Red Dot - 32

– Chapter 32

Even after giving his answer, Junseong remained silent for a while. His fingertips, which had been holding each other tightly, were visibly pale, and a slight tremor could be seen.

“Are you scared?” Hanseo asked in the stillness.

He, who had still been wearing a carefree smile, got up from the bed where he had been sitting facing Junseong. His fingers approached Junseong’s head, gently stroking his hair.

“Now, what do you want to do? Tell me.”

“…Honestly, I don’t know what to do.”

The situation had already been assessed.

Themselves and the survivors here were in the lair of murderers. Although they hadn’t grasped exactly what their purpose was, it was clear they were taking young people from the 5th floor.

What had been happening in the worst episodes of his dreams was unfolding in reality.

Junseong had seen many individuals in his dreams who, for their own gain and thrill, ruthlessly killed fellow humans. There were cases where a colleague he had opened up to turned out to be a murderer hunting humans, and there were times when he himself became one of the many victims. They were cruel and gruesome individuals, but considering it was a dream, he could somewhat overlook it.

After all, it was just a “dream.”

But now, it’s “reality.”

In reality, individuals who killed others for their own sake, like the fake Park Hyunje, stood there smiling and acting as if nothing was wrong.

The fact that he was there among them… was too frightening.

Frightening as it was, he couldn’t just tremble in fear.

He didn’t have a hero complex.

He just thought he had to do what he had to do.

“At least, for the sake of Do Hanseo….”

He had to safely get Do Hanseo out of here. If only Do Hanseo could ride the rescue helicopter and leave, a more perfect vaccine than the solution he had found would be here, and this zombie situation could be resolved in a matter of days.

The value of a person’s life is something no one can determine, and there is no difference in preciousness. But, Junseong thought of Do Hanseo as an exception.

“Hanseo.”

“Yeah, Junseong.”

When he called his name, a warm and gentle voice responded.

Junseong looked down at Hanseo, who had knelt in front of him.

The one who was always taller and could only be looked up to now waited for his words from a lower position. Like a well-trained watchdog waiting for commands.

Junseong’s hand stroked Hanseo’s head.

“Even if I die, I’ll send you out alive.”

A slight distortion appeared on Hanseo’s leisurely lips. His black pupils focused on Junseong.

“You….”

It was when Hanseo opened his mouth with a peculiar look.

Knock, knock, knock, knock-

The sound of knocking on the door echoed. Junseong tensed up without even knowing who was outside. His body stiffened even more because, until just now, he had repeatedly thought of life and death.

Hanseo, on behalf of Junseong, opened the door and checked who was there.

“Oh? What? Kim isn’t here either.”

Fortunately, the person who knocked was the first evacuee, the middle-aged man in his forties. As soon as the door opened, Junseong also caught a whiff of the cigarette smell emanating from him as he sat on the slightly distant bed.

The man, who had been peering into the room with his head extended, twitched when he saw Hanseo, who was giving him a cold gaze.

“Ah, uh, sorry. I heard you were close with Mr. Kim, so I wondered if he was here. If not, never mind.”

Junseong had a momentary ominous feeling. The person referred to as Mr. Kim was probably Kim Taeju. If that was the case, he had just returned to his own room for a short nap. He had even said that if they had any more requests, they could tell him anytime.

If he had simply left the room for a moment, that would be fine, but if not, it couldn’t be good.

Junseong rushed towards the man who was about to turn around.

“Are you looking for Mr. Taeju? Isn’t he in his room?”

“No, he’s not there. I thought maybe he went to see the nurse because he was hungry, but he wasn’t there either.”

The man, rolling his eyes up and down, seemed to recall something.

“Come to think of it, it’s mealtime, but the nurse isn’t here either. I’m getting hungry too…”

The fake Park Hyunje had a reputation for providing emergency rations to survivors at the right time. However, for Junseong, who suspected the true identity of Kim Taeju and Park Hyunje, the fact that both of them had disappeared was a significant shock.

Junseong urgently rushed out of the room to check for himself. He went to Taeju’s room, but it was also empty.

“Hanseo, check the bathroom and shower room.”

Junseong, who urgently asked Hanseo, ran to the nurse’s room where Park Hyunje should be. Some people who saw him running around urgently whispered to each other, wondering what was going on. It looked too serious to ask directly.

Entering the nurse’s room in a hurry, Junseong bit his lips tightly as he looked around the seemingly empty interior.

While scanning the room, he found a door labeled ‘Supplies Room.’ Below it, in red letters on a white background, it said, ‘Unauthorized Entry Prohibited.’ Normally, he might have turned away after seeing that warning, but Junseong wasn’t in a normal state. He quickly turned the handle and opened the door.

Inside, various supplies were neatly arranged. Most of the items needed for ward management were gathered here. However, among them, some items didn’t seem to match the supplies at all.

A luxury clutch bag for women, cufflinks used to add a point to the sleeve of a suit, and… two golden fangs.

Junseong couldn’t understand why these items were in the supply room next to the nurse’s room.

‘This is…’

Staring at the three unfamiliar items in the supplies room, Junseong swallowed hard. To others, these items might seem completely unrelated, but for Junseong, who had memories of many repetitions of the same day, it was impossible not to recognize them.

The first evacuee’s luxury clutch bag that was always carried around.

The cufflinks that the second evacuee wore on his shirt sleeves.

The golden fangs that were revealed every time the fifth evacuee smiled.

All of them were items from his memories.

Junseong hesitated as he looked at those items.

Sure enough, they were here.

They had disappeared just before coming to the seventh floor.

And now, the belongings of those who had disappeared were thrown into the supply room managed by the fake nurse, Park Hyunje.

What Junseong and Hanseo had speculated turned out to be correct.

Junseong bit his lower lip and hastily ran out of the supply room. Hanseo followed closely and tilted his head as he approached.

“Not on the seventh floor.”

It meant they had gone downstairs.

“The uncle is in danger.”

Junseong, whose complexion had turned pale to the point of dizziness, begged Hanseo as they headed towards their room.

“If I go to the fifth floor, you block people from going downstairs to make sure they can’t come down.”

“You’re going alone?”

Junseong entered the room, and Hanseo, who followed, raised his head.

“I’ll go with you if you’re going.”

As Junseong turned to look at Hanseo, he felt an overlap with what happened in the tunnel yesterday.

Even back when Hanseo suggested risking their lives to lure zombies, he had said, “Let’s go together.” Looking back now, it might have been something he could say because he was the vaccine itself and thus safe. However, in the current situation where the threat is from ‘humans,’ and most likely not alone, he couldn’t send Hanseo to such a perilous place. He had to be the one to leave this place unscathed.

“No, you can’t go. Stay here.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You have to stay here!”

“What can you do?”

Hanseo’s voice became colder than usual. Instead of composure, an arrogant coldness replaced the usual calmness on his face.

Tilting his head slightly, Hanseo looked down at Junseong. His changed gaze and the intimidating atmosphere made Junseong step back involuntarily.

“Are you going to smash people’s heads like you do with zombies?”

A chilling sensation, as if a sharp blade was caressing his throat.

“Or perhaps try stabbing with a knife?”

As Junseong took a step back, Hanseo, who was inching forward, suddenly found himself near his bed.

As the bed touched his back, he unintentionally avoided Hanseo’s gaze.

“…!”

Junseong’s body jerked.

“Come to think of it, you never told me about the precognitive dreams you had.”

Hanseo tightly embraced Junseong, placing his hand on the machete at his waist. Junseong felt the air becoming suffocating to the point that he couldn’t even notice the machete and its sheath loosening from his belt.

“You never told me about such important stories.”

Hanseo’s cold breath touched Junseong’s ear as he spoke.

Junseong forgot to breathe, enveloped in an inexplicable fear and chilling coldness emanating from Hanseo. The atmosphere was entirely different from before, catching Junseong off guard.

With just a little movement, it felt like he might die.

Even though the knife wasn’t aimed at him, it felt that way.

Hanseo’s low voice penetrated his ear like a sinister whisper to a child.

“Our Junseong….”

Knowing that the name belonged to him added another layer of terror. Junseong couldn’t ignore the fear he had felt from ‘that person’ in a dream.

Hanseo’s red lips brushed against his ear.

“Have you ever killed a person?”