[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE - MOKPO[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

I'm really busy with school and everything which is why I've held off writing the chapter after this one. As some of you know, I don't post a chapter without having the following one ready. I don't know how often I'll be able to update from now on until March (midterm exams coming up) but please bear with me :) It should be at least once a week that I update!

I poke my head between the two entrance doors and look around. I then beckon the others over. We enter the mall with our weapons raised and our guards up. It’s quiet — too quiet. Where are all the Infected? How can an entire mall have no Infected in it?

“Way too good to be true,” Youngjae whispers, voicing my own thoughts and probably everyone else’s as well. “Why is it so quiet?”

“The whole place can’t be empty…right?” Mino  asks, a little louder. Hyoyeon elbows him and holds her index finger up to her lips, hushing him. He makes a face at her and she sticks her tongue out. I roll my eyes and start scanning the area as we walk further into the large building. 

“Jade, Neon,” Tao utters, getting their attention. He points in two opposite directions. “One sweep that side, the other sweep the other side for — what did you call them?” He’s addressing me now.

“Infected. Singular and plural,” I reply and he nods.

“Sweep the area for Infected,” he concludes and they leave immediately. Julien nudges Mino and Jungkook.

“We’ll go with one of them, speed up the process,” he says and Tao nods gratefully. The trio go after Neon. I forget my prior convictions and turn to my own people.

“Youngjae and Sehun. You two go with Jade and help her clear that side,” I order them and before they can object, I raise my hand. “That’s an order.” Hyoyeon glances at me from the corner of her eye and I swear I see her smirk a little. I point at Sehun. “Don’t you dare defy me, soldier.” He narrows his eyes at me and locks his jaw, but says nothing. Youngjae sighs and grabs his arm, dragging him along.

“Be careful,” he says before leaving with them. I turn to Tao and Taeyeon.

“You guys go ahead and search the food court upstairs. We’ll also go upstairs but search the other side,” I declare and he nods without hesitation. Taeyeon opens to speak — probably to badmouth me — but one look at Bora shuts her up. Hyoyeon grins and  grabs my wrist, then grabs Bora’s.

“Alright, bye!” she beams at the two AIs as she drags us away. We reach the escalators and get on it. I freeze, staying on the ground. I start to look around. Hyoyeon looks back and tilts her had, nudging Bora. “Hey, what’s up?”

“This thing…why is it still working…if the mall is empty?” I ask, my voice almost a mumble as I’m struck with confusion. Their eyes widen and they immediately run off the escalators, returning to my side. “This is weird.”

“Where’s the control room?” Bora questions, looking around. I shrug and look at Hyoyeon to see if she has any idea.

“I don’t know if malls have a control room…” she mumbles in response, scratching her head. Then, she clicks her fingers. “But I know they have a security room. One time when I was five, I got lost in a huge shopping mall and I cried so hard that I attracted, like, ten secure guards. They took me to this big room with loads of screens and asked me if I could see my mom anywhere.”

“So what you’re saying is…if someone is here, controlling that thing…” I muse, gripping my gun tightly. “Then they could be watching us right now?” Her eyes widen and she frantically looks around, fixing her hair as she does so. Bora rolls her eyes and smacks her head. 

“Ouch!”

“You’re not on TV, babo,” she hisses and Hyoyeon pouts. I can’t help but laugh a little. Bora gives me a look that says ‘can you believe this girl?’ and Hyoyeon gives me one that says ‘what a , amiright?’ I shake my head at the two girls and brush past them, getting onto the escalator. “Where are you going?”

“Upstairs. Aren’t security rooms always upstairs?” I reply, tilting my head. They look at each other and shrug, getting on the moving stairs with me. None of us know so we might as well start where we told the others we’d be. We reach the second level and look up. We all swear under our breaths. “I thought this place only had two levels.”

“Looks like it has three,” Bora states unnecessarily. “Should we go back downstairs and get one of the groups to search it?”

“We’d waste too much time. We’ll just do it ourselves,” I reply and she shrugs. We start walking down the level, looking at each shop and flashing our flashlights through each door. “Clear.”

“So’s this one,” Hyoyeon says as she walks out of a food store. “Empty.”

“Figures,” I mutter, shaking my head. I glance to my right as we walk past another shop and freeze, my eyes locked on the window. “Oh, my God.” They both whip around with their guns raised. Then, their eyes land on the window and they lower their weapons again. I look at them. “We have to go in.”

“Oh, we are,” Hyoyeon affirms as she raises her gun again and pushes the entrance door open. She returns ten seconds later and gives us a thumbs up. “Clear. And it’s completely untouched.”

“No way,” Bora gasps and she nods.

“Way,” Hyoyeon replies, motioning for us to follow her. “But it makes sense, why would anyone raid a dress shop during war time or a zombie apocalypse?” We enter the store and keep the door open so we can still hear anything going on outside. The lights automatically come on and an array of different colours meets my eyes. There are blue dresses, green, yellow, red — everything I’ve ever seen on billboards seems to be tucked away safely in this one (albeit grand) boutique.

“This is…amazing,” I breathe, gazing at all the dresses with sparkling eyes. Hyoyeon stops in front of a section that reads ‘PROM DRESSES’ above it. I walk over to her and she tilts her head, staring at the clothing.

“I never got to go to prom…” she mumbles, frowning slightly. Bora joins us and lets out a wistful sigh. “I wonder what high school was like. Was it like in those cheesy dramas? Hot bullies, cute nerds, mean cheerleaders and edgy outcasts?”

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. 

Bora sighs. “Neither do I. I don’t remember much about my childhood because of my training. The methods they use brainwash you. I really wish I got to live a boring teenage life.”

I nod, walking up to and a long, turquoise dress. “Me too. I wonder if I would’ve gotten a date or if I would’ve had to go with my friends…I wonder if I would’ve had friends.” They both scoff.

“Obviously you would’ve. You’re gorgeous,” Hyoyeon shrugs, checking out a pretty pink dress. “Guys would’ve been all over you. You probably would’ve been confessed to daily.”

“I don’t know. I was bullied a lot when I was a kid because I didn't like the same things as the other kids did,” I murmur, taking the dress down from the rack. “I think I wanna try this one on.”

“I’ll try this one,” Bora says, hugging a black mermaid dress. She looks at Hyoyeon. “You gonna try that one on?” Hyoyeon nods excitedly. “Alright, let’s go!” We all rush to the fitting rooms and close the curtains, quickly stripping from our dingy military-style clothing. 

After a few minutes, I exit my fitting room and look in the mirror. My eyes widen as I take in the long, slim gown. The turquoise colour is bright and decorated with bedazzlement at the hips. The dress has halter neck straps and a long slit that reveals my left leg. I grab my fishtail braid and lift it up, turning around to look at my back over my shoulder. Instead of seeing unblemished pale skin, I see a mixture of dark and light scars. The lines cover the entirety of my revealed back. 

I bite my lip as my eyes trail down my body. I then look back up at my face but all I see is the face of a traitor; a coward.

This is all your fault.

I gulp and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. The sound of curtains being pulled back fills my ears and I open my eyes to see Hyoyeon and Bora exiting their fitting rooms, dressed to kill. My jaw drops.

“Jesus Christ,” I gasp, in awe at the sight of them. Hyoyeon grins and twirls, her dress sweeping the floor. Bora copies her and I feel something weird in my chest. Longing? Regret? I don’t know what it is but it isn’t a good feeling. “You look…you look perfect.”

“So do you,” Hyoyeon gushes, rushing over to me and grasping my hands. “Let’s do our makeup, too! Come, I saw makeup kits over here.” We reach the tables and start rummaging through the numerous drawers. Hyoyeon finds a full kit and pushes me down onto a chair. “Stay still. I’m gonna do you.”

“What, no dinner first?” I tease and she rolls her eyes. She takes my braid out and grabs a brush, working through my messy mane. “How long will this take?” I don’t want to neglect our duties for too long. Though I’m almost certain that the AIs will have swept the majority of the ground level by now. 

“Not long, I know we don’t have the time,” she replies. “Close your eyes and wait for my signal.” I do as she says. Minutes pass in silence and I feel excitement building up in the pit of my stomach. I feel my hair being tugged at and at one point, I swear I hear her turn on a curling iron. It’s not too surprising since this place still has some electricity. 

More minutes pass and finally, she lifts the lipstick from my mouth. “Okay…open your eyes.” I open my eyes and all air leave my lungs. I’m speechless. A grin plays on Hyoyeon’s face. “Daebak, right?” I nod wordlessly, still awestruck by what she’s done to me. “Say something.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I gulp, still staring at my reflection. I carefully reach up and touch my own cheek. I brush my fingers over my skin and swallow my amazement. “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for the almost birthday girl,” she beams, putting her arms around me in a warm back hug. 

“Hey, guys! Look what I— wow,” Bora blurts as she rejoins us. Her eyes almost fall out of her head but she quickly recovers, shaking her head to clear it. “You look…wow! Did you do this, Hyoyeon?” Hyoyeon nods proudly. “Nice! Can you do that for me?”

“Uh, duh,” she scoffs. Bora then gasps and pulls something out from behind her. “What the hell is that?” I stare at it in the mirror. My eyes focus on it and they widen. I look over my shoulder.

“Is that—“

“A camera,” Bora fills in, cutting me off. “And not just any camera. A high def polaroid! I think they must’ve used it for prom and wedding photographs.”

“Come here, quick!” Hyoyeon hisses, grabbing her hand and yanking her forward. She shoves her onto a seat. “I want a picture. I’m not leaving here without a picture but, first, we need to do our makeup.”

“Arasso,” Bora and I agree in unison.

Several minutes later, Hyoyeon had finished her instant makeover. Although it was done in a haste, the end results were everything we wanted and more. We were overjoyed.

I nudge Bora. “Grab the camera!” She picks it up from the table and we move to stand in front of a white wall, where the background and lighting are better. She quickly sets up a tripod and places the polaroid onto it. She puts on the timer then rushes back over to us. The three of us huddle together and pose, smiling brightly at the camera.

“Say ‘PROM’!” Hyoyeon shouts.

“PROM!” We echo. The flash goes off and the photograph starts to print almost immediately. We run over to the camera and Hyoyeon picks up the picture once it’s been printed. 

“Lemme see~!” Bora whines and I snatch it from Hyoyeon and hold it up. Since I’m in the middle, we can all see it much more clearly. Our combined sighs fill the air. “It’s perfect. I love it!”

“Me too,” Hyoyeon grins. Her smile slowly fades and she looks down. “We should…we should probably change out of these dresses now.” I shake my head. I throw one arm around her and hand Bora the camera.

“Group selfie first,” I say. She gasps.

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