Chapter 44. Carelessness

Chapter 44. Carelessness

Hard!

Waking up, my eyes snapped open, and a powerful morning erection signaled the start of a pleasant day.

Still lying down, I stretched once, then turned onto my side and snuggled up to Seonyoung, who was sleeping facing away from me. My hand slipped under her chest, and I pressed my pelvis tightly against her buttocks, rubbing gently.

*Strange. The feeling of holding her was different from usual.*

*Her shoulder width, the frame I felt in my arms, seemed somehow thinner.*

*I gently kneaded and touched her chest, but the sensation in my hand felt meager.*

A strange, uneasy feeling crept over me, and I quietly got up.

Long hair, reaching down to her waist, tickled my forearm…

*Long hair?!*

Realizing the female body I’d been fondling wasn’t Seonyoung, I held my breath. Gayoung was sleeping beside me, and across the bed, Seonyoung was sound asleep. Confirming both were still asleep, I carefully got up and left the Master Bedroom.

I showered in the Living Room Restroom and prepared breakfast. I simply reheated the Bean Sprout Soup I’d made plenty of yesterday and took out a few Side Dishes from the refrigerator.

In the end, all three of us had slept together last night. I had tried to coax Gayoung to leave, to go sleep in her own room, but with genuinely hurt, reddened eyes, she insisted on sleeping here too, clinging to Seonyoung. Seonyoung, who was particularly soft on Gayoung, couldn’t refuse and gave me a look that pleaded for just one night’s concession. Too bothered to argue further with a drunk person, I decided to give them the Master Bedroom and leave. But then, Gayoung grabbed my leg and clung to me, telling me not to leave.

*Was this really a 24-year-old?*

Left with no choice, the three of us ended up sleeping in one bed, with Seonyoung in the middle. And when I woke up, for some unknown reason, Gayoung was sleeping in the middle. It was a mistake, but the fact that I had rubbed my dick against Gayoung’s butt still flustered me.

*At least they were both still asleep.*

“Seonyoung, Gayoung, wake up. Let’s eat breakfast.”

After finishing breakfast preparations, I went into the Master Bedroom to wake them. Seonyoung was curled up like a shrimp again today, and right beside her, Gayoung was also curled up in the same position.

*It’s amazing how they’re both sleeping in the exact same posture.*

*Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?*

“Seonyoung, Seonyoung. Time to wake up?”

I gently stroked Seonyoung’s hair and whispered softly. She soon opened her eyes, met my gaze for a moment, then covered her face with both hands.

“Mmm, okay, I’ll get up. Just wait for me outside.”

Her voice was a little husky, as if she hadn’t fully woken up yet. Embarrassed, she pulled the blanket up to her nose and told me to go out first. I always wake up first, so I’m used to seeing her just after she’s woken up, but Seonyoung always gets shy in the same way once she’s fully conscious.

“Oppa~”

Seonyoung came out of the room and approached me, where I was sitting on a kitchen chair. She climbed onto my lap, straddled me, and buried her face in my neck, hugging me. I hugged her back, stroking her hair and back, feeling her warm body temperature.

“Did you sleep well? How’s your body feeling?”

“I’m fine now! I can go out with you today.”

“That’s good to hear. If you feel even a little off, tell me. What about Gayoung?”

“Gayoung will be out after she washes up too.”

After clinging to me for a while, Seonyoung saw that breakfast was ready and began stretching in the living room to warm up. As I joined her for some simple stretches, Gayoung soon emerged from the room, her face slightly flushed.

“Good morning…”

“Heh heh. Oh, did our little one sleep well? How’s your stomach?”

Remembering her antics from last night, Gayoung couldn’t meet my eyes and greeted me in a barely audible voice. I chuckled as I replied, intending to tease her a little.

“I’m so sorry… Unnie, I’m sorry too…”

“Heh heh heh, I’m fine. But Gayoung, why did you keep touching Unnie’s chest like that? It was hard to pull you off!”

“I’m sorry, Unnie… I don’t know why I did that either.”

Seonyoung joined in, and after teasing Gayoung together, we all ate breakfast in the kitchen. It was still early morning, but perhaps because they had gone to bed early yesterday, both of their faces looked fine. We continued to tease Gayoung, whose face flushed every time Seonyoung or I spoke, and breakfast passed in a peaceful atmosphere.

“Are you all ready? Double-check if you’ve forgotten anything.”

“Yeah, I’ve got everything! Phew… I feel nervous again after taking a day off.”

Seonyoung and I prepared to leave at the Entrance Door. I had told her she could rest another day, but she insisted she was truly fine now and wanted to come along. Gayoung decided to rest a bit more in the morning and prepare lunch.

“Mister, Unnie. Be careful and have a good trip! If the situation allows, please call before you come back.”

Today, we planned to go to a new area. Zone A was almost cleared, except for the J Broadcasting Station Building, which we still hadn’t dared to tackle. We had only scouted a few spots in Zone B, but it seemed there was another survivor group there, which lowered our farming expectations.

We left the Apartment Complex area, turned onto a four-lane road, and headed northeast. Soon, the four-story building where Minsu lived came into view. Until now, we had always turned left in front of that building to enter Zone A. But today, to reach the area we’d named Zone C, we continued along the road without crossing it.

“Oppa, there won’t be many Zombies in the mountain next to us, right?”

“Hmm, probably not many? Why, are you worried?”

“Yeah, it’s a new path, after all… And we can’t exactly search the entire mountain for Zombies. It could be their territory, and that keeps bothering me.”

After passing the three-way intersection by Minsu’s building and continuing further, we found ourselves walking with a mountain on our right. The Apartment Complex area ended, and the road curved around a small mountain. When I checked the map, it was a small mountain with an elevation of about 150m. I diligently scanned our surroundings as we walked, but no Zombies were visible beyond the fence. Instead, I could see a few Zombies standing at the upcoming four-way intersection.

“Seonyoung, do you see those Zombies at the intersection?”

“Yeah, I see them too. But there are quite a few Zombies on the road here, aren’t there?”

“Indeed. How many do you think there are? Let’s get a little closer and try to estimate their numbers.”

The Zombies showed no reaction, perhaps because we were still too far away for them to detect humans. Still, we cautiously approached, using the abandoned cars scattered along the road for cover.

“If we go any further, they’ll spot us. To me, it looks like about ten Zombies. What do you think?”

“Yeah, there are some inside cars, but they can’t get out anyway, so let’s exclude them… But Oppa, it’s unsettling that we can’t see around the corner.”

“Right, how many more could there be that we can’t see? We can’t just pass through, it’s frustrating.”

I focused my eyes, checking the convex mirror installed at the intersection. Through the mirror, I confirmed five more Zombies. There was no way to tell how many more were hidden behind cars or street trees.

“Seonyoung, there are five more Zombies visible in that convex mirror. So that’s at least fifteen, and with so many obstacles, I don’t know how many more there could be. Is there any way for us to go around?”

“If we go through the mountain, we might be able to bypass the intersection… But I’m not sure if it’s safe, what with the possibility of animals moving in packs.”

*How many wild animals could live in a small mountain in Seoul?*

From what we’d observed, animals had been continuously growing in size since the Zombie Apocalypse. We’d seen stray cats and wild dogs a few times from a distance; they were usually as big as car tires, and I’d even seen some larger than that. Some were likely animals that had always lived on the streets, while others were pets that had turned wild. Fortunately, they seemed to avoid humans; even when we encountered them from afar, they didn’t approach, simply ignoring us and moving on. We hadn’t seen any species other than dogs and cats yet, but we couldn’t underestimate a local mountain anymore. Because if we encountered even one giant wild animal, it could be more dangerous than a Zombie.

“Seonyoung, I’m a bit greedy and want to clear out these Zombies at the intersection to enter Zone C, but do you think it’s absolutely impossible?”

“Hmm… I want to do as you say too, Oppa. If we only want to stay safe, we should just go home right now and ‘hold out’ until our food runs out. We wouldn’t be able to go anywhere… So let’s think of a way. Even so, just charging in there is too dangerous.”

We carefully retreated back the way we came. We fell back to a distance where the Zombies definitely wouldn’t detect us, then put our heads together with Seonyoung to devise a strategy. We couldn’t guarantee safety, but we hadn’t been blindly charging in until now either.

“Zombies always move straight. If we limit their movement paths, we won’t have to face over ten Zombies at once; we can deal with them one or two at a time. That’s how we’ve fought from the beginning.”

“Right. And Zombies don’t perceive my Shield very well. It doesn’t just block attacks; it can also make them crash into each other or knock them down.”

Reviewing our past battles, we went over each card we could play. If we could create a battlefield that was as advantageous as possible, we could deal with a large number of Zombies relatively safely.

“Seonyoung, wait a minute. Let’s sit down comfortably and think.”

Seonyoung was uncomfortably squatting behind a car, taking out paper from her Sling Bag and jotting things down. I figured a good strategy wouldn’t immediately come to us just by thinking for a bit, so I lifted the car’s trunk and propped it open over the sidewalk. This way, the Zombies wouldn’t be able to see us. They probably couldn’t detect us anyway due to the distance, but blocking their line of sight helped calm our minds a bit more. And lifting this much wasn’t even hard anymore.

“Come here. Sit on this ledge. Your legs will cramp if you keep squatting like that.”

“Heh heh, actually, you’re just tired, aren’t you, Oppa? It’s not that hard for women to squat like this.”

“Hahaha, you caught on? Yeah, *my* legs will cramp. Heh heh heh.”

Even in this frustrating situation where no solution was apparent, being together still gave us a sense of calm. Thanks to that, we could continuously relax a little while moving around outside, which seemed to allow for longer farming sessions. Isn’t there a saying, “If you want to go far, go together”?

“Huh?! Oppa, isn’t lifting that car heavy?”

“Nah, I’m fine with this much.”

I flexed my Biceps for Seonyoung, showing off.

“Wow. Oppa! Praise me a little. I think I’ve got a good idea.”

“Of course! I knew you would.”

I patted Seonyoung’s bottom as she sat, showering her with praise without even hearing what her idea was. Seonyoung kept nodding, making “ooooh” sounds.

*What is it? Don’t just enjoy it by yourself, tell me now.*