We put the second-stage mutant in the zombie prison in Majang-dong and hurriedly over to Shelter Seoul Forest.

On our way, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question.

‘Ahjussi, did you see Mood-swinger’s face?'

‘What about its face?'

'Didn't it look sad?'

When I thought about it, it had indeed made a sad face when we put it in the zombie prison, as if it didn’t want to be separated from Kim Hyeong-Jun.

I smacked my lips.

'So what are you trying to say?'

'That despite the way it acts, it still has a soft heart.'

'You already feel attached to it, don’t you?'

I asked my question with a slight smile, and Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with a sheepish one of his own.

‘At first it felt like raising a 3-year-old, but now it feels like raising a puppy.’

'A puppy?'

‘Yeah, it sits when I tell it to sit, stands up when I tell it to stand up, and lies down when I tell it to lie down. And the way it asks for treats; don’t you think it’s kind of cute?’

‘...’

I didn’t know what to say.

He sure had unique preferences.

I wondered if he had forgotten that the ‘treats’ he had been feeding the mutant were humans in zombie form. Or perhaps he just didn’t think much about that fact, now that the world was like this.

I sighed and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression grew slightly somber.

‘I know I sound strange. But I just feel bad for Mood-swinger as well.'

'Feel bad? Do you even have any idea how many people it’s killed so far?’

‘Well, it didn’t kill people of its own will. If you interpret it that way, Mood-swinger...