Promise; Lee Su-hyeok

018. Gasp! Plot twist?

1173 words

"He's gone."

He's gone. Gone.

As in, I'm never gonna see him again gone.

No more bullying him because he sucks at cod gone. No more late night talks because I can't sleep gone. No more 'goodnight, bitch.' And no more ''good morning, orphan we found on the street 16 years ago.'

I let myself fall onto the floor, and unlike when I found out I-sak died, I don't say anything. My stomach cramps up again but I let it be this time. Maybe one of my kidneys exploded and now I'm dying.

I hope it did.

I really do.

"Y/n? N/N!"

I look up at whoever was calling my name. I don't answer Cheong-san though, I just stare at him. I can't make sense of my thoughts, so forget even trying to say them out loud.

He plops down right next to me, his legs crisscrossed. He open his arms, "Come here." We make eye contact and I see he needs the hug just as much as anyone else, if not more. They just watched their most precious classmate die. How would they not be sad?

I accept the hug and rest my chin on his shoulder. "Don't cry," I whisper. "Gyeong-su wouldn't have wanted you to cry."

Cheong-san sniffles sadly, "You fucking liar. He cries more than you and me combined."

I rub my teary eyes with his shoulder and laugh weakly, but it's a laugh nonetheless. "I know. I just don't know how to comfort people when they're crying." I pull away and stand up. I hold out my hand for him to grab it, then pull him to his feet.

He grabs my hand again and drags me over to the window. That fucking window. "You wanna see where Gyeong-su landed when he jumped out?"

I can't tell if he's being serious or not. My eyes get hot again and I frown, "What? He jumped out the window?"

Su-hyeok, who is sitting on the floor next to the broken mop from earlier, kicks his ankle. "I don't think that's helping, dumbass," he scolds.

I loosen Cheong-san's grip on my hand and shuffle away when he lets go of me. I don't think he's very correct state of brain right now. But neither am I, so.

I sit next to Su-hyeok. We don't acknowledge each other, it's just silent. Good, I like silence. I bring my knees up to my chest, letting my thoughts wander.

Pray for me.

What would have made Gyeong-su turn? He wasn't bitten by a zombie, that's for sure. Is it possible that he got infected some other way?

As far as I know, and according to all zombies movies, it's just the blood and saliva that's contagious. No one here got infected though.

No one, except me. But how would I have infected him if I didn't bite him? Would it work with an open wound if a zombie's blood was placed on it?

But that's the thing, my blood never even got on him. My blood never made contact with anyone. He didn't bandage my hand, and I cleaned it up with my shirt.

...

With the same shirt I used to clean his hand with after he exited the broadcasting room.

My heart drops, and the realization slowly sets in. I killed Gyeong-su. I was the one who caused him to turn.

It makes sense. Hyeon-ju bit me, and she was a zombie. Or is, if she's still alive. Then, I started showing weird symptoms, which are similar to what zombies experience when they turn possessed.

Hey, maybe this is just a really long fever dream.

A sharp pain shoots through my stomach. Again. Why is everyone breathing so loud?

Everything's too much.

Panicking, I quickly rush inside the broadcasting room, accidentally slamming the door in the process. Shit, that was so dramatic.

"You're so stupid, Y/n. Why are you like this?" More tears fill my eyes but I don't let them fall. "Look at you, crying. You're not the victim here, stop fucking acting like it."

"You fucking murderer." I rub harshly at my eyes, pacing back and forth the room, although it doesn't help settle my stomach. Someone opens the door and I stop dead in my tracks. "Oh, it's you," I sigh when I see Su-hyeok.

He closes the door behind him, contrastingly softer than I did. "What's going on? You just ran off all of a sudden."

I gaze at him, plainly and without a reply. What am I supposed to say? Hey, Bare-su, I killed my brother? Instead of fabricating an excuse, I turn towards the window.

Oh, everyone us staring at us. That's not unnerving at all.

"I'm just gonna lock the door. Okay?" He spins around to lock it, and it clicks eerily loud. That's not how it clicked earlier, is it?

My breath hitches, my thought bubble getting popped when Su-hyeok suddenly pulls my arm. He sits us down behind the desk with the control panels, out of view from everybody. "You want to talk?"

I blink, contemplating my choices. I doubt anyone likes me more than they like Na-yeon. What's there to lose? Besides my life, of course.

But that doesn't count. It's not like I have one anyway.

He waves his hand infront of my face, "Gummi, you're zoning out."

I look up from the backpack I was apparently staring at. "Huh? I am? My bad." I stare at his converse instead, "So, why are you here again?"

I hear him scoff, "You really forgot already?" He pokes my neck, which makes me look up. "I told you not even a minute ago."

I tilt my head, "Told me what?"

By the look he's giving me, I can tell he wants to do either one of the two: facepalm or smack me.

Maybe both. He has two hands after all.

He rubs his temple, indicating that he's frustrated. "Have patience, Su-hyeok. Gentle parenting," he grumbles. He clears his throat, "I said, are you okay? Do you want to talk?"

"Ohhhh," I nod slowly, pretending to understand. "Why?"

He groans, "Because you randomly ran off and came here." I tense, unfortunately remembering why I had zoned out, "Oh."

I bring my knees back up to my chest, the temporarily forgotten feeling of uneasiness quickly coming back to me. "Sure, but everyone is gonna hate me even more."

The corners of his mouth turn downward, "Even more? Why would everyone hate you?"

I move to rest my chin on my arm. "Because." I avoid his eyes, "So you know how Hyeon-ju bit me? And how I turned into a zombie?"

"How many times do I need to say it? You're no-"

"If I'm not, then why did Gyeong-su turn?" I internally cringe as soon as the words leave my mouth. That came out harsher than I intended. Too late.

"What do you mean?"

"I was the one who killed Gyeong-su."