"Jiho. You're back from school." His mom smiled at him while having some tea.
"Yes. Shouldn't you be at the office?" Jiho took a seat across from her taking a sandwich from the plate.
"Today's personal leave for me."
"Are you sure that won't give the employees a bad impression about you?" He joked ,"if the CEO is taking personal leaves."
His mom chuckled , "they'll understand. How's school going anyway. I feel we don't talk much any more."
Jiho smiled , "school's just fine."
"Are you still dating chairman's Woo's granddaughter , Vanessa. I haven't seen her around."
Jiho accepted the soda one of the servants served him , "Vanessa and I broke up."
His mother looked relived , "thank goodness. I didn't like her. I hated that french accent of hers."
Jiho laughed at her reaction , talking with his mom whenever they had a chance was always something he enjoyed. She maybe a CEO and powerful business woman in the corporate world and mother but when they talked , it felt like he was just chatting with a friend.
"So are you seeing anyone? Is there a special girl?" She asked sipping on her tea.
"At the moment no ...," Jiho stopped talking when he saw his mom swallowing some pills. "Is that why you didn't go to work? Are you sick?" He asked her seriously.
His mother gave him a reassuring smile , "Relax. My blood pressure rose recently because of work and my doctor advised me to rest so it calms down."
"I wish I was old enough to take over the company." He said from early on , jiho had withnessed how his mother toiled day and night to run the empire his father started.
"You don't want my position. You're still young , first live and enjoy yourself. When you're older , then you can talk to me about taking over."
Jiho frowned , he was currently sixteen , "and when will that be?"
"Like I said , the conversation will take place when you're older. For now ,enjoy your youth Jiho." She gave him a serious look sliently asking the topic be dropped.
Jiho didn't argue , so he decided to bring up something, "your birthday is next month. " He looked at her excitedly , "let's go somewhere abroad please."
"You still have school." She reminded him , "however, since your birthday takes place when school is closed , we can go anywhere you want. Any country you wish.'
Jiho's frown turned upside down , "anywhere?"
"Anywhere."
Jiho smiled and pressed a kiss against his mom's cheek , "thank you! Best mom ever!" His mom chuckled and he smiled embracing her tight.
"Hyung. Are you awake."
Jiho heard a small voice call out to him , he slowly opened his eyes about to curse at the interuption of the dream memory but stopped his tongue when he saw a little boy in front of his face.
"Hyung ! Are you awake."
Jiho sat up and smiled at the kid who was addressing him as Hyung , "I'm now." He stared at the unfamiliar surrounding and that's when it registered this was another apartment.
"Yeong Su ! Sorry Oppa ," a girl who was older than the boy came in , "he didn't disturb you did he?"
Jiho shook his head , yesterday he had been too occupied with steroid monster he never had time to look at their faces. When they arrived at this apartment they had to take shifts on who stayed up.
He looked at the boy , "so why did you wake me up. Little trouble maker." He playfully poked the little boy who giggled.
"Actually everyone is about to hsbe breakfast. But you weren't there." The girl said
"Thank you then," he smiled at them , "im Kwon Jiho. What are your names?"
The girl introduced herself andthw boy , "Kim Su-yeong, and this is Kim Yeong-su."
(8-9 jiho couldn't help snort as he observed them , "kim Su yeong and Kim Yeeong su. Those are percular names for siblings."
"Our dad named us."
The call boy felt bad when the two children got upset about their father he remembered Hyun mentioning the man was dead. He saw Yeong Su sniffling and it reminded him of how he missed his own parents especially his mother.
He cleared his throat , "come on," he smiled at them , "let's go for breakfast." Jiho was surprised when Yeongsu held his hand.
"Yeong su."
"It's alright." He smiled at Su yeong seeing she was going to give her brother a scolding , "come on. Let's all go ." The teo siblings nodded following his lead.
During breakfast , Jiho learnt the owner of the apartment was a man called Du Sik who was co firmed to a shell chair but handy at making weapons
After breakfast , Jiho noticed the others had started to get ready to go out to inspect the rest of the apartment for any monster sightings. A part of Jiho was happy when he heard Eun Hyuk's voice through the speakers asking any survivors in the buliding to gather. Atleast he knew the older was safe.
Jiho wasn't sure which was worse , last night he had seen monsters were lurking outside the buliding so it wasn't safe to venture there on the other they were confined to the buliding with monsters caused by some infection because he had no idea how he got infected.
"We can't keep sponging off you ," Jisoo said to Du Sik , "thank you for the good and this." She patted the shield he had made for them.
"Really , these are handy." Jiho added , his metal bar had been modified into a spear like weapon similar to Hyun Soo's . the man smiled at him.
"May God bless you." Jaeheon said.
"I'm Buddhist." Du Sik replied
"If the first floor is safe , we'll come back for you." Jisoo said.
Du Sik looked very grim "Don't make promises you can't keep. I feel ill be saying farewell soon."
Jiho looked at the wheel chair the man was confined in, he probably felt like he would be a liability if they did return to get him.
Jisoo smiled sadly , "Someone once said , even the thickest of darkness disappears with the faintest of light."
"Is that person alive?" Jiho asked Jisoo who whacked him over the head lightly. Although the two didn't say it outloud , they felt they had grown close which was odd when they recently just met.
"Thank you for saving us." Su Yeong said to Hyun Soo whose eyes seemed to soften.
"Come back soon Hyung." Yeong Su said to jiho who smiled and patted the kid's hair.
"Take care of each other." Hyun Soo instructed the two kids who nodded.
Jiho waved back at the kids who remained with Du Sik and Ms Im who would take care of them. He closed the apartment door and followed Hyun, Jaeheon and Jisoo.
"So how are you feeling?"
Hyun Soo blinked at the other boy with pretty eyes , "huh?"
Jiho smiled , "I asked how you're feeling?"
"I...I really don't know." Was what Hyun said and the call boy realized he was right ; the other teenager wasn't much of a conversationlist. Jiho's eyes drifted to Hyun's arm noticing the scars - did the latter self harm.
Hyun Soo noticed him staring and quickly adjusted his sleeves to cover his arm
"Nothing like monster inspecting for neighbor bonding huh?" Jiho sarcastically said lightly elbowing Hyun in the shoulder.
Hyun Soo couldn't help smiling a bit by the other teenager's sarcasm. The quiet boy noticed Jiho didn't seem disturbed to see the cuts on his arm nor did he look bothered by them.
"Do you like him? "The monster inside Hyun Soo spoke sounding very amused ." I know you do." He ignored the voice he didn't like Jiho in that manner(so he says)
The four held onto their weapons as they wandered around the deserted hallways which were eerily slient for Jiho ; Green Home was always filled with loud sounds of neighbors gossiping about each other or arguing. But it being this silence disturbed him.
Jisoo raised her hand halting their movement. "it's a corpse."
Jiho's memories betrayed him as his brain replayed the exact moment his mother had died. He brushed it aside. He noticed Hyun staring at the body as if he was in some trance or spell.
"Hyun."
"Huh?"
"You were zoning out."
"Oh." Hyun Soo blinked staring at the pretty eyes in from of him instead , "I was lost in thought."
Jiho was svout to reply but he saw Jisoo going through the corpse's pockets , "what are you doing?"
Jisoo pulled out something from the pockets - a candy bar and gave it to Hyun Soo , "put it back if you don't want to."
"You're mean." He murmured.
Jisoo didn't looked bothered , "I'm. And I can do worse things to survive."
Jiho took the candy bar instead , "she has a point." He told Hyun because Jisoo has a point , if they wanted to survive this apocalypse that fell on them then they would have to do mean or fucked up things.
He knew from experience, he sold his own body just to make ends meet all for the name of Surviving so stealing a candy bar from a dead person was nothing.
The four took a route towards the stair case where Jisoo and Jaeheon headed down. Jiho felt the hairs on his nape standing up . Before he knew some unseen force came out of nowhere throwing Hyun off the stairs.
"HYUN!" He yelled when he saw the other teenager fall down to the floors below. "Shit! He'll be alright????"
Jisoo looked at him nervously , "I don't know."
"Let's go get him." Jaeheon said and the three quickly rushed down .
By the time the group arrived down , jiho was met with the faces of familar residents.
"You're still alive?I thought you were most likely dead when you went to work outside."
Jiho rolled his eyes at Hyuk's little sister and gave her a fake smile - two can play bitchy banter "I thought the monsters had gurgled you up by now." She smiled at him in the same manner.
"Eun Yu."
The girl looked at her brother and turned to Jiho with a sigh , "your boyfriend is here. Good luck with him."
Jiho watched as Eun Yu shoulder bumped into Eun Hyuk ignoring her brother.
Jiho smiled , "it's good ..to see you're still alive. Hyuk." He meant that alot.
Hyuk adjusted his glasses , "it's nice to see you too." He said with a pokerface and tone masking his inner relive at seeing the younger wasn't outside when all this madness occured. It relived him alot that Jiho was alive.
"Geez it's like you're not happy." Jiho muttered to himself , Eun Hyuk even in the circumstances was uptight and unemotional. His attention then went to Hyun Soo.
"Hyun!" He quickly hurried to the shaggy haired boy who blinked at him , "you ok?"
"He's fine," Hyuk said instead and looked at the other boy , "you fell from the 9th floor and woke up in three hours. Maybe it was the golden hour that saved you."
Jiho noticed how Eun Hyuk narrowed his eyes at Hyun. "What's the golden hour?"
" It's the perfect time to kill an infectee because they cannot survive a fatal wound. "
Jiho and Hyun Soo looked at one another something that didn't go unnoticed by Eun Hyuk
"Isn't it funny? The golden hour used to mean to save someone . Now it is the only possible period to destroy someone."
Jiho didn't like the phrasing and turned his attention to Hyun , "come on."
Hyun nodded , "sure. It's going to be tough." He watched Jiho nod in agreement.
Hyuk stared at the teenagers , "is Kwon Jiho infected too?" He had observed his reaction upon hearing the explaination of the golden hour .
It wasn't long before news had spread amongst the other residents that Hyun and Jiho had no choice but to reveal he was was infected too. Now Mr Kim, the bitter convenience store owner was going on and on in his complaints as usual.
"How could you bring frigging monsters here!"
This old man is so fucking annoying. I want to shut his trap
For once , Jiho agreed with the monster in his head because he was getting a migraine from the man.
Much to his annoyance , Jiho found the angry man pointing at him and Hyun with a box cutting knife .
"The both of you better not turn . Got it you fucking monsters?" Neither responded , "speak when an adult talks to you brats!"
Jiho had enough , "why should we? "
"Respect your elders you little punk."
"Respect is earned.why should we respect you of you don't deserve it?"
The man snarled , "don't talk to me about respect you fucking call boy. You whore yourself around with different people. So don't talk to me about respect when you sell your own body got it you punk."
The residents remained silent. Jisoo and Hyun Soo were the most baffled by this piece of information. The latter looked at Jiho watching his reaction.
Jiho rubbed his mouth and looked at Mr Kim with a vicious smirk ignoring the others , "I'm a callboy but atleast I'm not some bitter old man who thinks he's high and mighty and go around cursing everyone and hits his wife ."
"Why you -",Jiho intercepted the hit the man was about to throw at him. "Let go of me you brat!"
Jiho's eyes filled with darkness's some of the women screamed while everyone stayed aback .
The monster in him - Dark Jiho took over , "you flithy old bastard I'm running low on patience."
"See see ," Mr Kim whimpered, "he's a fucking monster."
"Jiho is holding back but I won't. Nothing can stop me from snapping your neck got it?"
"Jiho!" Jisoo yelled at him holding onto her bat , "snap out of it!"
Hyun watched as the void of darkness left Jiho's eyes confirming the other boy was indeed infected like him.
"What?" The call boy saw the weird and scared looks everyone was giving him , "why are you looking at me that way."
"The monster it spoke through you just now." Hyun Soo explained to the other boy
Hyuk suggested taking a vote ; those who wanted Hyun and Jiho to remain and those who wanted to be kicked out. Kim Seok Hyun was the only one against so much so he shouted at his poor wife untill a female fire fighter put him in his place.
Hyuk pulled out the votes from the secret ballot. His eyes lingered on Jiho but chose to keep his emotions aside. "It's a tie."
"What! Who voted for them" Mr Kim exclaimed angrily , "every bitch and bastard on this side should be thrown out " he refered to Jisoo , Jaeheon and the fire fighter.
"Hay Ahjussi!" Jisoo snapped , "stop throwing a tantrum. Unlike you , these two actually helped fight against a monster to help save others . So quit it will you."
"Exactly." Jiho added ignoring the glare he received. He was inding the man more irritable than usual.
"Don't get so worked up ," Hyuk addressed Seok Hyun, "there is still one last vote." He took out the paper and showed it to them.
Jiho looked at the paper that had invalid on it , "who turned that in?" He was glad that it was a time because it meant he could still be inside Green Home. Jiho did not want to know what was going on outside the apartment
Kim Seok Hyun began ranting stupid the voting is going as far as turning the table over. It stopped when his wife gasped.
"What a cruel twist of fate ," Eun Yu muttered with sarcasm dripping in her tone.
Jiho couldn't help chuckle when the man began nose bleeding , "look at that. You're turning too."
"Shit." The man panicked holding onto Hyun Soo asking him how to resist the monsterization.
Hyun Soo looked at the man with a blank face, "you better brace yourself. If you don't want to be eaten by a monster."
"Make that monsters." Jiho couldn't help adding that with a vindictive smile.
"You son of bitches."
Jiho was about to give him an apt reply - no one spoke ill of his mom. But it seemed the heavens were on his side because Mr Kim began nose bleeding even more heavily he had to clasp his hand over his mouth.
Hyun Soo picked up the voting ballot , "if I put in . He'll be thrown out with me and Jiho right?" It was his turn to have his eyes turn completely black.
Jiho this time was the one who studies Hyun's eyes ; partially creeped out yet morbidly fascinated at the same time. The call boy then heard Mr Kim collaspe onto the floor.
"Just ignore what he says ," jiho said to Hyun , "the man's a grouch." The three were currently in ' solitary confinement' .
Hyun Soo stared at the other boy thinking back to what Mr Kim had called Jiho earlier.
"You're staring."
"Sorry."
Jiho smiled , atleast if he was in this solitary confinement atleast Hyun was with him . "Do you think am handsome? Is that why you're staring." His voice took on a filrtious tone.
Hyun Soo stared like a doe caught in headlights , Jiho couldn't help laugh at the former's reaction it was adorable. How could someone look hot and adorable at the same time.
Hyun Soo heard Jiho's laugh and for the first time in a long time he felt at ease hearing another person laugh. He soon joined in the laughter the two were in their own world ignoring Mr Kim's rants.
Hours had passed by since they had been confined in the room waiting for some golden hour.
"Does it talk in your head too?" Hyun asked , the two boys were seating with their backs against each other.
Jiho looked down at his fingers , and nodded "Yes." He let out a sharp sigh , "it's fucked up to know we are not the only ones in our own heads."
"It is." Hyun Soo couldn't help ask ,"how does yours look like."
"How do you mean?"
"The monster...in your head. Does it take a form or do you see it as it is."
"It looks like me ," Jiho said recalling his dream , "but slightly different." The monster version of him had red dark hair opposed to his dark brown. He shivered when he remembered it's dark pitch eyes.
"The same ," Hyunho slowly turned to look at Jiho , "it's like -."
"Looking at a evil reflection of yourself." Jiho finished for the other boy, "so messed up. Hyun?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think we can hold them out for long?" He had done what he could yo survive the last two years . Was all the sacrifices he made going to go down the drain like that . He sacrificed his dignity and his body and now the world was literally thrown into chaos.
Hyun Soo didn't know to respond , he kept his back against Jiho , "I don't know."
Jiho was glad when Hyuk called for him and Hyun because he was started to get creeped out by the man with the red tie who supposedly had symptoms or monsterization too - the man kept asking him if he really was a call boy and Jiho could see the man was amused by it especially when he asked how much did he charge .
"You wanted to see us for a reason. Get to the point." Jiho said to cutting his former crush's sentence off about barracading the front. doors
Hyuk looked at Jiho and folded his arms , "I'll be straight forward with you two. Why do you think I took your side?"
Jiho and Hyun looked at one another remaining silent not sure why.
"You both will be taking on the dangeorus work from now on. "
Jiho felt angry but didn't show it , "so you want to be using us for your own agenda. Is that it ." He should be used to being used to people's whims but he didn't expect that from Eun Hyuk even if it wasn't sexual , he still felt used.
Hyuk stomped down any trace of gulit he felt because he could see Jiho was upset , "if you don't want to, then I can't help you."
"What do you mean ?" Hyun Soo asked.
Hyuk looked at the two of them , "that guy in 1408. Can you two bring him here."
Jiho and Hyun stared at each other before nodding but what Eun Hyuk whispered to them next made the call boy look at him in complete disbelief.
Jiho and Eun Hyuk share a ex boyfriends type of relationship ; awkardness between each other but deep feelings that still lay between them.