BOW Chapter 1 (Part 3)
by Brie“Grugh… grrk… grk.”
“Chup… chrrrp… chp.”
The nauseating stench of blood filled the room, and the sound of wet chewing pushed everyone into deeper terror. Crushed beneath the horror of the scene, Jiyeon could do nothing but hold his breath and watch Oyun’s end. He realized for the first time that when fear reached its peak, a person couldn’t make a single sound.
“Jiyeon! Watch out!”
Suhyeong grabbed Jiyeon’s waist and pulled him back just as a mutant charged at him. He hurled a potted plant at it, then snatched up a shard of the broken pot and drove it into the side of the mutant’s head.
“Graaaargh!”
The jagged piece pierced the rotting skin and blackish-red blood sprayed out.
“Hide under the table!”
“B-but…!”
“Do as I say!”
Startled by the sharp command, Jiyeon shrank back. He recovered quickly and was about to crawl under the table, until he saw a mutant running toward Park Yeji.
“Yeji! Watch out! Aaagh!”
Screeeech…
Jiyeon shoved the table hard, pinning the mutant against the wall. He was never someone who threw himself into danger for others, but his body moved before his mind could think.
“Kyaaak! Kyaaaak!”
The table kept the mutant from moving freely.
“Grrrraaaah!”
Pinned between the wall and the table, the mutant screeched and thrashed, slapping bloody handprints across the white tabletop.
“Kkrraaah! Kak!”
“Ugh!”
Its strength was overwhelming, and Jiyeon, exhausted from chronic fatigue, could barely hold it back. Any moment now, the mutant would shove the table aside and attack him.
“Khraaaah!”
“Damn it…! Aaaah!”
Jiyeon was pushed back little by little. Worse, the mutant planted its hand on the tabletop and used it as leverage to drag its body forward. The way it crawled up was eerily similar to that old horror-movie scene where a ghost crawls out of a TV screen.
“Grrrhk… grrk…”
“G-get your filthy hand away from me!”
The mutant’s fingers were only inches away from touching him.
“Kyaaah!”
A short scream broke out as Yeji, who was closest to Jiyeon, slammed a brown paper bag, one labeled “Delicious Porridge”, over the mutant’s head. Surprisingly, its thrashing grew sluggish, and soon its body went limp.
“Hide under the table, now!”
Before he could thank her, Suhyeong shouted urgently. Jiyeon and Yeji both dove under the nearest tables.
“Huuu…”
Worried even a small breath might be heard, Jiyeon covered his mouth with his hand and held his breath. Through the gap under the table, he saw the mutants’ feet. Their grotesque, ruined faces did not match their clothes, ordinary office attire, which made the sight even more horrifying.
‘How did it come to this?’
Just hours ago, they were normal coworkers. Now they were monsters. The unreality, the disbelief, it was too much, and Jiyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
“Kyaaaah!”
Then it happened. Somewhere in the break room, unable to hide in time, Choi Yooyoung screamed. Making noise when facing a mutant was one of the worst things one could do, yet terror had robbed her of reason.
Her scream triggered the mutants, and every single one lunged toward her.
“Grrrgh… kyaaa!”
“D-don’t come! Don’t come near me!”
Pale as a corpse, Yooyoung stumbled backward. Suhyeong tried to go help her, but he was too far away. There was no realistic way to save her from where he was. Trying would only throw another victim, Yoon Suhyeong, into the mutants’ jaws.
Finally accepting that he couldn’t save her, Suhyeong bit his lip and squeezed himself under Jiyeon’s table.
“Help me, help! Aaagh!”
Yooyoung put everything she had left into running for the open door. But the mutants reached her far faster than she reached the exit. It wasn’t one, three of them tackled her at once, and her body collapsed instantly.
“Hrrk… s-save… me… aaagh!”
Hearing her final screams, Jiyeon flinched and tried to move out from under the table. But Suhyeong pressed a hand firmly on his shoulder and shook his head.
“If you want to save someone, make sure you stay alive first. Understand?”
“……”
Suhyeong spoke with his face tightly drawn. It wasn’t anger, more like he was genuinely shocked, unable to predict what Jiyeon would do. Hearing the anxious tremor hidden in his low whisper, Jiyeon swallowed his rough breathing and nodded.
Soon, Choi Yooyoung’s voice faded. The break room settled into a horrific silence. Jiyeon buried his face against his arm and swallowed back the urge to cry.
“Grr… uuu…”
Seconds passed like years. Curled up as he was, his whole body slowly stiffened and went numb. How long did they have to stay like this? They had bought only a few moments. Dying here felt unavoidable. Fear twisted into resignation with frightening ease.
“Jiyeon.”
Noticing how worn down he was, Suhyeong whispered very softly.
“Do you trust me?”
“What…?”
Jiyeon blinked, brows furrowed slightly at the question he couldn’t interpret. Then Suhyeong spoke again, his face unusually serious.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you everything will be okay.”
“……”
“But I’d like you to trust me and follow me.”
With a bitter murmur, he took Jiyeon’s hand.
“When someone turns, their field of vision narrows a lot. You’ve heard that, right?”
Jiyeon nodded.
“So before they notice us, we’re going to move toward the wall. Then we stick as close to it as possible and head for the exit. All right?”
Jiyeon calculated the distance from his table to the door. Then he remembered Park Yeji under another table. He found her, she was less than five meters away.
“Then I’ll tell Yeji too.”
“What?”
“We can’t leave her behind.”
Jiyeon was alive because she had thrown a paper bag over a mutant’s head. He couldn’t ignore her and escape alone with Suhyeong. And five meters wasn’t far. He could crawl there without being seen.
Swallowing hard, Jiyeon began crawling out from under the table.
“Jiyeon!”
“Khraaaak!”
Startled, Suhyeong called after him but immediately shut his mouth when a mutant reacted to the sound.
Jiyeon managed to reach Yeji’s table without being noticed. She was trembling under it, making the sign of the cross.
“Yeji.”
“Ah…!”
“Shh.”
Jiyeon gently grabbed her shoulder and whispered.
“Listen carefully. We’re going to come out from under the table and move along the wall straight to the door.”
“I-if we do that… we can get out?”
“I don’t know. But let’s try. We can’t stay crouched here forever.”
He glanced toward Suhyeong. Their eyes met, and Suhyeong sighed and nodded. Taking that as the signal, Jiyeon and Yeji crawled out from under the table.
“Ugh…”
As Jiyeon managed to stand, he covered his mouth quickly. Only five minutes had passed, yet the sight before him was hellish. Blood covered the floor, and the mutilated corpses of Kim Oyun and Choi Yooyoung were twitching.
“Stay sharp.”
Suhyeong came close and whispered into Jiyeon’s ear. Shaken by the gruesome scene, Jiyeon nodded and lowered his body.
Suhyeong moved first. Keeping himself crouched low enough to avoid the mutants’ narrow vision, he dragged his feet on the floor to minimize sound. Jiyeon and Yeji followed him, hugging the wall.
“Grrr… grrrr…”
Thankfully, the mutants didn’t notice them, wandering sluggishly. But they were only a few meters away. Jiyeon swallowed repeatedly, nerves stretched thin.
Crack. Crack-crack.
Just as they neared the door, Yooyoung’s corpse twisted its limbs unnaturally and rose. Jiyeon had seen that same moment yesterday with Manager Park. It was no less horrifying the second time, this impossible, grotesque process of mutation.
“Krrraaaak!”
Fully risen, Yooyoung limped across the room. The fact that someone he had spoken to only minutes ago had now transformed before his eyes, combined with the danger of being discovered, sent dizziness crashing over Jiyeon. Days of fatigue mixed with overwhelming terror, and his body seemed at its limit. Yeji looked just as pale.
“W-what do we do…”
Seeing Yooyoung turned mutant, Yeji panicked and instinctively stepped back.
Screech…!
Her foot caught on a fallen chair, dragging it across the floor with a sharp noise.
“Ah…!”
“Kyaaaak! Kyaaa!”
“Grrraaaagh!”
The mutants instantly reacted to the sound and turned toward the three of them.
“Khrraaaak!”
“Kyak!”
All four mutants, including the newly turned Yooyoung, let out guttural cries and advanced. With the situation seconds from collapsing, Suhyeong grabbed a nearby chair. He pointed the chair legs at the mutants and pushed Jiyeon and Yeji behind him.
“You two, go outside first!”
“What about you?!”
“I’ll handle myself, hurry!”
“Grrraaaagh! Kyaaak!”
At Suhyeong’s urgent shout, Jiyeon forced his frozen body to move. One mutant chased after him but was knocked down immediately when Suhyeong threw the chair straight into its head.
“Team Leader!”
Jiyeon reached the door safely, opened it, and called for Suhyeong. His heart shrank at the sight, just a few meters behind, Suhyeong was dodging between mutants in a barely-manageable, breath-snatching chase.
“Kraaagh!”
To make matters worse, more mutants seemed to have heard the commotion; footsteps thundered from the far end of the hall.
“Assistant Manager, what do we do?! I think mutants are coming from the hallway too!”
Yeji, who had stepped out first, urged him with a pale face.
“Yeji! Go ahead! There should be quite a few surviving employees in the cafeteria on the third floor, head there!”
“Hic… okay!”
Crying, Yeji ran toward the elevators.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Team Leader! Hurry!”
“I’ll get out on my own… Jiyeon, just go!”
Still inside the break room fending off mutants, Suhyeong shouted back. Hearing that, Jiyeon bit his lip, then stepped out into the hall. He moved to run after Yeji, when suddenly:
“Kyaaaargh!”
“Graaagh!”
The sounds echoing from inside the break room made Jiyeon freeze.
Could he really leave Suhyeong behind like this?
He stood still, torn. Surviving four mutants on his own was nearly impossible. Sending Jiyeon and Yeji out first meant only one thing, Suhyeong intended to sacrifice himself.
“Damn it.”
Jiyeon dragged his hands down his face in frustration. His mind screamed at him to run, but something inside him snagged, refusing to let him flee. Even if he found Suhyeong uncomfortable, he didn’t want to survive thanks to someone else’s sacrifice.
He’d never liked owing anyone. He had never even borrowed money from a friend. That was why he still felt awkward about letting Suhyeong buy him lunch. But owing a life? He would be tied to Suhyeong’s sacrifice forever.
Besides, even if he did escape and survived by luck, there was no guarantee he could keep living alone. Even if he made it outside, with stamina already below average for an adult man, he’d only become an easy meal for mutants.
If he was going to die anyway, he wanted to die doing something. Dying while helping someone was better than being torn apart alone.
Jiyeon turned toward the break room. After a brief moment of indecision, he hardened his expression, grabbed a fire extinguisher from the corner of the hall, and ran back into the room.
“Team Leader, move to the side!”
Last night, Suhyeong had crushed Manager Park’s skull with a fire extinguisher, but Jiyeon lacked the strength or skill to repeat that. What he did have was knowledge of how to use it properly. He pulled the safety pin, aimed the hose at the mutants, and squeezed the handle tight.
Fwoooosh…!
A cloud of white powder blasted across the mutants, covering them completely. Blinded, they clawed at the air, shrieking and stumbling.
“Hurry out!”
Instead of running out through the door, Suhyeong lightly vaulted over the table blocking him and ran toward Jiyeon.
“Give me the extinguisher!”
“W-what? Oh, yes!”
He snatched it and hurled it straight into the nearest mutant’s face. The sickening crack that followed made Jiyeon shudder.
“Kraaaagh!”
The blast of extinguishing powder died down, and the mutants regained movement, this time more violently than before, agitated by the attack.
“Jiyeon, run!”
Suhyeong locked their hands together and pulled him toward the door.
“Hah… huff…Team Leader, behind us! They’re chasing us!”
“Don’t stop… run!”
“Aaaagh!”
They barely escaped the break room, but it didn’t end there. Dozens of mutants lying along the hallway sprang up at the sound of their footsteps. Having spotted them, they barreled down the narrow corridor, trampling each other in their frenzy. The office hallway turned into chaos in seconds.
“Kraaaak! Kyaaah!”
“Huff… huff…”
“Emergency stairs! Not the elevator, stairs!”
Just as they were running toward the elevators, Suhyeong changed direction and sprinted to the far end of the hall. Jiyeon, dragged along by his hand, was practically being pulled off his feet.
“Haa… haah…”
Jiyeon focused only on not falling and chased the faint green glow of the emergency exit sign. Was the building always this big? The emergency door looked impossibly far.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
He was exhausted. Sweat stung his eyes, his vision blurred, and his heartbeat pounded so hard it felt ready to burst through his ribs. He had only ever run like this when barely missing a bus or train, he hadn’t sprinted full-out like this since high school fitness tests.
Meanwhile, Suhyeong looked as if he were on a casual morning jog. Typical of someone who played multiple sports every weekend.
“Jiyeon! Hurry!”
They finally reached the end of the corridor. Suhyeong shoved open the emergency door and yanked Jiyeon inside. The moment they crossed the threshold, the heavy door slammed shut.
Thud…!
A mutant’s body slammed into the other side a split second later. They had barely made it.
“Whew… that was close.”
“Huff… huff… I thought I was dead.”
Shaking, Jiyeon stared at the metal door.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Creeeeak. Creeeeeeeak.
The mindless mutants didn’t know how to open the door, so they only pounded and scraped violently at the metal. Listening to those chilling sounds was enough to drive someone insane.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
Creeeeak.
As the noise grew louder and more frantic, Jiyeon’s face crumpled and he looked at Suhyeong.
“They never get tired, do they.”
“That’s one of the traits of mutants. Enhanced physical ability.”
“How is that even possible?”
“If anyone knew, we’d already have a cure and a vaccine. They say they can’t even study them properly because mutant bodies decompose too fast.”
“I see… haah.”
“You okay?”
Jiyeon nearly collapsed as his legs gave out, and Suhyeong grabbed him by the waist.
“My legs won’t hold me.”
Feeling embarrassed at being held, Jiyeon gently removed Suhyeong’s firm arm and gave an awkward smile. Then Suhyeong stepped down three stairs and suddenly turned his back to him.
“Should I carry you?”
“…I suddenly feel much stronger.”
Hearing the completely serious offer, Jiyeon stiffened and scrambled to his feet. Suhyeong looked oddly disappointed as he took Jiyeon’s hand again.
“If it gets too hard, tell me. I’ll carry you.”
“……”
Pretending not to hear Suhyeong’s gentle words, Jiyeon slowly went down the stairs.
Honestly, he’d felt it for a while, Suhyeong was kind of a weirdo. Jiyeon couldn’t explain exactly what part of him was strange, but the way he treated him certainly wasn’t normal. Who buys expensive meals for a subordinate from another team and drags them out every weekend? Thanks to that strange interest, he had survived, but still, Yoon Suhyeong was truly an odd person.
Determined not to end up on Suhyeong’s back, Jiyeon forced his trembling legs down the stairs and stopped in front of the emergency exit leading to the fifth floor. That floor held both the Legal Team and the Sales Team, the department Suhyeong worked in.
“I was the last one to leave earlier, so there shouldn’t be anyone inside. The problem is the hallway… wonder how many are out there.”
Suhyeong muttered tiredly as he grabbed the door handle. He looked calm in front of Jiyeon, but he was clearly exhausted too.
“I’ll go out first.”
“Wait. Your hand…”
Jiyeon grabbed his arm and stopped him, eyes widening at the sight of blood coating his hand. It must have been from grabbing the pot shard earlier.
“You’re hurt!”
“This is nothing.”
To reassure Jiyeon, Suhyeong switched to using his left hand on the handle and flashed a pretty smile.
“……”
But instead of feeling relieved, Jiyeon only eyed him more skeptically. Suhyeong’s smile was perfect, warm enough to inspire trust and affection, yet ever since college, Jiyeon had always felt uncomfortable whenever he smiled.
“I’ll go first. You wait here, and if everything looks safe, come after.”
“No. Don’t try to handle everything alone. Let’s go together.”
Suhyeong froze with his hand on the handle.
“Alone?”
“You always try to carry everything by yourself. Even when you don’t really mean it.”
Not understanding, Suhyeong gave him a puzzled look.
“I’m talking about back in college. You did that during our group project too, taking everything on yourself.”
“Ah…”
“They say even a sheet of paper is lighter when two people lift it. Let’s just go together.”
Finally understanding, Suhyeong sighed faintly and gave a soft smile. Then he nodded.
“Alright. We’ll go together. But if things get dangerous, don’t think about me, just run. Don’t do what you did earlier.”
“Okay. I will.”
Only after hearing the answer did Suhyeong slowly turn the handle.
“……”
“……”
The hallway on the fifth floor was eerily silent. Thankfully, because the chaos hit around lunchtime, the office floor seemed untouched. Still, Suhyeong and Jiyeon walked with careful, silent steps toward the automatic door leading into the department.
“Looks like no one’s inside.”
Jiyeon pressed his face to the transparent glass and checked. Just like the hallway, there was no sign of movement.
“Team Leader, should I open it?”
Fidgeting with the employee ID around his neck, he whispered. Keeping watch behind them, Suhyeong nodded.
Jiyeon checked inside again, bent slightly, and tapped his ID on the scanner.
Beep-beep-beep…
“Ah!”
The recognition sound was louder than expected, and Jiyeon swallowed hard. Every small noise felt enormous. With pounding hearts, they slipped inside.
The office was dim. The lights were always turned off during lunch to save energy.
“First we need to take care of your hand. There’s a first-aid kit in the supply room, right?”
Seeing the dried blood on his wound, Jiyeon grimaced and headed toward the supply room. Even though it wasn’t his usual floor, he knew exactly where a first-aid kit would be. Without thinking, he pushed the door open.
“What… what the… aaah!”
Something sprang out from inside and slammed into him. Caught off guard, Jiyeon fell backward onto the floor.
“Khaaaak! Kyak!”
“Team Leader! Aaagh!”
“Jiyeon!”
What had attacked him was a Legal Team employee. The mutation had progressed far, half of his face was already rotted. Jiyeon shoved at the mutant’s forehead with all his strength as it tried to bite him, but with its enhanced grip and mutated strength, he couldn’t push it off completely.
“Wait! I’m coming!”
Suhyeong rushed over holding a golf club from Deputy Manager Kim’s desk in the Sales Team. Then he swung it down hard at the mutant clinging to Jiyeon.
Puh-uck…
The mutant’s face was crushed against the club and its body toppled sideways, releasing Jiyeon. It was just like when he smashed Team Leader Park’s head with the fire extinguisher yesterday.
“Kraaaagh!”
The only difference was that, unlike Team Leader Park, whose head exploded in one hit, the mutant in front of them got back up immediately. Seeing the twisted joints rising again, Jiyeon turned pale, but now that he had a weapon, Suhyeong looked far calmer than before.
“Kraaaagh!”
The mutant shrieked and lunged at him, but Suhyeong swung faster.
“Kkeeegh! Kee-eegh!”
The mutant hit the floor, writhing.
Suhyeong placed the head of the club against its temple, took a golfer’s stance, lifted the club high over his shoulder, and swung with full force.
Puhck!
If this had been an actual golf course, a caddie would have clapped and shouted, “Nice shot.” But this wasn’t a golf course, and instead of applause, a deafening burst of flesh rang in Jiyeon’s ears, far louder than moments before.
“Ugh!”
Jiyeon grimaced at the sight of the mutant’s skull bursting like a watermelon. For the second day in a row, he’d learned just how easily a human head could pop.
“From now on, be careful whenever you open a door. A lot of people get bitten and hide until they turn.”
“…Okay.”
Jiyeon glanced at the mutilated corpse and bit his lip. The exploded head was horrific, disgusting, revolting. His stomach churned, but having seen it once before, he didn’t gag.
“By the way… why is there a golf club in the office?”
So that was what they came to the fifth floor for? He swallowed as he looked at the blood-and-brains-smeared club head.
“Oh, this? It’s the deputy manager’s. Our clients often schedule golf outings.”
“They play golf during work?”
“That’s part of sales too.”
True, he’d heard about networking through golf before. And he remembered how good Suhyeong had been when he dragged him to a golf course last time. He must’ve picked up the skill on the job.
“I’ll get the first-aid kit. Sit down.”
Jiyeon seated him in a nearby chair and went back into the supply room. Worried there might be another mutant hiding, he made loud footsteps before entering, but thankfully there were none.
“Give me your hand.”
He sat down across from Suhyeong, opened the kit, and examined the injury. At first he feared the cut was deep enough to need stitches, but it seemed shallow. Relieved, he wiped away the dried blood with an alcohol pad and applied ointment.
“……”
“……”
In the awkward silence, Jiyeon peeked up. Suhyeong was staring at Jiyeon’s fingers as they touched his hand, looking a bit tense. His long lashes trembled faintly, his nose bridge was smooth and sharp, he was strikingly handsome. At thirty-two, he didn’t show the slightest trace of aging. Seeing his face from so close, one he normally saw four times a week, made Jiyeon feel oddly self-conscious.
“So…”
After finishing the ointment and sticking on a clumsily placed bandage, he suddenly blurted out,
“Why do you keep asking me to eat with you when we’re not even on the same team?”
With his guard lowered, the question he normally kept to himself slipped out. Suhyeong stared at him, then let a sly expression surface.
“What do you think?”
Answering a question with a question, typical of him. Jiyeon blinked and thought hard.
“Uh… because you didn’t have anyone to go play early-morning soccer with…?”
“What? Pfft.”
Suhyeong burst out laughing. Not a polite, forced laugh, a genuine one. Jiyeon stared blankly, bewildered.
“I used to think you were really perceptive, but maybe that was just back then.”
“Huh? What does that mean…”
“Never mind. Ah, you’re done with my hand, right?”
He lifted his right hand, the bandage wrinkled and sloppily attached. Embarrassed by his own lack of skill, Jiyeon quickly looked away.
“Well then, let’s make our survival bag.”
With a satisfied expression, Suhyeong stood up. Jiyeon ended up never hearing the answer to his question.
Suhyeong pulled out a backpack, the type a college student might carry, from his desk. It was something Jiyeon, forced into crisp, proper attire by their old-fashioned boss, would never have imagined bringing to work. Watching him dump the entire first-aid kit into the bag, Jiyeon finally understood why they’d come to the fifth floor instead of heading straight for the ground level.
If they’d gone outside unprepared, he’d already be roaming the streets with the mutants.
“We’ve got the meds. Now an extra battery and…”
“Ah. My phone!”
Hearing the words “extra battery,” Jiyeon shot up. He’d suddenly remembered leaving his phone plugged into the charger back in the break room. He’d been too frantic to grab it.
“I left it in the break room.”
He looked at Suhyeong with a ghost-pale face.
“…Going back to get it is impossible, right?”
“Yeah.”
His immediate answer, without a second of hesitation, made Jiyeon’s shoulders sag.
“I still have a year of payments left on that phone… and my mom’s going to call…”
Jiyeon bit his lip, anxiety clearly showing on his face. The expensive phone was one thing, but what really worried him was his mother. She relied on him so heavily it sometimes stressed him out, and if she couldn’t reach him in a situation like this, she might actually faint. Imagining her panicking and crying over not hearing from him made his chest tighten.
Their relationship was both ordinary and not. Maybe his mother thought a broken family from divorce was a flaw. She worked tirelessly to make herself and her son appear ideal and perfect. Because of that, from a young age, Jiyeon had always shown only the version of himself she wanted to see, and she found emotional stability in that.
“What do I do…”
“Jiyeon.”
Suhyeong had been watching him quietly, and now he held something out toward him, his phone.
“Use mine. Call your parents first.”
“…Thank you. Ahem. Cough.”
Embarrassed, Jiyeon cleared his throat for no reason as he accepted the phone. He hesitated under Suhyeong’s gaze, then typed in his mother’s number.
“Huh?”
He pressed the call button, but after a moment he frowned and checked the screen against his ear.
“Why isn’t it ringing?”
“Is something wrong?”
“Wait… no, still nothing.”
He should’ve heard the call tone, durururu, but instead the screen only flashed “Connecting,” without a single sound.
“Let me see.”
Suhyeong took the phone back, checked something, then immediately knit his brows.
“Great. They blocked the network.”
“…What?”
“That was fast. Are they really planning to turn this place into a Black Zone?”
With a grim face, he sighed under his breath. The mild peace Jiyeon had felt a moment earlier vanished; his heart dropped.
“Don’t worry too much. You’re getting out of this city before that happens.”
Saying that, his face looked firm and resolute, yet strangely hollow and pessimistic at the same time.
Once the bag was packed, Suhyeong suggested they rest in the fifth-floor office before heading down. Jiyeon was relieved. Moments ago, he’d been desperate to get out of the building, but now he was utterly drained. Moving any more like this was impossible.
“Then… can I sleep for a bit?”
“Go ahead.”
With his permission, Jiyeon reclined the office chair as far as it would go, pulled someone’s long padded coat over himself like a blanket, and closed his eyes. He was so exhausted that the moment he shut them, he fell straight into a dark, bottomless pit of sleep.
Suhyeong watched him silently, then turned off the office lights and walked to the window. He lifted the blinds slightly and looked outside.
Dozens of mutants were staggering around the streets and sidewalks. In just a few hours, the once-busy business district had turned into a cold, death-filled wasteland.
“Ha… damn.”
He swore under his breath and dragged a hand over his drained face. Heat roiled inside him, as if he had swallowed something scalding without letting it cool. His miserable, brutal life infuriated him. If there really was a god in this world, this shouldn’t have happened. He should not have been thrown into hell twice.
He had pretended to be calm in front of Jiyeon, but inside he was anything but. He clenched his fists and took deep breaths over and over just to avoid smashing everything in sight. He couldn’t let Jiyeon see him lose control.
Hours passed like that. The sun began to set, and a blazing red glow slipped through the white blinds. The same crimson light settled over Jiyeon’s sleeping body.
“Ah.”
Staring quietly at Jiyeon’s peaceful face, Suhyeong suddenly let out a soft exhale, as if something had clicked into place. Seeing him sleep so calmly made him wonder if maybe this wasn’t a curse from God, but a chance to atone.
A final opportunity given to the man who had killed his own parents.
“I’ll save you…”
He knelt on one knee before Jiyeon and lightly touched the hand dangling over the armrest.
“You… definitely…”
Even though two group members didn’t show up to the meeting, once the three of them put their heads together and organized the material, the hopeless assignment slowly started taking shape.
“Should we take a break for a bit?”
After about an hour, Suhyeong suggested a rest first. At his words, Jiyeon stretched and stood up.
“Then I’ll go to the restroom for a moment.”
“Me too.”
The other member followed Jiyeon out of their seats. Suhyeong nodded and began tidying up the printed materials he had been reviewing.
A few minutes later, as Jiyeon came out of the restroom shaking water from his hands, he tilted his head at the empty seats.
“Huh. Where did everyone go?”
He expected Suhyeong to still be there, but he was nowhere in sight. Instead, the table was cluttered with a laptop whose screen was still on, an empty drink cup, and plates from eaten cake. Jiyeon sighed and began cleaning up the table.
“I should buy something too.”
Seeing the empty plates and cups made him realize he’d only been treated by Suhyeong. Even if he was the senior, it didn’t feel right to keep accepting without giving back. Jiyeon figured it would be better to buy a few more slices of cake, so he grabbed his wallet and headed to the first-floor counter.
What is he doing?
The missing Suhyeong was standing in front of the self-cleaning station. He scrubbed his face roughly, looking exhausted, then began tearing something in his hand into shreds.
“Ha… this trash is what they call research material? Tsk.”
His voice was irritated, completely different from his usual self. Shocked, Jiyeon sucked in a quiet breath and hid behind the wall.
After tossing the shredded papers into the trash, Suhyeong went back upstairs. Only when he disappeared did Jiyeon cautiously approach the cleaning station and pick up the torn pieces scattered around the trash can. It felt a little shady, but he couldn’t help wanting to know what had made Suhyeong’s expression twist like that.
“……”
The pieces he examined made shock rise across Jiyeon’s face. What Suhyeong had torn was the material prepared by the group members who’d skipped the meeting today.
Only then did Jiyeon finally understand the vague discomfort he’d always felt toward him. He always tried to win everyone’s favor, acting kind and good-natured, but that wasn’t his real self at all.
“Just like my mom…”
He thought of his mother, someone who tried so hard to appear flawless and lacking nothing in front of others. Jiyeon didn’t know what was behind Suhyeong’s behavior, but the resemblance made him smile bitterly. He tossed the remaining scraps into the trash.
And just like that, the group project that fell squarely on Suhyeong’s shoulders ended smoothly thanks to his impeccable presentation. The freeloaders received full credit without any penalty. They didn’t even thank him. Anyone else might’ve snapped at least once, but Suhyeong didn’t say a single harsh word.
“Sunbae.”
Unable to hold it back anymore, Jiyeon called out to him after class.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you angry?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“You… you seem like someone who’s just trying to look good in front of others. But that’s not really what you want, is it?”
Looking back, it was a rude and arrogant thing to say. At his words, Suhyeong blinked widely in surprise, then smiled the same gentle smile he always did. Jiyeon instantly recognized it as a practiced expression.
“Is that how I looked to you?”
“……”
“Oh. Guess you caught me.”
His mutter sounded more bitter than anything else, and even a little forlorn. Jiyeon hurried to speak again.
“I… I just think… when something makes you angry, you should be able to complain or get mad like everyone else. You don’t have to force yourself. You’re already cool enough as you are…”
“……”
“I’m sorry if I crossed a line.”
Realizing too late how presumptuous he had been, Jiyeon lowered his head and apologized.
“No. Thanks.”
With an unreadable expression, Suhyeong looked at him for a moment, then left the lecture room with that single reply.
And after that day, the two never directly interacted again. Because of that, Jiyeon eventually forgot what he had said to him back then.
When they met again after graduating, at the company he barely managed to get into, Suhyeong was still putting on the same pleasant, agreeable facade.
“Uugh…”
Jiyeon woke up only after the sun had completely set. A groan escaped him as intense muscle aches shot through his whole body. Startled by the dim office, he bolted upright. The loud movement made Suhyeong, who was sitting next to him using a computer, turn his head.
“Sleep well?”
“Heh…”
For a moment, Jiyeon thought he had fallen asleep during work and missed the end of the day. Embarrassed, he gave a weak laugh and glanced at Suhyeong’s monitor. He’d been playing Minesweeper. On expert mode, at that.
“…Freak.”
“What? What did you say? Ah, damn. Stepped on a mine.”
“……”
Even after seeing coworkers torn apart by mutants, killing one himself with a golf club, and surviving the chaos in the supply room, Suhyeong was calmly playing Minesweeper as if nothing had happened. Jiyeon could only shake his head in disbelief. Still, he knew he survived because of him. Without Suhyeong, he would’ve panicked and ended up mutant food.
“What time is it?”
“Hmm. Seven.”
Startled, Jiyeon checked the clock at the bottom of the screen himself. It really was just past seven.
“I’m sorry. I slept too long.”
He apologized for leaving Suhyeong alone in the office for so long. Suhyeong shrugged, unbothered.
“It’s fine. You’ve worked overtime three days straight. You should’ve exercised a bit though. You looked like you were dying earlier when we were running.”
There was no malice, but the words still stung. Jiyeon laughed awkwardly and ducked his head to avoid his gaze.
“Once we get out of here, come work out with me.”
“H-huh? Work out?”
At the unexpected suggestion, Jiyeon snapped his head up. Their eyes met, and Suhyeong smiled, eyes crinkling.
“What’s with that reaction? You don’t want to work out with me?”
“N-no… it’s not that…”
Of course he didn’t want to. As if losing precious weekends wasn’t enough, now he had to go to the gym with him? It was far from appealing.
“Yeah… working out sounds great…”
Jiyeon forced a faint smile and trailed off. He couldn’t possibly say what he really thought. And honestly, if they made it out alive, he felt like he could survive anything.
“Then let’s stay here tonight and head down tomorrow.”
“Huh? Not right away?”
“It’s late. Even if we leave now, we’d need to find a place to sleep. Might as well stay here until sunrise.”
“Oh…”
He was right. It wasn’t summer, there was no surviving a freezing winter night outside. Even though he slept for hours, it had been in a stiff office chair, and his body still felt dead. If he forced himself outside now, he’d only drag Suhyeong down.
“Here. Eat this and recharge.”
Somehow, Suhyeong handed him an energy bar. Jiyeon gave a faint smile. Maybe it was because of the crisis, but for the first time, his kindness didn’t feel burdensome, it felt comforting.
As the night deepened, Suhyeong grabbed the long padded coats and overcoats employees had left on their chairs and tossed them onto the floor.
“Jiyeon. Come lie down here.”
“Sorry?”
When Jiyeon just stood there blankly, Suhyeong sat on the long padded coat he had laid out on the floor and patted the spot beside him.
“What are you doing? Lie down.”
“Here?!”
“Then what, are you planning to sleep all night sitting in a chair? You’ll wreck your back. And you know a man’s back is his lifeline, right?”
It sounded like something an old man would say, but Jiyeon reluctantly sat down on the makeshift bedding Suhyeong had arranged. Even though it had been thrown together in a rush, the down-filled coats made it a lot softer and cozier than a stiff office chair.
“I said lie down.”
“W-wait…!”
Suhyeong grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back until Jiyeon was lying fully down, then lay right beside him. As soon as they lay next to each other, the cold air that filled the office seemed to vanish like a lie.
“It’s cold. Move closer.”
“……”
Feeling the warmth of Suhyeong’s breath brushing directly against his ear, Jiyeon shrank his neck and rolled over to show his back. Suhyeong chuckled low, then wrapped an arm around Jiyeon’s waist.
“People die of hypothermia in winter more often than you think. So stay like this.”
Because he brought up hypothermia, Jiyeon couldn’t quite bring himself to shove away the hand around his waist.
“……”
“……”
Before he knew it, the sound of Suhyeong’s breathing against his ear and shoulder grew calm, maybe he’d already fallen asleep. Jiyeon closed his eyes too, trying to drift off. But despite how exhausted he was, he couldn’t fall asleep.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
His heart pounded loud and fast, so loud it filled the quiet office. Neither his mother nor father had ever held him like this… maybe it was because someone else’s body heat pressed close was unfamiliar, or because the tension in his heart had loosened just enough for old buried sadness to seep through. Whatever the reason, his heart beat unnaturally fast.
“Hah…”
Jiyeon closed his eyes. He let out long, trembling breaths, syncing them with the steady rise and fall of Suhyeong’s breathing at his shoulder. After several shared breaths, the stiffness in his tense body slowly melted away, and a relentless sleepiness washed over him.
Right before he fully drifted beyond consciousness, Jiyeon briefly thought that, for a world that had ended overnight, this night was almost too warm.
And so, another day passed in the company building.