𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬《 Philippines CountryHumans AU 》

ii.

"Philip!!" Martial shrieked, earning a squeak from Philip who was lounging on the couch. Martial was aggressively reading through a certain article that had gone viral. "Get over here!"

"W-what is it?" Philip mentally screamed at himself. Of course he knew what it was! It was the picture!! And Martial knew about it!!!

"What. The hell. Is this?!" The streets could practically hear Martial's yell as his glare hardened at his brother. Philip gulped.

"Erm..." Philip mumbled, shrinking into his collar. "A photo?"

"A photo of you," Martial corrected frustratedly before sighing. "How did this happen?"

Philip finally gave in, explaining what had happened the night before. He looked down at his lap, fumbling with his fingers. Martial sighed, softened his gaze, and sat down next to him, patting his back lightly.

"Look, I'm not mad at you. Any of this isn't your fault. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. But you are going to get a lot of interested eyes on you. Whether those eyes are good or bad, I'll be beside you the entire way, okay?" He smiled softly, and Philippines couldn't help but return the gesture.

Later that day, Philip decided to read more into that article out of pure curiosity. He wanted to know what the media thought about his 'revival'. Perhaps they were delighted about it? Or were they frightened? He wanted to know.

'BREAKING NEWS. Deceased Country Leader Philippines found alive'

As much as this title screamed 'clickbait', it was certainly true. Philip glanced at the view count of how many views this article had and almost metaphorically choked on his spit when he saw the number 1 billion.

'Deceased Country Leader Philippines was spotted walking in ** street at 10pm yesterday night.'

Was it 10pm? Even Philip didn't know it was that late.

'The deceased Country Leader has been dead for 2 years after being murdered by an assassin that had sent him a death threat a week before.'

Eyes widening, Philip could feel himself bite his bottom lip subconsciously. As much as he wanted details on how he died, he was hear to see if the media was content with having an undead person walk around carefree. Philip was going to get more details on his death after he dealt with the media.

He scrolled down before stopping and began reading once more.

'Sandhya Brigitta, a local from the same city where the Country Leader has been spotted, stated, "It is truly a miracle that our Leader has been reborn. We should celebrate his reincarnation because we won't know how long it lasts."'

'In another interview from a former general who has opted to stay anonymous stated, "This is preposterous! We can't let an undead roam our streets freely! Trauma changes people, and death is a strong enough trauma to make a monster out of the kindest people. I believe-"'

That's enough internet today.

Philip sighed and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wanted to just scream at the situation he was in, but nothing came out of his mouth. Groaning, he stood up and opted to go to his room.

Philip doubled over, engulfed by the softness of the mattress. He was annoyed, exhausted, and really really lonely. He wanted to tell someone about his problem, but he didn't want to risk it.

This was a problem for him. He cared too much. Martial, in his universe at least, said that it would make him the happiest person in the world... at the cost of his life. But that didn't stop him, he couldn't help it either way.