Red Dot - 97

His heart pounded.

His mind, blanked out, echoed endlessly, and his vision was colored with unfiltered chaos.

Mocking Junseong, the video on the phone in his rigid hand showed a person more malevolent than a devil smiling innocently.

I’ll be waiting with your precious younger sibling.
The woman, who had her head bowed at the door, slowly lifted it.

Through the hair that covered her face, it seemed as though the eyes of ‘the living her’ were looking at the camera.

I’m not sure if I can keep her alive until then.
With those words, the video turned off.

Immediately, Junseong, gripping the phone as if to smash it, headed towards the emergency stairs. Although he did not rush out, his steps were excessively fast. He also did not forget to pick up Hanseo’s backpack and sling it over one shoulder.

“Junseong, wait!”

Changmin, who had grasped the situation, reached out towards Junseong. The first to act was Hanseo, who had been silently watching the video.

Hanseo, faster than Junseong, blocked his path with his body and grabbed both of Junseong’s shoulders to stop him.

“Where are you going?”

“… Move.”

Ignoring the hands gripping his shoulders, Junseong tried to walk away, but was held back painfully.

“Where are you going?”

Hanseo’s cold words distorted Junseong’s pale face.

“I told you to move, Do Hanseo.”

“Answer me first.”

Hanseo’s eyes glinted with a chilling light.

“You’re not going to that bastard, are you?”

“……”

Junseong, who had kept his mouth tightly shut, forcefully removed Hanseo’s arms. His dry voice shot out like a needle.

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Why does it matter?”

Hanseo’s brow twitched.

“J-just wait!”

Realizing that the atmosphere between the two was serious, Gyeong-oh, who had suddenly intervened, was flustered and had a troubled expression.

“Don’t fight! L-let’s calm down first……”

As Gyeong-oh spoke, he looked at Junseong’s eyes and flinched in surprise. Seeing a frightening and cold glare he had never seen before, his legs instinctively took a step back.

‘S-scary…’

Seeing Junseong aiming such a gaze at someone other than zombies was something Gyeong-oh had never witnessed, and he shrank his shoulders, wondering if he had interfered unnecessarily. Changmin, patting Gyeong-oh’s shoulder to reassure him, stepped in.

“Listen to Gyeong-oh. Junseong, where are you going at a time like this?”

“It’s okay. I’m confident I can come back alive.”

Even though his mind was in disarray and unable to think clearly, part of it was still quite active.

‘Since I prepared a few things just in case, I can use them somehow……’

‘If necessary, I’ll use the blood Hanseo gave me to cut through the zombies……’

‘There should be a hint somewhere about where Nam Ki-hyuk is……’

Even if Junseong was thinking so much, no one would let him go. Considering the zombie horde surrounding the hospital and the bodies filling the inside, going out alone at a time like this would be a suicide.

Changmin could not hide his regret seeing Junseong, whose expression showed no change due to overwhelming emotions.

‘Because of that crazy bastard……’

It was disgusting to see it through the blood bank’s CCTV, but seeing the high-quality video on the phone made him even angrier and more furious.

‘If it’s like this for me, how much harder must it be for Junseong.’

He was not unaware of Junseong’s feelings.

The short-haired woman in the video was probably Junseong’s younger sister. He had heard that he had a younger sister who was a college student and that he had left her and her friends in a safe subway shelter, so he had an idea of what was happening.

A madman, Nam Ki-hyuk, who used the zombie outbreak to conduct illegal organ trading, attacked the subway shelter. Whether he acted alone or not, the innocent survivors in the shelter were killed by him. Moreover, he left photos and videos of the shelter as a means to lure Junseong. It was as if he knew Junseong would definitely come here.

‘If there’s any silver lining, it’s that his sister is still alive.’

Honestly, whether she is still alive until now is uncertain.

For Seo Changmin, who had faced various international terrorism as a special operations unit member, it was difficult to easily judge the situation.

In a normal abduction scenario without communication problems, the chance of the hostage being alive is high. The abductor would demand that conditions be met to ensure the hostage is returned safely, using voice or survival videos as a pretext. The person being threatened would have to comply to ensure the hostage’s safety.

But in a situation where communication is not possible, the likelihood of the hostage being alive diminishes.

There’s no way to verify if the hostage is alive while trying to meet the demands. The other party is likely well aware of this.

The date on the photos and videos was clearly the night of the first day of the zombie outbreak.

Today is the night of the 6th day.

Could the younger sister have survived in the hands of the ruthless murderer until now?

No one could guarantee it.

Even Junseong, who considered himself knowledgeable about Nam Ki-hyuk.

That’s why Changmin could understand why Junseong, usually so calm, was acting so impulsively now. However, that did not mean he could just let Junseong die before even reaching the murderer Nam Ki-hyuk.

“Absolutely not. You saw it too, how many zombies are surrounding the hospital.”

“I know.”

“Knowing is one thing. If you really knew, you wouldn’t be talking about going out alone like this.”

“I really am fine.”

“That’s why it’s not okay……”

“Ah, come on!”

Junseong, who usually did not show his emotions, suddenly made a loud noise with his head lowered.

“Let me go, please!”

As he expressed his repressed emotions and covered his eyes with one hand, Junseong’s voice trembled endlessly.

“Chaeyi… can’t die…. If she dies, I……”

The emotions swirling chaotically in his mind seemed to spill out from his quivering lips.

She was the younger sister he had tried countless times to protect in his dreams. Even when the same zombie outbreak occurred in reality, saving his sister first was the most important thing. He was so committed to ensuring her future that he wished the government would develop a vaccine, even if it meant living in a world covered in zombies with only Hanseo by his side.

The only remaining blood relative, his younger sister, Kang Chaeyi.

“She wouldn’t have died because of you, so stop acting like an idiot.”

Not only had he saved him from the guilt of causing their parents’ deaths, but she was also the person who had instilled the will to live in him day by day.

To think that such a sister was in the clutches of the terrible Nam Ki-hyuk was unbearable.

Moreover, it was all his fault that Nam Ki-hyuk took Chaeyi. It was because of him that she was in unexpected danger.

“I wish it were still a dream……”

Junseong’s faint wish flowed out softly. Hearing that, Hanseo’s gaze sharpened.

Junseong’s body was suddenly lifted.

“……!”

He felt as if his body was floating up and then his head was dropping down. When he quickly removed his hand from his eyes, all he saw was black leather clothing.

He realized late that Hanseo had thrown him over his shoulder like a sack. Because of this, Changmin cleverly caught the backpack sliding off Hanseo’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?! Not putting me down?!”

Hanseo, holding Junseong’s flailing legs with one arm, walked briskly somewhere. Junseong lifted his head and hit Hanseo’s back with his arms.

“Do Hanseo! Put me down!”

He was more concerned about the emergency stairwell entrance getting farther away than about his current state.

“Hey!”

“Be quiet.”

Hanseo, who coldly warned him, tightly gripped Junseong’s legs as if to crush them.

“If you want these legs to move normally, be quiet.”

Junseong flinched and glared at Hanseo’s back. He could tell that Hanseo’s words were ‘serious.’

However, he could not understand why Hanseo was so angry.

‘What the hell is this guy’s problem?’

Meanwhile, Chaeyi might be suffering at the hands of Nam Ki-hyuk. Just imagining it made his body tremble and his eyes bloodshot.

Hanseo, heading towards the two-person room where Junseong had slept while staying at the hospital, slammed the door shut as soon as he entered.

Seeing this, Jian, stamping her feet, grabbed Changmin’s sleeve.

“Are the older brothers going to fight? Shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Y-yeah. Somehow, it feels like Junseong is, um, going to get beaten up badly. What should we do…”

Gyeong-oh also looked anxious, recalling Hanseo’s fierce demeanor.

But somehow, Changmin appeared somewhat relieved.