Technological Terror | kim sunwoo

Chapter 3

Sunwoo and I were atop the paved and tiled rooftop, he was in the middle of discussing the route to his father's apartment. "See that balcony over there?" He indicated with his index, I nodded. "We'll jump over there, one at a time. From there, we'll head inside an apartment. If we're lucky, it might be empty for us to scavenge some food." He explained, emphasizing the word if. "And if it's not empty?" I asked, tilting my head. "I'm not so sure, it depends on what kind of person we're dealing with." He knitted his eyebrows into a frown. "We'll do fine, don't worry." He caressed my shoulder reassuringly. "Your father.. If we find him, what exactly are we supposed to do after this?" I asked, folding my legs. "I suppose we'll work on a way to stop this, he is a scientist whom helped design most machinery here." He explained once again, biting his inner cheek. I raised my index finger up, the realization processing into me as I zoned out. "So that's why you knew most things!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, I used to be around him most of the time as a kid, so I did pick up a thing or two. But don't be so dependent on that." He placed his hands on his knees, getting up and composing himself. "Shall we go now? It's getting a bit cold up here" He asked, helping me up before caressing his shoulders. "Who is doing the first jump?" I asked, looking at the iron constructed balcony ahead of me, it seemed to be steady enough, but I somehow got shady vibes from it. "I'll go first, stand back." He put his lips in a thin line, rubbing his hands. He stumbled back, before running and taking a leap. My heart clenched, until he perfectly landed on the balcony with a thud, the bars that were attached to the wall scattered dust. He gestured with his hand for me to do the jump, after giving me enough space. I gulped, throwing my bar on the balcony first, which clanged against the balcony. Followed by that, I galloped to a leap to the balcony, landing well with a thud. "You should've fell." He stated, walking ahead of me. "You should've gotten aborted." I replied back monotonously, to which he grimaced at.

The apartment was fairly lit up, the curtains were glued to the windows as well. Sunwoo and I strolled cautiously around the apartment, inclining down for possible gun power. "Check the kitchen, I'll check the rest." He whispered, I nodded before running on my tiptoes to the kitchen, clutching my bar. I let my orbs scatter around, I didn't find anything worthy of suspect, in fact, the kitchen seemed neat. I stumbled upon a fridge, which was disabled. I opened the door, the bottles clanging against each other from the action. The fridge revealed food that was retained immaculately, I grinned in victory, wanting to deliver the news to Sunwoo.

I stepped out excitedly out of the kitchen, as I was about to part my lips to speak, the smile on my face faded.

"Who else are you with? You can't have made it that long alone." A man whom was slightly shorter than Sunwoo asked viciously, a knife was pointed directly at Sunwoo's neck vein. "I told you, no one is with me. It's been only two days of course I won't die now." Sunwoo denied my company agonizingly, as he attempted to intimidate the man holding him. "I'm not fucking stupid, who is with you?" He asked once again, his tone filled with aggression. He pressed the knife against his neck slightly. "Your last wa-" I cut off the man by swinging the bar against his head, knocking the consciousness out of him. His body hit the ground hard. "I leave you for one minute, and you're getting your neck sliced." I dropped the bar I held on the floor, to which it wiggled before staying perfectly still. "I figured the house looked too neat to be empty anyway, let's tie him up, I spotted a rope in his closet." Sunwoo shrugged, stretching his arms as if he wasn't near death. "No thank you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I got you to your friend's house and almost got myself killed. No thank you?" He raised his arms behind his head lazily. "Right.. Thank you." I mumbled, he let out a titter. "What did you find in the kitchen?" He asked, dropping his arms to his thighs. "His fridge is stacked!" I emphasized the word stacked, beaming. "Good, let's tie him up before he wakes up and devours us and the food."

A crunching sound went straight to his audibility, he peered at Sunwoo deviously. Sunwoo put a leg over the other. "You know, if the world wasn't ending right now due to these machines, I would've hired you to go shopping for me. You know what brands to pick." Sunwoo praised, nodding at the sandwich he was devouring, raising both of his eyebrows. "I should've slit your throat on spot." The man said bitterly with a raspy voice. I was seated on a table, viewing the scene ahead of me unfold as I ate. Sunwoo leered at the man. "Cool, what's your name, grinch?" Sunwoo asked, leaning back in the chair which was positioned alee of the chair the man was secured to. "I'm not going to give you my name." The man stated, gritting his teeth. "You don't have to, I read it on you textbooks, Haknyeon." Sunwoo took the last bite of his sandwich, dusting his hands. "Could you possibly be a chef? I found a recipe book in your kitchen." Sunwoo asked sarcastically, getting up and composing himself. "Now if you don't mind, I'll take a shower. Do you perhaps have anything my size in your closet? You're a bit shorter than me.. So I'm very hesitant." A worrisome expression presented itself on Sunwoo's face, Haknyeon peered at his feet the entire time, selecting silence for an answer. "Is that a yes? Thank you for the hospitality. Y/n, you too, take a shower after me. You're too dusty." Sunwoo shifted his attention to me, he seemed to be attempting to provoke the man abreast of him indirectly. I didn't give a response to what he asked for.

"The both of you are dead here." Haknyeon muttered, gazing in fury at me. I refused to talk. I hopped down from the table and walked over to the chair, seating myself. "What are you so aggressive for?" I asked, folding my arms. Silence settled in as I held an expression filled with suspicion at the guy. "Look outside." He commanded, staring down at his feet once again. I got up, strolled to the windows with my eyes on the man. I swiped the netted, silky and smooth curtain, to be met with people outside, humans, but they didn't appear to exactly be human. Their expression seemed to be empty, and did activities emotionlessly. I acknowledged the device attached to the back of their heads, figuring that it led to the stem of the brain. I remained still, I was bewildered. "So that's why most of the city's population was missing, I see." I got startled by Sunwoo's voice at the heels of me, jolting me with a squeal. "I almost bashed you with my bar! You should be glad." I yelled in anger, gesticulating with my hands. "Y/n, that's not important. It appears that our friend here, Haknyeon, misunderstood us for the infected ones, isn't that right?" Sunwoo asked, inclining down to caress Haknyeon's back. His hair seemed to be somewhat wet, as he dried it in a hurry I assume. "That's correct, however, you still make me want to slit your throat!" Haknyeon shouted the last part, startling me. In reflex, I covered my ears. "It was like, a few sandwiches. Don't be so salty." Sunwoo reassured in sarcastic gentle tone. He cleared his throat, before speaking seriously. He inched his lips to Haknyeon's ear, a grin filled with mischief was painted on his lips. "I'll untie you now since I figured it was a misunderstanding. But if I catch you doing anything suspicious, I'll bash your head so hard, your skin won't be recognizable." He whispered while smiling, a short dark chuckle escaped his throat after. Sunwoo cut the ropes open with a knife, the man began rubbing his wrists. "We'll stay the night and leave your territory, as we have places to be tomorrow." Sunwoo walked over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Fuck you, and fuck your girlfriend."

At that, I paused, laggardly shifting my gaze to the man behind me. "Girlfriend?!" I exclaimed in irritation, clenching my fists. I headed over to the man, slapping him smoothly. He held his cheek, his eyes remained averted to the other side. "Out of all men, you choose him? He is so fucking moody he acts like a pregnant woman most of the time." I yelled in the man's face, whom remained silent. "So you were offended over the fact he called you my girlfriend and not over the fact that he cussed you out?" Sunwoo grimaced at me, folding his arms. "And you, what's with the provocative comments you make to the guy? You're so annoying I almost jumped out of the window watching the both of you." I continued my temper tantrum, Sunwoo's lips began forming a smile slowly. "If you excuse me, I don't want anymore disturbance. I'm done with the pregnant woman and Gordon ramsay." I stormed to another room, away from the couple of men outside.