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Calm down, everything's gonna be fine.
That's what Yujin told herself repeatedly in her head as she followed the footsteps of Sangwook, her shaky hands grasping onto an axe that seemed way too heavy for the petite girl with so much force that her knuckles were turning white.
Hyunsoo was trailing closely behind the girl with his makeshift spear that emits electricity, his close proximity somehow comforting Yujin.
With each step they took, Yujin became more and more unsettled, fearing that a certain red dress monster would make a surprise appearance in the next turn they take.
Despite it happening many many days ago, that terrifying monster she had encountered on the very first day of the apocalypse still gave her horrible nightmares.
Yujin studied Hyunsoo's facial expressions quietly, and noticed how pale and spaced out he looked. "Hey- you alright there?" she commented, making sure to keep her voice low so that she doesn't attract any unwanted monster-attention.
The boy didn't say anything, but simply nodded his head in response. His mind flashed back to the conversation he and Eunhyuk had back on the ground floor.
"Rescuing Han Dusik is the main goal, the kids are secondary. Focus on the main goal. If things go south, leave the kids."
Hyunsoo almost shivered in fear, he couldn't believe how cruel Eunhyuk was being. That was such a messed-up thing to say, even for someone like Eunhyuk. They were little kids, there was simply no way he could leave them behind to die, even under the worst circumstances.
He was going to rescue all of them, no matter what it takes.
As the trio made their way up flights and flights of stairs, Yujin was slowly getting out of breath. She tried her hardest to control each breath she took and keep quiet, hoping that her loud breathing would go unnoticed by the two men near her.
Yujin felt like it was almost embarrassing how unathletic she was, how she looked like she had just run a marathon even though it was only a few flights of stairs.
She silently blamed herself for not taking a run or hitting the gym more often before everything happened and chaos broke out. After all, being a bit more fit would definitely help a lot in a situation like this, wouldn't it?
When she glanced behind her, her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she saw Hyunsoo's pitch-black eyes. "H- Hyunsoo," she called out, as if calling his name would make things better, would somehow snap him out of his trance and make him normal again.
Hyunsoo ignored her voice and continued walking up the stairs eagerly, a twisted grin on his face. "Wh- what should we do about him?" she spoke as she called out to Sangwook and stared at him helplessly, desperate to find a way to help her friend.
The man remained unspoken, staring at the possessed boy in front of him before walking straight past him as if nothing happened. "Wait!" Yujin spoke again, but Hyunsoo was quick to interject, "I think... there's a monster here."
He used the spear in his hand and pointed it at the green double doors before him, "Let's kill it, we can kill it." Sangwook stopped in his track and turned around to look at the boy, narrowing his eyes into a sharp glare.
Hyunsoo suddenly reached for the doorknob and opened it, walking straight through the door yet stopped halfway when nobody was following him. He slowly craned his neck and stared at the older man with his intense gaze. "You're scared, aren't you?" He mocked, before walking out the door again.
All of a sudden, Sangwook lunged forward to grab Hyunsoo by his hoodie and yanked him back into the stairway with so much force. Hyunsoo stumbled back a few steps but his smile never faltered, until a hard punch landed right on his stomach, causing him to bend forward and groan in pain.
When Hyusoo looked up again, Yujin saw that his eyes had returned to normal and were no longer pitch black. Before she even had time to let out a sigh of relief, a fleshy and elongated hand reached from the doorway and grabbed onto Sangwook.
The two 18-year-olds barely had time to react before the monster was already dragging Sangwook away, into the blazing pits of fire that covered the entire floor.
"Sir!" Hyunsoo screamed with wide eyes, shrill terror washed over him as he stared at the disappearing figure of Sangwook. Without thinking twice, he dashed through the door and followed the path he saw the monster went.
Yujin hurriedly followed suit and ran behind him, the raging fire almost engulfing them both as they dashed through the scorching hot hallway. She sprinted as fast as possible, taking step after step further and deeper into the darkness.
She was breathless, yet she kept running, keeping her eyes on the faint figure of Sangwook's body and trying her best not to lose sight of him.
They were about to make a left turn when a dark shadow suddenly flashed in front of them, startling the two teenagers. Yujin frantically glanced around, attempting to find out what that shadow was when she made out a faint figure of a man kneeling in the distance.
She squinted her eyes to get a better look and saw what looked a like bulky man with the strongest, most muscular pair of legs she had ever seen in her 18 years of existence. It was like nothing she had seen before. The left of his chest was glowing red, as if his beating heart had turned into a red light instead.
The monster sprinted towards them both with the speed of lightning, moving so fast that they could barely even see him. The monster ran right past Yujin, his shoulder slamming into Yujin with so much force that she almost went flying across the room.
"Yujin!" The boy who witnessed everything yelled out before running straight towards Yujin's collapsed body in the corner. She laid limp on the floor, her shaky hand gripping onto her right shoulders. Excruciating pain shot through her entire body while she let out whimpers of pain.
Hyunsoo kneeled down next to her, worry displaying in his eyes and mumbled, "It's okay... you're okay," his voice barely above a whisper.
"God dammit!" Yujin cursed out loud, her hands staying on her throbbing shoulders while she slowly attempted to sit up. "Are you okay?" he asked again, which Yujin responded with, "Yeah, it just really fucking hurts."
Hyunsoo reached out his hand to the girl on the ground before she grabbed it and slowly stood up. "Come on, let's find Sangwook," Hyunsoo spoke up, earning a nod from Yujin.
"Are you trying to burn the whole building down, sir?" "We can put out the fire later. You're so harsh!"
The sound of a woman and a man having a conversation caught the attention of the two 18-year-olds. "Are there more survivors?" Yujin asked quietly before the two simultaneously sped up and walked towards the voices.
Through the hazy smoke of the fire, there was a faint shadow of a man and a woman in the corridor. "Who's there?" The man in the distance inquired while the lady beside her looked like she was holding up a weapon.
As Yujin and Hyunsoo moved closer, they finally saw the clear images of one another. The pair who had their faces covered with bandanas stared at the two of them in shock, their eyes wide open before the lady slowly lowered her crossbow.
"Who are you two?"
/author's note/
i hope u enjoyed this chapter, please feel free to let me know what u think!
