Bad End Night
The Hunters and the HuntedYuri.
The name triggered a blackout from me.
It was brief, momentarily, but I thought I saw the coliseum, with the ground looking like it had been struck by an earthquake.
“You know,” the old hag wheezed; I wondered if she would still be alive after talking, “Yuri… she used to be a human.”
It looked at me as if I was supposed to know this. “W-who’s Yuri?”
“The one in the necklace,” it replied, caressing the necklace gently. “Seriously, Taeyeon, you ought to know this.”
To be honest, I was thinking the same thing. The name, Yuri, was in my head, like I had heard it before. I was trying to remember it, what the meaning of it was—who that person is, but it seemed like my mind was being rebellious.
It was like the information was locked up in a part of my head, unable to be breeched.
“Was that the name of the witch Taeyeon fought?” Kris spoke up, glaring at the hag as if she was the reason why everything bad was happening.
“Ah, yes. This is, indeed, cursed by Yuri.” It ignored Kris, who was about to harass the hag but Yesung oppa managed to hold him down.
Chill, I glared at him.
“How do you remove the curse?” Yesung oppa asked.
“Oh, there’s nothing I can do about it,” it smiled, letting go of the necklace so I fell on the floor, gasping for breath. “ ‘Only someone cold can open it’ the necklace says.”
Kris flinched. “That’s what it said to me when I tried opening it.” He looked at the floor. “Who was Yuri pertaining to?”
The hag shrugged naturally.
I stood up and grabbed the necklace, suddenly feeling a faint pulse from it, like a heartbeat. It was freaky, but I didn’t register the thought on time and just wondered who was that cold person that could open the nonagon.
Kris turned to me and asked, “Don’t you remember anything, Taeng?”
“I told you, I don’t.” I sighed and pressed my hands on my head. I looked at the hag’s eyes. I almost jumped, because just moments ago its eyes were bloodshot and angry, but now, it had a pair of warm brown eyes. Its eyes were so familiar something welled in my throat and I wanted to cry again.
I suddenly flinched and fell on my knees. A memory suddenly flashed in my mind: a tall tan girl with a slender figure, mouthing words to me I couldn’t comprehend. Her face was blurry, as if she was underneath water, constantly rippling. Then it disappeared.
I cried again.
“What was that?!” I shouted, hugging myself. I was shaking.
“What was what?” Kris looked alarmed again and went beside me. He placed a large hand on my shoulder. Normally, I should’ve just shrugged it off and punched him on the face or something but now I just needed some comfort and reassurance.
I explained to them what I saw—my encounter with someone whom I suspected was Yuri.
The hag remained silent, looking down on me from its now dark and beady eyes. “That stupid girl,” it sighed and leaned back.
“I’m so sorry,” I managed to say, not even sure what I was apologizing for, and passed out again.
The graduation gown was stuffy. It was so hard to walk with it because I kept on stepping on the ends; I almost tripped a few times. Every year, our graduation colors change, and this year, it was black and red. Two thick red lines ran down the front and back of the outfit, and it was loose on the arms. My cap was drooping down to my eyes.
“You ready?” I heard Kris whisper beside me, his gown barely reaching his ankles. I cursed him and his long legs in my mind. “You not suffocating yet?”
“Come here and let me suffocate you, you big ape,” I growled at him, flicking a finger on his forehead.
He laughed and leaned back. “Shhh, midget. Be quiet. The principal’s about to make his announcement.”
Duh. As if I didn’t know that.
We were sitting on the stage, just beside the administrators of the school. Why, you ask? Because we were the first and second placers of the graduating batch. We had honors just like that.
“Welcome, students,” the principal, a short and stout man we all call YG, called out. “I’m here to, of course, give out the diplomas of those who passed. Only those who passed. And I do believe that only 670 of the graduating batch are graduating, yes?”
The crowd broke out into murmurs. 670. And how many were the students? 1,640.
Yes, 1,640. And it’s just the graduating batch. Well, actually, the graduating batch this year and the students who couldn’t get a score high enough to graduate on the previous year. Or the year before. Or the year before…
“I’m sad to say that the remaining 970 students will have to repeat the year until they graduate. Shame. I was told this was supposed to be a promising batch, too. Hmph,” YG smirked, annoying those who were unable to pass. But they should know better than to start a fight against the old man.
I’ve seen that bastard in action. It was terrifying.
“Those who are crying, please leave the area. I don’t want you guys staining the carpet.”
Not less than 50 students left hastily.
“Now, I would like to congratulate those who had passed. You did great. Congratulations. The valedictorian of the batch, Mr. Kris Wu, please come here and deliver your speech.” He said it in a flat tone as if he was just reciting a speech he was used to say. Maybe he was.
Kris stood up and smirked at me. He went to the podium and tapped the microphone. Immediately, some of the girls squealed. He smiled at them and half of them fainted on the spot. “Hello, fellow students,” he started.
5 seconds in and I was already sleeping.
Someone should give me an award for this. This was the longest I could hold up when someone’s making a speech!
“How was I?”
I jolted out of my short slumber. I saw Kris looking at me with a proud expression on his face. “What?”
“The speech.” He paused then sighed in defeat, “Okay how many seconds?”
“5,” I responded proudly, folding my arms.
He sighed and then sat back on his chair. “Aish. What do I do with you?”
“Let us also congratulate the second placer, Ms. Taeyeon Kim!” YG announced, gesturing towards me. The crowd clapped their hands, and a group—this time, boys—whooped and yelled.
I glanced at Kris and we both understood what the other had thought. Fanboys.
I smirked, because obviously, my fanboys were louder than his fangirls.
A couple of girls screamed.
Scratch that. My fanboys and fangirls are louder than his.
“Not fair,” Kris frowned as I stood up and waved at everybody.
The noise of the students were suddenly like an uproar. But they all shut their mouths when YG glared at them.
“Wooo! Go Taeyeon!” One of the fanboys shouted, his voice echoing in the area.
Awkward.
I sat down, giving YG a curt nod while I was at it. He was too busy hunting down the guy who had just shouted, his eyes scanning the crowd, to notice me being polite.
“Yah! Hyun-suk! It’s time to distribute the diplomas already!” Jinyoung—we call him JYP, he’s our administrator—harshly whispered.
He was an okay guy, I guess. He’s really, really close with the students, especially the ones in the student council. Well, mainly because the council receives orders from him, but I don’t know.
I mean, sure, I’m the Vice and Kris, that blonde ape, is the Pres but I never really attended the meetings nor did any of the work.
Don’t ask me why. There was too much to do and I had so little interest.
YG looked back at JYP lazily before he shrugged his shoulders. He tapped the mic. “Blah, blah, blah, now we are going to award the 670 students that passed.”
Everyone was silent.
“What are you pipsqueaks waiting for?” He roared, and everyone panicked and filed up to a line.
“Guys,” JYP nudged us. “You two are gonna shake their hands too.”
I shuddered as the thought of touching 668 hands. I wrinkled my face in disgust. “Why?”
“Just so you know how we feel,” he winked.
I scoffed at him. And I thought he was nice.
“You got some alcohol with you?” Kris prompted.
I looked at him in shock. “You, council president and flower ape boy, wants some alcohol? From me?”
He shook his head. “We have no idea what the people here touched last.” He pondered on the thought before mimicking a vomiting face. “668 hands…. Too risky.”
“Go use your drool,” I rolled my eyes at him.
YG cleared his throat loudly, then he began to recite the names of those who graduated.
It was pretty uneventful, so to speak. I mean, we just said, ‘congratulations’ and ‘good job’ to them, shaking their hands firmly and nodding as if we were really appreciating their achievement.
Sure, maybe JYP was sincere but I doubt Kris was any more enthusiastic about it that I was.
“Congratulations!” Kris greeted happily. I snorted at the act.
“Oh,” a female voice made me look back. “It’s you.”
“Hello Chaerin,” I grinned, stretching out my hand.
She narrowed her eyes at me. Chaerin Lee was one of my few rivals at school. She had fierce eyes abetted by her smoky eyes make up. She had long dirty blonde hair that ended in gentle waves. Her lips, shining with lip gloss, pursed.
“Congratulations.” I grabbed her free hand nevertheless and shook it, my smile never disappearing on my face.
She swatted my hand away and glared at me menacingly. “Big shot,” she hissed.
“Hey,” I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck, “it’s not my fault you’re fourth. I mean, 4 is a good number.”
“Shut up, Kim.”
“I was never informed we were on a surname-based relationship.”
She puffed her cheeks and rolled her eyes at me. Her hand was on her hip. “I don’t like talking to cheaters.”
My jaw fell in indignation. I was ready for a snappy comeback but I held my tongue, and instead, answered her calmly, “And that comment will do significant change when…?”
Chaerin tossed her hair over her shoulder, never forgetting to reply, “When you realize I’m better than you.”
I covered my mouth to stifle my laugh. “That’s gonna take a long time.”
She glared at me. She was ready to fight back when she tensed and shivered. She looked behind her slowly to see YG looking at her. She looked at me again, her lips twitching. “See you next time, midget.”
“I’d rather you not call me names that would apply to yourself,” I called out when she left.
She raised her middle finger at me.
“Sorry ‘bout that.”
I turned my head to see Sandara Park, one of Chaerin’s friends, looking at me apologetically. “She’s still quite bitter at how you beat her at the track race. It was a wide gap, you know.”
I grunted. “That was like, 2 years ago.”
“She never forgot,” Dara tilted her head to one side.
“Anyways,” I waved it off and took out my hand, “congratulations.”
She shook it happily. “Thanks. Congratulations for second place.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. Dara was one of the nicest people I know in the whole school, and it still irks me how she got in cahoots with someone like Chaerin. The two were complete opposites! Dara was kind and gentle whereas Chaerin was fierce and violent.
“See you at the party later,” Dara waved at me as she went down.
Oh yeah. The party.
I groaned. Every after graduation, at night, we celebrate our freedom by throwing a massive party for all the graduates. Should be fun, I guess.
“Hello, Daehyun,” I heard Kris reply coldly.
I turned to see Kris and Daehyun glaring at each other like how two rival tigers. Kris was looking down on Daehyun, but the aura the latter released wasn’t different from what the former was emitting.
“Hello, Yi Fan,” Daehyun smugly drawled.
Kris laughed through his nostrils. “Congratulations for third place. Shame there are only two chairs allotted for students on the stage.”
Daehyun growled. “Shut up.”
Kris’s smile never reached his eyes. “Such a shame indeed.”
The shorter guy was obviously about to make a violent move, but I managed to grab his arm and twist his wrist, making sure his back was facing the officials. Daehyun hissed through gritted teeth.
“Make one more move and I’ll snap this,” I warned, looking up at his onyx eyes.
“You stay out of this,” he yanked his hand free.
“Would you like me to report this to YG?” I raised my brows at him.
He stopped and glared at me. He let out a loud irritated sigh and ruffled his hair. “You win this time.” He gave us an I’m-looking-at-you kind of gesture and went away.
“It’s everyone’s time of the month today,” I mourned.
Kris slapped the back of my head. “Shut up! YG can hear you!”
We both looked at YG the same time and flushed when we saw him regarding us quietly, his face in a poker face. It looked like he knew no other emotion than… well, nothing.
We continued it anyway.
And so, the only ones left with no diplomas were me and Kris.
“Again, we are here to announce the top two students for this batch. Everyone, let’s claps our hands for Kris Wu and Taeyeon Kim!” JYP announced, clapping loudly.
The rest of the people in the area did the same.
JYP approached us, holding our diplomas. He wiped an invisible tear. “Ah you two have grown! Well, mostly Kris though.”
I fought the urge to twist his ear.
Kris snickered. He went quiet after I drilled my fist to his side.
“I remember all the patbingsoos I treated you guys after your offensive and defensive technique lessons with Tablo and GD,” JYP continued.
“Those were hellish classes,” I pursed my lips as I remembered how many times I almost got my bones broken. As well as how many times I almost broke other people’s bones.
“You were enjoying it, though,” Kris pointed out.
“It was fun,” I admitted with a grin.
“And the times when we would eat noodles by the gym because you two were too weak to walk to the cafeteria,” JYP chortled merrily.
“Yes, yes, JYP. Just give them their diplomas already,” YG groaned loudly.
JYP waved him off. He handed us our diplomas. “Congratulations. For graduating, and for being the top two.”
It struck me how much this guy had pretty much became my father in the school. He was caring and understanding. He was fun and dorky. He only got angry when he knows he should. We had tons of bonding time together.
The back of my eyes stung.
“Now, now, Taeyeon. Don’t cry,” JYP cooed, giving me a warm smile.
“He’ll cry too, you know,” Kris took his diploma. I took mine too.
“Treat us to bulgogi?” I looked at him expectantly.
He laughed wholeheartedly. “After the party,” he promised, and we did a 90 degree bow at him, then to the rest of the students, and went down.
“Congrats, midget. 2nd place isn’t that bad, seeing that you’re rivaling me,” said Kris while we went down.
I snickered at him. “Be happy I let you take the final 1st place, ape.”
“You should be the one thankful,” he snorted, “that I even let you be 1st twice.”
“In your dreams, Kris.” We walked side by side, towards the exit of the area. “In your crazy, imaginary dreams.”
After that, the graduates—and the staff, mind you—changed to casual clothing and proceeded to the school’s clearing. There were lots of table that had been set up, and there was a large stage in the middle. I reckoned it would be where the big 3 (SM—he’s the owner of the school, JYP, and YG) would stay while the rest of us were partying and enjoying the end of our study in this hellish school.
I had decided that my motif tonight would be black. Thus, I took a pair of black shorts that was paired with my favorite black shirt. The black converse shoes I have were the chosen pair. For probably the first and last time for this day, I brushed my hair.
Finally contented that I looked human, I stepped out of my room’s balcony and looked over the scene.
The grounds were bright, lights flashing and sparkling everywhere; the merry voices of the people made me smile. I rested my forearms on the railings and leaned forward, feeling the cold night wind hit my face. I savored the sensation.
As though someone had flicked a switch, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. I shuddered. My stomach was churning; the sudden sensation almost made me double up. I stepped away from the railings and wrapped my arms around my body. I looked over the horizon, past the school borders, and saw something a dark and menacing cloud approaching us. It was obviously slow, but it looked so sinister I had to take another look.
Then it disappeared. I blinked the darkness off my eyes and looked back at the cloud. Only it wasn’t there anymore. The sky was just…. it was night again. No more stirring in my stomach, and definitely no more ominous clouds.
But I felt something was going to happen. Something terrible.
I looked down again—at my classmates and teachers and everyone.
Surely nothing bad will happen with this many professionals, right?
“Oi, midget!” Kris called out from below.
I gave him a weak wave.
“Come on down!” He ordered before walking off towards the buffet table.
I took a deep, rattling breath and slapped my face with my hands. I decided that it would be best not to dwell on that. It might’ve been just the night coolness.
I went down slowly, my knees were still shaking from the sudden fit earlier.
“Hello, Taeyeon,” someone brightly greeted me on the last flight of stairs.
I turned around to see Dara, her arm looped to a scowling Chaerin.
“Hello Dara, Chaerin,” I nodded at them. “To the party?”
“What’s it to you?” Chaerin barked at me.
“Yah!” Dara slapped Chaerin’s arm. “Be nice!”
Chaerin grumbled something under her breath and Dara hit her arm again.
“Jeez, fine!” Chaerin exclaimed. “Yes, we’re going to the party.”
“You heading there too?” asked Dara.
I nodded and Chaerin’s scowl deepened.
“Great,” I heard her mutter. “Fun.”
“How ‘bout we go together?” Dara bubbly requested, her smile happy, in complete contrast with the frown that up Chaerin’s features.
Chaerin mumbled, “I knew it. Blasted timing…”
“It would be an honor,” I grinned at Dara, secretly sticking out my tongue at Chaerin, who saw it and sent me a furious glare of absolute loathing.
The three of us continued down, my thoughts of the earlier event already dissolving in my mind.
A redhead and a short-haired girl went over to us the moment we walked to the clearing.
“There you two are,” said the redhead, whom I recognized as Bom Park. She was wearing a dress that reached mid-thigh, her legs proudly deserving attention.
“Taeyeon unnie,” the short-haired one, Minzy Gong, greeted me. “Hello.”
“Hullo Bom and Minzy,” I waved at them. Bom’s eyes narrowed when she looked at me, then exchanged a few glances with Chaerin.
“Enjoying the party?” I inquired.
“Oh, we were waiting for the two before mingling with the others,” Minzy replied.
“Good girl Taeyeon wouldn’t mind it if we left her now, right?” Chaerin said, her voice oily and smooth.
“No it’s okay,” I shook my head, “I was about to go search for Kris anyways.”
The monolid girl tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Bye then.” And the four of them walked; Dara gave me a last wave before scurrying off with her squad.
“Dear me, what were you doing with 2NE1?”
I spun around. Jesus, what is it with people suddenly speaking behind me? They’re gonna get me a heart attack!
“GD, sir, hello,” I awkwardly bowed.
“Psh. No formalities, Taeyeon,” G-Dragon, our offensive techniques teacher, waved his hand impatiently. “You know how I dislike that.”
I shuffled nervously. His penetrating gaze had always made me uneasy; whenever I feel the hairs at the back of my neck stand up during our lessons, I knew it was because he was looking at me intently. At least, at my moves.
“You seem to know some rather advanced offensive moves, Taeyeon,” he had regarded me after a lesson. I replied it was because I watch and play video games. He laughed and patted me on the back.
“I must say, you and Kris are two of the most talented students I have ever taught. And I have taught a lot of people,” he admitted, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
I reddened slightly. God. This is so awkward. “T-thanks, sir.”
“Jiyong,” Seunghyun oppa appeared beside GD and placed his arm on his shoulder. “I want more wine.”
Jiyong—GD (he had preferred we call him that) rolled his eyes. “T.O.P—man, go get some yourself.”
Yes, our teachers have other names, ‘stage names’ and I call it. It was confusing at first, especially when you’re just new and they constantly shift on calling each other with their real names and their other names.
T.O.P. finally noticed me. “Oh, Kim, wassup? Been handling your katana well?”
“Of course, sir. It has of great value to me,” I answered. T.O.P. was our weapons professor. During my first year he already taught us how to shoot various guns. Second year and it was about knives. It was rumored that the insides of his pockets were filled with nothing but weapons just in case someone decided to attack.
“Good, good.” He fixed GD a stare. “My wine, Jiyong,” he repeated haughtily.
GD glanced at me. “Y’know, Taeyeon—”
“I’m—bye, sirs,” I ran away in escape, saving my life with continuous errands from the two.
“Where have you been?”
I looked up to see Kris, his arms crossed over his chest, looking at me with a lazy disapproving glare.
“What?” I gave him an exasperated sigh.
“I had to set up the punch—which, I remember correctly, was assigned to you.”
I peeked and saw the drinks lined up on the table. “Well, it was obvious that you didn’t have enough trouble with it.”
He sniffed. “Wasted my time,” he grumbled.
I punched his stomach. “Oh come on, you blonde ape! Let’s just enjoy the night! Last day at school!”
Kris groaned and straightened his blazer. For some godforsaken reason, the guy decided to wear a tuxedo.
Grabbing a red plastic cup, I went over and poured coke in it. I took a couple of gulps before speaking again. “Where are you going, anyways? To a wedding? A funeral, maybe?”
“Can’t I wear something like this for an event like this?” Kris said hotly, fixing his necktie.
“You look stupid.”
“I look appropriate.”
“Kris, it’s just a party. It’s not like you’re meeting the president,” I sighed.
“But as the Valedictorian and the President of the student council—”
I stuffed his mouth with chicken rolls from the other table.
The party continued and eventually, even the other non-graduating students joined. As well as the younger ones. Minzy had managed to sneak off earlier and no one seemed to notice.
I was wandering about until I recognized five girls huddled in one corner. I moved closer to them, as quiet as I can, and tiptoed to peek on what they were doing. They appeared to be reading a letter.
“Ahem,” I coughed loudly, and the five of them shrieked and jumped. “What’re you five up to?”
“U-unnie! N-n-nothing!” Joohyun Bae, a short but pretty girl about to graduate next year, hastily tucked the letter in her back pocket.
“What’s the letter all about?” I inched forward.
“Cake recipes!” Wendy—Seungwan Shon, a Canadian hamster with a powerful voice, squeaked and raised her hands in a surrender motion.
“Hmmm,” I squinted at them suspiciously.
Seulgi Kang, popularly known as the bear of their groups, was sweating profusely. Sooyoung Park and Yerim Kim, troublemaking hoobaes, moved protectively over Joohyun.
“Who received the letter?” I looked at their faces for any reaction and noticed one of them who gulped.
“I see. Was it Sungjae, huh, Sooyoung?” I guessed, and they all squealed covered their faces. It was adorable to watch.
“We did nothing wrong!” Sooyoung declared defensively.
I smirked. “I didn’t say anything.”
They reddened. Seulgi spoke up, “How did you know it was Sungjae?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, “It was a lucky guess. Honestly, you guys shouldn’t be too obvious about stuff like this.”
Seungwan evaded my eyes. I looked at their faces and sighed. “Come on,” I motioned them to follow, “let’s eat.”
They all looked at each other, then at me. I jerked my head to the banquet and this time they followed.
It wasn’t soon after when I heard Yerim, the youngest, gasp loudly.
“What is it?” I curiously asked.
She covered , then shakily pointed her free hand over the walls. “Th-there was something moving there.”
I looked to where she was pointing. All I could see was trees and bushes. The other four curiously stared at the place as well.
“W-what’re you talking about?” Joohyun cautiously said, moving closer to her friends.
Seungwan wrapped an arm around Joohyun protectively. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
I rounded on them and spread my arms. “Come on girls, Yerim must’ve been sleepy!”
Then the wall behind me shook.
I jumped and turned around. There was a giant crack in the middle of the wall that was at least several feet thick. My gut dropped. “Go,” I ushered the five. “Get in your rooms and lock your doors.”
They all gaped at me, absolutely puzzled.
“I SAID GO!” They finally scampered away.
I looked at the crack. I waved over at Kris, who noticed me instantly. I beckoned him to come and he followed.
“What?” He said impatiently.
“Something just made a gigantic crack on the wall,” I said. He was about to retort something, but then the grim look on my face probably said I wasn’t joking.
He moved closer and I followed. We were ten feet away when we stopped. “What do you think?” asked Kris.
I leaned my head to take a closer look. “Something big. Something big definitely hit this. Hard, too.”
Kris straightened his back, his mouth a thin line and his brows furrowed. “We should alert this to the professors.”
“Quickly,” I rushed him, and he broke to a sprint, running to the middle of the clearing, to the stage.
The wall suddenly exploded. The impact threw me back and made me land on my back. I was knocked out of breath. Disoriented, I rolled over and shook my head before standing up.
It was absolute chaos. There were…. Everything, everything that was in the dungeons, everything that we had read about. A giant snake slithered through the tables, its scales rippling different colors. A thing that resembled a Komodo dragon stood on its hind legs, chasing students. A zombie was limping, its arms outstretched; his gray skin looked old and ancient, matching his tattered military uniform. There was a humanoid figure with abnormally long limbs and green skin that stood over; I saw that it had no eyes, just a gigantic insect-like mouth that constantly opened and closed. Several goblins, tiny and fast and absolutely devious, were setting things on fire. There were human-sized piranhas that had legs, their jaws chomping. There were two giant trolls, at least 20 feet tall, holding wooden clubs, swinging them around. More monstrous nightmares came out of the hole.
I spotted a pair of kids, wearing white circus-like outfits, sobbing beside a bush. I ran to them. “H-hey! Are you two okay?”
They looked up and I stumbled back. Their eyes were black—no pupils. Nothing. Just black. They grinned, and their lips curled. “Let’s have fun!” They took out a knife, both of them. 8 feet long with sharp spikes protruding its whole body. They lunged at me and I jumped to the side.
I instinctively reached out to my side before mentally smacking myself. I was wearing casual clothes! I had no weapons here!
The twins—I realized their identical features—laughed maniacally and ran towards me. I raised my fists and readied myself, taking a deep breath. The moment they jumped on me, I ducked and grabbed one of their arms, swiftly bringing them down to the ground. They wailed. I grabbed their collars, but they swung their knives at me. I narrowly missed severing my arms. They got up and I ran towards them. They opened their mouths and let out a piercing shriek.
The sound was like a thousand nails and forks scratching a blackboard. It was deafening! I covered my ears, my face scrunching in pain. I looked up just in time to see the twins’ knife inches from my face. I ducked and punched one of them in the stomach so hard they flew up. The sound stopped and I gasped for breath.
One of them fell with a thud. Its circus hat had fallen and its long white hair the color of mist tumbled down like snakes.
Now I understood what they were.
Banshees.
The world suddenly tilted, and I placed a hand on my head. I blinked when I felt something wet; I withdrew my hand and found out that there was blood. I was bleeding. One of the knives must’ve struck me.
I shook my head and focused on the task. I need to kill these bastards and help the others.
One of them helped its twin up, staggering to stay upright. It was comforting to know that I still managed to deal a lot of damage.
I ran to them one last time, determined to finish them one this time. They raised their knives and one of them—threw it. Thanking all the gods present that time, I evaded my death and grabbed the handle. I jumped and landed just behind them. The twins, shocked at how I was still alive, never saw their own knife slashing down their bodies.
Their bodies dissolved until there was only a patch of black on the grass.
I collapsed on the ground and clutched my head.
A distinct howl made me freeze. I looked over my shoulder to see a werewolf, its massive fur on its end, bounding towards me. I shakily stood up. But before it could pounce on me, it suddenly whimpered and fell down. An arrow stuck at the back of its head.
I looked up to see Seulgi holding a bow, a quiver full of arrows strapped around her back.
“Thanks Seulgi!”
“Stay alive, unnie!” Seulgi’s voice shook and I gave her a thumbs up.
“Taeyeon unnie!” Yerim and Seungwan called. They were holding my katana, my briefcase of knives and my crossbow. “We decided to break into your room to give this to you!”
I gaped at them. “You guys broke into my room?”
“Maknae here knows how to pick locks!” Seungwan beamed proudly, patting Yerim’s back.
I laughed against the situation. “Okay, drop the briefcase down here and throw the katana to me! Seungwan, use my crossbow and kill the monsters!”
They did as told. I caught my katana and strapped it around my waist. I raced towards the briefcase and opened it. I immediately grabbed as many knives as I can and, after kicking the case close and pushing it in a bush to hide it, ran to the clearing.
It was worse than I thought. I saw a group of zombies crowding over something; I paled when I recognized a foot under them. I ran to them and threw my knives straight into their heads. They collapsed an instant after. I almost tripped on them in hurry.
I choked back a sob when I saw who it was.
“Taeyeon-ah,” Changmin oppa wheezed, his skin peeling and his whole body bleeding. “G-good… thing… you’re... safe… ah…”
“O-oppa,” I knelt beside him and tried to think of what to do.
“N-no, it’s… okay… just… save… them…” He drew a shuddering breath, his body rising a couple of inches before dropping down lifelessly on the grass.
I checked his pulse and tried to pump his chest but… he was dead.
“Aaaahhh!!” A scream of terror made me jolt.
“Bom! RUN!” I heard a familiar voice and saw Chaerin running behind Bom and Minzy. Following them was the giant serpent I had seen earlier.
I took one last look at Changmin before dashing to the snake. “Yah! You big slimy worm!” I jumped and waved my hands in hopes of directing its attention to me.
Good news: it worked.
Bad news: it was now chasing me.
I spun fast and ran as quick as I could around. “Chaerin!!!” I screamed. “Go to our building! Tell Yerim and Seungwan to get your weapons!”
I didn’t even look around if she heard me.
I was galloping like a horse around the clearing, slashing goblins and vampires and aliens along the way.
“You wretched wench!” A goblin grabbed my ankle and pulled me, making me dive face first on the grass. I was well aware of the snake still chasing me.
“Let go!” I kicked its ugly face but its grip on me tightened. I slashed its hand with my katana and it writhed in pain before melting into a puddle of disgusting bubbly green mud.
“Hasssshhhhhhh!” The giant snake hissed directly above me, its wide mouth getting ready to eat until—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
There was a flash of white light and the snake fell sideways. Chaerin towered over the creature, panting, holding her signature guns. CL, she called them. Destructive pistols that use the user’s energy as bullets. It would hit anything, could even go through everything if Chaerin gave it enough energy.
“You okay?” she jumped down and helped me up.
I panted. “Just enough to kill more of them.” I looked around. “The others?”
She looked down. “Told them to stay in their rooms.”
I cracked a smile. “Did the same.”
Chaerin smirked at that. “Well, now that I’ve saved your weak , I’ll be off to save the day. Goodbye.”
She ran off, shooting down several monsters at once.
I laughed and continued off the slash down monsters, occasionally throwing my knives to moving targets that had distance.
My face was streaked with grime and blood already but the monsters just kept on coming. My arms were shaking from swinging my katana and throwing knives too much. My knees were wobbly from running and my chest was aching from fatigue.
I collapsed at the side of the girls’ house and took several gasps of breath.
“Gary!!!”
I weakly raised my head just in time to see Gary, the school’s Boy Scout teacher, get bitten by a massive black dog too large to be a werewolf. I stood up quickly, new energy coursing through my veins. I ran as fast as I could, trying to close the gap separating us.
“Gary!!!” His partner, Ji Hyo, the Girl Scout teacher, screamed.
The dog was shaking his snout, playing the teacher’s body like a ragged doll. I knew, when I saw how unresponsive Gary was, that everything was too late.
“Jihyo unnie! RUN! GET AWAY FROM THAT!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, unsheathing my katana and swinging it around wildly.
Another huge dog, this time it had silver fur, snatched up Jihyo’s head and chomped off. Her body fell on the ground.
I skidded to a halt. I had just witnessed three teachers get killed. And I couldn’t do anything.
“Taeyeon!” Kris shouted, waving at me.
I stared at the two giant dogs; they were playing with Gary’s body like a toy.
I raised my katana, fury clouding my vision.
Kris clinked his long sword with my katana. “Which one do you like to take on?”
“Silver. It killed Jihyo unnie.”
His face contorted in pain and sadness. “And the black one…?”
“That’s Gary oppa’s body they’re playing with,” I replied through gritted teeth.
Kris growled. “Let’s go.”
We both ran up to the beasts that were at least 30 times bigger than we were.
I stabbed its toe and it howled. Sheathing my sword, I grabbed my two remaining knives and used it to climb on its leg. Every time I stabbed it, the thing twitched and tried to wriggle me off. I was sticking to him like glue. The moment I finally climbed onto its back, I took out my katana and buried it deep into its body. It wailed and ran wildly. I held on to my katana and with it, I sliced up to its abdomen. It shuddered and I knew it was about to die. I swung myself, never forgetting to get my katana, and landed beside its neck. I climbed a bit more and grabbed its ear. I stabbed it again. The thing hissed and barked but I still never let go. I climbed again, and finally reaching the top of its head, I sank my katana hilt-deep into its skull. Its eyes rolled to the back of its head and fell down.
My eyes darted around to see Kris stab the black one with his long sword and jumping high to dive his sword into its head. The black one fell down as well.
We jumped down the same time.
“Killed it faster,” I sheathed my katana and he sheathed his sword.
“Fine,” he grumbled and we jogged around.
There were less monsters than before, but countless bodies of students were on the clearing.
I blinked back my tears.
“Daehyun!” Kris suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a group of big guys battling the two trolls. “And his gang!”
They circled the trolls and simultaneously attacked—Daehyun with his claymore, Youngjae with his scimitars, Bang with his shotgun, Himchan with his spear, Jongup with his axe, and Zelo with his scythe.
Since we were dead tired and we knew Daehyun and his gang were more than capable of incapacitating the trolls, we just ended up watching them.
After 20 minutes, the trolls finally burst into powder.
“Too weak to kill one, Yi Fan?” Daehyun approached us, his claymore on his shoulder, a smug smile on his face.
“We just finished killing those two giant dogs,” Kris pointed his thumb to the two corpses behind us that refused to disappear.
Daehyun’s smile disappeared. He glared at Kris before spinning on his heel and walking away.
I whistled. “That was tense.”
“Shut up.”
“Taeyeon noona! Kris hyung!” Jungkook Jeon and Taehyung Kim ran up to us. “Are you two okay?”
“Just had a small gash on my head,” I shrugged my shoulders, “nothing big.”
“Where’s the rest of the Bangtan?” Kris asked.
Jungkook flushed at the term. Bangtan Sonyeondan was the name of their group—Bulletproof Boys. Sure enough all their weapons were ranged ones. “Tending the wounded.”
“And you two are here because…?” I tilted my head.
“We’re the best fighters in the team,” Taehyung stepped up. “We want to help.”
“Okay. We pretty much cleared this part of the clearing but—watch out!” I pushed them out of the way just when a flaming alien soared past us.
“Jeez!” Taehyung cursed under his breath.
“Anyways,” I brushed off the grass on my knees, “we got this part of the clearing done. We have to move on to the other side.”
“Roger!” Jungkook and Taehyung saluted and went off, brandishing their long bows.
The hell was about to end and I couldn’t be happier. We just have to wipe out the remaining monsters and we’re done!
“Eeeek!” A man-eating pterodactyl flew over our heads, its talons raised threateningly.
“Mine,” Taecyeon Ok, a tall and buff tan guy, rushed past us, holding his knuckle duster knives tightly around his knuckles. He leaped on one of the tabled and caught the pterodactyl by the wing; he swung himself and brought down his blades on its neck.
“What’re you doing?” Kris spoke up when Taecyeon glided around.
Wait… was he… controlling that? I whooped. “Nice!”
Kris looked at me questioningly.
“Go to the girls’ building,” I ignored Kris. “Tell Seulgi to give you a crossbow. The girl’s got lots of it.”
“Gotcha,” he nodded at me before flying away.
“What was that?” Kris widened his eyes at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? Taecyeon managed to hit a couple of nerves. He knew what he was doing. Now he could control the pterodactyl.”
His mouth formed an o when he finally understood.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Wow.”
More screams echoed throughout the place. I swallowed sternly.
“Ready?” I cracked my knuckles.
Kris forced a smile. “As I’ll ever be.”
We tackled the gloomy night.
“Hey! You two! Hey! Here!” Professor Kibum and Ryeowook called out. They both held shovels.
“Hyungs,” Kris nodded.
“How are you holding up?” Ryeowook oppa scanned our bodies for injuries. He frowned when he saw my head.
Kibum oppa saw it as well. “We should get you to Seungri…”
I waved them off. “I’m okay. Seriously. We should focus more on killing the monsters and saving other people’s lives.”
They looked at their feet.
I tugged their arms. “Come on!”
We didn’t last long. Soon there was a group of walking reptiles that surrounded us. Kris and I leaned on each other’s shoulders, unsheathing our weapons and glaring at them in challenge. Kibum and Ryeowook oppa gripped their shovels tightly.
They were one of the teachers that had the least threat during times like this. Ryeowook oppa, a short (at least next to Kris’s towering height) baby faced guy in his near thirties, with a strong and beautiful voice. He was our Music teacher. Kibum oppa, who was just a tad bit taller than the former, had a kind and adorable smile that made students reach up and pinch his cheeks. Korean Literature was his subject – thanks to him, a boring class got active students for the first time.
One of the reptiles made a move forward and I slashed its leg off. The rest growled.
“No one moves,” I glowered at them, swishing my katana around. They backed away.
Then I heard a distinct sound of a river gushing, then Ryeowook’s cry, then a body slumping down. I spun quickly and saw Kibum oppa twitching on the ground, his face drenched in green acid that scalded his skin.
“T-the thing s-sp-spat o-on me but Kib—hic!—Kibum blocked it,” Ryeowook oppa was frantically dabbing his friend’s face.
Kibum oppa continued to shake violently, clutching his throat. I drew a breath. I began pumping his chest but after two minutes he stopped moving.
His face was completely unrecognizable now; steam rose from his face and on the parts of his clothes that had gotten wet from the acid.
“K-Kibum!” Ryeowook wailed.
The walking reptiles pounced on us all at the same time.
Feeling my blood roar in my ears, I stood and swung at all of them, my katana piercing through the bodies like water. Only dusts remained in our circle.
Ryeowook oppa continued to sob, and I helplessly fell on my knees.
I had failed again.
“Run!” A large blur ran around, his axe tucked under his elbows. A giant humanoid figure was chasing him, its pincers snapping horridly while its long limbs stretched itself.
“It’s Shindong!” Ryeowook wiped the tears off his young face and stared in disbelief.
True enough, I saw our Math teacher Shindong, a man who had a weird sense of style which mostly consisted of loud shirts, running around, stopping a few times to swing his axe that was almost as big as him.
“Taeyeon!” Kris shouted at me. He was already running towards the teacher.
I cursed and followed in pursuit. “Ryeowook oppa! Go and save yourself!” I looked back to see Ryeowook’s eyes shine with grim determination.
“Hurry up, Tae!” Kris groaned as one of the creature’s claws got caught with his long sword. I carried my katana in one hand and dashed swiftly. I sprang on its legs and slashed its tendons, sending it down to fall on its brittle knees.
We swung our sword at the same time. Dust exploded and I coughed.
“Kids!” Shindong pleaded, clawing the grass. He was being dragged by…. Nothing. His feet was just raised and he was being pulled to the forest.
“Sh*t!” We ran after him, feeling our lungs burning and our muscles protesting.
“Go! Go! Go!” HaHa oppa, our deception teacher, pointed at Kwangsoo oppa, our traps teacher.
I realized what they were saying and immediately sprinted. I was just a couple of feet away when the thing dragging Shindong oppa changed directions. It went straight to our traps teacher, who was anticipating.
Shindong oppa suddenly fell to a deep hole, his lower half dangling over the chasm. “H-help!”
HaHa oppa managed to grab Shindong’s forearm and began pulling him to the surface.
We were almost there when I, Kris, and Kwangsoo oppa tripped simultaneously.
“What the hell?!” Kwangsoo bellowed.
This was the second time I almost ate grass because of something grabbing my ankles. I looked down to see a dark mist, like a vague projection of a hand. I thought I saw skeletons flicker underneath the fog-like material.
“Try slashing through them!” Kris yelled, swinging his long sword violently.
I did the same. The hand—or whatever it was—just shook, my blade passing through.
We all suddenly lurched downwards, like we were being dragged. I desperately clawed through the ground, grabbing fistfuls of grass between my fingers. Then I felt my foot go back to normal. Only it was two feet deep underground.
“C-crap!” HaHa exclaimed, his face becoming purple.
They he and Shindong oppa disappeared down into the pit.
It took us five minutes to free our feet, and as soon as we stood up we all ran to the hole. There laid two skeletons, undoubtedly from the two teachers that had fallen.
The sky groaned and darkened. Large drops of rain came down like waterfalls. Lightning streaked the dark heavens.
If it was possible, it was like the sky was mourning with us.
“A… hundred students dead,” SM, a stern looking old man who could barely open his eyes, despondently announced. “Fourteen staff members had also met an unfortunate fate.”
The rest of us, though bandaged up, wore our most formal attires and were settling on the clearing. It had been two days after the mayhem, and we finally buried the bodies of those who had died.
“As soon as Kris Wu had alerted us of the pandemonium happening, we immediately sent GD, Tablo, T.O.P., YG and JYP down the dungeons to wrestle the creatures.”
The necklace hummed quietly at the base of my throat. I wore my one and only suit, standing next to Kris, who wore another one of his tuxedoes. He had an unreadable expression on his face.
“We would like to award a few of the students who, not only defeated the monsters that had invaded our school, but had saved many lives as well.”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
SM called several students up; I saw Chaerin, Taecyeon, Daehyun and his gang, Bangtan Sonyeondan, as well as Jinki Lee and Taemin Lee, alongside the other students that were too many to mention.
“Finally, we would like to give Kris Wu and Taeyeon Kim, who undoubtedly helped the most in this event, the Special Services award.”
I saw Seungwan and Sooyoung jumping and clapping at the back. I gave them a soft smile.
“Thank you for your help,” SM shook our hands.
“I don’t deserve this…” I shook my head.
SM sighed and patted my shoulder. “You, Taeyeon, are the most worthy student to ever receive this. You saved a lot of people.”
“I couldn’t save them…” I croaked.
“Taeyeon, look at me.” I lifted my head. “You are the most outstanding student that ever entered this school. You might not have saved them, but remember, you saved more people.”
A lone tear lined my cheek.
Author’s Note:
LeFabulousPugnny: TA-DAAAAAAAAAA. Y’ALL. I GIVE YOU GUYS JELLY BEANS. >< Pls get ready for Lu’s speech. Lmao. Wait I can't think of a chapter title I FORGOT TO ASK LU HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA. Stay strong guise >u< (btw yes its like Bad End Night by Vocaloid. ;^; it was the first thing I thought lol)
Lu-Yoon12: Yo! Were you surprised to have a long update? HAHA! I was also surprised when Pugnny sent me the file with 8,000 words. First of all, I’d like to tell all of you that WE ARE NOT BASHERS OF CL, DAEHYUN, YG OR ANY ARTISTS. We didn’t mean to give CL a b*tchy attitude, nor a jerk Daehyun; it’s just that the story called for it. [Actaully, CL is Pugnny’s bias in 2ne1 and Daehyun is my bias in BAP] Another thing, we hope that you didn’t get confused with the sudden mention of other artists. We thought that it’s better to just use other artists rather than to make up names of students and staff. And yeah, I should probably tell you that a lot more characters will be introduced in the future. Truth be told, we took out a pretty large part out of this update because deym gurl it’s too long now. But, no worries! I’m working on it and we would probably be able to show it to you in chapter 5, so please wait for it! Hugs and kisses!
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