Warning: Detailed description of choking to death? I've read that some of you has fear or trauma with choking so you can skip the part where she's choking.
***
Love...
There is no really concrete definition of love. Some says that love is a strong affection and attachment to one another while some says that it is a byproduct of when certain chemicals releases by our brain mix up which then makes us feel giddy and euphoric.
Love can be either platonic or romantic. Everyone could love anyone they want without limitations. It comes natural to every person and it might be impossible for an individual to say that they haven't experience or at least give love yet.
But love is a really confusing matter especially for a teenager like Shim Hye-wol. Partly because of the common teenage identity crisis but also because she haven't experience falling in love yet. Her family did love her but storge is completely different to romantic love.
She's eighteen years old but never have experience receiving eros nor pragma from the opposite sex--- even from females! She's not beautiful nor ugly, she's at the middle. Maybe that's the reason why she's often overlooked, because there's nothing special in her physical appearance. And the generation today base their affection through the physical aspect of an individual--- heck, they even base their respect on how beautiful or handsome you are.
So, when the director called her to change a couple of things in the screenplay she had written, she was greatly confounded and troubled.
Currently sitting in front of her study table pushed just in front of the window overlooking a plain white wall of the next building, her laptop that obviously shows a clear sign of having seen better days is prop open in front of her as her eyes fixated on the screen with a glare of spite. The words of the director echoes on her mind once again which only ignites the annoyance on her system.
"What is this? Nam-ra left the group, She and Su-hyeok didn't end up together? CHEONG-SAN DYING?! You took everyone away from On-jo? What are you thinking?! Where's the romance? Romance attract people to watch, Shim Hye-wol. Change it, incorporate a good and eye-catching romance."
Hearing the voice of the director, Hye-wol's glare intensify, "A romance in a zombie apocalypse? Who would even think about romance when everyone around them is dying?!" she ranted particularly to no one.
Gyoeul, the white fluffy pomeranian of her neighboring unit she dog-sit for extra income tilted her head at the human girl, looking up from her position on the floor while a chew toy is in between of her paws. Gyoeul bark at her, the high-pitched sound echoing on the four-corner room.
"I know right, Gyoeul-ah. Because if it was me, love will be the last thing I would think of. I would focus on saving my ass first before I find prince charming." she said to the fluffy pomeranian. Gyoeul yips at her in response, seemingly understanding the human girl.
If she didn't really need this money, she would decline the offer. Her story, All of us are dead is one of the novels written by her that made it to the limelight and a producer approached her one day, wanting to create a series adaptation of her novel.
At first, she didn't want to sell it because the contract says that she have to delete the online novel from the platform where she posted it. She didn't want to delete it so she initially declined. But when the director had talked to her in person, she was manipulated to agree--- not really manipulated in psychological aspect but more on monetary aspect. She was offered a large sum of money so who is she to decline a once in a life time opportunity.
But now that they want to change the plot, she's having a second thought whether she made a right choice or she's regretting it. Her novel has always have deeper meaning in the plot, a hidden message she wants her reader to see. Every characters have their own symbolism and she can't just change it the way they want.
An idea suddenly flashes on her mind, instigating an evil smile on her face as her eyes gleam in mischief. The poor pom whimpers, standing up to get away from the crazy girl.
"They want romance, I'll give them romance," Hye-wol smirk, cracking her fingers as she flex her neck, "They didn't say anything about having a tragic ending though.."
Her fingers dance around the keyboard, her eyes focused as her mind begins to wander around the fictional world she created. She changed some things, eyes gleaming with mischief.
She sat in front of her laptop until the sun hides and the moon makes its appearance. Her eyes are kind of watery but she just lift her anti-radiation glasses up and wipe the tears off with a tissue.
When she's nearing the end, her evil smirk become sinister, "Cheong-san felt the uncontrollable lust for human meat--- particularly On-jo's. His teeth itches to sunk itself on the juncture between her shoulder and neck. And when he accidentally took a whiff of the intoxicating scent of her blood, he lost it. His teeth clamp down on her flesh, blood oozing out as On-jo screams bloody murder----" her smirk fell as realization dawned on her. She immediately backspaced while shaking her head, "No, no. Cheong-san won't going to do that. It's impossible, totally OOC."
Snacks littered around her working area, Gyoeul was already been taken away by her owner and half of Korea might be under a deep sleep by now. The moon illuminates her dark room as the sound of plastic rustling, keyboard typing, and the occasional voice of Hye-wol are the only sound that you could hear inside her studio unit.
She should be sleeping by now since she have classes tomorrow but she can't just leave this unfinish. She hates not finishing her work before sleeping because she tends to bring it along with her even in her dreams.
Reaching for the plastic of peanut M&M's, she grab a single piece before popping it inside her mouth, eyes focused on the screen of her laptop. Just as the piece of chocolate covered peanut landed on her mouth, the once white screen of her laptop turned into black before it displays the blue screen of death.
Your PC run into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you.
1% complete....
"What the f----" the colorful spew of her mouth was interrupted when the M&M's lodge itself on the middle of her throat, blocking the airway as she starts to choke.
Her eyes begins to water as her face slowly turns a pale shade of red. She tried dislodging the chocolate by her own but the panic settles on her system. Through the panic state, she stood up and drape herself on top of her chair, using the furniture to dislodge the chocolate from her throat before it completely choke her to death.
She uses her weight to apply pressure on her diaphragm but the lack of oxygen and the dots appearing on her eyesight distracts her, her body falling on the ground with a loud thud as she heave for oxygen. There's only one thing in her mind before she fell on the dark abyss of death, her chest stilling as her hand on her neck fell lifelessly on the ground.
"Fuck, I should've eaten cadbury instead."
Restarting failed..
Reloading..
Error loading operating system..
Resetting this PC... 1%
Resetting this PC... 78 %
Resetting this PC... Complete
System corrupted...
The computer screen glitches, static flickering lines appears before the whole screen becomes pitch black. A piece of M&M's rolled down from the table and to Hye-wol's lifeless body.
***
The silence is too loud, so profound that it starts to cause a headache. The sun seeps through the blinds, casting light to the dark bedroom as the lump beneath the thick duvet ever so slightly shifted.
The defeaning silence was broken when a knock sounded from the hard-wood door, the sudden sound slicing through the stillness of the room followed by the sound of doorknob jiggling.
"Yah! Shim Hye-wol!"
The knock gradually becoming violent, turning to complete slamming of palm to the wood as the lump finally moves and the duvet was peeled off from the figure, revealing Hye-wol with her eyes still close.
"What?!" she responded absent-mindedly, feeling her whole body aches like she was hit by a freight train. Her throat feels painful too, like it was scratch by a sandpaper. It even hurts to swallow. Add the increasing headache and she feels like shit.
"What do you mean by what?! You're freaking asleep for the whole day!"
Hye-wol jolted up, her eyes wide awake as she remembers that she needs to email the updated version of the script to the director, "Fuck," she curses, peeling off the duvet from her body and was about to sit in front of her study table when she halted, forehead creasing in confusion.
"The fuck?" because instead of her cluttered study table, she was greeted by a neat and organized vanity table, different brands and kinds of cosmetics and perfumes accessorizing the empty table and a fancy mirror with light bulbs reflects her appearance.
"Yah, Shim Hye-wol! I'm going to tear this door down if you don't open this right now!"
Hye-wol ignores the female voice outside, focused on her appearance instead. Although nothing's wrong with her appearance, her clothes did change.
She couldn't remember owning a set of silk sleepwear and she's most certainly didn't dress like this. Where's her mismatched donut sweater and sweatpants?!
Her eyes then roam around the room that's relatively huge compare to her four-corner room. It was filled with white, pastel pink, and pastel gray furnitures which constrasts her empty and boring flat. And since when did she get a flatscreen tv?!
"What the fuck?" she cannot help but to curse under her breath at the foreign place just as the door bursts open and in comes a female with wavy and long hair clad in pastel pink sweatshirt and white pleated skirt.
The girl is strangely familiar, her mind drifted to one name as her eyes widen in both confusion and horror.
"Lee Na-yeon?"