Our One True Ending Waits For Us | Enhypen

The beginning of the end

Every whisper in the wind carries the mournful dirge of a world on the verge of collapse. - Jack Vance

It all started with a disease; at least that's what Jake hyung said once the internet went down for the last time that first week. It's all a huge blur, and Riki doesn't want to ask him the very specifics of it while they're out scavenging. So, in truth, Riki doesn't really know how it all started. All he remembers from the beginning is the piercing screams in the airport, as all seven of them were escorted through airport security to escape the usual crowd before flying overseas. The screams didn't sound all that different to him; they sounded the same as usual. He was mostly focused on walking quickly as the crowd mobbed them from all sides.

Jungwon hyung is the one who actually witnessed a fan being tackled to the ground by a shrieking, bloodied body. But our managers had waved off his concerns and made him pick up his pace without another glance back. When he thinks about it, he wonders how far the zombies were from them and how close to death they were from the start. One thing Riki does remember from that day is how tense the airport staff was once they made it on the plane, and the door was shut after the last passenger got on it. Takeoff had even felt faster than usual, but he hadn't questioned it at the time and slept the first six hours of the flight.

The only one awake out of the seven of them was Sunghoon hyung, who was scared out of his mind by hour four of the flight. It turns out a couple of the passengers had to be moved to a closed-off area in the airplane because of how sick they were. Some had been throwing up blood, scratching at their skin until it broke, pulling out their hair, or clawing at their eyes. All while spasming uncontrollably in their seats, a few just twitched every three minutes as if bugs were digging into their skin. Riki hadn't even found out about it until everything had completely fallen apart. Heeseung hyung was the only one who knew about it after waking up, and that's because he was Sunghoon's seatmate.

The rest of us just felt that something was off with how often the rest of the passengers whispered amongst themselves or did their best to hide from others view. He doesn't think anyone on the plane knew exactly what was going on, but no one spoke up to find out about the sick passengers. It was like the saying, out of sight, out of mind. The last five hours of the flight were spent watching movies, eating, or whispering to each other. He honestly doesn't remember what they even talked about or what their staff was thinking about; none of them ever told the seven of them anything. It was only ever a conversation about their schedules for that night and the next few days.

After getting off the plane once it landed, they had been escorted through a private hallway at the airport for the first time in their careers. It was eerily quiet, even with all seven of them excitedly talking about finally being given the chance to avoid being mobbed at the airport. Manager Sejin had taken the lead with a quick smile before they reached the waiting vans. Thinking back, Riki's surprised that the drive to the hotel was calm when half of the surrounding streets had been blocked off by police mere minutes before their plane landed. He had shrugged it off at the time in order to message his family about arriving safely and heading to the hotel.

Once they arrived at the hotel, it was absolute mayhem. People were checking out of the hotel, arguing amongst each other about their luggage being brought down to the lounge, rushing to their cars in the parking lot, and many crying while on a call. It instantly went downhill when a woman screamed bloody murder while holding her gaping, bleeding arm out for everyone to see as she ran in through the doorway. Riki will forever remember the midsize crowd that appeared behind her and the cacophony of screams that soon followed. Everyone ran, pushing and shoving anyone in their way. He had slammed against the wall near the elevator with a harsh shove, but then grabbed by the wrist and pulled towards the staircase.