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v. differently similar
( 4184 words ).

    ━━EUNBYUL HAULED GWINAM'S dead and bitten body away from the zombies that had began tearing him apart. her head felt odd, and her thoughts were muddled. a big chunk of her arm was missing—torn off and devoured by zombies—yet she couldn't feel any pain.

cheong san had long left her behind, on her orders to run and get to safety. after all, eunbyul would be turning soon. there were no goodbyes, just fleeting glances and unsure faces, both knowing they'd never meet again the same as they were before.

gwinam was heavy, his limp body trailing behind eunbyul. she didn't even know why she had brought the boy with her; he was dead. or at least until he came back to life as a zombie. maybe it was because she too was dead, gone farther than human yet not quite monster either.

monsters should have no feelings, simply the insatiable urge to rip and tear apart with their bloodthirsty jaws anything in their way. but deep inside herself, eunbyul felt that dull spark of emotion, and she knew she was not a monster. not fully, at least.

oh well, eunbyul sighed to herself, i'll be able to see gyeong su in a while.

throwing gwinam in an empty spot on the floor, she brought over a chair and sat down. the library was crawling with zombies, yet none of them had come after her. strange.

the world seemed to spin as eunbyul took a seat, that same pain she'd felt as teeth clamped onto her skin erupted in her head. it was like an endless sea of blood filled her vision. sweat blossomed against her dirty face and ran down her skin in streaks, fingers trembling as eunbyul doubled over on the chair, unable to speak or even cry out in pain.

was this what it felt like to turn? eunbyul wondered to herself as her hands instinctively covered her ears, as though that might stop the pain. but it kept building up, loudly ringing in her eardrums and blurring her vision.

only when eunbyul's head lolled back against the library chair, eyes rolled to the back of her head, did the pain finally stop.

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TWO YEARS AGO.

    ━━THEY SAY THE eyes are the window to the soul. for lee eunbyul, all she could see when she looked into the eyes of her peers was one of three things; spiteful admiration, fear, or hate. nothing more, nothing less.

all of them, she despised.

eunbyul never had anyone to call friend at school. that was fine, since as a middle school 'monster', others tended to stay far from her. not even when she was nice did they dare approach her. though eunbyul liked the title of strongest, she didn't quite like the drawbacks.

things were different when eunbyul finally left school and arrived at home. there, she knew someone would always be waiting for her, her loyal and only, ( four legged ) friend.

she was a large dog. some said she was fit for eunbyul's image; vicious looking and dangerous. truth be told, when eunbyul had found her off the street, limping and whining, she had been no bigger than the palm of eunbyul's hand. malnourished, abandoned, and half alive, she was a living miracle.

on the night eunbyul had found her, it had been pouring, droplets as cold as ice pelting both of them as eunbyul ran home, the poor shivering animal wrapped in her school blazer.

and when eunbyul washed off all the dirt and grime off her spotted fur and she finally opened her eyelids to reveal large grey eyes,

thunder was born.

thunder soon became eunbyul's best—and only—friend. from the moment eunbyul arrived home from school till she left once more, they spent every waking moment together. gone were the days eunbyul found herself feeling lonely; now, she was anything but. thunder had filled the void in her heart with her happy tail wagging and canine smile.

and eunbyul loved her with all she had, for thunder was the only one who could ever understand the loneliness in the girl's heart.

but others didn't like seeing her so happy.

specifically one by the name of lim hiran. oh how she hated the way eunbyul's glare had morphed into a easy going smile. she hated the way eunbyul had begun to laugh with others as though she hadn't made them shake in fear before. she hated that eunbyul had forgotten that she wasn't meant to be loved, ever.

and especially, hiran hated the way eunbyul could steal her popularity from her without even trying. when had everyone forgotten what she could do? to them, and to those who got on her nerves?

jealousy churned into anger, and anger to hate. and hate was not a good look on lim hiran. that hate would cost her and others more than she knew.

one afternoon, while eunbyul was busy with her after school cleaning duties, actually having friendly conversations with others, hiran struck.

it had been a coincidence, a stroke of luck in hiran's case. because hiran hadn't expected to meet the giant pit bull that was thunder, out and about. at first, hiran backed away, because who wouldn't be afraid of a dog like that? but thunder, sweet, lovable, thunder. she approached hateful hiran, and showed her kindness only a loyal pet such as her could offer.

and hiran smiled. she smiled because as thunder's collar glinted away from the light, a familiar name was written on the back. so she dragged in poor, unsuspecting thunder as she trotted happily behind her. she should've known. because hiran despised innocence and naïveté, and most of all, she despised eunbyul and anything she loved.

and on that afternoon, when eunbyul walked home, a smile on her face as she eagerly pictured her best friend's canine grin when eunbyul told her about her day. little did she know, last night really had been the last.

eunbyul hadn't expected to see a bulky figure, a stomach rising up and down by the alleyway. she knew that alley well. she'd rescued thunder from that alley months ago. maybe that's why a feeling of dread began to spread in her stomach, like needles piercing her skin from the inside out. so eunbyul ran.

strangled breathing was the first thing she heard. the first thing she saw? her faithful pet, her best friend,

on the verge of death.

eunbyul held back choked sobs as she took in her dear friend. her leg had been hacked off, and her once beautiful sandy fur was stained deep red. but what made eunbyul cry harder was when thunder gave out a strangled whine, and smiled her canine smile at eunbyul.

eunbyul ran as fast as her legs would carry her, thunder once more bundled in her school
blazer. she was heavy, but eunbyul didn't care. she'd do anything if it meant keeping her best friend alive.

by the time eunbyul had reached the animal hospital, thunder had given her last breaths.

and thunder, despite eunbyul's pleading cries, did not come back to life. she didn't open her stormy grey eyes, the very thing she had been named after, and she didn't crack her doggy smile, the one where her tongue stuck out of her mouth and her tail wagged.

no, she didn't do any of these things. she just laid there in eunbyul's arms, limp and cold and lifeless.

and that was just how eunbyul felt.

news had spread fast. now, the only glances eunbyul received were out of pity. she didn't even know how they found out eunbyul even had a dog, let alone that she had passed. but she didn't care. everything was pointless if thunder wasn't sitting on her bed, patiently waiting to be retold what eunbyul did at school that day.

everyone seemed happy, at least until eunbyul walked into a room. the mood seemed to plummet from there. and the cycle had begun once more.

the only person who was always cheerful was hiran. her gleeful smiles taunted eunbyul in the halls, as though jeering at her.

it wasn't until one day, the truth had come out.

"your dog was stupid to follow a stranger. she got what was coming to her." hiran had whispered into eunbyul's ear as she passed by.

and eunbyul, who had been trying so hard not to lash out, not to hurt anyone, finally broke.

that day, she was escorted out in handcuffs.

and hiran, on a stretcher.

later on eunbyul was told hiran had suffered from a mild concussion, two broken ribs, a broken nose, a dislocated jaw, and a femur fracture. though she already knew that, because the last one had been revenge.

that had been nothing compared to what she had done to thunder. eunbyul had been more than generous to let hiran keep her leg. that was more than what she deserved.

after a few months in juvenile detention, eunbyul was let go. nobody knew what had really happened that night by the alley. but eunbyul did. and that was enough to justify her actions.

eunbyul stayed in school, per her parents' request. but she hardly went home after. the feeling of seeing her family finally take notice of her after only after she had felt alone half of her life was too much to bear.

their whispered conversations in the middle of the night when they thought eunbyul was asleep, words they'd never say to her face uttered to each other, their primary worry being eunbyul's abnormality—she couldn't stand it. they may have been family, and she loved them, but none of them could ever be the comfort she needed. eunbyul needed sunshine, not gloomy clouds.

she had needed money, and with her talents, there were certain ways to get it. eunbyul would get payed to rough someone up a little, someone who had done unspeakable things. it was a win win, at least for her.

get revenge for others, get money. those two things became what she lived for. for two years, she endured the struggles and the pain, and even when she had thought things were changing, the very person who had made her feel happy even if it was just in the slightest, turned out to be looking for something different than what she had been.

so eunbyul was left scarred, both inside and out. and her healing heart had been torn once more.

it had been time for her to have a new life. one far away from the place she had learned to call hell.

that was the story of eunbyul's past, one she had never told anyone about. and that was how eunbyul had found herself in hyosan one year ago.

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    ━━EUNBYUL SHOT AWAKE, her head and heart pounding. she must've blacked out. a dream, if you could call it that, she hadn't had in a while replayed in her head.

her eyes were oddly itchy, and she was so, so hungry. on the floor beside her, gwinam began to stir.

he reminded her of those she'd seen crawling back to her once she'd beaten them to a pulp. but that was all in the past. even though eunbyul wouldn't mind returning to her old ways if it meant beating some sense into gwinam, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

such as, why had eunbyul kept her humanity, and not turned into a mindless flesh eating zombie?

eunbyul looked at her arm, the very place she'd been bitten. but when she pulled up her sleeve, the horrible image of torn skin and blood was still there, just as it had been earlier. even the knife wound gwinam had inflicted on her was still prominent on her arm, a red gash against fainter scratches and scars.

things kept getting weirder and weirder.

while eunbyul was examining her arm, she caught moment out of the corner of her eyes. gwinam had gotten up and was now standing in front of a mirror. he seemed frustrated; tracing a shuddering hand over his bloody eye.

just like eunbyul, he seemed perfectly normal, or at least as normal as a murderous psychopath out for revenge could get.

"you're not a zombie." she observed, making the boy's head swivel over to meet her voice.

"e-eunbyul?" gwinam was taken aback. dread filled his face as his eye flickered to look at her torn uniform and the wound his knife had inflicted, and he swallowed harshly. "zombies...?"

he tried to grab eunbyul's arm, lead her away from the zombies—which had not come for them yet—but she didn't budge. instead, eunbyul slapped his hand away as though he was the most vile creature on earth.

"look at us, you dumbass. we were bitten." she rolled her eyes and got up from the library chair.

eunbyul was oddly unbothered by everything. maybe it had been the countless losses she'd went through, or how even trying was pointless now, but eunbyul didn't feel like doing anything anymore.

yawning, she rubbed her eyes again. damn, they just wouldn't stop bothering her. when she began walking away, gwinam followed after her with a stumble to his step.

"where are you going?" he asked, keeping his distance. at least getting bitten hadn't taken away his common sense.

"i'm hungry." was all eunbyul replied with.

after a few seconds of silence, in which eunbyul prayed that gwinam had left to finally be on his own and as far away from her as possible, she craned her neck to look behind her. to no avail, the boy was still quietly following her like a stray animal. sighing, eunbyul just let him. at this point, she had no more energy to argue with anyone, let alone go any faster than a walk.

the school grounds were a mess. every which way eunbyul looked, there were zombies. still, no familiar faces.

"holy fuck." eunbyul muttered to herself as a zombie got too close, taking a step back.

gwinam had found a white zip up and had his hands dug deep into its pockets, watching the hoards of mindless creatures scramble around aimlessly. it made him feel oddly superior.

eunbyul's stomach let out another pained growl. she was starving. how she could go for some of cheongsan's mom's chicken and a bottle of coke.

"yeon, you know you're shit at taking spicy food!"

"just watch me!"

eunbyul felt her heart contort painfully.

upon scanning for any humans, the blue eyed girl spotted a familiar face of the mini man that was myeong hwan. he was hidden beneath an old pickup truck, away from the snapping jaws of the zombies.

she felt rage bubble up in her at the sight of the uninjured bully, safely tucked away from the dangers of this fallen society with nothing more than sweat coating his ugly face. how dare he look so unharmed while her friends had been through so many hardships in just the past day despite the fact that they were untainted and innocent.

hell, half of them had never even fought once in their lives.

eunbyul took her time strolling in his direction, gwinam hurrying his pace to catch up. when she finally arrived at her destination, she crouched down on the floor, leaning her head slightly to stare into the fearful eyes of myeong hwan. gwinam copied her actions.

"eunbyul, gwinam?" myeong hwan whispered. "what the hell are you doing? you'll attract those shitheads! get under!"

the two already bitten teens shared a look, but obeyed nonetheless.

i'll fucking kill you right here and now, eunbyul thought to herself as she crawled underneath the vehicle.

too engrossed in her thoughts, eunbyul didn't catch the conversation between the two bullies, but was brought back to earth when gwinam crawled back out.

"good riddance." she muttered under her breath. her elbows hurt from holding her entire body off the floor.

myeong hwan was pulled out from under his hiding place before eunbyul could blink, leaving the girl to wonder what the hell was happening. she scratched at her ear, maneuvering around her piercings and slid back out from underneath the truck.

with one hand over her mouth, she gave a yawn as gwinam threatened myeong hwan. well, at least he wasn't acting like a loyal lapdog anymore.

"save me, please," he whispered as gwinam twisted his arm, pleading eyes landing on a bored looking eunbyul. "eunbyul, please save me!"

"hmm, should i?" the girl pretended to think, pulling a finger to tap her chin as though deep in thought. "i might consider it if you apologize."

myeong hwan nodded rapidly. "yes, i'm sorry. please save me!"

eunbyul let out a bitter laugh. "oh no. not to me. apologize to your victims."

a spark of recognition ignited in gwinam's body. that was the same thing the girl had told him when they'd last spoken—before this blood fest began.

the raven haired girl scratched her ear again and turned away, leaving myeong hwan to whatever fate gwinam had planned for him. "fuck, i'm so damn hungry."

convenience store, here i come. she brushed the hair out of her bloodstained face and began whistling a lively tune. gyeong su's tune. an ode to the boy who was—the boy who had been—the everlasting light to her bleary days.

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    ━━THE CITY, AS eunbyul had expected, was deserted. not a single living soul—other than the restless ones—could be found.

hyosan really was in ruins.

eunbyul pulled open the door to a nearby convenience store, her eyes scanned the full shelves. it seemed as though the owners had fled to 'safety', judging by the fact that the store looked untouched from the inside.

stomach grumbling, the bloodied girl snatched a bowl of instant noodles and a water bottle. heading over to the register, eunbyul checked if the microwave was working.

"fuck, i'm starving." she muttered to no one in particular, but she liked to imagine being met by a lopsided smile and a 'fuck, so am i!' in response.

"and i'd like for you to stop fucking tailing me like a street rat follows food with its nose in the air." she spat as the door gently closed shut, indicating the presence of—yet again—her least favorite person on earth ( human, at least. and not dead ).

"i'll be eaten alive!" gwinam protested, gesturing to the snarling creatures roaming the streets.

the raven haired girl raised an eyebrow. "not my problem, asshat."

it was not an easy thing to forget the atrocities yoon gwinam had done. not for eunbyul, who'd known the pain—felt the pain—of those suffering at his hands. he wasn't the only one she hated. eunbyul hated anyone who hurt innocent people.

there had always been a cycle at hyosan. helpless students were the prey, delicate little antelope with their spindly legs and wandering minds, helpless and clueless. people like myeong hwan's crew were the predators, packs of hyenas with their echoing laughter, chilling the antelopes and playing with their dinner before devouring it.

but that's where eunbyul came in. a lion that could defeat hyenas but also rip apart antelopes with ease. yet this lion was starving itself to death because she didn't want to harm anyone she didn't have to.

"you're always like this." he muttered with a look of distaste, but his voice never went any louder. he was still afraid of her, and eunbyul would use that well.

"like what, cruel? i wonder who else is." eunbyul replied mindlessly, ignoring the boy in favor of filling her empty stomach.

"hypocritical." gwinam corrects, an edge to his voice. "you hate me but you're the same. you say you hate violence but never do anything about it. you also play with people when you want to. we're not as different as you make yourself out to be."

"you and i are not the same." eunbyul snarled, ignoring the hum of the microwave and snapping her head to face gwinam.

"i don't exploit people for my own entertainment. i don't bring down people who are better than me to make myself feel better because i'm a fucking piece of shit. i don't ruin someone's life over mistakes or minor inconveniences."

"i'm a piece of shit? you always think you're so righteous when all you do is mess things up more! if you hate violence and preying on the weak so much, why are you still using your fists to solve every problem you encounter? why are people still so fucking afraid of you if you're such a good person?" venom. that's what left gwinam's mouth as he yelled at eunbyul.

it was freeing, being able to stand tall and not cower because he knew. he knew that lee eunbyul wasn't the strong pillar she presented herself to be. she was a crumbling statue, holding onto its last fading image to be steady when it was close to being destroyed. her words had no meaning to him. he was different now. stronger.

no words left eunbyul's mouth. she couldn't form an answer—or more accurately, she didn't have one. gwinam had never been more right in his life.

she was no hero. eunbyul wasn't a good person, no matter how hard she tried to be. violence was rooted into her veins, so far deep that her heart beat for it. who was lee eunbyul if not a fighter?

"no matter how hard you want to convince yourself, we're the same, eunbyul." gwinam says with grim satisfaction, "that's a fact you can't run away from."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

the microwave timer felt like an echo in the silent store, neither teens saying a word.

only the sound of rustling as eunbyul snatched a bag from behind the counter and began shoving in as many snacks as the bag allowed.

the bowl of instant noodles forgotten as she shoved gwinam's shoulder harshly on the way out, her eyes never once meeting his.

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BACK INSIDE
HYOSAN HIGH.

    ━━SWEAT COATED SUHYEOK'S palms as he entered through the window of the broadcasting room, limbs heavy with fatigue and heart even heavier with guilt.

questions he didn't have an answer to bombarded him as he walked in, face pale, surrounded by fellow students.

"where's the phone?"

"where's cheongsan?"

"where's eunbyul?"

the last felt like a bucket of ice water falling over the classroom. eunbyul, their trusty (albeit angry) anchor was the one person they were sure would return, yet her cold gaze and snappy attitude was nowhere to be seen or heard.

this frightened the class.

onjo, much more preoccupied over the missing cheongsan, not at all wondering where the stubborn hardheaded eunbyul was, paid no attention to anybody. instead, she ran to the window and looked around, as though the boy would magically appear before her eyes.

"we got separated in the teacher's office." suhyeok said shakily, not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

especially not onjo's or namra's, who were looking like they might break down or break something at any minute.

"eunbyul and cheongsan are together. i'm sure they'll be fine." he assured, but suhyeok knew these could've just been empty promises.

yet he had every hope that the two would make it out alive. without them, what were they to do?

"you got separated? fuck." daesu said worriedly, poking his head out the window.

"sorry." suhyeok said quietly, "for coming back alone."

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    ━━ANGER HAD NEVER been so cold until now. anger was fire pooling in eunbyul's stomach, rising to her throat, and being spit out with harsh and calculating words from off her tongue.

this anger was cold. like ice and tundra, freezing her insides and slowing her mind. but maybe that's because it wasn't anger. it was fear and uncertainty.

it was all because of yoon gwinam. eunbyul harbored a hatred for him, for his weak mindedness and his wrongdoings.

but he had been right. they were similar, in a twisted way. all predators look the same to their prey, don't they?

walking on the desolate streets, past her desolate house she had hoped was holding her family from danger only to find it empty, eunbyul felt utterly small.

like an ant crawling to the top of a building.

hyosan high was in sight, a bloody land of claw and bone. eunbyul almost didn't feel like returning, had it not been for the students in the broadcasting room that so desperately wished to survive.

eunbyul would help them, she decided. she'd get them out safely.

because that was all she could do now.

( until dusk ).

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more of eunbyul's backstory bc yes

this chap isn't really based as much off the series and it branches off a lil bit but next chap i might let eunbyul reunite w her friends :))

also halfbie eunbyul with some unresolved issues + more gwinam slander but with extra flavor!! clearly y'all can tell gwinam is not my fav

pls vote and comment if u can and lmk if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes<333

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‎( annie ).