Dongmin gazed over at Yoobin and Eunbi, who sat across from him. The three were at a fast food restaurant, eating their burgers for dinner as if nothing had happened.

After several students witnessed Jiho's fall, the school made an immediate announcement for all students to leave the school campus. All witnesses were supposed to gather at a classroom, but when Dongmin noticed that Eunbi and Yoobin were heading out of school, he decided to follow them. He tried to convince the girls to return to school, but Eunbi seemed more interested in playing innocent while Yoobin tried her best to ignore him. Eventually, the three ended up at a burger restaurant, eating their meal to satisfy their hunger.

Dongmin couldn't understand how Eunbi could eat so calmly. If anything, he felt sick in his stomach. He noticed that Yoobin took small sips of her drinks, obviously disturbed at what happened in school. When Eunbi reached for her drink, Dongmin swiped it away. An annoyed expression appeared on Eunbi's face.

"What?" Eunbi snapped.

"Okay, let's talk," Dongmin said. He pointed in the air. "What the hell happened back there?"

"A girl fell," Eunbi said casually. Dongmin couldn't believe the insincerity in her tone. "What more is there for us to talk about?"

"She fell?" Dongmin scoffed. "She did not just 'fall,' okay? She committed suicide—"

"We don't know that," she said quickly, cutting him off. "Could've been murder or an accident. We need to wait and see what the police investigated."

"Eunbi, I can't believe how calm you are," Dongmin cried out. "Jiho fell and died. She died. One minute, we were all playing a friendly game of Rock-Paper-Scissors—"

"Friendly?" Eunbi laughed. "That game was not friendly. You saw those back-stabbing es. If anything, Jiho deserved it."

"A life was taken away!" Dongmin exclaimed.

"She sighed a contract. She knew the consequences," Eunbi replied seriously. "That's her fault. You don't just sign random things and expect there to be no consequences."

"This was supposed to be a game—"

"I told you, this isn't just a game. It's a gamble," Eunbi snapped. "Why do you keep thinking that this is some five-year-old's toy?"

"We can't just sit here and pretend that we don't know anything! We've got to tell them about Timepiece and what it does—"

"No, no, no," Eunbi said. "We are not telling anyone outside of Timepiece about this. Timepiece will cover up their own crime. All that's left is for us to cover up ours, and that's by playing innocent." She raised up two fingers. "Don't forget about rule number two: Any reports given to a non-Timepeice user about Timepiece will result in an immediate loss of the user's Rights to Existence."

"I can't believe this," Dongmin muttered. "So that's what losing the Rights to Existence is? Death?"

"Not necessarily," Eunbi said, wiping the oil from her fingers with a napkin. "Could be anything, really. Death is just an easy option for them." She looked at his burger. "Also, hurry up and eat. Don't waste food."

Dongmin fell back in his seat, speechless. He took out his phone and stared at the Timepiece application. He groaned, then grabbed his burger and bit into it.

"This game is treating us as if we're toys," Dongmin whispered.

"We're not toys," Eunbi assured him. "At least, not yet."

Dongmin grimaced. He turned to Yoobin, who had been quiet this whole time.

"How long have you been playing?" Dongmin asked her.

Yoobin jumped in her seat, startled by his question. "H-Huh?"

"How long has it been since you were a Timepiece user?" he repeated.

"Oh…" Yoobin bit her bottom lip. "Well, it's been quite some time… Maybe a few months…"

"Months?" Eunbi said. "And you're at one Timetick?"

"T-Two now," the quiet girl stuttered.

"How many times have you screwed up to get down to one?"

"I-I don't know. A…lot…?" Yoobin said in a small voice.

"I'm impressed," Eunbi muttered. "Not in a good way, of course."

"You sound like you know everything," Dongmin remarked.

"That's because I'm a First-Time Returnee," Eunbi announced.

Yoobin widened her eyes. "Y-You're a First-Time Returnee?"

"Yep," Eunbi said, grinning proudly.

"Amazing… I've only met one First-Time Returnee in real life…"

"What's a 'Returnee?'" Dongmin asked.

"Returnees are basically people who already won Timepiece once and decided to come play again. Since this is technically my second time playing a whole round of Timepiece, I'm considered to be a First-Time Returnee."

"Then am I a First-Time Returnee if Timepiece calls us to play again?" Dongmin asked.

"No, idiot. I said that Returnees are people who won Timepiece, not just one round of game," Eunbi said. Dongmin scowled, disliking the tone in her voice. "In order to win Timepiece, you need to get 24 Timeticks. The amount you get and lose varies each game."

"So I'm stuck playing this game until I get a total of 24 points?" Dongmin repeated. Eunbi nodded. "But what about school? I have absolutely no idea what I learned in school. I missed the entire school day playing Rock-Paper-Scissors, which honestly felt like it took five minutes."

"Timepiece time and our time aren't the same. There's a lot of variations," Eunbi explained. "You can be playing a game that feels like months, but will only be a minute. Other times, you can play a game that feels like ten seconds, but you end up losing a week of your life. You've exchanged a moment of fun for a moment of your existence. You have no other options but to keep up with your studies on your own time."

"You're kidding me," Dongmin said, flabbergasted. "Eunbi, I'm not sure about how you did it, but I'm an honor student in high school. I'm the student body vice president and the class representative. I get top grades because I use every bit of my time for studying. If I lose even just a little time, I'm going to start slipping."

"Well, good luck," Eunbi said, not caring about his problems. Dongmin ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled, stressed.

Yoobin nervously glanced at Eunbi. "You know, for someone who's already been through Timepiece, you're being a little harsh to him…"

"The faster he faces reality, the better it'll be for him," Eunbi said. She finished her burger and took back her drink. "Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'm going to go home and review."

Dongmin frowned while Yoobin started to get up, too. A second later, all three received a text notification on their phone. Dongmin, scared, looked at his phone nervously. Eunbi smirked.

"Relax," Eunbi said. "If it's not that annoying clock jingle, then it's not Timepiece."

He looked a little bit at eased. He nodded and checked the message.

"Oh," he mumbled. "It looks like the school sent all their students the same message. They want us to come early for a special announcement."

"Probably about Jiho," Yoobin said.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Eunbi said. "Your aliases were 'Binnie' and 'Cha Eun Woo,' right?" The two nodded. "Okay, I'm sending a friend request."

The two soon received a friend request in their Timepiece application. They accepted, but Dongmin had some questions.

"What's the point of doing a friend request?" Dongmin inquired.

"It'll help in the future with team games or solo games," Eunbi explained. "We'll be spawned closer in games or will be in the same team. Trust me, being friends in Timepiece with people you trust is very useful. You only want to do this with people you really trust. Don't carelessly send out friend requests to strangers and don't accept from those who try to befriend you unless you know them very well."

"Got it," Dongmin said. He paused. "Can I get your numbers?"

"Su—"

"No," Eunbi said, interrupting Yoobin. Dongmin and Yoobin stared at her, waiting for an explanation. "There's no benefit in me befriending you guys in real life. Besides, people will find it suspicious if you two get along all of the sudden. It's best to act as strangers and only work as a team in Timepiece."

Dongmin tried to argue back. "But—"

"Later," Eunbi said, grabbing her bag. She picked up her tray and walked away, throwing away her trash and heading back home.

Dongmin sighed and turned to Yoobin, who awkwardly held onto her phone. She looked down and gasped.

"O-Oh. We didn't friend each other in Timepiece," Yoobin pointed out. "H-Hold up. Let me just quickly pull out—"

"Um, you know what? It's fine," Dongmin said. "I mean, I really just need Eunbi's. If someone finds out about this Timepiece application and sees that I'm friends with you, it's just going to be weird."

"Oh. Um, okay. Yeah. I guess," Yoobin said, feeling hot. Her cheeks flushed bright red as she avoided eye contact. "W-Well, I'll see you tomorrow…"

Dongmin silently nodded. He quickly left her side, leaving her alone to clean up both his and her tray. 

The next morning, the students returned to school. Many whispered and gossiped about the situation, starting rumors about what about to Jiho. The whole school was tense and heavy, filled with a gloomy atmosphere.

Eunbi sat in her seat, calmly reviewing notes that she borrowed from another student. As she copied down her classmate's notes, her eyes couldn't help but glance over at Binnie, who had her notebook out on her desk. For a moment, Eunbi assumed that Yoobin had already studied the night before, but she noticed something odd when the notebooks were quite far away from her. It was like she had it set on the corner for someone to take.

Let's not pay attention, Eunbi told herself. She cleared and copied the notes in silence.

After she was done copying, she got up and went to the original owner.

"Thanks for letting me copy your notes," Eunbi said, flashing a smile. "You have really nice notes!"

"If you want really nice ones, you should've just taken Yoobin's notebooks," her classmate said. "Her notes are amazing."

"Is that why she has it outside at the edge of her desk? So that people can just come and take it?" Eunbi asked.

"Ah, no. Not exactly…"

The door opened, revealing three girls from a different class. The room became awfully quiet. The girl with honey thighs and rich red hair walked over to Yoobin. She casually sat on her desk while the two other girls with brown hair—one with chocolate brown hair and the other with golden brown—surrounded Yoobin.

"Notes?" the redhead said, filing her nails.

"H-Here," Yoobin said, grabbing the stack of notebooks. She handed it to the girl with two hands.

Eunbi leaned closer to her classmate. "Who are they?"

"The girl who just took Yoobin's notes is Park Jisoo. She's like the queen of this campus. Rich family and has a lot of power over the school. The principal is her dad," the classmate whispered. "The girl sitting at your seat is Kim Minkyung. Really good at home economics class. The one who has her arm on Yoobin's shoulder is Seo Yuri. Her older sister works in a really fancy mall and provides her sister with free make-up, which she sells to the girls in the bathroom on the third floor."

Eunbi nodded her head until she heard the sound of notebooks ripping. She turned and noticed Yoobin's eyes wide as she stared at Jisoo tear up her notebooks. The pieces of paper scattered onto the floor.

"I told you to make it like my writing," Jisoo said tiredly. "Why don't you listen to me?"

"I-I did!" Yoobin exclaimed. She weakly stared at the notebooks. "I even spent all night working on it…"

"Oh, and look what we found in your bag," Jisoo said. She turned to Yuri, who nodded. Yuri snatched away Yoobin's bag. She tried to reach for it, but Minkyung pulled her bag forcefully. Yoobin stared weakly while Yuri pulled out an expensive branded nail polish. Jisoo gasped and covered with one hand. "You stole make-up from Yuri? Yoobin, I can't believe you'd do that."

"I-I didn't—"

"Do you have any idea what my dad is going to say about this? Stealing is not something that Shicho high school students would do," Jisoo said. "I mean, you keep stealing from Yuri and Minkyung. Did you really think that we wouldn't know that it was you?"

Yoobin helplessly stared at the nail polish. "But I didn't do it…"

"Once again, I'll set a deal with you," Jisoo said. "I'll keep secret about this nail-polish incident if you redo my homework. You have to finish by fourth period or else I'm telling my dad about this."

Eunbi couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was so clear that Yoobin was falsely accused of the act. She turned and looked at her classmates to do something, but when she saw Dongmin casually chatting with his group of friends to distract himself, she knew clearly that this was normal.

It was normal for people to see Yoobin be used over and over again by the three girls. It was normal for Yoobin to continuously suffer the girls' wrath. It was completely normal for people to pretend that they didn't see anything.

I can just join them, Eunbi thought. I can just pretend that I didn't see anything. I can…pretend…

Yoobin made eye contact Eunbi with a brief moment. She gave her the eyes that read "Help me" and "I didn't do it." There was just something about Yoobin's expression that made it look like she was used to it, but she was still seeking for aid.

Eunbi pressed her lips. She heaved out a sigh and went back to her seat. She stared at Minkyung for a long time until the three girls finally met her eyes.

"Um, can we help you?" Jisoo asked.

"This is my seat," Eunbi said monotonously. She pointed at where Minkyung was sitting. "I'd like to sit down now. My knees are hurting."

The three girls eyed at each other. Then, they coughed out a laugh before giggling. Minkyung moved while Jisoo jumped off from their desk.

"Wow, you sound like a grandma," Jisoo murmured, loud enough for Eunbi to hear, but subtle enough so that Eunbi could pretend that she didn't hear a thing.

"Yeah, well not all of us can have thunder thighs like you," Eunbi remarked.

The room became dead quiet. The three girls stared at Eunbi, completely shocked.

Yeah, now they listen, Eunbi thought, rolling her eyes at her classmates.

Jisoo leaned close and glared. "That's harassment right there. My friend, Yuri, just recorded that. My dad is the principal of this school. I can get you kicked out for harassment."

"Recording without my permission? Shouldn't I report that to the principal? I don't think that's perfectly legal," Eunbi fired back. She pointed to the floor. "Also, vandalizing another students' work? I have a video recording of that. Maybe you should send in my 'harassment' video and I'll send in this. That would be fair, right?"

The corner of Jisoo's lips twitched. "You're really asking for it, aren't you?"

"Please. I wouldn't be saying all these things in the first place if you guys weren't being a total ," Eunbi snapped. People around them gasped. She leaned in closer to Jisoo's face. "Now, what are you going to do?"

Jisoo was about to say something until Minkyung pulled her back. She made a face that told the leader of the small group to give it up for now. Jisoo took a deep breath through her nose and glanced at the clock.

"Looks like it's time to go back to class," Jisoo muttered. She turned back at Eunbi. "You haven't seen the last of me."

"Can't wait to see what you'll do next," Eunbi said sarcastically. The exchanged fake smiles before the girls left to head back to class.

Eunbi swiped the pieces of paper off her desk while Yoobin bent down to collect the papers. Yoobin threw away the litter while Eunbi just stared at her. When Yoobin returned to her seat, she remained quiet until she decided to speak up.

"Um, did you really record a video?" Yoobin asked.

"No, that was a lie," Eunbi said. Since Yoobin started the topic with a question, she decided to ask her a question as well. "You let them pick on you?"

Yoobin looked flustered. "I-I…N-No…W-Well…"

Eunbi raised her hand in the air. "Enough. I don't want to listen to whatever you have to say."

Yoobin nodded. The two girls remained silent while the class chattered endlessly. A second later, the whole class could hear a few students from the second floor shout and scream in excitement. Curious over what the students were going crazy about, Eunbi walked over to the windows, grabbing Yoobin's wrist subconsciously. Yoobin looked a little surprised, but followed silently.

"Hey, Jungkook! You're late again?"

"Jungkook! Did you get my message? I told you not to be late!"

"Ha! Jungkook's late!"

Two boys were standing at the school gates, holding their hands up while the teacher scolded them. The skinny boy smiled and waved to his classmates, but stopped when the teacher said something to him. Besides the boy was another guy with broad shoulders and white bandages wrapped around his fist. 

Eunbi couldn't help but notice the second boy's rough features and cold eyes. His face was decorated with bandages and bruises. It was as if he had gotten into a fight minutes before he came to school. For a brief moment, he looked up and locked eyes with Eunbi. She could feel chills running down her spine.

"Who're they?" Eunbi asked Yoobin.

Yoobin took a peek. "Oh. The one who was waving just a moment ago is Jeon Jungkook. He's in the classroom next to us and in the same class as Jisoo. He's really popular."

"Jisoo? The girl who screwed you over?"

"Yeah…"

"Hm." Eunbi looked at the other guy. "And him?"

"Kim Mingyu. He's also in Jungkook's and Jisoo's class. He's a delinquent. At least, the entire school considers him to be a delinquent."

"No kidding. Look at all those scars," Eunbi murmured.

"Late kids are punished and need to stay outside with their hands up. Usually they end up running a lap around the school, but since they're making a special announcement today, I think they're going to let the boys go back to class," Yoobin explained. As she predicted, the teachers waved their hands and pointed to the school. The boys nodded and got up from the floor, heading to their class.

The door to their classroom opened. Students rushed back to their seats when they saw the teacher enter the room. Yoobin and Eunbi quickly returned to their desks and took out their notebooks for their first lecture.

"Okay, guys. Listen up," the teacher said. He took a deep breath. "As most of you are aware, there had been a tragic incident at our school yesterday. There has been a death by suicide of one of our students, Kim Jiho. Kim Jiho had excused herself to use the restroom, but instead of heading to the bathroom, she walked up to the roof top. She managed to climb over the rooftop fencing and took her life, leaving behind a note that read, 'It's that person's fault.' The police are continuing their investigation to figure out who 'that person' is. We suspect that this could be murder because one of Jiho's eyes has gone missing. Although we are in hard times as of now, the staffs of this school urges you to come to us if you have any information as to who 'that person' could be. If you need to talk to anyone, our school encourages you to use the resources we have provided for you. Talk to your friends, your teachers—anyone you can trust…"

The teacher continued for a while, leaving the students to deal with the heavy atmosphere. Eunbi glanced at Dongmin, who seemed like he wanted to say a thing or two. However, when he looked behind at met eyes with Eunbi, he knew that he just had to seal his lips.

Eunbi closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the clock tick. She opened her eyes and glanced at Yoobin, who continued to tremble in her seat. She looked so broken and guilty, it was almost too pitiful for Eunbi to look. 

"Eunbi." The teacher's voice snapped Eunbi out of her thoughts. He fixed his glasses and looked at her. "I can't imagine how you must be feeling, especially since you just transferred."

"Ah, yes…" Eunbi murmured. I'm used to it.

"Anyway, if you're having a hard time…"

The teacher's voice faded. Eunbi, startled by her sudden deafness, carefully looked at the clock, listening for odd ticking sounds.

Just like yesterday, a sudden blare of clocks ringing and ticking echoed in her head. She looked at Yoobin and Dongmin, who jumped in their seats, shocked to hear the sudden noise. The sound got louder and faster, as if it was pulling her mind into the depths of insanity. She managed to see Yoobin and Dongmin hold their hands over their ears, trying to shut out the noise. However, Eunbi knew all-too-well that doing so was futile. She kept her eyes opened and gave into the diabolical noise as her surroundings glitch and blurred into black patches of emptiness.

She patiently waited until the school was replaced with total darkness. She stood up from her seat, which disappeared the moment she lifted her bottom from the chair. Her phone pinged a notification. The application alerted her of Yoobin's and Dongmin's presence. From the camera, a beam of light appeared, forming a portal. She looked at the portal for a few minutes and saw Dongmin enter, then Binnie. Without a moment of hesitation, she stepped through her own portal. It disappeared behind her, leaving the three close together. 

Soon, other players began to enter the empty area. As more entered, a stage rose up from the ground in front of them. The same clock-headed man stood at the center of the stage, his right hand over his chest as if he was being patriotic and proud. There was the same galaxy clock behind him, its hands going in whichever direction it desired. The rows of Timehosts with animal masks stood behind him, standing still while their hearts beat with excitement.

"So this is what being friends do?" Dongmin said. "It brings us together for the pre-game?"

"You call this the pre-game?" Eunbi scoffed. "How unoriginal."

"Well, what do you call it?"

"The Creation Hall," Eunbi said, "because it's where the games are created."

There was another notification on their phones.

< PLEASE ROLL YOUR DIE >

They did. They placed their index finger on the screen and flicked it upwards. Blue holograms of dice appeared and landed against the rippling barrier on the stage. 

< DICE HAVE BEEN ROLLED. CALCULATING… >
< 2 EVIL EYES HAVE BEEN ADDED. CALCULATING… >

"By the way," Dongmin said, "what's an 'Evil Eye?'"

"It's like a good luck charm," Eunbi said. "The more Evil Eyes you put for yourself, the more benefits you'll end up receiving throughout the game. However, this doesn't tell you how many people threw the evil eye. We just know that two exist. So the possibilities we have right now is that two people submitted one evil eye, or one person submitted both evil eyes. We don't know for sure."

"So does that make the game harder for others? How do you get it?" he asked.

"Not necessarily. It just means that the person who threw in the Evil Eye is more lucky, that's all. Evil Eyes are only received when the person you're against lost Timepiece. Again, it's not when you just lose a game. It's when you lose Timepiece, which means having zero Timeticks. Also, it's one Evil Eye per death, and if you're in a team, it's given randomly," Eunbi explained. She looked over at them. "One of you two have the Evil Eye. I don't."

"I have it," Yoobin said quietly.

"See?" Eunbi pointed out. "She has Jiho's eye."

"Wait, what?" Dongmin stared at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean she has Jiho's eye?"

"Don't you remember the teacher saying that one of Jiho's eyes was gone missing?" Eunbi reminded him. "Anyway, Timepiece thinks that it's funny."

"How is that funny?" he asked, completely flabbergasted.

"It's a play on word. An eye is lost. Eye lost. 'I lost' as in 'I lost the game in Timepiece.' Get it?" she said. Dongmin looked completely sick. "Don't worry. They only carve out the eye if the user is down to zero Timeticks—again, that means that they lost Timepiece—and if Timepiece doesn't have any use for them."

"This is sick," Dongmin muttered.

"Get used to it," Eunbi said bluntly.

< THE HOST HAS BEEN CHOSEN. CALCULATING… >

The spotlights pointed at a woman with a mask of a hyena. She used her arms to bathe in the glorious moment as people around her clapped and whistled. She made her way down the stairs and walked over to the center of the stage. She placed her face over the microphone.

"Thank you so much, Timepiece, for giving me this opportunity to play a game of my choice!" the hyena-masked lady said. "I hope you all enjoy the game I've prepared."

Everyone's phones echoed with a ding! They all looked down to stare at the game's information.

< THE CLOCK TURNS CLOCKWISE. TICKING… >
< THE CLOCK HAS STOPPED TICKING. REVEALING GAME INFORMATION… >
< GAME: APOCALYPSE >
< TEAM: OPTIONAL >
< ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: NONE >
< GAME WILL AUTO BEGIN IN 30 SECONDS >

Eunbi turned to Dongmin and Yoobin. "Guess we're not teaming up this time."

Dongmin stared at her with wide eyes. "Wait a minute, you can't just leave us!"

He instinctively grabbed her hand, surprising her. She was about to pry him off, but Yoobin held onto her other hand. Before anyone could do anything, a white light flashed in their eyes, blinding them and transporting them to the game.

When Dongmin opened his eyes, he immediately hitched his breath and was about to scream when he saw a beaten corpse lying in front of him. The scent of blood and rotting flesh covered the air, making it seem hazardous to breathe. He wanted to throw up and run out of…of wherever the hell he was.

He looked around and saw Yoobin and Eunbi already up. Eunbi looked pissed while Yoobin seemed absolutely terrified. He quietly walked over the two, who were peering through the window. 

"What's going on?" Dongmin whispered.

"Did you check your phone?" Eunbi snapped. Dongmin frowned, but took out his smart phone to see the rules:

1. ALL RULES ON THE CONTRACT APPLY TO THIS GAME. TIMEHOST RULES ARE SUBJECTED TO CHANGE IF THE SITUATION REQUIRES IT.
2. THE GOAL IS TO SURVIVE THIS ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE UNTIL A PORTAL APPEARS! YOU WILL BE INFORMED WHEN A PORTAL OPENS UP NEARBY. IF YOU MISS THE PORTAL, THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO CATCH THE NEXT ONE BEFORE YOU DIE!
3. ELIMINATION IS ALLOWED. ONCE YOU ARE ELIMINATED, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AS A LOSS.
4. A LOSS IS -1 TIMETICK. A WIN IS +2 TIMETICK. YOU HAVE A TOTAL OF 2 TIMETICKS.

"A zombie apocalypse?" Dongmin repeated. He pushed Yoobin aside to look. The living dead roamed in the streets, dragging their muscles to wherever they desired. They moaned and snarled, staring at nothing with hollow skeletal eyes. Dongmin shivered and paled while Yoobin wanted to cry. "Where are we?"

"In the middle of a zombie apocalypse," Eunbi replied. "Didn't you read the rules?"

"Okay, I know that, but, like, where are we? The location?" Dongmin repeated, tired of her sarcasm.

"Look around you. There's a bunch of clothes around us," Eunbi said. "If it still isn't clear, we're in an abandoned clothes store."

He looked around, then looked down at his own clothes. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in his school uniform. Instead, he was wearing a simple white t-shirt and a pair of standard black jeans. He look at Yoobin, who wore a white t-shirt stained with dried up blood and brown mud. Her pants were torn and ripped while the bottom of her gray canvas shoes were full of gunk. 

On the other hand, when he looked at Eunbi, she seemed well dressed for the zombie apocalypse. She was wearing a black tank top with a brown leather jacket covering her arms. She wore a pair of brown cargo pants and black boots. When he looked carefully, he noticed that her boots were designed to hold a knife at the side. He found himself staring at the gun fastened to her belt along with the fanny pack strapped to the other side of her hip.

She caught him staring and frowned.

"Don't think that I'm going to give you my gun," she said. "Find your own."

Flustered, Dongmin walked around the small clothes store, checking the men's section. He pulled out a brown canvas jacket in his size and tried it on. When he looked in the mirror and felt that it would help protect him from a zombie bite, he turned to Eunbi.

"Can we steal?" Dongmin asked.

"Well, this store is abandoned, so I don't see the problem with taking clothes to increase your survival," Eunbi said. She looked at Yoobin. "You better go and find something to change into. Your pants are going to rip and fall any time now."

Yoobin looked at her outfit, blushed in embarrassment, then nodded. She hurriedly walked over to the women's section to pick out her new outfit. 

"Is it standard for people to start a zombie apocalypse game with a white shirt and jeans?" Dongmin asked, looking around to see if he could wear anything else.

"That's standard for everything. If you remember the last game, we were also wearing a white shirt and jeans," Eunbi said, her eyes still glued to the window. "It looks like the zombies aren't interested in coming this way. I'd say we wait a little before we get out of here. They seem a bit on the slower side, so if we get the timing right, we should be able to outrun them."

"I see," Dongmin murmured. "By the way, why did you want to not team with us?"

"Teaming is optional."

"Yeah, but doesn't teaming increase our survival chances?"

"No, it doesn't. It just makes me more stressed over the entire situation because I need to keep two other people alive instead of myself," Eunbi said. She grumbled under her breath, but Dongmin pretended not to hear. Eunbi kept quiet until she squinted her eyes. "Is that…" Dongmin looked up while Eunbi's eyes slowly grew wide. "Oh no."

"What's going on?" Dongmin said, hurrying to her side. They both looked out the window, noticing two boys running in the streets. They desperately checked every door in the store, trying to see if it was locked or not. Moments later, four girls appeared, joining the boys on the quest to find an open store.

"They better not come in here," Eunbi muttered. She turned her head. "Binnie, where are you?"

"H-Here!" Yoobin said, coming out of the changing room at the corner. She came out with a clean black tee and a red plaid shirt. She wore a pair of comfortable skinny jeans, but still had her dirty canvas shoes. "W-What's going on?"

"Four girls and two boys are trying to find refuge," Eunbi said. "I think they're going to try to open our door."

She walked over to the door. She pulled out her handgun and loaded the weapon with bullets from her fanny packet.

Dongmin's eyes grew wide. "You're going to shoot them?"

"I'm not that heartless," Eunbi said, rolling her eyes. Raising both arms, she pointed the gun at the door, holding her fingers near the trigger, but not quite on it. "Someone stand near the door so that when I tell you to close it, you can close it tight."

Dongmin and Yoobin stared at each other. They both hesitated until Eunbi glared at them.

"Will one of you hurry?" she snapped. "They're going to come in any time soon!"

Eventually, Dongmin pushed Yoobin closer to the door. Yoobin, trembling, stood near the door, ready to swing it back close once it opened. Dongmin stood several steps away from the entrance, ready to jump out the window if the situation required it.

As they had expected, the group of six found themselves opening the door to the clothes store. Immediately, Eunbi recognized five out of the six people in the group: Mingyu, Jungkook, Jisoo, Minkyung, and Yuri.

Her eyes widened for a brief moment in surprised, but quickly narrowed when she noticed that a few zombies behind them were turning towards them. The six looked completely shocked to see Eunbi holding a gun. They stopped at the door, but couldn't stand quite still. They panicked at their spot, frequently looking back at the zombies and then at Eunbi's gun. Eunbi scowled and continued to point.

"Get the in here! Now! Hurry the up!" Eunbi yelled, cursing and throwing out demands. Without a moment of hesitation, the six started swarming into the store. Right behind them, two zombies approached the door. Eunbi pressed the trigger three times, missing once but successfully shooting the zombies through the skull for the next two shots. "Shut the door!"

Yoobin whimpered, but swung the door closed. However, the door stopped midway. Yoobin's eyes widened as she continued to try closing the door.

"I-It's jammed!" Yoobin reported.

"What?" Eunbi shook the door, and bitterly glared at it. "What the hell!"

The two girls pushed their entire body against the door, trying to close it. They kicked and threw their bodies at the door, but the door only closed centimeters by centimeters.

Eventually, Mingyu came over and helped push the door. With his strength, the three slowly managed to close most of the door. Right when they thought they were almost ready to shut the door, a zombie poked his head through the opening. It snarled and tried to bite Eunbi's ankle. The four other girls, who were hiding at the corner with Dongmin and Jungkook, screamed. The boys who weren't helping also hollered in fear and pointed at the intruding zombie.

"Hold this!" Eunbi commanded, handing Yoobin her gun. "Shoot if necessary!" She turned to Mingyu. "Keep pushing the damn door!"

"That's. What. I'm. ing. Doing!" Mingyu grunted. He threw his body at the door every time he uttered a word. 

Yoobin quickly stepped behind Eunbi and held the gun with her trembling hands, pointing at the zombie with her fingers on the trigger. Eunbi pulled out her combat knife from the side of her boot and threw it down at the zombie's skull. She dug the sharp edge of her weapon into the skull, using all her strength to penetrate through the tough bone and rotting flesh. As the first zombie fell down to the ground, dead, Eunbi tried to severe its head so that they could finally close the door. 

However, another zombie reached in and grabbed for Eunbi's arm, trying to pull her out of the store. She forcefully positioned her arm horizontally so that her arm would keep hitting the door instead of slipping through the crack. Out of fear, Yoobin pressed the trigger, nearly shooting Eunbi's arm. Instead, the bullet hit the wall, making everyone hiding in the corner scream. Eunbi gritted her teeth and pulled her arm closer to her chest. Finally, Eunbi let out a battle cry and chopped off the zombie's arm with her knife in one clean slice. She kicked the dead zombie outside. Before the second armless zombie could get in, Mingyu shut the door and blocked off the gathering zombies. They kept banging on the door, demanding to be let in.

"Hold still!" Eunbi told Mingyu. She pulled out a key from her fanny packet and pushed it into the lock. She fiddled around with the lock for roughly ten seconds before managing to twist the key and locked the door. She and Mingyu finally pulled away from the door, checking to see if the zombies were able to get in. The commercial entry doors only shook a bit, but it gave them a temporary haven from the zombies.

She sighed in relief, then turned at Yoobin. She snatched away her gun.

"I said to shoot if necessary," Eunbi said in a low tone.

"I-I-I—"

"You almost shot me!" Eunbi scolded. 

"I-I'm sorry. I-I—"

"Woah, hey. Calm down," Mingyu said, stepping up for Yoobin. "She's obviously terrified."

"She's terrified? I almost died!" Eunbi pointed out.

"Okay, I got it! You're mad! I get it! You have every right to be, but for now, let's all calm down," Mingyu said. "There's a lot of us in this room. We're all scared."

"Where did you get the key?" Dongmin asked Eunbi.

"I made a bump key," Eunbi said, putting away the key. "This isn't my first time seeing that kind of lock."

"Well, we definitely have some time before the door gives in and lets the zombies in," Jungkook said. He covered the windows and the clear door with the clothes scattered around the area. "In the mean while, why don't we settle down for a few minutes and introduce ourselves?"

Dongmin and Yoobin looked at Eunbi, who made a terrible sour expression.