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On our way, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question.

‘Ahjussi, did you see Mood-swinger’s face?\'

‘What about its face?\'

\'Didn\'t it look sad?\'

When I thought about it, it had indeed made a sad face when we put it in the zombie prison, as if it didn’t want to be separated from Kim Hyeong-Jun.

I smacked my lips.

\'So what are you trying to say?\'

\'That despite the way it acts, it still has a soft heart.\'

\'You already feel attached to it, don’t you?\'

I asked my question with a slight smile, and Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with a sheepish one of his own.

‘At first it felt like raising a 3-year-old, but now it feels like raising a puppy.’

\'A puppy?\'

‘Yeah, it sits when I tell it to sit, stands up when I tell it to stand up, and lies down when I tell it to lie down. And the way it asks for treats; don’t you think it’s kind of cute?’

‘...’

I didn’t know what to say.

He sure had unique preferences.

I wondered if he had forgotten that the ‘treats’ he had been feeding the mutant were humans in zombie form. Or perhaps he just didn’t think much about that fact, now that the world was like this.

I sighed and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression grew slightly somber.

‘I know I sound strange. But I just feel bad for Mood-swinger as well.\'

\'Feel bad? Do you even have any idea how many people it’s killed so far?’

‘Well, it didn’t kill people of its own will. If you interpret it that way, Mood-swinger is no different from the members of the Family.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun kept silent after that. I let out a sigh and started running forward again.

I knew where Kim Hyeong-Jun was coming from, But it was nothing more than useless sympathy. At the end of the day, zombies were zombies, and there was no way they could coexist with humans.

Even a zombie like me who possessed a human mind couldn’t get along perfectly with other humans. It’d be a waste of time to keep going down the list of reasons why zombies couldn’t coexist with humans.

After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked another question.

‘Ahjussi… What are you going to do once the members of the Family are wiped out?\'

‘Hmm, why are you asking this?\'

‘I’m just curious. After the creatures that threaten humans disappear… Don’t you think we’ll be the threat?’

I stopped in my tracks and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He stopped as well and met my gaze.

My expression grew serious.

\'Where are you going with this?\'

\'I didn\'t mean it in a bad way. I’m just…’

\'Then what is it? Are you going to start killing people after all the members of the Family are dead?\'

‘It’s not that, ahjussi.\'

\'Then, what you just said… What’s that supposed to mean?\'

I questioned Kim Hyeong-Jun with a frown on my face. His expression grew uncertain, and there wasn’t much confidence in his tone.

\'I’m just… I’m just curious about my ending.\'

I could find no reply to his reason.

So, he was thinking about his ending.

Going back to his question, I don’t think I’d ever thought about the end of my life. Not only as a zombie, but even when I was a human. I’d never thought about my last moment.

I always put my family’s happiness first, and believed that was the right thing to do. I imagined that I would one day grow old, retire, and end my days with my wife next to me. Of course, I’d always thought of it as something that would happen far, far into the future.

I’d never thought about this deeply until this moment.

After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke.

‘As long as our brains don’t get destroyed, we’ll have eternal life thanks to our bodies. I’m just wondering how it’d be to live like this forever. ‘

‘I think… It’s not too late to think about that after we’re done dealing with the gang members.’

‘We might even die in the process of getting rid of them.’

‘That makes it one less reason to think about it right now.’

I answered him calmly, and Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and smacked his lips. After a moment, he scratched his head.

\'Sorry, I didn’t think it would turn out to be that serious.’

‘It’s alright.’

I reassured him, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled a bitter smile.

\'I… I just want to leave a mark to show that I lived through this world. That I tried this hard, that I fought for the sake of humans, and that, through these marks, others will know what I’ve done.’

I faced Kim Hyeong-Jun squarely without saying a word. He looked away, as though he felt guilty for saying something wrong. His thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. I was so proud of Kim Hyeong-Jun for having such considerations. I slapped him on the back pretty hard. He then looked at me, surprise in his eyes.

\'Why, why did you hit me?\'

‘Because I’m proud of you.’\'

\'Huh…?’

Kim Hyeong-Jun grumbled and looked away. I followed his gaze with a hearty smile.

\'Are you sad that other people won’t be able to remember you?\'

\'Well it’s not particularly that…’

\'They’ll remember. I’m sure.’

‘...’

Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with a sour face.

I wasn’t that much older than Kim Hyeong-Jun, but he really was going through a lot at a young age. I favored him with a soft smile.

‘My daughter and your son remember us. Their memories will become history.\'

Kim Hyeong-Jun grinned and slapped my forearm as if he felt embarrassed after hearing the word history. He glanced at me as if I’d said something unusual and unexpected.

\'Ahjussi… So you do know how to say one or two good things too.\'

\'No, you’re hearing nice things because you’re a good person yourself.\'

‘Woah, ahjussi… I wasn’t expecting you to compliment me this much. I feel so flattered.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat while giggling.

I snorted and focused on walking again. I could tell that Kim Hyeong-Jun was in a better mood as he followed me.

Just like the saying ‘good people keep themselves close to good people’, there were a lot of good people around Kim Hyeong-Jun.

I also wanted to remain a good person to him. Not because I wanted to look good for others, but to be proud of myself, and to become a father that So-Yeon wouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed of.

* * *

As we entered Shelter Silence, located in Seoul Forest, Park Gi-Cheol was the first to greet us.

After exchanging a few words with him, we headed straight to the hospital.

As we entered the rest area, I saw the doctor lying on the couch, his face exhausted.

The doctor got up when he saw us.

“What brings you here today? How can I help?”

As I tried to take out my notepad, the doctor gently massaged his temples.

"Oh… Of course, you must be here for Kang Eun-Jeong.”

I nodded. I hadn’t even had the chance to write down the reason I was here. The doctor continued to speak as he massaged his stiff neck muscles.

"Well… She’s out of the woods. What’s important now is how strong her immunity is.”

- Is there any way we can help?

“I did hear from the group leader that you two were getting medicine for us. Is what she said true?"

- Yes. Please tell us the type of medicine you need.

“I’ll go with you two.”

I was speechless at the doctor’s response. In fact, it was probably more accurate to say that I was stunned.

Bringing the doctor with us… That would be dangerous.

It wasn’t too difficult to protect people when on the defense, but having a survivor with us while we were the ones on the offensive was a different story. I wasn’t sure if I could ensure his safety, since there was no way of telling what would happen in the outside world.

Noticing my silence, the doctor smiled gently.

“If you walk towards Seongsu Station from here, you\'ll find a university hospital. Konkuk University Hospital. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. I’m trying to bring back medicine and some equipment from there.”

- I know where you’re coming from and how you’re feeling at the moment, but you should think about the patients here.

“There are nurses here as well. And I think it’s only right for me to personally see what medicine we will require from there.”

- We can’t be responsible for whatever happens outside.

“I heard that the dong leader of Seongsu-dong died. If so, there shouldn’t be any threats out there, right?”

- Konkuk University Hospital… Is part of Hwayang-dong.

I showed him my notepad with a serious expression on my face. The doctor scratched his sideburns.

"Then… Are you saying there’s a zombie managing Hwayang-dong as well?”

- I\'m not sure, but it\'s very likely. The members of the Family have assigned a dong leader for each district.

The doctor fell into deep thought, his face troubled.

I wasn’t sure why and what he was contemplating about. I didn’t see a reason why he had to go. All he had to do was write down the medicine he needed on a notepad so that Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could bring them to him. But then, the possibility occurred to me that he might have other intentions in the back of his mind.

I wrote down my suspicions and carefully showed my notepad to the doctor.

- Do you have other intentions in mind?

"Haha… No, that’s the message I was trying to get delivered.”

The doctor smiled shyly and looked away. The way he acted made me even more suspicious, so I wrote down a follow-up question.

- Be honest with me, doctor. I’ll keep it a secret from everybody else.

"No, no. I really don’t….”

- You know that neither Hyeong-Jun nor I can talk. And we’re technically outsiders. We don’t have to report everything back to the group leader, like everyone else here does.

“...”

The doctor seemed to contemplate what I had written down. The moment I saw him considering this, I knew he had another reason for wanting to go with us. However, it seemed like his reason wasn’t good enough for him to be allowed to go outside.

I didn’t know the ins and outs of Shelter Silence, but I knew that the survivors—in other words, the residents—couldn’t go outside. The only people that were allowed to go outside were the rescue team and some of the members of the guard team. This restriction also applied to the group leader.

I waited for the doctor\'s answer. Eventually, he looked around and said in a low voice,

“My younger sibling… Is still outside somewhere.”

I frowned the moment I heard the words ‘younger sibling’.

It must’ve been months since they’ve seen each other. I knew that the chances of his younger sibling being alive was slim to none. I also couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he would come to the shelter by himself and leave his younger sibling outside.

I wrote out my doubts and showed the doctor my notepad. He let out a deep sigh.

“I used to work at Konkuk University Hospital. I escaped the hospital with my colleagues, but I couldn’t go back home for my younger sibling. Back then, my colleagues and I weren’t even sure we were going to make it.”

- What are the chances that your younger sibling would still be at home?

“Well, on that day, my younger sibling was supposed to be having a round of drinks at our place. I wasn’t going to be home that day because I was on night shift, so I had no problem with my younger sibling doing so.”

- And you haven\'t seen your younger sibling since then?

“Yes. I told the group leader several times that I wanted to bring my younger sibling here, but every time I asked about the progress they’d made in retrieving my younger sibling, they would only tell me that they’re trying their best.”

- Why don’t you trust the group leader and wait patiently?

"It\'s already been two months!!!"

The doctor, who had never lost his cool before, shouted. I stayed silent, and the doctor slicked back his hair.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know the meaning behind ‘trying their best’.”

“...”

“I always tell my patients’ guardians that I’m trying my best when I’m not certain if the patient is going to make it or not.”

- Then you would know how the group leader feels when she says that to you.

"No. Honestly, I don’t know. I really do try my best to treat patients and to take responsibility for what I say. But the group leader? Have you ever seen her send a guard or rescue team to get my younger sibling?”

The doctor was frowning.

I couldn’t tell during the meeting, but the doctor harbored hostility toward the group leader.

He bit his lower hip and continued to speak.

“My younger sibling… has the body of an adult, but the soul of a child. After our parents passed away two years ago, my younger sibling acted like everything was fine but I knew that they were crying under their covers every night alone.”

I let out a sigh and wrote down some words after hearing the doctor\'s words.

- Where is your younger sibling?

“Apartment Complex I in Seongsu 2-ga. Apartment 106, unit 1203 is where I lived with my younger sibling.”

- And what is your younger sibling’s name?

“It’s Kim Ga-Bin.”

I wrote the name Kim Ga-Bin on my notepad. I then showed the doctor another sentence I’d written down.

- No matter how much you insist, we can’t take you with us. Please trust me with this and wait here.

“...”

The doctor sighed, his expression glum. The doctor was silent for a moment, then nodded, realizing that there was no way to persuade us to take him with us.

After a moment, he started writing down things on the notepad I’d handed to him.

He was listing down the medicine he needed.

“I’ve written down all the antibiotics, painkillers, and anesthetics we need. You have to bring them back without fail.”

I wondered if I had offended him by saying that we wouldn’t take him with us. His attitude had turned a little cold.

I nodded slowly as I looked through the various types of medicine he had listed down.

It seemed like these two sides of him—the responsibility he felt as a doctor toward his patients here, and his worry about his younger sibling—were at war with each other.

I knew it’d be better to demonstrate my sincerity with action rather than offer him words of consolation. I nodded vigorously and wrote one last sentence in my notepad.

- Don\'t worry and hang tight. I will bear the responsibility of bringing your younger sibling back while you take care of the patients here.

The doctor pursed his lips as he read my sentence, then looked at me for a while. After a moment, he let out a deep breath.

“This promise… You must keep your word.”

I nodded instead of answering. When I retrieved my notepad and tried to leave the hospital, I heard the doctor call out to me.

“Hey!”

As I turned around, he smacked his lips.

"Now that I think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves to each other. My name is Kim Beom-Jin.”

I chuckled while I walked toward the doctor. I then wrote my name on my notepad and showed him.

- I’m Lee Hyun-Deok.

“Mr. Lee… Please bring back my younger sibling.”

I looked into Kim Beom-Jin\'s face and nodded.

Getting medicine was a deal I’d made with the group leader. But it seemed like I’d picked up a side quest along with this quest to obtain medicine.

Despite this, I didn’t feel any additional pressure. Instead, I was eagerly hoping for the best.

I stepped out from Shelter Silence, praying and hoping that Kim Ga-Bin would be alive, and that I would be able to see Kim Ga-Bin alive with my own eyes.