ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜ . ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ¹

X. ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ɪᴛ...

"He looks like he's just a kid," Hye-in let out, cuddling her dog, Bom, in her arms. "A handsome kid."

Sung-hyo stopped in her tracks. She had been wandering throughout the first floor when she suddenly overheard the tenants talking about Hyun-su. She stayed hidden around the corner, eavesdropping.

"Didn't you see how much he bled and still didn't die?" Byeong-il said. "You can't judge someone on their looks."

"Would he survive a shot to the head?" Jae-hwan wondered aloud.

"How can we kill him then?" Byeong-il asked.

Sung-hyo felt her heart stop at the question. They were already thinking about how to potentially kill him.

"At least have some sympathy while he isn't a monster," Sung-hyo muttered under her breath.

"Can we?" Jae-hwan asked Byeong-il.

"How can you... Did you vote in favour?" Hye-in asked. "You're the murder accomplices."

"What if he turns into a monster?" Jae-hwan asked. "Will you leave him like that?"

"Can someone explain why this is happening?" a man standing nearby the group asked. Sung-hyo didn't recognise him. "Is it because of a virus?"

"It's because of radiation," Hye-in assumed.

"Come on. Didn't you guys watch the news?" Byeong-il asked. "It's because of human desire."

"Right," Seung-wan agreed. "It must be because the owner of the supermarket is so greedy."

"Then what about Hyun-su?" Jae-hwan asked. "What was his desire?"

"Who cares what his desire was?" Sung-hyo had finally heard enough, stepping out and making herself known. "It's human nature! We all have a desire for something. This fucking virus is just ratting us out."

"Yes, I agree," Eun-yu appeared with a hum, her headphones on her head. "That's the most plausible answer I've heard so far. Since we're all humans, no one knows... who will be next."

ᶠYͧoͨᵏu

Despite being glad that Eun-yu had been able to help her shut up the tenants about Hyun-su, her friend's words stuck with her.

The worst part about the whole thing was the reason why everyone went quiet.

Eun-yu was right, and everyone knew it. No one knew who was next to become infected.

Her worried looks and her silent thinking caught Ji-ji's attention.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ji-ji asked.

"Nothing..." Sung-hyo answered, sitting down next to her brother. "Just thinking about how fucked up our world has just suddenly become. Like... why now? Of all the fucking times it had to happen."

"It was definitely out of the blue," Ji-ji agreed, wrapping his arm around his sister. "Did you come across any of them?"

"One that couldn't see... and one who was gigantic," Sung-hyo listed. "What about you?"

"First night, there was this thing with a really long tongue," Ji-ji said. "It came back this morning, actually."

Sung-hyo went silent. Her thoughts began to move to other people.

Her friends at school.

The outside world.

... her parents.