𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒚𝒏𝒊𝒂 - 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔
┈┈┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈┈┈
"On-Jo!"
"What took you so long, Dad?"
Mr. Nam encases his daughter snug against his chest, tenderly caressing her head as On-Jo nuzzles into the warm fatherly embrace, so sorely-missed. Though tears track down her face, a small smile rests undyingly on her face.
Even in the midst of the heartwarming scene, everyone is preoccupied with the imminent danger still, hastily filing outside and leaving Cheong-San with the responsibility of bolting the doors behind him. As it seals shut again, you can hear the zombies thumping their bodies against it from the other side, snarling incessantly.
"Are you all okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, sir," Dae-Su answers politely despite his whole body rolling with unease, having been on the brink of death.
"Good, good," On-Jo's dad reprises, nodding his head at everyone in sequence, genuinely relieved. "There's nothing I'd rather hear than that you're all safe and sound."
He opens his arms right after, gesturing for Cheong-San to come. "Cheong-San."
"Ahjussi," Cheong-San snivels out, burrowing into the hug, the comfort of a person who's essentially his second dad bringing immeasurable ease.
With a final strong pat to Cheong-San's back, he moves away and tucks Cheong-San under one arm and On-Jo in the other as he addresses the group. "Is everyone still in running condition?"
You look around, considering everyone worn and weary, but to the best of your knowledge, unharmed. "Yes, we all are," you reply affirmatively.
"Great," Nam So-Ju sighs in respite. "Since we've got that cleared up, it'll make everything much simpler. For now, if you go through the tennis court to the construction site, you'll reach the mountain. Once you've made it that far, Yangdong shouldn't be far off, the destination merely over the—"
"Watch out, Ahjussi!" Cheong-San alerts in advance, spotting the undead clustering from the right-hand side, your group standing smackdab in clear view of the open area.
Mr. Nam isn't fazed and proceeds to flip one wayward zombie onto its back effortlessly, snapping its arm posteriorly, twisting punitively. "Incoming!" he warns, the sudden tumult drawing a slew of zombies, whipping his head back toward the group in haste. "Run, now!"
"Shibal," Mi-Jin swears, following the others in snatching whatever is left of the weaponry from the earlier fight, dashing off afterward in the direction of the tennis court. Nam-Ra tugs you by the arm, Cheong-San and Su-Hyeok trailing behind to aid Mr. Nam if necessary. On-Jo grabs her dad's backpack off the ground and gives it to him before tightening her hold on his hand, the father and daughter duo bringing up the rear.
Reaching the tennis court, Ha-Ri pivots back to stand guard outside the metal gates, aimed at the ready, awaiting the rest of the group to make it past the perimeter.
"Hurry!" Mr. Nam hastens, making sure everyone is accounted for before himself, going so far as instantly wrenching an unruly zombie off of Ha-Ri when it manages to tackle her to the ground.
Su-Hyeok fastens the gates together with a clang shortly thereafter in the nick of time, right as Mr. Nam's heels make it through to the inside. Hyo-Ryung's legs give out and she stumbles, Dae-Su pulling her back to her feet.
"Yah, yah, yah," Dae-Su reiterates, endeavoring to keep everyone as far away from the edge near the perforated fence as much as possible. "We can't go out there." He gesticulates at the gory throng encircling the premises. "No way in hell."
"What should we do then?" Wu-Jin gapes at the rapidly amassing population of creatures.
"Damn it. Out of the frying pan and into the fire," Dae-Su breathes out. "We're screwed."
Just as he says so, the locked tennis entrance gives out under the weight of zombies pushing against it, and upon its collapse, the horde pours in, spilling onto the green court. Frantic, everyone veers to opposite sides, fleeing to no end.
Mr. Nam however, doesn't waver and wastes no time in opening his backpack, pulling out a flare signal in hopes of luring the creatures to him. With metal bats in hand, Cheong-San, Su-Hyeok, and Mi-Jin hit relentlessly, bashing in heads so hard blood sprays across the square. But, even to that degree, it isn't enough to hold the monsters at bay.
"Cheong-San, take On-Jo!" Mr. Nam requests over the growling and crackling of the flare signal.
You push Cheong-San toward On-Jo and take the bat from him.
"Appa!" On-Jo yells, voice trembling. "Where are you going?"
Unanswered, On-Jo continually calls out to her father even as Cheong-San tries with all his might to drag her in a different direction.
Tugging on the whistle around his neck, Mr. Nam places it in his mouth and blows hard, drawing all the attention to himself, even lighting another flare signal for maximum recognition. "All of you, vacate! Get out of here and don't look back!"
Not able to turn a blind eye, Su-Hyeok and Cheong-San sprint toward him to assist as you turn On-Jo away, impeding her from approaching any further. She's too panic-stricken to think sensibly, and you both miss a zombie propelling itself onto you by a hair's breadth.
By the time everyone survives in making it to the second exit's threshold, you all realize Mr. Nam isn't coming with when he promptly padlocks the gate from within, the cold metal separating him and his daughter.
"You kids must leave."
"Appa..." On-Jo glimpses down to see a visible bite mark on the back of her dad's hand, tears brimming on the rims of her eyes.
"Honey, look at me," he utters softly, grabbing her hands where they're slotted in between the chain links of the fence from the other side. "You have to survive."
"How can I, without you?"
"The saddest day in any parent's life is the day they watch their child walk away, so let me be the one to depart first." Mr. Nam stares at On-Jo for another second before he looks away resolutely. "Remember that I'll always be with you, no matter what, On-Jo."
Right as he finishes his sentence, the measly stronghold folds, all of the zombies burst forth to deadly latch onto his back as they bite away, unceasing even with On-Jo's shrill screeches.
You block her sight as On-Jo efforts to push her way around you. Her sounds of distress attract another undead cluster near the edge of the woods, Cheong-San hurrying to pry a resisting On-Jo from you. Emotionally and bodily drained, she falls limply against his side, Cheong-San wrapping an arm around her shoulder to steady her.
"We have to go, now," Nam-Ra states decisively, sensing incoming endangerment, cursorily eyeing On-Jo with sympathy.
Unwillingly, you all desert the progressively transmuting form of Mr. Nam and tread onward toward the construction zone, burdened by the mountain's expansive, steep knolls.
On-Jo hasn't stopped weeping, hand securely clasped in Cheong-San's as she forces herself to keep moving, not desiring her father's sacrifice to have been in vain.
You've all scarcely stepped foot into the barren groundwork of the area, mid-renovation, when Nam-Ra stops short, virtually tripping over her own feet in her urgency. "No!" At her outburst, everyone pauses, heels skidding on the ground to halt, glancing at one another.
"What? Why?!" Dae-Su questions, now paranoid.
"Upstairs!" Nam-Ra's curt one-word reply is enough to sense her exigent tone, the group instantaneously retreating to the half-formed stairwell.
"She hasn't been wrong yet, so let's not take any chances!" Dae-Su impels everyone passing him, giving them a boost forward from the back firmly. "To the second floor!"
Sorely mistaken, you all realize that what's supposed to be a way to get to the higher level is still in-progress, the steps leading up unable to reach the top.
"Nam-Ra, there's no way out!" you turn around, the dread in your eyes matching hers.
"Now where do we go?" Dae-Su asks in trepidation, spinning his body every which way in hopes of finding another means of escape.
On a whim of intuition, Nam-Ra flings back opaque construction coverings, discovering hollowed out windows yet to have glass installed. "This way! It's our only choice."
Though appearing distinctly incredulous, Dae-Su locates a wooden work bench to use as a step stool for climbing onto the steel scaffolding outside, ushering the girls to go first. Everyone clambers out cautiously but swiftly in rapid sequence, adhering close to the jagged bricked walls.
"Stay away from the edge," Cheong-San cautions, catching sight of a curious Hyo-Ryung, half a step away from potentially falling off the precarious ledge.
"You can come here," Dae-Su prompts, pointing to his side, "so you're not on the outside, right at the tipping point."
"Alright," Hyo-Ryung concedes, casting Cheong-San an appreciative glance for his caveat, now taking more careful steps as she inches her way over to the other end.
In all seriousness, Nam-Ra turns her ear toward the blurred canvas, hardly concealing anything as it flaps in the wind. Her eyebrows knit together in concentration, listening attentively. "Remain quiet, and don't say a word." The group doesn't hesitate to heed the warning, everyone clamping their mouths shut forcefully, whether from apprehension or compliance, there seems to be little difference at the moment.
After a long bout of vows of silence, Nam-Ra sinks down to take a seat to your left, On-Jo's intermittent sobs echoing in the backdrop as she clenches her teeth to hold back overflowing tears. Regardless of the transient reprieve due to Nam Ra's cessation of tenseness, reality seeps in again, settling in the pits of grief everyone fell into.
"You can let it out," Cheong-San murmurs gently, crouching beside On-Jo and smoothing her hair away from her face.
"Why the fuck is nothing working out for us?" Mi-Jin seethes, glaring down at the ground below, estimating the drop distance. "We keep hitting dead ends upon dead ends."
"I wish you'd just can it." Dae-Su rolls his eyes, mimicking a zipping motion level to his mouth. "Joon-Yeong nearly died because of you. These 'dead ends' feel a lot like they're your doing."
Wu-Jin exhales long-sufferingly, turning to his friend. "Dae-Su..." he starts, shaking his head. "Now's not the time. I think you've said enough."
"If you hadn't bitched at him earlier, he wouldn't have felt the need to jump out there to prove a point, a suicide mission in his challenge." Dae-Su spits it out with so much contempt, you don't think you've ever seen him this angry before, usually one for sarcasm rather than direct confrontation.
"Cut it out," Joon-Yeong places a hand on Dae-Su's upper arm but the latter shakes it off brusquely, irritated. "I appreciate you sticking up for me, but I'm fine now, just...we have more pressing matters. Let's not make enemies out of one another."
"Fine," Mi-Jin retorts. "It was my fault for wanting to change our plans, it was my fault for getting your friend almost mauled, and it was also my fault for sticking to this group in the first place." She side-eyes Dae-Su, provoking. "Are you content now, asshole?"
"You give it a rest too!" Wu-Jin groans, looking back and forth between Dae-Su and Mi-Jin from his place in the middle. "What does surviving or dying even mean? I have no idea what it entails. If we get out of here, is that living? Our old friends have left; our moms and dads long since passed. Should we continue on like this?" The inflections in Wu-Jin's words distort by the end of his tangent, having to swallow past the lump in his throat, Adam's apple bobbing from the action.
"Then, do you seek to die, moron?" Mi-Jin berates. "Have you tried being seniors? Do you even know how it feels not wanting to wake up ever again—"
"That's enough," Joon-Yeong interjects inflexibly. "Why can't we be glad to have made it out alive instead of bringing up our losses all the time? It's not like we have many wins we can be proud of."
You close your eyes and breathe out through your nose, pulling your legs to your chest and leaning your head into the crook of your forearms as they settle on top of your knees, wanting nothing more than to drown everything out. A warm, calloused hand rests on the nape of your neck, rubbing soothing circles. Turning your head to your right, Su-Hyeok is watching you fixedly, silently inquiring with his eyes, and you answer in the same wordless manner, your slight head nod enough to placate him. Even when you lower your head again, he leaves his hand in the same position, unmoving.
"Is it some badge of honor?" Dae-Su's indignant voice reverberates.
"Try being a senior then! You juniors better survive until next year and live a day in our shoes. Come back and tell me after what's tougher: zombies or your final year of high school."
Done with the childish conversation, no one retorts back and Mi-Jin doesn't push for an antagonistic atmosphere any longer either.
"Your father," Ha-Ri's soft voice flits through the air, "He saved all of us. I'll never forget it for as long as I live—none of us will. If someone is remembered by many people for all their virtuous doings, that person will without question, reach the entrance of heaven."
Contributing to the consolation, Cheong-San gathers On-Jo to his chest and pats her back, much like she did for him in the gymnasium after the farewell with his mom. "We'll get out of this place to not disappoint all our loved ones watching over us from above. They're waiting for us away from here with open arms. The only thing left is to imagine that we're running toward them."
Leaving the two to themselves, Ha-Ri stands up determinedly, peering down at Mi-Jin. "Mi-Jin, let's go."
The short-haired girl rotates her head toward her friend, discernibly confused. "Where? Why?"
"Let's look for a spot we can jump off from. You said so yourself: we're the seniors."
"It's not like they show us any respect or treat us remotely close to it."
Ha-Ri clucks her tongue loudly, disapproving. "I've heard that excuse from you too many times now for it to have its intended affect. "Come on," she urges, tilting her head to the right. "I'll go this way. You split left."
You look up just in time so see Ha-Ri slipping past her half of the ledge, an awed Mi-Jin staring after her. "Aish, this bitch is so cool." Grudgingly, Mi-Jin gets up as ordered, dusting off her pants in a show of effort.
"I'll go," Su-Hyeok springs up, offering.
Mi-Jin eyes him, unimpressed. "Stay down."
He gives her an exasperated look. "I'm not a dog to follow that command."
Mi-Jin makes to shoulder him out of her way but he doesn't budge in the slightest, and the only one most surprised by his strength is her. Concealing her discomfiture at being obstructed, she masks it by raising her hand as if to slap him. You shake your head, bemused, as he flinches, the imagery quite entertaining. He's got at least a foot or more over Mi-Jin but is quick to back away, no longer standing his ground.
She retracts her hand and scowls. "Just move." Finally, Su-Hyeok gives way for her to brush past him, you, and Nam-Ra as On-Jo speaks up, garnering everyone's receptiveness.
"Whatever happens, I hope no one sacrifices themselves. It's so hard living because of someone else." She inhales shakily, staring down at her feet as she sits nestled into Cheong-San's side, one of his arms draped loosely over her shoulders. "There's nothing we can do for them. Living life to the fullest in honor of the person who died is too selfish. You can't die for lack of courage even if you want to; you wish to die for yourself but you have to live for the person who saved you."
No one knows what to say or how to respond to something that runs deep and resonates a lot with her, so you glance over at Cheong-San, knowing he can take it from there, having been in a similar situation and the closest to On-Jo out of everyone.
"How about we talk about all of this a little later? Tomorrow, or even the day after. There's next week too. Let's go someplace together, if you have a minute to spare after we get out of here, and we can talk about anything and everything okay? I know we have a lot to discuss, and it might be a simple thing, but I don't want to treat this like the end of everything. I want us to be able to dream of a better tomorrow, because I believe in us, and I'd like to believe that we still have a lot of time left together. So, why don't we go talk about it then?"
On-Jo turns to look up at him, eyes wavering as she recalls the same lines recited to him barely a day ago. "Tomorrow it is."
She reaches out toward him, and he raises their intertwined hands seconds later, pointing to the left of her face. "This side."
"Huh?" On-Jo angles her head, not comprehending what Cheong-San is referring to.
"You probably don't remember, but I do." He grins down at her. "The left side is by far much better."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow, On-Jo."
You watch the two intently, something about their companionship, to whatever extent, so palpable and personable. If anyone deserved a happy ending—especially one together—to you, it should be them.
Momentarily, you're drawn away from Cheong-San and On-Jo as you register Nam-Ra's shoulder bumping lightly into yours. As you turn toward her though, you come to realize that she's curled in on herself, shaking. When you go to place a hesitant hand on her shoulder, she recoils, withdrawing more into the wall, facing away from you.
"Nam-Ra...?" you inquire faintly, not wanting to scare her off, the sudden oddity of her mannerisms incomprehensible. Receiving no response, you peer around her, stretching your neck out to the side, eyeing her balled up fist as she bites on it.
You yank her hand away, evidence of teeth marks already embedded into her pale skin. She's crying silently, looking downward aimlessly. "What do I do?" she sniffs out so inaudibly you nearly miss it.
Ripping extra pieces of saved fabric from your skirt pocket, you wrap her wounded hand tightly with one, and use another to cover her morphing eye. Drawing both of her hands in between yours to clutch them together, you give it an earnest squeeze. "Nothing else but survive."
Nam-Ra shifts her body fully toward you, forlorn, but eventually nods, breathing out on a shaky exhale.
Cheong-San and Mi-Jin's side conversation exponentially grows in volume, gaining interest. "I think that's the only way out," he proposes, mentioning the direction Mi-Jin went in previously.
She shakes her head, bobbed hair swishing with the movement. "No, I looked down and that side drops into the basement. There's a lot of exposed steel bars from unfinished construction, so leaping is out of the question."
Ha-Ri motions to the area she surveyed, adding, "I don't think we have any use heading toward the side that faces the school. There's no point."
Mi-Jin chucks a spare rock off the ledge irately. "We can't go left, and we can't go right. Neither can we go down since the ground is infested with those mutants. Don't tell me the only way to escape this is demise."
"Not this shit again," Dae-Su grumbles. "Stop talking about the end."
"You little—" Mi-Jin twitches, but Ha-Ri interposes, silencing her effectually without need for more dramatics.
"We do have a door on the first floor that will lead us to the mountains. Seems like that's our best bet."
"But..." Dae-Su splutters, squinting at Cheong-San. "Didn't we clamber up here to get away from the downstairs pack of construction ahjussis? Why would we go back down?"
"You have a point," Cheong-San acknowledges, pausing for a moment before resuming talking. "Can't we reach the roof if we scale the ladders here or the windows?" He throws an arm out at the perilous metal rods serving as provisional rungs. "If someone goes to the roof and screams, the zombies will surely follow suit. Then, it'll empty out and expose a path for the rest."
Su-Hyeok nods, approving, the two of like mind preferring to act first and reason later. "I think that will work."
On-Jo glowers at the two simultaneously. "No."
"On-Jo—"
"No means no," she cuts Cheong-San off before considering the look on his place and drags in a short breath, releasing it soon after to grip his forearm. "Please," she implores, eyes flickering and lips quivering, "let's not have anyone forgo themselves."
Cheong-San presses his lips together strictly and averts his gaze, knowing full-well what he intends to say next isn't what On-Jo wants to hear.
"I'm against it too," Hyo-Ryung supplements. "We agreed to survive together."
Dae-Su slides his eyes across to Cheong-San and concurs. "I feel the same."
"So do I," Wu-Jin supports.
"If that's what the majority says, then let's wait for now," Mi-Jin reconciles without a second thought.
"Then what?" Ha-Ri probes, sweeping her fallen strands of hair back despairingly. "We keep waiting forever?"
Mi-Jin mimes cupping her hand and raising it up toward the firmament. "It might rain again and then the zombies will hear us less."
"And when will that be, huh?"
"Who knows?" Mi-Jin shrugs, much too nonchalant for the situation. "My knees are aching. That's a telltale sign." You're more flabbergasted at the fact that everyone aside from you and Nam-Ra decide to look skyward, anticipating rainfall at that exact moment.
"What are they saying?" Nam-Ra intones.
"The group? They're making weather forecasts using the power of half a brain cell."
"Geez, I was kidding alright," Mi-Jin huffs. "You don't have to call me out on my failure to predict inclement weather."
"No..." Nam-Ra grabs at your arm. "They're telling us to take cover."
You ignore the senior, meeting eyes with Nam-Ra warily. "Who is?"
Her grip on your arm tightens. "It's the government. "There'll be explosions. We need to hunker down and brace for impact."
Hyo-Ryung whips her head toward your side, eyes wide. "Explosions? What explosions?"
"Listen again," you encourage.
Whatever Nam-Ra hears, she rattles off, repeating after the voice only she can hear. "Hyosan intersection, future college, and our school will be blown up."
"Is the army going to fucking launch missiles at us?" In disbelief, the force with which Wu-Jin throws his head back has it colliding into the wall behind him with a thwack.
"When?" Dae-Su pipes up.
"They're not saying, so I have no idea. The only instructions are to either evacuate straightaway or to find shelter somewhere."
"Well, where the fuck are we supposed to go?" Mi-Jin punches the ground beneath her in annoyance.
"Won't we all die if we stay here?" Hyo-Ryung gabbles more so to herself than the group.
On-Jo leans forward, trying to make eye contact with Nam-Ra from the far end. "Do they say where to flee to?"
"It's best to hide underground if there's a means for it," Nam-Ra accounts.
Hyo-Ryung is bordering on hysterics. "What if it's a nuclear bomb?"
"Yah!" Dae-Su chides. "Korea doesn't have nukes. Get a grip."
"You don't know that! They're blowing up our school!"
"Where are we supposed to hide until this is over? There's nowhere to go," Wu-Jin expresses dismally, searching around animatedly for a way out.
"LEE CHEONG-SAN!"
A familiar voice booms in the distance and you lock eyes with Cheong-San.
"YOU BETTER HIDE WELL. I CAN SEE EVEN THE TIPS OF YOUR HAIR."
Not again—not now.
"It's Gwi-Nam." Cheong-San bends to seize a metal rod and Su-Hyeok mirrors his actions, gauging the situation.
"That asshole will not die!" Dae-Su grouses, and you couldn't agree more with the statement. With nine hundred and ninety-nine problems already, Gwi-Nam's presence amps it up to a thousand.
"Maybe we misheard?" Hyo-Ryung is entirely too sanguine for less than anticipated circumstances. "It's quiet now."
Cheong-San sidles past you and Nam-Ra, scrutinizing through the opaque tarp as everyone springs to their feet, on high alert.
Not a moment later, the flimsy material flies in an arc, and as expected, but nonetheless still unsolicited and petrifying, Gwi-Nam pops his head out of the window frame, hanging his arms laxly over the edge, smirking. "Here you are," he sneers, before jeeringly placing his hands over his eyes and opening them outward. "Peekaboo, I see you."
"What the hell..." Mi-Jin pronounces, dumbstruck and rooted to the spot as she meets Gwi-Nam for the first time, his bloodied appearance throwing her for a loop.
"Cheong-San!" Su-Hyeok swings his bat harshly, though it's easily thwarted as Gwi-Nam grabs him by the back of his collar to slam him unforgivingly into the wall, his body ricocheting back.
You're about to jolt forward but Nam-Ra throws an arm out, keeping you back. It's too risky for a fight this close to the edge where there's little to no room for movement.
In that short amount of time, Gwi-Nam has Cheong-San pinned flat down, face pressed against the rocky surface of the ledge underneath his foot. Albeit his body having hardly enough room to fit, Cheong-San's head dangles treacherously off the scaffolding.
Su-Hyeok recovers while Gwi-Nam is distracted and hurries over to rescue Cheong-San, only to wind up getting punched in the face, the force with which Gwi-Nam hits him sends him backward, dropping over and off the side, narrowly able to grab hold of the sill at the last minute.
"Su-Hyeok!" You throw yourself down to the floor, kneeling in order to clamp your hand around his wrist as his grip strength loosens. You can feel yourself gradually slipping, his body weight dragging you forward, your knees scraping painfully against the cement infrastructure. Nam-Ra rushes to balance you from behind as Mi-Jin clutches Su-Hyeok's other arm, Ha-Ri going to stabilize her.
"Shit!" Mi-Jin cusses, all traces of her early disparaging tendencies gone in a flash in the face of jeopardy.
"Don't let go!" Su-Hyeok's too drained to reply but nods as best he can, face contorting as he struggles to pull himself up using the added strength from you and Mi-Jin.
On the next attempt, with succor from Nam-Ra and Ha-Ri, Su-Hyeok ultimately swings one leg up, giving him better leverage to climb back safely, everyone letting out a breath they weren't aware they were holding.
"Cheong-San!"
On-Jo's shriek has you swiveling your head back to the left, leaving Su-Hyeok with the others, observing powerlessly as Gwi-Nam hauls Cheong-San up by his shirt and suspends him in the air, his uniform now even dirtier than before from the scuffle.
Cheong-San punches Gwi-Nam to no avail, the latter not even flinching, and you decisively inch forward to avoid from falling off yourself, walking heel to toe as you advance.
Just as Cheong-San rears back to throw a second punch, Gwi-Nam blocks the expected attack to torsion his opponent's arm, and though you lurch forward to shove at him, it's useless.
In the next second, Gwi-Nam chomps down on Cheong-San's forearm so impulsively, you don't have enough time to react. Cheong-San's earsplitting screeches of pain ring in your ears, rendering you stock-still, heart frozen over seeing him cleft out a chunk of flesh, creating a hole wide and deep enough down to the bone.
"NO!" you shout, elbowing at Gwi-Nam with all your might, in a frenzy.
He merely cackles, undeterred, and controls your forearm harshly, holding you in one place as he leers. "Yes," he counters, snapping his head to the side, wanting to bite at Cheong-San's neck as well.
Cheong-San's form blurs through your tears. How is it that one of the people you care for the most has to suffer so much at the hands of one of the people you hate the most?
By some miracle, Gwi-Nam suddenly cowers down into fetal position, hands braced his ears, and you have half the mind to piece together that it's distressing Nam-Ra in the same way.
With Gwi-Nam's now slackened handhold on your arm, you pull Cheong-San back to you, kicking Gwi-Nam against the side of his head to send him clear off the end of the construction beam.
"Cheong-San..." you respire out, mouth tipped downward as your eyes flick to his arm, blood dripping from it.
"Don't cry." He goes to wipe your tears off with shuddering hands.
"You shouldn't be the one to comfort me!" you cry, upset at the vicissitudes of life. "I couldn't help you." More tears stream down your face and you wipe at them with your sleeve frustratedly, throat constricting from the onslaught of emotions. "Why can't I save everyone?" you look up at him, fully defeated.
Cheong-San gives you a faint smile, despondent but also equally as endeared. "You're only human."
"Doesn't mean I can't try."
"You have," Cheong-San stresses. "All this time, you've only been protecting others. It's time to look after yourself now."
"And what about you?" you grasp his uninjured forearm like a lifeline. "You've given up so much for the group that now there's nothing remaining. What's left of your own self?"
Before Cheong-San can reply, On-Jo is beside you, twisting fully to keep him wholly in her view.
"Cheong-San, it's okay. It's not what you think."
He removes your hand even as you try to hold on, and steps away from both you and On-Jo.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't do this," On-Jo pleads. "You'll be fine."
"No one will die here today," Cheong-San announces vaguely, the rest of the group looking on with all kinds of emotions on the spectrum of misery. As you comprehend his self-exclusion from the statement, his words fall between you like stones cast into a still lake, only to sink to the bottomless depths.
"Cheong-San..." You step forward, spanning the distance again, not ready to burn the bridge so soon.
"Our peaceful swing ride is too far-fetched now, isn't it?" he whispers tenderly, and it brings you back to the music room, the memory feeling like a lifetime away.
"It's not, for me." Your eyes flit back and forth between Cheong-San's begging him to reconsider his unspoken decision.
"I don't like making promises I can't uphold, so know that when you feel the wind brushing past, just think of it as me being by your side."
You can't tamper down your tears, hurting more the longer you reminisce. Your next sentence comes out in broken pieces, much like the current state of your fractured heart. "In our next lives...let's be real siblings, okay?"
"What do you mean the next one? I already consider us as siblings in this one." Cheong-San places one hand on top of your head affectionately, when he always used to do it teasingly to annoy you, and the gesture only serves to send another torrent of tears like downpour from your eyes. He wraps you into a hug and you return it, sobbing into his shoulder. "You'll always be my little sister, Y/N."
When Cheong-San pulls away, it's with finality as he pushes you in Su-Hyeok's direction. "Take care of her for me."
At this point, you're inconsolable and if it wasn't for Su-Hyeok propping you up against him, you most likely wouldn't be standing.
Facing On-Jo, Cheong-San tears off his nametag velcroed to the left side of his chest, pressing it into the palm of her hand, the red rectangle representative of his heart. "I'm giving this to you to hold and safekeep."
Tearfully, On-Jo removes her own nametag and hands it off to Cheong-San. "I still have so much I want to tell you," On-Jo blubbers, engraving his blurring image slowly fading into her memory as she stares through a haze of tears.
"Then..." Cheong-San drawls, twin trails of tears running down his face. "Tell me tomorrow."
"Just this one thing...I have to say now." On-Jo looks up at him raptly. "Remember what I said to you over the speakers before when you were stranded in the music room? For you to wait for me?"
Cheong-San nods, hands clenching at his sides, restraining himself from staying.
"I like you too much to forget about you, so I'll be the one waiting for you this time—as long as it takes for you to come back to me."
In a few strides, Cheong-San places a bittersweet kiss on On-Jo's lips, their first also their last.
Without another word, he turns away toward the open window, before whirling back at the last moment to pull On-Jo into his arms, hugging her close as tears rain down his face, watering the ground, none the wiser to transient human life.
"See you later, On-Jo."
"See you later, Cheong-San."
When he pulls back against her resistance, he looks at the group one final time. "Lead them all to the first floor, Su-Hyeok. I'm counting on you.
Cheong-San disappears almost as if he had never been there in the first place, but the gaping hole in your chest won't allow that forgetfulness.
"Cheong-San!" On-Jo screams after him sorrowfully, knowing she won't receive an answer this time.
"COME GET ME, ALL OF YOU!" Cheong-San's declaration resonates loud and clear through the void foundation. "TODAY...I AM THE HAPPIEST ONE AT THIS SCHOOL!"
Even as the group runs back in through the construction zone following in the opposite direction of Cheong-San's voice toward escape, toward freedom, you don't feel exultant.
After all, as they say, fake happiness is the worst kind of sadness.
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[ End Note ]
And this...is the beginning of the end.
Until the next chapter, don't be a silent reader! Comments and votes are always appreciated! ♡
*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ