Train to Ulsan Premiere
The cold had lifted, and the warmth of spring carried the scent of blossoms through the streets.
Seoul Gigabox Art Hall.
The place was always crowded, but today the throng of people had swollen into a sea of bodies.
"Hell yeah! Winning that lottery draw is insane."
"I'm gonna brag to everyone that I saw the movie first."
"But what if it sucks?"
"Then we still tell people it was good. We earned this, damn it."
"I'm posting this on Insta. Gimme the ticket."
"Here."
Click—
"Dude, why are you stuffing in so many hashtags?"
"That's how you get attention, okay?"
"We will begin seating for the Train to Ulsan premiere shortly. Please have your tickets ready in advance, form an orderly line, and mind your safety as you enter."
"Oh! They're letting us in. Let's get in line."
"Okay!"
Today was the premiere screening of Train to Ulsan.
The two men filed in and took their assigned seats.
"Hey, when do we actually get to see the celebrities?"
"They'll probably do a stage greeting after the movie, right? I dunno — first time for me too."
"Huh. Fair enough."
Once everyone had settled in, a man in a suit stepped in front of the screen with a microphone.
"Ahem."
"Can everyone hear me?"
"Yes—!"
"Great. Wonderful. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the premiere of Train to Ulsan. I'm your MC for this evening…"
"As we already informed you beforehand — and as you all signed in the terms — let me reiterate: any unauthorized recording or spoiler leaks may result in legal action. We'd be grateful if you could hold off until the official release date."
"And of course, even after it opens, no spoilers. You know that, right?"
"Hahaha—"
"Alright! I'll see you all again shortly. Enjoy the film!"
The MC finished, and the lights went out.
"It's finally starting!"
"Shhh—!"
The man who'd come with his friend had tried to keep his voice down, but even that was apparently too loud — he got shushed.
Hup—
The darkened hall. The screen brightened, and the footage began to roll.
A cute little character bounced across the frame and ducked into a hat; what emerged from inside was the studio's name.
The screen shifted, and the movie began in earnest.
On screen, a man standing in the middle of a street suddenly began drooling, his eyes rolling back into his head.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!"
Before anyone could stop him, the man bit into the woman beside him. Screams erupted across a street already painted in blood.
Whoa.
In an instant the street had become pure chaos. People fled while others scrambled to film the carnage on their phones.
The scene cut. The camera pointed at a ceiling, then slowly tracked downward until it settled on the seats inside a train station.
And then — dialogue.
"Ugh! Unnie! I said I got it, okay? Can you please stop nagging me already!!"
Wait — Yu Ha-yeong?
The woman sitting in the seat, snapping irritably, was Yu Ha-yeong — the same actress who'd recently appeared in Forest of Crime.
What? She wasn't listed in the cast…
While he was still processing that, another voice cut in.
"Make sure you eat properly. And call Mom and Dad more often."
!!!?
An entirely unexpected face appeared on screen.
A murmur swept the theater. No words were audible, but the sudden stir around him was unmistakable.
A surprise appearance? A cameo, then?
Either way, the shock was real. If the director had planned this, it was a complete success.
The premiere audience was stunned — but the film had no interest in waiting for them to recover. The story pressed on.
Ugh!! That has to hurt…
Yu Ha-yeong's — no, Choi Su-a's — jeans were slowly darkening with red.
"Get up!! We have to run! Hurry!!"
Gil Ara, now Choi Su-yeong, seized her sister's hand and ran for her life.
"Hah! U-Unnie!!"
"Hah—! Just— a second!"
The two sisters chased the departing train, pounding desperately on the closed doors.
"Pl-please!! Just let us on!!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!"
Behind them, citizens already turned into zombies were closing in.
"Please!!!"
Hurry!! Open the door!!
Before they knew it, the premiere audience had sunk deep into the film, silently willing the two sisters to be saved.
And perhaps that wish reached them.
The door slid open, and Lee Ji-hoon — Gong Woo-bin — thrust out his hand.
"Quick!! Take my hand!!"
They grabbed on and, by a hair's breadth, slipped inside the train before the zombies could seize them.
Phew…
Breath returned. All around the theater, sighs of relief began to rise.
A brief lull in the story — a moment to catch one's breath. The man who'd been watching, fully immersed, thought to himself:
Damn… this is actually good?
It was far more gripping and entertaining than he'd expected. And this was still only the beginning.
On top of that — the surprise appearances of Yu Ha-yeong and Gil Ara. Gil Ara, especially, was astonishing.
I can't see Lee Eun-ju in her at all.
The public had half-jokingly nicknamed her Gwang-nyeon-i, and the impact of Lee Eun-ju had been enormous. But in these few short moments, there wasn't so much as a trace of that character's scent.
Surely everyone else was thinking the same thing.
But the film had no intention of giving the audience time to dwell on it.
"Haaah!! Young lady!!"
Kim Jin-ok — Ye Ju-hui — pointed with a trembling fingertip at Choi Su-a's leg. It was soaked in red.
"G-Get away from her!!!"
Wait — that's from earlier?!
The cruel gap in information. The audience knew. The people inside the story did not.
"Wait!! It's not what you think!!"
"That's right!!! It's just a tear!! She just got hurt, that's all!!"
"This woman is fine!! If she were going to turn, she would've turned already!!"
The two sisters denied it, and Lee Ji-hoon defended them alongside — but the terrified passengers had already stopped listening.
The expected turn of events. People in a panic always end up doing something irrational.
Under the lead of Lee Gi-jeong — Hong Dong-geon — and Kim Jin-ok, Choi Su-a was sealed off alone in a car that zombies were about to overrun.
And then they turned to her older sister, Choi Su-yeong.
"The living have to live!! Hurry!!"
The line was so repellent it turned the audience's stomachs.
And then the next scene.
Ah…
He'd seen it coming. But the hollow ache in his chest was unavoidable.
BOOM!!!!
Choi Su-yeong stayed behind with her.
"It's okay."
A warm voice, soothing a terrified little sister.
"I'm your unnie. Unnie's right here."
She undid her belt and bound their arms tightly together.
"Even if you end up like that… I'll protect you. I promise, Su-a."
BOOM!!!
The bulkhead door was on the verge of giving way. Choi Su-yeong held her sister in a crushing embrace.
Where her sister's eyes couldn't see, her hands were trembling.
BOOM!!!
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
The door finally burst open, and the zombies charged the two sisters huddled on the floor.
"My little sister—"
THUD!!!
With those final words and a tremendous crash, the screen went black.
TRAIN TO ULSAN
The title filled the screen, and the prologue was over.
An empty disaster alert tone chimed. Sirens wailed beyond a window. The black screen gradually brightened, revealing the remaining survivors inside the train.
Holy… shit…
The man watching rubbed at something hazy clouding his vision and flicked it away. Looking around, he saw most of the people nearby sniffling. They were probably feeling the same thing.
Goddamn it…
Regardless of how the audience felt, the film started up again.
Time passed, and the story reached its midpoint. The audience was even more deeply immersed now — because it was that good.
Ahead of the train, a sharp curve came into view. At this speed, a catastrophe was inevitable. They needed to slow down — but the forward cars had already been overrun by zombies.
"Everyone down!!!!"
Lee Ji-hoon's shout rang out.
BOOM! CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!!!
With a colossal roar, the train finally derailed and flipped.
"Aaaagh!"
"Uuuugh!"
Survivors began crawling out of the overturned wreckage.
"W-We're almost to Ul-Ulsan."
"The army!! Where's the army!! The radio said they were in Ulsan!!"
"Shh!! Please keep your voice down. We still have a little farther to go. Let's move."
"Kyaak—"
It wasn't only survivors emerging from the train.
"Damn it!!!"
The chase began again, and sweat beaded on the audience's palms.
"Kraaaagh!!"
One by one, the survivors were overtaken by the zombies. And those who were caught soon became the same as their pursuers, joining the hunt for the main group.
Lee Ji-hoon's hollow eyes stared ahead. There were no more survivors walking with him.
Hah— hah—
It hadn't even been a full day, but he looked like a man who hadn't washed in a month. He was barely holding on to his sanity. On the verge of collapse — but he couldn't stop walking.
Barbed wire stretched evenly around him. Proof that the military was nearby.
Step by step, he forced his feet forward.
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
He flinched. In the dead silence of Lee Ji-hoon's solitary walk, a zombie suddenly lunged from the corner of a building beside him.
The entire audience jumped.
"Kh—!"
Caught off guard, Lee Ji-hoon went tumbling across the ground with the zombie.
"Shiiiiiiit!"
A desperate struggle followed. Flat on his back, Lee Ji-hoon strained with everything he had to keep the zombie's mouth from reaching him.
"Uwaaaaaagh!!!"
But he hadn't slept. He hadn't eaten. His strength was draining, and the zombie's face drew closer — when suddenly:
Whoosh—
"Huh?"
Something punched through the zombie's skull.
BANG!!
Less than a second later, a gunshot echoed from far away. The force drained from the zombie's body, its head blown open.
"Hah— hah—"
Lee Ji-hoon shoved the corpse aside and pushed himself up.
Rrrrrrumble—
In the distance, the sound of military vehicles approaching.
"Haa…"
A soldier climbed down from a vehicle, K-2 rifle in hand, and approached.
Static—
"This is Charlie. Survivor is secure. Over."
Static—
"This is Bravo. Copy that. Over."
The soldier spoke into his radio.
"Are you all right, sir?"
"Yes…"
"We'll need to check you over for a moment."
The soldiers began examining every inch of his body. Then their eyes locked on one spot.
A clear set of teeth marks on his forearm.
Lee Ji-hoon saw it at the same time.
…
…
Silence.
And what broke it was the soldier with the radio.
"Bravo, this is Charlie. Correction. Infected only. No survivors. Over."
"Charlie, this is Bravo. Copy. Dispose and return ASAP. Over."
The transmission ended. A muzzle leveled at him.
"I'm sorry. There's no other way."
"Ha… shit…"
BANG—!!!
Lee Ji-hoon's body crumpled.
…
…
…
A suffocating silence. The film showed the final fate of those who had lost their humanity, and the screen went black.
And a moment later.
Beneath a bright sky, a woman drenched in blood stood in the middle of a street among the zombies.
A belt was tied around her left arm. Another arm was bound to it — but it had been torn free somehow, and its owner was nowhere to be found.
Those yellow eyes, transformed into a zombie's, slowly filled the frame in a close-up.
TRAIN TO ULSAN
The title hit the screen, and the house lights came up.
"Whoa… that was fucking awesome."
"Holy shit. They all died."
"Never mind that — what the hell was Yu Ha-yeong and Gil Ara doing in there???"
Everywhere you looked, it was the same conversation.
Gil Ara had appeared for maybe five minutes at the start and then vanished. As the long film wore on, she'd gradually faded from memory — only to reappear at the very end in that horrifying form.
"Right? And where the hell did she lose her little sister?"
"That's just wrong, man."
"But damn, Gwang-nyeon-i's acting is insane???"
"I cried like an idiot. So embarrassing."
"Anyway, that was seriously good."
"Agreed. I'm coming back when it opens."
"Wait. Hold on. You don't think Yu Ha-yeong and Gil Ara are actually here tonight?"
"Holy shit, that would be huge. Please let them be here."
The audience was still deep in discussion about the film when—
"Alright, everyone! Did you enjoy it? I watched it with you and I thought it was fantastic — how about all of you?"
"It was great—!"
"Then we should introduce today's stars, shouldn't we?!"
"Woooooooo!!!!"
Cheers erupted through the theater.
"They're coming out!! Give them a big round of applause!!!"
The MC finished, and the audience began to clap.
Clap clap clap clap clap—
The front doors opened, and the main production crew filed in one by one, including Yu Hui-min.
And then—
"Wooooooo!!!"
The cheers swelled even louder as Gong Woo-bin — lead actor, Lee Ji-hoon — made his entrance.
The rest of the cast followed. But somehow, when Hong Dong-geon and Ye Ju-hui walked out, a distinctly cold gaze greeted them.
Hahahaha.
We saw that coming, honestly.
"Everyone! The applause and cheers are a little quiet! Louder!!"
Fortunately, the MC managed to lift the mood again.
Most of the cast had now entered. Only two roles still burned in the audience's memory remained.
They waited with bated breath.
Are they actually coming?!
Please please please please—
"And that concludes it! Presenting the stars of Train to Ulsan!!"
The doors closed.
Great expectations always breed great disappointment. In the end, Ara and Ha-yeong did not appear at the premiere — but there was nothing to be done about it.
That said, that was that. The audience poured another round of generous applause and cheers onto the actors and crew who had shown up.
"Alright, everyone! Hold on just a moment."
The MC cut the flow short.
"?"
"?"
"?"
"There are still a few people who haven't come out yet!"
"Huh?"
"No way???"
"Wait, for real?"
A buzz swept the theater in an instant.
"Continuing the introductions!!!"
Clack—
"Making a special appearance in Train to Ulsan!!"
Yu Ha-yeong stepped through the door first.
"Yu Ha-yeong!!!"
And right behind her, Gil Ara walked in.
"And Miss Gil Ara!!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"