The group moved, sitting around the table as they all anxiously awaited to see how Gyeong-Su reacted. To pass the time, they tried to figure out ways that the zombies knew where they were—by smell, sight, hearing, etc. Most of the ideas were stupid, and Sa-Na was losing her patience; she probably would've hit someone if it weren't for Suhyeok's tight grip on her hand.
"Maybe they're drawn to smell," Wu-Jin offered, turning to Dae-Su. "They always go after you."
"I don't smell," Dae-Su defended.
"You sweat a lot, Dae-Su," Ji-Min pointed out, turning to the boy beside her.
"I sweat, but I don't smell."
Sa-Na turned away from them and focused back on the recording studio. She was sitting on the table, so she had a clear view of what Gyeong-Su was doing. She felt bad for the boy and couldn't wait for him to be able to leave.
the room so she could slap Na-Yeon; proving that girl wrong would be the highlight of her day. She watched as Cheong-San walked over to the door, turning away from him to let him have his moment.
Instead, she decided to rest her head on Suhyeok's shoulder, allowing horrific images to make their way into her thoughts. What had happened to her mother? Was she okay? Did she make it out of the city? Was she one of them? Had she gone looking for her?
Her eyes began to close as she let the exhaustion get to her. It wasn't a peaceful sleep by any means, but it was the best she was going to get. Ji-Min looked over at the girl on Suhyeok's shoulder and gently nudged the boy. "Should we wake her up?" she asked, motioning to the girl.
"Leave her," Da-Hyun replied to him. "I'll wake her up when Gyeong-Su comes out."
"She can never concentrate when she's tired, and she tends to be a bit more violent than usual." Suhyeok tried to explain the best he could as all the others nodded and looked down at the girl, believing she was better asleep.
Applause woke the girl up, shifting slightly from where she was now sitting and leaning against the wall. She was confused about how she had moved over here but focused her attention on Na-Yeon leaving the recording studio while everyone clapped for her. She moved to sit up right, rubbing her eyes as she watched Gyeong-Su rush out of the room after her, being held back by Dae-Su, Ms. Park, and Suhyeok.
"You're fucking...you're such a fucking cheat," Gyeong-Su yelled at her, being held back by the others.
Sa-Na couldn't focus on what he was saying; everything was going blurry as the room began to spin. Shit, she thought as she realized she hadn't taken her medication this morning and didn't have any on her. She had iron deficiency, which was really bad when she hadn't taken her pill. Her head was a mess this morning, so she had forgotten to take them.
"Da-Hyun," she mumbled, not loud enough for the girl to hear over the arguing. The room was going blurry and then normal again. "Da-Hyun," she said a little louder, the girl getting her attention.
"What's the matter?" She cut herself off, seeing the state of her friend. "Did you take them this morning?"
"I forgot," she mumbled, clutching her head as a headache began to form. Her eyes scrunched in pain as she begged for the pain to stop.
"You dumbass," Da-Hyun scolded her friend, reaching into her pocket where her spare pills were usually sat. Both she and Suhyeok had spare ones in their bags or pockets as they worried about their friend. "Shit, it's not in here. Suhyeok!"
The boy walked over to the two, walking behind the current fight that Na-Yeon and Gyeong-Su were having. "What's the matter?" he asked, looking down at Sa-Na clutching her head, her skin deadly pale. "Fuck." He reached into his pocket, and his hand made contact with the box of pills. He tipped them out into his hand, handing two to Sa-Na. "Here, take this."
The girl placed the pill in her mouth, throwing her head back and swallowing the small pill, repeating this action with the other. It would take a while for the pill to work, so Sa-Na laid her head against the wall again, her vision still blurry. Da-Hyun remained by her side and motioned for Suhyeok to go help the others stop Na-Yeon and Gyeong-Su from arguing.
"Come on. Get rid of him. Get rid of him now!" Na-Yeon yelled, snapping everyone's attention. This was the first time Sa-Na could finally see properly. She noticed that Gyeong-Su had blood dripping out of his nose, and he looked dizzy, confused about what was happening around him.
"No," she mumbled, refusing to accept what she saw.
She wasn't about to let him die; she'd promised him that she'd slap Na-Yeon for him. Her vision was clearer than before, but she still felt weak, so unwillingly, she had to remain laid against the wall.
"I'm not." Gyeong-Su went to defend himself, but someone cut him off.
"Gyeong-Su. Stay where you are," On-Jo yelled. "Stay back."
Sa-Na pitied the boy, unable to imagine her friends shrinking back in fear from seeing her. She didn't believe he was infected; he was fine minutes prior.
"I swear, fucking I'm not," Gyeong-Su yelled as they
shook their heads, not believing him.
"I'm sorry, Gyeong-Su," On-Jo whispered. "Please, stay back."
Da-Hyun turned to her friend while Gyeong-Su began to talk to Cheong-San. She helped Sa-Na stand up and slowly pulled her over to the group. She managed to stay up for about a minute before her body became weak again, and she stumbled slightly, with Da-Hyun grabbing her before she could fall.
On-Jo walked over to Cheong-San, pulling him away from his friend. He shrugged her off, held off his arm, and turned back to his friend. "This cannot be true." His voice broke as he spoke. "Why would you suddenly..." he shook his head, not accepting the truth that was right in front of him. "No, no, Gyeong-Su, you weren't."
The boy shrunk back out, away from his touch. "Stay back," he warned his friend, not wanting to harm him. "Don't come any closer!"
His bone cracked, and his head tilted to the side in an unnatural way. "What are you doing?" Na-Yeon spluttered. "We need to kick him out. We're all going to die!
Even when she was half-conscious, Sa-Na managed a weak retort. "Na-Yeon, for the love of God, shut the fuck up."
The loud noise of Na-Yeon doing something near the door made Sa-Na turn her head, instantly regretting it when a wave of dizziness washed over her. She wished the pills would hurry up and work so she could slap Na-Yeon.
"Get out. I said, Get out!" Na-Yeon yelled.
"Shut the fuck up!" Gyeong-Su screamed, clutching his head in pain. "I'll leave by myself. I'll leave. I'll go on my own. Why would I bite you?" He had begun to sob, and Sa-Na felt her heart breaking. "We're supposed to be fucking friends; we're friends. If I leave, it will be better for everyone."
"Gyeong-Su," Ms. Park began, walking towards him. "Why don't you just go back into the recording room until we can figure it out?"
"If he stays in here, he's going to kill us all," Na-Yeon inputted.
"Na-Yeon!" Ms. Park snapped at the girl.
"I'm just trying to stay alive."
"I'll leave." Gyeong-Su slowly made his way closer to them, grabbing onto the desk to stabilize himself. "I'll get out of here on my own. Don't worry. I'll get out of here." A tear rolled down Sa-Na's cheek as she watched the boy stumble for the door.
"Gyeong-Su," Cheong-San suddenly said.
"It's okay." Gyeong-Su's eyes remained on the door in front of him. "Thank you for everything. Stay alive." He suddenly paused and turned around to face them, his eyes panicking as they whipped back and forth between everyone. "Why are you doing that? You're scaring me. Stop. Stop it. Cheong-San, why are you doing this? Stop it! Please stop!"
His pleas unsettled Sa-Na deeply, and she felt more tears drop down onto her cheeks. She hated seeing him like that. As he began to transform, Sa-Na looked at him from where she stood beside Da-Hyun. Her friend looked down at the black-haired girl clutching onto the wall while her other arm was around her shoulder.
She knew she had to move Sa-Na somewhere so he couldn't reach her, but the room was all open space. Her eyes whipped out of the room, landing on the recording room, which was now vacant. She pushed the girl into the room and closed the door behind her, running to stand, but the others were on the other side of the room.
"Da-Hyun!" Sa-Na yelled in disbelief from where she lay on the floor, unable to gain the energy to pull herself up. She heard shrieks from the others and incoherent words from Na-Yeon. She heard whistling and then nothing.
The door opened, and Da-Hyun stepped into the room, helping her friend lean against the wall of the recording room. "He's gone, isn't he?" Sa-Na asked quietly as her friend nodded, wrapping her arms around her. "Da-Hyun, why are you so cold?" The black-haired girl's eyes moved to her friend's arms, noticing teeth marks stained into the hoodie she was wearing. Her breathing hitched as she looked closely at it.
"What do you mean?" the girl asked, pulling away.
from the hug and moving to sit in front of the girl. "I'm not cold." Her eyes moved to the bite mark on her arm, not even noticing it had been there. "Oh," she whispered.
"No," Sa-Na mumbled. "No, this isn't happening. I'm dreaming. This is all a dream; you're completely fine." Uncontrollable tears had spilled out of her eyes, and her lips trembled. "Please tell me I'm dreaming."
Da-Hyun remained quiet, moving away from her friend so as not to harm her. She tried to move away, but Sa-Na grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Let me go," Da-Hyun whispered, fresh tears spilling down her cheek. "Sa-Na, I don't want to hurt you; let me go, please."
"I don't know if I can do this without you by my side; you promised me that we would leave this shithole together, alive." Sa-Na kept a tight grip on her friend. Da-Hyun kept quiet and wrapped her arms back around her friend before pulling away. Suhyeok chose that moment to check on Sa-Na, entering the room and seeing the two crying.
Da-Hyun stood out, pausing when she saw Suhyeok. "Look after her for me," she told the boy, smiling as she looked at her two best friends. "You two have to make it out alive."
Suhyeok rushed over to the girl, wrapping his arms around her. "No," he mumbled as Sa-Na weakly pulled herself up. Da-Hyun pulled away from the hug, and the three left the recording room, following Da-Hyun to the window. The other students watched confusedly as the red-headed girl grabbed the window pane and placed one leg out the window.
"No, Da-Hyun!" Ms. Park yelled at the girl as Suhyeok held his hand out to stop the teacher.
"I was bit," Da-Hyun announced as Sa-Na stared at her friend numbly. "I love you both." She directed these words to her two best friends.
"We love you two," Suhyeok replied, tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched the girl smile one last time before letting go of her hold on the windowpane and dropping down onto the ground. Sa-Na ran over to the window, looking outside as she watched her friend's body contour in unnatural ways. When she'd finished the transformation, she pulled herself off the ground and forced her way elsewhere.
Sa-Na let go of her hold on the window and allowed her body to drop onto the floor, placing her head on her thighs as she allowed the tears to
cape. She didn't know how she was going to make it without her best friend, her other half, and her sister.