Walking Daddy

All the leaders that had gathered on the second-floor restaurant looked out the window, waiting for Kim Hyeong-Jun to return.

Even though all the windows were closed, the howling wind outside still rattled them, and the leaders all seemed worried. I sat at the desk and gently massaged my temples.

He was taking longer than expected.

I thought he’d be back in an hour, but he still hadn’t returned. In fact, it had already been three hours since he’d gone to Majang-dong.

I got up and paced around nervously. Lee Jeong-Uk came over to me.

“Don’t sweat it.”

“How can I not be worried?”

“You know he’s not someone that would go down easily.”

“What if he ran into a black creature?”

“...”

“What if there’s a bunch of stage-two mutants in Majang-dong?”

I frowned worriedly, and Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder.

“You know he’s not a clueless, helpless blockhead. He’ll make it back no matter what.”

“I’m worried because I know he can be reckless sometimes.”

When we encountered the dogs at Konkuk University Hospital, we were able to handle the situation thanks to his skill at improvisation. Ultimately, no one got hurt and we got what we wanted, but if the dogs we had encountered had been just a bit smarter, the situation would’ve spiraled out of control.

As I continued to pace anxiously, the people at the windows began to shout.

“He’s here, he’s here!”

“Hyeong-Jun’s here!”

I dashed toward the windows immediately.

I saw him rushing toward the hotel, leading a host of underlings, more than he’d had before he left. I knew he had only taken the mutants when we’d first left, so I had no clue why he was coming back with more underlings.

‘Did he go to recruit more underlings before coming back?’

Kim Hyeong-Jun had lost a lot of underlings during the battle in Gwangjin-gu and the subsequent fight against the black creature. It seemed like he’d recruited more from the prison in Majang-dong before returning.

I let out a sigh of relief and sat down in my chair.

He sure knew how to cause others to worry.

Kim Hyeong-Jun waved at the leaders on the second floor as he made his way directly toward the hotel. He came straight up and started looking for me as soon as he entered the restaurant.

“Ahjussi!"

His voice was full of urgency. I looked over at him, and he swallowed before speaking.

“Ahjussi, I think we need to reinforce our defenses here.”

I tilted my head questioningly. “Why, did something happen?”

Kim Hyeong-Jun moved closer.

].

“There’s something about Majang-dong… It seems like there’s something more to Majang-dong.”

“Something more?”

“There are traces.” Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lips, looking rather distressed.

I didn't understand what he was saying.

Traces? What could he possibly mean?

When I tilted my head and asked him to elaborate, Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed.

“There are traces of mutation.”

"I knew it… Do you know how many?”

“Definitely more than one or two. Probably a lot more.”

Why did it seem like everything bad that could happen had to happen?

I clicked my tongue and let out a sigh. The black creatures were already causing me to feel nervous, and now I had to start paying attention to mutants as well. This was not good.

I stroked my chin gently. “Any signs of stage-two mutations?”

“I couldn’t tell the difference between stage-one and stage-two mutations just by the tracks they left behind. They’re just too many variants amongst the mutants. Remember the stage-two mutant in Grand Children’s Park? It was small. It’s impossible to tell the mutants’ stage by their tracks alone.”

“Then, assuming that all of the tracks were made by stage-one mutants, how many do you think there are? Just give me a rough estimate.”

"I have no clue… There were just too many… I couldn’t even count them all.”

When I killed the dong leader of Hwayang-dong, hundreds of zombies lost their link to him. All of them were zombies that were primed to mutate, so Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had them moved into our zombie prisons.

But that wasn’t the end.

The zombies that had been left over after our fight with the dong leaders of Guui-dong, Jayang-dong and the remaining enemies in the vanguard were there as well.

The zombie prisons in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong had been swarming with zombies. If even a third of the zombies in the Majang-dong zombie prison had become mutants… That meant that there were well over three hundred of them.

And if these mutations had occurred in a confined area, it was safe to assume that a lot of them had turned into stage-two mutants as well.

I couldn’t help but sigh. A single mistake had resulted in an irreversible situation. I felt my mind going blank.

I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“What’s up with the underlings that you brought with you? Where’d you get them?” 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹．𝐨𝐫𝗴

“I had to get more underlings from Haengdang-dong. I felt like I didn’t have enough, so I had to get more somehow. Sorry for going there without giving you notice.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s tone was dispirited. He knew that the situation had gotten worse because of him.

I sighed and slicked my hair back. I had no clue how to make myself feel better. I chewed on my lower lip as I pondered the situation.

‘I won’t get anywhere thinking about this by myself.’

I let out a breath and spoke to the leaders around me.

“If everyone could take a seat, we’ll begin today’s meeting."

* * *

The meeting went smoothly.

Between the black creature and the mutants, we had all the reasons in the world for us to strengthen our vigilance.

We decided to assign the underlings belonging to Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I to keep a close watch on the outskirts of Gwangjang-dong. The guards who had been patrolling the outskirts of Gwangjang-dong, would be pulled back to the perimeter of the hotel.

As for the supplies that we’d received from the survivors in Gangnam, we decided to keep an eye on them for the time being.

If they had given us the supplies with any ulterior motives in mind, they would be the ones to make the first move. There was no reason for us to make the first move when we didn’t have any concrete evidence of their intentions.

After all of this, we discussed Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye’s wedding. Lee Jeong-Uk suggested that there was no reason to delay any further, and that it should be held the next day. Most of the leaders seemed to agree with this suggestion.

I knew that Lee Jeong-Uk wanted Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye to have a perfect wedding. However, in the world that we inhabited, it was impossible to have a day that was free of worry. In the end, we decided to move forward with the ceremony before it got delayed any further.

After the meeting, I left the hotel. The howling wind from the Han River flowed over and around me. The cold air seemed to soothe my troubled heart.

I wasn’t sure how to express the feelings within me.

It was impossible to describe.

All the survivors were trying their best to live each and every day, dedicating their lives and sacrificing themselves for the sake of others. They were protecting my daughter while providing her with the experience of living as a human being and having emotional security.

I felt fortunate that there were so many survivors, but at the same time, their expectations of me weighed me down.

Their lives depended on what I did.

It was a tremendous burden for a single person to bear.

There was Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and the guards… But they were also depending on me. My choices directed their thoughts and their actions.

I was getting tired… Tired of the fact that each choice I made had to be the right one.

I sighed and pressed my fingers gently against my temples.

"Oh? It’s daddy! Daddy!”

I heard So-Yeon’s voice, looking for me.

I turned around and saw So-Yeon dressed in thick winter clothing, walking toward me, accompanied by Han Seon-Hui. It seemed just yesterday when she was toddling around, but she had grown a lot taller over the past few months.

I greeted So-Yeon with a gentle smile as she ran toward me.

“So-Yeon, why are you outside? You should get some more sleep.”

“Daddy, I had a scary dream.”

So-Yeon grabbed my thighs and made a sad face. I stroked her hair and looked at Han Seon-Hui.

Han Seon-Hui smoothed her clothes as she walked over to me. She looked very groggy, as if she had just woken up.

“Did you wake up because of So-Yeon?”

“She came crying, saying that she’d had a scary dream.”

“My apologies.”

Han Seon-Hui smiled gently in reply.