“...Really? Your brother is seriously amazing.”
“Right? Anyway, thanks to our boss Junho, not just , Sunny, and Yuna, but everyone else at our shelter was able to survive too.”
At so point, Park Deokcheol had started attaching the modifier our whenever he referred to Junho, and he went on proudly.
“Honestly, when I first t him, he scared the hell out of too. Right in front of , he was hacking up those punk gangsters with a knife, and it was horrifying. But when I think about it, if our boss Junho hadn’t saved us back then, I would’ve died, and Sunny and Yuna would’ve... whew....”
Park Deokcheol shuddered, unable to finish the sentence.
“Ugh....”
Including Cherry—Ahn Yujeong—the three Blossom mbers all went pale as if it were sothing that had happened to them personally.
As won and idols themselves, they could easily imagine what would have happened.
Lee Chaerin in particular, who had nearly gone through sothing similar today, wrapped both arms around herself and shivered. Then, as if suddenly rembering sothing, she hurriedly asked Park Deokcheol,
“But Ducky... the place where you, Sunny, and Yuna are living. Your shelter. Is it really safe there? Is it a good place to live?”
“Yeah. Seriously, from the bottom of my heart, it’s safe. First off, it’s surrounded by mountains, and we’re the only ones there. The walls are high, there’s barbed wire, and we monitor the place twenty-four seven with CCTV and drones.”
“And what else?”
“Like I said, you don’t have to worry about food at all. There’s enough food piled up in the freezer warehouse to last, like, twenty years? Thirty years? A crazy long ti. We also raise chickens and farm in a greenhouse and vinyl greenhouses. We’re even growing fruit trees.”
“Woooow....”
“Then what about the people? What are the people living there like?”
At Ahn Yujeong’s question, the other mbers all nodded eagerly at the sa ti.
What had happened today was part of it, but as top female idols at the peak of their popularity, they had been under constant threat and danger ever since the world had turned into this.
“Well, you already know Sunny and Yuna, so I’ll skip them. First off, there’s Junhyeok—Boss Junho’s actual younger brother, the one you saw earlier. He’s a good guy too. Ah, and these days he’s got a girlfriend, and that is... ah.”
Park Deokcheol had been enthusiastically explaining the shelter people, including Junhyeok, when he suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
“Why, Ducky?” Ahn Yujeong tilted her head.
Looking apologetic, Park Deokcheol said, “Well... I an, even so, it doesn’t feel right telling an outsider. I’m sorry. If it were up to , I’d tell you, but... yeah. I’m really sorry.”
“No, no. I’m the one who asked without thinking. Anyway, they’re all nice people, right?”
“For real. They’re all good people. Ah, except for one person.”
“One person? W-who is it?”
Ahn Yujeong asked with a slightly frightened look.
“He’s not a bad person, just... kind of weird?”
For so reason, Park Deokcheol thought of Yoon Youngsu, who, whenever he saw him and his younger sister Park Sunhee, had to struggle not to laugh before abruptly turning his head away. Deokcheol shrugged.
“He’s a nerd. A nerd. Total computer geek. But he listens to Boss Junho really well. And he’s always in the computer room, so other than altis you barely even see his face. Anyway, he’s weird, but he’s definitely not a bad guy.”
“I see....”
The Blossom mbers nodded hard.
A geek did not sound particularly dangerous, and anyway, with that “Brother Junho” they had seen earlier around, it felt like everything would sohow work out.
'He was kind of scary, but so cool....'
'He even looked really handso.'
Even LD and Kelvin—whose personalities were so rotten that the other entertainers avoided them—had been completely helpless in front of Junho, not like cats, but like mice in front of a tiger.
More than that, even Kang Baekho—the owner of this resort and the man at the very top here—had taken a deferential posture with him.
That had been a major shock to the Blossom mbers.
And that shock quickly turned into strong favor toward Junho, which was only natural.
If the world had not turned out like this, maybe it would have been different. They probably would have just been afraid of him and avoided him.
But now there were zombies roaming around eating people.
And this had beco a terrifying world where safety could not be guaranteed even in a place like this, where large numbers of people lived together—including fellow entertainers.
In a world like this, the thought that the best way to survive safely was to stick close to soone strong was sothing anyone would have, regardless of gender.
And if that “strong soone” was a person Park Deokcheol—soone they knew and trusted well—followed with absolute sincerity, then there was even less to say.
'I’m jealous of Ducky....'
'If only we’d been with Junix and Psyche Flare back then....'
'I hate this place now. I’m scared. I want to see Mom and Dad.'
The Blossom mbers were all drooping gloomily, lips pushed out as if they might burst into tears at any second, when suddenly the door flew open.
“Ah!”
They all jumped in alarm, then relaxed.
“Girls, are you okay!?”
The person who practically ran inside was Kim Youngmi, Kang Baekho’s girlfriend and their superstar senior from the entertainnt industry.
“Senior Somi’s here.”
“Hello, senio— ah!”
Lee Chaerin had barely managed to clasp her hands and bow at the waist when Kim Youngmi pulled her into a tight hug and made a huge fuss.
“Chaerin, are you really okay? I heard that crazy bastard Kelvin tried to pull sothing on you. That son of a bitch! That filthy psycho—how dare he!”
“I-I’m okay, Senior. Nothing happened thanks to Ducky.”
“Oh, right!”
Kim Youngmi, who had been holding Chaerin by the shoulders and anxiously looking her up and down, whipped her head toward Park Deokcheol.
“You’re Ducky from Junix, right? You rember ? We t once a long ti ago.”
“Ah, yes, of course I rember, ma’am. Have you been well? I’m glad you’re safe.”
The fact that a star like her recognized him—a washed-up nobody idol—moved Park Deokcheol a little, and he bowed his head.
“I’m glad you’re safe too, kid. And seriously, seriously, thank you. My boyfriend told everything. Ugh, because of those crazy bastards... ah, Mr. Junho, I’m sorry. I got too upset.”
Junho, who had entered after her, shook his head.
“It’s fine, ma’am. But if you don’t mind, could I talk with them for a bit?”
“Of course, of course. I just ca to check whether the girls were alright. Girls? Mr. Junho says he has sothing he wants to tell you.”
“Ah, yes.”
The Blossom mbers, who had been thinking about Junho just monts earlier, hurriedly straightened their clothes and folded their hands neatly.
They were already in the third year since debut, top-tier idols who had been hugely popular not only in Korea but overseas before the world fell apart.
And yet they felt as if they had been sent back to their trainee days to be evaluated. Lining up side by side with tense expressions, they waited for Junho to speak.
“You really don’t need to be that scared. Why don’t we all sit down first?”
Thinking they were afraid of him because of the horrifying incident and because they had just watched a man’s face get smashed in until he passed out right in front of them, Junho spoke calmly.
Even Yoon Seolhee, who did not particularly like the entertainers at the resort, had judged the Blossom mbers—along with Park Sunhee and Jo Yuna, who were idols themselves—to be kind and hardworking.
That made them excellent candidates for the Dolswe’s lineup together with Park Sunhee.
On top of that, each of them had a different specialty.
“Ms. Lee Chaerin, you have licenses for a forklift and an excavator? I don’t know much about that sort of thing, but how did you end up getting those...?”
Junho found it hard to believe that an idol who looked like a high school student, even though she was twenty-one this year, could hold heavy equipnt licenses.
“Ah, well. When I was a rookie, I got really lucky and landed a variety show where we built houses for viewers, right? And then one of the company directors and the PD told that if I wanted to beco a regular, I had to work really, really hard. So I started going to lessons at dawn and learned. It was fun too. But, like, I’m good at driving forklifts and excavators, but I can’t drive a normal car.”
“I see. And you still operate forklifts here too?”
“Yes, yes. I did today too. I was working with a forklift.”
Lee Chaerin, whose manner of speaking was as distinctive as the licenses she held, nodded vigorously.
“Understood. And Ms. Ahn Yujeong, you have a costology license?”
“Yes! I learned that too while filming a NewTube web variety show when I was still a rookie.”
“And Joan... you worked on a fishing boat in Taiwan?”
“Yes. My father ran a fish farm. Since I was little, I went out on boats and caught a lot of fish.”
“Ah....”
No wonder he had wondered what kind of mariti work a foreign idol who was only nineteen could possibly be good at.
Of course, their shelter did not particularly need soone whose specialty was fishing.
There was no reason for them to be taking a boat out to sea, and as far as fishing itself went, Park Deokcheol—“Texas Number One”—was more than enough.
Still, being used to fish-farm work and fishing-boat labor, which was hard even for most n, ant she had excellent stamina and the ability to work hard at almost anything.
“All three of you are pretty impressive. Anyway, I’d like to make you an offer. Of course, if you don’t want to or you don’t feel like it, you can refuse. It’s not forced.”
“Yes....”
The Blossom mbers stared at Junho, nerves wound tight.
Could it be that this man also wanted to—
“My shelter needs people to work there. As you know, Seonhee and Yuna from Psyche Flare are living and working there too. The main work is farming in the vinyl greenhouse and up in the mou—”
“We’ll go!”
“We’ll work hard at anything!”
“We really want to go, brother!”
“...???”
The answers exploded out all at once, and Junho was left dumbfounded.
***
Far more easily than he had expected, Junho secured his Dolswe’s candidates and relayed the result to Kang Baekho.
Even though they were outsiders, they were still people who had survived at his resort, so Kang Baekho had wondered whether it was really okay to hand people over however he pleased. But the mont he heard that the Blossom mbers themselves strongly wanted to go of their own free will, he lit up.
More than anything, it was not just the three female idols going alone. Four mbers of the resort combat unit, led by Yoon Seolhee, would be going with them, so there was not much to worry about.
It was true that this would reduce the number of experienced combat personnel on his side.
But in exchange, Junho had agreed to provide air guns and tens of thousands of pellets, surveillance drones and several remote-controlled ground attack drones, along with seeds and dicine. If anything, that made the deal slightly favorable for Kang Baekho’s side.
Still, between equal parties in this world, it was impossible for only one side to profit unilaterally.
More than that, Junho was a younger brother Kang Baekho cherished, and the one who had stepped in to help Kangho Resort first without asking for anything in return.
That was why—
“By now, Lieutenant Kim Sunwoo and Sergeant Oh Yongmok should have reached Deokso. So we need to get ready right away too.”
“We should.”
Kang Baekho naturally agreed with Junho’s proposal that they should deal with the Daeseong syndicate first, for the sake of everyone’s safety and survival.
“But are about ten people really enough? You said there are still over fifty gangsters there, and if you add in the n they scraped together from all over the place, it’s what—around four hundred?”
Kang Baekho frowned as he recalled the information they had gotten from the forr and current police officers they had smuggled into the resort disguised as corpses, as well as from Lee Ujung, the Daeseong syndicate action leader whom Junho had left barely alive.
“It’d be difficult with just us, yes. The apartnt complex security over there is on a pretty serious level too.”
Golden Heights, a luxury apartnt complex where even the smallest units were over forty pyeong, had been strict about security from the start.
Legally, they should not have been able to build the periter the way they did, but through every workaround and shady favor imaginable, it had ended up that way—and then the apocalypse hit, and they had basically turned it into a fortress.
And now, dozens of gun-carrying gangsters and several hundred n who were practically their subordinates were stationed there.
With only around ten people, it would be close to impossible.
“Major Lee Seokjin’s unit will move soon.”
“Really? But what if they’ve already started sothing? They might’ve gotten into it already and lost.”
“No. He’s an extrely cautious man. I don’t think that happened.”
Even when moving through mountain trails, Major Lee Seokjin was the kind of commander who secured safety first by sending up drones at every stage before advancing. When it ca to military operations, he was ticulous.
Junho was sure a man like that would not have launched an attack recklessly.
“They’re not exactly flush with ammo either, so they’ll make a complete plan before they act. They’ll have to end it decisively in one shot, no matter what.”
“That makes sense. So we’re going to look for an opening while that major’s unit is fighting the gangsters?”
“Yes. I know that unit’s radio channel and frequency. They’ll probably welco it if I cut in.”
Though it had only been for a short ti, Major Lee Seokjin and his unit had fought alongside him, and a kind of comradeship had ford between them. The soldiers still stationed in Yeongho 2-ri also remained on good terms with the shelter.
They were, in every sense, fully friendly forces.
“Manager Yoon Seolhee still needs treatnt, so she’s out. Then I guess it has to be...”
At Kang Baekho’s words, Junho’s eyes naturally shifted in the direction he was looking.
“Yes, I’ll go.”
As he spoke, Park Cheolwoo—forrly a Special Forces master sergeant who had participated multiple tis in “operations whose details still haven’t been declassified” alongside several special units and the National Intelligence Service—t their gaze with steady eyes.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Still worried, Kang Baekho asked the question, and Park Cheolwoo grinned.
“Now that I’ve got this, there’s no need to worry. If anything, they’re the ones who should be worried.”
Slung over his shoulder was the K2C1 assault rifle Junho had received from Major Lee Seokjin.
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