Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 82

“Eep!”

An odd sound, neither a groan nor a scream, escaped Muyoung’s lips as he felt an unexpected touch. Startled by the strange noise from his own mouth, he reflexively straightened his upper body, but the arm firmly holding his waist prevented him from moving, and he fell back into Seokjae’s embrace.

“That’s dangerous. I told you to keep your legs firm.”

Although the incident wasn’t caused by Muyoung not hanging on properly, Seokjae scolded him in a stern voice.

“Quickly, cling to me properly.”

“Y-yes, yes.”

“Good job.”

Despite feeling unfairly scolded, Muyoung lacked the mental capacity to argue. He nodded like a malfunctioning wooden puppet and clung tightly. Only then did Seokjae praise him, seemingly satisfied, and made a final assessment of their surroundings before moving.

To avoid catching the zombies’ attention as much as possible, Seokjae bent his body as much as he could in an awkward posture behind a passenger car.

As a result, raindrops fell heavily on Muyoung’s upturned face. He couldn’t afford to space out, as his vision would quickly blur if he didn’t wipe his face. Thanks to this, Muyoung regained enough presence of mind to think.

‘Just now, my butt… No, that’s not the issue in this situation.’

While he had been helplessly trembling, they had encountered such a dangerous situation. Muyoung looked at the dark clouds still completely covering the sky with fearful eyes, then vigorously wiped his face with one hand.

‘I need to pull myself together. At the very least, I shouldn’t be more of a hindrance here.’

He was already a hindrance by being carried, but he couldn’t bring himself to say he’d get down and walk. He wasn’t confident he wouldn’t suddenly collapse mid-way. That would cause more harm than being quietly carried, so he had given up on the idea early on.

‘I absolutely must not scream.’

The pain from the thunder was so terrible that just thinking about it briefly made his shoulders tremble. But under no circumstances could he allow himself to lead his companions to death because of him.

While Muyoung was firmly resolving this, Seokjae, who showed no signs of struggle despite dangling a grown man, finished checking all directions and spoke.

“Let’s go.”

Grip.

Then he grabbed the part where Muyoung’s buttock met his thigh and hoisted him up once. This would have been a perfectly normal action if Muyoung’s posture had collapsed or if he had been slipping from Seokjae’s arms. Yes, under normal circumstances.

‘As expected… This area seems to have more flesh than other parts. It wasn’t my imagination that it felt soft when I touched it earlier.’

His hand moved entirely out of personal desire. As such, Seokjae’s fingers shamelessly dug into Muyoung’s inner thigh, past the bottom of his buttocks. Although he had no intention of dying easily, even in this objectively life-threatening situation, Seokjae’s greed for Muyoung remained very much alive.

Rumble-

Just as the four were about to move, a low rumble spread from the massive clouds, as if trying to conceal their movement. Simultaneously, Muyoung’s body stiffened.

‘Is he scared?’

Seokjae kneaded the soft flesh filling his hand, with a purpose mixed in an 8:2 ratio of Muyoung’s comfort and his own self-indulgence. Which ratio was 8 remains a secret, but isn’t human touch said to provide comfort?

‘Ha-hand! Fingers!’

And in conclusion, Seokjae’s touch was effective. Muyoung couldn’t pay any attention to the thunder. From the start, the reason for his tension wasn’t fear, but Seokjae’s hand touching an embarrassing place.

Muyoung’s eyes trembled uncontrollably at the skin gripped so firmly that he could clearly feel Seokjae’s large, thick fingers. No matter how tightly he clung, as their speed increased to avoid zombies, his body shook slightly up and down, and each time, it felt like the hand was moving further inward.

If the fingers gripping his inner thigh moved just a bit more to the side, there would be…

Gulp.

Thinking about Seokjae’s fingers touching such an intimate area that he himself rarely touched except when washing made Muyoung involuntarily swallow dry saliva. Perhaps feeling this due to their close proximity, Seokjae fiddled with Muyoung’s leg as if telling him to relax.

But… far from calming down, it only served to stimulate him more, so Muyoung couldn’t endure any longer and whispered softly to him.

“H-hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“Can’t I just ride on your back instead? It would be less tiring for me if you’re bent over like this.”

It was an excuse, but also a valid point. It’s common sense that when moving heavy things, it’s easier to carry them on your back rather than in your arms.

“Hmm…”

However, Seokjae only made a sound as if contemplating something.

‘Why, why isn’t he answering?’

Unable to see Seokjae’s expression due to their position without turning his head back, Muyoung could only try to gauge the situation and unnecessarily tightened his arms around Seokjae.

After what felt like an hour to Muyoung but was only a few seconds, Seokjae finally spoke.

“Is it hard?”

“Wh-what?”

“Are you asking because it’s hard to hang on?”

Surprised by the unexpected question, Muyoung’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly shook his head.

“N-no. It’s not.”

He didn’t want to be misunderstood as a freeloader who didn’t even want to hang on while being personally carried. If he was really struggling, it might be different, but he couldn’t lie when that wasn’t the case.

“I, I just thought it might be hard for you, hyung…”

“For me?”

As Muyoung mumbled his excuse, Seokjae’s damp hair lightly brushed against his nape. He seemed to have tilted his head. Although Seokjae’s face wasn’t visible, Muyoung could clearly imagine his puzzled expression.

Carrying a grown man with a bag, plus his own luggage, yet reacting as if wondering why such concern was necessary. If it were someone else, they might have thought he was showing off, but coming from Seokjae, it seemed entirely sincere.

As Muyoung let out an awkward laugh, Seokjae explained why he had chosen this embarrassing posture.

“If you’re not struggling, this way is better. If you rode on my back, it’s hard to gauge how much I’d need to bend to keep you hidden. It would be terrible if I miscalculated the range during a fight and you got hurt.”

“I, I see. That makes sense.”

Hearing this, Muyoung had to nod, as the reasoning was even more solid than the excuse he had hastily made up. Then, feeling an intense gaze, he looked forward for the first time – which was behind Seokjae’s back.

Kyungho and Junwoo, who were following, were staring ahead with surprised eyes.

‘Umm…’

At their gaze, Muyoung suddenly became acutely aware that he was in Seokjae’s arms in an extremely embarrassing posture for an adult. Even though he knew it wasn’t possible, he felt his face heating up.

Even if he didn’t particularly care about appearances, this was quite embarrassing, and just as he was about to bury his face in Seokjae’s shoulder, Seokjae slowly raised his body.

“Besides, even if that weren’t the case, now doesn’t seem to be the time to change positions.”

“Huh?”

Muyoung asked, but Seokjae silently turned sideways and started running.

Grrrr- Groooan…

Urk…

The scene that came into view was a group of zombies blocking the middle of the path they were about to take. What Kyungho and Junwoo had seen wasn’t Muyoung’s unseemly appearance, but this horde of zombies.

There were no screams, so there probably weren’t any survivors. Why were they gathered in a group as if herded like sheep?

While Muyoung was unable to hide his bewilderment, a flashing light was visible among the zombies.

Zzzzt- Click-

It was a fallen signboard that kept blinking. Although its shape was barely recognizable after being trampled countless times, the bulbs inside seemed intact, emitting light with a loud noise.

Belatedly realizing why their intended path was blocked, Muyoung quickly rolled his eyes.

‘Is there no other way to escape?’

In the current situation, all he could do was check the blind spots that his companions couldn’t see.

Thud-

At that moment, a zombie that had been blankly staring at the sky turned its head towards them, hearing the sound of water droplets hitting a vehicle.

“Grooooaaar-!”

Between the dark sky and pouring rain, the zombie, certain that they were fresh prey moving quickly while crouched, started chasing them with a phlegmy roar. At that sound, the surrounding zombies also reacted in chain, discovering them.

“Tsk.”

Despite hearing the chilling sounds spreading from behind, Seokjae only clicked his tongue once without looking back. Instead of confirming their despair, it was more productive to find a space where they could hide.

‘A place where they can’t follow us in, no, at least somewhere that can buy us some time to hide…’

He furrowed his brow and sharply shifted his gaze.