“Just being treated to all this is more than enough to be grateful for.”
As I said that, I approached the table. I shot Baek Hyeonwoo a look that said, ‘Take it easy. You’ll regret it later if you keep this up,’ but I had no idea whether he understood.
“I’ve been waiting for such a long time. I kept wondering what I should say when I met someone, what I could do to make them happy…….”
“Excuse me.”
“Ahaha, I’m talking too much, aren’t I? Just think of it as me being happy to see you. Come on, you must be hungry, so hurry and eat.”
It seemed Moon Seyoung had been alone ever since the zombie outbreak began. Seeing how delighted she was to meet people made me feel strangely heavy inside. I had only been alone for a few hours after the zombie outbreak began, yet even that had left me feeling hopeless and depressed. How much worse must it have been for her?
Moon Seyoung said that at least the two full days she had spent cleaning had been worth it and gestured for us to hurry and eat. I could not even begin to imagine what she had been feeling as she cleaned all that time. Instead of asking, however, I quickly picked up my spoon and tried the seaweed soup first. Mm, it tasted like a major corporation.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really? I’m glad. Hyeonwoo, you should hurry and eat too.”
Hyeonwoo!
At the suddenly familiar way she addressed him, I suppressed the twitching corners of my mouth and pretended to focus solely on eating while repeatedly sneaking glances at the two of them. Unlike Moon Seyoung, who was smiling brightly, Baek Hyeonwoo did not even respond. He merely placed side dishes on top of my rice.
“Come to think of it, how old are you both?”
“I’m twenty, and my brother is thirty-seven. Seyoung—khm, Ms. Seyoung, how old are you?”
By the time I had nearly finished eating and set down my spoon, Moon Seyoung returned with fruit and asked the question. Her apple-peeling skills were so clumsy that she was practically hacking the flesh to pieces, so Baek Hyeonwoo took the knife away from her as though he could no longer stand the sight and began peeling the apple himself.
“I’m twenty-seven.”
“More like twenty-seven hundred. Don’t give me that twenty-seven nonsense.”
I knew he would keep acting rudely until he became aware of his feelings for Moon Seyoung, but it was still incredibly embarrassing. Was he really supposed to act this childish? What was he, an elementary schooler……? Deciding that I would have to talk to him about this when we were alone later, I hurriedly continued the conversation.
“Then may I call you Sis?”
“Of course! Let’s speak casually with each other too. May I call Hyeonwoo ‘Big Brother’?”
As far as I remembered, it had taken quite a long time for her to call him that in the original novel. Was this the effect of their unusual circumstances? Lightly biting the tip of my tongue in excitement, I ate the piece of apple my brother held out to me.
Crunch, crunch. Only the sound of fruit being chewed filled the dining area as Baek Hyeonwoo continued peeling the apple without responding. It was blatant disregard, but Moon Seyoung paid it no mind and declared, “Then that’s what I’ll call you!” all on her own. I would have watched his reaction and apologized, but the female protagonist truly was different.
“Don’t call me that. It makes me feel unpleasant.”
“By the way, are you planning to keep staying here, Sis?”
The answer slipped casually from my brother’s mouth, and I hurriedly changed the subject. Seriously, what was wrong with him?
“Have you heard anything about where everyone evacuated to……? Any broadcasts or anything like that?”
That was separate from everything else. Now that we had met someone, we needed to gather information. Moon Seyoung had only arrived here two days ago, but when she met us, she had also seemed surprised that people were here. That meant she had expected the city to be empty to some extent, so I thought she might understand the situation better than we did.
“Right after the zombies appeared, there was a broadcast telling people to evacuate toward the southern coast. I think they sent the military to places where zombies had not appeared yet and evacuated people from there first.”
Was that not practically the same as saying the government had known in advance? They had said it happened everywhere at once, in an instant…… Was that even possible?
“Then is the southern coast safe?”
“Not particularly, I don’t think. Mm, from what I heard, important people were—”
“Ms. Moon Seyoung.”
Baek Hyeonwoo cut her off at the worst possible moment. What was it? When I turned toward him in confusion, he rose from his seat with a rigid expression and said,
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
“Why? Is it something I’m not allowed to hear?”
He had said he knew nothing about what was happening, but apparently that was not true. He had simply wanted me not to know. Wow, I felt betrayed. Still, it was not enough to make me angry at Baek Hyeonwoo or insist that they had to talk here and that I needed to know no matter what, so I merely acted hurt for a moment and let it go.
Part of the reason was that I knew the only things I could do after finding out were feel anxious, worry, and tremble in fear. Even if that were not the reason, he must have had his own reasons. I trusted my brother.
Baek Hyeonwoo stroked my head once, then left the dining area with Moon Seyoung. Perhaps he thought I might secretly eavesdrop despite having no intention of doing so, because they went all the way over to the massage chairs in the distance before beginning their conversation.
Crunch. I took another bite of apple, rose from my seat, and began clearing the table little by little. Should I wash the dishes? I probably should. Honestly, I wanted to ask Moon Seyoung to come with us, but I did not know how things would turn out, so for now I decided to at least leave her home clean.
I wiped the table and cleared away the trash scattered around the kitchen. I broke one bowl while washing the dishes, but otherwise finished everything perfectly. Smiling proudly, I placed my hands on my hips, then glanced outside again. The two of them were still talking, as though they had an endless amount to discuss.
Even Moon Seyoung, who had been smiling the entire time, now looked slightly tense, so it must have been quite serious. Either that, or Baek Hyeonwoo had upset her again by saying something ridiculous. I knew I would not be able to hear them even if I went outside because of the distance, but I returned to the table anyway in case my presence made them uncomfortable.
“…….”
Sitting here like this really made it feel as though we had rented out the entire jjimjilbang. It would have been even better if my second and third brothers were here too. What were they doing now? My eldest brother had said they were fine, so they had to be fine. Perhaps they had already reached our destination and were waiting for us.
I had not seen it myself, but my eldest brother had also taken care of a zombie in an instant, and Moon Seyoung had gone around smashing zombie heads like watermelons with a single hammer, so those two must have been strong enough to do the same.
“……I miss my brothers.”
Even with Baek Hyeonwoo here, so I was not lonely, I could not help noticing the absence of the family members who had always been with me. It felt even stronger now that I had been able to bathe comfortably and eat a proper meal. They were not stuck somewhere terrible, were they? I hoped the two of them were still doing everything they needed to do along the way. Better yet, I hoped they were comfortable enough to enjoy themselves.
Plop.
As I thought that, something suddenly fell from the ceiling onto my head. What was that? The moment I straightened my upper body in confusion, I could not help being startled.
What had fallen from the ceiling was a spider the size of my palm. More precisely, it was a monster that resembled a spider. Several things that looked like eyes were embedded in its back, and holes in every joint of its legs repeatedly opened and closed as though breathing.
Where its face should have been, a mass resembling a bundle of tentacles writhed together. Each time the creature backed away in alarm, it made a cute little popping sound.
“……You!”
Peeep!
I hurriedly reached out and seized it, making another cute sound leak from it. It kept twitching and flailing its legs as though desperate to escape, but I refused to let go and pushed a finger into the bundle of tentacles. I must have inserted it too deeply, because a choking squawk burst from inside.
The eyes on its back turned completely black, then rolled around wildly. I knew that was what it did when it was displeased.
“Sorry.”
I hurriedly apologized and pulled my finger back slightly, feeling something like blunt teeth against the tip. My tightly pressed lips slowly parted. There was no doubt about it. This creature resembled the monster I had met in my previous life.
“Arachne?”
I knew it could not be, but just in case, I called the monster’s name. Technically, it was an experimental designation rather than a name, but we had used it as one, so if this creature truly was Arachne, it would react.
“I’m C11-404…… You know, the heterospecies synchronization subject. Type 11, Test Subject 404.”
Even after I explained in detail just in case, the creature showed no sign of understanding and merely gestured for me to let it go. Right, there was no way it could be that monster……. But then why was there a monster that looked so much like it? Could it travel between dimensions? That was impossible. If it could, it would have escaped long ago. Then what was this? Could it be that bastard’s offspring? That made no sense either. Even then, it would still have needed to cross over into this book…….
“……Does it just look similar?”
I did not want to believe it, but that was the most realistic answer. Looking more closely, the finer details were different. Arachne had been darker and glossier. Everyone else had called it disgusting, but to me, it had been incredibly beautiful. Its eyes had glittered like jewels, and its tentacles had been sleek, lustrous, and soft. This creature, on the other hand, looked somewhat crude.
So it was not Arachne…….
Swallowing my disappointment, I released the monster. It vigorously scrubbed the places I had touched with its tentacles, then repeatedly cried, peep, peep, as though protesting. Seeing that made it certain that this was not Arachne. The more I touched Arachne, the more eagerly it clung to me. I had nearly been crushed to death by it more than once.