The Final Bell (Zombie Apocalypse AU) (NCT127 x Reader)

The Alchemist

Chapter warnings: mild language

Word count: 1460

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Jungwoo looked up as Y/N entered into the medical tent. Normally, she was greeted with a simple nod or acknowledging glance, but today was different. He was sitting in his usual position, messing with vials and flasks of various colors. Also as usual, he was alone. That is, until she walked in.

"What, are you here to steal something else?" He grumbled, not even bothering to say hello.

"I-" she didn't even know how to respond to that, "No, I came to see how you were doing."

"Hm." Obviously he wasn't in a talkative mood. Still, she felt that it was her obligation to try and have a conversation with him.

"What are you working on?"

"The cure, obviously. What else?" Her eyes widened slightly. He was still working on it? That didn't make sense... If it had been her, she would have thrown all that stuff out the second the incident went down.

"Oh, really? I just thought-"

"What? What did you think?"

"Well, I... I'm just surprised you still want to mess with it, after..." He stopped, finally making eye contact with her.

"Why do I have anything to be worried about? It's not as he didn't know the risks- oh, wait. He didn't. Because the test wasn't subject ready. I hadn't even tried it on an animal."

"I know, but I mean... you know."

"No, really Y/N, I don't. What, you steal my experiment, give it to a desperate person, and now you're blaming me for his death? The death of my friend. You barely even knew him." He spat. "So forgive me for wanting to continue looking for a way to fix all this. I don't expect you to understand."

"Jungwoo, I-" Just as she moved to object, Taeil walked in, evidently with a goal in mind.

"Hey, we're ready to go when you are. Oh- hi, Y/N." And with that, he promptly exited as fast as he had entered.

"Go where?"

"To get test subjects." He said, leaving her high and dry in the tent. Confused, she followed, jogging to catch up. He still wasn't making eye contact with her.

"Test subjects? For what?"

"For my fucking cotton candy machine, Y/N- what do you think?"

"Oh... zombies?" Jungwoo stopped dead in his tracks.

"No wonder you're out here getting people killed. How do you expect me to use live zombies as test subjects safely?"

"I-"

"Exactly. No, we will not be using live zombies." He spat. "I need small animals. The initial riddance of the disease is no longer an issue. Unfortunately, I don't have my test vial 7 to analyze the ingredients and how they reacted with each other, so I'll have to recreate that as well. We need to find out what exactly made Haechan go crazy. The most optimal animal would be a monkey, but obviously that would be hard to come by. I'll settle for rats."

"So... you're going to get rats?"

"Do you listen at all?" She was starting to get annoyed, but also worried. She had never seen Jungwoo act like this. He was normally so calm and caring.