Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 50

“……”

There was no answer, but the silence itself was sufficient response. It explained why he had come to his room and why he was standing there, quietly looking down at him.

‘He must have been embarrassed!’

Even thinking about it himself, Muyoung realized that if Seokjae was scared to be alone due to a nightmare, he couldn’t have gone to the rooms of much younger Kyungho or Junwoo. So he came to Muyoung’s room, but must have felt awkward about waking him up.

‘It would be hard to sleep this close to the kids too.’

While the age difference was probably the main reason, Muyoung barely suppressed a smile that threatened to escape, happy that Seokjae had chosen him over the other two to lean on. He held back his laughter, fearing that Seokjae might misunderstand and think he was laughing at him.

Not knowing what kind of dream Seokjae had, but filled with the desire to comfort him, Muyoung turned towards him as if he had never been stiff. He intended to pat his chest like putting a child to sleep. Or maybe stroke his head.

Judging from what happened today, he thought it might have some effect. Muyoung was now thinking of Seokjae like a child throwing a sleepy tantrum. Excited by the thought of indulging his childish behavior, he slowly turned his body, but…

“……”

“Uh……”

The moment his eyes met the figure curled up behind him, Muyoung wanted to scold himself for his arrogance in finding him cute.

Seokjae, thinking Muyoung was trying to move away from him again like before, tightened his arm around him. Soon realizing that he was turning towards him, he loosened his grip and raised his lowered head.

At the same time, Muyoung turned to face him. Their faces were so close they could almost touch. If either of them moved just a little, their noses would brush against each other.

Seokjae, staring at Muyoung’s eyes that had grown round with surprise, naturally lowered his gaze at the ticklish breath touching his lips. Muyoung’s lips were slightly parted and trembling, as if he had something to say.

‘Ah.’

He was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him right then and there.

Was it because of the darkness, or because they were in bed? A strange atmosphere that hadn’t been there a few days ago when he had approached him to check his temperature as a ploy to close the distance, now blossomed between them.

‘I hadn’t thought about this before.’

Seokjae frowned at the unfamiliar desire he was feeling.

Surprisingly, while he had wanted to be more special to Muyoung than anyone else and monopolize his attention, he had never seen him as a sexual object before.

‘…But is there any reason why I shouldn’t?’

Seokjae, experiencing pure bewilderment for the first time in a long while, soon accepted this new change with his characteristic calmness. In a world where zombies appear, people die, and kill each other, what’s the big deal about feeling the desire to get intimate with another man?

‘I wonder if he’s done it before.’

Once he became aware of it, his thoughts began to spiral. The idea that Muyoung might have kissed someone else made him feel something akin to displeasure, furrowing his brow.

Unaware of his thoughts, Muyoung flinched when he saw the handsome face in front of him suddenly contort.

‘Did I stare too much?’

Although he knew Seokjae wasn’t the type to express displeasure over such trivial matters, Muyoung couldn’t help but feel guilty as he looked at his face, because of a thought he had.

‘Could it be… did he notice that I wanted to k-kiss him?’

Even though there was no way he could read his mind, Muyoung felt like a caught thief, thinking that Seokjae’s mood had soured because of him. And all he had thought about was an innocent peck on the cheek, unlike Seokjae’s more suggestive thoughts.

Muyoung, who would have been red up to his neck from embarrassment in the past, ended up doing something he would never have attempted normally.

“Uh, um… Y-you came because you were scared, right? I’ll, um, help you sleep!”

Muyoung shouted and buried his face in Seokjae’s chest. He didn’t want to show his face, which he was sure looked unsightly due to his inability to control his expression. Besides, if he didn’t block his vision like this, he felt it would be difficult to look away from him.

Meanwhile, not forgetting his mission to comfort him after his recent nightmare, he awkwardly patted his broad back while embracing him with his stiff arms.

‘It must have burst… If my heart was beating, it surely must have burst…’

He had completely lost himself in his eyes, which shone brilliantly even in the darkness. He had always thought his handsome face was breathtaking, but this time was different. It felt as if the ground beneath his feet might give way at any moment, or as if feathers were tickling the soles of his feet.

And above all, he found himself wanting to be closer to him, to touch him anywhere. He knew Seokjae had a fatal charm that didn’t discriminate based on gender, but he didn’t know a single look could make him feel this way.

‘Is this what it means to be enchanted? Even so, to have such shameless thoughts about someone who came to you because of a nightmare.’

In the midst of this, when he thought he caught his gaze directed at his lips, he unconsciously swallowed hard, feeling a sense of thirst, perhaps due to the tension.

‘Did he hear me swallow?’

He felt embarrassed, worried about what he would think if he really heard it.

Muyoung, his face buried in Seokjae’s chest, mechanically patting his back, heard what seemed to be a slightly faster heartbeat a moment later.

‘I, I think I’m going to faint.’

Was it because it had been so long since he’d heard this sound? As he listened to the healthy heartbeat, he felt a stifling pressure in his chest, as if a burning heat was accompanying it.

With every breath he took, Seokjae’s scent filled his lungs, and the pounding sound resonating in his head made him feel as if his own heart was beating along with it. Perhaps because he felt an intense tremor as if his stopped heart had received an electric shock, he felt dizzy as all sorts of sensations seemed to flood in.

As he tightly closed his eyes, feeling like he might get vertigo, the thick arm that had been loosely around his waist suddenly pulled him in tightly.

“Huh…!”

Their bodies, which had been slightly apart, were now completely pressed together. At the same time, Seokjae’s thigh naturally found its place between Muyoung’s legs. Their legs intertwined.

“You’re right, I had a nightmare.”

Seokjae spoke first, just as Muyoung stiffened and showed signs of pushing him away. As expected, he felt Muyoung’s hands, which were gripping his t-shirt, hesitate and gradually loosen their grip.

“So, can we sleep like this?”

Seokjae’s lips curled up into a smile, feeling satisfied every time Muyoung showed a soft side to him. He slowly ran his hand up Muyoung’s thin back as if tracing it, while speaking in a tired voice.

“L-like this?”

You mean sleep in this position?

Muyoung’s eyes trembled uncontrollably as he tried to find his reason and resist his unintentional seduction. He wanted to nod at his voice full of fatigue, feeling sorry for him, but he hesitated, thinking he might faint if he stayed still.

In the past, he would have confidently thought there was no way he would faint and endured it for Seokjae’s sake with a mind as steady as a monk’s. But now, having realized that there were quite a few differences between him and ordinary zombies, it wasn’t easy to give permission.

‘What if I instinctively bite him while I’m unconscious…’

While Muyoung was pondering, Seokjae’s hand, which had reached his upper thoracic vertebrae, lingered there for a while as if checking something while fumbling around his left shoulder blade. The hand that had been widely spread, feeling his body, soon began to pat Muyoung’s back lightly with a regular rhythm that seemed about to break off.

After a while, as if satisfied, he changed his target and moved.

“Actually… I think I was a bit shocked today.”

“What?”

Seokjae whispered, stroking Muyoung’s hair as he rested his face against his chest, groaning in contemplation.

“You noticed something strange about me too, didn’t you? I suddenly went crazy and acted like a madman. I’m sorry, were you scared?”

“No, I was fine.”

Surprised by the melancholic words, Muyoung quickly raised his head, and Seokjae averted his gaze as if deflated.

“You don’t have to lie. I know how I must have looked.”

“Really, it’s not like that…”

Although his behavior when he asked the question couldn’t be called gentle, Muyoung didn’t feel any fear because he believed that Seokjae would never hurt him.

Rather, seeing the desperate look in his eyes and his slightly trembling body, Muyoung felt like he had encountered an abandoned dog soaked to the bone after being caught in a heavy downpour.