentioned tools to the monks, they gave him an unexpected item.
“Please take this.”
“But then what about you here…”
“Hahaha, we have plenty. Would you like more vegetables too?”
Kim Jun received the steaming trays for bean sprouts and mung bean sprouts that the temple had made for self-sufficiency. He looked at the ceramic products.
In the end, Kim Jun’s group traded oil and rice, and received potatoes, dental treatment for the three of them, and the bean sprout trays from the temple.
It was their second barter exchange between survivor groups, following the one with Myeong Guk and his wife.
“We’ll see you again next time.”
“Amitabha. May the Buddha’s blessings be with all living beings.”
The three climbed back into the vehicle after receiving farewells from the head monk and the others.
As Kim Jun started the engine and began driving down, he glanced at Nanika.
“How was it?”
“It was my first time seeing other living people besides us…”
“Aww~ That baby was so cute.”
“You really like babies, huh.”
“He’s like an angel~ Well, I’m fine with not having any myself.”
After meeting people for the first time in a while, Kim Jun immediately set the next destination.
“You two haven’t been there yet, right? We’re going to trade for meat.”
“I want to go!”
Kim Jun drove down to the main road and stepped hard on the accelerator.