FOUR.

—

It was the end of the world, and of course, things would only get worse.

—

There was a ing dead silence.

Won Woo and the girl looked at each other again, communicating the relief through their expressions. A small, nervous smile managed to grow on her face. But it only lasted for a fleeting moment. The eerie sound of the doorknob suddenly rotating tore down whatever positive feeling that was forming in their hearts in an instant.

Won Woo’s mouth grew dry, and he looked in the direction of the door unconsciously holding his breath when it was pushed open and quickly closed again.

“Daejang… I… I can’t do this anymore…”

“Sunbae. Lower your voice, please. You’re going to kill us all here if you keep whining.”

“So—sorry… I’m sorry… I’ve always been such a coward, haven’t I?”

“It’s okay to be a coward. Especially if that can save your life. But listen, now, try not to make any sound that can attract them. Okay?”

“Okay. Okay! I’ll follow whatever you say from now on, Daejang.”

“Could you please stop calling me like that?”

“What can I do? It’s something automatic. I’m used to it. Back then, you always threatened me to call you Daejang. Even until now, I still remember that. Every time I see you, that’s the first thing that pops up in my mind.”

A long sigh was then heard, echoing faintly across the room.

Conscience-stricken, she fell silent for a moment looking down at his bleeding right hand, then said, “It’s alright to call me by my name now. Or whatever you would like to call me.”

“Then could you also not call me Sunbae?” he begged. “That’s kinda… cringey.”

“But you’re technically my Sunbae now.”

“Please.”

Still calm, she pulled off her tie and wrapped it around his injured hand to stop the bleeding. When she looked up at him again, she smirked slightly and shook her head. “I can’t understand you.”

“Thank you, Daejang. For saving my life.”

“Boo Seung Kwan.” Her soft expression suddenly shifted to a more serious one, her intimidating stare making his hair curl. “Stop thanking me. I don’t like it.”

The young man gulped nervously, then nodded. “G—Got it!” he stammered.

She was only teasing him a little, and it was actually amusing to know that Seung Kwan still feared her. A small smile appeared on her face as she looked away. But then remorse swept over her, putting an end to the rare amiable smile, and she knew she had to resolve the things that had long been gnawing at her heart once she found the right time.

“Jin Joo.”

She immediately responded to the low, deep voice that approached her. “Won Woo sunbae,” she whispered. When she faced the older man, her countenance changed its expression to one of worry. “Are you alright? Sorry, I am—”

“You kept me waiting here,” Won Woo cut her off before she could give any explanation, his reprimanding tone making her drop her gaze with an obvious look of guilt. “Why didn’t you show up after me? Where the heck have you disappeared to?”

Little did Jin Joo know that Won Woo was actually worried sick about her being and whereabouts, so much more than his own.

Unfortunately, all the endless tension, moments of uncertainties, and fear had churned his guts and corrupted his capability to express that properly, making him fail to hide the explosion within him. So he couldn’t control the frustration that made him sound like he was criticizing her, and when he realized that, it was too late already.

Jin Joo had picked up his serious tone of voice in the wrong way and misunderstood him completely. She fell silent, trying to sort out her emotions and find the right words to say.

“Won Woo sunbae.” Seung Kwan, while keeping his throaty voice low, interrupted. With a sharp incredulity, he stared at the older man whose condition didn’t seem any better than his, as if ready to literally jump down his throat if he continued to make things difficult for her. “Thank God, you’re alive. Did Daejang also save your life and bring you here? Do you know what was happening out there while you’re hiding here?”

Surprised, Jin Joo lifted her gaze from the floor back to Seung Kwan as she sensed the sulky mood and confrontation that he openly aimed at the senior.

“Daejang fought those creatures on her own to save us.” Seung Kwan’s particular tone of disapproval at Won Woo was like a jab. Even though it wasn’t directed at her, she felt uneasy after hearing it. “She could have just run and left us behind, but she didn’t. She turned back and took us with her…” His voice quivered at the end of the statement, his eyes glistening with sadness. And anger. “Jae Hyun and Woo Young didn’t make it though… and if it wasn’t because of Daejang, I’d have been dead by now… and become one of those monsters drooling over your flesh and trying to eat you all.”

Jin Joo landed her hand on Seung Kwan’s shoulder, shaking him lightly to signal him to chill. Then she looked back at Won Woo, telling him the truth. “Another group of zombies suddenly appeared after you jumped in, and they saw me. If I followed you right away, I would put you in danger.”

Won Woo sighed, turning his eyes away. He felt like an ungrateful bastard now, and he didn’t know how to express the apologetic feelings that were bottled up inside.

“I had to find a different route to get here, but it took longer than I expected with the dead being everywhere and giving me a hard time,” Jin Joo continued despite him avoiding eye contact. “Then I bumped into Seung Kwan and his friends…” she made an abrupt pause, the steadiness of her voice falling drastically at the last parts as she shifted her gaze to the young man in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she said to the only survivor of the group, looking at him with excruciating regret. “It was... my fault.”

Seung Kwan’s eyes widened immediately at her final, unexpected conclusion. He wished he misheard it, but then he saw deep pain reflected in her light brown eyes. And that made his heart sink.

“In the end… I killed your friends.” Jin Joo grimly recalled how they both could finally manage to escape. “I’m really sorry.”

“No! They weren’t Jae Hyun and Woo Young. You didn’t kill them!” Seung Kwan replied instantly and looked at her with intense disapproval, shaking his head furiously. “Daejang, what’s happening now is nobody’s fault. In fact, nobody even in’ knows what’s actually happening and how these dead people can come back to life and try to kill the living ones!”

The moment Seung Kwan’s tone rose higher with powerful emotions, an immediate wave of panic surged through Jin Joo and she kept throwing glances at the door where red crimson blood smeared on the glass panel. He seemed to have forgotten in what situation they were, and that was understandable. However, the way he honestly cried in anxiety, exasperation, and pain could lead them straight to a fatal predicament, although he might not mean it. So she had no choice but to clamp her hand over his mouth, forcing him to swallow back the fiery words on his tongue.

“I got it, I got it,” she whispered frantically, taking a quick look at the door again. “We’ll talk about this later, okay? Please calm yourself down. Please.”

Seung Kwan suddenly pulled her hand down and hissed, “Later, don’t tell me such nonsense!” And that flabbergasted her. He kept his voice low but was still obviously displeased. “Daejang, if we somehow manage to survive this , I don’t want to see you come to me one day only to blame yourself.”

Jin Joo could only gaze back at the brown-haired guy wordlessly, but the confusion in her eyes was clear enough to let him know that she was unable to promise him anything.

“Also,” Seung Kwan said with mild seriousness and slightly pouting lips, shooting Won Woo a reproachful look. “Aren’t you owing someone an apology here?”

The kinda neglected senior had only been watching them and listening to their crosstalk in silence, trying not to look too curious as he sensed an intimacy that shimmered between them. The kind of intimacy that only pulsed between people who had known each other for a long time. So when the younger guy pricked him deliberately with such an accusatory question, he wasn’t ready to answer it. Instead, he frowned, and it made the whole expression on his face look condescending.

“Won Woo sunbae,” Jin Joo in immediately, feeling alarmed by the way they stared at each other. “I found this,” she said, distracting him from the disquieting awkwardness. “I believe this is yours.” She reached into the pocket of her skirt to pull something out. Next, a smartphone was on her open palm, offered to him.

The device was obviously in pretty bad condition, and the cracked screen seemed beyond repair, smeared with dried blood prints. But Won Woo knew immediately that it belonged to him. There was a tiny pink heart-shaped sticker on the top left corner, coupled with another heart-shaped sticker in blue. His most favorite color.

It was Bon Hwa who put the stickers on his phone. To remind him every time that she would always be there for him. That she loved him no matter what happened. Yeah, no matter what happened—how ing ironic. Finally, it took an apocalyptic disaster for him to realize that every little thing he used to cherish very dearly was fake. And now, the longer he looked at his phone, the colder his heart became.

“Won Woo sunbae,” Jin Joo called him worriedly.

The air surrounding the dark-haired man changed fast, filled with unresolved anger, weariness, and disenchantment. And in that moment of confusion, she was asking herself if she had made a mistake by returning the phone to him.

“It’s still working. It vibrated several times a while ago,” she assured him. “Kim Min Gyu sunbaenim was calling you.”

Won Woo’s expression again changed quickly from cold indifference to surprise at the unexpected mention of that name. Then sincere concern. “Min Gyu?”

Jin Joo nodded without a second thought.

“Min Gyu hyung?” Seung Kwan chipped in. He also looked surprised, and then his dark doe eyes glimmered with relief and hopefulness. “Call him back! He may be still alive somewhere!” he told the older guy. “Won Woo sunbae, call him back!”

Won Woo didn’t need to be told twice because he immediately took the phone and tapped its cracked screen. He slid the unlock bar and entered the password. The wallpaper was a picture of him and Bon Hwa cuddling close and smiling happily. It had never been changed for half a year already because he—no, the old, love-blinded him—loved seeing it.

Now he couldn’t care less. His thumb looked busy moving carefully on the phone’s screen to contact the person topping the row of the newest missed calls, but next, he was disappointed when all he heard was a long silence of disconnection.

“No signal?” Won Woo sighed agitatedly after checking the signal bars. “Even the internet is down.”

“No way…” Seung Kwan muttered. Sadness knitted his brow.

“Jin Joo.” The dark-haired man turned his eyes on her again. “Was this phone with you when Min Gyu was calling? Did you manage to answer him?”

Jin Joo stopped blinking and suddenly went rigid without words, surprising the two young men near her. Won Woo just simply asked, but he didn’t know that his question would make her look like a deer caught in the headlights. When her eyes finally blinked again, she shifted her gaze down to her blood-stained hands, and the newly settled gloom over her face was dense with heavy regret.

“I was about to pick up his call…” she said weakly. “But then I remembered how much he hates me.”

There was a moment of silence. The girl still couldn’t look them in the eye. She seemed to be in so much pain—not because of physical injuries but from immense fear and guilt.

Seung Kwan touched her arm, apprehension sweeping over him. “Daejang?”

“Min Gyu sunbaenim…” She gulped hard, unable to continue for a moment. “I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him. I’m—” Then as if struck with a sudden realization, she lifted her face to look at them in shock. “Oh, god… did he call…” Tears started to sting her eyes. “Min Gyu sunbaenim could be in danger, right? And… and I—”

“He’s safe,” Won Woo cut her off. “He managed to send some messages.”

Now both Seung Kwan and Jin Joo were silenced.

“Min Gyu and some others are now safe,” Won Woo repeated with a firm voice, inwardly hoping that the news could help her calm down. And he thought it worked. “They escaped to the rooftop at Section C4.”

“Section C4?” Seung Kwan shot her a hopeful look. “Daejang, isn’t that the place you mentioned before? The safest place to hide for now?”

Jin Joo nodded. Mixed feelings made her tremble, but this time a new surge of positive energy fueled her. “That’s where we’re heading to,” she said hastily. “I think I know where we are now and how to get there from here.”

Seung Kwan was filled with great relief and suddenly couldn’t control himself. He hugged Jin Joo feeling thankful as a single tear rolled down his cheek. “Daejang, let’s go find them now, shall we?”

Jin Joo didn’t immediately reply. She looked at Won Woo and then glanced at his ankle. “Won Woo sunbae, are you—”

“Let’s go.” Again, the dark-haired man stopped her abruptly. “And there won’t be only three of us.” Then he turned back slowly, revealing another thing that surprised both of his clueless juniors. He motioned them to look at the darkest corner of the room with his index finger, and soon audible gasps were heard as they noticed another human presence beside them.

Seung Kwan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Won Woo sunbae, is that—”

Suddenly, a loud painful thud echoed across the room, putting an end to whatever was about to be said. They froze in perplexity, eyes locked in unison at the unknown girl who had made no sound at all until that moment. But there was something amiss. Something foreboding in the way she writhed uncontrollably on the floor. And just in seconds, their relief faded away as they began to feel some alarm at the girl's strange behavior.

Out of pure instinct, they gathered close to the door, keeping their distance from her although it didn’t seem like the best solution.

“What…” Seung Kwan whispered behind Jin Joo, his shaken voice muffled by the hand he pressed over his mouth. “What’s happening to her?”

Neither Won Woo nor Jin Joo answered him. In fact, the answer was not necessary. The sudden change of atmosphere chilled them to the bone. Normal human cries slowly turned into gagged sounds, and the gagged sounds gradually became incomprehensible groans.

Won Woo braced himself for the worst, but he still couldn’t believe what he saw because the unknown girl looked alright before although she was terrified. But now, she was there lying on the floor making suspicious movements. As if an immense pain literally flooded her entire body.

Much to their surprise, she then suddenly stopped moving. Completely.

Silence fell.

A creepy silence. And it was suffocating them.

After a moment, the silence was finally broken by an inhuman growl. They had the same nightmare and it came true right before their eyes. The unknown girl had risen to her feet like a marionette forcefully pulled by unseen strings, jerked her head to the left, turned, and then stared at them with dead, menacing eyes. What used to be a human was now a living corpse.

“!” Seung Kwan shrieked hysterically. “She’s been infected!”

Won Woo and Jin Joo glanced at each other for a fleeting moment. Before she moved, the dark-haired young man then stepped forward and seized the closest chair to him purely out of a survival instinct to defend and attack. But at that very moment, he learned that a newly transformed zombie was extremely deadly. Extremely fast.

When Jin Joo finally got back to her senses, she was almost a few milliseconds too late. She literally threw her body between Won Woo and the dead, mustering all the remaining of her strength to push it away from the two men. She fell hard and hit her head on the floor. Blood was leaking down her temple but she miraculously managed to stay conscious, now wrestling with the raging zombie with all her life.

“Daejang!” Seung Kwan, despite being scared to death, rose from his position and attempted to help her.

The zombie turned its horrifying glare to the approaching Seung Kwan, and Jin Joo knew immediately that it was a very bad sign. She straddled the zombie pinning it down as strongly as she could, took off her tattered cardigan, and then shoved it into the zombie’s mouth to prevent it from biting and making any sound that could make them get into more serious trouble.

Driven by Jin Joo’s nonsensical courage, Seung Kwan and Won Woo without a second thought involved themselves in the very dangerous retaliation. She gave them a whispered hint and they did what she said immediately. Right after they successfully flipped the monstrous creature over and made it lie on its stomach, she hopped onto its body again while the two men pressed its limbs down against the floor.

“I am sorry, Shin Na Yeon-ssi,” Jin Joo said to the corpse, recalling the name she saw a moment ago on the name tag attached to its uniform. “May you rest in peace.”

Won Woo and Seung Kwan heard the poignant ache in Jin Joo’s voice, but there was no turning back for either them or Shin Na Yeon.

Unwaveringly, Jin Joo then grabbed the furious corpse’s hair. And the next thing the two young men saw was barbaric, sickening, filled with dark red blood that splattered here and there. But that was their only option. To live, they had to kill.

Won Woo and Seung Kwan, again, learned a new thing. That, despite them being incredibly ferocious and strong, zombies had a weakness. Jin Joo was repeatedly slamming its head down onto the floor, showing no mercy. And after several exhausting attempts, its skull was cracked open like a watermelon that fell to the ground and burst into bits and pieces. The danger in front of them was now gone.

Panting heavily, Jin Joo pulled herself away from the motionless, lifeless body. Her brown eyes then turned vacant as she dropped her gaze and stared at the pool of blood.

Won Woo was watching her closely, restlessly, but still, he couldn’t read her thoughts. It was as if half of her soul was into another dimension and something else filled the void.

“Daejang! That was insanely cool!” Seung Kwan was still trembling from fear and nausea, but his eyes sparkled with proud excitement when he drew nearer to her and landed a hand on her shoulder. “Teach me how to fight like that!”

Jin Joo remained quiet.

“With you around,” Seung Kwan continued with a smile, trying to lighten up the somber mood, “I’m not scared of anything anymore. Not even zombies.”

Won Woo silently hoped she made a reaction, but she almost looked like a worn-out doll. Soundless, limp, and disconnected.

“Let’s take a break for a while and then go to Section C4!” Seung Kwan said to both of them. “Yes, we can do this! We can get there unharmed!”

“Boo Seung Kwan.”

The brown-haired man felt suddenly elated when he heard her say his name. With a hopeful smile on his face, he looked at her like an innocent little boy who was ready to listen to his most favorite story.

Jin Joo smiled back at him, but the expression on her face was one of profound grief that pierced through his heart. “Sorry,” she muttered.

And that was the last thing she said before she went completely silent again.

A sudden realization dawned on them like a gust of wind that blew through the darkness and put out the only candlelight. The blood covering her hands was not only dark purplish red. It was also mixed with fresh crimson. Her blood.

Jin Joo was bitten.