Red Dot - 9

Chapter 009

“Did you hear… a sound just now?”

As soon as Jiwoo spoke, the sound echoed again.

Knock, knock.

It was a distinct knocking sound.

Jiwoo and Soyeon, each separately, screamed in terror and clung to each other. While not as extreme, Chaeyi was also surprised, clutching Junseong’s arm and staring at his face.

The three of them believed that the noise was caused by zombies knocking. On the third floor, there was no one else alive besides them. Moreover, the lower floors were filled with zombies due to the strange alarm. It was impossible to think that someone else could have survived.

Junseong thought the same way, but he was surprised for a different reason.

‘Something is strange.’

The situation in the classroom, which he had experienced multiple times in his dreams, had always been the same. After explaining the situation briefly to them in the classroom where they had taken refuge, he would leave this place to find a hiding spot. Junseong was certain about who he would meet and what would happen during this process.

However, this situation was entirely new.

There was no sense of urgency or confusion, just a calm knock.

‘What’s going on? This has never happened before.’

Junseong carefully removed Chaeyi’s hand from his arm and headed towards the door. The tense breathing of the three people behind him was audible.

He walked slowly and stopped in front of the door.

The loud alarm had already stopped, and no sound could be heard from outside.

‘Could it just be zombies passing by?’

The alarm had sounded late, unlike in his dream, so perhaps it was just the result of zombies colliding with something. Just a while ago, he had seen a zombie crawling on its upper body, which suggested that it was not impossible.

‘If it’s just this level of variable…’

Knock, knock.

The knocking sound resounded again, three times in a steady rhythm. This made it clear that it was not a zombie.

Junseong thought to himself, ‘Who could be making this noise?’

‘What’s going on? This situation has never occurred before.’

He pushed the thought aside for a moment and concentrated on the task at hand.

Opening the door.

There was no reason to hesitate or be cautious.

It was just a person on the other side of the door. A human being like themselves, not a zombie.

Junseong reached for the door handle.

He opened the door to find a man standing outside, smiling.

The man’s smile was as if to reassure him that this situation was normal.

The man outside asked, “Is anyone in there?”

The voice was clear and calming, a voice that could have been a great baritone if he were a singer.

“Did you recognize me?”

The man outside the door asked as he was being allowed in.

Junseong remained still for a moment, observing the situation.

It was no longer possible to treat this as just another day.

“How do you know all this?”

Chaeyi, who was still holding Junseong’s arm, had a puzzled expression. Her question was a natural one given the circumstances.

“What did you recognize as a basis for saying all of this? You’ve been cooped up at home all this time, how did you…!”

Knock, knock.

The knocking sound echoed once more.

It wasn’t just two or three knocks; it was more.

‘Who is this knocking?’

Junseong was perplexed by the situation.

He had always experienced the same scenario in his dreams, where he would provide a brief explanation of the situation to the three of them in the classroom, then leave and head to a safe hiding place. However, he never encountered this kind of situation before.

This knocking was strange.

He felt sure that this was different from the events he had experienced in his dreams. The man outside seemed to be smiling, and the situation was not as he expected.

“Maybe it’s just zombies passing by.”

Junseong tried to reason. The alarm had sounded late, and that might have caused the knocking. It was not entirely impossible.

However, the knocking continued.

Knock, knock.

It was rhythmic and steady, unlike the haphazard movement of zombies.

This was not the behavior of zombies.

The man’s voice was calm and collected, as if he was trying to confirm Junseong’s thoughts.

“Is anyone inside?”

Jiwoo recognized the voice and rushed to the door with an elated expression.

“Is it Hanseo, senior?”

“Is it you, Hanseo, senior?”

“Do you recognize me?”

The man’s voice from outside replied. Jiwoo reached out to open the door.

“Of course! Come in quickly!”

“Just a moment.”

Before opening the door, Jiwoo held the man’s hand and asked, “How did you get here?”

“Through the stairs.”

“What about the zombies?”

“They were all gathering on the second floor, so I managed to avoid them.”

“Did you get bitten anywhere?”

“If you want, as soon as we go in, I’ll take it all off. I wasn’t bitten, so feel free to check.”

His voice was calm, as if casually chatting while walking in the park. It was difficult to believe that someone would be standing in the middle of a building overrun by zombies.

Moreover, he was a “variable” sufficient to confuse Junseong.

Junseong glanced at his left wristwatch.

The current time was 2:27 PM.

In all of his dreams, from the moment he entered the classroom, no survivor he met could escape this university until 3 PM. He had also chosen to stay in this classroom, but even then, aside from the teaching assistant who came around 5 PM, he had never encountered anyone else. The teaching assistant had already been bitten by zombies, so when they let him in, he immediately turned and attacked everyone. It would be difficult to call him a complete survivor.

That was why Junseong didn’t know how to react to the appearance of this man.

“Is he another consequence of my delay?”

Because of a delay of just a few minutes, many things were changing. Until now, the variables he had encountered were small enough to be considered insignificant. However, a “person” had a significant presence. Without knowing how this man’s presence would change the future he was familiar with, he couldn’t just let him in without caution.

“Aren’t you going to open the door? Will you let me die like this?”

The man’s voice carried a hint of laughter. It made the situation even more incomprehensible. How could someone stand defenseless in a place overrun by zombies and still manage to laugh?

At a time when Junseong was increasingly puzzled by the man’s incomprehensible mental state, Chaeyi, who had approached from behind, carefully listened at the door.

“I can’t hear any sounds of zombies.”

If there were zombies, screams and moans should be audible. There was no sign of zombies outside.

“As senior suggested, if you let him in and ask him to take off his clothes, you can check if he’s infected. If he is, the four of us can force him out.”

Thinking that Junseong was hesitating because he might be an infected person, Chaeyi grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

With a clunk, the door opened slightly, revealing the face of a tall man.

“Hello.”

The man smiled, revealing a stunningly handsome face. He had the kind of appearance that could easily be mistaken for a famous model. His black leather jacket seemed to suit him well, and he looked slightly pale, making his white face stand out.

The man peered into the classroom through the gap in the door and then fixed his gaze on Junseong, who was tense.

“May I come in?”

It was an eerie gaze. For some reason, Junseong had a strange feeling that he should run away from this place immediately.

“Are you going to let him in? Will you die like this?”

Junseong didn’t answer, but a response came from somewhere else. Jiwoo held the man’s arm and pulled him inside.

Once completely inside, the man was remarkably clean. His clothes had a few bloodstains on the cuffs and sleeves, but compared to Junseong and the others, he looked like he was wearing new clothes.

This made Junseong even more suspicious.

“Senior, what happened? The outside is filled with zombies.”

Soyeon, who had been sitting on the sofa, also approached and showed a welcoming expression. The man smiled with a cold gaze.

“I was sleeping alone in a classroom, and when I woke up, it was a mess.”

“You fell asleep again? You’ve been sleeping everywhere.”

“What can I do when I’m sleepy? Even if I die, I have to sleep.”

The man’s calm and friendly attitude quickly eased the tension in the classroom. Even Junseong, who was initially wary, felt the anxiety gradually dissipating. With the man’s smiling face and the cheerful Jiwoo and Soyeon, the group didn’t seem to fit the label “zombies” at all.

However, Chaeyi remained tense, unlike the other two.

“Take off your clothes.”

Jiwoo frowned in response to Chaeyi’s words.

“Hey, are you really telling him to take off his clothes?”

“The clothes are perfectly fine. I doubt he got bitten.”

Soyeon joined in, surrounding the man, and Chaeyi furrowed her brow.

“Have you all gone mad?”

“What…?”

Jiwoo was about to ask what they were talking about when he quickly understood Chaeyi’s meaning.

The strong scent of blood.

Compared to Junseong and the three others who had a considerable amount of blood on them, this man emitted an overwhelmingly strong odor of blood.

“If he smells this strongly of blood and his clothes are intact, and he claims he wasn’t bitten, I can’t believe it.”

Chaeyi pointed to the classroom door where she had just let the man in.

“Do Hanseo, senior, I’m sorry, but unless you’re going to let us check by taking off your clothes, you should leave.”

As if Chaeyi’s words were a funny joke, Do Hanseo, who had been chuckling, looked her up and down with a grin.

“Weren’t you the one who opened the door first?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since I was the one who opened the door, I want to check for myself.”

“What if I’m infected?”

“Then you should leave.”

“And if I don’t want to leave and resist?”

“No matter how senior you are, if the four of us team up to push you out, it’s possible, right?”

“Hmm.”

Even though it was enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable, Do Hanseo didn’t wipe the smile off his lips.

No matter how much Jiwoo thought it was too much, he was about to say something to Chaeyi when Soyeon blocked his mouth with her hand. She whispered softly in his ear.

“Stay quiet. Chaeyi didn’t say anything wrong.”

Jiwoo, who had been silenced by Soyeon three times today, irritably removed her hand. Then, just as he was about to scold her, he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled. Intrigued by the sound, he turned his gaze toward Do Hanseo.

By the time he turned to look, Do Hanseo had already removed his jacket and tossed it onto the floor.

After taking off his jacket, Do Hanseo casually removed his black T-shirt.

When Hanseo took off his shirt and revealed his upper body, it was almost too good to cover with clothing. His well-proportioned muscles, firm chest, and a six-pack that seemed meticulously sculpted were beyond anything that could be easily achieved.

While everyone fixed their gaze on Hanseo’s body, he unzipped his pants without hesitation.

“Do you want me to take off the lower part too?”