“That’s cruel.”
“What’s cruel about it.”
How on earth had someone like this ever thought to open a café. No wait — maybe that was precisely why he’d opened one? That actually made sense. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be asleep every single time I visited.
“More importantly, are you going out looking like that? Your hair is a complete mess.”
At my words, my little hyung, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, held out the black rubber band he wore around his wrist and plopped down onto the floor however he liked. He wanted me to tie it for him.
Looking at him like this, sometimes I wonder if it would’ve been better if Baek Yitae had been born the youngest and I’d been born third. I grumbled, “I told you to at least tie your own hair,” but I fetched the brush anyway, combed through his wild, fluffy hair, and tied it up in half.
And even though I wasn’t thrilled about it, I gave my little hyung a light kiss on the cheek too. If I didn’t get it over with now, he’d whine about it all day today and tomorrow, so it was better to just take care of it quickly.
“You hyungs need to start acknowledging the fact that I’m an adult.”
“Mmhmm, okay baby. Hyung’s off to work.”
He’s learned to naturally tune out anything he doesn’t want to hear.
I gave up on saying anything more and flapped my hand to tell him to hurry up and leave. Baek Yitae likewise rubbed his lips all over my face before heading out.
I’d finally finished the first half of my daily routine. For the record, the other half was welcoming the hyungs home from work.
“Ha……”
“My, my — the youngest works so hard every morning, putting up with all his hyungs’ clinginess. They must still see him as a toddling little baby. Will any of them ever get married at this rate? Their future wives are going to be so jealous.”
When I let out a long sigh, the lady who always prepared my meals laughed and teased me. If I’d truly known nothing, I’d have naturally found it unsettling — but I answered with complete composure, not a trace of anxiety in my voice.
“Ah, no, no. Once the hyungs meet someone they like, they’ll be different.”
“That’s true — people like that tend to be devoted to their girlfriends.”
“So I’m just thinking, I’ll hang in there until then.”
“They’d be hurt to hear you say that. Oh, I kept you too long. Hurry inside and rest.”
“I will.”
Humming softly to myself, I went up to the second floor and entered my room. The moment I was inside, I spotted the desk calendar sitting on my desk and smiled to myself with quiet delight.
The reason I could be so calm was simple. Because this was the world inside a novel — a wholesome, heartwarming family healing story!
When I first realized I’d been reincarnated here, I was a little taken aback. It was already hard enough to accept being born again with my memories intact — and into a novel’s world on top of that? But that confusion was only fleeting; I snapped back to reality and accepted it without hesitation.
The novel, titled Those Brothers’ First Love!, was exactly what its name suggested — a romance novel. The story followed a heroine who’d managed to hold her own in a harsh world, met my hyungs, slowly fell in love, and had her life turned completely around…… anyway, it was one of those run-of-the-mill stories you’d find anywhere.
Villains? Hardship? Frustrating misunderstandings? None of that. Everyone cherishes the heroine, loves her, wraps her up in warmth — it was a novel all about healing a wounded female lead, the very definition of healing fiction through and through. There was absolutely no reason to reject my reality.
To give an idea of just how much they treasured the heroine — when she couldn’t choose just one of the hyungs and tearfully asked if they couldn’t all just love her together, the hyungs, who had been treating each other as rivals and fighting as though they might kill each other, pleaded with her not to cry and agreed to it. That was how much they adored her.
Me? For the record, I was the frail young master who cheers on their love and helps things along. I fall a little ill here and there throughout the novel, but I make it through alive to the very end — and there’s even a bonus chapter where it’s mentioned that a cure was developed. So there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Of course, there was also nothing to be anxious about when it came to my hyungs’ excessive attention and affection. Only one week remained until the original story began. Once the heroine appeared, the hyungs would be too preoccupied trying to win her over by any means necessary — so letting them kiss my cheek and all that embarrassing business was perfectly fine in the meantime.
The story moved along at such a brisk pace that all of them living together was set to happen within a single year, so I had a feeling there wouldn’t be a dull moment for a while.
Until the original story wraps up, I’ll make sure to tag along with the hyungs as often as I can. If I tell them I’m going stir-crazy from going out so rarely, they’ll be flustered — but they’ll definitely let me.
I pushed down the corners of my mouth that kept trying to curve up and flopped back onto my bed. It was a novel I’d been rather fond of, after all, and the thought of watching the original story unfold before my very own eyes was enough to make my heart flutter.
In other possession stories I’d read, the protagonists always kept detailed records of the original plot — but unfortunately, by the time I’d realized I’d been possessed, the story’s contents had already gone hazy in my memory. The fact that I remembered even the major events was almost surprising, given how much I’d read. And to think I’d read it so thoroughly, too.
Still, I wasn’t worried. Wasn’t it enough to just know who the male leads and the female lead were? And besides, not knowing everything and watching it unfold would be fun in its own way.
What would the heroine look like in person? According to the book, she was a breathtaking beauty who could make anyone lose their mind, and she had a sunshine-like presence — as if just being near her could heal you. On top of that, she’d apparently never hated a single person in her life, earning her the title of an angel; and she was small and adorable, with a touch so gentle that even the most ferocious animal would turn docile in her hands, earning her the title of a fairy as well.
When I first read the novel, I’d thought, Hmm? Is this really necessary? — but now that I was actually about to see it for myself, I was too excited and giddy to stay still.
“I hope the 10th comes quickly.”
I muttered that to myself, then let out a strange little laugh — hehehe — and eventually grabbed my blanket and started rolling around on the bed.
✽
……I was pretty sure that’s what I’d been thinking, just one week ago.
“Kyaaaak!”
What is going on right now?
“Help me! Please, someone help me! Aaaack!”
Am I dreaming?
“Get me a knife! A knife!”
“I, I can’t——”
“Stab it and kill it! I said get it off me!”
“But the driver will——! Kgh——!”
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t a play staged to make fun of me. If it were, the smell of blood hitting my nose wouldn’t be this sharp and vivid. Even if blood could be faked somehow — arms and legs being torn off, entrails spilling out — there was no way any of that could be fake.
“I’m sorry, sob, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“Just le- AAAAAAGH——!”
“R-run, we have to run…… we have to run away!”
Bang!
The front door flew open with a crash, and the caregiver was the first one to bolt out. Behind her, the lady who’d been crumpled on the floor stumbled out of the house, falling over herself again and again. The doctor, who had come downstairs after hearing someone was hurt, followed just the same.
Crack. Crunch.
Left in the living room was the driver, gnawing at someone’s neck; the nurse, trembling violently with bloody foam at her lips; and the building manager, who had already drawn his last breath.
“Guuurrgh……”
With a rattling, gurgling sound, the building manager’s body lurched. Having had his heart ripped out, he should have been dead — but he staggered upright, drool streaming from his mouth, and lunged at the nurse. Like a person who hadn’t eaten in weeks, he tore into her skin and drank greedily.
And not long after, the nurse, too, rose to her feet as though she felt no pain at all. The driver and manager who had been biting her sniffed the air a few times, as if catching a scent, and obediently drew back. While they picked at and swallowed the scattered pieces of entrails on the floor, the nurse blinked and looked around her surroundings.
Thick, dark red veins protruding grotesquely beneath the skin. Eyes gone white as though filmed over with a membrane. People moving around without issue despite wounds that should have killed them, making sounds like animals……
……They look exactly like zombies.
I slowly backed away, forced my trembling legs to hold steady, and climbed the stairs as soundlessly as I could. I’d only come downstairs because of the commotion outside — I never could have imagined something like this would unfold. My weak stomach churned badly enough that bitter liquid rose in my throat, but I suppressed it with everything I had and barely managed to make it back to my room.
“……”
I closed the door as quietly as possible and locked it. Just in case, I dragged a nearby chair over and wedged it in front of the door, then stacked the books from my desk on top of it too. I wanted to move the desk or the bed over as well, but I was too weak — this was the best I could manage.
“Hah, hah……”
And honestly, just moving a few books had left me drenched in sweat from head to toe. Even then, I had to clap a hand over my mouth to muffle my ragged breathing, terrified they might hear and come up.
My mind was a tangled mess. Was this real? Was I not dreaming? Zombies? Zombies? How could that be? It was so absurd that a hollow laugh slipped out of me.
Even so, my body moved dutifully — reaching for the phone on my bedside table. My hyungs, who should have been the first ones to contact me if something like this had happened, were silent. I pressed the call button with trembling fingers, but all that came back was the message that they were out of range.
“……This can’t be happening.”
Right. This was truly something that couldn’t be happening. Just this morning — barely three hours ago — everyone had been perfectly fine. Which meant at most three hours had passed since this all broke out — so how could they already be out of range?
Had every cell tower been destroyed? Had the fiber optic cables been cut? Maybe something like that had already happened before the zombies even appeared. Because there was no other explanation — no way would my hyungs have gone completely silent without a single call.
