HONGJOONG took a deep breath as he gestured on Yeosang to follow him in which the younger male nodded and silently followed him, the redhead can't help but chuckle on Yeosang.

"Seems like there are still stuff that hasn't changed even though ten years have already passed," Hongjoong said as he smiled at the brunette.

"What?" Yeosang asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"You're still that quiet and cooperative Yeosang that we knew," Hongjoong stated, "We're almost there, Yeosang."

Hongjoong opened a door that leads to a room filled with a lot of blueprints including a lot of monitors that seems to be showing the footage of different areas in the whole town. Yeosang noticed some paperworks on the side of the room along with a long table with eight chairs in it, typewriters with papers messily placed in it.

"Sorry for the mess. I haven't cleaned it up and Seonghwa would definitely scold me for this," Hongjoong sheepishly said, scratching his cheek "Anyway, Yeosang. What you're about to hear is probably going to shock you."

"Then what is it?" Yeosang asked, not caring about feeling any shock or fear because his curiosity is getting the best of him, "Sorry but I'm about to get so done with this delay of announcement. Kindly tell me the whole incident so I can understand what in the world is happening right now."

"Oh." Hongjoong gasped as he lets out an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

"Please tell me about it already," Yeosang deadpans.

"So about this incident. Everyone aside from the people in this factory is dead," Hongjoong stated.

"Even my grandparents?!" Yeosang startled as he widened his eyes.

"Your grandparents? As far as I can remember, they're not in this town. The only one that's here is the manor's caretaker and your family's servants." Hongjoong stated as he laughed in a sad tone, "Lucky you."

"Wait." Yeosang suddenly want to slam his head on the nearest wall.

He panicked because of something like this. His grandparents aren't in this town because they're in overseas having a trip and he overreacted, made a risky decision despite his whole family telling him not to come in this hometown no matter what happens.

"I'm so dumb." Yeosang mutters, hiding his whole face with both of his hands.

"For an unknown reason, we couldn't get out of this town. No matter how far we run, we always kept on coming back because of the intense fog." Hongjoong said while looking at one of the folders, "And the fact that you're here means that people can enter the town but cannot get out of here."

"What? Why?" Yeosang asked, frowning.

"It happened three days ago, Yeosang. It was one of our mundane everyday when a fog suddenly covered the borders of this town which made us curious. We tried running outside of the town but the fog seems to lead us back in this town," Hongjoong added as he sat on one of the chair in which Yeosang followed because he was getting tired on standing too much, "We told the town's mayor about this and also the policemen and they tried contacting the other stations for reinforcements but for a certain reason, our connections in it were cut off. We couldn't contact anyone from outside and we're already getting anxious and it became worse when we heard screams from Seonghwa, he ran to us screaming that the dead people in the morgue suddenly moved and attacked the living ones turning them like the dead ones."

"So... zombies.." Yeosang mutters.

"Nice guess but that's not it," Hongjoong said that it made Yeosang pout, the older male chuckled at his reaction "Zombies are slow and probably became alive to eat your flesh and brains, zombies are the undead ones that doesn't have enough intelligence or restraint on themselves. But those guys? Non. For the dead people, they're like us but more sinister and instead of eating people, they casually kills them that instantly turns the people that they killed like... them."

"But why?" Yeosang asked, "There must've been a reason why they did that.."

"That is what we're still trying to find out 'til now, Yeosang. The reason why this hell is currently happening in this town," Hongjoong said as he looks like he's in pain "I've seen a lot of death for the past three days, Yeosang. My friends, my family and even the neighbors that I greet everyday. I've seen them die and turn into something that's hideous. And the worst of all is that I have to kill them, I have to end their suffering or else, we'll be the ones that'll die."

"Aside from the fact that they're like humans, is there any additional observation about them? Like what are they talking about when they kill people?" Yeosang asked, trying to get more information.

"They kept on saying that they need the 'Eve' in order to attain 'Eden' and they're looking for it," Hongjoong stated, "Since it's an 'Eve', they're probably pertaining to a woman but who knows? They're weird shits."

"Is that all?" Yeosang asked.

"That's all that we have right now. I just hope that we'll gain more information about this so we can yeet ourselves outta this." Hongjoong said as he sighed.

"Seriously? Yeet?" Yeosang can't help but laugh at the redhead's choice of words.

As Yeosang excused himself, he immediately wandered around while holding his bags. There are rooms that are occupied and he can hear some faint sobs from the inside, he felt bad for them. Some of them probably witnessed how their friends and family died and here he is, the lucky guy that just got dragged in a chaotic situation because of his life decisions.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Yeosang looked at the blond male wearing a lab coat, he noticed that he was one of the six people that welcomed him when he arrived in this factory. Based from this guy's get-up, he's probably a doctor.

"Excuse me?" Yeosang stated, raising an eyebrow on this male.

The blond male laughs, "Oh dear. You've became more savage than before, Sangie~"

"Sangie?" Yeosang asked, "I'm sorry but I really couldn't remember anyone else aside from Wooyoung."

"Of course, you wouldn't forget your bestfriend. But he hates you for leaving this town in all of the sudden, he got attached to you too much that when you left, he couldn't accept the fact that his loneliness turned into hate." the blond male stated as he reached his hand out for Yeosang's "Since you can't remember me then might as well introduce myself again, right? I'm Park Seonghwa."

"Seonghwa. Oh. The dude that saw the corpses rose from the dead," Yeosang said as he shook Seonghwa's hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Darn. Hongjoong told you that, right?" Yeosang nodded which made Seonghwa roll his eyes, "That bitch's gonna get thrown out of this place."

"That must've been scary, huh?" Yeosang said, smiling at him.

"No shit, Sherlock." Seonghwa's face paled as he remembered the whole incident, "I just delivered the recent corpse and the moment I was about to get out, they suddenly stood so I ran as far as I can."

"Would do the same though." Yeosang stated.

"It was nice seeing you again, Yeosang. You used to be a cute little boy that barely talks but now, you've grown well." Seonghwa said as he ruffled Yeosang's hair.

Yeosang glared at the taller male, "Stop that."

"What? You used to like when I ruffle your hair and headpats!" Seonghwa beamed.

Yeosang grunted in annoyance, "Please."

"So cute~" Seonghwa cooed, chuckling at how Yeosang still glares at him and unconsciously pouting his lips.

"Stop it," Yeosang said as he slapped Seonghwa's hand.

"Sorry, I just missed you." Seonghwa stated, smiling apologetically at him, "Anyway, did Hongjoong told you the important ones? Would you listen to my ramblings about the minor informations about this incident?"

"Sure. Why not?" Yeosang asked.

"Thank you but first, let's go to the office and I'll show you some folders." Seonghwa said as he took one of Yeosang's bag "I'll carry these for you."

Luckily, Seonghwa's office is just a few feet away from where they met. Yeosang immediately dropped his bags and sat on the swivel chair as Seonghwa sat on the other chair while passing some folders to Yeosang. The brunette immediately read the contents and much to his dismay, he couldn't understand a thing so he gave up and gave it back to Seonghwa.

"I'm sorry but I'm a dumbass with regretful life decisions so kindly explain it in a way that a dumb person like me could understand it," Yeosang stated as he crossed his arms.

"Oh." The gesture made Seonghwa laugh at the brunette and prevented himself on pinching his cheeks "So where should I start?"

"I don't know. Feel free to start on anywhere."

"Sure. So I'm going to explain to you one of our observation, it's obvious that blue and black veins can be seen from the 'blackened'. We actually captured one of them, someone that was just killed by the real corpses that suddenly became alive. The thing is that their organs are functioning really well as if it became something new but turned them into 'blackened' ones with a new point of living," Seonghwa stated as he showed him a picture of a 'blackened' person, "Even after they were killed, they suddenly became like a 'blackened' one and their organs started working again."

"The fuck is wrong with this town?" Yeosang muttered, frowning.

"I don't even know. It's like they were revive but only for the purpose of getting the 'Eve' that they kept on muttering," Seonghwa stated as he closed the folder, "Aside from that, this town has more than five hundred residents and the survivors are even below thirty. The sad thing is that we probably haven't killed half of the blackened ones."

"Holy shit." That was all that Yeosang can say. He imagined walking around the town surrounded by creatures like that lurking in there and it made him shudder in fear.

"That's tough. But I haven't even seen one aside from Yunho's 'dad' a while ago," Yeosang stated.

"About that, there's also one thing that bothers me." Seonghwa stated, "There's a certain time that they gather around on the town's park and also on other areas."

"What? For meetings?"

"Most likely. They still haven't found the 'Eve' that they're looking for," Seonghwa said as he took a deep breath, "This incident can't be explained by science at all. This is too absurd for the technology and experiments to comprehend, Yeosang."

"I see." Yeosang mutters as he looked away from Seonghwa.

For a certain reason, Yeosang can't just keep on staring at this man. He's too beautiful to look at, that probably laying his eyes on the beautiful man for a minute makes him feel weird. Park Seonghwa is too ethereal for this world, also for this weird incident.

"You must've been tired, Yeosang. And it's already 10 so you should rest," Seonghwa stated.

"Where?" Yeosang asked.

Seonghwa suddenly gasped and he literally slapped himself, "Oh. You've just arrived so you have no room yet. Unfortunately, most of the room is occupied but there's a room that someone might be willing to share with you."

"Yes please." Yeosang is just too tired from all that he heard so a good night sleep might be a good idea.

"I'll carry your bags, Yeosang." Seonghwa stated and before Yeosang could complain, Seonghwa already took all of his bags, "Follow me."

Yeosang just nodded as he followed the blond male while looking around the factory. As much as it looks worn out, it seems that they cleaned it up so it could be a bit presentable. The lights are also dimmed so Yeosang have to look clearly or else, he might mistook something.

"Sorry for the lights. We have to keep it dimmed around the halls and rooms because the blackened ones might notice our hide-out," Seonghwa stated, "We covered the windows so they won't be able to see the lights but we're still making sure of everything and the rooftop of this place is where we locate the safe areas and the ones that weren't. That's where we shoot some using a sniper too."

"A sniper? How did you get such an item in your hands?" Yeosang asked.

"In an apocalypse-like situation, the first thing that you should get is a weapon to protect yourself. The moment that the policemen are fighting against a hundred of blackened ones, I literally stole a lot of ammos, guns, explosives and the sniper then ran for my life in an another place." Seonghwa stated.

"Wow. You seem to be prepared for this," Yeosang stated.

"This is just what I've got from all the zombie movies and games that I've played, Sangie~" Seonghwa proudly says as he grinned at him, "It's a good thing that I've reunited with Hongjoong that hoarded a lot of goods before finding a hide-out."

"I see." Yeosang said as he yawned.

"We're here." Seonghwa immediately knocked on the door, "This is Seonghwa. Kindly open up the door."

Yeosang can hear a few steps before a click and the door opened, revealing one of the six men that welcomed him. An another blond man that is a bit shorter than Seonghwa but his body is more built than the eldest. The guy ruffled his messy hair as if it's annoyed on being distrubed on its sleep as a cute plush was in its arms.

The plush.

Yeosang suddenly felt shivers on the sight of the plush that the male is holding.

"Sorry for disturbing you but can you let him stay there for a while? The bed's big enough for two people," Seonghwa stated as he lets out an apologetic smile towards the shorter male, "Please?"

"Ah. Sure," the male stated as he opened the door in a wide way, "Bring his stuff in."

"Thank you kindly," Yeosang said as he yawned once again, "Sorry. I'm really tired."

"It's alright," the blond male stated.

Seonghwa immediately dropped the bags carefully as he excused himself, the blond male closed the door while Yeosang lets himself fall to the bed.

"You're Kang Yeosang, right? Nice to meet you! I'm San!" the blond male, San stated.

"N-Nice to meet you." Yeosang mutters as he can feel his eyelids getting heavier, "Sleep."

"Oh. Go ahead," San said as he sat beside the bed.

The last thing that Yeosang saw is a pair of crimson red orbs staring at him before the darkness engulfed him.

---
henlo! sorry for the crappy chapter! ;; ;; votes and comments are appreciated though~