#hotcoolz

Yunjin sat in a chair at her local café, reading one of her favorite novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. She was enveloped by the story, her eyebrows furrowed in a deep concentration as she tried to focus on anything but her hunger.

Suddenly, an employee interrupted her. “실례합니다, 아가씨. 여기 머물고 싶으시면 주문하셔야 합니다. (Excuse me, ma'am. If you want to stay here, you need to place an order.).” Almost immediately, Yunjin shot the mortal an annoyed glare. The employee’s eyes widened slightly, but they persisted.

Yunjin scoffed before finally deciding to place an order. “좋아요. 물 한 잔 주세요. (Fine, i’ll have a glass of water.)” She murmured as her gaze found it’s way back to her book. “네. (Okay.)”

When the employee fled to prepare her drink, Yunjin let out a small sigh of relief. “What a nuisance.” She said to herself. She flipped the page of her book as she read, trying to find out where she had left off.

Then, she was interrupted yet again. This time, by a group of highschool girls, giggling obnoxiously and sitting down a table not too far away from her. Her fingers dug into the cover of her book as she heard them.

Though she tried hard to focus on the novel in front of her, a certain word she heard that slipped from one of the girls lips. Zombie. Yunjin’s attention was almost immediately caught.

She didn’t make her interest obvious, but she kept an open ear. As the employee she saw earlier brought her a water, she nodded. Then, the group of girls conversation began to get more serious.

“북촌 묘지에 좀비 소녀에 대한 소문이 있다는 사실을 알고 계셨나요? 그녀의 이름은 사쿠라입니다. 그녀는 오래된 버려진 북촌 학교에서 교직원으로 일했습니다. 상사가 그녀를 자살로 몰아넣었지만 며칠 후 가족이 묘지에서 돌아왔을 때 그녀의 시신은 사라진 상태였습니다. (Did you know that there are rumors about a zombie girl in Bukchon Cemetery? Her name is Sakura. She worked as a faculty member at an old abandoned Bukchon school. Her boss drove her to suicide, but when the family returned from the cemetery a few days later, her body had disappeared.)”

Yunjin sat up a little straighter as she listened. It was subtle, but she was curious. More curious than she had probably ever been in her 132 years of living. She had a deep interest in finding herself a bride— though she knew love with a mortal would never last. So, of course, she found herself intrigued by the girl’s story as she flipped through the pages in her book.

“이게 언제였나요? (When was this?)” The other girl asked curiously. “사쿠라는 1982년경에 죽은 것 같아요. (I think sakura died around 1982.)” The other girl whispered. “사람들은 그녀가 복수를 하기 위해 상사를 찾아 북촌고등학교를 돌아다닌다고 말합니다. (People say she walks around Bukchon High School in search of her boss to take revenge.)”

As the girl said that last sentence, Yunjin immediately got up and decided to leave. She had a name, an age, a location, and a good idea of what this living dead girl’s personality was like.

She had to come up with a plan of exactly how she could… train this zombie. She was better with other kinds of monsters— werewolves, other vampires, of course, hell, she’d even met frankenstein’s monster, whose name was actually Chaewon.

But with zombies? She’d never met one. She’d heard of them in stupid 21st century cartoons that stereotyped monsters in every way possible— vampires who hated garlic, werewolves that only turned on a full moon, and frankenstein that didn’t speak.

Yunjin was curious. She needed to find sakura, and she needed to find her fast.

Yunjin stood outside of the abandoned Bukchon school with a nervous feeling growing inside her. She knew something was wrong. Something bad was going to happen— but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

As she approached the front gates, she struggled to get them open. Her eyebrows furrowed. She paused for a moment before getting her hand poised, and quickly punching forward. The gate bursts as her hand goes straight through it, and a piece of metal falls onto the ground. She sighs heavily, adjusting the bag on her shoulder and stepping through the gate. (Although, she was showing off a bit. She really could just fly over the gate.)

She pushed open the front doors to the school, stepping inside and looking around. Roots had grown from nooks in the windows, mold began to grow on the walls, and the smell in the building was awful.

Yunjin walked up to the lockers in the front of her, looking at the small, shelved areas that still had a few students slippers. A few open lockers had a rotten smell, possibly from moldy lunches. She held her bag a bit tighter as she walked down the school halls. She looked out the windows, and glanced into classrooms. The silence was unsettling.

She scoffed as she continued through the school, eventually finding a lunchroom. She looked around the large room, her eyebrows furrowing at the stench. It was worse than the rest of the building. She noticed flies moving past her, all seeking the same rotten corner in the room. Yunjin followed, her eyes widened as she found a dead body. Large chunks of flesh teared off, their face completely mauled as well.

The body was surprisingly fresh. Maybe about a week old? Yunjin crouched down, analyzing all the bites and marks— the snapped bones and bruises. She huffed slightly, covering her nose as the scent got too repulsive to handle. She stood up, looking around for a moment.

“She must be here then,” Yunjin muttered to herself. “Unless someone comes here to kill all their victims.” She reached over her shoulder, pulling the metal bat she had across her back off and gripping it with one hand. As she left the lunchroom and walked up the stairs—

Crackle.

She had accidentally stepped on something. Someone’s bone with barely any flesh still stuck to it. Almost immediately, she heard a loud, fierce gargle. Nothing like the thing you’d hear from a zombie on tv. Her eyes widened, and a smile grew on her face.

She moved further up the stairs, turning and searching the halls for the dead girl. “Sakura!” She shouted, raising her bat. “다치게 하지 않을 거야! 이리 와! (I won’t hurt you! Come here!” She wasn’t exactly lying. The only reason she held the bat, was because she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t get attacked by some serial killer waiting for some idiot to find a nonexistent living dead girl.

She heard another loud, fierce growl, angrier this time. Yunjin followed the noise, poised and filled with anticipation. Just as she was about to call out again, she heard fast, rushed footsteps behind her.

She attempted to turn around and hit her with the bat, but the girl swung first.

“Agh, fuck!” Yunjin shouted, her eyes widened as a hard, metal shovel hit the back of her head. She fell forwards, hitting her knees on the ground. Surely enough, she turned over, her head throbbing as she stared up at the woman.

Sakura, she could assume.

Her skin wasn’t green. It was a pale, greyish tone. She had bruises all over her body, and a scar through her cheek that showed where her rows teeth ended. She had a small chunk of her head gone, her brain showing. Her veins were visible, not popping out— but the colors themselves. Blue, red and purple streaks showing through her thin skin.

She tackled Yunjin, saliva dripping from her mouth as she prepared to maul the girl. Yunjin grunted, her eyes narrowing at the girl as she tried to fight her off. She struggled underneath sakura, her eyes widening as the surprisingly strong dead girl held her down by the wrists.

Just as Sakura began to lean down, Yunjin bared her sharp teeth with a hiss. Sakura paused, her eyes darting from Yunjin’s teeth to her eyes. She realized Yunjin was a vampire, and her expression changed.

Her she didn’t remove her grip, but she softened it slightly. She trembled slightly as she sat upright, still resting on yunjin’s waist.

“Yunjin” She had managed, staring up at Sakura. “I’m yunjin.” She said, trembling as she pointed at herself with her free hand. Sakura’s gaze softened slightly. “Yun—“ sakura choked, a slight wheeze escaping her lips as she struggled to speak. “Yun… ji…jin.”

Yunjin’s eyes lit up with wonder and awe at her words. She sat up the best she could, and an eager grin spread across her face. Her hand came to hold the side of Sakura’s neck and she leaned in a bit closer.

She moved her hand, pointing at sakura. “You.” Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, staring at Yunjin. “You, Bride.” Yunjin whispers. Sakura is silent for a moment. She doesn’t know what to say. She was familiar with English, being that she lived in America for a while during her human years. She knew what Yunjin was asking for.

She slowly nodded, leaning in, and pressing her dry, bruised lips against Yunjin’s. Her eyes fluttered shut as her hands found Yunjin’s chest. Yunjin tilted her head, her own eyes shutting as she kissed Sakura.

Sakura’s body was cold against Yunjin. Colder than Yunjin ever was. She moans softly. The kiss is passionate, romantic— filled with love and affection. Yunjin didn’t care that she had just met the girl.

Yunjin slowly pulled back, staring deep into Sakura’s eyes. She was mesmerized by the girl, her fingers tracing the lines of Sakura’s veins. As Sakura opens her eyes, Yunjin smiles. “My bride,” she murmurs.

“My zombie girl.”