CHAPTER FIVE
( Something's Missing )

THE IMPRINT OF four calloused fingers sears Lee Eun-byul's tender skin, thumping a second heartbeat against her reddening cheek. She stares down at the broken contraption of limbs and bloody noses, and takes two steps back.

The commotion begins to stir dread into the palpable air, and the students clamor and huddle into a singular entity by the farthest window.

No one makes for the door.

Sickening crunches of bone meshing and molding unnaturally against bone tears the classroom into hushed silence, letting the echo of death permeate the thick walls and bloody floors.

Through the outbreak of cries and desperation, Eun-byul trains her eyes to the twisting body slowly trying to writhe its way into an upwards stance; The body wriggles, neck stretched and back arched, like a belly-up spider trying to crawl its way face-down.

Finally, before anyone has the time to react other than to pierce the hall with screams, Coach Kang's body throws itself forward, lurching towards a short-haired girl by the cubbies.

"Do something!" Someone yells, and Daesu hurries forward, eyes open wide and arms outstretched, and he pulls the frenzied man away from his feast.

( Eun-byul doesn't mourn for the girl lying on the floor, soon to become yet another creature without thoughts. She doesn't know her well enough to do so ).

"Minji!" One of the girls sobs, her voice teetering between the precipice of breakage and a wobbly goodbye.

Minji's face holds a blister of blooming peonies the shade of crimson, dotting her swollen lips in a sanguinary kiss of poison. She knows she is fated to something far worse than death.

Her eyes pool with salty tears, and in her Lee Eun-byul sees a fawn, spindly legs trembling to hold up its newborn body.

"Daesu," The girl pleads, making shapes with her bitten mouth but unable to make any more noise. "I don't want to die."

Eun-byul has no more time left to feel sorry for the poor child. Coach Kang rears his ugly zombie head and charges for her side of the classroom, and she only narrowly avoids the hinge of his clacking jaw.

Lee Suhyeok is not as lucky. He grapples with the smaller zombie, throwing a few meaningless punches before realization settles into his bones and he begins to crumble.

( He cannot win against Death ).

"Move!" Eun-byul grabs a chair, and with all her might, swings it against the man's head.

He tumbles to the floor in a writhing heap, before his body contorts unnaturally and he is once more on his feet, snarling and seething.

With just enough time to hide behind the wooden podium ( Eun-byul tries and fails to ignore the smears of blood against the nicely polished wood and how they stick to her like sweat on a summer day ) she and Suhyeok avoid the beady, bloodshot eyes of Coach Kang, and he moves on to his next victim.

Cheong-san rams the legs of a chair into the zombie's body, caging him away. The man claws and snarls like a deranged animal, but he cannot push the shackles off of him. Gyeong-su, finally catching wind of the predicament that would occur should Coach break free, slams his body against the chair and helps his friend hold the cold body away from the others.

"We have to get the fuck out of here!" Eun-byul says as she wipes the sweat lining her brow. She ignores the stinging of her cheek, and the blood that stains her fingernails.

She ignores Minji's pleas. Eun-byul knows she cannot be saved. Sympathy dwindles in her heart like a dying fire, and soon the ashes grow too thick over the flames that its burning light grows dim. Soon, it is altogether extinguished.

Lee Eun-byul turns away from Minji. Goodbyes are for people she knows, and getting to know a person on their last dying breath is something Eun-byul would rather not do.

She and Suhyeok bolt towards the door, instinctual action overrunning their brains with the simple command to evade any and all predators before they became lunch.

Everyone leaves the room just as Minji begins to turn. Eun-byul catches a glimpse of her dark green sweater flashing against the bloodstained windows as she turns to give one last look towards the classroom.

She turns away, and doesn't look back anymore.

( What they leave behind in that classroom is nothing more than a monster wearing human skin ).

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WHAT GREETS THEM outside the classroom is not the peace they deserve. It is havoc stringing the walls with blood and saliva, tearing apart limbs with blood-soaked teeth and disconnected joints.

It is hell all over again, and they have walked right into it.

They use whatever weapons they can get. Mostly broken-off windows that have been reduced to nothing more than wooden frames and a few sharp leftover shards, but those who fight carry them fiercely in their grip like a knight to his sword.

Eun-byul is held onto by shaking hands and spindly fists, thin arms and shrunken shoulders. Onjo and I-sak take a side each, and cling to her as though she will protect them from literal zombies.

It is too insignificant for Eun-byul to care, and so she focuses her attention on avoiding any roaming claws instead.

( Eun-byul does not know what to do, for she has never had a mother who cared to caress her skin and love her the way everyone else has ).

Yang Daesu is their savior. From the cacophony of wooden frames slamming into sunken skin, he charges through the hall carrying a large door in his trembling grip.

"Get out of the way!" He bellows, face red from the sheer weight of the thick wood.

The front line struggles to get out of his way, pushing and shoving the zombies to steer clear of the large barricade Daesu carries with him. Eventually, they all fall back unharmed, and join the tall boy in pushing back their attackers.

A few stagger, and Eun-byul takes her chance to tear out of the girl's grip and pushes herself into the fray. Soon, everyone is pushing with all their might, trying to hold off the jaws of the hungry animals.

"Up the stairs!" She yells hoarsely when they make it to the staircase. The girls do as they are told, hurriedly rushing up the stairs as fast as their legs can carry them.

By the time they have made it up a floor, they find the same thing waiting for them; More zombies.

Legs aching, body thumping out dull heartbeats and adrenaline-spiking courage, the group continues their journey to find a safe hiding place away from the soggy infested jaws of Hyosan.

When they make it to the science lab, they are one person short. No one notices the absence, too busy trying to keep away the vermin snapping at their fingers.

Not only that, but the door is closed shut, a small lock adorning the door. Almost a taunt, an empty classroom, devoid of any blood, but inaccessible.

Eun-byul curses as loudly as she can muster.

Onjo, luckily more smart than she ever lets on, takes a fire hydrant hose and begins hacking away at the metal lock. Eun-byul and the rest can only pray it will miraculously come undone before they are swallowed by the hoard of zombies.

"Hurry!" Multiple people cry, and Eun-byul can feel Nayeon's hot breath on her face every time she opens her mouth to whine about the slow pace.

When the doors finally open, she doesn't have the energy to shove the red-haired girl away. They flood into the classroom like rabbits sliding between holes to escape the shifty fox, and only when they are all safely inside can Eun-byul let out a long sigh.

( She has yet to realize they are missing one, and will lose another ).

"Daesu." Eun-byul huffs out through heavy pants, a hand at her hip as she slides into a random chair. "You know I love you, right?"

He looks at her as though she's grown a second head.

The onslaught doesn't stop there, though. Soon, a bloody hand reaches out and breaks Daesu out of his stupor, gripping his hair. He screams like an adolescent girl, and only stops when Oh Joon-yeong rams a fire extinguisher into the zombie's face.

The heavier lifters use their remaining strength to lift a large science desk against the broken windows, pushing out the wriggling fingers splayed in grotesque fashion that reached out to them.

Eun-byul feels as though her limbs are on fire. She acknowledges that perhaps it is a side effect from all the smoke circulating her lungs, and for once she wishes she were healthy instead of someone who likes to torture herself for the fun of it.

The torturous breaths leave her lips in small huffs, and she brings a calloused hand to rub against her side, easing away the sharp pain that seems to penetrate her skin.

Onjo maneuvers the heavy single desks around Eun-byul, not bothering to comment on her lack of help. She pushes onward, trying to get the desks closer to the edge in order to pile them atop the windows.

Lee Nayeon has other plans. She snatches Onjo's sweater-clad arms, trembling like a rain-soaked puppy.

"Give me the phone." She demands, her face twisting with a mixture of fear and anger. "I'm gonna try calling again."

Onjo looks nervous as she timidly meets the taller girl's gaze. "Sorry, I lost it."

Eun-byul wants to be angry, but she realizes that there is not much use for a phone that no one will answer. Nayeon is the only one that blows it out of proportion.

( She has long been spoiled rotten, and no longer knows the meaning of forgiving ).

"How could you lose it?!" She whines loudly, throwing Onjo's arms away from her.

"Who cares?" Gyeong-su interjects as he picks up another desk. "We gotta secure the room now."

Nayeon directs all her negative energy toward the snaggle-toothed boy. She no longer cares about the phone; All she wants is to push the blame onto Han Gyeong-su, even though he has done nothing wrong.

"Like you can talk." She snarls. Vile venom builds up at the back of her throat, and like a snake, she shoots it forth past a forked tongue.

( She hacks and hacks and hacks away at the class until the cracks begin to form, and they begin falling apart ).

"It's because you didn't block the door!" She screeches, her hands balled into fists at her side. "If you had done that, the gym teacher wouldn't have gotten to us! We almost died because of you!"

Gyeong-su's eyes fall on Eun-byul for a fraction of a second. She turns her face away, hiding the large splotch of red on her cheek. He purses his lips and looks away.

"Then why didn't you do anything yourself?" He replies hotly, pointedly ignoring Eun-byul.

( He knows, even if she will never admit it, that the pulsing pain against her cheek is his fault ).

"You're so fucking annoying." Nayeon spits.

At last, she succeeds in breaking Han Gyeong-su. Like a bull, he charges at her, raising a fist. He curls it against her dirty pink cardigan.

The others rush to pull them apart, but they are like rabid dogs searching for something to tear apart with their teeth, some sort of feral instinct that will never allow them to coexist.

( One of them must die for the other to live ).

"Yah!" Jimin cries in annoyance. "Fight after you move these. This is not the time."

"She's right. Stop it." Another timid voice pipes in.

Eun-byul finds herself agreeing. She sluggishly lifts herself up from the desk and begins scraping the metal legs across the classroom.

The class winces, and the attention is piled onto Eun-byul's hunchbacked figure.

"Sorry." She glares at no one in particular, but the room goes quiet at last when she picks up the desk and slams it right into the window, right through the mouth of an unsuspecting zombie.

"So annoying." She mutters to herself.

The silence lasts for a blissful minute before Onjo pipes up again, her voice a trembly octave of jumbled worry.

"Suhyeok?" She calls. "Has anyone seen him?"

When no one answers, she turns to Cheong-san. "You were with him, right?"

He opens his mouth, but for a while no sound comes out. "He was behind me."

Onjo starts tearing up. "Then where is he now?"

Cheong-san purses his lips and avoids looking into his best friend's eyes. "I don't know."

The classroom slowly begins to fall apart. They are down one important person, and slowly spiraling into fear.

Eun-byul sits back down. She wonders if Suhyeok is okay, only briefly, before steadying her gaze on the zombies outside.

( Part of her realizes that they won't ever be saved ).

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‎ ‎‎♱ AUTHOR'S NOTE !

short chapter but i'm back !!

i had a almost a whole week off of school so i thought id treat me and the other 3 aouad fans to a new chap !! 😇

wrote this while rewatching the show and listening to rotten mango at the same time bc i was so bored and had nothing else to do at home 

i wanted to make this chapter at least 3k words but i fell a little short so def next chapter ill try to make it up to u guys !! only a short 2.5k word chap to snack on while i take another month to update 😊

little to no interactions mostly because it was an action packed episode but hopefully next chapter will have a bit more interactions between byul and the class !!

in the original version i mostly skipped all these scenes but since i want a more drawn out fic than just like 8 chapters (1 chap per ep) i'm trying to stretch out the eps into 2-3 chapters to get the most out of them and also cuz there is sm information and i don't want to write 1 hours worth of dialogue in a single chapter 😭

next chapter will be continuing ep 2 when ms park reaches out to the class and i think (?) they get reunited !! also isak turns and there's a whole bunch of stuff so i might have to make the chapters either extra long or shorter depending on how i want the chapters to end !

lmk what characters u want byul to interact w and ill see what i can do !! (no srsly pls lmk im running out of ideas bc in the old ver byul switches personalities like every chapter so i might need to rewrite some stuff to avoid plot holes 😭)

other than that pls lmk if there are any mistakes in the spelling or anything so i can fix it !

also don't b afraid to vote or comment, i will probably (very likely) reply!!!! and if you don't understand something, plsplspls lmk!! i want yall to fully understand what's going on

happy reads!

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─── ANNIE