The Weight of a Changing Future
"Just wait a moment. My foot is in this state..."
— Lee Sieun
I was not in my right mind. The only reason I had managed to survive in this hellish, godforsaken world was one thing: the fact that I was the original author of this novel. I held the advantage of information. I knew how this world functioned. I knew what caused what, and what consequences would follow.
…But that advantage was crumbling. The future was shifting. The sequence of events was becoming distorted. This wasn't the story I knew. If that was the case, what about me? Had I lost the only way to survive in this world?
"…Ha… Haa…"
My breath came in ragged gasps. My heart was pounding like a drum. My hands trembled. My head spun, and I felt my center of gravity slipping away. Am I going to die?
Just then.
"Lee Sieun! Get a hold of yourself!"
—Thump!
Jang Yeeun grabbed both of my shoulders tightly. Her strength anchored me back to reality. Her hands suppressed the terror rising in my chest. She pressed her forehead against mine, holding me firmly in place.
"…!"
It was close. Too close. Our breaths mingled, and her body heat seeped into me. I looked into her eyes. Deep, dark, obsidian pupils. And within them—I saw the reflection of my own crimson eyes.
"Remember? We agreed to drop the formalities from now on."
"…Yeah."
I barely managed to pull myself together. Only then could I see the situation behind her. The Security Force. They were surrounding us. Their expressions were filled with hostility and suspicion. Their weapons were pointed in our direction.
I raised my hand.
"…Just a moment."
At that instant, the Security Force and the soldiers from Gongdeok Station lowered their muzzles toward the ground, though they didn't put their weapons away. Their vigilance hadn't faded yet. I nodded quietly and took a step forward. Then, I approached Second Lieutenant Jung Yihyun. He was still panting, looking at me with a bewildered expression.
"…First, I'd like to perform a body search. Would that be alright?"
Silence. In that brief moment, Jung Yihyun took a deep breath. Then, "Yes… Yes! Yes, yes!" He nodded frantically.
"Thank you…! Thank you so, so much…!"
His eyes glistened with the overwhelming emotion of having survived. But there was no time to get drunk on that feeling. I turned my head to scan the surroundings. Sound attracts the infected. This place was dangerous.
"…If there's any noise, the infected will swarm here. Let's head upstairs for now."
We walked toward the third basement level lobby, with me and Jang Yeeun in the center, the newly defected soldiers around us, and the Security Force surrounding them tightly. During the move, the soldiers' heavy breathing and the low murmurs of the Security Force were all that could be heard. Everyone was on edge. But since we didn't have the luxury of time, we kept moving in silence until we reached a wider space.
Finally, the third basement lobby. After checking the area and confirming there were no immediate threats, I turned to Mr. Kim Daeyang and said, "Please, conduct a body search on these people."
Mr. Kim Daeyang, with his air rifle slung over his shoulder, replied, "…Alright."
He walked over slowly and scanned me. Then he added, "But miss, your instep is swollen quite badly. Are you alright?"
…Excuse me? At that moment, I went blank. Only then did I realize it. My instep was severely swollen. The skin had turned purple, and it felt like something was tightly packed inside. Because my sense of pain had dulled, I hadn't noticed at all. My mind went white. When? Since when?
Then, Jang Yeeun, who was beside me, moved.
"…Sehee, no, Sieun."
She whispered softly, glaring at me, before suddenly tripping me.
"…Uh, ugh—!!"
The moment I lost my balance and tipped forward—she scooped me up. I was being carried bridal-style.
"…"
Jang Yeeun looked down at me with a smile. "It seems our 'Representative' was so excited that she didn't even notice she was hurt."
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!"
I was so embarrassed I couldn't breathe. Silence. The surrounding Security Force members, the soldiers, and even Mr. Kim Daeyang were staring straight at us. Mr. Kim Daeyang chuckled and slung his air rifle back over his shoulder.
"Take care of yourself, Representative."
He patted my shoulder. "…" Ah. Ah. Embarrassing. It was seriously, truly embarrassing. The man kept his smile as he walked toward the defected soldiers. "I don't have a hobby of looking at grown men naked!" He started disarming them while stretching. "Alright, alright, everyone put your weapons down. It feels gross to get stabbed in the back while being polite."
Meanwhile, I was still being carried bridal-style by Jang Yeeun, moved toward the medical officer's station. …It was incredibly humiliating. As I was being carried, I twisted my body slightly to protest. "Pu, put me down…"
But Jang Yeeun had no intention of listening. Instead, she buried her face in my chest. "…I can hear your heartbeat."
I froze instantly. Jang Yeeun, still leaning against my chest, slowly tilted her head to look up at me. Her eyes were deep and calm. "Sieun, you're a human being. A very kind one at that. You know that, right?" She smiled faintly.
"…"
I didn't know how to answer. That gaze seemed to pierce right through me. That soft tone of voice. The sensation that I was about to crumble. So, I slowly shook my head from side to side. "…I don't know."
That was the best answer I could give.
When we arrived at the medical officer's station, Jang Yeeun received bandages and medicine. "I've been injured a time or two while exercising, you know?" She chuckled familiarly and unwound the bandage. Her touch was warm. She wrapped the bandage around my instep with care, as if she were protecting something precious. I couldn't say a word, just feeling her touch in silence. Just then, the medical officer brought over a pair of crutches from somewhere. "Please use these. The bandage alone won't be enough to take the strain."
Just as I was about to stand up with Jang Yeeun's support, a man wearing a Security Force armband ran over urgently. "Physical examinations for everyone are complete. Aside from a few who are under additional observation due to minor scratches, there are no suspected infections. I've locked everyone else in solitary confinement for now."
That was a relief. "However…" The man hesitated slightly before continuing. "Second Lieutenant Jung Yihyun has requested a private meeting."
I chuckled. "Then we should meet him."
The man hesitated again. "Would you like an escort?"
I looked at Jang Yeeun. "Didn't you see her shooting that bow earlier? She's more than enough."
Jang Yeeun crossed her arms tightly beside me. She narrowed her eyes playfully and glared at me. "…It's troublesome if you underestimate me like that, you know?"
"Alright, shall we go?"
A short while later, we faced Jung Yihyun. Now that he was washed up, he looked quite sharp. …Well, not exactly handsome. Just decent enough to look at. I went to sit in a chair but stumbled slightly. At that moment, Jang Yeeun caught me quickly. Jung Yihyun's gaze, having witnessed that scene, drifted toward my foot.
I felt a sudden urge to tease him. "Just wait a moment. My foot is in this state…"
Jung Yihyun chuckled, and his tension seemed to finally dissipate. But I didn't miss the opening and went straight to the point. "City Hall Station, and Seoul Station. Tell me more about them in detail. Our situation isn't exactly overflowing with resources, either." I crossed my legs. "So, give us information worth enough for us to take you in."
Only then did Jung Yihyun pull himself together and begin to speak. "The troops that were defending Seoul City Hall all retreated to City Hall Station. There were over 800 troops."
I raised an eyebrow as I listened. "City Hall Station isn't a small station, but with military equipment, supplies, and the civilians flooding in… eventually, the density became incredibly high."
"How many were there?"
Jung Yihyun gave a bitter smile. "Nearly 4,000 people were crammed into that station."
…4,000 people. The hellish scene flashed through my mind. A dark underground space packed with people, making it hard to even breathe. Soldiers, civilians, the sound of wailing, and everyone's nerves frayed to the breaking point. "With that many people crowded together, control must have been difficult."
"Yes. That's why City Hall Station tried to contact the surrounding stations—Jonggak, Euljiro 1-ga, and Chungjeongno—to disperse the people."
Chungjeongno Station. That place was already ruined.
"But……" Jung Yihyun paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Contact with Chungjeongno Station was lost, and soon after, infected began to swarm from the Chungjeongno direction. Conflicts began to break out between the soldiers and civilians, and even within the military, complaints started to erupt. Then, we caught a radio transmission from the central government, and it was about a mutiny."
"A mutiny?"
At that moment, Jung Yihyun's eyes wavered. "Yes. Fights broke out between those who supported the mutiny and those who opposed it, and eventually, a horrific battle ensued where they killed each other. And many civilians died."
…Civilian massacre. Jang Yeeun gripped my hand lightly. "…And you survived and got out in the middle of all that."
Jung Yihyun nodded with a bitter expression. "I wanted to save at least my own platoon. So we fled toward Seoul Station, where the perimeter was loose. Fortunately, there weren't many infected at Seoul Station, and we took that chance to escape. But it was strange. As if the infected had moved somewhere else."
...I'll have to keep that in mind. For now, what mattered was, "I understand. Second Lieutenant Jung Yihyun. We will take you in."
Jung Yihyun's expression shifted into a mix of surprise and relief. "…Really?"
"Yes."
"However. From now on, you must follow our orders. You must move according to our methods. You can do that, right?"
Jung Yihyun clenched and unclenched his fists for a moment before nodding. "Understood. We will follow."
At those words, I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my forehead. …I thought I only had to deal with the infected. Do I have to prepare for battles between people now, too?