October 4th 

"What the hell are those things outside?" Jiyoung asks the older man. The creatures in broad daylight were elongated, some of them were stunted. But all of them were disgusting and terrifying. Jiyoung backs away trying to get some explanation from him. 

"Some monsters it looks like," he chuckles out. It was as if he could barely handle saying it, the whole idea was ridiculous. Jiyoung looks at him with a deadpan expression as she then wipes her face. 

"I can't believe this." All that went through her head was how they were going to get out of this. The thought of her mom and brother did not go through her head at that moment. The insane thought of being in this building surrounded by monsters invaded her head. "I need to get to my place." 

Dusik didn't say anything at first, not wanting to show too much concern but still he voiced it. "Get your things and come back here, kid." Jiyoung falters at his order. But it only took her a second until she nods and leaves quietly. She closes the door, barely hearing the click and sneaks to her own place next door. 

The door was slightly dented, causing her to shudder at the sight. As she walks in there was no sense of comfort, just the eerie feeling that something was out there to get her any second. How was she supposed to get through this without going insane? 

Jiyoung started grabbing only essentials, not wanting to bring the whole apartment with her. She took a pair of clothes, her phone, earbuds, charger, her brushes, anything she could carry and made her way back to Dusik's apartment. She faced the door as she came in, clutching onto her things. 

"Is that it?" Dusik asks her. Jiyoung turns and nods.

"Yeah I won't need much, this thing can't be too bad right?" She drops her things in a corner and looks at her phone. She turned on her phone and started looking through her messages. There was still nothing from her mom or brother. Nothing from her father, but she didn't expect any less. He would most likely call the house if anything. He wouldn't even know where she was. 

The thought of her family, wherever they were and how things must be where they were. Were these monsters near the prisons? Were they around the apartment building? 

She tried sending more messages but nothing would go through. A call or two and she gave up. "Are you trying to reach your family?" Jiyoung didn't know too much about Dusik. She knew that he couldn't walk because he lost his leg, his abilities with mechanics was astonishing, and that he was always alone. She found him entertaining but lonely. Jiyoung could understand the loneliness, but she had made her own choice, Dusik's loneliness seemed involuntary. 

"Yeah, no messages or calls are coming through or going out. I'm going to check if the internet still works." She turns back to her phone, going through the search engines. Recent history of citizens overwhelmed it. 

Monsterization

Symptoms

How to survive

The list was endless. She clicked on monsterization first, wondering if everyone was sticking with the idea that these are monsters. She scrolls through the sites and her eyes land on a message. 

Early Symptoms of Monsterization

Frequent nosebleeds

Frequent hallucinations

Excessive Appetite

Frequent fainting

Jiyoung's eyes widen as she stares at the bright white screen. She takes a deep breathe trying to think. She couldn't be. The thought of the nose bleed she got and the voices she heard that were nowhere to be found went through her mind but she shook the thoughts. It was stress, she was fine. She had to be fine, she had to know how her family was and she couldn't succumb to something so... stupid. 

She scoffs to herself and then chuckles. Jiyoung Shin had no time to be panicked over one site that gave symptoms of something called monsterization.

"What is it?" Dusik calls out. She looks up and shakes her head. 

"They're calling it monsterization and there are symptoms." She lists off the symptoms from the phone, silently ticking off each one she experienced without telling the man in front of her. What would he do if she did tell him? "It sounds dumb to say it out loud. Maybe it's a virus." 

"Who knows." He pauses for a second before speaking again. "You can stay here for now, just in case." Jiyoung nods once again, grateful to the man in front of her. He had plenty of food for the two of them for just a little until she went back to her own apartment. Maybe it is no big deal, Jiyoung thinks. 

October 6th

Two days had passed and Jiyoung did not expect to feel comfortable. But being near somebody helped the negative thoughts and the loneliness. To Jiyoung, Dusik seemed the same. He never had any family visit from the amount of time she had stayed in Green Home. 

She would look outside the window and see a monster or two around the grounds. She shivers as one would look up but not see her. One had a strange eyeball. 

"Don't look out there for too long, Jiyoung." Jiyoung turns as Dusik stared at her seriously. Dusik chuckles and turns back to his work. It felt like having a daughter, one to tell what was right and wrong. 

"Sorry." She shuts the curtains and sits on the bed. Her phone was the first thing she went to. She took time in the nights to charge it and now it was still at 90 percent. It was good as long as the power stayed on in the building.

The internet got more hectic as the days went on as well. People uploading videos of experiences with monsters of different kinds, others telling people to kill themselves if they even have symptoms. It was ridiculous, Jiyoung thinks to herself, people were panicking. What was happening with the government? Were they doing something? 

Her thoughts went to people in the apartment building. She knew she and Dusik were okay but what about everyone else? How many people were turning into monsters outside? How long would it be until they would try to come after the two of them? She barely cared if the others were safe, what mattered was if they would come after her. And how long did she have before she became a monster herself? 

Jiyoung Shin with Dusik Hahn on 14th floor. 

Hyun Cha on 14th floor.

The rescue team on 1st floor.