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What in the Train to Busan was fucking happening? Was Cheong-san’s thought as he watched in horror a maimed student covered in blood bite a screaming boy writhing against the floor. His feet stayed rooted to the ground even from the corner of his eye, he saw another student? Zombie? Barreling right for him. It was Soo-jae, the girl who sat in front of him in history. What was she doing back here? He thought he saw her leaving as he came into the cafeteria. And what was wrong with her eyes? Why was her uniform all stained?
This his brain finally decided to work again as it screamed that there was a fucking zombie running straight at him and holy shit, its mouth was gurgling blood and all he saw was red, red, red–
Cheong-san threw himself to the side and he saw the thing crashing into the table. But he didn’t hear any of it amid the terrible screams ringing out throughout the cafeteria. Fear, pain, panic. It was hysteria. Was Cheong-san screaming, too? He couldn’t tell. He didn’t think so. His mouth felt like it was sewed shut.
On-jo, stupid, his brain reminded helpfully once again. That’s right. On-jo. Where was she? He saw her just now . . .
There. Pinned on the floor, struggling against another zombie-thing, forearm barred against its throat as its mouth snapped for her.
Finally, finally, Cheong-san moved. The next thing he knew he was wrenching it off of her–Mal-chin, his brain supplied once more, a boy he frequently played basketball against–and away from them into another table. Cheong-san heaved his childhood friend up and looked into her unfocused eyes.
“On-jo,” He furiously tapped her cheek until they finally looked back at him with clarity. “A-Are you okay?”
“U-Uhn. You?”
“I think so.” Cheong-san looked down at himself. He didn’t think he was hurt. He hadn’t felt any pain and there was no blood on his clothes . . .
He grunted as On-jo shoved the both of them away from the path of another oncoming zombie. A girl screamed as it crashed into her and the two of them went down. Cheong-san’s mouth went dry and he subconsciously stepped towards her—
On-jo tugged on his arm and they ducked under a table. “We have to leave.” He heard her mutter in the small space. He agreed–there were so many students to begin with in the cafeteria, and it was already crammed to capacity with the new wave of students that poured in, leading those zombies right to them.
He spied the doors blocked by a wall of bodies. The kitchen? No, there were people? Zombies? already fleeing there. “The tables,” Cheong-san heard himself say. “Get to the windows.”
The two of them left the temporary safety from the mayhem, dodging around terrified students. On-jo was up on a table first. He reached for her outstretched hand—
–and felt something grab his ankle. Cheong-san screamed as he was dragged back down. He looked into the bloody face of Mi-ok, a tall girl who was on the track team. He yanked his foot but her grip only tightened. She wrenched her snarling face towards him. His throat was choked with panic. He kicked at her face. No, no, no, no–!
“Duck!” An empty metal tray collided into Mi-ok’s face. Cheong-san kicked away her hand and struggled back up. He reached for On-jo’s waiting hand once more and she pulled him up alongside her.
“Fucking shit,” he winced around his throbbing ankle. “Thank you.”
“You better be,” in spite of their situation, Cheong-san felt a smile tug at the edge of his mouth at the familiar banter.
The fire sprinklers went off.
Cheong-san and On-jo leapt from table to table, tugging each other back when one of them slipped. They steadily made their way through the cafeteria, dodging clawing hands swiping at their feet. Cheong-san didn’t stop to think if they were human or zombie. They made it to the windows. He tore it open and immediately helped On-jo out first.
In the span of the second, Cheong-san took in the scene behind him through a panicked, watery haze. It was utter chaos. Zombies chased students everywhere he looked. They followed the ones who fled into the kitchen relentlessly. Some students were up on the tables like them, fending off the zombies with chairs. The entire cafeteria was painted in red.
What the fuck was going on?
* * *
“I better go to heaven for this.”
Su-hyeok sprinted against the tide of running students, his feet carrying him to the one oblivious to everything around her. He had no time to stop and wonder why he was so great. All he knew was he was going to strangle this girl.
“Prez!”
Nothing. Of fucking course. He grabbed her arm.
“Let’s go, idiot!” Her blank face stared back at him and she finally took in her surroundings. He wanted to explain away her bewilderment, really he did, but instead he pulled her back the way they came, forcing her to run. Su-hyeok threw a look back at the– thing –giving chase. This was definitely some zombie bullshit Cheong-san forced him into watching.
They nearly tripped down the stairs in their haste. He had to get away. Su-hyeok felt like his brain was going into overdrive, repeating one thing over and over: getawaygetawaygetawaygetaway—
Prez’s hand clasped tightly onto his wrist. “You made me drop my book.”
Su-hyeok's brain short-circuited.
“The library’s fee is 15,000 won.”
“Fuckmefuckmefuckmefuckmefuckme–”
“I got it the first time.”
“N-Not now, Prez!” Su-hyeok hissed at the stoic girl, mortified at being caught cursing so much in front of such a pretty near-stranger. His irritation and fear—but mostly irritation—was mounting the longer they were met with yet another sight of a corner of the campus filled with zombies eating people or simply just zombies in general.
He bit his tongue to hold back a curse and the two of them set off again. Of course he had to be separated from his friends the moment a fucking zombie apocalypse happened. But nooo, he had to leave the safety of the cafeteria to wander around school, all because his jealous ass couldn’t take seeing Cheong-san and his childhood friend together engaging in an intimate conversation even if Cheong-san told him twice he didn’t like her that way anymore; and he still couldn’t handle it. And of course, he had to run into yet another one of his crushes as she was about to walk right into a descending hoard of zombies because she was just indifferent like that.
Su-hyeok’s life was honestly perfect.
“Mother fuck–” He couldn’t hold it back this time as Su-hyeok was about to open the glass doors to the main building before numerous zombies slammed into them, eyes bloodshot and frenzied.
“C’mon.” Prez pulled him away and his feet followed suit as they fled to the path opening up onto the field.
Their salvation came in the form of a man wielding a pair of hedge shears balancing precariously on a steel ladder.
* * *
Their salvation came in the form of a pick-up truck careening straight into the school building.
On-jo’s eyes caught his. Her grimace said the same thing he was thinking. Better than nothing.
* * *
The man on the ladder went down. Su-hyeok ran and tried to ignore him being torn open.
* * *
Cheong-san’s childhood friend was meek, but she was anything but unresourceful. He tried to protect her the best he could with his fists, shoving zombies away that got too close, but there was only so much he could do against a wave of them. When the powder from a fire extinguisher spurted right into the face of the zombie pinning him down, he was more than glad to let On-jo back them into a corner as she blasted the creatures away with her impromptu weapon.
Once they were disorientated, she and Cheong-san emerged from the white mist making a beeline for their classroom. He saw Gyeong-su’s terrified but white eyes peeking behind the windows.
The door opened for them. He thought he heard someone screaming to shut it.
He scanned the occupants and felt his heart clench.
“Su-hyeok?” He asked hurriedly, looking around. “Did any of you see Su-hyeok?”
Grim faces stared back.
* * *
Su-hyeok’s selflessness overrode his self-preservation as he had Prez step up on the ladder before him. His fists clenched, eyeing the zombie that honed in on the sight of them. Su-hyeok’s eyes flickered back towards Prez’s retreating form. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon . . .
There was a clamor at the top of the ladder, and he heard voices shouting. He was too scared to check, his eyes glued to the approaching zombie. It was getting closer.
“Bare-su!” He felt his heart jump at the familiar voice. He looked up into Cheong-san’s worried gaze, and began to climb.
* * *
Cheong-san hooked his arm under Su-hyeok’s bicep just as the zombie below crashed into the ladder, toppling it over. “Shit.” He and Dae-su pulled him into the safety of the class. Joon-yeong slammed the window shut.
Su-hyeok collapsed against the floor, panting like he’d just fought off a hoard of zombies which wouldn’t be surprising if he did, considering his, well, everything.
Cheong-san fell down beside him. “Are-Are you okay?” He asked frantically, patting his arms as he looked over at him, recoiling at every bloodstain before realizing none of it was the other boy’s own.
Su-hyeok smiled like everything was fine. He was covered in blood and sweat, but Cheong-san thought none of it could take away from his radiance nor the tenderness his face held. “I’m okay, Sannie.”
Cheong-san felt tears sting the corner of his eyes. He pulled Su-hyeok into a sitting position, if only just to hug him tightly around the shoulders, instantly turning his face into his neck. Boys were gross like On-jo propagated, but Cheong-san didn’t think Su-hyeok’s cologne could invoke such relief.
* * *
His neck tingled where Cheong-san’s eyelashes fluttered against it.
Su-hyeok paused, before slowly moving to return the welcomed hug. Before he could embrace him completely however, Cheong-san was up on his feet. He was blinking rapidly, trying futilely to hide his sniffle as he turned to face the empty wall of the classroom. “Good to see you’re not dead.” Red bloomed up the nape of his neck.
Tired but determined, Su-hyeok stood on shaky legs and carefully wrapped his fingers around Cheong-san's elbow, tugging him back to him. He followed obediently, shoulder leaning into Su-hyeok's chest. “I was worried for you, too.” His voice was characteristically soft as it always was around Cheong-san.
“Fuck off.”
Su-hyeok smiled into his hair and settled his hand comfortably against his lower back. “Not happening anytime soon, Sannie.”