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You and Gwi-nam walked across the crosswalk, both walking in a comfortable silence until you both saw them.

Myeong-hwan and his 'friends.'

The small smile you wore as you walked dropped as soon as you saw them.

“Have fun,” You whispered to Gwi-nam, trying to keep the bitterness out of your tone. It seemed to work because he just gave you a small smile and ruffled your hair which you smacked him for. Ignoring the way his entire persona changed as he walked over to the group, you put your headphones on and turned your music up until you could no longer hear the chatter of the people around you before walking into the school and heading for your classroom, knowing the bell would be going off soon.

You arrived just as the warning bell went off and went to sit in your assigned seat next to the window beside Nam-ra. She was already there, early as always, and you gave her a small smile before sitting down, taking your headphones out and putting them away as well as turning your phone off completely and taking out your old one. Luckily, you hadn’t been caught not turning in your phone yet and Ms. Park continued to believe the phone you turned in each day without fail was your only phone.

You were a good student, why wouldn’t she believe you.

Ms. Park was one of the only people in the school - including the teachers - who never really looked at you based on who you were related to, which you were always grateful for.

You slipped your actual phone into your backpack just as all the other students started to flood into the classroom.

You saw one person in particular who walked in. She always sat behind you, relatively quiet and you only ever saw her hang around one person who you assumed was her close friend if not her boyfriend. You never really knew her or anything but you remembered her name from it being mentioned in passing. Hee-su.

You turned around as you saw her walk unsteadily to her desk which sat right behind Nam-ra. Her skin was as pale as ash and her face seemed lightly shiny with a thin layer of sweat. She clutched her stomach almost in pain.

“H-hey, are you okay?” You questioned her hesitantly. Rightly so as she looked up to you in a panic and stared at you with a slightly terrified look in her eyes.

“Yes,” she said almost too quickly. You felt hurt for a moment as you figured she was just scared of you because of your brother like so many others were until you saw the fear in her eyes. This wasn’t a fear directed at you but more of a fear of getting found out, of being caught. “Y-yes, I’m fine.” Her hand found its way back down where she almost imperceptibly caressed her sweatshirt covered stomach. You let out a silent gasp and she looked at you with an unbridled amount of terror when she realized you had figured it out.

You gave her a hesitant and small, but extremely genuine, smile as you slowly reached for the hand that she had resting on her desk to give it a small squeeze. She returned the smile after a moment of her face being in complete shock as she was completely shocked by your actions. You let her hand go and turned around just as you noticed two girls behind her putting on sweatpants underneath their skirts. You let out a small faint laugh as you did see them. Although you stopped doing that years ago, it was always a perk to know how to change your clothes in public even while wearing a full set.

A large group of boys gathered your attention once you turned back around and you watched them as they talked and laughed with each other. You didn’t bother listening to their conversation but you just watched as your arms formed a pillow on the desk for your chin to rest on and you dreamed about what it would be like to be a part of a group like that.

Suddenly, the girl you knew as On-jo stormed into the classroom, obviously annoyed, and threw a backpack at Cheong-san who just smirked at her as she sat down. You smiled lightly as you saw their interaction, they did this every single day without fail and you couldn’t help but find it endearing. Anyone with eyes could see that Cheong-san liked On-jo except for her apparently.

Even though you didn’t know any of the people in your class, you knew all of their names. Perks of being the outcast you guessed. You hardly had anyone to focus your attention on so you focused your attention on the people around you. You had Nam-ra but she was always absorbed into her schoolwork.

She had disclosed her insecurities and fears before: how she was scared to let her grades drop and her mom to get angry at her; how she was scared to open up to anyone else and get to know them because of how her mother would compare her to them as well as because she never really knew how; how she was hesitant to let you over to her house or even just tell her mom about you because she wasn’t sure how she would react to you being apart of the Yoon family. Though Nam-ra never judged you based on your family for even a second, she knew her mother would.

It hurt at times but you understood.

So you decided to get to know your classmates through your ears and their voices.

Getting snapped out of your thoughts when the right classroom door opened again, you noticed a familiar tall figure walk in and take his bag off before walking over to the group of boys who were still talking about a girl who worked at a store they had went to.

You heard Wu-jin make a comment about smelling his feet from across the classroom and you let out a small giggle.

One which caught the attention of the talked about boy and he looked over at you with his brown eyes. He shot you a small smile before walking over and draping his arms over the shoulders of Gyeong-su and Cheong-san.

“Then I’ll break his fingers-” Wu-jin started but was cut off as a familiarly irritating voice filled the air and Na-yeon walked in.

“Hey!” Unfortunately for Gyeong-su, he was sitting on her desk so he gained the full force of her wrath.

“Whoa. What the fuck?” Joon-yeong exclaims as Na-yeon walks up to them and he flinches slightly at her presence which you stiffle a laugh at, not bothering to pick your head up from your arms as you continue to watch them, waiting for what would happen next.

“Get off of there. You stink.” Na-yeon said to Gyeong-su and he got quickly got off, a little confused by her harsh demeanor.

“Oh, okay. My bad,” he said while getting up. “What’s the big deal? Sorry.” He tried to use his sleeve to wipe the surface of the desk off before she yanked her bag off and smacked his hand away.

“Cut it out! You’re so dirty,” she insulted.

Gyeong-su blinked once as he comprehended what she just said to him. “Hey, what the hell?” He asked, you could hear the slight trace of annoyance and hurt beneath the calm outer tone he portrayed.

Cheong-san came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him to prevent him from starting something in the classroom. “Hey, just let it go,” he said as the bell chimed.

“What the hell is your problem?” Wu-jin asked as he walked past her and she elbowed him in the ribs.

At the display of slight aggression, you lifted your head from your hands and Na-yeon noticed immediately. The fight went out of her eyes and she just stood there, looking at you fearfully as you sat back in your chair and glared at her with your arms crossed and your head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

The others did not seem to notice her lack of involvement in the argument anymore and continued asking her questions before Ms. Park entered the room. “Hey, you punks.” Her tone implied how tired she was of dealing with her students’ shit and you turned your head to the window to hide your slight smile at it. “Come on guys. Take your seats. Come on, move it!” She rolled her eyes as she got to her desk and placed her things down as the class finally settled down and everyone was in their seats.

“Hi there,” she said to the class, her face still portraying her annoyed face until she heard half of the class repeat her greeting back to her, some even waving childishly at her. She smiled. “Hi. Good morning. Time to hand in your phones, everyone!”

Starting with the front row, everyone stood up to hand their phones in and place them into the grey box with little numbered rectangular holes marking each one for the phones to fit in until the end of each day. Before you could even consider standing up, Nam-ra grabbed your phone from where it was placed on your desk and started walking towards Ms. Park’s desk with it. It was something she had offered to do the second day you had started chatting and considering each other to be friends and she had done it ever since.

After everyone had given their phones over, Ms. Park started speaking again. “Who’s in touch with Hyeon-ju?” Nobody answered but a few looked hesitant. “Nobody? So none of you have tried calling her today?”

Joon-yeong cleared his throat before speaking, “Uh, we cleaned the science lab together yesterday, but I haven’t seen her since.”

She sighed, “Okay, if anyone hears from her sometime within the next few days, let me know right away, okay?” Everyone nodded and replied with ‘Okay’s.’ She pulled one of the phones from the box and started doing something with it as she started going back to the topic of school. “Exams start soon, so get your acts together.”

You could see from in front of you the two “brothers” fighting as Wu-jin saw Dae-su holding his phone underneath the table when suddenly his and another phone, you guessed either On-jo’s or I-sak’s just based on location, rang out with a notification.

“I heard that,” Ms. Park let out a little groan of annoyance. “Hand over your phones, please.”

As Dae-su and I-sak stood up to go and turn their phones in, Dae-su made a show of holding onto his phone for dear life with two hands as Ms. Park tried to take it. It slipped from his grasp and she gave him a certain look as he backed away and gave a slight bow in apology.

Noticing one of the phones was not what she knew it should have been, Park took it out and saw it was On-jo’s number slot. “On-jo. This is your phone from last year.” The class snickered. “Take it please.” As On-jo did the walk of shame to replace her old and broken phone with her new and working one, Ms. Park placed the box in one of her drawers. “I will be back in a few minutes. Nam-ra, please watch over the class in my absence.”

Nam-ra gave a nod and Ms. Park smiled before walking out. True to her word, she was only gone for a few minutes before coming back in and starting the class.

For the majority of the class, you just drew little figures and doodles in the corner on your notebook, not writing much down and only paying attention through listening. Because your brother took this class last year, you would often sit down with him at the kitchen counter after school and do your homework with him. Being too skilled for your own grade, he would always print a copy of his work for you to do. You would whine and complain each time but it was nice to have something a bit more challenging - especially something like learning a new language as complex as English - since you were constantly bored in class.

Little did you know it would lead to you being bored in most of your classes the next year too. Oh well, at least you were fluent in English now.

“‘In fact, none of us are completely free from prejudice. We all have preconceived ideas about others.’” Ms. Park recited in English before switching back to Korean. “Here, ‘free from’ means the lacking in or unencumbered by. Anyone want to interpret this?” She started tapping on the wall as she waited for someone to volunteer. Just before she was about to pick someone to answer, the scraping of a chair against the granite floor was heard and you turned in your seat to look at Hee-su as she stood up. She looked even worse than she did before. “Okay. Hee-su?”

Ms. Park smiled in relief as she waited for her to respond only to get a shaky and quiet reply back. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay. Go.”

You gave Hee-su a reassuring smile when she looked down at you in a panic and you could see some of her anxiety melting off of her shoulders before she grabbed her bag and slowly walked - or wobbled - out of the classroom and in the direction of what you knew to be the nurse’s office.

Just as you were about to turn back around, your eyes caught on another’s. Su-hyeok sat there and was looking at you with a soft look in his eyes and his lips upturned into a small smile that he seemed to only have reserved for you based off of how you’ve seen him smile around his friends.

To be honest you weren’t sure if you should feel special or left out.

Giving him a small smile back, you turned back around in your seat just as the teacher called on Nam-ra to answer and she expressed her interpretation of the quote.

“The truth is, all of us have some sort of prejudice. We all have preconceptions about other people,” she said confidently and you looked down to hide your proud smirk while twirling your pencil around in your hands.

“Hmm, okay, nice,” Park praised before directing her attention to Su-hyeok who was drawing and smiling into his notebook, obviously not paying attention to what Nam-ra was saying or anything being taught. “Next, Bare-su. Stand up.”

Some of the students let out small giggles as they heard what she called him. “Yes?” he asked, unsure of why he was being called on.

“What’s with ‘Bare-su’?” She asked and he just stood there for a few moments in silence as he comprehended her words. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you ask, Joon-seong answered for him.

“It’s short for Barefoot Su-hyeok. Bare-su for short.”

“He hates wearing socks. He’s so weird about it,” Dae-su interjected after Joon-seong was finished before looking back at Su-hyeok and maintaining eye contact while saying, “I can smell it from a mile away,” and plugging his nose dramatically as his face scrunched up as if smelling something extremely gross.

You let out an airy laugh that you thought was quiet enough to not be heard, especially under the noise of your classmates laughing as well, but Dae-su practically gave himself whiplash from how fast he spun around to look at you in surprise.

It was no secret you were not the most expressive of people at the school, competing with Nam-ra for how little you showed most of the time.

Although just like her, it was a defense mechanism.

“Okay, Bare-su,” Ms. Park said after her own laughs had calmed down. “What did Nam-ra say a minute ago?” She interrogated and you could basically see how Su-hyeok froze under her gaze.

Dae-su, who still had been looking at you in shock, whipped back around to face forward when you caught his eye and gave him a small and unsure smile.

“Uh…” Su-hyeok started and you looked back over at him only to see him looking at you almost in a plea for help. You were sure to everyone else, though, it just looked like he was looking at Nam-ra.

The whole class mocked him and he smiled while rolling his eyes. “She was absolutely correct. A hundred percent,” he confidently stated and the class, including Ms. Park, all laughed at his attempt to get out of the situation.

“What was her absolutely correct answer then?” Ms. Park didn’t let up.

“Hmm… All right,” he started again and shot you one last hopeful look. “I-huh?”

Everything stopped when the left door slid open and a bloody Hyeon-ju walked into the classroom. A few students stood up and walked toward her before she collapsed onto the floor with Ms. Park just barely catching her. At that, everyone, including yourself, stood up and rushed over to the scene. You slid onto your knees to kneel beside your teacher, ignoring how your knees ached from the impact, and placed your fingers over her pulse to find her heartbeat extremely irregular; speeding up to a BPM of 160 then slowing back down to a 40.

“Her heartbeat is irregular, I’ve never felt or seen something like this. She is also sweating profusely despite being very cold. She should be covered with blankets to help sweat off whatever infection she’s contracted as well as taken to the hospital immediately.” You told Ms. Park in a low tone that only the people in the small circle surrounding the girl could hear.

Then, you could hear the soft and slurred words she was saying, leaning your head down closer to hear what they were.

“Ms. Park…” she whispered, her eyes unfocused and head lolling back despite being in Ms. Park’s arms.

“Yeah, it’s me. Do you recognize me?” Said woman asked.

“He grabbed me… The science teacher grabbed me and locked me up.”

Ms. Park, as well as most of the other students, had a shocked look on her face before she shook it off. “He locked you up? The science teacher? Mr. Lee Byeong-chan?”

“He tied me up…” Hyeon-ju sounded more slurred yet scared by the second as she continued with her story.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Na-yeon said arrogantly from behind the scene.

“Na-yeon, shut it,” you spoke out quietly while taking off your jacket and using it to cover Hyeon-ju’s startlingly still body. You assumed it must have been because of the shock.

Because of your concentration, you didn’t see the petrified look on Na-yeon’s face and how she bowed down slightly toward you.

“I suggest we take her to the infirmary at least, there you should call for an ambulance to come and get her so she can be put into more suitable hands,” you started to take over the situation since you could tell Ms. Park was obviously too shocked and shaken by what was happening that all she could do was hold Hyeon-ju in her arms. “Su-hyeok, you’re the strongest so you should carry her there,” you looked him in the eyes as you spoke and could see the determination lighting a fire within them. “On-jo, I-sak,” both girls stiffened at your voice being directed at them which you tried not to let affect you or your voice and continued with your instructions. “You two should go along with him and Ms. Park to be of any assistance they might need. The nurse is alone today so she might need help.”

Both girls nodded at your instructions and you quickly grabbed Hyeon-ju to help situate her onto Su-hyeok’s back. Just before they all left, you whispered a quick, “Be careful,” into Su-hyeok’s ear and he only gave a very mild nod before rushing off with the three girls.

You all sat there as you waited for the teacher and students to get back, most ignoring Ms. Park’s instructions of staying in your seats and doing your school work in favor of gossiping or playing cards with each other.

You sat with your headphones in and your music playing just loud enough to blare out the noise of everyone talking as you rested your head on your arms once again. When I-sak came in, you lowered your music and heard her talking about what happened with the girl.

“It’s no joke. She was biting people and thrashing around!” As you tried to gather all of her symptoms together and come up with a diagnosis, the closest thing you could come up with was just a cold with how little information you were given. The biting part didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Whatever the science teacher did to her must have been something extreme.

Before you knew it, the bell had rung and neither On-jo nor Su-hyeok had returned so you wrote a note on a sticky note for Su-hyeok and waited for everyone to leave the classroom. Nam-ra told you she would save a spot for you at your normal lunch table until you told her not to worry about it and you were more than likely just going to eat it while underneath the cherry blossom tree like you did most days anyways. She nodded in acknowledgement and gave you a smile and a wink as she saw the name written on the sticky note. Once everyone had left, you walked over to Su-hyeok’s desk and placed the sticky note on his desk. As you went to walk away, you noticed a drawing of the top half of a girl holding a flower in the top right corner of his open-notebook. She looked familiar but you couldn’t place your finger on it. Noticing the slight pang in your chest, you shook your head and just decided you would ask him about it when you guys were to call next; maybe even earlier if you could catch him when nobody was around.

After grabbing your lunch and heading down to the garden section where only a few people hung around during lunch, you situated yourself underneath the cherry blossom tree and started munching on your food. With your headphones in and your music playing, you were unable to hear the screams of terror that were slowly getting louder as they approached you.

As you leaned your head back against the tree trunk, the rhythmic beat of your favorite song playing through your ears and the rest of the world canceled out, you didn’t notice the horde getting closer.

~~~

| Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 |

The sound of screaming sounded from outside, and when you lifted your head you saw a swarm of students rushing towards the doors, the glass cracking as they slammed their fists against it to try to get in. “What the hell…?” You whispered to yourself, frozen in your spot as the glass shattered and the students fell to the floor in front of you. It wasn’t until you saw someone… or something that had once been a someone come running towards the lunch room, they seemed rabid, and you were stunned into silence when you saw one of these… things bite into someone, tearing their flesh from their neck, the chunk of skin dangling from the mouth of this once student. 

“Come on! Move!” Cheongsan shouted as he grabbed the bag of your sweater, yanking you away from the doors and the hoard of students and used to be students. “Go! Go with Onjo!” He screamed, pushing you towards her as he pushed back the crazed students that had no emotions in their eyes, their teeth bared as they snapped at Cheongsan and anyone else that ran past them. 

“What the hell is going on?!” You screamed over the commotion in the lunch room as you and Onjo tried to find anywhere to go, a way to escape the chaos and the horror that was unfolding in front of your eyes. 

There was no response, and everything was moving so fast yet so slow as you both watched people that you used to chat with in the halls getting attacked by these vicious students, or pushed aside by other students that were just as scared trying to find a way out. “I… I don’t know… Cheongsan!!” She called out his name, calling him over as she pointed to a window, seemingly the only means to an escape from the lunchroom. 

“Go! Go go go!” He shouted back, rushing over to where you and Onjo stood, dodging everyone and everything that came towards him until he reached the both of you, pushing you both up through the window. “We have to get up to the classroom…” He panted out as he climbed through the window after you and Onjo. “Let’s go.” 

“Suhyeok…” You whispered, your heart sinking as you thought of your boyfriend that had left before you, hoping that he had made it to the classroom already, that he was safe. “What’s happening…?” 

Cheongsan shook his head, pushing you forward as Onjo tugged against the sleeve of your sweater, pulling you forward. “We can ask questions later, we need to get somewhere safe. Suhyeok is fine though… I’m sure of it.” The way his assuring words were simply tacked onto the end, it wasn’t as reassuring as you assumed they were supposed to be, but you didn’t really have the time to ask anything else or prod more as the sound of snarling and screaming grew closer, proving that whatever was going on, it was happening everywhere on the campus. 

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Cheongsan and Onjo slammed their fists against the door to the classroom as the hoard of used to be students rushed towards them. Gyeongsu quickly opened the doors, allowing them to come in and catch their breath. “You made it… Oh my god!” Suhyeok exclaimed when he saw the two bracing themselves against their knees, sweat dripping from their foreheads, but his smile quickly fell when he looked behind them and saw that you weren’t there. “Where’s Y/N?” 

His voice was flat, and his steps were quick, carrying him to the door to look out the windows, wishing to find you somewhere in the multitude of monsters, but also praying that you weren’t there, for your safety and his own sanity. “She was… she was right behind us…” Onjo stammered out, standing up straight and spinning around as if you’d miraculously show up right behind her or beside her. “I knew she was there… Right Cheongsan?” 

Cheongsans head nodded quickly, his eyebrows furrowed as he silently questioned where you could have gone, or what could have happened while the three of you were running up to the classroom. “She was, she really was. We had to run and… Maybe she got caught up somewhere… Maybe she’s hiding somewhere. She’ll be okay…” 

Suhyeok felt like his heart had fallen into the deepest pit of his stomach, his knees buckling as he leaned against the wall to hold himself up. “I need to go find her… She can’t be alone… She’s… I need to find her.” And, as if like a zombie himself, he started walking towards the door, his thoughts focused only on you, finding you. 

“Hey! Hey, stop!” Gyeongsus voice was panicked as he tried to keep the door shut while Suhyeok tried to open it, the sound of the struggle drawing the attention of the zombified students towards the classroom. “She’s fine! You need to just calm down. We’ll find her! Right now we need to think of what we’re gonna do while we wait to be rescued. I’m sure someone called the police or something, and they’ll find her too… Just be patient.”

Patience… It was a crazy thing to be expected to have right now with everything that was going on. “How can I be patient at a time like this? Y/N is somewhere in the school… She’s probably alone and scared…” His jaw was set, he looked like a man that was about to risk it all, but he knew that doing so would risk the lives of everyone else in the room. “Why didn’t you look after her? Why didn’t you make sure she was with you?” His voice was low, filled with fear that he felt not knowing where exactly you were, laced with the anger he felt towards Cheongsan for not protecting you. 

“What do you mean? How was I supposed to protect her, Onjo, and myself?” Cheongsan retorted, and it was obvious that he was on the defensive, especially considering the fact that it seemed like Suhyeok was blaming him for you not being there right now. “Why weren’t you there to keep her safe, to get her out of the cafeteria? Huh? What was so important that you had to leave early? Hmm? Is it because you had to meet up with Namra again?” The sudden accusatory question had Suhyeok jumping out of the chair that he had settled in, his ears burning a bright red but his nostrils flared with his anger. 

“Don’t.” He practically growled through gritted teeth, his finger pressed against Cheongsans chest. “I’m not with Namra, I can’t believe you’d accuse me of that when my girlfriend is literally missing.” 

Cheongsan chuckled humorlessly, stepping back from the prodding fingertip of Suhyeok, his lips pursed as he looked between his friend and the girl in question, the class president standing in the back of the room near the windows, her hair creating a curtain to shield her face, or maybe to block out the scrutinizing looks of everyone else in the room. “I never accused you of that… You’re the one who brought it up, not me.” 

Syhyeok huffed loudly, taking a step towards Cheongsan, only for Gyeongsu to step in between them, placing his hands against both of their chests. “Stop it, both of you… Seriously. The last thing anyone needs is the stress of the two of you fighting. Just cut it out.” He said, already sounding exhausted. “Can we just try to figure out how to get in touch with someone… anyone? The police should have been here by now if someone called… Them or the fire department… Where are they?” 

“We need to find a phone… Does anyone have a phone… Anything? Anyone?” Daesu asked, standing in the center of the room. “I mean, there’s not much else that anyone can do, right?” Suhyeok nodded in agreement, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he turned away from Cheongsan. “Someone in the class has to have kept their phone…” 

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You had managed to make it to one of the empty rooms, barricading the door and shutting the curtains before finally allowing yourself to break down as you tried to process and comprehend what was really going on. You didn’t fully understand it, and you probably never would, but based on the absolute chaos and the scenes of havoc that you passed by while you had been running with Cheongsan and Onjo… It looked like a scene straight out of a zombie apocalypse movie. The only question was… What had caused it? When did it even start? Everything had seemed perfectly fine while you were at lunch and even before you had gone to the cafeteria. 

Now probably wasn’t the time for you to be trying to rationalize what was happening, and it surely wasn’t the time for you to be trying to figure out a timestamp for when it had happened. You needed to find a way to get to the others. Did they even notice that you were gone? Did they even care? Was Suhyeok somewhere safe? Had he met up with Cheongsan and Onjo? Did he care that you weren’t there? 

So many questions were running through your mind, and while they weren’t the best questions to be asking yourself, the noise in your own head was blocking out the sounds of screams coming from outside and the stomach turning guttural noises that were coming from the zombie-like students out in the hallway. You weren’t sure what was a better noise to be heard to be quite honest. 

Maybe Suhyeok had met up with Namra again, just like he always did after lunch. He didn’t think you knew, but you heard around the school the rumors that the two of them were seeing each other on the side. You never wanted to believe it, but you couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason why he hadn’t come back to the cafeteria to try to help you… Maybe he was helping Namra instead. 

A loud thud against the door to the broadcasting room had you jumping out of your mind, back into the situation of the present which wasn’t at all better than the doubtful thoughts that plagued your brain. “Shit…” You muttered, cursing yourself for falling behind when you were with Cheongsan and Onjo. You had tripped once, and they were gone before you knew it, leaving you to either try to catch up with them and potentially get caught by one of the “zombies”, or run into the empty room in the hall and hope for someone to come find you. 

The worst part was that you didn’t even know where exactly you were right now, you didn't know what floor you were on. You had been running so fast, all you wanted to do was get to safety, and now you didn’t even know the room number of your safe haven was. Your phone had been taken at the start of class along with everyone else’s, so you didn’t even have a way to get in touch with anyone else either. You felt stranded, and you were trapped, and you didn’t know how long you’d be stuck in that room, but you hoped that someone would come rescue you. 

Running had been exhausting, and you at some point had fallen asleep against the wall in the corner of the room, leaving you with the worst neck cramp when you finally awoke. The funniest part, if you could use that word to describe it, was the fact that the nightmare that had startled you from your slumber wasn’t even about the zombies that hungered for your flesh that stood just a few feet away outside the wooden doors. No. Your nightmares were about Suhyeok and finding him with Namra, about him falling out of love with you, that is, if he even loved you anyway. 

The sky outside had turned dark, the moon now hung high, surrounded by stars… If you could just stare at the night sky forever, you would surely be able to forget about the hell that you were currently living in. No one had come to find you yet… Were they waiting for you to come to them? They wouldn’t expect you to go out on your own, right? No, if they really cared about you, they’d come to you… Maybe they really had forgotten about you. It didn’t matter though… Not them… They might have forgotten… But someone was bound to come soon. Someone had to come… You’d be okay, and you’d get out of there, with or without them. 

The front door to the broadcasting room opened slowly, and you could feel your heart stop and your stomach drop as you silently said your final goodbyes to everyone, the sentiments mixed in with curses at yourself for being foolish enough to not barricade the front door along with the back. “Y/N?” The voice was no more than a whisper, but it was familiar, and in the current situation, it was almost angelic. Someone had come to save you, and while it wasn’t who you expected, they were almost better. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright… You’re okay, aren’t you?” 

You lifted your tear budded eyes to look up, nodding your head slowly in agreement. “Ms. Park…” You whispered the name, wondering if maybe the sight of her was nothing more than a vivid hallucination brought on by a mixture of exhaustion, dehydration, and hunger. “Are you okay? Do you know what’s happening?” 

A saddened breath left her, one that sounded almost pained as she blocked off the front door of the classroom and moved closer to you. “I’m okay… I don’t understand but… Have you seen the others? Is everyone else okay?” Her question had you dropping your gaze and shrugging your shoulders. You knew nothing. “It’s okay… Just… I’m glad you’re okay.” She looked around the room for a moment before heading into the recording room, and before you could question what she was doing, a loud crackle came over the intercom system. 

The way she spoke, the speech that she made… Had she thought of it on her way to the room? It sounded like a farewell, like she was saying goodbye to everyone. Did she know something that the rest of you didn’t? How much had she seen on her way here? Was everyone able to hear her? The thought had you pushing yourself up off the floor and running into the recording room, asking her with your eyes if you could say something, and she quickly took a step back for you to take her place in front of the microphone. 

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“Uhm… Hi… I’m still here… I’m still alive…” Ms. Parks voice had seemed like a god send, to know that there was still someone in the school that could help, that could call the authorities, but hearing your voice… It was like hearing an angel, and that’s exactly what Suhyeok thought as his feet carried him closer to the intercom speaker, his hand reaching up to the little box in the corner of the room. “Suhyeok… Cheongsan… Onjo… If you hear this… I hope you’re okay. I’m okay… Stay safe… I’ll see you all soon I hope…” 

And then the speaker went silent, and while Suhyeoks heart had soared at the sound of your voice just a mere second ago, now the lack of it had his heart breaking and fresh tears brimming along his lower lashes. “She’s alive… Did you hear that? She’s alive…” He murmured, his hand still pressed against the speaker box, wishing that you’d just get back on and talk to him, even if you couldn’t hear his responses, he needed to hear you, to know that you were okay still, he needed that constant reassurance. “In the broadcasting room… They’re in the broadcasting room. We have to get there.” 

He was rushing towards the door, and once again, he had to be held back by the men in the room. “Let’s wait for morning to move. We won’t be able to see if anything comes at us in the dark. She’s been fine this whole time, and now she’s with Ms. Park… She’ll be fine for a couple more hours. You’ll see her again.” Cheongsans voice was strained as he helped to hold Suhyeok back, but he finally went limp, his entire body loose in Cheongsans arms. “We need to get some rest if we’re going out there… Everyone just… Try to get some sleep. We’ll move to the broadcasting room in the morning.” 

It sounded so easy when it was said… Just getting to the broadcast room, it should have been as easy as going downstairs to the next class… But it proved almost impossible considering the hallways were swarmed with zombies and even the slightest sound drew their attention. It was like walking out into a war zone and there were enemies everywhere. 

Some faces were familiar, bringing a pang of guilt to Suhyeoks chest whenever he had to fight one off. It was hard to fight any of them, knowing that just 24 hours ago these were the same people that had smiled and waved to him, these were the same people that he had conversed with in the hallways on multiple occasions, and now these same people were rushing after him with dead eyes, fueled only by their hunger. The only thing that was keeping him moving forward now was the thought of you waiting for him, and he knew he had to get to you, he had kept you waiting long enough. 

“We can’t keep going, there’s too many!” Wujin shouted as he and the rest of the guys tried to fight off the hoards. “There’s a classroom right here! Come on! We’ll just wait it out!” He screamed to Suhyeok who was still trying to push forward to get down the next set of stairs. “Come on!” He screamed, shoving back the zombied students before sliding open the classroom door, letting the girls run in and then following behind them into the room. 

“Fuck!” Suhyeok shouted, kicking back one of the desks in frustration before going over to the window. “She’s waiting for me… she called for me… She probably thinks something happened…” His fingers ran through his hair as he leaned his head against the window pane, breathing heavily from the physical exertion of just getting down one floor. “What if something happened to her while she was waiting for me…?” 

Cheongsan shook his head, patting Suhyeok on the shoulder. “I’m sure she’d rather wait a little longer to see you than to see you as a zombie. We’ll get down there, but we need to be smart about it. Okay?” Suhyeok swallowed thickly, hating the fact that Cheongsan was right, but not arguing against him because he was right. He knew that if the roles were reversed and he was the one waiting for you to come to him, he’d want you to be safe and smart with every move you made. “I’ve got a plan… let’s just wait a little longer, and then I’ll see if it works.” 

Joonyeong reluctantly tapped both of them on the shoulders, his lips pulled into a thin line as they both turned to look at him. “We’ve got a problem…” He whispered, turning his attention towards the windows that lined the wall looking out towards the hallway. “One of the windows broke… well… two of the windows broke…” Both of the men’s eyes widened as they saw the hands of the zombies, their snarls louder than ever now. The plan couldn’t wait… They had to move, and they had to move now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“None of them have come yet…” You mumbled, your knees folded against your chest in the corner of the room, the corner that had essentially become your own, the small space somehow making you feel safer. “Something must have happened.” 

You knew that being pessimistic wasn’t the right way to be at the moment, everyone needed to be as optimistic as possible, but sometimes a little bit of pessimism went a long way. When your mind was so filled with negativity, the slightest positive thing that happened seemed more amazing than ever. It was a shit way to look at things, but it was how you got through most days, and right now, you felt that that thought process was appropriate. “Hey, don’t think that way.” Ms. Park spoke softly in response, and even though her words told you to think differently, you could see it in her eyes, she was being just as pessimistic as you were. “I’m sure it’s hard for them to get down here… Let’s just… Hold onto hope.” 

That was the hard part though, holding onto hope, it felt like you had been holding onto it forever, your hands were growing tired, your nails were digging into your palms. Why hold on when you could just let go? “Sure… Hold onto hope… Let’s do that.” You mumbled, letting your head drop forward to rest against your knees. There was no sense in being hopeful. The lack of first responders, the lack of literally anyone coming to get you, Ms. Park, and whoever else might be left out of the school… You had given up on having hope. 

You were about to get up, head into the recording booth to have a couple minutes to yourself, the only place where you felt you could lose what was left of your sanity in peace, when a loud banging came against the window. It didn’t make sense, it looked like the end of a firehose, and while your interest was peaked to see who had thrown it, Ms. Park had immediately stood in front of you as if she were blocking you or protecting you from something. “Stay back… Okay?” She held her arm out in front of you as you nodded your head, taking a step back yourself just to be on the safe side, but then you saw a pair of shoes, and pants, and… maybe this was far fetched, but you were quite sure that a zombie student wouldn’t be able to climb down a hose ladder so well, or at all. 

And then, as if on queue, Gyeongsu appeared outside the window, his eyes wide when he saw you and Ms. Park standing there, and it took no more than a second for you both to rush to the window and throw it open, pulling him in to safety. “Y-You’re okay, right? What’s happening out there? What’s going on? Where is everyone?” You had so many questions, but he simply shook his head, leaning back out the window, much to your worry, and then shouting up to someone to come down. “There’s others with you? Is it Onjo? Cheongsan? Who all is with you?” 

But one by one, your questions were answered as everyone climbed down, being helped in by you and Ms. Park until the last person arrived. 

“Y/N…” Suhyeok whispered your name as if it were a prayer leaving his lips, his hands bloodied, reaching out to grab your face, turning your head this way and that before grabbing your hands and looking them over. “You’re okay… You’re really okay. I was so worried about you, and I wanted to look for you, I wanted to find you… Cheongsan wouldn’t le-” 

He had talked enough, and the only thing you wanted in that moment was to be held by him, to know 100% that he was real, that he had really made it, that he was okay and you were okay and you’d both be together from here on out. “I didn’t think you’d come…” You whispered, moving away from his chest to look around at everyone in the room, all of their eyes on you and Suhyeok at the moment, but there was one pair of eyes that had you stepping back and looking up at him, your eyebrows furrowing and your smile wavering. “You didn’t come back to the cafeteria… Why did you have to leave anyway… You always have to leave…” You took another step back, accidentally bumping into Wujin who grabbed onto your shoulders to steady you, but quickly dropped his hands when Suhyeok casted a glare in his direction. 

“I thought Cheongsan would have been able to get you up to the classroom, I thought you’d be okay. I didn’t… I wanted to go back and find you, but I thought you’d be safe with him. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you… I should have been.” You hated the fact that everyone was staring at you, and even though you couldn’t see them doing it, you could feel the heat of their eyes on your back and it was making you uncomfortable. “I was gonna go play some basketball after lunch… That’s why I left early… The weather was nice and, I just thought I’d do that before class…” 

You nodded your head, keeping your eyes down as you reluctantly began your walk back towards him, a pang of guilt in your chest for the assumptions that had filled your mind. “But you saved Namra… The two of you climbed in through the window together right before Cheongsan and Onjo got into the class.You were holding hands and everything.” Daesu exclaimed, and everyone in the room let out a collective groan of annoyance at his sudden urge to announce it. “Sorry…” He muttered, realizing just a second too late that he shouldn’t have said anything at all, but the damage was done and you froze in place in the middle of the room. 

“You… saved her?” You whispered, letting the words roll off your tongue as if you were testing them, tasting them, and you hated the bitter aftertaste they left in your mouth. “Y/N… jagi… listen…” He tried to speak but you shook your head faster, your eyes squeezed shut as you held your hands up, not wanting him to get close to you. “No… No, I get it… She’s worth saving. Heaven forbid something happens to the class president… You couldn’t possibly let that happen, right? Make sure she’s safe, wouldn’t want her to be alone… Just leave your girlfriend to fend for herself, by herself… No, that’s fine.” 

It felt like the room had shrunken to twice the size it once was, you were surrounded by a group of people who clearly didn’t give a single shit about what happened to you, and you didn’t want to be around them. “Where are you going? Y/N, wait!” Suhyeok called after you when he saw you walking off, but you silently flipped him off before slamming the door to the recording booth and sitting at the desk, thankful for the silence of the room. 

“Should… Should someone talk to her? I can go?” Wujin raised his hand, looking around at everyone for some sort of acceptance to his offer, but he was only met with the scrutinizing gaze of Suhyeok. “What? I mean, she clearly doesn’t want to talk to you… Me and her, we’re kind of close, and… Maybe she’ll talk to me. I’m sure you all would rather her be on talking terms with someone just in case we have to move again… At least she’d go with us…” 

Suhyeok scoffed, stepping closer to Wujin until the toes of their shoes touched, glaring down at the boy. “If she won’t talk to me, she’s not talking to anyone. I don’t want you around her… Don’t think that I don’t see the way you look at her… And I’m sure you’re hoping that because of what your stupid friend said that you’ll be able to have some sort of chance… But whatever she might be thinking, and whatever you’re thinking… It’s not true… Don’t get your hopes up. I love her, and only her… I’m not letting her go.” And with that, he moved him to the side, going straight for the recording booth and walking inside. “Jagi…” 

“I don’t want to talk right now…” You mumbled, curled up in the little desk chair, making yourself smaller so that no one could see you over the back of the chair through the booths window. “I came in here because I wanted to be alone… You’re ruining that for me.” 

Your words didn’t stop him from coming closer though, his arms practically caging you in on the chair when he placed his hands on the arm rests. “Do you really think that I left you in the cafeteria on purpose… That I knew this would happen once I was gone?” Of course you didn’t think that, no one could have known that something like this was going to happen, it was completely out of everyone’s control. “I was terrified… I didn’t know what was going on, and I wanted to get back to the cafeteria so I could save you. I couldn’t make it though… I would have died.” You winced at the thought of anything happening to him, the tension in your body slowly fading the more you listened to him talk. “I saved Namra… I did… But that’s just because I came across her on my way to the classroom. It’s not like I was looking for her… I was trying to get to safety… And I was hoping, praying… That Cheongsan had you, that he’d bring you back to the classroom, or that he at least had you somewhere safe with him and Onjo.” He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, shakily as he moved his hands from the arm rests to grab your own, lacing his fingers between yours. “When Cheongsan came back without you… I had never felt more scared than I did at that moment… I felt like shit, and I wanted to come find you, but they stopped me. I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. I’m sorry I let you down… But I love you, and I don’t want to leave this room, or any other room unless you're with me, unless I’m holding your hand… So please, come back out?” 

His thumb brushed lightly across the back of your hand, and you finally took the time to notice the dried blood that stained his perfect skin, the crimson blotches that covered his once crisp white button up. He had been through a lot to get here, not just him, but everyone else. You had been lucky enough to be in the safety of the broadcasting room, and you had been fortunate enough to have been found by Ms. Park. They had gone through hell just to get to this room, but they had made it, and you couldn’t forget the look in Suhyeoks eyes when he had first seen you when had climbed through the window. If he didn’t love you, his eyes wouldn’t have become glassy, his bottom lip wouldn’t have trembled when he took those final steps to close the distance between the two of you, a distance that had felt miles long instead of a couple floors away. He loved you, and you could feel it when he had wrapped his arms around you, when he had cupped your cheeks, and you could feel it now as he held your hands. “I love you… I’m sorry…” You whimpered, feeling the fresh stream of tears begin to trickle down your cheeks, the overwhelming emotions from everything that was going on were finally being processed, and all you could do was cry, but he was there, and he made quick work to wipe away each tear with steady fingers and gentle swipes of his thumb. “If we get out of here… We should go on a really nice date… Maybe a picnic if the weather is nice…” You whispered, placing your hands over his as they grazed along your cheek.