"monster." | yoon gwi-nam

𝟸𝟹. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍

"Hey, maybe we just heard it wrong? It's quiet already." Hyo-reong asked Dae-su, trying to be optimistic. Everyone stood up in case something bad happened and Su-hyeok pushed Nam-ra behind him, taking the front; Cheong-san walked over to him from where he was behind the group, gripping his bat. And just as he got there, the plastic cover that was draped on the window in front of them was ripped away from the other side, revealing a grinning Gwi-nam.

"Ah... there you are." You moved forward when Cheong-san jumped at Gwi-nam, swinging the bat but missing by a long shot. You stood in front of Su-hyeok and ushered them to move backward or they'll get caught up in the fight. Looking back at the two, you gasped in shock as Gwi-nam grabbed the back of Cheong-san's shirt and pulled him hard, colliding his back into the wall.

"Cheong-san! Ya, Yoon Gwi-nam!" You rushed over to help Cheong-san up just as Gwi-nam jumped over the window and landed out on the scaffolding with the rest of the group. The others had backed up, with you and Su-hyeok on the side, being the only ones near Cheong-san. Gwi-nam looked at you and scoffed before stepping on Cheong-san's chest. It was stupid of him to think he wouldn't have to see you again. Afraid that Gwi-nam might crush Cheong-san's ribs or push him to his death, Su-hyeok rushed forward to punch him before you could even say something and he ended up getting punched himself; he rolled too far and nearly fell off the building.

"Su-hyeok!" You ran over to help him come back up, with Mi-jin helping you. It was considerably easier for the both of you to lift him up because of your strength, but it was still difficult; Su-hyeok was at least a head or two taller and bigger than you, and the gravity of the situation played a factor in it too. You heard On-jo screaming for Cheong-san and looked over your shoulder to see Gwi-nam grinning while dangling him over the edge of the building, his feet being the only support he had on the ground, preventing from being choked.

You felt your heartbeat racing and you started to see red; everything around you started to become more vivid. Keeping your grip on Su-hyeok's hand tight as you still tried to pull him up with Mi-jin, your neck twisted and cracked, earning a knowing look from the girl beside you. Her eyes went wide, knowing what that look on your face meant, and she looked terrified as she saw the veins on your face become more prominent. She knew what it meant, but she didn't understand. You weren't bitten, so why...

Nam-ra was observing on the side. She knew 3 was a crowd and that if she went in to fight as well, they could lose their strength if something else happened to you, Su-hyeok and Cheong-san. Someone at least had to stay back, someone strong and capable enough to lead the group to safety. She really was the class president. She noticed you turning and told Dae-su to help you pull Su-hyeok up, and with no hesitation, Dae-su ran over to the two of you girls while watching out for Gwi-nam. While you and Mi-jin supported his arms, Dae-su grabbed him by the back of his uniform and started pulling him up to safety, and within a couple of second, Su-hyeok was back up on his feet with the rest of you.

You stared silently as Cheong-san punched him repeatedly in vain. Overwhelmed with the situation and the fact knowing you can't do anything in this position that wouldn't endanger Cheong-san, you couldn't do anything as you watched Gwi-nam grab his arm and twist it until he was screaming in pain. Looking you right in the eyes, he hesitated for one second, before biting into flesh.

"Cheong-san!"

"Stop it!"

"Don't!" Everyone was screaming for him to stop, but he continued biting into his arm. 2 seconds after his initial bite on him, it dawned on you that he didn't bite him just to kill him. He bit him to draw flesh. That angered you even more. But you had others to protect. You couldn't do anything now. You just watched as one of your best friends was mauled on as Gwi-nam pulled away, ripping off a chunk of flesh from the screaming male. Su-hyeok and you held back the others, specifically On-jo and the other guys from going to Cheong-san. His target was Cheong-san, but he wouldn't hesitate killing anyone who tried to help him. You loved Cheong-san as one of your closest friends, you really did, but... you had to make a call. It was him or all of you, right? ... Right?

One of your hands sneaked into your pocket as you watched Gwi-nam slam Cheong-san on the wall, about to bite his neck next, but then an ear-splitting noise surround all of you; at least all 3 of you. You held your knife before taking it out, gripping it tightly as you tried covering your ears from the noise as much as you could while holding something else. Hyo-reong, who was standing right behind you, backed away in fear when she saw that you were holding a blood covered knife, and she pointed it to out to Wu-jin and the others. The sound was painful, even more so than the thunder from last night; even with your heightened sense of hearing being on a slightly lower level than the other two, and your slightly higher threshold for pain, this couldn't even compare to what you went through all night.

Nam-ra covered her ears, crying in pain, and Gwi-nam seized, dropping to his knees as he tried to keep his grip on Cheong-san. He failed of course, and when you realized he was in no proper shape to defend himself, you aimed, throwing your knife at him. It hit his neck just in time for Cheong-san to push him off the building, where he almost rolled over the edge if you hadn't grabbed on to him and pulled him away. He was in a lot of pain, but that didn't stop him from worrying about you when he noticed the blood literally coming out of your ears.

"Shit, you're bleeding. Hey, their ears are bleeding!" Su-hyeok ran over to you and tried helping you but you swatted his hands away, pulling yourself up from the ground.

"Don't worry about me, you bastard. You..." You looked at his arm and everything came crashing down on you. You looked at him, tears forming in your eyes. It was ridiculous to say it out loud, but somehow knowing that the inevitable had finally come to bite you in the ass hurt more than the ringing in your ears.

"This is why I told you to listen to me, you fucking bastard." You gritted your teeth, punching him in the shoulder as your tears fell, quiet hiccups coming from your mouth as you tried to suppress everything. This wasn't the time. You couldn't collapse now, not when other people's lives are on the line.

Cheong-san looked down on his arm, placing a hand on the wound. It would be a lie if he didn't say he thought that was just a fever dream, that if he put his hand on his arm, there wouldn't be an actual wound; that he wouldn't be bleeding right now, and that this was all a hallucination. But it wasn't, and reality hit him. This was his karma. He tried to laugh in this situation.

"God, I should've probably listened to you..." He mumbled, making you punch him on the arm again. On-jo walked towards the both of you ever so slowly, silently pushing Su-hyeok to the side when he tried to hold her back.

"It's okay. It's not what you think, it's okay. You're going to be okay." She whispered, her voice quivering. Cheong-san looked at her, terrified, and with every step she took forward, he took back. You couldn't stand watching this, so you looked down to where Gwi-nam supposedly fell and jumped down, earning multiple shouts from the friends you left above. Jumping down each level of the scaffolding, you tried to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself for what was about to happen.

If On-jo had to be forced to say goodbye to the one person she had left in the world, it wouldn't be fair. You had to end this, one way or another. You had to do something. Before doing anything else, before even thinking of trying to leave this place, before you could even go back there and look your friends in the eyes, you had to do this. You couldn't prolong the inevitable any longer. Now, before he could reach your friends, he had to go through you. This was your last stand.