Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 91

Just as fear began to distort his cognitive abilities and anxiety started to consume his body—

*Flash!*

*BOOM!*

A lightning-like flash illuminated the surroundings again, and unlike before, a massive thunder clap pierced his eardrums. Though one would normally flinch instinctively, Muyoung couldn’t afford to this time.

“Kak…! Kee-eek!”

That’s because a zombie was rushing toward the window.

‘It’s coming.’

Even though he’d moved to the side, the zombie seemed to have unfortunately targeted his direction. It sprinted toward Muyoung on its relatively intact legs at high speed.

Standing in a space with barely enough room to place his feet, Muyoung was tense as he needed to avoid the zombie. Still, he carefully observed the direction from which the zombie was coming and turned completely sideways, gripping the windowsill.

‘Too high! Scary!’

It was a precarious position with one foot dangling in the air. Muyoung inadvertently looked down, swallowed the scream that nearly escaped, and turned his head toward the classroom. And… his eyes met directly with the zombie staring at him.

‘Huh?’

In that split second, the zombie reached the window and lunged, opening its mouth wide toward Muyoung’s leg suspended in the air.

*Chomp!*

A force seized his leg that felt like being caught in a blunt trap. Naturally, there was no pain. Or even if there had been, he wouldn’t have noticed it, overwhelmed by the horrifying sensation of being suspended in air.

“Huk!”

The zombie, which had charged without reducing its speed, briefly defied gravity and flew through the air. Dragged along like a chick snatched by an eagle, Muyoung inhaled sharply, unable to even scream.

Simultaneously, the pitch-black sky that had filled his vision seemed to recede as if time were slowing down. The hose, which had been stretched taut by the zombie’s weight and momentum, began to fall in an arc like a pendulum.

*Swoosh!*

The hose slid quickly, creating friction against the rain-soaked wall. According to the plan, even if he fell, he would be suspended in the air by the hose, so there shouldn’t be a major problem.

Yes, if things had gone according to plan. But Muyoung had moved beyond the distance the hose allowed while searching for an open window. The fully extended hose, naturally, moved more like plummeting toward the ground than stopping in mid-air.

‘I’m going to die.’

If he were a zombie, there would be a high chance of surviving a fall from the fourth floor, albeit with injuries. But with the imminent danger of hitting the bare ground in just seconds, there was no time to think about such possibilities. In the helpless falling situation, Muyoung was gripped by a profoundly human fear.

Just then.

♩ ♪ ♩♬~

“Kang Muyoung!!”

“Hyung, no!”

“Hyung!”

A cheerful ringtone incongruous with the situation rang out. Following this, familiar voices reached his ears as clearly as thunder.

‘Making such loud noises is dangerous…’

Feeling both guilt for making them witness the terrible sight of his falling to death and relief that the three would survive, Muyoung tightly closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the pitch-black sea-like void.

*Rustle-rustle*

Fortunately, what received Muyoung’s body was hard but warmer and more comfortable than a cement floor.

*Thud!*

Then a massive rebound that could have broken bones resonated in his chest. Muyoung instinctively recognized that whatever was in front of him had saved his life, and he desperately clung to the thick, rough object with trembling arms.

“Huk, huh…”

*Drip-drop, patter-patter, tap-tap-tap*

All the surrounding noises seemed to announce that he was still alive. Muyoung inhaled and exhaled roughly, belatedly recognizing the damp earthy smell that stung his nose and the heavy, slightly bitter scent peculiar to rain-soaked plants.

“A tree…”

It was a massive, thick tree tall enough to reach at least the second floor.

His mind, frozen with fear, began working again, and he remembered that large and small trees had been planted in a regular pattern in front of the main school building’s first floor. The dense branches and leaves had apparently cushioned and reduced his speed, and critically, the trunk had stopped him.

“I-I’m alive…”

Muyoung slumped completely against the tree, then immediately straightened his back. He remembered what had caused his fall.

He quickly looked down and…

*Crack*

‘Ah.’

He regretted not looking a moment later.

The zombie that had fallen while biting his leg, unlike Muyoung who had landed safely on the branches, seemed to have taken all the impact with its neck. Its neck, which had already been precariously attached, was now in a state that could only be described as barely hanging on. And at the moment Muyoung looked, it separated, breaking off.

A dull sound of *thud* was heard.

But Muyoung’s expression remained poor. Despite the zombie meeting its demise, it was still tenaciously biting his leg.

He couldn’t walk around with a head attached to his leg. As he bent over without hesitation to drop it off, Muyoung suddenly froze as an image flashed through his mind.

“Huk.”

The scene of the immobile head opening its mouth to bite his leg again played out vividly. Muyoung had no choice but to shake his leg vigorously, like someone having a seizure.

*Splash*

Fortunately, either because it had lost its bite force in death or for some other reason, the head came off easily after a few kicks.

Muyoung hugged the tree like a comfort doll to calm his trembling body, like a child who had just awakened from a nightmare.

“W-what was that? Did I see a hallucination because I was so scared? Was my imagination always that good?”

He muttered to himself to try to regain stability and divert his attention elsewhere, but he felt presences approaching from all around.

*Grrrk! Kraaak!*

Apparently, the loud noise had attracted zombies to the tree.

Normally, zombies would be disgusting but not frightening, but this time was different. He had experienced a zombie rushing at him for the first time. Combined with the dark environment and being left alone, he was engulfed in anxiety bordering on panic. Enough to make him wish for loud thunder to hide him, even if it would hurt enough to make him faint.

“Huh…”

As the presences drew closer, Muyoung, despite being a grown adult, felt like crying like a kitten asking for help.

*Rustle*

The moment a small sob escaped Muyoung’s lips, the hose tied around his waist shook as if responding to this distress signal. And before he could react, he felt strong pressure around his waist and was pulled up the tree.

“Huk…!”

He almost instinctively hugged the tree trunk to resist being lifted into the air. Soon he remembered and released his grip, grabbing the hose instead.

The person pulling the rope must have confirmed through the hose that Muyoung was alive, as the pulling speed increased.

As soon as his head emerged from the dense leaves, he saw the figure of someone watching from a distance. Thinking their eyes had met, Muyoung smiled brightly with relief.

“Hyung…!”

He even raised his hand and waved it enthusiastically to show he was safe.

But there was no response. He briefly felt embarrassed, wondering if he was the only one happy, but quickly understood when he saw the zombies gathering below.

‘Right, making a loud noise would defeat the purpose of the alarm.’

While the three might have had no choice but to shout in surprise during his fall, now they needed to be quiet. It made sense to make as little noise as possible.

‘Still, judging by how quickly I’m being pulled up, Hyung must be really glad to see me!’

Having reached this understanding on his own, Muyoung believed it without a doubt.

‘I should have been a little suspicious…’

Muyoung fidgeted uncomfortably, rolling his eyes under the intense gaze directed at him.

As soon as Muyoung reached a height where he was within arm’s reach, Seokjae grabbed him, pulling him into the science lab as if fishing him out. Then, without saying a word, he urgently held Muyoung in his arms. A thirst like someone who had found water in the middle of a desert was palpable.

Muyoung wasn’t surprised. After all, this was the broad, comfortable embrace he thought he might never experience again. Instead, he was flooded with relief and initially busy returning the embrace.

Quite some time passed, and Muyoung had found some stability. Seokjae, on the other hand, showed no signs of letting go. Even at this point, Muyoung thought it was because Seokjae had been very frightened. After all, if the roles were reversed, he too would probably be unable to let go of Seokjae for a while.

So he kept whispering, “I’m okay, Hyung,” to comfort him, unaware that the atmosphere was still strangely tense.

He began to sense something was off only after Seokjae had been holding him without saying anything for at least five more minutes. And even then, it wasn’t because he grasped the mood or noticed the implicit signals Kyungho and Junwoo were sending.

‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’

It was strange that Seokjae wasn’t speaking, even stranger than the boys’ behavior.