Destruction — Chapter 9
by Brie“Instinct’s a terrifying thing. I ran straight home, screw the treatment or whatever. Imagine how scared my sibling must’ve been, not hearing from me for a whole week.”
Jung Woobeom, who had been speaking in a dry tone the whole time, fell silent. A past he thought he’d grown numb to was once again digging deep into his chest.
“When I got home, flies were swarming everywhere. There were maggots here and there on the floor. I followed the stench of vomit-inducing rot into the room and…”
Even the hat pulled low over his face couldn’t hide the pain etched into his expression. Saejin, who had been silently listening, lowered his head in solemn respect. The ordeal the man had gone through felt too devastating to be reduced to casual drinking conversation. His eyes burned with tears, and he couldn’t breathe deeply for fear he might sniffle.
“My sibling was dead, covered in bruises from head to toe.”
The cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. A burglar had broken in, thinking the place was empty, and found the child home alone. The autopsy concluded there was a high chance they’d been beaten continuously right up until the moment they died. Literally beaten—savagely—until death. That’s what it meant: someone had done that to a small child.
“Don’t know if it was because the police were incompetent or if the bastard was just freakishly smart… but months passed without a single lead. I felt like I was going insane. Fuck, I lost my reason to live in an instant.”
The pain of losing his sibling was so much worse than any stab wound that tore through flesh and muscle—it was so overwhelming he hadn’t even noticed when his old injuries reopened and festered.
“So I started going around to loan sharks, begging them to make me a gangster. I wanted to catch the bastard who did it and take care of it myself. Even if it meant ruining my life, I wanted to rip apart the bastard who killed my sibling.”
“Ah, so that’s why…”
Gritting his teeth and throwing himself into gang life, he eventually rose to a high position. With that power, he finally managed to track down the criminal he had searched for over so many years—and he got his revenge. But all that remained for Woobeom was a gnawing sense of emptiness that chilled him to the bone. The satisfaction of revenge, after all that time and effort, lasted only a fleeting moment.
“In the end, I got what I wanted. Just recently, actually.”
He achieved the revenge he’d longed for, but in the end, he was left with nothing. The stench that had clung to his sibling, the temperature of the room that day, the sound of bugs that grated on his ears—everything remained vividly burned into his memory, yet the dead child never came back. He no longer knew what he’d been clawing toward, why he’d done all those terrible things to get it. Drowning in disillusionment, Woobeom walked away from gang life for good.
As he put a full stop to his story, Woobeom crushed the beer can in his hand and gave a little shrug.
Despite trying so hard not to cry, Saejin was shedding silent tears, one by one. Now that he understood the reason behind Woobeom’s overreactions, his emotions surged uncontrollably. It wasn’t that the man was cold-hearted—he was just still trapped in the trauma of his past. Shoulders shaking, Saejin sobbed thick, heavy tears until Jung Woobeom, clearly annoyed, scolded him for bawling.
“Hyung… You still need to, h-heuk, live a proper life now… but the world’s gone to shit, what do we do? Life’s all fucked… hhk, we’re screwed. Hrrgh…”
“And that’s supposed to be your idea of comforting me?”
“Y-yeah…”
Unable to control his emotions, Saejin sniffled and wailed like a child. Woobeom let out a breath, half exasperated, half speechless.
With his composure regained, Saejin pressed ice against his swollen eyelids, puffy from crying. As the cold ice soothed the heat in his skin, the temperature of his eyelids dropped pleasantly. He had sobbed so hard that his throat was sore.
“Hyung… you can think of me as your real little brother if you want….”
“…Jesus.”
His words were harsh, but there was a faint smile on his face. He’d met a kid who was dumb and naive—but not in a way that was off-putting. Woobeom carefully took in Saejin’s features. His neat bangs covered pale eyebrows, and with his harmless appearance combined with his tidy hair, he gave off a strong model-student vibe. On top of that, the soft fuzz on his pale skin only emphasized how young he looked. His bright eyes, lined with faint double eyelids, gave a fresh impression. His eyelashes were so long they cast shadows under his eyes whenever he looked down. If Woobeom kept staring, he’d lose track of time. As he tried to pull his gaze away, his eyes caught on Saejin’s plump lips.
‘What kind of guy has…’
His red lips stood out. Maybe it was because the gang had always been full of dark, rough men, but Yoon Saejin felt unusually fresh. He was beginning to understand why he kept smiling at things he’d usually brush off or even smack someone over.
“Anyway, don’t you think you’ve forgotten something?”
Woobeom had just finished cleaning up, even tossing the leftover snacks Saejin had been eating, when he brought it up. In the rush of fleeing from monsters, they’d completely forgotten to look up news reports about the virus.
“Ah!”
Realizing what Woobeom meant, Saejin smacked his own head and muttered about being scatterbrained. He took his phone out of his pocket and glanced around, just in case. If the convenience store had a computer or TV, it would’ve made checking easier, but unfortunately, there was nothing in sight.
“Wow, look how slow the internet is… It’s not gonna cut out, is it?”
Normally the search page would load in under a second, but it was taking ages. Wondering if Wi-Fi would be any better, he tried connecting to the store’s network, but it wasn’t much different.
“This doesn’t feel good… Should we split up and search?”
Woobeom nodded in agreement. He unbuttoned a few buttons of his raincoat and pulled his phone from his pants pocket. Saejin was tasked with searching for “shelters” and “relief supplies” using the keywords they’d learned from the emergency texts. Since his apartment had burned down, moving to a nearby shelter and staying there was their best bet. The plan was to use real-time updates on social media to find that information.
‘…This is way too slow.’
Each search attempt took over three minutes, and Saejin’s patience was running thin. He began tapping the corner of the table in agitation, his leg bouncing with anxiety as he feared the internet might cut out at any moment.
“The news doesn’t seem much different from the posts on community boards.”
Woobeom had apparently found an article based on an official report. He placed his phone on the table and tilted his head toward it. The screen displayed a news article uploaded 50 minutes ago.
Daily MDC | 50 minutes ago]
Reporter: Seo Cheolhyun▶ Cover-up? “Unofficial briefing was underway.” Finally breaks silence under mounting criticism.
Not long after the announcement of the new virus, reports have poured in claiming the deceased are mutating into monsters. The Disease Control Agency stated they are investigating the issue and working to trace its origin.
Meanwhile, with misinformation about the virus spreading across SNS (Social Networking Services), authorities, fearing for public safety, began an unofficial briefing around 1 a.m. The content was as follows:
[New Virus]
After the incubation period, symptoms vary by person—high fever, skin rash, confusion—but fever is a universal sign.
Deceased infected by the virus will not stop moving unless the head is fully separated from the body or more than half of the head is destroyed. It’s presumed the virus enters the brain damaged by the fever, and causes post-mortem movement.
The virus only spreads through direct physical contact. Suspected incubation cases show blackened corneal neovascularization.
The virus loses infectiousness almost immediately once separated from its host. Thus, touching objects will not lead to infection—transmission is only possible through direct body contact.
The government reiterated that concentrated research on the virus is underway. However, no effective countermeasures have been found yet, and no second briefing has been scheduled.
┗ Rep. Kim Jeongjoong and Rep. Sang Hyungcheol among 20 others discovered fleeing abroad. Public safety in jeopardy? Outrage grows.
┗ Reports of senseless killings and assaults skyrocket. “No response”—no personnel available to dispatch?
┗ Text and calls down, people helpless. “People are dying here”—emergency pleas flood SNS.
“This isn’t the world about to fall apart—it already has….”
In a situation swarming with monsters, they hadn’t even expected news of armed soldiers coming to rescue civilians. All they’d hoped for was a sign that the government was trying to restore order to this chaos. Instead, what they got were headlines about lawmakers trying to flee the country. As he scrolled through the screen, Saejin sighed, worry creeping in with each report of spreading infection.
“Hyung… What if we all really die like this?”
From the look of things, there was no way businesses, retail, or medical services could function properly anymore. Without workers, it was only natural for the country’s infrastructure to come to a halt.
‘But if that happens…’
If communication and internet were cut, that would mean isolation from information. But if water, gas, and electricity were disrupted, it would become a direct threat to their survival. Just imagining it was terrifying. Saejin gnawed at his fingernails, trying to soothe the growing unease in his chest.
“Stop biting your hand.”
Woobeom reached out and gently wrapped his hand around Saejin’s, lowering it onto the table.
“What about the shelter?”
“Oh.”
Only then did Saejin look down at his phone, which he’d been holding the whole time. Social media had been lagging badly with the sudden influx of users, but now that it had finally finished loading, it was running a bit more smoothly. Saejin searched for “Hanguk University,” the closest shelter to their current location. Fortunately—or perhaps not—there were a lot of updates from people who had already evacuated there.
“…It looks like the shelter’s no good either.”
[Search term: Hanguk University] Results: 302,038
<@s2_minji0322 (Mingdi)>
[Y’all… are they really not checking for people in the incubation period at the Hanguk University shelter? That’s seriously messed up, right? They said they were handing out supplies, so I went with my parents and little brother, but it felt like literally anyone could just walk in. If they’re not gonna flip people’s eyelids to check, can’t they at least take temperatures? Isn’t fever one of the symptoms?? Please just stick a thermometer in people’s faces ㅠㅠ… Oh wait, I just remembered—people in the incubation period don’t have fevers yet… Fever only comes after incubation ends, right? lolㅠ Just flip their eyelids already, for god’s sake…]
[44 comments · 13.7K shares · 21.1K likes]
┗ <@s2_minji0322>
[On top of that, you have to collect the supplies they hand out one by one yourself. But apparently people kept lining up to take them again and again, so they ran out. Then what’s the point of the emergency alerts? I only live 3 minutes away from Hanguk University, so it was fine for me. But what about the people who came from far away to escape or get supplies? Absolutely ridiculous.]
┗ <@rnehrrkfru_0302 (gudokgalgyeo)>
[Replying to @s2_minji0322 | OMG Mingdi, you actually went to the Hanguk Uni shelter?? I was gonna go but bailed because I figured it’d be packed. After seeing this, I’m glad I didn’t.ㅠㅠ But seriously, why wouldn’t they check for infected people…? If even one person in incubation is there, won’t they infect everyone else? Scary…]
<@s2_minji0322 (Mingdi)>
[Hanguk Uni is seriously a disaster… I had a feeling this would happen so I searched around, and someone had already shared a video…]
(Video attached)
[12 comments · 68.7K shares · 60.9K likes]
┗ <@s2_minji0322>
[Can’t believe this is going viral lol. Anyway… It was clear from the start when they didn’t screen people. Over ten people reportedly collapsed from high fever in the main shelter building. It’s insanely crowded, people bumping into each other everywhere. I bet quite a few people got infected from this mess… huh…]
┗ <@mumu02 (naechoae bwajwo nimdeul)>
[Replying to @s2_minji0322 | That video is terrifying… The screaming sounds are seriously disturbing…]
┗ <@dudtjs (Kim Youngsun)>
[Replying to @s2_minji0322 | You really think it’s just Hanguk University? Most shelters are in that same state. This country is done for… lol. Actually, not even funny anymore, fuck.]
┗ <@imcUtE (nannomugwiyeowo)>
[Replying to @s2_minji0322 | I have no words… You escape from monsters only to find infected people inside the shelter? Seriously? They already told us infected people in incubation have blackened sclera, and they’re not checking for that? Are they telling us to just die?]
<@f__kBigf__king (gaegatnaeyong)>
[Went to Hanguk University to get supplies ‘cause it’s a disaster situation and ended up getting infected. Checked my eyes just in case, and my sclera veins have turned black. I didn’t catch this by wandering around—I went to a shelter to survive and got infected. I’m not dying alone out of spite.
(Photo attached)]
[293 comments · 32.5K shares · 10K likes]
┗ <@dew (Iseul)>
[Replying to @f__kBigf__kin | Agreed, no way I’m dying alone either. I’ve probably touched like nine people already lol.]
┗ <@candy_luv (sarang satang)>