The Longest Dayz

Chapter 38: Yoon Minseok

Minseok walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoing through the enclosed space. The sound of his footsteps made him a bit anxious as he looked over his shoulder every now and again. He felt guilty as he had found a piece of unexpired candy and didn't tell anyone; he didn't want to feel bad and end up giving it to someone else. He had found it when he had been checking some backpacks that had been abandoned in the classrooms. One of the bags he had found a few goodies, one being the piece of candy while the other was a bottle of unopened soda. After he had found it he quickly went to a quiet classroom on the third floor; one that most of the other group members didn't go into often. He sat on a desk by the windows, unwrapped the coffee candy, and raised it towards his lips. Just as he opened his mouth to pop the candy in, the door opened and Hina entered. He must've had a deer caught in the headlights look as Hina looked him over not once, but twice as the candy was held just centimeters away from his lips.

She cleared her throat, lifting her hand to cover the small smile that had begun to form on her lips. "Did I catch you at the wrong time?"

He lowered the candy, giving it a sorrowful look as he sat it back on its wrapper. "No, it's fine. Did you need me for something?" he asked.

She approached him and sat on a desk across from him; she noticeably looked around the room and then to the door. "Minseok-ah, you're the only person I knew from before all this happened." He nodded, but remained silent as she continued to glance at the door every few seconds. "Before the power went out, back at the penthouse, I had to use the bathroom one night and got up around one in the morning. On my way back to bed I saw that the front door was cracked, when I had approached the door to close it I heard a voice. I looked outside the door and saw Yongrae talking on the phone with someone. At first I thought I was overthinking it, but now I am not so sure."

Tilting his head, he tried to make sense of what she was saying. "What did you hear him talk about?"

"He was talking in a hushed tone, but at some point I heard him mention Kittichai and Jiwon. He mentioned how he had ran into them on the train and is currently staying in a group with them. He then replied to someone, or at least it sounded like he did. He ended the conversation by saying he would bring them. I don't know where he would be bringing them, but the way he said it didn't sound too pleasant." She explained what she had heard.

Looking out the window at the clear blue sky, he thought of a response and a reason behind what Hina had heard. "Maybe he was talking to his deceased wife's voicemail, he could've just been a bit delusional over her death. I heard from Jiwon that Yongrae had been with her since middle school. It's not completely uncommon for people to do things like talking into their phones after the death of their loved ones; so maybe he was just telling his wife how he had run into their classmates from middle school."

"Then what about him saying that he would bring them?" She questioned.

"Denial that she's gone?" He responded; however, he wasn't really believing that Yongrae was in denial either.

"Right. Well, I originally thought I was overthinking it; that was until last month when KZ and Yeongsu were patrolling the one night and ran into the lurkers inside. Right before they went on patrol I saw Yongrae go down to the first floor. I always think that I overthink things, but when KZ had explained to me the next day of what had happened she had said it seemed like the cafeteria door had been purposefully left open. What if Yongrae had been the one to leave it open?" She stated.

Minseok didn't like the way the conversation was going. "Hina, that's a serious assumption you're making towards Yongrae. He's in this building too, would he willingly put his life at risk to endanger us?"

She visibly frowned at his response, "No, maybe his intention wasn't to kill anyone. What if he wanted the group to think the place was too dangerous to maintain; to move on. If, and I mean if; if he was talking to someone on the phone and not his deceased wife, then maybe he is trying to get the group to move so he can bring Jiwon to whoever he was talking to."