Apocalypse: Apparently, I Can See Zombies

Chapter 14- A Young Chaebol

Inside the office, Sung-ho picked up the brown pill bottle and glanced at the label. After confirming they were indeed the pills his son used, he smiled and turned to leave.

He didn't find any money but at least he found these pills.

Sung-ho left the room and decided to head out to a local bar he frequented. Walking over to the expensive-looking coffee table between the couch and the TV perched on the wall, Sung-ho unscrewed the pill bottle and after turning it over in his palm, he raised the palm to his mouth and swallowed the pills.

He neither looked at the pills for a final confirmation nor counted how many he was swallowing, maybe the number was three or four?

Sung-ho shook a few of the upturned beer cans that littered the expensive wooden table. After finding one that still had some content inside, he drank it to get the pills down.

With a clang Sung-ho then tossed the empty beer can onto the table, but due to his off throw the beer can merely hit the edge of the table and then rolled onto the ground, adding to the ones already there. However, Sung-ho had already turned to leave. After wearing a tracksuit jacket on the rack next to the exit he finally left the house.

The pills were already forgotten by him on the small end table next to the couch.

….

…

..

Jin-woo lived among the wealthier houses in Itaewon's upscale residential area. Though even among these houses his own stood out for being one of the bigger ones.

However, despite being a large house it had an old feel to it. The red bricks that made up the outside wall and the house itself made it seem like it was built two decades ago. The trees against the wall as well as the vine bushes spilling over for passersby on the narrow road to see didn't help either.

But with that said, the perfectly arranged red bricks did give the house a somewhat elegant and sophisticated feeling.

Jin-woo's house wasn't the only one with this design in the area too, so this particular street gave off the sense of a uniform feeling when walking by.

After making his way past his neighbor's luxurious-looking cars parked next to their houses, Jin-woo reached his front gate. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three sets of keys, about to use one to open the gate. However, when he was about to put the key inside the lock, the faint sound of a car stopping behind him was heard.

An all-black Kia Mohave SUV had suddenly stopped behind him. Inside were a few kids that looked even younger than Jin-woo. One had to wonder why such young kids were driving.

"Is that him?"

One of the youths in the back seat of the car asked while looking out the window at Jin-woo.

"Yeah, that's him."

Confirmation came from the youth driving the car before a crack suddenly echoed out next to Jin-woo.

Jin-woo's hand holding the key froze and he glanced to the side to see that someone behind him had thrown an egg at him that shattered on the wall next to him. It had slightly startled him, but he didn't let it show outwardly. He calmly turned around, just in time to see the car speeding off with the youths inside wearing wicked grins on their faces.

"Damn freak! My Mom was going to buy that house for me!!"

The youth driving the car yelled as he looked back at Jin-woo out the window. However, because he wasn't looking at the road while driving, he unintentionally swerved close to a passerby who had to throw herself to the ground to get out of the way.

The girl was wearing a white mask that covered her face, but it was evident from her sudden curse that she was shocked by the car almost hitting her.

Jin-woo paused and waited for the lady to approach before asking.

"Are you okay?"

Jin-woo's voice was slightly muffled due to him still wearing his mask.

The lady looked over at Jin-woo and said with a smile behind her own mask.

"Oh, thank you, I'm fine."

Hearing her voice, Jin-woo unconsciously deduced her age to be around her early to mid-twenties. He then looked down at the slightly blurry object in the girl's hand.

The girl saw this and also realized that Jin-woo was about to enter this large house. She hurriedly said.

"I was just filming the area for a video to post on my channel, if you don't want me to film your house then I can delete this part."

Jin-woo nodded but then shook his head.

"I'll appreciate it if you didn't add my face in particular, but you misunderstand."

Pointing above his head and at the end of the street where there were cameras, he then added.

"The cameras here are too blurry. The person who nearly hit you just now is the third son of the SLB Group's CEO, I can't see clearly at the moment, but I recognize his voice. He also lives a few houses down and he's only thirteen."

Jin-woo said no more than this as he lowered his hand, but the girl seemed to understand his intentions as her eyes momentarily lit up before she looked down at the camera in her hand which had never stopped recording.

The girl then looked up at Jin-woo and thanked him for a second time.

"Thank you."

"Hm, just remember to cut me out of the video."

The girl nodded vigorously before she turned and rushed off in the direction she came from.

Whether she filed a lawsuit or sold the footage to a thirsty publication, Jin-woo didn't know what she would do, but either was fine for him as long as he wasn't involved.

Jin-woo watched the girl leave before he turned and went to place the key into the gate's blurry keyhole. However, as he did, the gate he thought was locked suddenly swung open.

Jin-woo stood frozen looking at this scene with his hand in the air. However, he could only sigh at the carelessness before entering and locking the gate behind him.

Walking on the small pathway marked by flat stones, Jin-woo reached his front door and punched in a four-digit code to open it. After entering his home, he took off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack nearby.

While walking to his room on the second floor, Jin-woo glanced at the couch. Thankfully, his father had gone out, perhaps to a bar.

Jin-woo was about to walk past this area, but through his blurry vision, he spotted something on the end table. What he thought he saw caused him to frown slightly.

He walked over and picked up the object from the end table. Sure enough, it was his pills. Jin-woo could tell from the bottle's design without him having to try and read the label with his blurry eyesight.

"He's not even trying to hide the fact that he's taking my pills anymore."

He had noticed that his pills were being opened by someone around a month ago. He didn't particularly have any notion of finding out who it was and just accepted it. But a little over a week ago he happened to enter his bathroom and saw his father going through his cabinet.

Perhaps out of shame for being caught in the act, he lashed out and Jin-woo suffered a blow to his side. The bruise on his torso was a result of that.

Gripping the pill bottle, Jin-woo contemplated whether to take it with him or leave it here. He didn't know if his mother knew his father was taking his pills, he hadn't brought it up to her.

After a while of deliberating, Jin-woo decided to take the pill bottle with him. Perhaps this was only an insignificant effort to stop his father from taking more pills, but deep down he truly wished his father would get better.

On the second floor, Jin-woo put the pills back in the cabinet. He searched inside and confirmed that these were the ones he had pulled himself and placed at the front. There was one more at the back with the seal tag torn that his father was taking.

After closing the cabinet, Jin-woo went to work washing his bloodied uniform and taking a shower right after.

With the door to his room tightly shut, Jin-woo lay on his bed reading webcomics in his glasses. This one in particular he was reading was quite long. It was a typical hero's journey about a boy with a special bloodline rising through the ranks of an academy and fighting terrifying demons that plague the world.

Even as the sun went down and night came, Jin-woo was still reading. He only stopped when his stomach grumbled in complaint.

After cooking something from the ingredients in the fridge, Jin-woo ate alone at the dinner table. His eyes were still glued to his phone while his finger continuously scrolled upward.

For anyone else this large and eerily silent house would have unnerved them, but Jin-woo had gotten used to it. He actually preferred it this way.

After he finished eating, Jin-woo washed the dishes and headed back to his room. He continued reading his comic until he fell asleep with his phone still in his hand and his glasses slightly crooked on his face.