The Night's Mercy
Thinking about what Dokyung had done, she should have tied him up so tightly that he couldn’t move an inch and left him behind. But if he never came back, what would happen to Boyeon?
Imagining herself slowly dying in agony—her flesh necrotizing from lack of blood flow, starving to death—Boyeon decided it would be better to follow him. Being left alone like that felt, in some ways, more terrifying than death itself.
“But… you’re only doing this because you can come back alive, right…?”
“Don’t make a sound. Just follow me closely.”
He spoke casually. It was clearly an extremely dangerous and serious matter, yet his tone suggested it was no big deal. Perhaps her life meant just as little to him. Boyeon grabbed his hand once more and clung to it desperately.
“Please… save me…”
“……”
In the end, it was a handshake. Seeing Boyeon on the verge of tears stirred a strange thirst in him, and an impulse took hold. Without offering any safety measures, he simply seized her small hand and yanked her forward.
And so Boyeon was dragged into the lawless zone’s night with nothing but a warning not to make noise and to follow closely.
“……”
The night, stripped of all light, evoked a massive sense of dread. Having only ever known Seoul’s usually bright nightscape, Boyeon was thrown off by how pitch-black everything was.
All the artificial lights that once adorned Seoul’s nights had vanished. Of course, not even nature’s light was completely gone. But neither humans nor nocturnal animals could see anything in total darkness without a single ray of illumination.
The word “night” didn’t necessarily mean complete darkness. Streetlights, car headlights, and indoor lighting had disappeared, but moonlight, starlight, and the diffused glow of the night sky still existed.
However, human eyes were more developed for cone cells—which distinguish color—than rod cells, which detect light. As a result, night vision was extremely poor. It wasn’t that they couldn’t see anything at all, but in darkness like this, only vague shapes right in front of them were barely visible.
Boyeon couldn’t understand Dokyung.
How could he walk so steadily, without the slightest hesitation?
He seemed perfectly accustomed to this kind of night, but she was not. Boyeon realized how complacent she had been. It was largely Dokyung’s fault. He had spoken so casually that she had assumed everything would be fine as long as she simply stayed quiet.
But the moment she stepped outside, it was as if she had lost her sight entirely. She knew there would be zombies scattered everywhere, but she couldn’t gauge their positions. Whenever a human-like shape brushed past in the darkness, she barely managed to swallow a scream. Even the chirping of insects in the grass sounded eerie.
The only thing Boyeon could rely on was Dokyung’s hand as he strode ahead. The more she followed him, the more her mind went blank, and that hand became her only desperate anchor. If Dokyung let go of her hand now, there would be nothing she could do. She would be as good as dead. With her faith in him still so fragile, it felt like she could burst into tears at any moment.
Her sweat-slicked palm clung desperately to his. She had no choice but to hold on for dear life. The hand of the man who had shown her nothing but merciless threats had become her sole hope. From her small hand that clung to him so earnestly, begging him not to let go, it was as if she could hear her own voice.
I hate this. I’m scared. Please save me. Please save me. Please save me…
It was the moment his cool lips twisted into a cruel smile.
Dokyung’s destination was surprisingly close. Even though they had walked carefully, it took less than five minutes. But because of how tense she was, Boyeon felt as if it had taken several times longer.
“We’re here.”
“No… hah… please, I’m scared…”
When Dokyung closed the door behind them and stepped into the sealed interior, releasing her hand, Boyeon clung to him in a panic, nearly collapsing.
Click. A flashlight turned on. Boyeon’s trembling face was soaked with tears.
Dokyung examined her damp face and clicked his tongue inwardly. He hadn’t even begun taming her, yet her already weak will seemed completely shattered. Her face, pale with terror, looked so docile and fragile that it stirred his thirst once again. At this rate, if he told her to open a hole, she would probably spread herself obediently.
“Hic… haa… hah…!”
But her breathing sounded strange. It wasn’t just crying—her breath was caught, rough. Her chest heaved violently. Boyeon stammered an explanation.
“A-asth… hah… I have… asthma… hah…”
“……”
She was so delicate and pitiful that it seemed like she would shatter into pieces if he simply clenched his fist. Dokyung felt as if he were crushing her heart with his own hand.
“Breathe.”
His cool, low voice rang out, sickeningly sweet. He pulled her close and slowly stroked her back, guiding her breathing. Her soft body burrowed into his chest like a frightened young animal. Her ragged, precarious gasps gradually calmed under his lead.
“Haa… haa…”
Still, her chest felt tight, and she couldn’t fully relax.
“H-how can anyone… walk around at night… when it’s this dark…”
Boyeon asked, visibly confused.
“My eyesight’s good.”
Dokyung tapped lightly under his eyes as he spoke. Boyeon still looked like she couldn’t understand.
“Even so… night vision is a completely different issue…”
“My night vision is pretty good too.”
“……”
It was said that the human limit for visual acuity was around 6.0. Among birds with excellent eyesight, an ostrich could supposedly see up to 20 kilometers, which translated to roughly 25.0. Boyeon, whose vision was about 1.0, couldn’t even fathom what that level of eyesight truly meant.
But night vision was an entirely separate matter. Even ostriches with their absurd daytime vision had terrible night vision.
Yet Dokyung claimed to have both excellent eyesight and excellent night vision. Was that even possible?
Of course it was. There were rare cases of humans born with exceptionally developed rod cells, granting them superior night vision. Add in the fact that he was an Immune, and the probability became astronomically low—but not impossible.
“Y-your eyes are that good… and you’re an Immune…?”
“You could say that.”
“……”
When Boyeon realized that being an Immune also meant he was safe from zombie attacks—except for Mutants—her vision swam. The man before her could move freely during the day or night, completely unhindered by the hordes of zombies infesting the streets. He could act purely on his own whims.
It had to be an incredible amount of freedom. Enough to live almost like he had before, even in this hellish wasteland. She couldn’t even begin to measure how valuable that was in a situation like this.
Boyeon felt a mix of envy and a faint trace of fear. Dokyung’s expression barely changed, making it impossible to read his thoughts. He simply stared at her with indifferent eyes as she continued to pant, then asked about the most immediate need.
“Inhaler?”
“…I ran out.”
“What kind did you use?”
“Powdered… bronchodilator…”
Boyeon answered blankly, repeating whatever he asked. She felt ashamed of the small spark of hope that rose when she wondered if he might help her. Even if it was easy for him, he had no obligation to do it.
“With symptoms like asthma attacks, you probably wouldn’t have lasted long. Most of it should still be around.”
“……”
His words both pointed out how difficult it would be for her to survive alone and implied that he would help. Just thinking about the inhaler made her feel like she was going through withdrawal; she kept biting her lip anxiously. Her eyes stung, and her heart trembled weakly.
Inhalers were common enough to find in any pharmacy. If Dokyung went alone, he could raid a pharmacy or hospital and return in no time.
But in the current situation, Boyeon was still “baggage.” It would be easier to leave her behind, but if he pried her off now, her symptoms might worsen.
With no other choice, Dokyung decided to take her with him.
He stepped onto a chair and reached for the ceiling. When he pushed against the relatively thin wall, a space designed for running electrical wires was revealed.