Chapter 1 Part 11

“What are you doing?” 

“I’m so fucking scared right now, I feel like my heart is going to explode. I feel like I need to hold onto your hand.” 

“…..” 

“I never thought I’d spend my last moments in life with a fucking stalker… Damn.” 

Now, the fingertips of a twenty-year-old kid were trembling excessively. Maybe it was because there was someone next to me who was even more frightened. I felt relatively calm in comparison. While Yoo Min-ho may feel like everything is new to him, I, on the other hand, remembered every moment of death. It meant that I could maintain some level of composure compared to Yoo Min-ho.

Is there any way to escape from here? I thought and thought with an anxious mind. But I couldn’t think for long. I could feel the glass wall behind me shaking uncontrollably, and the cracks starting to form. Since the entrance was blocked by the shutters, if the glass wall completely shattered, we would both be unable to escape death in this place. 

“Listen carefully, Yoo Min-ho.” 

“What? Why do you keep-” 

“This glass wall won’t hold for long. Once it breaks, it’ll be a feast for the zombies.” 

“Who doesn’t know that?” 

“We’ll clear the bookshelf and open the door.” 

“…Are you crazy?” 

Yoo Min-ho’s eyes widened as he looked at me. I briefly thought that he had a handsome appearance that could attract anyone’s love, but I didn’t have time to leisurely admire someone else’s face. 

“If we stay here, we won’t be able to do anything and we’ll both die. We’ll use the bookshelf as a shield, open the door, and move outside towards the corridor. When I give the signal, you’ll drop the bookshelf and run towards the opposite corridor.” 

“…..” 

“Of course, it could fail. Honestly… the chances of failure seem higher. But it’s better than just sitting here waiting for the glass to break, isn’t it?”

Yoo Min-ho’s face turned pale as he listened to my words. He could only stare at me, and I couldn’t understand whether he agreed or not. Of course, I understood why his reaction was incomprehensible. The corridor was already filled with nearly twenty zombies, and opening the door in this situation was practically a suicidal act. I couldn’t imagine anyone agreeing to open the door without careful consideration. But I didn’t have time to deeply contemplate. If I hesitated for a few more seconds, I wouldn’t even have the chance to execute this flawed plan. 

“If you can’t do it, then I’ll do it alone. Stand behind me when I open the door, and take the opportunity to escape while I’m being devoured. I won’t blame you since you saved my life once.” 

Saying that, I quickly stood up and grabbed the bookshelf that was blocking the back door. In that moment, with a loud crash, the glass wall shattered and the zombies poured in. I stood dumbfounded, placing Yoo Min-ho behind me, and swiftly turned the key in the upper part of the door. But as I pushed the glass door towards the corridor to exit, I realized that I had completely miscalculated. 

…No matter how hard I pushed, the glass door didn’t budge. Instead, the zombies outside started pushing in, causing the door to slowly move towards the inside of the property. The broken glass wall had already allowed the zombies to pour in and become entangled, and the entrance was about to open. Acting on instinct, I decided to pull the door towards the innermost part and hide our bodies in the gap between the wall and the door. 

“…Haa, haa.” 

“…This is insane, I’m going crazy.”

The glass door was acting as a shield, keeping the zombies at bay. However, it didn’t seem like it could hold up for long. Despair slowly began to creep through my body, along with the realization that it was only a matter of time before I died. When I saw the zombies banging on the glass door right in front of me, I even thought that it would be better to end it quickly for the sake of my mental health. It was at that moment that Yoo Min-ho, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. 

“Move aside. You’re fucking too weak.” 

“What are you trying to do?” 

“Just let go of the door handle.” 

“But if I let go now, they’ll rush in.” 

“Let go. I’ll kick the glass door and knock down all the bastards in front, and we’re going to get out of here.” 

“Is that possible?” 

“We won’t know until we try.” 

No other ideas came to mind. It meant that I had no choice but to follow Yoo Min-ho’s words. 

“Alright. Do something to the glass door, whether it’s kicking or breaking it. Let’s do it quickly. If we keep hesitating, we’ll end up not doing anything and die.” 

I shouted as I kicked at the zombies trying to push their way in between the glass door and the wall. I could feel the warmth of Yoo Min-ho’s body against my back. How long would we be able to maintain this warmth? The sensation of someone else’s body temperature against my skin made me feel a sense of reality, and my mind became hazy.

In that moment, Yoo Min-ho let out a loud scream and fiercely kicked the glass door. However, the door only partially shattered and bounced back off the bodies of the fallen zombies. He kicked again, causing all the zombies in front of the glass door to collapse, but as the door opened, more zombies poured in through the gap, turning the situation into a complete disaster. It was absurd to think that the two of us could take on more than twenty zombies alone. 

But upon further reflection, it seemed unnecessary for both of us to face death. If only I died, time would eventually reset. With that thought in mind, I decided to choose the most rational option in the current situation. Since I was going to die anyway, it would be better to die first so that I wouldn’t have to witness someone being devoured right in front of me. As I was about to throw myself into the midst of the zombies, who had closed in on me, Yoo Min-ho suddenly pushed me aside and jumped outwards. 

With his arms outstretched, he blocked the approaching zombies and shouted, “Go out first!” 

“…What?” 

“For now, you go out!” 

I couldn’t comprehend the situation at all. Why was he risking himself again to save me? Why was he going to such lengths? 

“…No, why would you…”

In that moment, the zombies that had rushed towards Yoo Min-ho tore at his shoulders, arms, and neck. Blood splattered and his whole body was drenched in it. At the same time, I felt a violent sense of despair as if something inside me had completely shattered. 

“I can’t hold on… Ugh, you fucking bastards. You think you’re eating expensive meat… Ahh, hurry!” 

I heard Yoo Min-ho’s desperate voice and, as if possessed, I escaped from the real estate office. Even as he was being devoured, he played the role of bait perfectly until the very end. Thinking of the guy who held my hand because he was scared, his body temperature came to mind, and it made my heart grow cold.

I couldn’t think of anything else and started walking in the direction of the convenience store in a half-dazed state. 

I couldn’t bear to see him sacrifice himself and then be torn apart right in front of me. But as my steps grew slower, I eventually came to a complete stop in the middle of the corridor. 

Rationally, it would have been the right choice to go back to the convenience store and join Do Ji-hyuk. But even as I thought that, I couldn’t bring myself to move. It was difficult to shake off the feeling that Yoo Min-ho would die because of me. A sense of unease, despair, and helplessness that was hard to explain overwhelmed me in an instant. It was a strange feeling.

In the end, I turned around and started running in the direction where Yoo Min-ho had been. I felt like I was going to my own death, but I couldn’t stop my steps. Was this also influenced by the original ‘Lee Chae-eun’? I couldn’t tell.

I saw Yoo Min-ho lying on the floor, collapsed and motionless beyond the shattered glass window in the distance. Seeing that he didn’t even blink, it seemed like he was on the verge of passing out. I wanted to ask why he had saved me, but he was already in a state where he couldn’t answer. Even if I were to reset, he wouldn’t be able to provide me with any answers since he wouldn’t remember what had just happened. In a state of confusion, I stared blankly at Yoo Min-ho’s pale face, soaked in blood. 

…And in that fleeting moment when his last breath escaped, I reset back to 19:21. I wasn’t dead, nor had I run out of time. Yoo Min-ho’s death was somehow connected to the endless repetition of flow of time.

Finally, one by one, the mysteries began to unravel.