Part 18
Biyu sat in the living room, working on an amigurumi cat plush while simultaneously watching a drama.
Weimin ran down the stairs urgently and then towards Biyu.
"Biyu! You need to look at this!" Weimin shouted, sweating profusely. Weimin's shouting startled Biyu and she immediately turned around to look at Weimin.
Weimin showed his phone to Biyu.
It was a Livestream depicting crowds of people running for their lives. The cameraperson filming the scene was hiding behind a car.
In the Livestream, a giant wolf ran around and jumped on outdoor tables as he went. Some people ran into each other and fell in heaps.
Biyu's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She dropped the crochet hook and amigurumi plush and started trembling in fear.
Could it be Jacob? But it's not a full moon yet. He's actually not that type of werewolf...? Biyu thought.
Weimin placed his phone down and began to gently grab Biyu.
"Biyu, have you seen that giant wolf before?" Weimin asked with concern.
Biyu shook her head no.
"I've never seen it before but I think it's connected with the Hyun-ae's and Jong-suk's assault that night..." Biyu replied.
Weimin raised an eyebrow with confusion.
Biyu explained what she, Jun, and Jong-suk discussed not too long ago.
"A werewolf? Sounds far-fetched, there is no such thing as werewolves," Weimin replied.
"I'm actually unsure myself. I don't know if that giant wolf is the shirtless weirdo who harassed and stalked Hyun-ae and Jong-suk. My gut is telling me it's him," Biyu said.
"No wolf could be that big but I don't think that's a werewolf. Just an abnormally large wolf." Weimin said.
"Jian is at the sauna right now. What if he runs into that wolf?!" Biyu said.
"Oh shit! I forgot he's not home! We need to get him back home fast before that gargantuan beast does!" Weimin said urgently.
"What if he's already been eaten by the wolf by now?" Biyu said, worried.
"Don't say that! We better get going!" Weimin said urgently.
"Come on!" He ordered, grabbing Biyu by the hand and running towards the front door.
Mrs. Huang, who was in the office working knitting a blanket, exited the room after hearing the sound of running footsteps.
"Weimin! Biyu! Where are you going?" Mrs. Huang asked. When she entered the living room, she saw the front door wide open. All three of her children are gone.
Mrs. Huang gasps in horror.
"No! Jian is still outside and now Biyu and Weimin are gone. They're going out when there's a monster loose!' Mrs. Huang shouted in a horrified manner.
"Yeona, what happened?" Mr. Huang asked, walking back inside after being in the backyard.
"Weimin and Biyu went out to find Jian and there's a monster on the loose!" Mrs. Huang explained.
Mr. Huang's blood ran cold. He felt like fainting.
A dangerous animal is running loose in the city and his children are outside.
Jong-suk and Hye-mi stepped out of the bus after arriving at their designated stop. They spotted Café Mignon eight meters away and walked towards it.
When they arrived inside, they noticed the cafe is moderately occupied.
"Good thing it's not crowded," Hye-mi told Jong-suk. Jong-suk nodded his head in agreement.
Jong-suk looked around, he stopped and gasp with delight. Taehyun is at the workstation making latte art.
There he is! Jong-suk thought.
"Hey, look there's an empty booth seat over there," Hye-mi said, pointing to a vacant cubicle booth.
They walked toward the cubicle booth and settled inside.
"What do you want? I will get our orders," Hye-mi asked.
"Two mint choco fat macarons and an iced Vietnamese coffee," Jong-suk replied.
"All right, got them. I'm getting matcha fat macarons and a matcha frappe," Hye-mi said.
Hye-mi walked to the counter to order. As she ordered, Jong-suk had his eyes fixated on Taehyun. When it looked like Taehyun is about to look in Jong-suk's direction, Jong-suk looked away, not wanting to look suspicious.
That was close...Jong-suk thought, his face turning a rosy shade.
I better be careful. I need to find an appropriate time to talk to him again. Jong-suk looked back at Taehyun, seeing that he is stocking pastries this time. Jong-suk looked back at his table and pulled out the photo of him and Taehyun as children that he brought along. He let out a quiet sigh and stared at the photo nostalgically.
The streets are covered in debris, shrapnel, garbage, and blood.
Jacob roamed around the city, leaving destruction behind as he went. Whenever he noticed a man or boy who resembles Jong-suk he would grab them with his jaws and maul them, only to realize he got the wrong victim.
But Jacob didn't care if he murdered innocent people. He was in a blind rampaging fury.
Wait! I can smell his scent. He went somewhere....Jacob thought. He dropped the corpse of a man he recently mauled onto the ground and ran in the direction of Jong-suk's scent.
Park, Shin, and Lee drove through the streets in a cruiser with Shin as the driver.
"This is the nightmare of the century!" Lee remarked.
Park and Lee gasp in horror and disgust as they noticed the destruction Jacob caused. Windows were shattered, vehicles damaged beyond repair, blood splattered on building walls and pavements, and corpses lying sporadically.
"We better hurry before more innocent lives are lost!" Park shouted urgently.
News
"BREAKING NEWS: Giant monster wolf rampaging through ----- district"
News anchor: "a giant wolf has been spotted wreaking havoc in the streets of -----district. It is unknown where the giant wolf came from. This is something that science cannot explain. We urge residents to lock their doors and windows and stay at home. Don't venture outside under any circumstances."
Mr. and Mrs. Huang watched the news on the TV back at home. Upon seeing Jacob's wolf form appear onscreen, they whimpered and gasped.
They could not go outside to find their children. There were military soldiers roaming outside their neighborhood, making sure no civilians will try to leave their homes.
Biyu and Weimin ran through the streets and looked around, desperately searching for Jian.
"Where is he? Where did he say he was going?" Biyu asked urgently.
"The internet cafe! He said he was going to the internet cafe!" Weimin answered, remembering what Jian told him.
"Let's go there first!" Biyu shouted.
As the two siblings ran, Weimin tried to call Jian only for the call to go straight to voicemail.
"Damn it! He's not answering!" Weimin shouted in frustration.
The two siblings rounded a corner, only to walk into a street full of bloodied corpses.
Biyu let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell backward into a sitting position. The sidewalk and pavement are smeared and painted with blood. There is even a large pool of blood oozing underneath a pile of corpses.
Weimin helped Biyu get back on her feet. The two siblings looked around with pure terror.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Weimin shouted urgently, breathing heavily as he went.
They frantically scamper away, almost losing their balance and running into other corpses on the street.
Jian gathered his belongings, ready to leave the internet cafe he had been playing video games at.
But as Jian was about to leave, he was stopped by one of the employees.
"Um...why are you not letting me go? I want to leave," Jian asked.
"Sorry, we are doing this for safety purposes." The employee said.
"What's happening out there?" Jian asked, on the verge of losing his patience.
"This is hard to believe, there's a dangerous animal wreaking havoc," The employee responded.
"What...?" Jian asked with perplexity.
The employee looked up and spotted a TV plastered high on a wall.
"There!" The employee shouted, pointing at the TV.
Jian followed the employee's finger. When he noticed the TV and the captions, he gasps.
Images of blurred bodies were all over the screen. Phone footage of a giant wolf running around the streets and destroying everything in its path then appeared.
"What the hell is that thing?" Jian asked upon seeing Jacob on the television screen.
"You're obviously not alone. I can't believe my eyes. I have never seen a wolf that huge before." The employee remarked.
Jian immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket, almost fumbling with punching in his passcode.
He tapped the phone calls app and found missed calls from Weimin and Biyu, worrying him.
"Oh no. No no no no." Jian whimpered.
He immediately phoned Biyu and placed his next to his ear, waiting for her to answer.
Biyu and Weimin hid in an alley to catch their breath.
Weimin slammed his fist against the wall.
"That bastard! Why didn't he tell us where he was going before heading out?!" Weimin shouted.
Biyu nervously looked away, understanding Weimin's frustration. She lowered her head and began to ponder.
She couldn't help but feel angry at Jian.
Biyu felt her phone vibrating in her shorts pocket, causing her to let out a startled gasp. She hastily pulled her phone out of her pocket.
To her surprise, Jian is calling.
"It's Jian!" Biyu shouted.
Weimin gasped and turned his head to face Biyu.
Biyu tapped her phone to answer Jian.
"Jian?!" Biyu asked.
"Oh God, Biyu! You're all right. Where's Weimin?" Jian asked.
"He's right next to me. We're hiding." Biyu answered.
"Where are you?" Biyu asked.
"I'm at the internet cafe. They wouldn't let us leave for our safety. I saw the news. That...thing.." Jian answered.
"We went out to look for you," Biyu explained to Jian, her voice breaking and tears streaming down her face.
"We were worried sick!" Weimin added.
"You guys should head back home. I will be fine." Jian said.
"Yes, yes." Biyu agreed.
"Okay, see ya later, and please get back safe and quick as possible!" Jian said.
Biyu and Jian hung up.
"I think we should just sneak around through the alleyways to get back home. We shouldn't be out in the open." Biyu told Weimin, looking around the alley which is near vacant.
"There's no way that beast will be able to fit through the narrow walkways," Weimin said. The two siblings walked sideways in between buildings, continuing their way home.
Hye-mi arranged her matcha frappe and fat macarons and pulled out her phone to photograph them, wanting to share the delicious treats she bought and wants to eat online.
Jong-suk quietly drinks his Vietnamese iced coffee, contemplating how he will interact with Taehyun.
Does he remember him? Does he not?
He took a mint chocolate fat macaron and slowly bites off a piece.
Flashbacks of him and Taehyun circulated in his mind.
He remembered the day they were catching bugs with butterfly nets. Jong-suk caught a praying mantis and showed it to Taehyun who stared with fascination.
Another pastime, Jong-suk, and Taehyun would get dalgona candies together and poke the shapes out together. Jong-suk would often get dalgona with Taehyun and never went to get any without him.
Jong-suk would often get a star shape while Taehyun would get an umbrella.
Jong-suk placed the photograph of him and Taehyun in his shoulder bag and slowly turned his head to glance at Taehyun again.
To his surprise, Taehyun is staring back at him. Jong-suk gasps quietly upon noticing.
"Does he...remember me?" Jong-suk thought.
Jong-suk immediately looked away, a luminescent shade of red forming under his eyes.
Hye-mi, seeing Jong-suk's face is beet red, placed her phone down.
"Jong-suk, what happened? Did you-" Hye-mi stopped in mid-sentence.
A loud bang sounded, startling everyone in the cafe.
Hye-mi and Jong-suk turned their attention to what was outside.
Everyone turned to look outside. A bloodied man has been thrown at the cafe window, blood smearing the glass.
Many patrons started screaming in horror at the sight. Some of them stood up from their seats.
Hye-mi and Jong-suk gasp in horror.
Crowds of civilians flooded through the streets. Military soldiers armed with AK47s ran by and turned around to shoot at whatever is offscreen.
The patrons and workers inside Cafe Mignon could not see what the soldiers are shooting at.
"Everyone stay away from the doors and windows, get closer inside." The owner of Cafe Mignon ordered.
Jong-suk and Hye-mi scooted deeper into their cubicle. Jong-suk did not want to see what was outside again. He looked out from the cubicle and can see Taehyun crouching behind the counter.
The patrons who sat on the tables outside the booths watched apprehensively outside. The soldiers stopped shooting and ran further away until they are no longer within the line of sight of any of the Cafe Mignon patrons.
Jacob slowly came into view, walking slowly.
The Cafe Mignon patrons gasp in horror, some of them whimpering and screaming.
"A wolf!" A man screamed.
"It's huge!" A woman screamed.
"Block the doors! Don't let it get inside!" A woman shouted.
Jacob stopped and turned to look at Cafe Mignon, making eye contact with many of the patrons.
"No! It's looking at us!" A man shouted in horror.
"No sudden movements! It might pounce at us!" A woman warned.
Jacob bared his teeth and started snarling. He turned his body so that he will face directly at the patrons.
Now I found him. He's hiding in there like a coward...He can't hide from me forever...Jacob thought, eager to destroy Jong-suk once and for all.
Jacob slowly prowled towards Cafe Mignon.
Part 18 End