The Cute Little Girl Who Proved Geum Tae-yang's Insane Popularity! [Evolved to C-Level][2]
Geum Tae-yang's eyes went wide the moment he finished blurting out his long-winded apology.
The voice that came through the line was that of a tiny little girl — so babyish and sweet it caught him completely off guard.
"Hello...? Isn't this Tae-yang-i ajusshi's number...? I checked it a few times before I dialed..."
When Tae-yang didn't answer right away, the little girl's voice turned faintly flustered. In a small, shrinking tone, she asked whether she might have called the wrong person.
Hmm... She said my name and called Yu-mi unnie, so she has to be one of the kids from the orphanage living with Yu-mi. The age fits too...
Hearing how nervous the little girl sounded snapped Tae-yang back to his senses. Piecing together everything she'd just said, he figured out who she was.
"Yeah, kiddo! I'm that Tae-yang-i ajusshi. Are you one of the kids at the survival camp with Yu-mi? Did you hear about me from her and call?"
He soothed the frightened little girl with the gentlest voice he could manage.
"Yes... I live with Yu-mi unnie... Um... Ye-eun... My name is Joo Ye-eun..."
The little girl introduced herself in a timid, careful voice.
"Aigoo! Is that so! Ye-eun, huh? What a pretty name!"
"Th-thank you..."
She was so adorable that a proud little exclamation slipped right out of Tae-yang's mouth. Beaming with a full-blown dad smile, he showered Ye-eun with a storm of praise. She thanked him in a voice thick with shyness — and from the soft rustling on the other end of the line, it was clear she hadn't stopped at words. She'd actually bowed at the waist.
"Ye-eun-ah, who are you talking to right now? Are you on the phone with Tae-yang-i ajusshi?"
Another voice drifted in from a little farther away on the call. It was Jo Yu-mi.
"Mm... I was so curious I just called Tae-yang-i ajusshi on my own... Sorry, unnie..."
"Is that what happened! You don't need to be sorry, our Ye-eun. Can you hand the phone over to unnie for a second?"
"Okay... Got it, unnie... Bye for now, Tae-yang-i ajusshi... I'm giving it to Yu-mi unnie... She's right next to me... Thanks for talking with me..."
"Sure thing, Ye-eun-ah. Ajusshi had fun too!"
Yu-mi coaxed Ye-eun in a careful tone and reclaimed her phone from the girl's hands.
"Tae-yang-ah, you must've been startled, huh? I left my phone behind when I headed out on morning patrol, and our Ye-eun went and called you..."
Scratch...! Scratch...! Scratch...!
Yu-mi, now on the line, explained the situation in a voice thick with awkward embarrassment. She was so flustered that the sound of her scratching her head came through the call crystal clear.
"Aigoo, it's fine! Honestly I was a little thrown off, but listening to Ye-eun's voice actually started making me feel good. Kind of a healing vibe you don't get much in the apocalypse, you know?"
Tae-yang laid it on thick — but it wasn't empty lip service. The smile that had grown on his face while talking with Ye-eun was the kind of thing the apocalypse rarely allowed him to enjoy.
"Ah... Really? Hmm... Well, that's a relief then..."
Yu-mi's reaction came with a slight buffering pause, as if she were tasting the words. The Geum Tae-yang she'd seen yesterday had been pure tough guy — a macho stud who'd thoroughly claimed Kim Min-jung. Watching that same man light up with warm, easy joy over a phone call with a little girl named Ye-eun felt surprisingly new.
"So about what Ye-eun said — asking if I was your boyfriend. How did that even come up?"
Tae-yang asked about the one detail that had left him tilting his head. They might have become comrades, but formal camp-to-camp exchange between them and Jo Yu-mi Camp hadn't even started yet. Ye-eun calling him out of nowhere was already baffling enough. On top of that, she'd asked whether he was Yu-mi's boyfriend. She'd skipped so many steps that Tae-yang's curiosity was about to explode.
"Ah... Well, you see... I told you before, right? I've got those little-brother types a year younger than me who help run the camp with me..."
"Those idiots saw the photo of you and me from yesterday and started whispering among themselves, and the kids overheard..."
It had all started with the photo Yu-mi had taken with Tae-yang for verification purposes before leaving the bunker.
"Yeah? Did the photo come out weird or something?"
Tae-yang tilted his head, puzzled. He'd only taken the picture at the time — he'd never had a chance to check how it turned out. Even so, he couldn't imagine anything in it that would spark wild rumors.
"No, that's exactly my point. Completely normal photo, and those bastards sit there looking at it going 'oh this, oh that, looks like she got a boyfriend, looks like they're flirting' — driving me up the wall..."
Scrub! Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!
Thoroughly fed up with her little brothers' nonsense, Yu-mi vented it all to Tae-yang. Moments ago she'd been scratching her head in embarrassment; now she was scrubbing at it with pure tomboy frustration, the sound pouring through the line.
"Send me the one from yesterday. Let me take a look myself."
Tae-yang said he wanted to check it with his own eyes.
Ding!
Data transfer complete.
The data Yu-mi sent finished transferring.
Just how the hell did this thing get taken...?
Tae-yang opened it immediately.
"Hoo..."
A sigh mixed with something like a laugh escaped him the moment he saw the photo.
Yu-mi, you idiot — why is your face and posture this awkward??????
Standing next to Tae-yang in the picture, Yu-mi looked massively stiff and tense. The situation when they'd taken it had gone like this: the two of them had been standing on the same line, Yu-mi on Tae-yang's right, hovering in that half-committed, awkward stance as they prepared to shoot. Tae-yang had decided that even though they'd only met that day, she was a comrade who'd fought beside him — and that just wouldn't do. So he'd lightly caught her by the shoulder and pulled her in toward his chest.
A girl that rough and easygoing looking like this in a photo? Of course those comments came out. Even when she was on the phone with those little brothers of hers, they were relentless.
Sure, some people just weren't comfortable in front of a camera. But in the short time Tae-yang had known her, Yu-mi had been coolness itself. If even he — someone she still kept a bit of formality with — felt that way, then to those little brothers she started every call with a curse, she had to be the ultimate tomboy. And then that same big-sister type ends up next to some beast of a guy, looking prim and shy? Of course the "did she get a boyfriend?" jokes were going to fly.
"Well? Tae-yang-ah? The photo's fine, right? Those little-brother bastards were just spouting crazy nonsense to mess with me, right???"
Yu-mi's curious voice came through while Tae-yang was still staring at the picture.
"Honestly, from where I'm standing, it's pretty head-tilt material. You look awkward in a lot of ways, Yu-mi. Not used to getting your picture taken?"
Tae-yang was only ever soft with Kim Min-jung. With Yu-mi, he said exactly what he thought, no filter at all.
"Ah, really...? It's a little weird...? I see... Hmm..."
Hearing his explanation, Yu-mi accepted it surprisingly easily — almost meekly. When the other person in the photo itself delivered the verdict, even someone as un-sensitive as Yu-mi found herself nodding along right away.
"Oh! That's a relief. Honestly I was pretty worried about A-young too!"
After that, Tae-yang and Yu-mi talked about Park A-young. Of course, he couldn't exactly tell her that his storm of sex had healed A-young's heart and brought her real stability. So he danced around it, spinning a story about how his and Min-jung's devoted care had finally gotten her through it. Yu-mi reacted with high-energy enthusiasm.
"Yeah. Given the situation we'll still need to keep an eye on her a bit longer, but don't worry too much. And how about the supplies the ajumma sent over? The kids liking them?"
Hearing Yu-mi treat the affairs of Park A-young — now his little wife — like they were her own business put Tae-yang in a great mood. His smile bloomed wide as he checked in on Jo Yu-mi Camp.
"They love them. I can finally breathe a little myself. Every place nearby where we could still get food has big packs of zombies dug in now."
"I've been debating whether we need to push into those areas, but it looks like we've stocked enough spare food to hold out until we get stronger."
Even with a lot of young children, Jo Yu-mi Camp had no small number of mouths to feed. They'd been rationing as carefully as possible, and the food scavenged from nearby was already running dry. For days Yu-mi had been agonizing over whether to push into the commercial district — the big marts or large shopping complexes. But roughly a month had already passed. Most of those places were either packed with enough zombies to make even an Awakened like Yu-mi hesitate, or already claimed by other survival camps with their territory marked.
"Alright, hang in there with that for now. We've been thinking about expanding operations outside the bunker into other areas soon. When I make it over your way, let's clear out the zombie spots together!"
Because the Status Window itself had linked them as comrades, Tae-yang's trust in Yu-mi ran deep. And after just talking with Ye-eun — the little girl she was looking after — that sense of responsibility only grew stronger. So he made a direct promise of something like an alliance.
"Why? Did you level up? You mentioned yesterday you were close."
Even Yu-mi could hear it — confidence was pouring out of Tae-yang's voice. Sensing that some serious variable had shifted, she brought up the level-up talk she'd heard from him in passing the day before.
"Yeah, that's right! I hit C-Level this morning! The stat boosts are way more impressive than I expected. Like I said, I'm thinking about expanding our operating range."
"So tell those kids over there that Superman ajusshi is coming to save them soon. Wait — better make it oppa. I'm still only twenty-one. Even if those little ones are young, hearing 'ajusshi' is a bit much."
Tae-yang bantered freely, soaking in the fruits of all his hard work. He'd been dying to show off his improving abilities, but until now the only person he could brag to was Kim Min-jung. With this brand-new channel of communication open, he went so far as to cast himself as Superman just to flaunt his stats.
"Hmm... Honestly, if I push a little harder I could probably hit C-rank pretty soon myself..."
Yu-mi's response came out a touch indifferent. Tae-yang's blatant bragging had stirred up her competitive streak.
"Haha! Don't push yourself too hard, Yu-mi! I've got three growth engines running — that's the only reason I can do this!"
This was the same Geum Tae-yang who'd had the bickering skill drilled into his bones by Park A-young. Without even thinking about it, he needled his fellow twenty-one-year-old Yu-mi with perfect, effortless precision.
"Fine. Then if I hit C-Level within a week, Geum Tae-yang — will you grant me one wish?"
No matter how much she'd warmed to Tae-yang's masculine charm, Yu-mi was a born tomboy. In the end she couldn't hold back — and she threw down the challenge.