( CHAPTER SIXTEEN ; ONE MORE CHANCE )
"Stop moving, it's annoying!" You scolded Andrew while trying to put a bandage on top of his wound. A few minutes ago, you brought Andrew to Kim Se-Hoon's apartment. Bringing him here was probably the worst experience of your life, he kept falling down the floor and making the injury even worse.
He groaned in annoyance, and
you wiped your bloody hands with a wet towel to clean them. "Are you a baby? Get up, the wound isn't gonna kill you." You told him while scratching your forehead.
"Gosh.." Andrew muttered and you stood up. "What do we do now?" You asked him while leaning on the wall behind you. The others were gone, the representative was out to kill you both, and now your friends know you helped him do a horrible thing.
"I can figure it out, you're stuck with me right now anyway." He told you while he was still laying on the cold floor. Right, you had no choice but to stick with him because some representative obsessed lady was after you. It wouldn't be that bad anyway, being with him will just increase your safety level.
"Hey." You called for him and he sat up to look at you properly. "What?" He asked and you sat beside him on the floor while still leaning on the wall behind you. "Thank you for trying to protect me, by the way." You thanked him and he looked at you confusedly.
"For what?" He asked you, even if he knew the reason himself. Andrew treated you like a friend of his, even if you two fought multiple times. "When I look back at it... You've been trying to help me a lot of times." You explained to him and he stayed silent, not knowing what to say.
"You'd always threaten to kill me, but you never do it in the end anyway." You chuckled at the thought of him continuously giving you empty threats. I guess right now, you were just trying to continue a conversation with him.
Andrew wasn't exactly someone who talks a lot, I guess he found it annoying when you kept on talking nonsense once. "I guess I wanted to think of you as a friend of mine." He replied to you and you smiled at his comment.
If you would look at yourself in Andrew's way, you're probably that one person who can make someone feel like they're not alone in something. The two of you probably looked like a copy of Sae-bom and Yi-Hyun, because you two protected each other, and fought beside each other.
"I think if other people saw us, they'd think we're great friends." You told him and he nodded in response. The two of you were wasting time, waiting for Yi-Hyun to come back and get you both. You weren't that bloody right now, so Andrew wasn't turning like an infected yet.
"(Y/n)?" He called and you turned your head to him again. "Yeah?" You asked him, ready to listen to what he had to say. "Happy Birthday, by the way." He greeted, and your expression turned to a slightly shocked face.
"What?" You asked him, a little unsure of what he said and meant by that. You've never told anyone your birthdate, other than your friends and family from before. "When I went to your room to get medical supplies, I saw your journal. Sorry for peeking, I guess?" He told you and you turned away from him to look elsewhere.
"It amazes me how you even know what the date is today.." You told him, not mad that he broke into your home and touched your things because he only went inside to find items that can treat you.
"I'm sure phone calendars don't need an internet connection to work." He told you and you nodded, feeling a little dumb for forgetting that you all still had your phones and the power was back on, so there was wifi.
Out of nowhere, you laughed lightly and Andrew looked at you like you were some crazy woman. "Out of my whole hell of a life, this is the worst birthday I've ever had!" You raised your voice and he stayed silent, waiting for you to stay more.
"I guess it's not that different from my other birthdays, I just don't get a cake this time." You told him and he shook his head. "That's your reason? That's pretty stupid." He told you and you rolled your eyes at him.
There wasn't exactly anything wrong with what you said, today is shit, your other birthdays were also shit, and now you don't get a sweet delicious cake, which is even more shit. You've always worked hard for your family, and you can't even get a proper birthday celebration?
You were happy on your special day only once, and that was a year after you met your two friends. They threw a surprise party for you, and everything went well. You're probably the luckiest person to have them, but I guess they weren't lucky with having you considering you three were not on good terms now.
"What kind of cake do you like?" He asked you as if you two were gonna get out of here safely without any complications. "I like (f/f) cake, it's the best!" You grinned at him like a little kid receiving gifts.
"Then we'll get that once we're out of here, but first, we need to start thinking about what to do now." He told you and you nodded at him, glad that he was willing to spend more time with you after this was all done.
"We should split up, it'll be easier for the both of us." He explained and you nodded, even if you didn't like the plan that much. You wanted to stay beside him because that way, you two would be able to look out for each other. But he's the “smart” one here, so you agreed to his plan.
"What about Yi-Hyun? He's not an easy opponent." You informed him a little worried, and he stayed quiet for a few seconds. "I can manage." He told you and you put your hand under your chin. "And the representative?" You asked,
reminding him that there wasn't just one enemy who was after you two.
He stood up from the floor, and he went to where Se-Hoon put the knives. He had gotten one here from before, and that was what he used to accidentally cut your face. He took a random knife from the shelf, and he threw it over in your direction.
"What the hell?! That's dangerous." You scolded him, and he apologized in a sarcastic tone. You took the knife from the floor, and you stood up. "So, when do we start this “brilliant” plan of yours?" You asked him and he walked over to you.
"Now." He grabbed your hand and dragged you outside of Kim Se-Hoon's apartment. "What? Hey!" You shouted at him for kicking you out so suddenly. "See you later, try not to die!" He shouted and he closed the door on you.
"Once a jerk, always a jerk.." You reminded yourself and you took the elevator and ran fastly back to your unit. Fortunately, you encountered no one and your way back was safe. You were back at your house once again, and you couldn't help but feel lonely.
Maybe it was because you spent a long time with Andrew the past few hours, so now that you had no one to annoy, it felt kinda empty here. You went to close the door, but a bloody hand stopped you from doing so.
The strong hands of the person opened your door fully, and you held the knife in your hand tightly. "Did you think I'd forget about you so quickly..?" The person in front of you who happened to be the representative said.
"Shit.." You whispered to yourself. You knew Andrew's plan was gonna take a wrong turn, now you're barely safe too. You backed away slowly while holding the knife in front of you in a threatening way.
The representative held up a baseball bat in her hands, and you gulped. A bat surely had more distance than a knife, but if you got closer to her, you would get the upper hand. You ran in her direction, and you ducked when she swung her bat.
You stood up, and you were able to cut her shoulder. She screamed in anger and pain, and you were gonna go for a second hit. The representative looked around in panic, and she took a small plant pot and smashed it in your head.
You lost balance from the pain, and she laughed and took the knife from your hands easily. You opened your eye, and you took a shattered piece of porcelain and you cut her foot.
You ran to the bathroom quickly while still holding the piece of porcelain in your hands. You locked the door quickly, and you tried to back away as much as you can. You felt water touch your legs and you looked behind you, it was the untouched saved water you had.
Your hand started to bleed from the sharp edges of the porcelain and you heard the representative get up. "What are you doing? Get out." She ordered while banging on the bathroom door.
"You're a real bitch! Do you know that?" You spat at her angrily, and she laughed crazily in response. Suddenly, she started to break down the door with the baseball bat, and you were panicking at this point.
You held the porcelain tighter and blood was pouring out of your palm at this point. A hole was formed in the door, and the representative reached for the doorknob to open it. You hit her hand hard with the sharp object and she pulled her hand away in pain. She screamed in agony and she quickly used her other hand to open it successfully.
She opened the door, and you pushed her to the floor quickly. You tried to choke her, and she was using her hand to try and get you off. She held the knife in her other cut hand, and she stabbed the side of your abdomen.
You looked at the crazy representative with wide eyes, and the sharp porcelain finally fell from your hands. She pushed you off of her, and she pulled you up and pushed you into the water-filled bathtub.
The water was stained with red, and there was nothing you could do about it. "Ma'am..?" Someone asked from behind the representative and you were losing consciousness from blood loss.
"I heard you scream... Everyone else left, I-" Lawyer Kook Hae-Seong informed her, and he stopped when he saw the blood and mess everywhere. He looked behind the bloody woman, and he saw your fainted body on the bloody water.
"Ma'am, what did you do?" He asked her worriedly while staying in his spot. "That girl is Andrew's friend, and if he finds out!-" He tried to explain, but he stopped talking when the representative pointed the bloody knife at him.
"Go, if you don't want to die." She threatened and the lawyer looked at your body hesitantly, and he ran out of your unit. The representative laughed uncontrollably at her success, and she started to take off while holding the knife stained with your blood in her hand.
When the representative was gonna exit your unit, a loud shatter was heard and she fell to the ground unconscious with blood pouring from her head. The lawyer looked at what he did scaredly, and he ran to the bathroom to come and get you.
"So-Yoon, is this what takes for you to forgive me..?" He asked his ex-wife with hope, and he pulled you out of the dirtied water. "Wait, how do the people in the movies do it again?" He asked himself, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, God! That scared me so much." He shouted when he saw your bloody lower abdomen. "Was it PCR? Yes, I think it was CRP, don't worry, I can do this." He convinced himself. I guess not all lawyers are that smart, because it's supposed to be CPR...
"No! Please don't hurt me!" He yelled when he suddenly felt someone touch his shoulder. He became even more scared when he saw the same murderer behind him, and he ran away in fear. "It wasn't me! I didn't do anything wrong! So-Yoon, I'm sorry!" He shouted like a coward and he ran out of your unit.
Andrew kneeled to your wet and bloody body, and he inspected your wound. He checked your pulse, and his panic began to rise even more. Your pulse was very low and light, like how Kim Se-hoon was when you checked him before.
"No, no, no, no, don't die yet." He repeated in a low tone as if that was going to magically heal you. He took a towel from your bathroom and pressed it on top of your stab wound. Andrew was thinking of anything that can help you, but he wasn't someone who had medical experience, so of course, he barely knew what to do.
Right, you were all wet because you've probably been from the water or something. Andrew winced at the pain in his shoulder. He was able to shoot Yi-Hyun in his stomach, but Sae-bom shot her arm to distract him with blood.
Yi-Hyun was getting too nauseous, and he missed and shot Andrew on the shoulder when he went for Sae-bom. Andrew was starting to hold back his thirst right now because your blood pouring out wasn't helping at all.
He began to perform CPR on you to try and make you throw up and spit out the water. He hesitated to put his lips on top of yours for helping you with the oxygen, but right now wasn't a great time because you could slip away at any moment.
He put his lips on top of yours and he breathed when your lips were together. He began to repeat the necessary procedures of the CPR, but you weren't responding at all. Andrew checked your pulse in concern, and it was starting to get even worse.
He took deep breaths, tired of what he was doing. The towel was barely stopping you from losing any more blood, and it was stained with red. Andrew looked at you while trying to think of any more possible things to do, and he looked at you with wide eyes, a bad and good idea forming in his head.
He ran out of the bathroom and went to find your medkit from your shelves. One specific shelf made him stop in his tracks when he opened it, and he quickly took the unnamed pills. It was “Next”, the same pills that started this virus.
Andrew took the pills with him, and he took a medkit he also found on one of your shelves. He went back to your bathroom and he sat beside your motionless body. "Hopefully you won't try to murder me after this.." He talked to himself because you were literally unable to respond.
He took an unused syringe from the medkit, and he threw the pills out of the bottle, and into the floor. Andrew held the drug still while injecting the fluid out of it. The syringe was now filled with little green liquid, and he began to do the same with the other pills left.
At this point, the syringe was filled halfway and there were no more pills left. He looked at you, and he hesitated to pierce your skin with it. He had no idea if this was a good plan, but you were dying so screw it anyway.
Andrew held you close to him and he moved your hair away, so he can see your neck properly. "Alright.." He took a deep breath, and he pierced your neck with the long needle. After a few seconds, nothing was happening and that made him panic.
He checked your pulse, and it was starting to become abnormal to even know what was your condition. He put you back down on the cold bathroom floor quickly, and he hovered over you.
You were starting to look less pale, and that was good. Andrew began to perform CPR again, and he kissed you to transfer oxygen. He was gonna go for a second time, but your head was starting to spin and you were regaining consciousness.
Right when Andrew placed his lips on top of yours again, you woke up and coughed up water. You were basically coughing for your dear life and you laid your head back on the floor in tiredness.
"What the hell? Gross!" He yelled at you while spitting out the water. You literally just spit in his mouth, well, it's one way to see it. You groaned in annoyance, and your abdomen was hurting less. "What kind of voodoo magic did you do to me..?" You muttered to him, a little lightheaded still.
Andrew got off of you, and he sighed in relief. To him, your blood smelled absolutely disgusting now. Great, he just infected you and you don't even know yet.
You sat up slowly, and you looked around. "That bitch!" You shouted at him, and he assumed you were talking about the passed-out representative in front of your door. "Don't move yet, dumbass!" He scolded you while holding you still, so you couldn't go anywhere.
"Your shoulder!" You told him loudly with concern, taking notice of his bloody left shoulder. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He assured and you nodded. This time, you looked at him with anger. "You stupid guy! I knew your plan sucked!" You insulted and he looked at you with disbelief.
"I just saved you!" He shouted back at you and you flicked some of the dirty water in the bathtub to him. "Gosh. My neck kind of hurts." You complained at him, and your eyes fell to the syringe and drug shells on the floor.
You looked at Andrew with a deadpan look, and your mouth fell agape in realization. "What the hell did you do to me?" You asked him, looking like you were ready to commit murder.
"Uhh, I saved you?" He told you unsurely, and you attacked him. "Stop! It was to save you!" He tried to explain and you put his head down the water. You put his head back up quickly and he looked at you angrily while his hair was dripping with water.
"You're lucky I could think, my mind saved you!" He shouted at you and you let go of him. "What happened to my friends?" You changed the topic, and you wanted to know about what happened at his end. "Well... They got away, but not without an injury." He informed you and you nodded, glad that no one died.
You sighed in relief, and you looked at him. "You just saved me again." You told him, and he smiled. "What can I say? I think I'm a pretty great friend too." He told you certainly, and you laughed lightly. "I guess you are." You replied.
——————————————
"I found this beautiful thing at a grocery store counter." You told him while holding up the Polaroid camera. The two of you were currently inside your room, and you put on a nicer outfit. There was little dried-up blood, but that didn't matter.
You put a bandage on top of your stab wound earlier to prevent losing more blood, and you tidied yourself up. "You take too long to get ready, I'm surprised you haven't fainted from blood loss." He told you and you sat next to him on your bed.
"Shut up. Right, look at the camera!" You told him and you counted to 3. You took a picture of both of you, and you waited for the film to finish showing the colors. You wrote a happy birthday note to yourself, and the date today at the back of the picture.
"What do you think?" You showed him the photo and he nodded positively. "It looks okay." He told you flatly and you shook your head at his bland response.
"Andrew?" You called for him, and he drank some water to try and satisfy his thirst, which was barely working. "Yeah?" He asked. "I'm not one to assume, but I'm pretty sure you like me." You told him giddy while smiling. Andrew spat out the water he was drinking, and he turned to you.
Based on what you've gathered, every single piece of evidence proves that he at least has a tiny bit of crush on you. "You must think that highly of yourself, huh?" He told you and he hit the back of your head.
"Ow!" You shouted and you looked at him with annoyance. "But yeah, sure." He continued talking and you looked at him without saying anything, wanting him to finish his sentence.
"Maybe a little." He confessed and you smiled uncontrollably, like a high school girl who just got noticed by her crush. "You're so stupid." You told him sarcastically, still smiling brightly.
"Thank you, me too." You told him, and you both looked at each other. You were thinking of leaning in and kissing him, but you heard banging on your bedroom door. "You bitch! We aren't finished yet! I'll kill you, just you wait!" The representative outside yelled, and you and Andrew shared a look.
"Shit." The two of you said at the same time. You were a little mad that she disturbed your sweet time with him, and you rolled your eyes. You opened the door to face the bloody representative with Andrew beside you, and the two of you looked at her intimidatingly.
"Hi." You smiled at her, and she looked at you with anger. "Hello, you wrench." She greeted you while smiling darkly. Shit was about to go down.