The Chair Incident and Bicycle Reconnaissance
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel.
“Why.”
“The meeting’s over, so I called you.”
“Meeting? Wasn’t it a report?”
“I handled the report and took care of a few other things while I was at it.”
“Aha… Give me the three-line summary.”
“Ah.” Noh Changhun stared blankly with his mouth hanging open. Then he slowly rubbed the back of his neck. His blood pressure seemed to be spiking hard. After clenching and unclenching his fists to simmer down his anger, he spoke.
“One. Contact headquarters, pull in personnel, and expand the defense perimeter. Two. Dispatch a recon team and clear the surrounding areas. Three. Once the recon team returns, review sites for new defensive lines. In the meantime, everyone else secures vehicles.”
“Vehicles??” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. It wasn’t like we could drive them right now, so why the sudden search? If it was to siphon gas, I could maybe understand, but his expression said otherwise.
Noh Changhun gave me a look of pure pity for a moment before continuing. They had already drained every drop of gasoline from the cars long ago. The plan was to use the empty vehicles to block the roads. That would turn them into usable defensive lines and slow the zombies’ advance. First they’d barricade the roads with cars, then haul furniture from nearby stores to reinforce everything.
“Where do you think you’re going, you little shit?”
“Hehe…”
I had tried to make a run for it because I knew he was about to put me to work, but he caught my arm. No wonder he had come all the way here in person.
Truthfully, I wanted to watch our Yeji and Jinhyuk playing together. They were acquaintances I hadn’t seen in a while, so I thought it would be nice to chat a little longer. But one look at this guy’s face told me everything. My silent exit had probably caused him some trouble, and now he was dragging me in to fix it.
Honestly, I was feeling restless and wanted to burn off some energy. But not right now. I still wanted to play more with this Yeji.
“Shouldn’t a second lieutenant lead by example?”
“You do know that if an officer leads by example and dies, it’s a problem, right?”
“I never even went to the military?”
“Ah.”
“Shouldn’t you have gone to the military to understand the importance of a second lieutenant??”
“If it weren’t for the kids, you’d be half dead by now.”
“From what I saw when I hit you earlier, you seemed pretty weak.”
Noh Changhun closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and began counting. Once he reached ten, he smiled brightly and said.
“Ah, I can’t hold it in anymore.”
“If you’re mad, then come at me. If you don’t want to fight… well. Want to make a bet instead?”
“Did you forget about becoming my chair last time?”
“I didn’t forget!?”
In truth, I had completely forgotten. No, with everything that had happened from Jangyu to Busan until now, how could I remember? A cold sweat trickled down my back. I had provoked him plenty already, so he was definitely going to make me do it. If it were someone I never had to see again, maybe it wouldn’t matter, but Noh Changhun was someone I had to keep working with. If our relationship went completely sour, we’d be in deep shit.
“…”
“Don’t act all high and mighty like before. Why are you suddenly tucking your tail between your legs?”
“Haha… So, what do I need to do?”
Pretending it never happened and moving on seemed like the best option. Yeah. We had overcome life-and-death situations together, after all. We couldn’t let things get awkward. I subtly checked Noh Changhun’s expression, then opened the window and jumped.
It was only the third floor, not that high, and I wanted to seize the initiative.
“Ack, aaack!”
“Crazy bitch.”
My body had gotten so tough that I wasn’t injured at all. The tingling pain shooting up from my feet still forced me to stand on one leg like a stork for a while. Still, I figured I had seized the initiative well enough, so I looked up with a victorious grin. I made sure to give him the are you scared? look too. Ah, if you’re scared, just take the stairs…?
“Why.”
“Th-that’s the third floor…”
“People don’t die from falling three stories.”
“You jumped from the third floor too.”
This guy clearly hadn’t been slacking off either. He landed perfectly fine after dropping three stories. He had used something like a proper landing technique, but it was still impressive that he was unscathed. His legs looked a little red, but there were no visible injuries. Everyone else seemed used to it; no one even batted an eye. Some people actually greeted Noh Changhun like nothing had happened and kept walking.
“Hey, let’s go on recon.”
“Recon? I thought we were doing some heavy lifting.”
“You want to do heavy lifting?”
“I’m just restless, that’s all. Aren’t you?”
“Nope. Remember where I parked the bike?”
“I remember, yeah?”
“Let’s go.”
On the way, Noh Changhun gave a quick explanation. We would follow the Suyeong River upstream, loop around once, check for anything unusual, and return. We’d take out some zombies along the way too. When I asked about supplies, he said there was neither the capacity nor space to carry anything. It was literally just a circle and back. Other teams handled logistics anyway, so we were only responsible for reconnaissance.
“Pfft…”
“This fucking…”
Now that I looked properly, the bicycle was ridiculously small compared to Noh Changhun’s massive frame. It wasn’t an ordinary bike, of course. It looked like a student model, but one an adult could ride. Still, it looked exactly like an adult riding an elementary schooler’s bike. The way he carefully balanced to keep from falling was hilarious. The pedals were tiny too, and all the extra modifications only made it funnier. Honestly, someone his size would probably be faster on foot, but maybe he was riding to conserve stamina.
“Hey, stop laughing!”
“But it’s seriously funny? Isn’t that bike way too small?”
“…It’s the largest one I could find nearby.”
“Couldn’t you raid a store?”
“There wasn’t time.”
“Don’t the others laugh at you?”
“Would they laugh after seeing these muscles?”
Fair point. I could tease him now because I had gotten stronger. If I were still weaker than him, I would be desperately holding my laughter in. He was already insanely strong before we separated, but now his strength seemed several times greater. Of course ordinary people would behave themselves just looking at those muscles.
“Ah, but it really is funny.”
“Why don’t you give me one as a gift. Like a wedding present or something.”
“W-wedding present…?”
“You only tease and never actually give me anything.”
“Hmm…”
Now that he mentioned it, a gift did seem necessary. Maybe because he had been surrounded by men all this time, he looked completely wild. He needed to shave that beard and take better care of himself. He claimed to be a delicate person, but it seemed like only his mind was delicate. His clothes looked like he had just grabbed whatever was nearby. He used to know how to dress nicely. Plus, it looked like he needed a new weapon. The solid steel knuckles I had given him were on his hands right now. They were so worn that one was half broken and the other was blunt. Since Lee Ayoung’s acquaintance was a blacksmith, it would be good to ask for a few favors. After all, this Beopbong was made of solid iron, so it was extremely durable. And with my super strength, I didn’t need to rely on weapons anyway.
“…You’re not seriously considering it, are you?”
“What!? I-I wasn’t considering anything!”
“That… it was just a cover, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it’s a cover. A cover, right…?”
“I knew you were dumb, but you didn’t actually think it was real, did you?”
“Come on, who would think it’s real.”
…Still, it seemed like a good idea to get him a few sets of clothes. No matter how much his ability generated heat, he wasn’t in a special situation like mine. At the very least, he probably needed some warm layers underneath. Come to think of it, compared to him I didn’t have much to do. And Jeokto had storage space. That’s why I had it modified that way.
“Hey, Changhun.”
“What.”
Noh Changhun, who was scanning the surroundings, answered without even looking at me. I wanted to snap at him for ignoring me while I was talking, but then I remembered I had done the same thing to him plenty of times. That wasn’t important right now, so I studied his outfit. Long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Hmm, not bad, but.
“Don’t you need winter clothes?”
“Winter clothes?”
“Yeah, winter clothes. With your size, you’ll need the larger ones, right?”
“You’re going to get them for me?”
“Hmph, I’ll get them. Anything else you want? Since I’m offering, if there’s something you particularly need, I’ll get it all.”
“Huh.”
Noh Changhun laughed like he found it ridiculous. But he didn’t seem upset. He immediately said black would be good. Jeans or tops, it didn’t matter. He preferred achromatic colors. Since he used to brag about all sorts of things in the author’s notes, that was enough information. He would show off about buying this and that with his settlement money, so I had naturally learned his tastes in food and clothes.
“This is what they mean by having a good boyfriend! Since it’s come to this, I’ll do everything I can for you.”
“…No matter how I look at it, this seems like an actual relationship.”
“It doesn’t! What do you mean actual relationship?!”
“It is just a cover, right?”
“It is.”
“You won’t cry just because I put a ring on your finger?”
“W-who would cry?”
Who would cry. Seriously? We had only agreed to pretend to be a married couple so I wouldn’t get dragged into a catfight. Who would actually act happy like a real wife just because of a ring? Sigh. Just what does he take me for?