It was at that moment that Kim Jae-yun’s rapid stream of words began to slow.
Jae-yun stared off into the air for a moment, as if his thoughts had briefly stalled, then glanced sideways to check Do-hyun’s reaction.
And what fanned the spark of suspicion that had just flared in his mind was none other than the reaction he witnessed in Do-hyun.
Do-hyun had been busy picking up anything that could serve as a weapon while Jae-yun was talking — but the moment the question landed, there was a distinct, barely-there hesitation in the way he stopped mid-bend. More than that, what gave it away was the way his gaze didn’t snap back in immediate irritation, but instead lingered in the air for just a beat too long.
“…….”
Jae-yun opened his mouth to say something in that brief, strange silence. But it was Do-hyun who came back to himself first. He picked up what he’d been reaching for, straightened up, and answered in a low voice.
“No.”
“…No what?”
“Just — no.”
“So what exactly is ‘just no’?”
But Jae-yun’s follow-up was relentless, pressing from every angle. Do-hyun, finally running out of patience, turned to face him fully and answered with deliberate thoroughness.
“Everything you’re suspecting right now — all of it is wrong. I don’t have feelings for Han Jae-i. We’ve been attached at the hip since elementary school, so obviously we’re closer than you lot — that’s just how it is. And right now, the reason I want to go after him is because he made a stupid choice thinking he was saving me. That’s it. That’s all.”
“Then why did you look so thrown off just now?”
“Because what you’re saying is completely absurd.”
And with that, Do-hyun went back to focusing entirely on finding weapons. While he searched, he kept as much distance from Jae-yun as possible and didn’t spare him so much as a single glance.
This guy is funnier than I expected. Jae-yun stood with his arms crossed, watching Do-hyun from a distance, and after a moment’s deliberation, he drifted casually back toward him and dropped something into the air like he was talking to himself.
“Our Jae-i is pretty, though….”
“…….”
“Best-looking person in this school, boys and girls combined, I’d say? He just sits quietly and studies all day, so people don’t really notice, but he’s actually kind of got an idol face. Oh — didn’t someone say he got street cast somewhere, not too long ago?”
But Do-hyun, unmoved by Jae-yun’s shameless tactics, kept working without a single word in response.
Jae-yun found himself genuinely entertained by this unfamiliar side of Do-hyun. More fun to tease than I thought.
He studied the expression Do-hyun was wearing — restless underneath, but clearly trying not to engage — and then landed what he decided would be his final blow.
“Do-hyun. What are friends for, right. This hyung… has absolutely zero prejudice against — you know, being gay, any of that. When you and Jae-i finally work things out someday, I’ll genuinely bless— ow!”
Do-hyun finally snapped at Jae-yun for pushing too far and threw an arm around his neck, yanking him into a headlock. Under the merciless pressure crushing down on him, Jae-yun threw both hands up and cried surrender.
I give, I give — I won’t tease you anymore! The genuine, frantic plea echoed through the empty archery range before Do-hyun finally loosened the arm he had locked around Jae-yun’s neck. I told you to stop talking nonsense. He added that single line as he let go.
Jae-yun rubbed at his newly freed neck and looked at Do-hyun’s expression again. Was that too much.
He was thinking that as he looked at Do-hyun’s profile — and somehow, the face that had been flat and expressionless all day long looked noticeably more relaxed than before. The faint upturn at one corner of his mouth wasn’t the look of someone angry — if anything, it was someone who had found a strange kind of comfort in what had just been said, absurd as it was.
And maybe, Jae-yun thought, Do-hyun had wanted to hear exactly this more than any other kind of comfort.
That Han Jae-i wasn’t dead yet. That there was still every chance he could come back. That in the not-too-distant future, they would surely be together again.
Because talking about the future like it was nothing — rather than assuming death in advance — was so much more hopeful.
Jae-yun let out a short breath through his nose at Do-hyun’s visibly lighter expression, and turned to help gather weapons.
But that peace didn’t last long.
Thud —
A loud sound came from outside the archery range.
A crash from the floor below — something he’d briefly forgotten about.
* * *
What was I… doing?
When I suddenly came back to myself, I was standing in the middle of a downpour.
The pale white mist rising from the rain had already crept up to my calves, and the rain was coming down so hard I could barely make out what was right in front of me.
I looked around in a daze, then felt something off in my hand and raised my arm. There it was — a grey rat, hanging completely limp, as if it had already lost consciousness.
Oh—!
I startled badly and flung my hand open. The soaked rat tumbled straight to the ground. I instinctively stepped back and put distance between myself and where it had fallen.
Why was I holding a rat? The situation made no sense whatsoever, and I stood there dazed and disoriented for a moment.
Then, all at once, a sharp ringing tore through my ears and a wave of pain crashed through my head. And before long, I was able to piece together fragments of what had just happened.
…Right. People.
Breaking through the ringing that shook my entire skull came the image of the two strangers I’d encountered at the recycling area. I didn’t know what year they were in or what their names were — but given that they were wearing the same school uniform as me, they were definitely students at this school.
Through the noise-distorted flickers of memory, I recalled their faces.
The look of people who had come face to face with a monster. Not a single fragment of memory could be called reliable — but this one thing I could be absolutely certain of. They had been terrified of me.
When I’d accidentally stumbled upon them hiding in the equipment shed, they had looked startled then too — but they’d been half-hidden in the dark, so I hadn’t been able to read their emotions precisely.
But the encounter at the recycling area had been completely different. The expressions laid bare the moment our eyes met were impossible to misread.
The way their pupils visibly shook. The way their faces twisted and contorted moment by moment. I knew. They are afraid of me. They are scared of me.
They see me as a monster.
I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes and looked down at my palms. The rain was washing away the blood, but the sensation of gripping that rat so hard still seemed to cling to my hands.
How did I… end up like this?
Before I’d lost consciousness, I had been lying on the floor of the recycling area, consumed by unbearable hunger. There had been a moment where I’d felt my reason beginning to blur at the edges — but I hadn’t thought for a second that it was a signal I was about to turn into a monster. All I’d felt was the sensation of being desperately, maddeningly hungry, and the desire to quench the burning thirst in my throat.
And when I came back to myself — I was here. I stared blankly at the rat I’d thrown aside, and closed my eyes tightly.
What did I just do?
Up until yesterday — up until before this happened — I had been certain that I was different from the other zombies. I hadn’t charged at people the way they did. I hadn’t wanted to bite anyone. Not even close.
But now, in the wake of what had just happened, my reason had been completely overtaken — ruled by nothing but hyper-sharpened senses and raw instinct. So entirely that I almost wondered if believing I still had reason left had been a delusion all along.
“…….”
It was already too late — they’d gotten away — but if what ended up in my hand had been something other than a rat, the thing lying on that ground right now might not have been a rat at all. It might have been a person.
The memory of having my control stripped away in an instant was horrifying, and I staggered with my hands pressed to my head. Just imagining something that hadn’t even happened yet made my whole body twist with revulsion and nausea.
And alongside that, one thought rose to the surface: I had to get away from here as fast as possible. Somewhere with as few people as possible. Somewhere I could lock myself away, contain what I was becoming.
I grabbed hold of my unsteady legs and forced myself to look around. I was certain I’d been behind the school before I’d lost my mind — but now I’d drifted all the way to somewhere near the annex. My last clear memory had been the recycling area at the back of the school, so I’d assumed I couldn’t have gone far — but that had been completely wrong.
I forced my eyes to blink, shaking the heavy weight of water clinging to my lashes. But with the rain hammering down without any sign of stopping, keeping my eyes open at all was a struggle.
I’m scared… I’m scared….
Wait — was I even in a position to feel scared? The ones who should be afraid weren’t me — it was everyone else. Because I was still hungry.
“Krrh….”
My eyes, already sharp and on edge, felt scalding — like they’d been burned by fire. Rainwater was getting into them but there was no pain, and my vision had bled red. I slowly lowered the hands I’d had pressed to my head.
I want to eat something. I want to put something living in my mouth.
I glanced briefly at the rat’s body, already drained of all life, and then looked away. That wasn’t what I wanted. The body of a person who was alive and breathing. Fresh, thick blood pumping out with every beat of their heart.
I turned my head and looked at the tightly shut annex building.
What I need to eat is in there.
The deliberation was brief.
I moved straight for the annex. Toward the place where zombies had already gathered. Feeling my feet lighter than they had been at any point before.
