Yooeun held Mina’s hand tightly and ran out of the parking lot. Ah-Hyun and Jungkook followed close by, following the two in front and the rest of the crowd toward the nearest subway entrance. The night air their ears as they sprinted, jamming themselves in the crowd that was squeezing in the bottleneck of the narrow staircase. 

Jungkook reached out and grabbed Mina’s hand, keeping the group together in the middle of the jostling crowd. They boarded the nearest subway car, and the four became squashed together as the frightened public shoved their way into the small space. Ah-Hyun, who was taller than Mina, raised her hand and grabbed a pole to make more space for herself as she was pressed into her. 

Sweating and panting on each other, the four stood in uncomfortable silence and the subway began to speed off toward Hongdae with a loud rumble. 

“Mina, Ah-Hyun, are you guys okay?” Jungkook asked. 

“I’m fine,” Ah-Hyun said, surprised that he knew the girl that collided into her in the store. 

The car began to come to a slow halt in the middle of the journey. Murmurs spread throughout the space, although everyone stood still. Yooeun looked around, peering through the window to see if something was blocking the train.

The conductor of the train made an announcement through the speakers. “Attention everyone, attention: we have been ordered to stop. There has been no further instruction at this point. Everyone must remain where they are.” The murmurs grew louder.

Mina adjusted her stance awkwardly to give herself more room to breathe, but she was so tightly compacted between Ah-Hyun and the people behind her. She tilted her head up, trying to catch her breath as the air became more damp in the packed car. In the midst of the torsos and arms around her, she caught a glimpse of Ah-Hyun tugging on Jungkook’s arm to nudge him in the small amount of space beside her. Even here, she felt a little unpleasant tug in her heart. 

They heard a scream in the subway car attached to theirs. Even through the double doors that separated them from the other car, the scream was unmistakable. The other car was packed, but they could see that the people in it had retreated to form a space around someone. A man lay on the ground, clutching his forearm and staring at a gash that spanned his entire arm. His blood was foaming. 

They could hear the dull thuds and grating as the man writhed and contorted his body. Mina thought it sounded like a seizure. Then the other screams came. One was another man’s, followed by a child’s and a woman’s. In the heated confusion, everyone around them began to press into the four of them, dragging Ah-Hyun until she lost grip of the pole and driving Mina into the two men behind her. 

Jungkook could barely even breathe now, with Ah-Hyun’s elbow hopelessly wedged into his diaphragm. The screams next door multiplied, and the crush became even more dangerous. Closest to the window, Jungkook wound his arm back with the little room he could make by leaning away, and shattered the window next to him. Taking off his shirt and wrapping it around his arm, he chipped away the remaining shards and slinked out the window and onto the concrete byway of the train. “Ah-Hyun, Mina! Get out!” he said as he extended his arm. They climbed out, as did Yooeun, and pushed by the hoards of people who followed, suit, they traversed the sideway and ran toward the nearest lighted exit.

***

They ran out from Yonsei station, and the four gathered together in the crowded square under a bright streetlight. Jungkook examined his arm, which was now bleeding heavily and pulsing painfully after being sliced by a piece of glass. “The hospital,” Yooeun said, panting. “You need to go to the hospital right now.” His blood sounded creamy and hot as it splatted onto the sidewalk. People stared. 

Ah-Hyun hailed the nearest taxi, and the four of them piled into the car as Mina sat up front and apologized profusely to the driver who was furious of the mess forming in the back seat. 

As they walked into the hospital, a woman dressed in scrubs yelled at them with large gestures. “No! Get out! Get out!” She said. “I didn’t lock that door, get out! We’ve been told by the Health Institute to turn away everyone! Leave right now or you will have committed a federal crime!” 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ah-Hyun said as she stood in front of her, stance wide and shoulders square. “He’s about to pass out!” 

“You need to be completely honest with me. How did he get hurt?” The woman said. 

“He got cut by some glass during an emergency!”

“He didn’t get bit by anyone?” 

“No!” Ah-Hyun said.

“Did he come into contact with anyone ill?” 

“No! Please treat him!” She said indignantly. 

“Fine, everyone waits here,” she said as she locked the door of the hospital and pulled down iron bars to cover it. “You— come with me.” Jungkook followed her past swinging doors, disappearing into the building.