The frantic, desperate knocking was a stark, human sound against the mansion’s heavy, oppressive silence. It wasn't the mindless scrabbling of the creatures; it was a pattern, a plea.

Sae Joon Hyun was already moving before the third series of raps finished. He shoved aside the heavy cabinet they’d used to barricade the door, his muscles straining. He yanked the door open, and a figure half-fell, half-stumbled into the dim foyer.

Eunhye.

She was breathing in ragged, shallow gasps, her eyes wide with a terror that was still fresh. Her clothes were disheveled, and a smudge of dirt streaked across her cheek.

“Eunhye!” The name burst from Yuri’s lips, a sound of pure, unadulterated relief. She launched herself across the room, pulling her friend into a bone-crushing embrace, as if she could physically shield her from the horrors outside.

Eunhye sank into the hug, her own arms wrapping tightly around Yuri. A single, shuddering sob escaped her. “Seonsangnim,” she whispered into Yuri’s shoulder, the honorific a fragile anchor in a world that had come completely unmoored.

Jaeyeon didn’t need to be told. He slammed the door shut the second she was inside, throwing his weight against it before shoving the cabinet back into place with a grunt of effort. The heavy thud of wood against wood was a sound that never failed to send a minor shock of relief through them. A temporary seal. A fleeting safety.

Sae Joon Hyun’s eyes, sharp and assessing, scanned Eunhye from head to toe, looking for injuries, for blood, for any sign of a bite. “There was no one outside?” he asked, his voice low but laced with a disbelief so profound it was almost anger. He peered through a crack in the boarded-up window, as if the empty streets were a personal affront, a trick he couldn’t understand.

Eunhye finally pulled back from Yuri, shaking her head. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, smudging the dirt further. The haunted look in her eyes was answer enough. “Nothing. No one.”

“How is that possible... ugh.” Sae Joon Hyun ran a hand through his already messy hair, frustration etching lines on his forehead. He kicked at the leg of a nearby dusty armchair, the gesture utterly human in its impotent anger. “What do we do now? We can’t just… wait here to die.”

But Eunhye was already straightening her spine. She took a deep, steadying breath, wiping away the last of her tears and then doing the same for Yuri with a tenderness that belied the grimness of her expression. The resolve that settled on her features was like steel.

“Someone must have survived,” she said, her voice steadying, gaining strength with each word. “Other people, like us. We can’t be the only ones. We should find out what’s really going on out there. We need to know.” Her gaze swept over each of them—Sae Joon Hyun’s frustrated energy, Jaeyeon’s weary vigilance, Yuri’s fearful hope. She was looking for agreement.

[Seoul main streets
South Korea
Same time
Same date]

The heart of Seoul was a graveyard of noise and light. Abandoned cars created a skeletal maze, and the neon signs of once-vibrant shops flickered over a scene of utter desolation. The air smelled of smoke, ozone, and something else, something coppery and wrong.

In the middle of a crossroad, two figures stood back-to-back.

Minji moved like a storm. Her ebony hair, pulled into a severe ponytail, whipped around her sharp, determined face. Dressed in a practical black thin-strap slip, green joggers, and scuffed white sneakers, with a blue jacket tied around her waist, she was a portrait of fierce utility. Every movement was precise, economical. She raised her pistol, aimed, and fired.

Crack. Crack.

By stark contrast, Young was a statue of pure panic. Dressed head-to-toe in pristine white—hoodie, pants, shoes—he seemed to glow in the darkness, a perfect target. He clung to Minji’s waist, his face pale and slick with sweat. “They are coming! From everywhere! Over there too! And here--”

“Oh my god. Just shut up already, Young!” Minji yelled, her voice strained but fierce as she ejected a spent magazine and slapped in a new one with practiced ease. “What kind of a boyfriend are you, sending your girl into the front lines!” She didn’t even look at him, her eyes constantly scanning, calculating the next threat.

“What do you even mean, front lines! There are only two of us here!” Young protested, his voice trembling, rising to a hysterical pitch. He flinched as another creature, a thing that was once a shopkeeper in a tattered apron, lurched toward them from behind an overturned food cart.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! There are three incoming from the sides! Shoot them, shoot them!!” Young cried out, pointing a shaking finger, tears now openly streaming down his cheeks.

“Jeez. I see them!” Minji muttered through gritted teeth. She pivoted, her body a tight coil of energy, and fired three rapid shots.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The bullets tore into the creatures, hitting center mass. They staggered but didn’t fall. One, a woman in the remnants of a business suit, took a bullet to the shoulder and kept coming, a low, continuous growl emanating from its throat.

“What the-?!” Young’s scream was pure terror. “Why are you not killing them? Aim for the head! Like in the movies!”

“They are our people, I can’t just keep killing them!” Minji shouted back, her own voice cracking with a pain that went deeper than fear. She fired again, this time hitting the businesswoman in the leg. It stumbled, falling to one knee, but continued to drag itself forward. “The world will be left with no one! Don’t you get it?!”

[Location: Seoul central school
Classroom A
Same time
Same date]

The air in the classroom was thick and stale, smelling of dust, sweat, and fear. The only light came from a single battery-powered torch, casting long, dancing shadows that made every shape seem menacing.

Ji-hoon was handsome in a way that seemed out of place here, like he’d wandered off the set of a drama. But now, his sharp features were tight with anxiety. He paced in front of a supply cabinet, his fingers nervously tracing the coarse hemp of a climbing rope he’d pulled from within. “So... What about the food?” he asked, the question slicing through the quiet. It was the only question that mattered anymore.

Charyeong, who seemed to carry her own light even in the gloom, leaned against a teacher’s desk. She was the picture of poised grace, her beauty almost ethereal, but her eyes were hard with practical resolve. “Yon will get it,” she stated coolly, her gaze not leaving Ji-hoon’s face.

From his perch on a windowsill, Yon let out a short, sharp laugh. He was all lean muscle and restless energy, a mischievous, almost maniacal glint in his eyes. “What? Why should I? You get it, Charyeong.” A smirk played on his lips. He thrived on this tension.

“But why should I? Ji-hoon asked about it, so he’ll get it,” Charyeong countered, her voice a calm, immovable object.

Ji-hoon’s eyes widened. “What the? Now it’s on me?” He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, thoroughly messing it up.

“Yeah, you get it, Ji-hoon. You are amazing at combat from both far and close,” Yon remarked, his tone dripping with sarcastic flattery.

“Don’t reason with me, Yon. I get where this is going. But we are already just three people. I don’t want to end up dead,” Ji-hoon snapped, the fear raw in his voice. The confident facade was crumbling.

“He’s right.” Charyeong’s interjection was quiet but firm. She pushed off the desk. “Let’s go together, Yon. The canteen is on the first floor. If we use a rope through the window, we can get in, and it won’t make any noise either.”

Relief flooded Ji-hoon’s face. He moved quickly, handing the ropes to Charyeong. Her slender, elegant fingers, which usually held a paintbrush or a violin bow, worked with swift, brutal efficiency, tying complex knots one after the other.

Together, they secured the rope to a bolted-down radiator and tossed the coiled end out the window into the dark abyss of the school courtyard.

Yon’s eyes lit up with genuine excitement. This was his element. Danger was a game.

“Yon is the most flexible one here. Will you mind jumping out first?” Ji-hoon asked, his voice wavering.

Yon didn’t even answer. He just winked and swung himself out the window, his lithe form disappearing into the darkness with the silence of a shadow. Ji-hoon flinched, blinking rapidly as if he couldn’t believe anyone could move like that.

He rushed to the window, peering down into the oppressive blackness. “A-are you okay?” he stammered, his voice thin with worry.

“Yeah, yeah~” Yon’s voice floated up, singsong and casual, as if he were hanging out at a playground.

“What do you see, Yon?” Charyeong called down, her voice steady.

“Hm... no creatures in the classes below ours... oh?” Yon’s tone shifted, the playful note replaced by one of genuine intrigue.

“What? What is it?” Ji-hoon’s voice shot up an octave, panic setting in.

“One of the classes has the lights turned on...” Yon reported, the surprise evident even from a distance.

Ji-hoon’s head snapped towards Charyeong, a wild, desperate hope flaring in his eyes. “Someone other than us survived?”

[Location: Seoul central school, South Korea
Classroom C
Same time
Same date]

Mina, her hair a wild mess and her uniform rumpled, jumped up from her crouch by the window. “Someone’s out there!” she hissed, her voice a mix of excitement and terror. “On a rope! Swinging!”

Jay was on his feet in an instant. He moved to the corner and picked up a heavy, splintered wooden stick that had once been a table leg. His expression was grim, ready. “Don’t make a sound,” he whispered.

Eugene, small and timid, nodded vigorously, his wide eyes fixed on the window. He wrung his hands together, a nervous habit he couldn’t break.

Then, a miracle. Minyoung, who had been catatonic in the corner for hours, slowly, slowly lifted her head. Her eyes, usually so bright, were dull and flat. She rose and trudged to the window as if in a trance, peering out into the night. When she spoke, her voice was a dry, soft rustle, but it was the most beautiful sound they’d heard all night.

“That’s... Yon. The acrobat genius.”

Jay looked at Mina, his doubt clear. But Eugene sighed, a wave of relief washing over his delicate features. “The more of us, the better. Let me go check.” He gave a tentative, small wave to the figure outside.

Yon, seeing the signal, swung with an effortless grace, landing on their windowsill as lightly as a bird. He was smiling, a bright, white flash in the darkness. Eugene hurriedly unlatched the window and pushed it open.

“Yon!” Eugene exclaimed, pulling his friend inside.

“Thank god you made it, Eugene,” Yon replied, clapping him on the shoulder, his eyes quickly scanning the room.

“You both know each other?” Mina asked, her tone bitter, her arms crossed defensively.

“Yeah, we are from the same class,” Eugene explained.

“I am also your classmate, bozo,” Mina shot back, her rough exterior a shield for her fear.

“Ah, Yon is almost always in practice, so you probably missed him,” Eugene said, trying to smooth things over.

“Right,” Mina muttered, chewing on her thumbnail. "invisibility."

Yon’s eyes found Minyoung. “Oh? Minyoung is here too.” He skipped over to her, his energy unnerving in the tense room. She just nodded once, a barely perceptible dip of her chin.

“You are all from the same class?” Jay asked Mina, surprised.

She sighed, a heavy, exhausted sound. “Yeah. Me, Eugene, Minyoung, and him apparently.”

“Were you all the only ones who survived?” Yon asked, his smile finally fading.

Eugene’s face fell. He nodded, the memory painful. “We ran for our lives in a group of twelve students. But only the four of us made it. What about you?”

“I am with two other people. We were together in the classroom, so we ran out together and made it,” Yon said, his explanation simple, his eyes distant for a moment, hiding the horror of that sprint through bloody halls.

“Who are the others with you?” Eugene pressed.

“Ji-Hoon and Charyeong,” Yon said plainly.

Jay’s face lit up. “Oh..? Oh? Ji-Hoon and Charyeong also made it. Wow, I’m glad.”

“You know them?” Yon asked, surprised.

“They are from my class, friends for a long time,” Jay replied, a real smile finally breaking through his grim demeanor.

“Is that so? Coincidences, am I right?” Yon said, his trademark smirk returning.

“Yeah... seriously. I’m so glad,” Jay said, the words heartfelt.

“I know him too. He is the captain of the fencing team, right?” Yon’s memory was sharp.

“Oh yeah. He is good at combat,” Jay confirmed.

“Let’s survive together then,” Eugene said, looking from Yon to Jay, a spark of hope in his eyes. Minyoung gave another silent, solemn nod.

“Hm. Not a bad idea. I’ll let them know.” Yon was at the window in a flash, tugging on the rope in a specific pattern.

Soon, Charyeong descended with an elegant precision, followed by Ji-Hoon, who moved with the powerful, controlled grace of an athlete. The classroom, once feeling so large and empty, now felt small, crowded with seven survivors.

Jay leaned against a wall, his arms crossed. “The problem is food. And the doors won’t hold on for long. There are a number of creatures in the other classrooms. We are only seven people.” He stated it flatly, the grim math of their situation.

[Location: Seoul central school, South Korea
Classroom B
Same time
Same date]

The snarling was constant here, a dissonant choir right on the other side of the door. Every thud against the barricade of desks and chairs made the wood shudder.

Yohan flinched with each impact, his whole body trembling. He was young, maybe a first-year, with sandy hair and a face that still held its boyish softness, now pale and clammy with terror. “Ahhhh!” he screamed, unable to hold it in any longer, the sound ripped from him by pure, undiluted fear.

“Stop screaming, Yohan!” Hailey snapped, turning from her post at the door’s peephole. She was older, a second-year, and it showed in the weary set of her jaw and the fierce, protective fire in her eyes. “You’ll just attract more of them!”

“But... but... we are surrounded, Hailey Noona...” Yohan stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the vibrating barricade as if she might not have noticed.

“I know that,” Hailey said, her voice tight with strained patience. “Where are Song and Park?” She scanned the empty classroom again, as if they might materialize from behind a desk.

“I don’t know... they went to get food, I guess...” Yohan whispered, his voice cracking. “An hour ago...”

“Seriously, Yohan. You’re the only guy in our group, yet I have to save your butt...” Hailey muttered, shaking her head. But the anger was undercut by a deep exhaustion.

“Sorry...Noona... I’m trying... but they look so scary...” He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his pristine black hoodie, leaving a streak.

Hailey’s expression softened, just for a moment. “Since you’re a year younger, I won’t say anything to you.” She reached out and put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Stay close and do as I say. Okay?”

Yohan looked up at her, his eyes wide and watery. He gave a hesitant, jerky nod. She was his anchor. His only hope.

[Location: Seoul central school, SouthKorea
Classroom C
Same time
Same date]

The seven survivors were silent, each lost in their own thoughts, when Eugene’s head cocked to the side.

“Did you hear that, guys?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“Hear what?” Mina whispered back, moving closer to him.

“I heard someone scream...” Eugene said, his brow furrowed in concentration. “A real one. Not… one of them.”

“Really? From where?” Yon asked, instantly intrigued, his head popping up.

“Hm... outside... maybe on the crossroad near the school gates?” Eugene pointed vaguely in the direction of the main street.

“Hm? There are people who are alive out there?” Jay’s voice was filled with a surge of desperate hope.

“I am sure that was a boy’s scream,” Eugene affirmed, his timid voice gaining conviction.

Ji-hoon looked at him, his fighter’s mind already switching to a new problem. “Oh? What do you have in mind?”

Eugene looked around at the circle of faces, his own filled with a surprising compassion. “We should go help, right?”

[Location: Seoul main streets, South Korea
Same time
Same date]

The four of them moved like ghosts through the canyon of high-rises, their footsteps echoing too loudly in the profound silence. Sae Joon Hyun took point, his firearm held ready, his eyes constantly scanning the shadows between abandoned vehicles. Jaeyeon covered the rear, a makeshift metal pipe held tight in his hands. Eunhye and Yuri stayed in the middle, their eyes wide, taking in the apocalyptic scene.

It was Yuri who saw her first. “There!” she gasped, pointing.

A figure stumbled out from behind a burned-out bus. A woman. Her dress was torn and dirty, but it was the pronounced, swollen curve of her belly that made Eunhye freeze.

She was heavily pregnant.

Her face was pale, etched with a pain that was more than physical. She clutched her stomach, her eyes wide with a primal fear, scanning the darkness for threats. She saw them, and a flicker of desperate hope lit her features. She staggered towards them.

“Help me...” she pleaded, her voice a raw, broken thread of sound. “Please...”

Eunhye didn’t hesitate. She broke from the group, rushing forward. “Huh? Oh no. It’s okay. Stick close to us. We’ll get you out,” she said, her voice soft and reassuring, though her own heart was hammering.

Just then, a creature—a man in the tattered remains of a delivery uniform—lurched from an alleyway, its mouth opening in a silent snarl as it zeroed in on the vulnerable pregnant woman.

Sae Joon Hyun didn’t flinch. He raised his gun, exhaled slowly, and bashed the man in the head. The gun had long lost all its bullets and he regretted not scavenging for extra ammunition, but using it as a club wasn't a bad idea.

The hit took the creature square in the head. It dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, collapsing to the pavement in a lifeless heap.

“Oh... Wow!” Yuri exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth, impressed despite her terror.

Sae Joon Hyun stared at the body, his brow furrowed in confusion. He looked at Jaeyeon. “I thought they don’t die because of their strong desire?” The theory they’d pieced together felt flimsy now.

Jaeyeon just shrugged, his face equally puzzled. “Maybe his desire wasn’t so strong.”

“No.” The word came from the pregnant woman. She was trembling, but her voice was suddenly clear, filled with a grim, awful knowledge. She looked at the dead creature, then back at them, her eyes ancient. “When your desire is not strong enough and you get bitten, you just die right then and there.” She hugged her stomach protectively. “You don’t come back.”