SRW | Chapter 11

Wait, so he couldn’t resist and went out and came back? I’m speechless. I glared at Kim Jaeyoung. He was curled up in an uncomfortable position and slept beside me. In front of Kim Jaeyoung was a 500ml water bottle and a bag of bread. This guy’s a ghost. How did he even find the food I’d hidden?

“It’s one for every two people,” Bear said, shoving his share of bread into his mouth in one bite. I raised my hand to smack Kim Jaeyoung’s round head but sighed and lowered it instead. I’d been wondering how to find the food in the storage room, but I guess I don’t need to worry about that now… Thanks a lot. We’ll have to ration the food even more, but since it’s the first meal, I’ll let it slide.

“…Jaeyoung-sunbaenim seems kind of cool.”

“……”

“Ah, of course, Eunsoo-sunbaenim is cooler.”

…I pushed Bear’s face away with my palm. His sparkling eyes were fixed on me and Kim Jaeyoung.

*

“What’s going to happen to us…?”

“It’s already been two days…”

“…Do you think they haven’t found us yet?”

At first, everyone held onto the vague hope that someone would come to rescue us. But after two days, anxiety began to set in. Hyunwoo sighed as he assessed the remaining food. That sigh spread to me. The food was running out faster than expected. These pigs. Watching them stuff their faces made my blood boil. Meanwhile, Kim Jaeyoung barely ate anything! I knew he had a small appetite. But even in this situation, he kept saying he wasn’t hungry and gave his food to others. And I couldn’t even tell those sports club kids to stop eating. It was beyond frustrating.

“Damn it.”

Smack. Out of irritation, I smacked Bear on the back of his head. He was about to take a sip of water but ended up coughing and spitting it out. Some of it must’ve splashed on Hyunwoo because Hyunwoo kicked Bear’s shin. Bear made a pitiful face as he was hit from all sides.

“Wh-Why are you hitting me?”

“It’s cramped, and I’m pissed.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bear was the largest among us, so he curled up like a bean bug. It wasn’t really his fault that it was cramped. The building closest to the gym was on the boys’ side. Out of the twenty-three of us, only five were girls. With so many relatively large guys packed together, it felt suffocating.  The only upside was that huddling together helped keep us warm.

“I think we need to check the situation outside.”

All eyes turned to Hyunwoo.

“Wh-who’s going to go?”

When a third-year male student stammered the question, silence fell. Some glanced at Kim Jaeyoung. He had already gone out once. Are these guys seriously thinking of sending someone out? I grabbed Kim Jaeyoung’s wrist and tightened my grip. If he dares to go out recklessly again, I’ll kill him myself. When I glared at him, Kim Jaeyoung smiled faintly. Seriously, this guy must’ve been hit in the head or something. He has no sense of tension.

“Since I brought it up, I’ll go.”

“I’ll go too.”

Hyunwoo and Bear raised their hands. Do these guys have two lives or something? Why do they seem braver than me even if i was an awakened? They need to stay alive for my plan to work. I sighed and raised my hand.

“Wouldn’t it be better for an injured person to die than a healthy one?”

As soon as I finished my sarcastic remark, Kim Jaeyoung quietly raised his hand beside me. This lunatic. Even if they all die, you need to survive! I smacked his arm, but he didn’t budge and stood up.

“Those monsters… they’re not as intelligent as you’d think. They only react to sight and sound.”

“That’s right.”

“Assuming there are no highly intelligent monsters, it’s safer to send the minimum number of people to scout.”

His low, calm voice resonated through the room. His tone was steady despite their surroundings. It had a soothing and trustworthy effect. To put it negatively, it was almost hypnotic. Even in the darkness, everyone was listening intently to Kim Jaeyoung.

…Why do I feel so uneasy? Is it because it’s been a while since Kim Jaeyoung said something that made sense?

“So, the two of us will go and come back.”

Kim Jaeyoung grabbed my arm. I was pulled to my feet, stumbling.

“You’ll come with me, right, Eunsoo?”

“You… lunatic.”

It feels like he’s finally back to his senses. I could see him smiling faintly in the darkness. What, you think smiling prettily will solve everything? Well, if I go with Kim Jaeyoung, I won’t have to hide my abilities. It might be the safest option. I signaled Hyunwoo and Bear to stay put and did some light stretches to avoid aggravating my injuries. After stretching my stiff body, I opened the tightly shut door. A cool breeze brushed against my skin.

“Don’t leave my side.”

“…Okay.”

When I whispered close to him, he lowered his eyes and obediently agreed. Why does he look shy in this situation…? I patted his shoulder and took the lead. I’ll just take a quick look and confirm that the world’s gone to hell.

Opening the gym’s iron door would make too much noise because of the lock. Instead, I approached the broken window and looked outside. I didn’t sense any movement, so I immediately jumped over the window and landed outside. After I signaled, Kim Jaeyoung also jumped over. I caught him as he stumbled and steadied him so he wouldn’t fall.

“This way.”

We moved slowly, sticking close to the gym building. Had the power already gone out? None of the tall buildings I could see had their lights on. But there were many places where flames were rising. It was painting a grim picture.

Bang!

We were about to circle the gym and go back inside when a gunshot echoed from afar. A gun? Who’s shooting? Are there police or soldiers? I felt movement in the darkness. Some slithered like snakes, others walked on four legs like beasts, and some moved on two legs like humans. They were all heading quickly toward the source of the gunshot. I forgot to breathe as I pressed myself against the wall. I only exhaled in relief when silence returned.

This is enough. If we stay out longer, something dangerous might happen. I signaled Kim Jaeyoung with a chin gesture to go back inside, but he pointed to the side with his finger. There was a ladder leading to the roof. Go up? Kim Jaeyoung mouthed the question to me. We should probably take a look from above. I nodded and let Kim Jaeyoung go up first. After confirming he made it safely, I followed.

“Being up here doesn’t mean we’re safe.”

“Yeah, I saw. There are things flying around too.”

“Seriously, when did you see that?”

“On the way to the gym the other day.”

From the roof, we could see the area around the school. As I expected… it was a wasteland. I wonder how many survivors are out there. There are probably many like us, hiding quietly in corners. Without a steady supply of food, they probably won’t last long. I hope my family evacuated safely…

“You said you live with your uncle, right? Aren’t you worried about him?”

 “Well…”

“You’re not close, huh?”

Kim Jaeyoung smiled faintly, gazing at the world bathed in a faint red light.

“It’s nice.”

Nice? A chill ran down my spine.

“What’s… nice?”

“Right now. Just the two of us.”

“……”

Seeing him acting like we’re in a romance movie in the middle of a ruined Seoul left me speechless. Of course, just looking at his face, it could be romantic… but the setting is all wrong! Don’t tell me this guy suggested coming out here just because he wanted to be alone with me…? He better not. He’s not that thoughtless, right? Besides… he’s so obvious about liking me that I don’t know how to react. In my dream, he wasn’t this clingy… Maybe he’s gotten the wrong idea because I’ve been acting close to him since before the days of darkness.

“It was really cramped back there. This is more comfortable. And… the stars look nice.”

I deliberately answered casually and flopped down. The sky above was pitch black, with not a single star in sight…

“…It’s cold. Let’s go back.”

On the way back to the gym, we heard the sounds of monsters moving nearby. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any and made it back safely.

When I explained what we’d seen outside, the atmosphere grew even darker. “If the entire city of Seoul is like this… it’s highly unlikely anyone will come to rescue us,” Hyunwoo said coldly. Sniffling sounds filled the backstage room. With the gloomy atmosphere, Hyunwoo seemed to have made up his mind and stood up.

“We can’t hold out here for long. We need to move.”

That’s right, well said! He’s saying exactly what I want to hear. I could kiss him. I looked at Hyunwoo with a satisfied expression. Unlike me, the others were terrified at the thought of leaving and started arguing against his suggestion.

“Isn’t it too dangerous to go out?”

“Right. If we ration the food we have left, we can last another 2-3 days. Maybe we should wait a little longer for rescue…”

“If we go out, we’ll all die.”

“I-I don’t want to go!”