Chapter 4 Part 7

Yoo Min-ho, who had been looking at me with a worried gaze for a moment, opened his mouth cautiously. Though I had been with him through countless loops, this was unquestionably the softest tone he had ever used.

“The whole country is in an uproar, so a helicopter or rescue team should be here soon. You said your name was Seo Ki-hyeon, right? When you get out of here… I promise to take responsibility and treat you until your trauma heals.”

Having said that, Yoo Min-ho stepped closer and gently stroked the cat nestled against my hip. When he scratched the small head and rubbed its white belly, the cat, whose rest had been disturbed, let out a thin, high-pitched cry. It was clearly annoyed. But Yoo Min-ho didn’t stop there; he brought his own hand up to the cat’s pink mouth and rubbed it softly against it. It looked like he was forcibly trying to make it kiss him. Finally, unable to stand it, the cat fiercely scratched Yoo Min-ho’s hand. I watched his goofy behavior for a moment before quietly continuing.

“Why are you taking responsibility for treating me? I’m not your… stalker, or an older acquaintance, or anything.”

“You’ve saved my life several times just getting here; I’m not someone who forgets a kindness. I’ll pay you back dearly for my life.”

“……”

“Aren’t you hungry? What time is it? Shall we order something to eat… Ah, in this situation, delivery isn’t possible, is it?”

Saying that, Yoo Min-ho slowly got up and started rummaging through the refrigerator. I quietly watched his profile, then pointed out an error he hadn’t noticed.

“When did I ever save you?”

“…What?”

“You were the one who skewered the zombie with a mop inside the elevator, and you were the one who blocked the zombies in front of me with the fire extinguisher. Before we got in the elevator, there wasn’t even a dangerous situation to begin with. No matter how I think about it, I don’t recall ever saving you in this iteration.”

“…That is…”

Only then did Yoo Min-ho realize something was strange about his memory, and he stared blankly at me with the refrigerator door open.

Beep— Beep— Beep—

An alert sound began to ring from the refrigerator left open, but he just kept staring at me as if he couldn’t hear a thing. When I finally stepped forward to close the refrigerator door for him, Yoo Min-ho was still completely stunned.

Seeing his state made my chest tighten. There were still so many things I hadn’t told him. Should I really tell him the absurd story that this world was actually a scenario I had written, and that we had known each other from a previous life? It seemed like the timing was certainly wrong for that now. His face was already colored with shock from the one sentence I had uttered. He then slowly continued, his gaze unfocused as if looking at a distant place.

“…Right, that’s it. I told you at the convenience store. I wanted to show you Gamgyul. But… did we ever break through the convenience store wall? No… that never happened. But why…”

My heart pounded harder the more he spoke. This was the first time Yoo Min-ho had remembered the events of past episodes with such specificity. Was this excitement because I finally had someone to share this heavy secret with, a secret that had been mine alone? I also felt a surge of tension at his confused appearance.

“You’re right…”

“W-What?”

“You said it. You said you wished the world would end because someone precious to you had died… Damn it, you definitely said that. So… when I was scratched by a zombie and dying, you were next to me… crying… why was it?”

“……”

“…Was that real?”

“…What is?”

“What you just said, about the zombie game… Is it all true?”

Only then did Yoo Min-ho ask, his expression serious. I had no choice but to nod readily. 

* * *

Yoo Min-ho’s home, located on the top floor of a commercial complex, was not a standard office suite. The apartment, which looked to be at least 2000 square feet, contained six rooms, and every room was packed full of clothes, shoes, and bags. It was far too large a house for him to live in with just a cat.

The living room, in particular, was vast, looking almost desolate because it held almost no furniture besides a sofa and a television. We sat opposite each other at a marble dining table placed in a corner of the expansive room, patiently waiting for our instant noodles to cook. Yoo Min-ho’s place truly had no actual groceries. Just ramen, canned tuna, retort rice pouches—nothing but instant food. Then again, it seemed unlikely for a twenty-one-year-old who was a successful actor to be cooking for himself at home anyway.

As the characteristic MSG scent of instant ramen filled the living room, my mouth began to water involuntarily. Unable to wait, I tried to lift the lid slightly to check how soft the noodles were, but Yoo Min-ho spoke to me first.

“So, you’re saying… you wrote a movie script, and then the world manifested exactly as it was in that movie?”

“…Yeah.”

Suddenly, my appetite vanished. Yoo Min-ho, having finally confirmed the truth from my mouth, kept repeating the same question like a parrot. Of course, I fully understood that he found it unbelievable. I myself wasn’t entirely accepting of the current situation either.

“So we knew each other from a past life? Damn, saying ‘past life’ makes it sound so spectacular. Anyway, we knew each other from a past life?”

“…Yeah.”

“So, I died in a car accident in my past life, and you wrote some shitty scenario after I died and then killed yourself, right? That’s what you’re saying now.”

“……”

“Why did you kill yourself? Did you follow me because I was someone precious to you?”

“…Hurry up and eat. It’s getting mushy.”

“Tell me. Was I important enough to you that you couldn’t live without me?”

“…Yeah, yeah. I told you that several times already.”

I was practically on the verge of dying of shame. I was going crazy trying to figure out why he kept repeating this nonsense. Furthermore, the more I spoke, the more I felt like a bigger stalker than Lee Chae-eun, and it was unbearable. To think someone would commit suicide because they couldn’t forget a guy who had the same parts as them. On top of that, writing a movie like this… Haa. I forcibly stopped my thoughts from spiraling and tried hard to concentrate on the cup ramen in front of me.

I slurped a mouthful of perfectly cooked noodles, and the spicy, stimulating flavor hit my mouth. It was the taste of heaven. However, Yoo Min-ho couldn’t just watch me eat the ramen.

“Fine, let’s say everything you said is true. But there’s one problem I absolutely can’t overlook…”

“……”

“Which one of us was the woman?”

“What?”

“From what you’re telling me, it sounds like we were two people who risked our lives for the love of the century.”

That was my limit. Unable to listen to another word from Yoo Min-ho, I burst out shouting.

“Ah, fuck! I told you I don’t remember clearly either! Stop asking and just eat your ramen!”

But even my harsh words didn’t elicit any sign of displeasure from the guy; he just chuckled softly. It was only then that I realized this damn brat was just playing with me. My feelings became complicated.

“Why are you overreacting so much? Could it be… were we both men?”

“……”

“…Wow, this is kind of shocking. Were we gay?”

Instead of answering, I slammed my chopsticks down on the table with a loud clack and stared fixedly at Yoo Min-ho. He wasn’t avoiding my eyes and was smiling as if he found the situation amusing.

“Be honest. You don’t believe anything I’m saying, do you? You’re just messing with me right now.”

“…If it were you, would you believe someone who suddenly showed up and started spouting nonsense about past lives or repeating time? Am I the weird one for not believing, or are you the one going too far for expecting me to?”

“……”

“…But then again… I can’t just ignore it. My memories are all jumbled up and messy, and there’s no way to explain how I know exactly where the zombies will show up, as if I’m possessed.”

“…What on earth are you talking about? Are you saying you believe me or not?”

“…Ah, I don’t know. It all just feels crazy. This situation where zombies are appearing and eating people, and me remembering things I’ve never done… All I can think is that maybe I’m dreaming.”

“……”

“…In any case, what you’re saying is that if we survive here for now, and the zombie virus doesn’t spread outside, the world will go back to normal, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Yoo Min-ho pushed the instant noodle cup aside without even opening the lid, then slumped onto the table and let out a long sigh. Ahh… if I don’t eat it quickly, it’ll get cold. Worried about such a trivial thing, I blurted out.

“Hey, are you just going to leave the water sitting there without eating? What are we going to do with the food waste? We can’t even take it outside.”

“……”

But Yoo Min-ho only looked up at me blankly without offering much of a reply. Then, what he said next was truly something else.

“No wonder… I’ve felt uneasy about you ever since you first showed up at the real estate office. I wondered why you bothered me so much, but if what you said is true and we were gay… then it makes sense?”

“Pfft-”

While frantically gulping down the instant noodles, I choked on Yoo Min-ho’s words. As I kept coughing, he clicked his tongue as if I were pathetic and handed me a glass of water. Shouldn’t this guy be confused that I claimed he was gay? I couldn’t understand why he was accepting it so readily.

“I thought hard about why I couldn’t quite trust what you said… For someone who supposedly loved me enough to die for me, there was too little… tenderness. And your tone of voice isn’t very gentle either…”

Having said that much, Yoo Min-ho suddenly grabbed the nape of my neck and brought his face close enough for me to feel his breath. I flinched back in surprise, but he immediately released his grip, letting me go, though I was startled by how close his face had been just a moment ago.

“…Seeing you act embarrassed, I wonder if you really did like me?”

I was so dumbfounded by Yoo Min-ho’s nonchalant behavior that I stomped hard on his foot under the table.

* * *