The Day I Die - A Kpop Zombie Survival Story || KSJ

14. Bare To Lose a Friend

A thought crosses my mind. Why didn't I recognise them earlier?

"Vernon... Your name sounds very familiar to me... didn't you also work under HYBE?" I ask.

"Yeah... Seokjin... we're part of the band, Seventeen." Vernon says.

Bingo! That's them! Seventeen! I knew that they looked familiar!

"Oh! Yes! I like your music a lot! I just didn't recognise you at first because you guys weren't a complete group!"

"Yeah..." Vernon says, his smile slowly disappearing.

"Oh... Sorry... I- I did- I didn't mean to make you feel... like that..." I say, hints of pity in my tone.

"No. It's fine... You didn't mean to." Vernon says in a quiet tone.

He walks away from me, going over to the rest of Seventeen to have a chat with them as they ready their beds.

I can hear voices behind the curtain. Jisoo is awake.

I go over to the curtain, peeking through,

"You don't mind me checking up on Jisoo? Just to examine the wounds. You guys can stay here, you don't need to leave."

Blackpink look at me and then at each other. Jisoo nods her head groggily and I come in.

Lisa moves over so that I have a space to kneel next to Jisoo. I check her temperature. It's a little hotter than usual, but it's not too bad.

I take the bandage off her arm. Lisa and Jennie turn away from it, disgusted but Rose just stares at me, cursing under her breath. The wound seems to have done well. No traces of infection are left.

"The wound on her arm is doing well, and her temperature will go back to normal. She just needs to rest for a bit. She'll be fine by tomorrow. Now, I just need to check her shoulder." I say.

I unwrap some of the bandages covering her shoulder. The swelling seems to have gone down and the redness is nearly gone.

"The shoulder is healing really fast as well. Luckily, there's no complications anywhere."

The Blackpink members all let out collective sighs of relief.

I rewrap the bandages, Jisoo winces as I tighten the knot. I look up at her, signalling that I'm sorry.

"Now... Jisoo. You don't me asking you some questions?" I say.

"No..." She answers in a hoarse voice.

Lisa, noticing her hoarse tone, suddenly stands up and says,

"Unnie, I'll go fetch some water."

I nod and she leaves.

I decide to start the questions.

"Does anything feel somewhat different? That could be like, complete numbness in an area or any peculiar cravings?" I ask

She shakes her head.

"Well... All I can say is that you're going to be just fine. You just need rest." I say.

I stand up and leave. I pass Lisa bringing the water over to Jisoo.

I look around the bedroom. Everyone is sitting in their groups, all chatting and getting comfortable with each other, some playing games. I see Itzy and Twice playing a game of blooming flowers and I laugh as Chaeryeong gets caught, arguing with Nayeon who is the tagger.

That's when I see him.

Ni-ki.

He's sitting alone in the corner. Tears all around his face.

I go over to him.

"Ni-ki? Are you ok?" I whisper.

He doesn't reply.

I sigh.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I reach out and hug him.

He gasps, shocked by my sudden movement.

"Let me go." He says.

I hold on. Saying nothing.

"Let me go." He repeats.

"No."

"Are you crazy?!? Let me go!!!" He says, his voice quivering.

"Are you crazy? I said no." I say.

He starts to push me away, trying to pry my arms away from him. He's bigger than me, but I hold my ground.

...

"Do you miss anyone?" I ask.

He stops trying to push me away.

We sit there in silence.

We caught the attention of the room. Everyone freezes and stares at us.

Ni-ki gives in to his emotions and slouches in my arms and breaks down in tears.

"They're all gone. They're all gone... I ju- just can't ba- bare the fact tha- that they're gone."