Plus
She had a nightmare.
It was about the first-year kid who had died yesterday — wailing, clinging to her ankle, refusing to let go. The zombie sounds coming from every direction made Soeun kick out in her sleep, her foot catching the dream-figure square in the head, and that was enough to snap her awake.
At least she managed not to wake up screaming like a mess. But there was no chance her condition that morning was going to be good.
It wasn't just the nightmare. There was the bare wooden floor for a bed — no pillow, no blanket — and the constant dread that teeth could come lunging for her from anywhere, at any moment. That anxiety had a grip on Soeun and would not let go. Under those conditions, sleeping well was a fantasy in itself.
"Ahhh… I slept great."
"…"
That thought was cut short by a single line from Chaeyeon, who was right beside her, stretching with everything she had as she sat up.
Soeun watched Chaeyeon — who looked genuinely refreshed, not just saying so — then turned her head away.
I'm too tired to even call her out on it anymore.
But to Hyeonmin, who had only met Chaeyeon yesterday, it looked every bit as absurd as it sounded.
"Glad you slept well… I spent the whole night not even knowing if my eyes were open or closed."
"Huh? Why? You locked the doors with me, senpai. You know how thorough we were."
"Even if I want to feel safe rationally, my instincts just won't allow it…"
Hyeonmin muttered it through hollow eyes ringed with dark circles, then staggered to his feet and headed slowly toward the gym office.
"I'll grab the supplements… Gotta eat something for breakfast, even if it's just that."
He was going for the only food they'd found while searching yesterday. Chaeyeon watched him go, then whipped her head around — and Haejun, who had been sitting quietly, flinched hard under her gaze.
"Hey. How's the cheek?"
"…It's fine, more or less. But you were the one who hit me in the first place…"
"You did something that deserved it. At least there's no bruise. Lucky you."
A bruise. Haejun had felt, in his own body, just how possible it was for a single slap from a girl to leave that kind of mark. The terror that had come from facing the living dead — the horror made flesh — had been wiped clean by one open-handed strike.
"…Wait. So I'm not the only one you've hit?"
"Yeah. There was one. Back in middle school. I was so furious I put everything into it, and half his face turned black-red with bruising. Seeing that, my anger just… evaporated."
"…What the hell did he do?"
"Kept hitting on me even after I said no. Then he grabbed me on the way home from school and tried to jump me."
"Ah. That bastard."
"Yeah. He stopped showing up at school after that day, which was weird. That wasn't you, was it, Kang Soeun?"
"…"
Soeun looked away from Chaeyeon's eyes, sweating.
Her instincts are ridiculously sharp…
Haejun watched the two girls, rubbing his cheek as the swelling slowly faded, then lowered his hand and spoke.
"…So. What do we do now?"
A brief silence. Chaeyeon met Soeun's eyes and opened her mouth.
"The plan to get out of the school stays the same. Things got a little twisted, but still."
"…Not a little twisted. Someone died."
Soeun said it quietly, and Chaeyeon answered.
"He brought it on himself. It's nobody's fault. So don't dwell on it, Kang Soeun."
"How am I supposed to not dwell on it? A person died."
"Like I said. He brought it on himself—"
"That's not the point!!!"
Soeun's voice rose without warning.
"Whether he brought it on himself or not! A person is dead! Im Chaeyeon! How can you say that so easily?!"
"…"
Chaeyeon just stared into Soeun's eyes and said nothing. Under that cold gaze, the surge of emotion in Soeun's chest slowly settled.
"…What I mean is, at the very least. We should offer some kind of comfort."
"To who? To you?"
"Obviously not me — to the one who died…!"
Chaeyeon cut her off as Soeun's voice started climbing again.
"Get a grip, Kang Soeun. I get what you're feeling right now. But from where I stand, the dead are just the dead. It's hard enough thinking about the rest of us who are still alive."
"…Sorry. I overdid it."
Soeun slowly dropped her gaze from Chaeyeon and muttered it.
The first-year's despairing eyes from the dream had risen up unbidden, and her feelings had gotten away from her. But it couldn't be helped. In reality — and only moments before — a kid who had still been breathing had been torn apart by monsters, and she had turned her back on that sight and run. Guilt, helplessness, all of it swirling together was, in a way, the natural course for anyone still human.
…And Im Chaeyeon should be the same.
How could she stay that calm, every single time?
Soeun watched Chaeyeon thinking through the plan ahead. Yesterday, when the accident happened during their escape on the curtain rope, it had been Chaeyeon who half-dragged the terrified Soeun and the others to safety. And later, when everyone in the gym was crushed under that bleak mood, Chaeyeon alone had gone looking for food and scouting through the windows — that image was still vivid. She was Soeun's closest friend, and yet now she felt almost completely alien.
…But so what. She's my friend.
Soeun shook her head slightly and let it go. Weird personality or not — what did it matter? In a situation this insane, that kind of temperament was almost ideal.
While both of them were lost in their own thoughts—
"Hey— hey, guys. Come here a second!"
Hyeonmin's voice suddenly shouted from the office. The two girls' eyes met for an instant, and then they were running.
"…Those are middle schoolers. Girls, too."
Haejun muttered, watching the two figures beyond the window. They were drawing closer, but still too far to make out faces. From the uniform colors and hair length, though, you could roughly tell.
"…What do we do. The path this way looks clear of zombies, but if they get spotted from somewhere else…"
Hyeonmin's face twisted as he ran the possibilities. If they could just make it to the gym entrance, the group could take them in. But if they got caught before that, none of it would matter. And going out to rescue them themselves was out of the question…
"I'll go real quick. I think there's a real shot."
"Wh— what?"
Hyeonmin stammered, certain he'd misheard. Haejun's mouth fell open in shock.
"…Are you insane?"
Soeun, of course, scowled hard and snapped.
"Go where? You don't remember how many were chasing me yesterday?"
"I just don't fight them all at once. Hit and run, grab those two, and come back—"
"Don't even start with that crap."
Soeun cut Chaeyeon's calm explanation off sharp.
"You think this is a game? What if you go out to save them and something happens to you? What am I supposed to do then?"
Chaeyeon took that murderous glare without flinching.
"I'm saying it because I'm confident nothing will happen."
She turned from the window and walked to a glass case in the corner of the office. With a familiar motion she worked the combination lock, then took out what was inside.
"Coach always used to say there'd come a day we'd need it."
Who would have thought that day would actually arrive.
Shhhk—!
With a flick of her wrist, the golden fleuret tore through the air with a vicious sound.
"It's decorative, sure, but it's pretty solid, right?"
Chaeyeon smiled brightly at all of them. Everyone was speechless. Soeun finally forced her mouth open.
"…Hey. Im Chaeyeon. Are you seriously, actually going out there?"
"So what, we abandon them? If I don't go, they're going to get caught for sure."
Running out in the open like that, there was no way the zombies wouldn't notice. Possibility or not — it was only a matter of time.
"I think you're painting me as too much of a cold-blooded bitch. Can't be helped, then."
"…Don't be ridiculous. You're going out for a reason that thin? What, you think you're the hero in some movie?"
This was reality, and she was just an ordinary eighteen-year-old with one life to lose.
Soeun stood blocking the office door, driving home the obvious. Chaeyeon looked at her for a moment — then broke into a genuine, wide smile, eyes crinkling.
"Actually… that first-year kid showed up in my dream too."
"…What?"
"If I'd just taught him a little better, he might have lived. But he died."
"…You said that wasn't anyone's fault. You said that."
"I did. That's the sentence I keep repeating to myself. But… maybe it's because of my dad."
I just can't take it at face value.
Chaeyeon looked toward the two figures drawing slowly closer to the gym, then walked over to Soeun and spoke.
"Kang Soeun. You know me. I don't say empty things."
I can do it, so I say I can. And I can save them, so I'm going to save them. That was all.
Only then did Soeun understand how deep Chaeyeon's resolve ran. Chaeyeon saw this hell of a reality clearly enough. She knew full well how precious her own life was — and because of that, she also knew other people's lives were just as precious.
In the end, Soeun looked away and stepped aside from the office door. Chaeyeon opened it at once and went out, murmuring one last thing over her shoulder.
"I'll be right back, so mix up some supplements and make them taste good."
"…We've only got strawberry. So no."
"I like strawberry, though?"
She was walking out with her life on the line — and Soeun was certain she saw it.
The clear, unmistakable smile on Chaeyeon's lips.