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"I wouldn't have helped you if I knew you two were monsters." The man said, frowning at them. "Get out!" He yelled.

His demand actually comforted Ae-Cha slightly. He wasn't going to kill them. She gently tugged Hyun-Su's wrist, signalling that they should leave whilst they still had the chance. He nodded and grabbed his weapon along with Ae-Cha's before handing it to her. They began walking towards the door when something even more unexpected happened.

The man started laughing.

"You think you're so funny," Yu-Ri scoffed. He continued laughing even as the two turned to look at him. "I was just kidding," he laughed, lowering the crossbow.

"Don't worry, you don't have to leave. Why on earth would I be scared of you when I'm going to die?" He scoffed. Hyun-Su stood and stared at them, completely perplexed. Neither of them said a word.

"Yu-Ri, you're going to stay here." He said to the girl before turning his attention back on them. "You're going somewhere, aren't you? Where?" He asked.

"On the 14th floor, there are kids up there and a man that we need to bring down to the lobby." Ae-Cha explained since Hyun-Su was still processing the man's stupid prank on them.

"Then I'm sure you could use someone that's not at all afraid of dying." He smirked as he rested the crossbow on his shoulder. Yu-Ri turned to look at him. "No way." She insisted.

"Well, you're fired. You've done well nursing this grumpy old man, but it's time to come out of retirement," he muttered. Both Ae-Cha and Hyun-Su were surprised at his willingness to join them and put his life on the line for people he didn't even know.

"I want to be a superhero before I die. Can you let me join you?" He asked the two, the smile never leaving his face.

"You're just acting tough." Hyun-Su replied, causing the man's smile to drop. "What?"

"Don't fool yourself. No one really wants to die." He said. Ae-Cha glanced at him, wondering if he was slightly self projecting when talking about death. She knew that he was dealing with a lot of shitty things in his life and that he wanted it all to end. But maybe, because of everything that happened, he changed his mind.

"Is rudeness one of the symptoms of turning into a monster?" The man said, causing Ae-Cha to chuckle. "Let me explain something to you, pretty boy. Not being afraid of death and wanting to die are different things."

"Now, I'm gonna live longer than all the rest of you kids, you'll see." He said. Ae-Cha smiled at how sure of himself he was. It was a nice change from everyone being completely pessimistic and depressing all of the time. It made her miss being around people who didn't tiptoe around their feelings or the truth, like E-

"Right, are we going to get going?" The man interrupted her thoughts. Both her and Hyun-Su nodded before being stopped by Yu-Ri.

"I'm coming too. I don't care if you're afraid of death, I can still help out if anyone gets injured, especially the kids." She said, taking the crossbow from him. "You can stay behind me." She said before walking to the front door.

Ae-Cha quickly stopped her and explained the earphone trick that Hyun-Su taught her. The two properly prepared themselves before the four of them set off.

Surprisingly, there weren't many interruptions on the way. No monsters were spotted, and Hyun-Su nor Ae-Cha had any issues with the infection. It was almost concerningly too easy.

Once the four made it to the right apartment, Hyun-Su didn't hesitate to open the door. 'They must have known he was coming back.' Ae-Cha thought as she saw the relaxed looks on the residents' faces. She looked around the room and saw a man in a wheelchair and assumed it was the man Eun-Hyuk had mentioned earlier. He was surrounded by handmade weapons and scrap pieces of metal. She then looked over and saw the two children, a girl and her younger brother, staring at them all.

Later Never Comes | Lee Eun-Hyuk|Where stories live. Discover now