ᴮˡᵒᵒᵈ ᵒⁿ ᵒᵘʳ ᴴᵃⁿᵈˢ . ᴬˡˡ ᵒᶠ ᵁˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᴰᵉᵃᵈ ¹

ⁿᵒᵗ ˡᵒˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ

Cheong-san grabbed a music note stand from nearby.

"No!" Aeja said, running over to her best friend. She stood beside Nam-ra.

"Cheong-san, it's not what it looks like," Su-hyeok said, standing in front of Cheong-san.

"Move, get back!" Cheong-san ordered.

"I'm telling you it's not," Su-hyeok repeated before turning to Nam-ra. "Tell him. You weren't bitten by a zombie."

Nam-ra was silent.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Su-hyeok asked before looking at everyone. "It wasn't a zombie. Gwi-nam bit her."

"What?" Aeja gasped.

"Who?" Cheong-san asked.

"Gwi-nam, the bully," Su-hyeok answered.

"Yoon Gwi-nam?" Cheong-san replied.

"Yes," Su-hyeok nodded.

"Nam-ra, were you really bitten by Gwi-nam?" Aeja asked.

Nam-ra was silent, but nodded.

Aeja began to feel her tears come back up. "No..."

"Aeja, what's wrong?" Su-hyeok asked. "I just said Nam-ra was bitten by Gwi-nam."

"Gwi-nam became a zombie," Aeja replied, her body trembling. "I pushed him into them. Cheong-san and I saw him get attacked by the ones in the library."

"It's true," Cheong-san replied. "If you get bitten by zombies, you turn into one. So if Gwi-nam bit her-"

"He's not one of them," Su-hyeok denied. "There's no way. He was acting normal. He talked to me. He recognised me."

Nam-ra stepped forwards, standing in front of Aeja. "Are you sure he was bitten by a zombie?"

Cheong-san nodded, "Aeja and I saw."

Nam-ra looked down at the floor, "Then I'll turn into a zombie too. I'll leave. Thanks for everything."

Nam-ra began to make her way to one of the doors, but felt a hand grab her wrist. Turning around, she saw it was Aeja.

"Aeja, let go," Nam-ra said calmly.

"No," Aeja shook her head. "I'm not losing you. You're not one of them, I just know it."

"Aeja-"

"I'm not losing my best friend," Aeja said. "You hear me?"

Nam-ra went silent, not knowing what to say.

"So if you go out that door... I'm gonna go with you," Aeja continued. "And don't bother fighting. I'll still do it."

Aeja led Nam-ra over to a window nearby. She opened the curtains and the window before facing everyone.

"If she turns, I'll throw her out the window," Aeja said to everyone. "Satisfied?"

"Aeja, you know Gwi-nam got bit," Cheong-san tried to change the girl's mind. "We saw. We fought him."

"I fought him too," Su-hyeok announced. "That's how I know."

Cheong-san walked over to the pair, still holding the music stand. Su-hyeok moved in front of Cheong-san, blocking him from the girls.

"Move!" Cheong-san ordered.

"Cut it out," Su-hyeok replied.

The two boys started to fight, but Nam-ra's shouting stopped them immediately. Aeja was surprised, to say the least. She hadn't heard Nam-ra shout like that in years.