Red Dot - 18

Chapter 18

“Ugh! Cough, spit!”

A man in his 50s, walking along the train tracks with a cigarette in his mouth, spat on the ground irritably. He kept pulling out his phone and dialing emergency numbers over and over. When it wouldn’t connect, he scowled and took deep drags from his cigarette.

One cigarette wasn’t enough to calm him down. Even as he stomped out the finished one with his foot, he was already pulling out a new one.

There were only six cigarettes left in the pack.

He hesitated, looking at the few remaining cigarettes, but calming his anger was more important right now. In the end, he put another one between his lips.

As he walked sluggishly, puffing on his second cigarette, he let out a long sigh with the smoke.

“Sh1t! When the hell is the rescue coming?! I have a ton of work to do… Ugh.”

Muttering a curse, he rolled his tongue in frustration and was about to dial emergency services again.

Bang!

“What the—?!”

A sudden loud noise nearby startled him so much that he dropped his half-smoked cigarette on the ground. His heart pounded as he looked in the direction of the sound. Up ahead, he saw the screen door light up.

“Damn it, that scared me!”

Realizing it was just a zombie stuck to the screen door, he shouted angrily. He was already low on cigarettes, and now he had wasted one because of that thing. No wonder he was pissed off.

Without a hint of fear, he stomped toward the screen door.

Zombies were slumped against it, some leaning their bodies, others pressing their heads against it, looking lifeless. If there were no humans nearby to attack, zombies would enter this kind of dazed state.

Standing on the tracks, he looked up at the screen door and yelled at them.

“You damn bastards! If my contract gets screwed because of you, are you gonna take responsibility?! Are you gonna get me my promotion?!”

Hearing his loud voice, the zombies suddenly lifted their heads and started pounding on the screen door.

“Kyaak! Kyak—!”

“Graaah—!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

For a moment, he hesitated at the sight of zombies crowding the door. But then he scoffed and pointed at them mockingly.

“Go ahead, bang on it all you want! You think that thing’s gonna open?!”

He already knew how sturdy the screen door was. When he had evacuated here with Cheolho, they had talked about how it was reinforced to withstand the wind pressure from passing trains. It wouldn’t break from just any impact.

“Hahaha! Long live Korean engineering, you dumb bastards!”

He laughed loudly, throwing up his arms in mock celebration. More and more zombies crowded against the screen door, reacting to his presence.

Then.

Crrrack.

Amid the muffled growls and pounding noises, a strange sound echoed through.

But the man, too busy laughing and venting his frustration, didn’t notice it.

Crack. Craaack.

“Hahaha!”

Crack—!

This time, the sound was loud and clear, even over his laughter.

A bad feeling crept over him, making him stop laughing and search for the source of the sound.

Craaack!

He found it.

The screen door next to the emergency exit.

A large fracture had formed in the middle, as if something heavy had smashed into it. The cracks were spreading outward like a spiderweb.

If it were just a small break, it wouldn’t be an issue. But with so many zombies pressing against it and pounding on the glass, the damaged spot had become the weakest point. Cracks always spread from the weakest spot under pressure.

The man took a step back, his face paling as he stared at the dangerously cracked screen door.

“W-what the hell?!”

His heart pounded wildly with anxiety.

At that moment.

The fractured glass turned into a mosaic of countless cracks, spreading across the entire surface. And then, the entire panel shattered and collapsed toward him.

After distributing food to the people, Junseong was organizing his now much lighter backpack when Hanseo entered the tent. Junseong frowned.

“It’s cramped with you here. Wouldn’t it be better if you had your own tent?”

“Your crybaby junior says he can’t sleep with anyone else.”

Just as Hanseo said, Jiwoo was the type who couldn’t share sleeping space with others. In the dream, Jiwoo had whined so much that Junseong had no choice but to set up an extra tent for him. However, asking for another tent now just for Hanseo and himself would be awkward, since everyone else was sharing two-person tents.

‘It’s just one night anyway.’

It would be uncomfortable, but tomorrow, they would move to the hospital. There, he could finally use a proper single bed.

As Junseong finished organizing his backpack, he instinctively glanced at his watch.

‘It’s about time to check on Chaeyi.’

Chaeyi was inside a two-person tent with Soyeon, comforting her. Even though Jiwoo was a guy, Soyeon was the one with a tougher personality. But now that the tension had eased, she couldn’t stop crying.

Her parents were also in Inhan City. That worry alone was probably driving her crazy.

‘Should we say it’s a relief that we don’t have parents?’

Junseong thought of his mom and dad, who had passed away in a plane crash two years ago. Without realizing it, he almost got emotional but forced himself to hold back. He had to stay composed so that he could properly comfort Chaeyi later when she reached her breaking point.

As he was checking the time, remembering Chaeyi’s tearful face from his dream, Hanseo suddenly approached from behind and sat close to him. Then, Hanseo grabbed his left wrist, which had the watch on it.

“You check your watch a lot. Almost too much.”

Hanseo’s low and soft voice sounded strangely charming.

But feeling that kind of charm toward another guy was completely useless.

Junseong turned to look at Hanseo, who was sitting way too close. For a brief moment, he was startled by how near his face was.

“Is it just my imagination, or are you planning things according to a set time?”

Instead of answering, Junseong just stared at him.

Telling people about his dreams was never an option. That applied to Hanseo and to anyone he would meet in the future.

There were very few people who would actually believe him. Even those who had believed him before were eventually manipulated or killed by those who wanted to take advantage of them.

He himself had suffered cruelly after opening up.

He had even crawled toward a zombie to reset everything.

Since then, Junseong hadn’t spoken about his abilities to anyone, not even in his dreams. And in reality, keeping silent was even more important.

Reality forces you to feel pain as pain.

No matter how much Hanseo might have guessed, Junseong had only one thing to say.

“It’s just a coincidence.”

“A coincidence? Hmm…”

Hanseo’s doubtful breath brushed against his ear. It was as cold as his gaze, making Junseong instinctively shrink back and push him away.

“You’re too close. It’s gross.”

“I just didn’t want anyone outside to hear.”

Hanseo gave that excuse but suddenly flinched and squeezed his eyes shut. Then, leaning against Junseong from behind, he rested his forehead on his shoulder.

“What are you—”

Hanseo was pretty heavy. When Junseong tried to push him off, he noticed something odd about his breathing. His hand, still holding Junseong’s wrist, was also trembling slightly.

Hanseo was physically strong and never showed weakness, so Junseong hadn’t even considered that he might be sick. But now, seeing him suddenly sagging and breathing heavily, Junseong was completely thrown off.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Mmm… Junseong…”

For such a big guy, his voice sounded weak.

Worried that Hanseo might really be in trouble, Junseong quickly asked,

“What’s wrong? Is it your head? Your stomach? Your arm? Did you actually get hurt when you held onto the rope earlier?”

His words came out in a rush.

For most people, he knew exactly when and how they would get sick and what they needed to recover—thanks to his dreams.

But Hanseo was different.

He was someone Junseong had met for the first time in reality, so he hadn’t predicted this at all.

Panicking, Junseong started rummaging through his backpack. He had stocked up on medicine from the pharmacy, so as long as Hanseo told him what was wrong, he could quickly find the right one.

“Hurry up and tell me where it—”

Just as he grabbed some medicine and turned back to Hanseo, he noticed something.

His left wrist felt empty.

“Hm. So Junseong is weak when others are in pain.”

Hanseo’s voice, now completely normal, tickled his ear.

Junseong realized that Hanseo had faked his illness and glared at him, truly annoyed.

“You were pretending?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I curse at you? Even if you say no, I will.”

“Go ahead. I actually want to hear you swear at me.”

Hanseo responded playfully and then held up the wristwatch he had secretly unfastened while Junseong was distracted. His playful gaze gradually turned cold.

“But you know…”

His low whisper sent chills down Junseong’s spine.

“Was it also a ‘coincidence’ that I came looking for you?”

Junseong sensed something strange in Hanseo’s words.

‘He came looking for me?’

He didn’t come to the training room just because it was safe? He was looking for me?

Junseong turned to meet Hanseo’s eyes, filled with confusion. But Hanseo wasn’t smiling anymore. His gaze was cold and sharp, piercing straight through him.