Chapter 18

“It’s coming this way! Fuck!”

A massive, flame-wreathed shadow hurtled toward the rooftop. The two seized each other’s hands and threw themselves aside, and in the next instant, the entire world overturned.

BOOM!

SKRREEE! HRRK! HEEAAAH!

A colossal rotor blade, torn from the fuselage when the helicopter smashed into the outer wall, scythed across the rooftop. It churned through the mass of zombies, reducing them to mangled pulp as though they had been dumped into an industrial blender, then continued onward and carved straight through the rooftop structure.

“Ahhh!”

“Fuck!”

Flesh and bone vanished into the spinning blades. Blood, organs, and shredded tissue erupted into the air before pouring down in a torrential red deluge. Razor-sharp fragments sprayed in every direction, grazing Yu-su and Muwon as they flew past.

Darkness swallowed Yu-su for a moment.

“Ugh… hnn…”

A shrill ringing filled his ears, stretching on without end like an unbroken scream. His entire body throbbed as though every cell beneath his skin had transformed into a beating heart. When he finally managed to raise his eyelids, though he could not remember closing them, his vision was as hazy as his blank, bleached mind.

Above him, only a blurred sky drifted in and out of focus.

All he could feel was the winter wind against his skin, the acrid stench of ash, and the warmth still flowing from Do Muwon’s hand, which remained locked around his own.

It felt as though time had abandoned its course and left him stranded behind.

But that sensation was only an illusion. Time, which had withdrawn like the ebbing tide, returned all at once in the form of a towering tsunami.

“Jeong Yu-su!”

Do Muwon’s roar shattered the numbness.

A savage gust battered Yu-su’s body. Goosebumps burst across his skin, and only then did he realize that he was dangling in midair, suspended solely by Do Muwon’s grip.

They were at the edge of the partially collapsed rooftop. Yu-su’s entire body hung over the abyss, tethered to life by nothing but the hand clasped around his own.

No… Am I really…?

Yu-su’s pale face went rigid as his pupils dilated.

“I don’t want to die!”

“Pull yourself together, Jeong Yu-su!”

Do Muwon lay flat against the rooftop, one hand gripping the edge of a broken panel while the other held Yu-su above the drop.

“Fuck! Get a proper grip!”

“Do Muwon, don’t let go.” Yu-su’s voice broke apart. “If you let go…”

His brown eyes were already unfocused, darting wildly from side to side. The moment Muwon felt the grip between their joined hands begin to weaken, he clenched his jaw and bellowed at him.

“I’m not dropping you, so hold on tight!”

“Okay. I… I will.”

Yu-su had been too frozen even to struggle, but Muwon hauled him upward until he finally spilled over the edge and collapsed onto the rooftop.

BOOM!

The helicopter exploded at last with a deafening roar, and the blast shook the Hyeonmyeong Construction headquarters to its foundation. The entire building tilted as tremors violent enough to rival an earthquake ripped through it.

“Ahhh!”

“Fuck!”

Still clutching Yu-su, Muwon scrambled away from the collapsing rooftop structure and dropped onto the level below. Once they landed, he looked down at the man trapped in his arms.

Yu-su’s face had turned so white that he looked like a corpse.

“Jeong Yu-su. Are you okay?”

“No, I…” Yu-su raised his head, but the words died in his throat.

At last, he saw what was unfolding beyond Do Muwon’s shoulder.

The rooftop had been cleaved in half along the path carved by the runaway rotor blade. Mangled zombies lay writhing among the wreckage, while the people who had been rejoicing over their rescue only moments earlier had been reduced to heaps of gore inside the helicopter.

A massive inferno surged in from every direction, voracious enough to devour death itself. Even a soul as fluid and yielding as water could find no passage through those flames. No path remained except death.

Yu-su slowly lifted his chin.

The world, which moments ago had been drowned in deep, murky night, now looked as though time had been rewound. Flames painted everything bloodred, transforming the city into an apocalyptic scene from some grotesque film. Pitch-black smoke thickened across the rooftop, and the heat intensified until it seemed fierce enough to boil the blood inside their veins. Human screams and zombie shrieks collided in a deafening cacophony.

Muwon seized Yu-su’s wrist and roared over the chaos, “Jeong Yu-su! Goddamn it, are you okay?”

“Ah…”

Something warm trickled down Yu-su’s face, and a red haze clouded his vision. His forehead appeared to have been split open.

Without even bothering to wipe away the blood, Jeong Yu-su stared blankly at Do Muwon. His eyes, which had been trembling with despair and bewilderment only moments ago, were now emptier than Muwon could have imagined.

Nothing remained within those hollow pupils except despair.

“If I say I’m not okay,” Yu-su asked quietly, “will it change anything?”

Muwon fell silent.

Yu-su had fought so hard because he wanted to live, yet now, no matter how desperately he struggled, there was nowhere left to run.

A laugh slipped from him.

It was uglier than weeping, but he laughed all the same.

Do Muwon’s expression twisted. “We’re about to die, and you’re laughing?”

“You laughed last time too. In the bathroom at the division head’s office.”

“That was different.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

BOOM. CRASH.

Every explosion sent another violent shudder through the building, tilting the sky above them. Yu-su’s shoulders shook beneath his lowered head, though it was impossible to tell whether he was laughing or crying.

Without warning, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips. Then he flicked the lighter.

Click. Click.

The savage wind and the trembling of his fingers kept the flame from catching.

“Jeong Yu-su.” Irritation roughened Do Muwon’s voice as he dragged a hand over his face. “Ha… Goddamn it.”

Despite the curse, he stepped closer and turned his body into a shield against the wind before lighting the cigarette for him.

Fssst.

Yu-su inhaled deeply, tipped back his chin, and released a long stream of smoke. He watched the first plume disappear into the scorched air before finally meeting Do Muwon’s gaze.

Even the despair had vanished from Yu-su’s brown eyes. They now seemed clear and still, rippling faintly like water.

“Do Muwon.”

“What?”

“Let’s start over.”

His voice was remarkably calm and clear amid the thunderous blasts erupting around them. The flames licking at the edge of the rooftop flared higher, throwing a crimson shadow across Do Muwon’s face, while the ground beneath them began swaying with increasing violence.

Do Muwon wedged his fingers between two damaged panels to steady himself and stared at Yu-su in disbelief. “Start what over? What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind because you’re scared?”

“I haven’t lost my mind.” Yu-su took another drag from the cigarette. “I’ll do better next time.”

“Jeong Yu-su, what the hell are you talking about?”

The vivid red flames and billowing smoke had swallowed everything around them, yet Jeong Yu-su remained painfully sharp in Do Muwon’s vision.

Yu-su released a slow breath. Only then did his lips, slick with bright red blood, part.

“When I die, I go back to yesterday. That’s why I can laugh even when I’m about to die.”

Cuts and burns covered his body beneath his torn clothing. Soot blackened his face, and blood streaked his skin. He looked utterly wrecked, yet his expression was lighter and more unburdened than it had been in days.

This time, even the tightly wound Do Muwon laughed.

At first, it escaped him as nothing more than a brief, incredulous sound. Then it swelled into full, unrestrained laughter. He continued for several moments before finally exhaling sharply.

“Ha. You goddamn lunatic.” Muwon shook his head. “We’re seconds away from dying, and you’re still spouting bullshit.”

“Believe me or don’t. Want to bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“Whether I’m lying.” Yu-su leaned closer, his whisper carrying with unnatural clarity through the surreal chaos. “Tell me one of your secrets. Then I’ll go back to yesterday and repeat it to you.”

“Quit acting insane, right up to the bitter end.”

Do Muwon broke away from the unwavering stare of those brown eyes.

The moment he looked aside, a massive rooftop pillar entered his field of vision. It was falling directly toward them. Ahead, the pillar collapsed like an avalanche. Flames boxed them in from one side, while the sheer drop beyond the railing waited behind them. Now, even drawing breath felt impossible.

Fine. Maybe he really has gone insane from all this smoke.

Do Muwon tightened his grip around Jeong Yu-su’s hand. At last, the corners of his mouth lifted.

“I don’t know who my father is. Happy?”

WHOOSH!

A colossal wave of fire swallowed both of their shadows.

***