Act 6

It’s hard being a zombie. Having to hunt for something alive every time you want to eat means that there will be a lot of wear and tear with our clothes. Yes, clothes.

Clothes is important even for zombies, no, especially for zombies. The simple fact that any wound won’t recover means that we need to stay protected.

Not to mention, I just got a new (and first) boyfriend. So this is that time in my life when it takes days just to pick which underwear to use.

“Should we go shopping?”, I asked.

“Shopping? For what?”, Chanwoo asked.

“I don’t know. New clothes or something.”

Chanwoo walks across the room, and when he reaches the window, he looks outside, then said, “The weather looks nice. Ok. Let’s go.”

We go outside and start to walk to the nearest shopping centre. Abandoned shopping centre. There is no electricity whatsoever, so we can only pick stores which get enough sunlight. Can’t complain, I guess. These are free clothes, after all.

As soon as we find a suitable store, we quickly browse around for some nice clothes. Normally, we would just take anything comfy, but today we actually use our knowledge on the latest zombie’s fashion.

“All these clothes make me look pale…”, Chanwoo whined.

“I don’t think… that can be helped.”, I replied.

“Maybe I should get some make-up as well…”, he said.

I approach him to give him a back-hug, “You’re cute the way you are, you know.”

He laughs at my cheesy words, then says, “What about we pick clothes for each other?”

Cliché. But I guess that’s what dating people do.

We separate and start looking for clothes for each other. I never know picking clothes for someone can be this hard. Should I give him a tough look with leather jacket and all that, or maybe a cute look with a light pink sweater?

Say, if I’m Chanwoo, what clothes will I pick…? I walk around for a while, before my eyes fixate on a certain shirt… and I know directly what my choice is.

…

It can’t be helped that we make a big stupid grin when we show each other the clothes.

We picked the same shirt.

Like, exactly the same.

I mean, it’s not a couple shirt, but I guess now it is.

And that stupid grin is still there when we are going home, hands intertwining all the way. I guess, if I’m still human and the world is still sane, I would be pretty embarrassed having to wear matching tees.

But hey, nobody cares now.

Act 7

It was just another hot day. We were helping Jinhwan and Hanbin in their garden, something that has become a habit now. While we were watering the flowers, Chanwoo suddenly asked, “So, where do you two live?”

And here we are, at a huge house almost a kilometre away from the garden. How can we never notice this place before?

Well, to be fair, there are giant trees surrounding the house, hiding it.

“Why would you stay in that little house anyway? Most buildings are pretty much vacant by now.”, Jinhwan said.

“It’s not that easy… There is sentimental value and all that.”, Chanwoo replied.

“Let me tell you something. Look at those trees.”, Jinhwan said as he points up. “There are tons of stuff living in those trees.”

“Eh… really!?”, Chanwoo asked.

Jinhwan nods, “That means… We can get snacks anytime we want!”, he said.

I could definitely see what’s coming next.

“Let’s find a new house!”, Chanwoo excitedly exclaimed.

…

Who knows how far have we walked. I mean, I know we cannot get tired, but walking all night long is far from ideal.

But Chanwoo just looks as excited as he was this morning.

He is looking for the perfect house, one with a nice balance of size, look, and food supply. But I guess dream house is just a dream.

“Let’s just go back.”, I complained.

“We haven’t found a good house yet.”, he said.

“But it will take forever…”

Chanwoo just ignores my complaint and keep walking.

I really should stop him… But I don’t know how.

Until an idea strikes me.

“Hey, come with me.”, I said.

“Yes?”, he turns around.

“I said, come with me.”, I said as I grab his hand and start walking back.

“I’m not going back yet!”, he protested, but I insist on going back.

When we’re back at our house, I quickly drag him to his room.

“What are we doing here?”, he asked.

I open a cupboard, knowing that he stores them there. When I find what I’m looking for, I take it out and put it in front of him.

“This is…”, he said as he looks at the collection of photos and polaroids in front of him.

“Our old photos, when we’re still human.”

“How long has it been…?”, he asked.

I ignore that question on purpose, and start searching through the photos.

“Remember this one?”, I asked.

“Yes, of course.”

It was our first picture together. When I moved to this house, Chanwoo, which is the son of the owner of this house, insist on taking a photo.

The photo clearly illustrated how I felt that day. I was tired from moving house, and this noisy boy, cute-but-noisy boy, just keeps disturbing me until I agree on taking a picture. I didn’t even bother smiling in that photo, which looks very awkward next to Chanwoo and his big beautiful smile.

“Oh, this one!”, he said as he shows me a polaroid.

It was a picture when we hanged out together for the first time. If it’s not obvious enough, I wasn’t a friendly person. Not even today. It took Chanwoo a few weeks of constant begging and promises of buying me lunch before I finally agreed on going out with him.

I didn’t remember exactly why I keep rejecting him. But looking back, I can surely say that his constant begging was certainly adorable.

“Do you still remember?”, he asked.

“Of course. Who can forget that horrible café and terrible ice cream parlour.”

He laughs when he heard my response, “You really hate me back then, huh?”

“No, I didn’t. I hated that café and ice cream parlour, but I didn’t hate you. I’m just not the friendliest guy on earth.”

We browse through the photo collections for a while, before I notice that a photo, an important one, is missing.

“Where is that polaroid?”, I asked.

“Which one?”

“You know what I meant, that one.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know I also have one, right? Do I need to show you?”

“I don’t know what you’re…”

When I heard that, I dash straight to my room. He tries to stop me, but to no avail. I grab the photo and run back as quickly as I can, showing him the photo.

“I don’t want to see it.”, he said, his eyes completely closed.

“Don’t be like this, Chanwoo.”

“I don’t want to… I don’t want…”, he insisted.

“Chanwoo, I already forgave you since a long time ago.”

“I don’t want to…”, he said, slumping on the floor. He refuses to response to any of my words, so I do the best thing that I can. I pick him up, slap him, then kiss him, trying to make him open his eyes.

“I said I already forgive you, and Chanwoo that I know is stronger than this. Much stronger than me.”

He slowly opens his eyes and gently takes the polaroid off my hands. He then lays on the floor, staring blankly at the polaroid. If zombies can cry, I’m sure he already is.

“I threw mine away. I don’t want to remember.”

Silent.

“I’m sorry.”, he said.

“For throwing away the photo?”

“For everything…”

Act -1

“It seems this zombie apocalypse thing just get worse every single day.”, Chanwoo said as he looked outside the window.

“They’re called apocalypse for a reason.”, I said.

“Can we even survive this day… Oh! I know!”, he suddenly exclaimed as he ran to his room and quickly ran back, a polaroid camera in his hand. “Let’s take a picture! So, if anything happens to you or me, we can remember each other.”

“A memento? I think I can remember your noisy attitudes well enough without it.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that.”, he said as he approached me and forced me to take a picture with him.

“One for you… And one for me… Ok, done!”, he gave one of the polaroid to me.

“Do we have anything to eat?”, I asked.

“Umm… I’m sure we’re completely out of food…”, he replied.

“So we just have to get out and get them then…”

“With all that zombies outside?”, he asked, fear evident in his eyes.

“What choice do we have?”

We got out as quietly as possible, trying not to warn any zombie. Other survivors surely have raided any place with food. But with a little hope in our heart, we set out to find some, any, food.

We successfully avoided any zombies for the first 30 minutes or so, but nothing ever run that smoothly. Eventually, we’re spotted and have to run for our life.

“Why didn’t we buy gun?”, Chanwoo asked while running.

“Shut up and run!”

After being chased for some times, we arrived at a housing district. We entered an open building as soon as we saw one, desperate to hide from these hungry zombies.

We finally could sit down and catch our breath after we're inside.

“Let see if there's any food here.”, Chanwoo said. We walked around hoping to find any food. “Let’s split up.”, he suggested.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded, and soon enough, we were already exploring on our own.

But of course, the peace didn’t last long enough. I heard sound of glass breaking from the direction where Chanwoo went, and made a dash toward that direction.

“Chanwoo, are you ok?”, as soon as I arrived, I saw Chanwoo kneeling with a zombie under him. Chanwoo was holding a kitchen knife, stabbing the zombie multiple times.

“Yeah… I’m ok.”, he said, trying to catch his breath. “That zombie really caught me off guard, but at least, I found a kitchen. There ought to be some food here.”

He stood up and explored the kitchen. But I noticed something… his arm was bleeding!

“Chanwoo, your arm…”

He looked at his arm, surprised by the wound himself.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”, I asked again.

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll be fine… Ah, there are some muesli bars here!”

We completely searched the kitchen for food, eating some right there and packing some to bring home. I kept an eye on Chanwoo, just in case, but he didn’t seem to show anything unusual, so I concluded that he’s ok and focused on taking all the food.

Well, I was wrong. As soon as we step out from the building, Chanwoo suddenly collapsed. I quickly dropped all the food on my hand, “Chanwoo!”

I noticed that the zombies that were chasing us were nearby, and it seems that my little panic has alerted them. I couldn’t calm myself and decided to carry Chanwoo on my back and tried to run home.

It all looked so well. My panic successfully made me ran faster than any of the zombies, and soon enough, I was nearing our house. But, as I approached the door, I noticed something… something off…

And before I can react… Chanwoo bit my neck…

Act 7 – Continued

We spend the rest of the night lying on the floor, me trying to comfort him. “I think you’re right, we shouldn’t move. This house really gives us a lot of memory.”

I reply with hums, patting the back of his head to make him feel better.

“They say home is where your heart is.”

…

“You know, you really should stop trolling them.”, Hanbin said.

“What? It’s not my mistake that Chanwoo cannot see the flaw in my words. I mean, how on earth are we supposed to catch things that live on such huge trees?”, Jinhwan defended himself.

“If they move far away, then nobody will help us in the garden anymore.”

“Trust me, they won’t move. Besides, I have a feeling something good will happen to them for this.”, Jinhwan said as he looks up at the night sky.

A more serious act for a change. Anyway, I hope you enjoy that. And I might (or might not, depends on my mood :P ) write more about Junchan's past.