WARM

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WARM || TAEKOOK

Kook, a young and oddly introspective zombie, does not have a heartbeat and constantly craves human flesh. Especially brains, as he's able to 'feel alive' through experiencing the victims' memories when he eats them.

When he encounters Taehyung, a narcissistic asshole who strives to follow his father's footsteps but is failing gradually, a challenging but strangely warm relationship develops . . .

©minyo_2020

About seven years after the zombie apocalypse, Kook, a zombie, spent his days wandering around in an abandoned indoor shopping centre which is now filled with his fellow undead.

You might wonder; 'How did that happen?'

That answer never occurred. No one ever learned exactly what caused the undead to roam the earth- a plaque, scientific mishap, supernatural curse?- because Kook, and with him many others, simply couldn't remember, much as he can't remember his full name.

The lack of knowledge of the incident seven years ago has not been working in their favor, as they continuously lead to be misunderstood and are seen as a threat by those who call themselves 'The Living'. A post-apocalyptic society that is divided in multiple smaller clans over the city, armed with heavy weaponry and other crap to defend themselves with from the horrible plaque that had set loose these monstrous creatures.

Kook gradually avoided these clans as- how ironically it may sound- he wanted to stay alive . . . But that didn't make his life easy, wandering around with the constant crave for human flesh was actually extremely tiring. And the fact he was fully conscious, and cognitively intact, and very aware of what he was doing, made everything ten times worse.

Only able to make primitive utterances, he wasn't exactly in an ideal position to clear out his monstrous behavior towards innocent human beings who unfortunately waltzed into his reach. Because if he was, he would have apologized beforehand and explained it was exceedingly painful to be dead and alive at the same time. Eating human flesh made him feel warm and somewhat alive, but it was the brains what really drawn them.

Zombies, like Kook, love the grey matter because they transfer memories; the zombie gets a glimpse in a human life, and so long as the cranial contents are consumed, the victim won't join the ranks of the undead. (Eating brains: it's the right thing to do!) The brain was absolutely the best part according to Kook, the part that makes him feel human again.

With all those memories he temporarily unlocked, he tried to create a history for himself. A self-created version of the life he had been living for the past seven years. But it was never enough as the effect began to wear off after some time. It was like a drug for them, hence the compulsive desire to keep doing it.

However, Kook wasn't proud of all the memories he collected throughout the years, all the lives he had to take in order to get access to the brains. In fact, he rather nibbled on some leftovers than actually ending an innocent's life. But the time had come, he no longer could bear the painful cravings that coursed through his worn out body. He really needed a full on meal if he wanted to stay close to his consciousness. He didn't want to end up like the undead who are far gone.

Boneys . . .

Slender figures that were on top of the pyramid and killed anything with a heartbeat. Well, so did Kook, but that was different(?)

Boneys were more aggressive and showed over and over not to have remorse or gained anything from killing other than greed and satisfaction- unlike Kook and his zombie friends. Kook just wanted to be human again so bad; socializing with people, hanging out with friends, laughing, eating, drinking . . . listening to music, play stupid games.

Make memories, not steal them.

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