#on jo

You stood up from your chair and stood in front of him. You grabbed his hands and he looked you in the eyes. You nearly started sobbing on the spot as you saw the whites of his eyes turning red but swallowed down the lump in your throat before smiling at him.

“Y-yo…” you tried the first time but couldn’t get the words out so you cleared your throat and tried again. “You just need a t-tissue. It’ll be okay.”

He nodded as tears filled his eyes. The both of you knew you were lying but it was okay to be delusional sometimes… right?

He’d be okay… right?

If you just kept repeating that then he would be okay.

Everything was fine.

Gyeong-su was fine.

You were fine.

Right?

You frowned as you heard the scurrying of footsteps behind you while you reached into your pocket to grab one of the crumpled tissues you had from earlier and gave it to him but he couldn’t seem to grab it and it dropped to the floor.

“It’s not true…” You heard Cheong-san say from behind you yet you kept all of your focus on the boy who was in front of you.

“Come on. Get rid of him. Get rid of him now!” You heard Na-yeon scream and just as you were about to yell at her to shut up you felt someone grab you by the hand and pull you away from the boy.

“No, no…!” You tried to complain and weakly pulled against the hands restraining you, already knowing who it was. “Su-hyeok, he’s not. Gyeong-su’s not! I was with him for half an hour, he’s not!” You tried your best to convince him and looked up at him just to see him trying to keep a straight face while tears filled his eyes. “No!”

“Gyeong-su, stay where you are!” You heard On-jo say from behind you which brought your attention back to the group as Gyeong-su had rushed forward but everyone stepped back into a corner to try and avoid him like the plague. “Stay back!”

“I swear, I’m fucking not!” Gyeong-su begged and your heart broke at hearing the confidence in his words faltering.

“I’m sorry, Gyeong-su. Please, stay back.”

You watched as the remaining bit of hope in Gyeong-su’s eyes vanished like a flame being doused by water. “I’ve turned, right?” He asked, his voice quivering. “Cheong-san, what do I do?” He begged for guidance that none of you could provide, especially not Cheong-san who was dealing with the fact that his lifelong best friend was about to die at the hands of a virus that turned the kindest of souls into a flesh eating monster.

“No, no. This doesn’t make any sense. Why would you…” He started, just as confused and in denial as you were when On-jo came up from behind him and tried to pull him away.

“Cheong-san…!” She begged but he just yanked his hand back.

“Let go!” His voice broke as he was finally coming to terms with what was written in blood red ink in front of him. “This cannot be true. Why would you suddenly…?” He shook his head, false certainty refilling his voice as he stepped towards his friend. “No, no. Gyeong-su you weren’t-”

“Step away. Don’t come any closer!” Gyeong-su yelled as he ran backwards in an attempt to put distance between his friend and himself. You stopped struggling against Su-hyeok’s hold a while ago and just let him hug you to his chest while you watched in shock.

“B-but, you were fine. Gyeong-su, you were fine!” You tried to convince him and yourself when suddenly his neck cracked to the side.

Na-yeon looked around frantically as everyone stood there in shock as their friend turned right before their eyes. “Hey! What are you doing?” She sputtered out. “We need to kick him out! We’re all gonna die!” She screamed and you suddenly found the voice you’d lost before.

“Shut up! He-” your voice dropped from its screaming tone to one barely above being completely silent. “He just needs a tissue.”

“W-what’s happening…? Fuck!” You could hear Gyeong-su desperately get out as he gripped his head like it was pounding.

Na-yeon ran over to the door and yanked the umbrella away that was blocking it from being opened. “Get out. I said, get out!”

“Shut the fuck up!” He screamed before discovering a newfound determination within himself. “I’ll leave by myself! I’ll leave. I’ll go on my own!” He started sobbing. “Why would I bite you? We’re supposed to be fucking friends. If I… If I leave, it will be better for everyone.”

Every step he took towards the door you could feel more of your hope for him to be okay being lost.

“Gyeong-su,” Ms. Park spoke up and you looked over to see she had walked forward to the front of the group to speak to him directly. “Why don’t you just go into the recording room until we can figure out-”

Na-yeon interrupted her before she could finish. “If he stays in here he’s going to kill us all!”

“Na-yeon!” Your teacher screamed at her.

“I’m just trying to stay alive,” she whimpered out.

“I’ll leave. I’ll get out of here on my own,” Gyeong-su grunted out while breathing heavily and staggering towards the door, using the table and chair on his way to support him. He turned to look at everyone around him but his gaze stopped on your shocked one for a moment. “Don’t worry,” he started sobbing more and your vision started to get blurry with unshed tears. “I’ll get out of here.”

“Gyeong-su!” Cheong-san begged as his own eyes filled with tears that had yet to stain his cheeks. His lips quivered as he tried to remain strong in front of the group.

“It’s okay. Thank you for everything. Stay alive.”

Right as he tried to open the door to leave, he turned around and started looking at all of you in terror while thrashing around and mumbling things under his breath before his body contorted in strange directions, his bones creaking and breaking until he stood up and let out an unnatural roar and growled at all of you. Dae-su started walking towards him and both you and Su-hyeok tried to grab his arm to pull him back, knowing your friend was gone, until he shook you off and rushed forward when Gyeong-su’s empty shell of a body charged at the group standing by the speakers. He threw him against the table in an attempt to save himself as well as his classmates. Just as the monster who you briefly viewed as your friend was about to attack again, the sound of a familiar tune filled the air.

While everyone was focused on the fight, Cheong-san had managed to raise himself onto the window and grabbed a hold of the rope, hanging off the side of the building with only that to support him. He sang their tune, the tune of Auld Lang Syne, and the body of his old friend came rushing toward him before Cheong-san jumped out of the way just in time.

The group had sat in shock for a while until some started to cry. Cheong-san had gone into the recording room and threw the table to the ground in a fit of emotional turmoil. On-jo had walked up to the door for a moment before deciding to walk back and to just give him space.

A gut feeling told you space was the last thing he needed right now.

You walked away from the spot you had been leaning against the wall with Su-hyeok. You had been comforting him on the loss of his friend as you knew he was grieving right now and didn’t want to focus on your own pain. He and Dae-su had hugged and were currently exchanging tissues.

That was what you had learned to do the best. Block out the pain. Be the emotionless girl everyone knew and few loved.

You walked over to the recording studio’s door before taking a deep breath and walking in. You took slow steps as you entered and saw Cheong-san sitting right underneath the large window on the wall of the door. He’d been crying until you walked in, that much was clear by his red eyes, glistening cheeks, and sniffles. He’d wiped them away and turned to look in the other direction of you. You walked over to him and sat next to him against the wall. You both sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke.

“I’m fine, if that’s why you’re here. You can leave now,” he spoke rather harshly but this time it didn’t affect you as you knew he was on stage 2 of grief.

Anger.

“Go,” he told you, his voice breaking at the end and he pointed towards the door where you came from but you just looked at his hand before looking up to him.

You sighed and felt your nose and eyes stinging but pushed it down.

“You don’t have to be strong with me, you know?” He was taken aback by your words and looked visibly confused. You sighed before looking down at your fingers where they were playing with the hem of your vest. “I know none of you like me, and most of you think I’m like my brother,” you took a deep breath before you built the courage to look back into his eyes which looked even more astonished than before. “But in the short amount of time that I spent with Gyeong-su in this recording studio,” you gestured to the mess in front of you as you looked at the book and string Gyeong-su had been playing with before everything went down, now places in the corner of the room. “I’d like to believe I was able to call him my friend, and I’d like to be able to call you one too,” you looked back up at him once again to see tears had once again gathered along his waterline and he was looking at you with his lips quivering as he still tried to hold back his emotions. “So I’ll say it again,” you grabbed his hand from where it was resting on his knee and gave it a friendly and comforting squeeze. “You don’t have to be strong with me, Cheong-san.”

There were a few moments where the two of you sat there and stared into each other’s eyes before a teardrop streaked down his cheek. Another followed after that one, and then another, and then another, until he had started sobbing and you brought him into a hug while hiding your own tears which slipped onto his shirt. You didn’t say anything, you couldn’t even try to think of something to say in a situation as bizarre as this one. You just held him in his time of grief.

After a few minutes when Cheong-san had calmed down, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve and pulled away from you. Standing up, he lowered a hand down to you so he could help you up and you gave him a small smile as you accepted it.

The two of you walked out and Cheong-san gave you a smile before walking over to lean against the window, looking out onto the field. This time you let him be alone as you walked over to sit down next to Su-hyeok who was on the ground. You mirrored his position with your legs bent and your arms resting on your knees. Your shoulders were grazing ever so slightly and he leaned over to bump into your shoulder ever so gently. You looked over to him and he smiled at you. You couldn’t handle the softness in his gaze so you blushed and looked away, knocking your own shoulder into his as he laughed lightly.

“That asshole,” you heard Dae-su sob after a little while when the grieving atmosphere set in again. “Gyeong-su, why did you have to turn?”

Na-yeon opened her mouth and you just knew what she was going to say next would piss you off. “I told you all. He was infected.”

“Well, are you happy now?” Dae-su said as he looked at her in despair, you quickly stood up and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. He looked back at you and had a bit of a shocked look which you internally rolled your eyes at but stopped when he put one of his hands on top of the one you had resting on his shoulder. You smiled softly but it fell immediately when Na-yeon started talking again.

“You were all wrong. Only I was right. What would you even do without me?” Your head snapped over to her.

“Na-yeon. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut up and let us mourn the loss of our friend. Don’t be heartless on top of being a bitch,” you told her and just as you looked back at Dae-su, you saw her roll her eyes and scoff.

Just as you were about to talk again, Nam-ra started speaking. “Hey,” she paused and you looked over at her. “Maybe you did it.”

“What?” Na-yeon questioned her in an annoyed tone.

Nam-ra grabbed everyone’s attention as she walked over until she was standing right in front of Na-yeon’s sitting form.

“I saw everything… Na-yeon,” Nam-ra told her, accusing her of something that had yet to be revealed.

Na-yeon stood up to be face to face with the class president. “What? What did you see?” She asked and seemed to get on the defensive quickly which had suspicion rising in your gut.

“You are the one who did it,” Nam-ra revealed, yet everyone was still confused.

“Who did what? I didn’t do anything to Gyeong-su,” she defended.

“I didn’t say anything about Gyeong-su,” Nam-ra told her, which kind of confused you.

It’s kind of inferred because we were talking about his death less than a minute ago, but okay.

“Knock it off!” Na-yeon told her, raising her voice a little.

“What are you talking about?” Wu-jin asked as Su-hyeok and Cheong-san - who were both minding their business - turned to look at the scene.

“I didn’t do anything,” Na-yeon insisted.

“While we were all watching Gyeong-su, you were in the back alone,” your friend explained, then turned and pointed at the broken mop that laid against one of the cabinets in the room. “You wiped that blood with your handkerchief.”

She hesitated before replying in a shaky and slightly fearful voice. “No, I didn’t.”

“You wiped that on the scratch on Gyeong-su’s hand.”

At Nam-ra’s explanation, everyone had a shocked look on their faces, unable to comprehend that their classmate was the cause of their friend’s death. Even you had nothing to say and your hand went limp on Dae-su’s shoulder, only being held there by his own, which tightened on yours.

“I did not,” Na-yeon tried again to defend herself but it was getting less and less convincing as Nam-ra was insistent on proving her to be the murderer of Gyeong-su. The innocent boy who was everything good yet died for nothing.

“It’s in your pocket,” the other girl voiced.

“So what?”

“Take it out.”

“No.”

“If you’re so innocent you’d take it out and show us,” you sneered at her and your hand closed into a fist while tightly gripping the fabric of Dae-su’s vest.

“I said no,” she insisted while looking at you and slapping away Nam-ra’s extended hand. You glared and she visibly shrunk in on herself.

“Should I take it out?” Nam-ra paused for a split second before reaching for Na-yeon’s pocket until the girl pushed her hand away and slapped her face, most likely a lot softer than she intended to.

“Fuck you! Who the hell do you think you are? Huh? Class president?” She mocked before Nam-ra sent a hard slap across her face and her head snapped to the side.

“You never treated me like president.”

Despite the situation at hand, you smirked slightly as you saw your best friend standing up for herself and just being a complete badass. You let go of Dae-su’s shoulder and went to lean against the table beside where he sat.

“Nam-ra, that’s enough!” Ms. Park exclaimed as she sped-walked up to the two girls to break up the argument. She looked back and forth across the floor as she tried to figure out what to say before continuing. “Nam-ra, do you realize what you’re saying right now? If that is true, it means Na-yeon killed Gyeong-su.”

“It’s true. Na-yeon did it,” the girl confirmed. You looked over at Cheong-san as he watched. His eyes were filled with so many conflicting emotions: anger, sadness, betrayal, remorse. “She killed him.”

Na-yeon scoffed and rolled her eyes before she reached her hand into her pocket. “You fucking cunt,” she exclaimed angrily before throwing the handkerchief in Nam-ra’s face. Dae-su had to grab ahold of your sleeve to keep you from rushing forward. “There. Happy?”

Nam-ra, who seemed unaffected by Na-yeon’s treatment, reached down to pick up the cloth from the floor and inspect it. “This is blood.”

“I wiped Gyeong-su’s hand,” she claimed and you scowled as you could see the cloth.

“This is his blood?”

“You can’t tell?”

“If it was his fucking blood there wouldn’t be that much of it, you cunt. He’d stopped bleeding 10 minutes into staying in the studio room,” you told her and her eyes flashed with fear but her expression remained the same.

“Then put it on your wound,” Nam-ra told her in an attempt to show either her innocence or her guiltiness. “Wipe yourself with it if you’re so confident.”

You could see her searching for an answer. “Like his blood is so clean? He was a zombie.”

Nam-ra threw the cloth to the floor and stepped closer to her offensively. “He was just fine until you infected him with your handkerchief.”

“Na-yeon… you-” Cheong-san started and started marching towards Na-yeon until Su-hyeok held him back.

“Damn it! It wasn’t me!” She screamed while crouching down and picking up the handkerchief, hovering it above her wound as she looked around for someone to tell her to stop, that they believed her, anything for her to not do it.

Ms. Park, ever the mediator, ran up to her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand and the handkerchief away from her scrape, trying to pull it from her hands but Na-yeon resisted. “Don’t do it. Stop it.”

“Let go,” she whimpered as the teacher tried to yank it from her hands.

“I said to stop it. Give it to me.”

“Leave me alone! Fuck!” Na-yeon screamed while breathing heavily. She let go of the handkerchief and stood up with teary eyes. She looked across the room at everyone, “I should just die too then, huh? That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Nobody answered and so she sighed, looking away before turning back. “Why is Gyeong-su better than me? That dirty welfie pushed me,” she whimpered.

“You little cheat!” You yelled at her while trying to rush forward but Dae-su was still holding onto your sleeve. Su-hyeok abandoned his spot as the one to hold back Cheong-san to wrap his arms around you, restricting any movement of your arms while you struggled and kicked your feet.

“Na-yeon,” Park said after a while of silence, “You didn’t…”

“So you did do it,” Cheong-san spoke, devastated, until he raised his voice to yell at her. Dae-su rushed forward to hold him back. “How could you fucking-”

“I didn’t kill him, okay?” She insisted and you could hear your heart pounding in your ears with rage. Rage and loss. “Gyeong-su fell, but he got up and ran. He’s still alive. He didn’t die, he just turned.”

“You mother fucker! They’re the exact same fucking thing!” You yelled out at the same time On-jo spoke.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“Stop ganging up on me!” She whined and threw her hands around like a toddler having a tantrum. “When I said he smelled, you all laughed. You all made fun of him too. Don’t try to act all innocent now.”

You thrashed around harder as you felt your eyes burning and your cheeks wet and you finally realized you were crying.

It had been a while since you’d done that.

Dae-su lost his grip on Cheong-san and he ran towards Na-yeon, Su-hyeok unable to stop him because of you in his arms already.

The boy pushed the girl to the ground and breathed heavily. “How could you kill him?” He screamed while Ms. Park told him to stop it. Na-yeon kept her head down.

“You’re… a murderer.”

Her head lifted and you saw tears falling down her face but you had no sympathy at all.

“I have no friends at all,” she whimpered out.

“I wondering fucking why,” you growled.

“I don’t need any of you. Fuck you,” she then stood up and shakily walked out of the room, Wu-jin rushing after her just as the door closed and Ms. Park moved to stop him.

“Listen,” she started and you were finally released from Su-hyeok’s grip after you stopped struggling. “No matter what happens, you stay alive. Also, you must never take a life. If you cause someone else to die, life becomes meaningless.”

She looked at you all with a remorseful and fond gaze and you were sure you knew what she was about to do. “All right?”

“Ms. Park?” You whispered shakily and she looked at you with a small smile before turning and running out the room, rushing after Na-yeon.

“Ms. Park! Wait!” Dae-su yelled and ran towards the door and Wu-jin held him back to the best of his ability.

“Dae-su, don’t go!” he begged.

You had never felt so helpless. Your feet seemed to be glued to the floor and your eyes stuck to the door where she had stood only moments ago.

Dae-su started sobbing into Wu-jin’s shoulder and your heart broke for him.

“Fuck!” You heard Cheong-san scream followed by the banging of his fist against a computer. You didn’t have the energy to stop him, even though you knew if he did it too much he could seriously injure his hand.

You were sitting in the corner next to Su-hyeok who had an arm wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you into his chest as you were too much in shock to cry; again. You saw On-jo walk up to Cheong-san as he was staring out the window but you couldn’t hear their hushed whispers.

“I feel like it’s my fault,” you said suddenly, only a breath above a whisper. Su-hyeok looked down at you in surprise and confusion.

“What’s your fault?”

“Gyeong-su.”

He sat up from his leaning position against the wall, bringing you with him, and looked you in the eyes. “How is it your fault? You didn’t do anything!” He tried to convince you, still whispering so the others wouldn’t butt their way into your business .

You let out a sad laugh as you felt your nose burning. “Exactly. I didn’t fucking do anything,” you wiped your nose slightly with the back of your hand to subside the sting. “I didn’t notice what she was doing. If I only noticed and was a little more attentive then Gyeong-su would be alive! It’s my fau-”

“No,” Su-hyeok insisted as he brought your head back into his chest to keep the guilty thoughts at bay. His heartbeat worked just enough for your soul to take a breath. “No, (Y/n). It’s not your fault. How could you have possibly known what she was going to do. You didn’t need to be attentive at that moment because it was someone who was supposed to be loyal to the group and not fucking kill someone. That is not your fault. Thinking like that will just drive you insane.”

At his words, a small sob escaped your lips and your body started to shake with your silent tears as he trailed his hand up and down your back. His lips were pressed against the crown of your head as he whispered the reassurances that you were needing.

After you calmed down and wiped away the tears on your face with your sleeve, you sat up and gave Su-hyeok a grateful smile.

“Thank you,” you breathed.

“You don’t need to thank me.”

It was then you noticed how close the two of you were, faces only inches apart and you could see his eyes travel from your own down to your lips a few times. You backed away with your cheeks flushed and gave him a small smile. He seemed delighted with the effect he had on you and that made your cheeks burn even hotter.

“I’m going to go sit by Nam-ra, I haven’t really spoken to her much in the past day,” you told him, avoiding eye contact as you stood up.

“Okay,” he smiled and got up himself before winking at you and walking over to lean against the counter where Wu-jin was sitting. You took a breath to cool your cheeks and calm your nerves before going over to sit next to Nam-ra.

“Hey there, prez,” you greeted and she met you with a cheeky grin.

She nudged you in the side. “Hey there, lovergirl. How’s it like in paradise, hm?” She teased in a whispered voice and you covered your face with your hands.

“Stop that, we’re just friends!” You whined softly and she giggled for a moment until her face slowly fell back into a frown.

You didn’t want to ask if she was okay because you knew the answer would be no. Nobody was okay right now, Nam-ra wasn’t any different. Instead, you just grabbed her hand and held it in your own affectionately while she leaned her head on your shoulder.

You stayed like that for a while until Cheong-san spoke up and broke the silence. “I didn’t hear anything at all. I just couldn’t hear anything.”

“Like what?” Su-hyeok asked but Cheong-san didn’t lift his gaze from where he stared at the floor.

“I mean after Na-yeon went out and then Ms. Park went after her. I didn’t hear anything after that.”

“You mean, screaming?” Su-hyeok asked and Cheong-san finally looked up at his friend to confirm.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe they didn’t die, then. They wouldn’t have been quiet if zombies were biting them,” Dae-su spoke his thoughts. “They must be alive.”

You let out a hum of acknowledgment while everyone else stayed silent and he huffed in annoyance, feeling left out. “Why won’t you respond? No one answers me. I’m always talking to myself,” he looked down and played with his tie. You couldn’t help feeling bad even though you were the only one to acknowledge his thoughts, albeit with only a hum.

Just as you were about to say something, On-jo beat you to the punch. “I think you’re right.”

“Forget it,” Dae-su waved her off with an eye roll but she continued.

“I didn’t hear anything either.”

“Me neither,” Hyo-ryung threw in her own thoughts. “ I was scared because I didn’t know how I’d feel if I heard them screaming, but I didn’t hear anything.”

“Come to think of it, neither did I,” Joon-yeong added.

“Then I’m right. They’re alive, right?” Dae-su asked and Joon-yeong nodded in confirmation.

“Should she be alive?” Ji-min asked angrily and you turned slightly to look at her, Nam-ra still resting her head on your shoulder, unmoving.

“What do you mean?” Joon-yeong asked.

“She’s a murderer. She killed Gyeong-su and walked out of here on her own. Is it even right for her to be alive?” She asked angrily, using rage as a coping mechanism for everything that was happening. “Aren’t you all being fake?”

“What about Ms. Park? Should she have died too?” Wu-jin questioned and Ji-min was quick to reply.

“Is that our fault?”

“Either way, we’re responsible for what happened,” he argued.

“Why is that? What did we do wrong?” She asked and you turned back to looking at your hands which were interlocked with Nam-ra’s, unable to look at the emotion in Ji-min’s eyes anymore. “Na-yeon killed someone, then played the victim, and chose to leave on her own. All because we didn’t listen to her,” She defended her own argument and Wu-jin remained silent. “If no one’s on your side, is it okay to kill?” Everyone stayed silent as they churned her question over in their brains. “Ms. Park acted like we were wrong. We didn’t tell Na-yeon to go out there. We didn’t tell Ms. Park to go out there, either. Why should we feel bad? What the hell did we do wrong?” Hyo-ryung leaned over to hug Ji-min and comfort her but the hand she placed on her shoulder was shoved off.

You noticed On-jo looking down at the table and a teardrop falling down her cheek and you reached over to grab onto her hand with your free one, squeezing gently. Surprisingly, she didn’t look shocked by your movements or the fact that you would do something like this, she just gave you a watery smile and sniffed before slightly wiping her nose on the sleeve of her slightly bloodied jacket.

Speaking of jackets, you realized you still didn’t have your own after using it to cover up Hyeon-ju when she came into the classroom. Although it wasn’t cold right now, you were sure it would be later, especially with the broken-open window.

“Hey,” Su-hyeok spoke up and interrupted everyone’s thoughts. “I feel weird saying this, but-”

He was interrupted when Wu-jin smacked his stomach. “Don’t say it.”

Su-hyeok groaned and took a strange moment of silence before continuing with what he was going to say. “Does anyone else have to go to the bathroom by any chance?” Nobody responded. “Am I the only one?”

Dae-su raised his hand slightly. “I do.”

“We have to go, too, actually. But we can’t go out,” Hyo-ryung spoke on behalf of her and Ji-min.

“I also have to go,” you added in and everyone’s head snapped towards you, making you shrink back in on yourself and press your cheek against the crown of Nam-ra’s head in embarrassment.

Joon-yeong sighed before pressing his forehead against the table.

“I’ve had to poop for a while,” Dae-su spoke up again and you held back the smile that threatened to take over your face.

“Dude… that’s… ew,” Wu-jin told him as he threw a pencil at him which was placed near his sitting spot.

“Why are you blaming me for this? Su-hyeok’s the one who brought it up. Poopings not a crime.”

“It’s not a crime, but-” Wu-jin told him with an amused face.

“But what? Don’t you need to go?”

“Yes, I do. Not poop, but, you know…” He informed.

“What about you?” Dae-su asked Cheong-san as he pointed at him, pleading for anyone to be on his side.

“I don’t… Pooping? No.”

He turned to Hyo-ryung. “Don’t you need to go?”

“Why are you asking me?” She whined.

“Why are you getting annoyed?” He shot back.

“What do you want from us? We can’t go out, anyways.”

Dae-su sighed deeply before his eyes caught on yours and he shot up straight. “(Y/n)!”

You smiled, amused, and Dae-su looked ecstatic at your expression. “Yes, Dae-su?”

“Do you need to go? Do you need to poop?” He asked, practically begging you to agree.

Your head tilted a bit as you looked up while thinking. “Yes,” you finally replied.

His hands shot up in victory. “Really?”

“No,” you laughed and he deflated like a balloon back into his seat with a playful glare. “I do have to go though.”

He sighed out again before he looked at the window. “I have an idea.”

You sighed and slapped your forehead, knowing exactly where he was going with this and not liking it one bit.

Dae-su walked up to the window, leaning against it slightly. “First, the girls and the guys will take turns.”

“Where?” Hyo-ryung asked, not understanding the context clues or deliberately being ignorant in hopes of him choosing a different answer.

He looked at her before gesturing to the window in front of him. “Here.”

She scoffed. “You’re crazy.”

“Stop it, man,” Cheong-san said and rolled his eyes at Dae-su’s strange suggestion.

“Why?” The boy asked with a slight whine. “The girls can wait in the other room, and the guys can just pee out the window.”

“What about… poop?” Wu-jin and you groaned out while shrinking in on yourself as you were sure you knew exactly what his idea would be.

He pointed at Wu-jin before looking back at the window. “Poop. Well…” He was silent for a moment as he thought before he slapped the frame in realization. “You can take your pants off and hang out the window,” he explained and climbed up the window so his butt was hanging off on one side while he held onto the window frame. “Like this.”

You couldn’t help yourself from snorting at his demonstration. “Outside!” He went on as you hid your smiling face underneath the collar of your green sweater. He stepped down from the window. “Like you’re taking a dump off of a cliff,” he then squatted down before continuing. “Like this.”

“What reaction is he hoping for?” You heard Wu-jin whisper before you spoke yourself.

“You seem to know a lot about this, Dae-su,” you teased. “I’m guessing you’ve had a lot of experience with pooping off of cliffs.”

He looked at you with an unamused look and you couldn’t help yourself from bursting out into laughter that everyone else joined in on as Dae-su rolled his eyes in annoyance. Nam-ra lifted her head from your shoulder and hid her smile behind her hand.

“I’m being serious!” He exclaimed over the laughter.

“Stop being ridiculous,” Hyo-ryung told him with an eyeroll after she calmed down.

“But someone has to hold you, so you don’t fall!” He quickly added when he saw a break in the giggles.

“How are you going to wipe your butt?” Joon-yeong asked him.

“Well, someone else should.”

“What is he saying?” Hyo-ryung facepalmed.

“Idiot.”

“Let’s just hold it,” Ju-min told everyone. “If the rescuers come-”

“It’ll take a while for them to get here,” On-jo looked at her as she interrupted her before looking down at her hands woefully. “It may be the same outside of the school.”

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The joking and laughter filled atmosphere was replaced with the sullen one as everyone thought of the situation they were still in.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, but my dad always told me to separate the bathroom from where you sleep if you find yourself stranded,” On-jo continued, sounding like she had an idea.

“What do you suggest?” You implored.

“We create a makeshift bathroom for the time being,” she said confidently.

“Where will we create a bathroom and how?” Ji-min inquired, confused.

“Right there,” On-jo pointed to the recording booth and everyone turned to look.

“That’s smart, if we do some things to make it more private it could be the perfect place to make one. Good thinking,” you praised her and she blushed slightly as she looked back down to her hands while a small smile graced her features. You stood up with a slight hop before turning to On-jo and clapping your hands together. “Okay, boss lady! First order of motion?”

She tried to hide her smile but failed as a small laugh escaped her. She stood up herself and turned to look at the group of girls. “Nam-ra and you guys, try to look for something to cover the window.”

They nodded before scattering across the room to find things they could use.

“Cheong-san and Joon-yeong,” both boys turned to her at their names being called. “Make something that can absorb urine and feces to use as a toilet,” they nodded and got to work. “And then the rest of you…” she paused, knowing they needed something else but not sure what it was.

“A screen?” You suggested and she snapped in your direction in appreciation.

“Yes! A screen.”

“A screen?” Wu-jin asked to confirm in slight confusion and On-jo nodded.

“Yes, a screen to block.”

Wu-jin, Su-hyeok, and you walked into the recording booth and looked around. The both of them seemed stuck on what to use but you saw something immediately.

You walked over to where a few filing cabinets were and started moving one of them so it was positioned parallel to the wall with the window. Going over to start moving the second one, Su-hyeok realized you had been doing the work while they were just watching. He slapped Wu-jin’s chest before jogging over to you with a smile.

“How about you two move that one,” you pointed over to another filing cabinet on the other side of the room. “And I’ll move this one so they can be ‘walls’ on each side of that one,” you then pointed to the previous filing cabinet you had moved which was across from the window.

Su-hyeok frowned before moving over to where you were and going on the other side of the filing cabinet you were about to move. You reached over to smack the back of his head. “I don’t need help, idiot. Go help Wu-jin,” you pointed to where Wu-jin was struggling to move the filing cabinet on his own despite trying to seem like he wasn’t. Su-hyeok turned and rubbed his head where you smacked him before you could see the smile and blush that blessed his cheeks. He mentally slapped himself.

All she did was slap me on the head and call me an idiot, why the fuck am I smiling?

You laughed as you watched him walk away and he blushed harder at the sound of it.

Oh… that’s why.

After moving the two filing cabinets, you moving yours comically faster than the two boys did and rolling your eyes before helping them, you walked out of the room to see Dae-su laying his head down on the table. Cheong-san and Joon-yeong were almost done with what you assumed was the makeshift bathroom.

You walked over to them and rested a hand on Joon-yeong’s shoulder as you leaned over to look at the basket. “Is this the homemade toilet?”

Joon-yeong jumped at first before relaxing. “Yeah, we’re trying to figure something out for where to sit, though. With just this, everyone would probably just have to hover above it.”

You nodded and looked around for a second before something caught your eye and both of them lit up. You practically skipped over to the seat next to Dae-su and grabbed his neck pillow from where it was resting and walked back over to the two boys.

“Put this on top, I think this might be the best option we’ll have,” you suggested and placed the pillow on top of the rags in the basket.

“Dae-su's got a big butt, so let's…” he said as he opened up the button that held the two ends of the pillow together and spread it a bit.

“Perfect!” you smiled and opened the recording booth’s door for the two of them as they brought the basket inside. Walking over to where Nam-ra, On-jo, and the rest of them had set up a little circle of chairs, you sat in the one next to where Nam-ra was standing just as everyone was rushed out of the room by Su-hyeok who slammed the door harder than he probably intended to. You laughed.

“Do you want to sit down? I can pull up another chair,” you suggested to your best friend but she just politely shook her head with a smile. You held your hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, if you say so.”

After a little while, it was your turn and you used it quickly before grabbing a hand sanitizer bottle from one of the cabinets and pumping a little into your hand.

“Oh, thank god!” You heard and turned around to see On-jo, followed by Hyo-ryung, beside you. “I was worried about that. Even if we’re in a zombie apocalypse, I don’t really want to go to the bathroom and not wash my hands,” the bob hair cutted girl said in relief before holding her hand out. You put some in her hand and then some in On-jo’s as well and both grinned at you gratefully.

The bottle got passed around as everyone took a little and then started chatting.

“At least there are cops and soldiers out there, right?” Hyo-ryung questioned hopefully.

“But if you watch the movies, they can’t do anything either, right?” Wu-jin answered with his own question.

“I’m hoping that this situation will be different from the movies, that this thing will have a cure and everyone outside of the school is doing just fine,” you muttered with slight optimism. Hyo-ryung smiled at you and grabbed your hand.

“Exactly, and they always save everyone in the end.”

The door slammed shut and you noticed Joon-yeong, who had been standing outside of the door, waiting for his turn, had gone inside and Dae-su was standing on the other side with the tissue box you all had designated at the toilet paper in his hand.

Everyone’s face had turned sour as the smell of the recording booth flooded out with the small time the door was open.

“Shit!” Su-hyeok exclaimed as you all plugged your nose or wafted away the stench with your hand. “Why don’t you just stay inside?”

“Does it smell?” Dae-su asked cluelessly.

The door to the studio opened again before slamming as Joon-yeong came running out. “S-shit.”

“What?” Dae-su asked again as Joon-yeong ran towards the window to get some fresh air. “Stop being so dramatic. It doesn't smell at all.

“Oh, it does more than just smell. I’m pretty sure the zombies will bust down the door just because of that,” you joked and grabbed a piece of paper from behind you to use as a fan and blow away the air.

“Sit somewhere else,” Hyo-ryung demanded as Dae-su sat in the seat next to her but he just ignored her and she rolled her eyes.

You looked up at Nam-ra and saw that she was just staring off blankly out the window. “What’s up? What are you looking at?” You asked her.

She took a breath and hesitated before speaking her mind. “There’s nobody there. There are no lights on in the stores and apartments out there. They all ran away.”

“Or died…” You added depressingly.

“What do you mean by that?” On-jo quizzed.

“No one’s coming here to save us,” Name-ra stated.

“Why do you have to be so pessimistic?” Joon-yeong asked as he shifted uncomfortably under the change of tone in the air.

“Don’t you know my mom?” She shifted so she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. “She would’ve torn the school apart looking for me, but she isn’t here yet.”

“So, what do you wanna do?” Ji-min asked in a bitter voice and Nam-ra turned to look at her, annoyed.

When you realized she wasn’t going to reply, you replied on her behalf. “I think she’s just trying to point out the facts, even if they are depressing,” you looked up at Nam-ra to see if your assumption was correct and she nodded.

Ji-min turned to face you. “We all know that no one’s coming. So I think we should just figure out what we’re gonna do next.

“We have to wait to be rescued,” On-jo vocalized. You all looked to her and you especially knew that she might have the best knowledge of what to do in a situation like this considering she had some information passed down to her from her dad. “We can’t leave somewhere safe to go somewhere dangerous.”

“But from the place where we are right now, we’re not exactly in a visible spot for someone to see and rescue us from,” you told her, knowing that even if rescuers showed up to save people, they would most likely go to the roof first before anywhere else if at all.

“And what if nobody comes?” Nam-ra added on and you nodded.

“We haven't been waiting that long yet,” the girl insisted as she stared up at her.

“How long do you think we have to wait? Do you think we should wait until we die?” Nam-ra asked in a slightly snarky tone which you winced at but didn’t make any move to interfere.

“No,” On-jo clarified. “I’m saying let’s wait as long as we can.”

“But when will we know when we can’t?” You asked and On-jo just looked at you, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she looked down at her lap.

“I don’t know… but there’s no way we can go out right now, anyway.”

“It’s probably because it’s nighttime. I’m sure somebody will come in the morning, maybe. There are a lot of choppers flying around,” Su-hyeok pointed out and everyone looked out the window to inspect the sky for a second before leaning back. He let out a sigh. “Let’s just wait until tomorrow, and we’ll see.”

Everyone nodded in agreement when Joon-yeong took in a deep breath and ran back into the recording studio while plugging his nose which you and Hyo-ryung slightly giggled at. Su-hyeok looked down with a smile at the sound but you didn’t notice it from how you leaned forward to talk to Hyo-ryung. You also didn’t notice the questioning looks that On-jo passed back and forth between you and Su-hyeok.

~~~

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

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