You Make Me | Lee Eunhyuk

16

"Do you think the people in the locked room are the only ones turning? Everyone is scared to turn at any point" Eunhyuk stated.

As the three ascended the stairwell, Jiwon felt a chill go up her spine. Weapons were aimed forward by Jiwon and Hyunsoo in case a monster appeared, but Sangwook casually ascended the steps without one.

Jiwon inquired of the nervous boy standing next to her, "Did Eunhyuk tell you to leave the children?"

He stopped before murmuring, "Uh," "yeah."

Jiwon grumbled and rubbed her temples in irritation.

"How do you deal with him?" Inquiring in a gruff manner while chuckling a little, Hyunsoo.

"What?" Jiwon questioned, furrowing her brow in response to his tone.

He gazed back at her with fully black eyes and a nasty grin when she turned to face him.

"Well?" He laughed once more.

She nervously laughed as she turned her head away from him and glared at Sangwook's back, hoping he would turn around.

Fortunately, the girl did not have to walk uncomfortably for exceedingly long since Hyunsoo sped up to the door they were near, his posture appearing to be worse than she had noticed before.

"There's a monster in here," he said to Sangwook, smiling.

Although Sangwook's face was expressionless as he turned to face the boy, it was clear that he shared the girl's bewilderment at the way Hyunsoo was acting.

"Let's kill it, we can kill it," Hyunsoo said.

The boy opened the door, only to creepily look back at the elder guy and say, "you're terrified, aren't you?" Sangwook pulled him off the door frame and punched him in the stomach after hearing him chuckle. Hyunsoo collapsed to the ground and started coughing.

With a blank look, Jiwon merely observed the intriguing circumstance; the more she spoke with Sangwook, the more perplexed she became about him. She didn't feel in any danger from the man, despite the fact that he looked to be a mobster and was quite unpredictable. At least he was stylish.

As Hyunsoo recovered from the punch, Jiwon hurried to warn the man as the door behind Sangwook started to creak open.

She called out, approaching the other two, "Sir, be careful, the fire," but as she spoke, an obscene-looking appendage grabbed the man and dragged him into the flames, startling the two teenagers.

Sangwook was being dragged away by the thing when Hyunsoo and Jiwon chased after him into the fiery hallway. The girl was startled and perplexed by the suddenness of the situation as she stood in front of Hyunsoo with her jingum drawn. The sound of a guy shouting Sangwook's name caused even more bewilderment for the two.

A tremendous blast of wind blew them off their feet before the two could realize what was happening, forcing the girl to smack her head violently. Her ears started to ring as she hurriedly stood up to assist Hyunsoo. He started to limp a little, so she raised him with her free arm.

As her face drew nearer to the boy, she asked, her voice struggling to be heard over the crackling of flames, "Are you okay?"

She sighed as a result of his delayed nod before she made the discovery that some of her shirt was on fire. She slapped the shirt repeatedly until the fire was extinguished, leaving a hole in the bottom of the garment that was covered in soot.

In an attempt to find Sangwook, the girl turned her focus to the hallway, but two figures attracted her eye, particularly the lady who was aiming a crossbow directly at Jiwon's chest. In an effort to get the woman to cease drawing her bow, Jiwon drew her jingum. Finally, Hyunsoo turned to face the two people, his expression revealing more fear than Jiwon's.

Thankfully, the woman dropped her crossbow and moved closer to Sangwook's figure, prompting Jiwon to cautiously join the woman's side as well. Jiwon watched as the woman examined the man.

She informed the older man she was travelling with, "He's alive."

The man responded skeptically, "The monster left him alive?"

The previously armed woman gave Jiwon a quick glance before gesturing in Sangwook's direction to indicate that she needed assistance. The girl cautiously handed Hyunsoo her jingum before the two women took hold of Sangwook's arms and carried him away.

For several hours, everyone had been waiting for Sangwook to awaken. Jiwon was standing beside the room's bookshelves, browsing the old man's collection, while Hyunsoo sat quietly in a corner. She wondered whether the elderly guy had once been a lawyer or attorney since it reminded her of the books her mother had in their library. The flat they had arrived at was similar to others, but it was peaceful because of the colours used in the design, and everything was incredibly clean and neat despite the circumstances.

After having some time to think, she noticed that remorse was beginning to overtake her. Why was she acting in such a rash manner? Why was she allowing her feelings to influence her decisions? She should have listened to Eunhyuk before leaving since she had observed him getting ready to speak. Even though she was leaving the lobby, she hadn't informed her brother. Was this a result of her infection or was she going crazy? She continued to ponder things as she idly selected books and pretended to read their covers. Despite all of her reflection, she kept in mind that she had told the kids that she would return to rescue them. She carried that memory near to her heart as proof that at least she was doing something right.

Sangwook abruptly awoke from his nap, appearing just as irritated as ever. He declined medical attention from the woman they had been travelling with, whose name Jiwon later learned to be Yuri. Additionally, the elderly man introduced himself as Gilseob. Jiwon and Hyunsoo made little to no attempt to prevent Sangwook from doing whatever he wanted since they knew him a little bit better than the other two.

"Sir, will you please allow her to check your wounds?" Jiwon spoke in a monotone, but as was to be anticipated, he paid no attention.

Sangwook walked out of the room quickly, and everyone resumed their previous activities. Unfortunately, Yuri was now questioning Hyunsoo's wounds, which led Jiwon to move right in front of the two. Jiwon's eyes widened as the old man raised his crossbow and pointed it at the boy and girl after Hyunsoo declined assistance.

"Move that hand. You're turning, aren't you?"  Hyunsoo dropped the hand concealing his wound as the elderly man inquired, and it quickly healed.

"Sir, could you put down the crossbow, so we can talk about this?" Jiwon attempted to speak slowly.

She was shocked when the guy asked Hyunsoo to leave the apartment, and Hyunsoo agreed by collecting his things, prompting Jiwon to follow suit. Before they could depart, though, the old guy began to laugh and clarified that it was a joke.

"Seriously?" Jiwon said, shaking her head.

After that, everything proceeded quite well, so the group headed to 1408 to gather everyone who was temporarily residing there. Jiwon was completely okay with it not being an eventful journey; the less that goes wrong, the better. However, when the group arrived at 1408, they were informed that the infected woman, Myungsook, had succumbed to the infection. Fortunately, the creature she turned into was not aggressive and harmful to anyone, saving the group from having to kill the kind woman. Despite a few near misses, the group quickly made their way back down to the lobby without running across any monsters.

As the group entered the lobby just as the sun was rising, it was clear from the expressions on the tenants' faces that something distressing had happened. When they finally got through the barricade, Jiwon exhaled deeply. The last several flights of stairs were difficult for the children to traverse, so she had to carry them down. The girl searched the area for her brother, Eunhyuk and Eun, but when she couldn't find them, her heart began to race under the strain. She left the children in the sleeping area where one of the older women promised to monitor them there for the time being.

Jiwon quickly moved toward the security area, where she hoped to see Eunhyuk.