gonna be fine | so junghwan

nine

Onjo's gaze fell upon the wound on her best friend's arm, brows furrowing as she noted the distinct bite mark. On the other side of the class, Hyoryung saw the bite mark on their class president's arm, scrambling away in fear.

"Jinnie, what's that on your arm?"

"Hey, Prez, were you bit?"

Similar to a tennis match, heads bopped back and forth as the students tried to figure out what was happening.

Soojin and Namra exchanged glances, realizing both of them were bitten. Suhyeok protectively stood in front of their class president, while Junghwan did the same with his girlfriend.

"No." Suhyeok shook his head. "It's not what it looks like." He looked at his classmates.

"Suhyeok-ah," Cheongsan trailed off, nearing his best friend. "Move away from her."

"I'm telling you it's not. Tell him you weren't bitten by a zombie. Why won't you say anything?" The tall male yelled, frustrated. "It wasn't a zombie. Gwinam bit her."

The Lee twin tilted his head, frowning. "Who?" He asked.

"Gwinam. The bully."

"Yoon Gwinam?"

Cheongsan looked worried, and the others who knew the entire story seemed equally shocked. "Namra, were you really bitten by Gwinam?" He inquired, sighing when the female didn't answer. "Say it clearly!"

"It's true!" Suhyeok yelled. "Gwinam was the one who bit Namra. He's not a zombie."

"That's not possible." Cheongsan shook his head. "Gwinam was bitten by zombies."

"What bullshit is that, moron?"

"I saw him get bit. If you get bitten by zombies, you turn. So, if Gwinam bit her–"

Suhyeok scoffed. "Gwinam wasn't a zombie! He wasn't. He spoke; he recognized me," he yelled, turning towards Namra. "You saw. He wasn't a zombie!"

Namra stood from her seat, blankly looking at Cheongsan. "Are you sure he was bitten by a zombie?" She asked, causing the male to nod. "Then I'll turn into a zombie, too."

"Stop that bullshit! You're not one of them." Suhyeok sternly spoke, dragging back Namra when she walked away. "She won't turn into a zombie. You worry about your own sister, Cheongsan-ah."

Junghwan's grip on the female's hand tightened, the both of them knowing things were only gonna escalate.

"Soojin was bit yesterday," Cheongsan explained. "She's fine, isn't she?"

"What if it's just a delayed reaction? What if she will turn when you least–"

Something flipped within Cheongsan, fisting his hands at his sides. "Shut the fuck up, Suhyeok!" He yelled, startling everyone. "You know nothing! Soojin is fine! Nothing will happen to her!"

"But what if she does, Cheongsan? What then?" Suhyeok turned towards Soojin, no remorse in his eyes as he spoke. "Are you feeling funny, Soojin-ah? Do you feel like biting someone, huh?"

Junghwan's brows furrowed, having enough of the taunting. "Don't say anything else about Soojin. I was with her the entire night and she was fine." He scoffed, laughing sarcastically. "I can't believe you, man. What the fuck is it with the hostility?"

"He's right, though." Everyone's gazes fell upon Soojin, not having expected her to speak up. "There's always the 'what if', Hwanie. What if I'm–"

"You aren't a zombie, Jinnie." Cheongsan quickly intervened. "Shut up, please."

Suhyeok scoffed. "So, if your sister is involved, she's not infected, but when it's our class president, she is? Where's the logic, Cheongsan-ah?" He asked, his tone harsh.

Before things could escalate, Soojin walked towards the tall male, grabbing his hand as she pulled him towards the window. "The second you feel like something is wrong with me, push me off," she ordered, trying to sit on the ledge.

Reflexes kicking in, Suhyeok immediately stopped the younger, holding her arms as he looked into her eyes. The tears Soojin held back were visible, and he knew his words were to blame.

This was his best friend's sister — heck, Soojin was like his own sister. How the heck did it come to this? How could he be so rash with this words? Especially with someone like Soojin who was kind to everyone?

"Jinnie, I'm sorry–"

"Don't be, Suhyeok. You could be right. It's probably a delayed reaction."

"But everyone who was bitten turned within a few minutes," Nayeon spoke up, siding her friend. "Even if it's a delayed reaction, I don't think it'd be this delayed."

Daesu contemplated the choices, wondering out loud. "That's also true. Maybe it doesn't affect everyone the same." He looked confused. "Maybe Namra and Soojin aren't infected," he uttered.

Junghwan walked towards Soojin, pulling her away from Suhyeok. "There's nothing we can say or do that'll make you believe us, so all I can ask you guys is to trust us," he announced, looking around the class.

Namra walked towards the other window, Suhyeok by her side as she sat on the ledge. The class went silent for a minute; the silence broken upon hearing Cheongsan yelling.

"Suhyeok! Get out of the way!"

As her brother and his best friend brawled, Soojin could only watch in shock, everything moving too fast for her to process. Junghwan cursed under his breath, running towards his friends in hopes of stopping them from attracting any attention from zombies.

The panic and fear only rose when Cheongsan approached their class president with the sheet stand. The female did what she could, quickly running to hold back her brother.

"Will you stop it?!" Soojin cried, pushing away Cheongsan with whatever strength she had left. "Just stop it, oppa. Please." Tears streamed down her face, everything finally catching up to her.

It wasn't every day the students of Class 2-5 saw their class happy pill crying — in fact; it was their first time, and they felt their heart break at her strained cries.

Lee Soojin cried hard, falling to the floor on her knees. "Please stop, oppa," she begged.

Cheongsan's heart wrenched at the sight of his sister, dropping his weapon before wrapping his arms around his sister. "Hey, hey. Don't cry, alright? It's alright. It's okay," he muttered, patting her back.

"I really want to live, Cheongsan. But if it's gonna be like this, what's the point?"