What if? (AOUAD Cheongsan x Onjo Fanfic)

Chapter 21

Her eyes shot open.

On-jo immediately sat up and felt her head pound as if she was hit by a metal tube. She closed her eyes back to recollect all the things that happened before she passed out.

She was in a zombie-filled town with her friends. Not until she felt the world turn and her nose trickle with blood.

She was expecting to turn. Weirdly enough for her, she was alright.

Not that it was the oddest thing though.

Contrary to her expectation of waking up lying on the concrete floor or the arms of her dad who might've held her 'till they receive help, she was in her room.

Not in that cream-painted room she had in her apartment. On-jo was in the quarantine camp.

It was the same old room that was neither painted nor decorated. The bed was hard and difficult to sleep in, no windows were available for even a bit of sunlight to pass through, and the floor was uneven and cold.

A room unfit for winter.

The worse thing is that she had to share with people she doesn't know.

Not that those things were important though. She was confused.

Did her friends carry her 'till they reached the camp? Or was everything just a dream?

She wished it wasn't the latter.

On-jo clenched her fists only to feel a tiny piece of fabric come in between her fingers and palm. How she wished she didn't look at it.

It was Cheong-san's name tag. That thing she held before she slept for those four months she stayed in that place.

Everything really was just a dream.

She was sure it was. Cheong-san never gave his name tag to her in those memories she had of 'saving' her friends. Now she had to cry about losing her friends and dad every single night again.

Thank her subconscious for keeping her hopes up.

Just when her tears were just about to fall, Hyo-ryeong showed up. She swiftly wiped her eyes and acted like she was about to do her bed.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Morning!" Hyo-ryeong brightly returned, She walked a few steps forward and tilted her head to check on her. The moment she stepped inside the room, she felt a weird and gloomy atmosphere in it.

She saw how puffy her eyes were and knew something was up at that second, "What's wrong?"

On-jo tried to put up her best smile, "Just missing a few people."

Hyo-ryeong's face became stiffer than the cheery mood she had earlier. She sat next to On-jo and leaned her head on her shoulder, "I thought of Ji-min last night too. What if I grabbed her before she ran? Do you think she'll be with us right now? I should've accepted Dae-su's hand back then. She didn't deserve to be with me."

"Don't think negatively about yourself like that," On-jo circled her arm around her, "You deserve every little good thing in this world."

"Aww. And you're the sweetest person in the world," she sat back up, "About I-sak...she's definitely happy somewhere."

A tear fell in On-jo's left eye, "I wish Cheong-san and my dad too."

Hyo-ryeong was confused, "Yes? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it means. Cheong-san and dad turned, have you forgotten?"

"What? No! They didn't!" she was still confused, "Did you have a dream? You must've mixed things up. All I know is that Joon-yeong said your nose bled and--"