episode_0004

“I did the same thing last time when you brought me that crazy request to escort someone to the next city!”

“Did something happen then? I can’t think of anything… Hey, don’t be so excited, don’t be so excited.”

“What the heck? What the heck??? Tell me what you’re talking about!! Sir, it was really dangerous back then, wasn’t it?”

“Shorts.”

Suddenly, the old man blurted out my name and faced me with a serious expression.

Okay, let me hear what you have to say. Just keep saying something that isn’t funny anymore. I really won’t let you off easy.

“When I look back on my not-so-short life, saying it was dangerous is the same as saying it wasn’t dangerous. If it really was dangerous, I wouldn’t be able to talk about that time as a fond memory like I do now.”

What the hell is this? So what are you saying…?

“You know the saying, the early bird gets the worm? I think that saying is very true. What about helping others? It’s a similar concept to extending your own life.

If I have the money, why shouldn’t I help someone else? If I help someone, the person will be grateful and I will be repaid later. That’s what I’m saying.”

This damn old man must have thought this was the moment, because he didn’t stop there and started spouting off some crazy shit that was just as crazy as what he had just said, as if he was determined to poison my mind.

And having to hear that, I felt a surge of anger building up in my chest.

So, my throat was fine and my precious tripe didn’t become a real-time sashimi omakase restaurant, so in the end, it wasn’t dangerous.

The absurd idea of buying everything in bulk, even if there is no immediate visible benefit, because it is a stock that will definitely rise in the future like Bitcoin, even if others do not pay attention to it because it is dangerous.

“Ah, that’s right. The old man is right. Yeah, that’s right. If you live like that and die, you won’t have any kids or a wife to leave behind in the world anyway, so you’re going to live your life the way you want. That’s right.”

“Um, that’s right… No, I don’t think so…! What I mean is…!”

Yeah, it’s already been revealed that you’re serious, you old man.

I’d already caught the dog. I scratched the old man nonstop until we got out of the sewer and reached the shelter where we were staying.

Like a wife who nags her husband who spends tens or hundreds of dollars on things like phone games or fishing without consulting him after receiving his salary.

I wasn’t like this at first either. But the more I experienced this guy, the more I became determined to think that I had to do this much, or that this much wasn’t enough. That’s why I’m like this.

Didn’t you just see that? If you don’t step on the brakes from the side, that old man, who is a typical adult with a rotten way of thinking who is about to be discarded, might turn into a cold corpse or an evil zombie and hit me in the back of the head.

“So what I mean is, I hope you don’t worry unnecessarily…”

“Yeah, don’t worry. When did you say that? I told you, right? You’re right. Who can say anything when a grown man who has no one to take responsibility for lives his life to his own satisfaction?”

When I snapped at him like that, the old man rolled his eyes, shut his mouth tightly, and started walking away.

Satisfied that the old man’s nonsense was no longer aimed at me, I began to fantasize about beating up the client who had entrusted me with today’s damned commission.

I would like to express my gratitude for not being a zombie that is more zombies than being attached to the body in this world.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was annoying. If things had gone wrong today or if the old man’s shoulders had been just a little thinner, I would have been the only one returning to the shelter.

The old man’s human nature is already a piece of scrap that cannot be transformed or refined no matter how much I scrape it from the side, but the people who are stuck in the shelter and tied to the past, not the old man, are likely to have plenty of room for improvement.

“Are you here?”

“Well, um. Right. This time, the client is someone named Han Yuri…”

“Another woman. I think the last request was also from a woman.”

There were only a handful of instances where this man chose a client who wasn’t a woman. And there were even fewer instances where the client was ugly.

Even though he says otherwise, statistics don’t lie.

In situations like this, women with poor physical condition are bound to be weak and need help from others, and they always make excuses that seem like they are riding the machismo bandwagon, but the real reason is…

“Ms. Yuri, this is Kwon Do-hoon who received the order last night.”

Yeah, the old man was an idiot. If he saw something pretty, pitiful, or pitiful, he would always nag at her and become such a retard that he wouldn’t even notice if his heart burst out of his body and rolled around.

“Ah! Aah…! I’ll open it right now, right now…!!”

“As expected, the voice is completely your style.”

The old man, who never trembled even when he was chased by zombies or when his legs were turned into rags, seemed to be looking forward to the moment when the owner of that voice would appear in front of him, as if he couldn’t keep his hands still while holding the leash.

“Wriggle, wiggle, wiggle. It’s a total mess. I wondered whose anniversary it was today, but it must have been an old man’s first birthday party? The first birthday catcher is a dog leash, so the future is bleak.”

“Danhwa, that’s absolutely not the case. You’re wrong.”

“Yeah, I guess so. You’re right, sir. Yeah, I guess I misunderstood.”

The old man sighed at my words and scratched the back of his head.

It’s not you who needs to sigh, it’s me. How did I end up with this guy’s nose pierced…

I should have just died back then… Honestly, thinking about it now, I didn’t want to become a zombie.

Because I don’t want to wander around dragging my stinking, rotting entrails until my head explodes or my limbs rot and fall off.

“Sorry for opening late. I was doing laundry…”

The one who appeared was a woman with brown hair armed with innocence. Her rolled up sleeves were busy reminding us of the phrase “good wife and wise mother.”

“Yeah, that’s just your taste, sir.”

After muttering to myself like that, I stood a little behind the old man so that I could only see the back of his ugly head. I didn’t have any interest in watching an old man swear at a woman right next to me.

“That’s… No way… Deokgu’s…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be resting comfortably now.”

I’ll just spread it out and rest… Wow, you’re the kind of guy who rolls his tongue so sensually, but women don’t just fall for it, do they? It makes me vomit just looking at you, so can’t you be objective about what the person listening to you in person would feel?

“Thank you… Thank you… Thank you and I’m sorry, Deokgu…”

“…”

A woman named Han Yuri took the dog leash that the man had given her, sat down, and started to cry. She looked so ugly that I sighed and took a step forward.

“I don’t know what the circumstances are, but if you think about it, just keep those ridiculous requests to yourself. Don’t put them in someone else’s grave. In the first place, this stupid old man who accepted that kind of request is the problem, but do you know that you are primarily responsible for giving that stupid request to such a foolish person?”

“Yes…?”

“I’m saying that you can’t just say thank you. The person standing in front of you almost died today, right? He almost died after being bitten by Deokgu, whom you’re so thankful and sorry for. What you should do now is not to fall on the floor and cry, but to give endless gratitude and a fair reward to the person who accepted such an absurd request and completed it.”

“That…that…uh…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

As I spoke, pointing at the hand that the old man had hidden behind his back and forcibly pulling it out, the client, who had been busy crying, belatedly began to realize the situation and show the right attitude.

“I don’t know what they decided to give as compensation…”

“Shorts, that’s enough. Stop it.”

The old man, who still couldn’t shake off his foolishness, started to act sweet and try to stop me.

Stop it? This guy is really…

“Are you crazy, mister? If you risked your life to do such an outrageous favor, this is the kind of treatment you deserve, right? No, honestly, I don’t think this is enough? There is no one in this shitty world like you, mister…! Ugh, ugh!!”

“I’m sorry. The kid is a bit rude. I’ll come get the reward next time.”

“No, he’s right. It was my fault. I’m sorry… Please come back again. I’ll pay you properly.”

The old man covered my mouth and tucked me under his arm before hurriedly leaving. He stopped in a deserted place and pretended to be angry, as if he didn’t like the fact that I was interfering with his work.

“What. Did I do something wrong? You’re not trying to tell me that I should have just stood there and watched that old man act like an idiot, are you?”

“Danhwa, I wasn’t hurt. You didn’t go through that much of a dangerous situation either. Honestly, considering our abilities, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult, so I accepted the request.”

“So you’re not trying to say that you had to wipe away the tears and comfort and soothe the person who just crossed the line by saying thank you or spitting out tears?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

I was speechless at the old man’s answer and just looked at him in silence.

“If you don’t want to see me like this, then don’t take on these kinds of requests.”

“Short story!”

“Be quiet. I’m going home to rest. If you want to appease that woman, go ahead. Why don’t you just go to sleep? Honey is dripping from your eyes.”

I chewed my words out and spat them out, then turned around without hesitation and headed toward the shelter.

In a world where people have to worry about not dying right away, not just eating and living, haven’t we seen enough old men who are busy flirting with women today?

Since I said this, I was sure that the old man would receive his salary properly, even if it was just for my own benefit.

When I got to the shelter, I started to desperately want to curl up in my blanket and eat some canned food.

I chewed on the sweet flesh and reminisced about the cool, fluffy feel of the bed sheets. When my hands were rummaging through my pockets out of boredom, the old man’s arm popped out.

The tattered part was larger than my fully grown hand.

Han Yuri, the dog that woman raised wasn’t your average large dog. It was probably a fighting dog like a Tosa.

There were very few cases of dogs becoming zombies. Animals don’t become zombies just because they are bitten by zombies. It was clear that they turned into zombie dogs because they ran at zombies to protect their owners.

He asked me to find the remains of a dead dog without even telling him the circumstances. He was a client I really didn’t like.

I should have said something more pointed…

I sighed and stuffed the old man’s belt back into my pocket. I decided to go back and roll around and do some repairs when I had time.

No matter how harshly I spoke to him, he wasn’t the type of person to stop asking for beggarly requests.

After all, someone has to take care of it.

For my sake, too.