Chapter 26: Changes in the Apocalypse

Xiao Guang knew it was the end of the world because the eggs in the villa’s cold storage had started to go bad.

They might not have been completely rotten, but when he shook them, he could feel liquid sloshing inside. This was a trick his mother had taught him back before he moved to South Korea. So, eggs could only stay fresh for four months at most?

For over half a month, Xiao Guang hadn’t strayed too far. Every day after waking up, he would put on his gear, scavenge the nearby villas, and then return to his listless, desire-free post-apocalyptic life. He would put on the SBS Gayo Daejeon for Bae Joo-hyun and Min-ju while he played on his PS5 in another room. Thanks to the wealthy owner’s power supply, he felt he could live until old age in this electrified sanctuary.

But now, that idea seemed flawed. The eggs were inedible, and the vegetables in the cold storage were looking wilier by the day. He had collected enough rice and flour, but having no vegetables to eat was a serious problem.

"Do either of you know how to grow vegetables?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Xiao Guang felt uncomfortable if he didn't say it out loud. He paced the living room with his hands behind his back, looked at Bae Joo-hyun and Min-ju on the sofa, and raised a finger.

"We need to learn self-reliance. Step one: grow our own food. Any objections?"

As if there could be any. Red eyes and dark blue eyes stared at him. Xiao Guang felt his face heat up, so he walked over and kissed each of them, a form of retaliation for their silence.

"Alright, I’m going out to find seeds. You two stay home and be good."

As soon as Xiao Guang finished speaking, Bae Joo-hyun stood up, her red eyes fixed on him.

"You want to come with me?"

"Hmm~"

"First, let's get one thing straight, no more bringing... Wait, did you just say 'hmm'?"

Xiao Guang walked over to Bae Joo-hyun, curiously crouched down to look at her nostrils, and reached out to feel the air beneath them. Why did he do that? Because "hmm" is a nasal sound.

He found nothing; her breath was still very faint. Xiao Guang looked at Bae Joo-hyun, then at Min-ju, feeling that they had changed significantly lately, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

***

There seemed to be fewer zombies on the streets. Many black or gray corpses lay dead along the roadside. Xiao Guang frowned and carefully steered the car around them. He hadn’t driven into the city recently, and he hadn't expected so many changes.

Bae Joo-hyun sat quietly in the passenger seat. Her gaze appeared to be fixed on the road ahead, but whenever she saw a speaker or a megaphone, she would watch it with intense focus.

"Why do I feel like the zombies are hiding? There used to be four sisters on this street."

Xiao Guang felt the atmosphere of the street was strange; it definitely hadn't been like this before. To confirm his suspicion, he drove to his old apartment building. The four zombies he had once helped dress in denim were gone.

They were the ones who loved wandering the streets the most. Xiao Guang circled twice; not only were the four sisters missing, but the zombie shopkeeper who guarded the small store was gone too.

"Strange. If they aren't on the streets, where could they have gone?"

Xiao Guang muttered to himself while looking out the window. Beside him, Bae Joo-hyun looked at a large megaphone hanging on a school flagpole, tapped Xiao Guang, and pointed ahead, letting out a sound: "Ah~~"

"I know, I know, I’m getting to it. I just have a bad feeling. Did you notice something?"

Xiao Guang turned the car around and left the street. He didn't notice that once the sound of his car had completely faded, the four sisters he was looking for emerged from a shop. They were still wearing the denim outfits he had put on them, though this time they were well-preserved, without any obvious wear and tear.

They looked in the direction the car had departed, exchanged glances, and opened their mouths together. There was no sound, yet they seemed to be discussing something.

***

He found plenty of seeds, packed in small bags. The process wasn't difficult; whenever he encountered a zombie, Xiao Guang would swing his baseball bat, and most would move aside to clear a path. Only a very few would lunge at him.

"Thank you, Bae Joo-hyun-ssi. If not for you, I might have been tackled by that guy."

Xiao Guang muttered his thanks while reading the labels on the seed bags. He had been careless earlier—that was a fact. After scaring off a chubby zombie with his bat, he had turned to walk away, only for the creature to silently approach his back.

The result was inevitable. Its head was struck by the iron chain in Bae Joo-hyun's hand, cracking like a watermelon. Xiao Guang’s teeth ached just hearing the sound. He looked back; the neck was half-gone, and the head was completely obliterated.

"Why do they seem smarter? It’s not just my imagination, is it? They have no one to care for them, no one to teach them. Can you eat cacti? This stuff should be easy to grow."

Xiao Guang sat on the ground, grumbling. He decided to start with cucumbers; it had been so long since he’d had one.

"Hiss... Republic... infected... attempt... destroy humanity... unite... survivors... heard... outside city... countryside..."

Xiao Guang suddenly threw down what he was holding and scrambled toward the radio. It was Mandarin—a broadcast from his homeland.

"Preserve hope... do not give up... survive... humanity will eventually prevail..."

The radio cut off. Xiao Guang sat where he was, dazed. He wanted to cry, for no reason at all. It wasn't because of what the broadcast said, but because he had heard the familiar sound of Mandarin once again.

"Survive. Yes, I have to survive."

Xiao Guang wiped away the tears that hadn't actually fallen with the back of his hand, sat there with a smile, and nodded. His homeland said to preserve hope, said not to give up. Xiao Guang nodded again; he had always been an obedient child.

***

Bae Joo-hyun and Kim Min-ju both looked at Xiao Guang. Seeing him sitting motionless, their expressions shifted. Bae Joo-hyun eventually turned her gaze to the radio, took the small ball that had been moving in her mouth, and shoved it into Min-ju’s.

Xiao Guang was in high spirits. That evening, he not only made instant noodles but also a soup using the last of the eggs.

"I made this soup especially for you two. Don't be impatient; wait for it to cool, and I'll feed you. Let me tell you, it’s in moments like this that the stature of a great nation truly shines through. It’s clear who has the stronger and weaker capabilities."

While Xiao Guang cooked, the radio began to hiss and crackle as it usually did. Ordinarily, Xiao Guang would have kept watch, as every piece of information was crucial to him.

But after hearing the voice of his homeland today, he felt at peace. He didn't know where the static was coming from, and he felt no need to pay attention to it.

However, Bae Joo-hyun and Kim Min-ju remained in the living room. Their eyes seemed fixed on the SBS Gayo Daejeon broadcast, but they stayed very close to the radio.

Bae Joo-hyun had become very accustomed to eating, and Min-ju performed well today too; she only pushed the food out with her tongue twice before she was full.

Perhaps it was because he was in such a good mood that everything felt smooth. Seeing that dusk was falling, Xiao Guang bathed Bae Joo-hyun and Min-ju with fragrant body wash and led them to the bedroom.

"The usual rules: I sleep in the middle, Min-ju on my right. Let’s be clear: no crawling all over me at night. I’ve had several nightmares, only to wake up and find I was being crushed by you two. Bae Joo-hyun, you are not allowed to sneakily kick Min-ju out of the blanket with your feet. She might not be afraid of the cold, but there’s no point in bathing her if she ends up on the floor."

Xiao Guang fell asleep quickly and soundly, a smile on his lips. Yet, the tear tracks at the corners of his eyes suggested his mood wasn't just happiness.

Bae Joo-hyun moved slowly, crawling from Xiao Guang’s legs to his right side. Min-ju watched as Bae Joo-hyun held Xiao Guang’s arm tightly.

"Ah~~"

"Gurgle~~"

"Tomorrow~~ destroy~~"

"Gurgle~~"

Bae Joo-hyun saw Min-ju shake her head. She grabbed Min-ju’s arm with both hands and tugged. Min-ju held onto Xiao Guang’s arm for dear life. Seeing this, Bae Joo-hyun seemed quite annoyed; she lifted her little white leg and nudged Min-ju. Min-ju shrank back, exposing a portion of her calf from under the blanket.

"Listen~~"

"Gurgle~~"