WHISPERS OF THE LOST: MINSOO'S SMILE

Minji’s hands gripped the steering wheel with a white-knuckled intensity as she slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The bus jerked forward, lurching into motion, but her concentration quickly shattered when a sudden movement caught her eye. Without warning, a new figure appeared in front of the bus—its body lunging onto the windshield with the speed of a spider climbing a wall. Minji’s breath caught in her throat as the man’s form stuck to the glass, his limbs splayed out unnaturally, his eyes wild with an eerie, unsettling gleam.

Startled and terrified, Minji flinched, her heart racing as she instinctively pulled back from the steering wheel, falling backwards onto the seat, her head tilting up in a daze.

"Minji! The steering! We might crash!" Young’s frantic voice broke through the panic, his finger pointing to the empty driver’s seat where Minji had just been.

Minji, wide-eyed and still in shock, tried to gather her thoughts, her body trembling with fear. "Can't you see," she stammered, her voice shaky, "that man is stuck on the glass?"

The man on the windshield twisted and writhed, his limbs moving like a fish out of water, contorting in grotesque ways. His pupils dilated, his mouth stretching into a wide, disturbing smile that only added to the tension. He pointed at himself and then at the passengers inside, as if attempting to communicate something.

Jay and Ji-Hoon, standing behind the fallen Minji, exchanged confused and cautious glances.

"What is he doing?" Jay whispered to Ji-Hoon, his voice barely audible as he watched the man’s unsettling display.

"I don't know. Maybe he wants us to let him in?" Ji-Hoon replied, his voice low, a touch of uncertainty in his words.

"Don’t. Let’s not," Jay warned immediately, his voice steady but filled with alarm.

"I wasn’t going to," Ji-Hoon muttered, a touch of irritation in his voice.

Jay’s impatience was evident. “Thank god. Can’t we just drive past him or something? Use the wiper, you know...?”

"Gosh," Ji-Hoon whispered, annoyance creeping into his tone as he watched the man continue to press against the glass. "You can’t wipe out a whole ass human with a windshield wiper?"

“Sure, why not? What else do we do?” Jay responded, his words laced with sarcasm.

"I don't know, dude. Stop asking me," Ji-Hoon snapped back, clearly frustrated.

"Then stop breathing!" Jay retorted, his words biting.

Ji-Hoon shot him a look of disbelief. "What’s up with you people and breathing? I can’t do that."

“Then. Ugh! Just. Do something,” Jay demanded, his exasperation growing.

Ji-Hoon let out an exasperated sigh, his patience thinning. "Jeez. So much for patience. Fine," he muttered.

Taking a deep breath, Ji-Hoon cautiously made his way toward the front of the bus, his steps slow and deliberate. As he neared the windshield, he cautiously waved his hand at the man. To his surprise, the stranger waved back eagerly, his smile growing wider with each subsequent wave.

“Uh… uhm… what do you want?” Ji-Hoon asked, his voice quivering slightly as he tried to make himself heard through the thick glass, his words unsure as he nervously adjusted his stance.

The man mouthed something to him, his lips forming the words clearly enough for Ji-Hoon to read. “Let me in, please.”

Ji-Hoon’s heart skipped a beat. He nodded to himself, and then reluctantly turned to face the others. "Try to understand where we’re coming from. We can't just let you—"

The man, still clinging to the glass, began tapping on the window with his long, unnaturally shaped fingernails. The sound echoed inside the bus, sharp and unsettling, sending a chill down Ji-Hoon’s spine.

“O-okay, okay. W-we’ll have to check you for wounds though,” Ji-Hoon stammered, his hands raised slightly as a gesture of peace, signaling to the man that he was not there to harm him.

The man’s smile grew wider at this, his eyes glowing with a strange, unfathomable joy. He nodded enthusiastically, still tapping on the glass with his fingers.

Without another word, he suddenly jumped off the windshield with ease, landing on all fours like some predatory animal. In a swift motion, he stood up in front of the bus doors, waiting eagerly.

Ji-Hoon, sensing the urgency of the situation, peered through the window at the man and gestured for him to step back. The man complied, taking exactly five steps back as Ji-Hoon instructed.

“Minji,” Ji-Hoon said quietly, his gaze fixed on the stranger, “unlock the door.”

Minji shook her head violently in protest, her face filled with dread. "Dude, he is obviously not human anymore!" Her whisper, despite the volume, carried a sense of panic.

“I know,” Ji-Hoon said, his voice low but steady. "But we can’t trigger him. If we trigger him now, he’ll turn immediately. Then none of us will be human anymore."

Charyeong, who had been silent until now, spoke up with a somber tone. "He's right. Even one of those things is strong enough to break through doors if they have a grudge."

“So what now?” Minji asked, her voice laced with frustration. "You want me to let him in?"

"No," Ji-Hoon replied firmly, his eyes focused and determined. "Just open the door. I’ll step out, and then you close it immediately. I’ll stall him for a bit. You shoot him close to the vital spots, and we make a run for it. If it’s all that easy, then...”

Young sighed loudly, unable to hide his frustration. “Wow. What a life saver.”

"Dude," Ji-Hoon whispered sharply, his sarcasm cutting through. "Either this, or we trigger the guy and he breaks the windows and eats us alive. Which one will it be?"

Young threw his hands up in the air, defeated. "Chill, man. You win."

"I'm glad," Ji-Hoon scoffed, though his tone was still thick with tension. He glanced at Minji, who was visibly shaking but reluctantly complied. She sighed deeply and opened the door.

Ji-Hoon wasted no time. He jumped out of the bus, and before he could even look back, Jay slammed the door shut behind him, cutting off any possibility of retreat. The man—Minsoo, as he later introduced himself—stared at the shut doors, his pupils dilating as his smile stretched even wider.

“Uh... hey, man. What’s your name?” Ji-Hoon asked, trying to break the ice, though his voice wavered in the growing unease.

“Minsoo,” the man replied simply, his gaze never leaving the doors.

“R-right. Minsoo. Sh-shall we begin the check?” Ji-Hoon asked hesitantly, his voice still unnervingly shaky. Minsoo’s eyes never moved, still locked on the bus.

“Uh. Get the jacket off,” Ji-Hoon instructed, though his words felt forced. Minsoo complied without hesitation, but his gaze remained fixed, unblinking, as though he hadn’t even heard Ji-Hoon’s request.

“A-alright. Now turn around. Hands where I can see them.” Ji-Hoon’s words felt more like commands than suggestions. He watched closely as Minsoo followed every instruction, his face morphing into a series of strange expressions—expressions that shifted as unnaturally as his movements.

“Can you pull your sleeves up next?” Ji-Hoon asked, trying to remain professional despite the eerie atmosphere. As Minsoo rolled his sleeves up, Ji-Hoon could see nothing particularly alarming—no visible wounds or infections. He sighed in relief, his tension slightly easing.

“Let me check your feet as well. Remove your shoes,” Ji-Hoon said, his voice now a little more confident. He hoped that this would be the final step in proving that Minsoo was, in fact, still human.

When Minsoo removed his shoes, Ji-Hoon recoiled in horror. The sight that greeted him was enough to freeze him in place. Minsoo’s right big toe was shattered, bruised purple and black, while the other toes on his left foot were twisted and mangled, still bleeding despite the hours that had passed. The flesh around them had already started to turn an unnatural shade, yet the man stood perfectly fine, unwavering, his expression still locked in that unsettling smile.

“Y-you are wounded badly—” Ji-Hoon stuttered, his voice faltering with disbelief.

“Am... I?” Minsoo replied slowly, a chilling grin spreading further across his face.

“N-no,” Ji-Hoon stammered, “I mean... that must hurt... But you’re clear. Uh... Minsoo.”

“Hehe. I know. I am human.” Minsoo’s voice was low and eerie, his words taking on a rhythmic chant.

"R-right," Ji-Hoon said weakly, trying to push past his discomfort. “I am human.”

"I am human," Minsoo repeated, his voice growing more insistent.

"I get it. Yes," Ji-Hoon muttered, his nerves fraying.

“I am human.”

"Dude, sheesh! Will you stop it?" Ji-Hoon snapped, his composure completely unraveling. "You are being so freaking creepy."

"I am human. Not creepy."

Ji-Hoon’s body shivered involuntarily, his skin prickling with fear as he heard Minsoo’s unsettling words. The man’s calm certainty about his identity felt more like a threat than reassurance.

"I am human," Minsoo whispered again, and it sent another wave of cold dread through Ji-Hoon.

“R-right. No creepy,” Ji-Hoon whispered, stepping back, his anxiety creeping up his spine like an invisible hand.

Just as he began to lose his grip on the situation, a sudden click from behind him startled him. He turned, his heart sinking when he saw Charyeong and Jay stepping out of the bus, walking toward him. Charyeong was still wrapped in her blanket, her face pale with fear, while Jay seemed on the verge of collapsing.

As soon as they saw Minsoo’s feet, both of them instinctively backed away, their eyes wide with terror. They huddled behind Ji-Hoon, and for a brief moment, it felt like they were trapped in a nightmare.

“And now we’re so screwed,” Ji-Hoon muttered to himself.

“What. Exactly. Are you guys doing here?” he whispered, frustration lacing his voice.

“Heh... Hehe... we thought we should help... but... uh... this is not so pleasant, huh?” Jay answered, his voice shaking.

“Why... what did you think I was doing? Having a heart-to-heart with this dude?” Ji-Hoon snapped, his patience gone.

Charyeong, her face a mix of shock and disbelief, muttered, “Ji-Hoon, I was wondering... we’re meeting creatures who can talk and reply and stuff... how long before this plague becomes the new mankind...”

Her question hung in the air, unanswered, as it fell into the darkness that had consumed them all since the beginning.

A world where humans feed on each other and don’t die? A world where eerie behavior like this is part of biology? A world where children are born with twisted torsos? A world where zombies are the new normal, and humans are either extinct or hiding, waiting for starvation or heart attacks to claim them?

There was just no way they were fighting so hard for the end to be this way.

“Hey,” Minsoo interrupted, his voice smooth and eerily calm. “Can I join you guys now?”

Ji-Hoon snapped out of his spiral of thoughts, turning to look at the man once more. “H-huh? W-well...” He glanced over at the bus windows, but neither Minji nor Young were visible. He assumed they were cowering inside. He looked back at Minsoo, the unsettling smile never leaving his face. “I-I guess there’s no point in making you wait here, huh...”

“Hehehe... let’s go in then. I know of a place that’s completely safe.”

“Ah, ah. Right...”

“But you can’t go with them.” A voice interrupted, and the group froze, their hearts racing at the sound of the voice emerging from the shadows.