ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜ . ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ¹

XXIV. ᴘʟᴀɴ ᴏꜰ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ

"You really made an effort," Jung-seop praised as he stared down at the maps and plans they'd found. "Who's the leader here? Who made this?"

Eun-hyeok stood up, "I did."

"I heard someone even performed surgery in here," Jung-seop said. "Who did that?"

"I did," Eun-hyeok said again.

"Everyone here is completely useless," Jung-seop announced. "There's an old man and a cripple, and even a patient. This place is the worst so far, but quite a lot of people survived here. You're young, but I guess you're pretty capable. I like you. What do you say? Will you abandon them and join me? Or will you... just die?"

Eun-hyeok looked down at the tenants before he seemed to make his decision, slowly leaving the circle and standing next to Jung-seop. The tenants were all shocked and distraught at the sudden betrayal. 

However, only Ji-ji had seen the glint in Eun-hyeok's eyes. 

He was doing it for their safety.

"You made a good choice," Jung-seop smiled, victorious. "You're pretty smart."

"Sir!" the man with the gold tooth appeared, looking worried. "There's a monster here."

ᶠYͧoͨᵏu

The three hiders moved through the hallways slowly and carefully, their weapons at the ready if they suddenly approached one of the men.

As they walked past a vent, a familiar voice caught everyone's attention.

"Yi-kyung," a tiny voice said. "Sung-hyo..."

Sang-wook climbed up onto a stack of boxes nearby, reaching up to grab Yeong-su, who was inside a vent. He brought the boy down, who looked very dirty.

"Come here," Sung-hyo beckoned, hugging the boy to give him some comfort. God knows what he'd seen. "Why did you go in there?"

"Well, my mission was to hide, but I saw Yi-kyung," Yeong-su explained, his voice wobbling. "She's a secret agent, too... and Grandpa wasn't coming. I was scared."

A thump came from the vent Yeong-su had just been in. Sung-hyo pulled Yeong-su behind her when everyone saw what seemed to be a slimy green person. However, Yeong-su swerved around Sung-hyo and grabbed Sang-wook's jacket.

"Don't!" the boy cried. "It saved me!"

Sung-hyo then realised where she'd seen the monster before. It had been covering Hyun-su back in the garage.

It hadn't been holding him... it had been protecting him from the spider monster.

"He's right, it's not dangerous," Sung-hyo voiced once she realised the truth.

Yi-kyung and Sang-wook listened, lowering their weapons. The slimy monster looked down at them all one last time before it disappeared, swimming through the vents.

A bang then went off.

It echoed, meaning it was a distance away, but still in the building.

"We've gotta come up with a plan," Sung-hyo voiced what the two adults were thinking. "And quickly... before another person gets shot. That's two shots I've heard now."

ᶠYͧoͨᵏu

The tenants being held hostage heard the bang too.

Hyun-su stood up, which caught the men's attention. They lifted their guns slightly, while the one in front of Hyun-su mentioned for him to sit back down.