painkiller // namhyeok

0.5: THE CUT THAT ALWAYS BLEEDS

Namra has always wanted to have friends and a good family.

At a young age, Namra's father died, leaving her with her workaholic mother in a huge villa situated in the City of Hyosan.

She only had one friend. Until 3rd grade, when her mother threatened her friend's parents to stop hanging out with her just because their lifestyle was not to her liking.

In her 11th grade, she thought she would have her classmates befriending her as she became the class president. Yet luck wasn't on her side when she learned that her mother paid for her to get that title.

It was always like that.

Namra should always be at the top, may it be academics or extracurricular. She joined the broadcasting club and was even forced to join the badminton club which became her last straw.

But then the zombie outbreak happened.

She wanted to laugh at herself.

Who would have thought that the only time she would snatch a few friends would be during an apocalypse?

Although, thinking about that time breaks her heart because fate still had some other things for her. They only wanted her to enjoy having friends for 5 days. Then, she needed to leave them for their safety.

My classmates, she called as she stared at the fire she lit on the rooftop. I hope you're all doing well.

On the third day after the bombing, Namra tried her luck in finding someone who's just like her. The first thing she searched was the streets, yet only saw zombies who were lucky enough not to get bombed. Then on the fifth day, she went back to the construction site where they left Cheongsan to fight Gwinam.

Namra almost cried when she saw Cheongsan sitting outside the window, where they hid from Gwinam. His legs were dangling on the edge while he looked up at the sky. One of his eyes was also covered in a white cloth, so she concluded that Gwinam managed to get his revenge before he died. She was about to call out his name when she saw Gwinam coming out of the window, a bag of meat in his hold.

"Cheongsan! Behind you!" she yelled.

All her life, she has only yelled at someone thrice. Twice when she yelled at her classmates days ago when they weren't agreeing with each other, once when she tried to go against her mother and received a slap instead.

Mom.

She never found her mom after the bombing. She wondered if her mom evacuated with the others or had turned into one of the zombies instead.

Still, she didn't want to dwell and keep her hopes up. After all, her mom wouldn't accept a hambie if she was still human.

Who would want a hambie?

Suhyeok, maybe?

"Namra!" Cheongsan stood up from his seat and waved his hands, a big smile on his face.

Gwinam hit the back of Cheongsan's head, causing the other boy to lose balance and hang on a steel bar before he could fall on the ground.

Namra screamed in surprise. "Cheongsan!" Instinctively, she ran to the steel bars and pulled herself up. With her being half a zombie, her enhanced senses and strength kept her alive for the past week. When she was already halfway towards the two boys, Cheongsan yelled back.

"Namra, I'm alright," he said.

She stood on a steel bar while holding on to another in one hand to keep her balance. Gwinam was still standing beside Cheongsan, which made her confused.