Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 96

Despite his casual attitude, the content was quite risqué to Muyoung’s ears. Unable to hide his surprise, he blinked rapidly.

‘Even between men, is it really that normal to so casually say you’ve come to see someone else’s naked body?’

The tower of common sense he had built over 25 years momentarily shook at Seokjae’s words, but Muyoung quickly swallowed dryly, realizing that wasn’t the important part.

‘Could he… really want to see my body?’

Whether because he was certain Seokjae had other motives, or because he firmly believed Seokjae wouldn’t be interested in his body, Muyoung found it impossible to take his words at face value and could only ask again like a fool.

“So you really came to see my n-naked body?”

“Yes.”

How could he protect his body from Seokjae, who bluntly declared “I came to see your body” without elaboration, completely contrary to expectations?

He knew that if he simply refused, Seokjae wouldn’t force him. Yet the words wouldn’t come easily. This was due to a bias similar to brainwashing that Seokjae wouldn’t do anything meaningless, and also… because his reason for refusing was utterly trivial.

‘What should I do? Can I really refuse him for such a minor reason? What if he truly needs to see? Should I ask one more time if he’s serious?’

All sorts of thoughts swirled in his head.

Seemingly frustrated with Muyoung, who was just rolling his eyes around, Seokjae reached beneath the fabric covering Muyoung’s upper body, which couldn’t be fully contained in his small hands.

“…”

Seokjae’s fingers stopped just before touching Muyoung’s lower abdomen. The fabric naturally draped over his straight fingers. And that wasn’t the end. Seokjae continued moving his hand, watching Muyoung with eyes that seemed to be testing something.

Swish-

The large hand moved smoothly upward, not leaving the soft, cold skin. Soon the damp clothes were lifted, revealing the white body hidden underneath.

“Gasp.”

Muyoung, lost in thought, only noticed the disturbance after his shirt was lifted to his solar plexus by the feather-light, silent movement. He reflexively stepped back, but there was nowhere to escape in the corner, and he only scraped his heels uselessly against the cement wall.

“Hyung, w-wait a moment. Why do you really want to see?”

Muyoung, frozen like a cornered cat with its fur standing on end, urgently whispered.

“There must be a reason other than just wanting to look. There’s n-nothing to see anyway…”

His voice grew quieter toward the end, and eventually the last words were just mumblings. This was Muyoung’s most honest feeling.

‘I don’t want to show this scrawny body!’

Yes. The reason Muyoung had been reluctant to show himself was because he was embarrassed by his unimpressive body.

It was a body that earned both envy and pity from friends because he couldn’t gain weight no matter how much he ate. And heaven was so fair that muscles didn’t develop well regardless of how much he exercised.

So he had given up on building his body after high school, but he hadn’t particularly complained. After all, he received occasional compliments on his muscle definition when using public changing rooms.

But it was all useless before Seokjae’s perfect body. All those past compliments he thought were sincere now felt like empty words.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have exercised more earlier. No, since I became a zombie and got stronger, couldn’t some muscles have grown too…’

Completely unaware that he was fretting like someone about to go on a summer vacation with a lover, Muyoung absurdly blamed the ineffectiveness of the zombie virus.

Swallowing a sigh, Muyoung hugged his top tightly to prevent Seokjae from lifting it further and turned his head sharply to the side. It was his maximum expression of displeasure toward Seokjae for trying to see his body without permission.

“Ha.”

At that moment, Muyoung heard a soft breath that sounded like either a sigh or a chuckle near his ear.

Flash. Looking up, he saw Seokjae’s face wearing a strange expression. Unable to read the meaning of that expression, Muyoung tilted his head in confusion, and Seokjae, who had been thoroughly examining him, turned his hand that had been burrowing toward his chest and spoke:

“Well, there’s a lot to see.”

“…What?”

Fingers tracing as if gauging the shape of bones beneath the thin skin. Muyoung, who had flinched from the ticklish sensation, opened his eyes wide in surprise at Seokjae’s words.

Seokjae gripped Muyoung’s right ribs as if embracing them, pressing firmly as he asked:

“The place where you hit the tree, right? Where is it? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“Ah. Oh. Um, I don’t remember clearly because everything was chaotic, but you hugged me right after I hit it… I think I hit the center of my chest. But it doesn’t hurt.”

“Really? Move your clothes so I can check properly.”

“Y-yes.”

Whether he hadn’t noticed Muyoung’s surprised face or was pretending not to, Seokjae remained calm despite Muyoung’s incoherent answer. Somewhat forcefully, he took the crumpled T-shirt from Muyoung’s hands and placed it carelessly on the windowsill.

“Does it hurt when I press?”

“N-no. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Hmm…”

Holding him with both hands, more than half of the thin torso was covered. Seokjae, who had been pressing various spots on the pale but white and soft body, made a thoughtful sound when Muyoung shook his head.

Looking at Seokjae like this, Muyoung threw his head back toward the ceiling and let out a silent scream.

‘So “a lot to see” meant injuries! I almost misunderstood!’

He had never thought, and never would think, that Seokjae would have strange thoughts about his body. But just now, he had momentarily mistaken his intentions. No, he had actually misunderstood.

‘How embarrassing!’

He wanted to ruffle his hair roughly and wallow in agony. But in reality, he was careful even with his breathing so as not to disturb Seokjae, who was intently examining him for injuries.

Concerns about subtle differences like his stopped heartbeat or severely cold body temperature briefly crossed his mind, but he didn’t have time to dwell on them, being too conscious of the hands thoroughly examining his upper body.

“Tsk. Hold still.”

Though Seokjae wasn’t deliberately tickling him, it was so ticklish that Muyoung kept tensing his toes. When his body naturally fidgeted, Seokjae made a sound through his teeth as if scolding an impatient child.

At that warning, Muyoung bit his lip and tensed his body, trying to obey his words.

“Nnh!”

However, despite his efforts, a few seconds later, a pained sound escaped Muyoung’s lips. This was because Seokjae’s probing, which had started at his side, finally brushed against the protrusion in the center of his round areola.

“Does it hurt?”

“N-no. Just…”

Seokjae asked with surprise at Muyoung’s response, who was curling up his body as if trying to escape. Muyoung, also startled by his own reflexive action, shook his head and hesitated.

‘B-be surprised.’

Despite not being an unbearable sensation, the unfamiliar feeling had startled him into making a sound. When the tip of Seokjae’s nail grazed his nipple, he felt a strange sensation—somewhat like a shiver, yet different.

It was an area so insensitive that he usually forgot it existed. Was it because someone else’s hand had touched it?

‘Well, even tickling feels different when I do it to myself versus when someone else does it…’

He hadn’t known until now because he’d never had occasion for someone else’s hands to touch him there, but apparently his chest was also ticklish. Having quickly found the cause of the strange phenomenon that had just occurred, Muyoung said to Seokjae, who was still waiting for an explanation:

“I-I think I was startled because it tickled.”

While Muyoung felt awkward for seemingly overreacting unintentionally, Seokjae stared intently at one particular area and whispered:

“…Yes, it seems so.”

“What?”

It was almost like talking to himself, but the content sounded as if he had seen something that confirmed his thoughts.

‘What is it?’

As Muyoung was about to ask in confusion while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, Seokjae beat him to it.

“Upper body check complete. I pressed everywhere, and since nothing hurts, your bones seem fine. Still, there could be aftereffects, so tell me anytime if anything feels painful.”

“Y-yes. So we’re done, right?”

He thought he had become accustomed to being half-naked in front of Seokjae, but apparently that was a misconception. Embarrassment washed over him again, and he slightly crossed his arms to cover his upper body.

He was glancing at his bag containing fresh clothes, thinking of changing as soon as Seokjae left the curtain.

“No.”

With that firm answer and an expression that seemed to say “what are you talking about,” Seokjae dropped a bombshell.

“I still need to see all the places I haven’t seen yet.”