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Well over thirty minutes had passed, but Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk still hadn’t returned.

While I waited anxiously, Kwak Dong-Won spoke up.

“You don’t have to worry so much. The people there aren’t bad people.”

“Is that so…”

“It’s different when they see zombies… But they’re nice to people.”

“...”

His words did little to improve my mood.

The idea of raising zombies had probably come from their mindset that they couldn’t coexist with zombies.

Swoosh–

While I was engrossed in my own thoughts, I felt a presence behind me. I quickly got up and turned around.

"Ahjussi."

Kim Hyeong-Jun was standing in front of me.

“Hyeong-Jun!”

I bit my lip out of happiness and ran toward him. He chuckled and raised his arms.

I was just about to high-five him when I came back to my senses. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun had the same thought. He quickly stashed his hands in his pockets.

“We almost knocked each other out. What a relief.”

"Definitely."

Just touching each others’ palms would’ve sent a strong, tingling flow throughout our entire bodies. We were so caught in the moment that we almost zapped each other.

Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted. “Seemed like someone was really worried, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah, man. I thought you were done for.”

“How could I die? I have to live longer than you, ahjussi.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun was right back to making jokes from the moment he regained consciousness. I couldn\'t help but smile at his corny jokes. It had only been a couple of days, but I missed his lame jokes.

I gave him a cursory examination. He hadn’t changed much physically… Except for the fact that he also had blue eyes now.

Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at my face, his expression growing rather serious.

“So I wasn’t dreaming after all.”

“Huh?”

“Your eyes, ahjussi. They’re blue.”

“Like yours aren’t?”

There was a moment of silence.

I hadn’t had the time to think about my eye color, since I’d spent the aftermath of the battle overseeing the cleanup, helping to stabilize the shelter and making plans for the move.

Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat lightly, then asked, "Umm… Ahjussi."

“What?”

“Did the number of underlings you could control increase rapidly as well?”

I nodded without speaking.

I could originally control seventeen hundred and fifty underlings. However, after eating the brains of the seventh officer and the dong leader of Guui-dong, the number went up to two thousand two hundred and fifty.

Based on my experience so far, it should’ve only gone up to eighteen hundred, but for some reason, I could control four hundred more underlings than expected.

The only plausible reason I could think of…

“Ahjussi, I think the officers’ brains…”

"I think you’re right. They don’t grant us fifty, but four hundred and fifty.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, his expression difficult to read. Perhaps there was a lot going through his mind.

We both rubbed our chins, engrossed in our own thoughts.

Zombies with glowing red eyes that had eaten a black creature’s brain.

The sixth and seventh officers both had approximately eighteen hundred underlings under their control. Each time we consumed a dong leader’s brain, we only increased our control by fifty underlings. But to be able to increase our control by four hundred and fifty at once… The only conclusion I could get to was that this rapid increase had to do something with the black creature.

I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and asked, “How many underlings can you control now?”

“Two thousand and fifty underlings.”

"Could you originally control only one thousand and six hundred underlings?”

"Yeah, I can control four hundred and fifty more after eating the sixth officer’s brain.”

“When I ate the black creature’s brain, I got to control four hundred more underlings. Which means…”

“That this is related to the black creature somehow.”

I nodded my head at his conclusion. Then, Hyeong-Jun Kim shrugged and continued talking.

“I mean, is there any other way to explain this?”

I scratched my forehead and thought for a moment.

The amount of control granted by eating an officer’s brain would have to take into account the black creature’s brain that the officer had eaten previously. Since the brain of the black creature granted control over four hundred underlings, it made sense that the amount of control granted by the officer’s brain would go up to four hundred and fifty, if one took into account the number of underlings a regular red-eyed zombie could control.

Given the information we had to work with, this was the best conclusion we could reach.

After a moment, Kwak Dong-Won, who had been listening to our conversation, came up to us and said carefully,

“Is, is he… A zombie who fights for survivors…”

"Yes."

When I nodded, Kwak Dong-Won grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun\'s hand.

"Nice to meet you. I am Kwak Dong-Won, leader of the facilities management team in Gangnam.”

Hyeong-Jun Kim frowned and tilted his head.

"Gangnam?"

I filled Kim Hyeong-Jun in about all that had happened so far. After hearing the whole story, Kiim Hyeong-Jun sat down on the floor.

“So you’re saying that there are survivors in Gangnam too?”

"Yup."

“And Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk went out on the Han River to borrow a cruise ship from the survivors of Gangnam.”

When I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his nose.

“Is it absolutely necessary for us to get on a cruise ship?”

“What’s the alternative? Do you want us to walk?”

“I think that would be the safer option.”

“Wait, what?”

"Listen to what I have to say."

Kim Hyeong-Jun gestured to me to take a seat next to him.

I sat down next to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kwak Dong-Won, who was across from me, sat as well.

Kim Hyeong-Jun looked disapprovingly at Kwak Dong-Won, but smacked his lips and proceeded anyway.

“The people of Gangnam have no intention of forming an alliance with us. That’s pretty clear, since they never accepted or welcomed survivors from this side.”

“Then what about the supplies they gave us?”

“I think they’re just trying to feel good about themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. They’re just trying to show us that they at least have some sort of conscience. Can’t you tell? The survivors of Gangnam are treating us like lab rats.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said they were watching us through a telescope? Well, thanks to that, they learned that there are zombies that fight for the sake of humans.”

I nodded quietly as I listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. He sucked his lower lip, then continued with his theory.

“Have you ever thought about why all they’ve done is watch, instead of coming to help early on?”

“I assumed they were also under attack and that they didn’t have enough to help us out.”

“No, they had no intention of helping us in the first place. Didn\'t you say that the military unit held off the Family’s forces at the border between Dongjak-gu and Seocho-gu? They were able to halt the advance because they had already given up on the west side, and doubled up on their defenses in Seocho-gu. It’s a simple strategy that’s even written in history books.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sacrificing territory which is difficult to hold, and blocking off an enemy’s path of retreat. These are the fundamental tactics of every war. They made the wise decision to give up on Dongjak-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu rather than trying to hold onto those two areas, and therefore they were able to reinforce the defenses in Seocho-gu.”

"That\'s too far-fetched."

“Who blew up the Han River bridges?”

“...”

I couldn’t come up with a good rebuttal. Gangnam was controlled by a military unit, and they most likely had explosives. It had to be them that blew up the Han River bridges.

Kim Hyeong-Jun had more to say.

“In fact, the survivors of Gangnam had no intention of helping anyone. Giving out supplies under the guise of having a conscience… That’s no different from feeding lab rats so that they don’t starve to death.”

“And you’re saying that we’re the test specimens?”

“Yeah, and since they got the results they wanted, now they’re curious about how we did it. And that’s why they’re interested in finding out how they can raise zombies with glowing red eyes.”

“And they’re luring us in by using the cruise ship that they have?”

Hyeong-Jun Kim snapped his fingers.

“Exactly.”

His theory was convincing. It made it even more convincing because the forces in charge of Gangnam were military units.

As I sat there, still trying to puzzle things out, Kwak Dong-Won—who had been sitting across from me the whole time—spoke up.

“That… That’s probably not the case.”

“Huh?”

Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and looked at Kwak Dong-Won. His eyes flashed once, a crystal clear blue light blazing where his pupils would have been.

Kwak Dong-Won took a breath.

“Oh, um… No, no. They’re not such terrible people…”

“I hate soldiers.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun blurted this fact out of the blue, throwing a stone into the Han River.

It seemed like he’d had a rough time in the military.[1]

Kwak Dong-Won swallowed, but pressed on.

“The people in Gangnam… Everyone works hard, striving to make it through together. The Major is trying their best to keep everyone safe. The Major is also considerate of everyone’s situation.”

I listened to what Kwak Dong-Won had to say, then called Kim Hyeong-Jun as I fiddled with my earlobe.

“Hyeong-Jun.”

“What, ahjussi?”

"You have a point… But, just by looking at Kwak Dong-Won here, it seems like the people over there aren’t that cold-blooded.”

“Well, you’ll never know until you see them face-to-face.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s voice carried a shade of annoyance. I shrugged.

“Yeah. Just like you said, we won’t know until we see them face-to-face, right? They might be genuinely curious about the data we have.”

"Ugh… Fine. I\'m the bad guy here, doubting them all the way.”

“I have doubts about them as well. I know how difficult it is for you to trust people as well.”

“Are you bothered by that?”

“No. In fact, I think it’s for the better. You can see the situation from a different point of view than I do. There have been times when we achieved better results when we went along with your plan.”

I kept my tone even as I spoke. Kim Hyeong-Jun pressed his lips together and nodded, and I patted him on the shoulder.

“This is why I need you. And that’s why I want to be as helpful to you as you are to me.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue, a dissatisfied expression on his face. I patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the shoulder again.

“Let’s wait a little and see what happens, for the sake of Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk. We don’t have to move right away, do we? Let\'s talk when the two of them get back."

“Ahjussi… You’re just making me into the bad guy.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and pouted. I never thought I\'d see this face of his again. This face of his used to make me sigh, but now I was overjoyed to see it.

Thank goodness Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn’t perished.

I smiled lightly and slapped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back. He gave me a bewildered look.

“You’re hitting me again? Ahjussi, you have quite the temper. You really have to do something about it!”

“Did it hurt? I didn’t hit you that hard.”

“You know how surprised I get when I get hit out of the blue! You have to think about my emotional suffering too!”

This time, he really seemed upset.

Kim Hyeong-Jun got up and walked toward the Han River. He stashed his hands in his pockets and stared blankly out at the Han River.

I picked up some flat stones that were around me and walked up to Kim Hyeong-Jun. When I handed the stones I had picked up to Kim Hyeong-Jun, he shook his head, turning down the offer. I watched Kim Hyeong-Jun as I skipped the stones across the surface of the Han River.

After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun said, "I’m just worried, that’s all."

"I know."

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”

I walked over to Kim Hyeong-Jun Kim and put a pebble in his hand, and flashed a gentle smile.

“No matter what decision we make, nothing bad will happen to us. We have you. And me. And of course, we have Do Han-Sol.”

"Wait? Come to think about it, I haven’t seen Do Han-Sol. Where’d he go?”

“He ate the brain of the dong leader of Junggok-dong and is sleeping right now.”

I looked around. Kim Hyeong-Jun flicked the stone I’d given him out into the river, sending it skipping across the surface.

“Well, he\'s a pretty amazing fellow. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the strength to fight a dong leader by himself. Where’d he get the courage to take on a dong leader?"

“It seemed like Mood-Swinger helped.”

“Oh, shoot!”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression grew anxious, as though he had just remembered that he had mutants under his control. He began to pepper me with questions.

“Mood-Swinger! Where is Mood-Swinger?”

“Mood-Swinger’s with the stage-one mutants in Jayang-gyo.”

“How long has it gone without food? When was the last time I fed it?”

"Don\'t worry. It\'s only been two days. Besides, it probably had a good feast during this long battle. I don’t understand why you’re so worried.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and brushed the dirt off his hands. After a moment, he chuckled.

"Well, I should still go check up on it anyway, just in case.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Let me know when Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk come back!”

Kim Hyeong-Jun waved his hand lightly and took off toward Jayang-gyo without looking back. I smiled faintly as I saw his figure grow further away.

If the first person I’d become friends with after turning into a zombie was Lee Jeong-Uk, then the first zombie I’d become friends with was Kim Hyeong-Jun.

Before I realized it, he had become such a big part of my zombie life. Doing all this zombie stuff without him was unimaginable.

He was no longer my friend, my battle buddy, or my ally.

Kim Hyeong-Jun was basically my family.

1. All Korean males who are physically suitable to join the military are conscripted by law to serve for a minimum of eighteen months. The duration of service depends on each branch of the military. The main character assumed that Kim Hyeong-Jun had served in the military. ☜