SURV!VE FOR YOURSELF ... the boyz ?!

[ O6 ] - BUR!ED !N BOOKS.

Lee Sangyeon never expected to see two freshmen get attacked on his routine evening walk, especially not by a monster straight from his nightmares.

He also never expected his body to act on its own will and run to help the two boys. One was injured in the back of his leg, a sharp, jet-black projectile sticking straight out of his calf.

The boy crumpled to the floor like paper, his friend catching him. They both saw the creature, eyes widening with fear.

Sangyeon jumped in without a second thought, throwing his water bottle at the creature. It hit one of the creatures spikes, impaling the plastic, and a small fountain of water spouted from the bottle.

The creature hissed, grinning, teeth gleaming sinisterly in the light. Sangyeon gulped, backing away. "C'mon, get up!" he urged the two boys.

Sangyeon and the non-injured boy supported his friend, and they ran as fast as they could — which wasn't very fast with an injured passenger — to get away.

The spiked monster followed, screeching as it leaped from sidewalk to sidewalk. Sangyeon didn't look back, focused on finding a place for the three to hide.

His gaze finally landed on one particular building. "There!" he pointed. He put on a burst of speed, now carrying the majority of the freshmen's weight, and slammed his shoulder into the front door.

The library, like the rest of the campus, was completely deserted, the shelves of books looming high into the ceiling. Thankfully, the librarian had already gone home for the day.

The other freshman, now free of any weight burden, ran ahead. He hid behind a shelf of Korean history books, beckoning for Sangyeon and his friend to join him.

The three crouched low, covering their mouths to keep the volume of their breathing down. There was a shattering of glass doors, and a high-pitched screech from the creature that made Sangyeon wince.

It got quiet, so quiet that the boys could hear the smaller pieces of glass cracking under the creature's slow, menacing steps. Then the cracking stopped.

Sangyeon leaned to his right just a little bit so that he could see where the creature was now. The entrance area of the library was completely clear, only shards of glass gleaming softly from the light outside.

"Are you okay?" he murmured to the boys. They nodded, eyes wide with fear.

There was an odd, creaking sound somewhere behind them, a soft screech that grew closer and closer. Sangyeon silently sucked in a breath, shutting his eyes.

The source of the sound still came closer, until it stopped, right behind the bookshelf that the three students were hiding behind. The senior helped the injured freshman crawl away from the shelf slowly, careful not to make any sound.

Sckritch, sckritch. The sound of nails scratching against wood. The senior could see the shadowy outline of the monster on the other side of the shelf, stalking its prey.

Without thinking, Sangyeon pulled the other boys up, and pushed them in front of him, running down the aisle.

There was an unearthly shriek from behind Sangyeon, and something barreled into him, pinning him to the ground. He fought to get on his back, glaring at the snarling creature. It was uglier up close, with multiple, much smaller eyes lined up along its face.

It opened its mouth, inches away from Sangyeon's face, its breath almost blinding him. There was a glint of light from the corner of Sangyeon's sight — a shard of glass.

The boy grabbed for the glass, and shoved it into the monster's nearest bigger eye. The creature reared back in pain, screeching wildly. One of its claws swiped at Sangyeon, and white-hot pain flared on the right side of his face.

Sangyeon slipped away, as the creature crashed into a bookcase. Soon the whole aisle of shelves was toppling over like dominos.

Sangyeon looked back, pulling the uninjured freshman away from a falling shelf, just as it crashed to the ground loudly. The impact pushed all three students forward, slamming against the floor near the aisle to the left.

The boys moved backwards, behind a bookcase, looking around with fear. Once again, an eerie quiet settled over the library, sending chills down Sangyeon's spine. He and the two freshmen waited with bated breath, hoping the monster would just give up.

Just as Sangyeon let his guard down just a little, one of the freshmen elbowed him shakily. He looked at the boy, and followed his gaze up, up, up —

— at the monster glaring down at the three boys from the top of the bookshelf.

WORD COUNT // 790 words

AUTHOR'S NOTE // rip sangyeon's pretty face
😔 also i actually like this one ?? :0