BOW Chapter 4 (Part 1)
by Brie- A Sinking City (2)
It was only two in the afternoon, but the sky was so overcast that it already felt like early evening. After roughly looking around the area, the two headed back toward the supermarket. In the meantime, the snow had grown thicker than before and was beginning to pile up on the asphalt.
“What do we do? It’s snowing way too much……”
Jiyeon left his footprints on the white road that crunched with every step and muttered to himself. He was long past the age of getting excited over snowfall, so snow only made him worry about commuting. Anyone who has ever commuted on a snowy day would know. It is hell.
Hearing Jiyeon’s muttering, Suhyeong let out a puzzled sound as if he couldn’t understand.
“Hm?”
“What’s there to worry about? It’s not like we have a company to commute to anymore.”
“When the snow piles up, it’s hard to get around on foot. Besides, who knows when or where mutants might jump out.”
“That’s true. But you’ve got me, don’t you? Don’t worry.”
“……”
Jiyeon quickened his pace to avoid Suhyeong, who was once again sneaking up close beside him. He had decided to chalk up that sudden kiss as nothing more than an accident, but every time Suhyeong closed the distance like this, it flustered him. It seemed the aftereffects of the incident were stronger than he thought.
“We’re back.”
When they returned to the makeshift home inside the supermarket, Jang Joohee, who had laid out bedding in the living room, lifted her head slightly toward the entrance. Then she greeted them with a cheerful joke.
“Did you two enjoy your date?”
“Yeah. We had a very cozy time toge… oof.”
Jiyeon elbowed Suhyeong sharply in the side before he could shamelessly answer her joke.
“Do you know it’s snowing outside right now?”
“Really?”
At the mention of snow, Joohee shot up from the floor and went straight to the veranda. The world outside had already turned white.
“Wow. Was snow always this pretty……?”
She murmured a lonely comment as she gazed outside. Like most office workers, she didn’t particularly like snow. It made commuting a hassle, and the snow that fell in the city was never clean.
Once the dirty snow, soaked with car exhaust, wet your shoes, it was unbearably unpleasant and annoying. And when it melted, it melted painfully slowly. One heavy snowfall meant at least four days of struggling with icy roads.
But the snow quietly piling over the silent city now was different from the snow she was used to. It wasn’t grimy from exhaust, it hadn’t been stomped on, and it didn’t melt into slush.
Seeing the spotless white snow pile on the veranda railing and everywhere else gradually calmed even Joohee’s usually restless heart. Ironically, it was a peaceful and pristine scene she would never have witnessed if not for this crisis.
“If it snows too much, it’ll be hard to move around.”
Choi Sunghwa voiced the concern Jiyeon had earlier. They were all office workers; their worries naturally aligned.
“Still, we’re lucky we found a place to stay. Otherwise, we would’ve been stuck in the team leader’s car all night, completely snowed on.”
Returning from the veranda, Joohee dove under the blanket she had spread on the floor. Beside her were several snacks that looked like they had been taken from the store.
“But Team Leader Yoon.”
Kim Hyungseok, who had been sitting blankly next to her eating snacks, suddenly looked at Suhyeong as if something came to mind.
“That room in the back was locked. Did you lock it on purpose?”
“Oh, that? It looked like it was already locked. I didn’t lock it.”
“Should I try opening it?”
“Mm. No. I think it’s better to just leave it.”
Suhyeong glanced at the locked door as he replied. His expression made it seem like he knew what was inside. Jiyeon briefly wondered whether there might be a mutant in that room, but that didn’t seem likely, there hadn’t been a single sound from inside.
“What’s in there?”
“How would I know? Really, I don’t.”
At Jiyeon’s question, Suhyeong blinked innocently as if he truly had no idea. Well, he wasn’t the one who locked the door, so of course he wouldn’t know. Jiyeon wasn’t particularly curious, yet his gaze kept drifting to the shut door. Maybe it was because they were trespassing in someone else’s home and store. Something about it felt oddly unsettling.
“Don’t stay there in the cold. Sit here under this.”
Seeing Jiyeon still standing blankly, Sunghwa tossed him a heavy blanket.
“I got it from the small bedroom’s closet.”
“Oh…… thanks.”
He had already begun feeling chilled as his body temperature dropped. Using the couch as a backrest, he sat on the floor and pulled the thick microfiber blanket over himself. Then Suhyeong lifted the edge of Jiyeon’s blanket and plopped down right beside him. Forced to share the blanket with him, Jiyeon frowned and looked at him.
“It’s cramped. Move over.”
“I told you before. Hypothermia is dangerous. Think of it as sharing body heat. Look, your hands are freezing.”
“……”
Typical of a sales team leader, smooth talk came naturally to him. Suhyeong casually took Jiyeon’s hand again. Jiyeon should have pulled away, but Suhyeong’s hand was so warm that he decided to let it slide just this once.
“But you two were university senior and junior, right? Were you close back then too?”
Seeing the two sitting so close, Joohee suddenly asked a random question.
“‘Back then’? What do you mean ‘back then’?”
Jiyeon’s eyes widened in shock at her question.
“Do I look close to Team Leader Yoon to you……?”
“You weren’t?”
Her bewildered response only made Jiyeon more flustered. He did sometimes meet Suhyeong outside of work when treated to meals, but there was no way Joohee would know that. If she was simply stating what she saw…… the implication that they looked close was a huge shock to Jiyeon, who had never once considered that possibility.
“I’m not really that close with Team Leader Yo…”
“We’re close.”
Suhyeong cut him off and answered however he pleased.
“Want me to tell you a story from back in college?”
“Oh my gosh. A college story? I’d love that.”
“When I first met Assistant manager Hong, he was a freshman and I was a senior……”
Suhyeong cut off Jiyeon’s words and began recounting story after story, stories that Jiyeon himself could barely even remember. Wearing an embarrassed expression, Jiyeon listened quietly.
In Jiyeon’s memory, Suhyeong had simply been a senior who worked with him on a group project and acted differently on the inside than on the outside. He had no memories of anything beyond that. But Suhyeong seemed to remember far more about Jiyeon’s university days than Jiyeon expected. The way he kept bringing up things Jiyeon himself had forgotten proved as much.
“You were really cute back then. Jiyeon. Well, you’re still cute now.”
“Cute……?”
At that comment, Joohee looked at Jiyeon’s face with a puzzled expression. The Jiyeon she saw was a fairly handsome, pleasant-looking superior who was always exhausted. Calling him cute seemed like a stretch.
“Ha, Team Leader is joking. Ha ha.”
Before anything stranger could come out of Suhyeong’s mouth, Jiyeon scratched his palm with his nails. It was a silent protest telling him not to say anything weird, but perhaps Suhyeong misunderstood it, because he started kneading the soft skin between Jiyeon’s fingers in a strange way.
“Ah! Seriously!”
A shiver ran up his fingers, and Jiyeon yanked his hand away, flustered. Suhyeong only burst into bright, genuine laughter. He always smiled, but somehow this laugh felt unfamiliar.
“You two really are close.”
Seeing them bicker, Joohee let out a small laugh. Jiyeon hurriedly insisted that he and Suhyeong were not close at all, but no one believed him.
The snow that had been falling since the afternoon finally stopped by early evening. It had piled up to their ankles, but after fully resting, Suhyeong suggested they leave around lunchtime the next day. Everyone sighed with regret but voiced no objections. They couldn’t afford to relax when the city could turn into a Black Zone at any moment. If they wanted to survive, they had to move quickly and escape Haseong City. To do that, they needed to head for Ijin Electronics, where the evacuation route was.
“Good night, everyone.”
Settling into bed and staring at the dark ceiling of the living room, Jiyeon spoke quietly.
“You too, Assistant manager.”
Sunghwa answered him. Her voice carried a shy awkwardness, after all, she had never imagined exchanging goodnight wishes with coworkers like this. The others already seemed to be asleep, their soft snores and steady breathing filling the room.
“……”
For the first time in a while, he was sleeping on something soft instead of padded jacket stuffing, but maybe because his mind was too full, he simply couldn’t fall asleep. After tossing and turning for a long time, he felt Suhyeong shift beside him, turning toward him. It seemed he wasn’t asleep either.
“Can’t sleep?”
At the low, gentle voice brushing against his ear, Jiyeon nodded before he even realized it. Then Suhyeong guided him to turn his body as well. Because of that, Jiyeon’s face ended up pressed close to Suhyeong’s chest.
“What are you……!”
“Shh. You’ll wake the others.”
Jiyeon froze, face burning red, when he had been about to push him away. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be asleep; there was no sign of movement. Just in case, he stayed still, and Suhyeong lightly laughed before gently stroking the back of his head.
“If you can’t sleep.”
“……”
“I’ll help you.”
The hand on the back of his head slid down to his lower back. Then, with a steady rhythm, he began patting Jiyeon’s back.
“My mom used to put me to sleep like this.”
He spoke with a faint, bittersweet smile. Jiyeon also smiled weakly. His own mother had never once put him to sleep by patting his back.
Strangely enough, the moment Suhyeong began patting him, the sleep that had seemed impossible slowly crept in.
“Good night, Hong Jiyeon.”
Watching Jiyeon’s eyelids slowly flutter, he whispered softly. Those warm words washed over him, and Jiyeon slipped into sleep as if under a spell.
And in that sleep, he dreamed, something he rarely did. In the shapeless dreamscape, Jiyeon found himself as a university student again. It must have been influenced by Suhyeong’s earlier stories.
Students poured out of the humanities building as if class had just ended. Jiyeon was among them, unaware that he was dreaming and simply walking along with the crowd.
“Hello, Sunbae!”
“Hello!”
People bowed toward someone, greeting him. Instinctively, Jiyeon looked over.
There stood Suhyeong.
“Oh.”
Jiyeon let out a small sound of recognition. This wasn’t the office look he always saw, it was a sporty, neat style. He was a university student again.
“Hey, Jiyeon.”
Noticing him, dream-Suhyeong approached with long strides. He felt both unfamiliar and familiar, and Jiyeon’s subconscious accepted him not as Team Leader Yoon Suhyeong, but as Senior Yoon Suhyeong.
After a quick bow, Jiyeon tried to head off to his next class, but suddenly Suhyeong grabbed him.
“Jiyeon, let’s go get lunch.”
“With me?”
Was I close with him?
Jiyeon frowned slightly. They had shared a major, taken a class together, done a group project, nothing more. So this friendliness felt strange.
“Who else would I eat with if not you?”
“I mean… why me……?”
“What do you mean, why.”
Jiyeon cautiously asked why, not understanding at all. Then Suhyeong answered, sounding genuinely hurt.
“We’re dating.”
“……Sorry?”
“Why are you pretending you don’t know? We even kissed.”
We kissed? Me and Sunbae Suhyeong?
And suddenly the vague memory surfaced. Of course, he had never kissed the real university-aged Suhyeong. But the dream tangled reality and imagination together, confusing him. It made him accept whatever the dream told him as truth.
“I’m sorry. I forgot for a moment.”
Still unaware that this was a dream, Jiyeon apologized earnestly. If Suhyeong said so, what else could he do but accept it?
“Then shall we go eat?”
Smiling, he took Jiyeon’s hand. The gesture was already familiar, and Jiyeon smiled back, interlacing his fingers with his.
Like it was the most natural thing in the world, he let himself be led by him.
“So what are we going to eat?”
“……”
Curious where they were going, Jiyeon asked as he followed the quickly striding Suhyeong. But strangely, no answer came. Just moments ago he had spoken to Jiyeon so kindly, yet now he stared ahead with a pale, expressionless face.
“Sunbae?”
A prickling sense of wrongness made Jiyeon call out to him. Only then did Suhyeong slowly turn his head toward him.
“Sunbae, are you feeling sick? Your face is completely pale.”
“Jiyeon, ah.”
His pronunciation was unnatural, his face looked like he might collapse at any moment. At the same time, the hand holding Jiyeon’s was hardening, turning rough and rigid like tree bark. Clearly in distress, he twisted his expression and tried to speak.
“Ru……n…….”
“What?”
“Ru, n…….”
“Sunbae? Are you okay?! Do… do we need to go to a hospital?”
Seeing how much pain he was in, Jiyeon panicked and tried to pull his hand free. But the wooden grip held tight, refusing to let go.
“T-Team Leader. L-Let go of my hand.”
“Gh… uugh.”
In his panic, Jiyeon’s titles mixed uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Suhyeong’s pained groans grew louder.
“I’ll call 119 right…”
He reached into his pocket with his free hand to pull out his phone, but then he froze.
“Team Leader, your face……”
Suhyeong’s face was melting, softening like cake cream left out in high heat. The handsome face everyone admired twisted in an instant into something grotesque and horrifying. The sight was so unbelievable that Jiyeon couldn’t scream; he froze on the spot.
“Grr, grrrr.”
Suhyeong’s face had collapsed so much that it was impossible to recognize the original features. He clicked his teeth together and stared at Jiyeon. Then he opened his mouth wide and lunged at him.
“H-Huh!”
Jiyeon gasped for air like someone who had been underwater and burst awake. His heart pounded violently, and a cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Only then did he realize he had been dreaming.
“Whew……”
The living room was dim, as if dawn had not yet fully arrived. Jiyeon sighed and rubbed his face. He felt ten years older. He barely ever dreamed, much less had nightmares. He must have been under incredible stress. Thankfully, the heart that had been wildly racing calmed down quickly. But in its place came a cold chill creeping into his body.
Why am I cold?
Jiyeon turned and looked toward where Suhyeong should have been.
“Team Leader……?”
Seeing the empty bedding, he shot upright. He looked around. The other employees were still there, asleep in their places. Only Suhyeong was gone.
“Team Leader?!”
His barely recovered heart dropped again. Panic surged as he imagined something happening to him. Jiyeon jumped to his feet, about to run for the front door, when he heard movement somewhere inside the house.
Standing near the entrance, he turned toward the source of the sound and walked toward it. He stopped in front of a door. It was the room they couldn’t enter earlier because it had been locked.
Why would there be movement inside a locked room? Could a mutant be in there? No, if it were a mutant, it wouldn’t make noise like that. Then… was the Team Leader inside?
After agonizing over whether to enter or not, Jiyeon tiptoed to the kitchen. He opened a drawer, grabbed a kitchen knife, then reached for the locked room’s doorknob.
“……!”
Even though it had been locked, the doorknob turned smoothly, without resistance. Jiyeon swallowed hard and pushed the door fully open.
Standing right in front of him was Suhyeong.
“Team Leader. What are you doing in here?”
“Why are you holding that? That’s dangerous.”
Jiyeon’s tense body sagged as relief washed over him. Suhyeong took the knife from his hand and set it on a small cabinet nearby.
“Did I wake you? Sorry.”
Still disoriented, Jiyeon immediately checked Suhyeong’s face. Because of the nightmare, he feared he might have mutated. Thankfully, his face was still as handsome and as refined as ever. Jiyeon finally exhaled in full relief.
“This room was locked.”
“Oh, I opened it for a moment. I had something to sort out.”
“Sort out?”
Confused, Jiyeon blinked.
“Come in.”
Suhyeong stepped aside, letting him enter. Taken off guard, Jiyeon walked in and glanced around the dim room. There was a faint smell inside, as if something had been burned.
The locked room turned out to be the master bedroom. A large built-in wardrobe filled one wall, and across from it stood an old mother-of-pearl vanity. At the center was a queen-sized bed with a heated mattress pad.
“……”
Jiyeon saw the bed and couldn’t speak.
“I think they passed away before we got here.”
Seeing how stunned he looked, Suhyeong spoke quietly.
Lying on the bed was an elderly couple, hands clasped together. Beside them, on the nightstand, sat a burnt-out coal briquette, reduced to ashes. Jiyeon had assumed the store owners had evacuated somewhere to avoid mutants. But in reality, they had taken their own lives here.
“Why would they……?”
“It looks like they thought about going to the underground shelter, but figured they wouldn’t be able to make it.”
Outside, countless mutants lurked. In a frozen, immobilized city with no transportation, it would have been nearly impossible for two elderly people to reach a shelter safely. Rather than face a horrible death in terror, it seemed they chose to die peacefully and with dignity in their own home.
“At least they got to be with someone they loved at the end. Isn’t that… a good thing?”
Suhyeong spoke in a deliberately calm tone, as if trying to console him. At that, Jiyeon swallowed and stepped closer to the bed.
Maybe because of the cold weather, the bodies had decomposed very slowly. With their eyes peacefully shut, the elderly couple looked almost as if they were sleeping. A sudden sting of tears welled up. Jiyeon sniffed and shook his head before speaking.
“No…… I think that’s why we have to struggle to survive even more. Even if you love someone, once you’re dead, that’s it.”
“……”