Chapter 51

“No… no, that’s not right. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this…”

Sim Gorak crumpled to the floor, too devastated even to cry.

What made it worse was that several of the fallen bodies soon began to stir again.

Jang Myeongju was among them.

“Ggh… ah… AAAAAAAH!”

“Gorak!”

Before Yu-su could even consider checking the others, he swung his blade into the back of Jang Myeongju’s neck. Her head, already twisted at a grotesque angle, snapped forward as she collapsed. Yu-su immediately seized Sim Gorak by the collar.

“Get up, Sim Gorak!”

“I… I… no. I killed Sister. The zombie… She was a zombie?”

“Calm down. Get a grip!”

It was no use. Gorak’s eyes had already gone glassy, and his lips moved around the same broken words.

“I… Sister… I’m sorry.”

Yu-su looked toward the lobby, where screams continued to echo through the building. Thanks to Jang Myeongju’s sacrifice, the number of zombies and people on the verge of turning had fallen dramatically. Only five or six of the walking corpses remained.

Then a hoarse voice rose over the chaos.

“Everyone, draw the zombies’ attention!”

It was Park Jiseop. He wiped the tears from his face with the back of one hand and shouted again.

“Lee Yun is in front of the art room! They haven’t noticed him yet, so we have to keep them from looking that way!”

Lee Yun?

Yu-su’s gaze darted across the hallway until he spotted a small, huddled shadow. Whether the boy had been unable to rise after falling or had simply frozen in terror, Lee Yun was pressed tightly against the wall, clutching his iguana’s cage as though he could make himself disappear behind it.

His eyes were squeezed shut, as if he believed the zombies could not see him so long as he could not see them.

The survivors who noticed Lee Yun released deep, pained breaths. Then several of them seemed to reach the same grim decision.

“Ah, fuck! Come and get me!”

“Over here! Hey, you rotten bastards, come here!”

Drawn by the shouting and the shadows rushing around them, the zombies turned and raced away from Lee Yun.

Then a corpse lying motionless on the floor opened its eyes.

By sheer chance, it had a direct view of the boy.

Something small and fragile. Something precious, where life pulsed with fierce, irresistible warmth.

“Ggh… ah… GAAAAAAH!”

“KYAAAK!”

As if the first scream had signaled the rest, even the zombies that had been wandering aimlessly turned and lunged toward Lee Yun.

Yu-su kicked off the floor at the same instant.

“Yun-ah!”

Suddenly, it felt as though soft cherry blossom petals from ten years ago were drifting through the blood-soaked academy hallway.

It had been spring during his sophomore year of high school.

The sky was clear, and cherry blossom petals danced on the warm breeze. Because the swimming pool was undergoing a deep cleaning, Yu-su and Do Muwon had found themselves with unexpected free time and were walking through the streets together.

“Muwon-ah, are you busy tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

In the brief moment Muwon considered the question, several obligations passed through his mind. None of them seemed important enough to matter. He answered in his usual indifferent tone.

“I don’t think I have anything going on.”

“Then let’s go to the Sang-nak swimming pool after school.”

Muwon nodded without hesitation.

“Suit yourself. Why there?”

“They said the school pool won’t reopen until the day after tomorrow. Besides, there’s a beautiful road lined with cherry trees beside the Sang-nak pool.”

Seeing Yu-su chatter with such obvious delight, Muwon reached over and poked his soft cheek.

“You really do love cherry blossoms.”

“…Do you know why?”

“Of course not. You’ve never told me.”

“Jeez. Then keep living in ignorance.”

“Why are you getting annoyed?”

“Forget it. Move your hand.” Yu-su swatted him away, then stopped. “…Huh?”

That was when he noticed the swerving car hurtling down the road at an impossible speed.

A child sat directly in its path.

There had been no time to assess the situation. Yu-su’s body had simply moved on instinct.

Do Muwon’s expression that day remained seared into his memory, and it looked exactly as it did now.

“Jeong Yu-su!”

Yes.

That was how Muwon had screamed his name, his face twisted with utter despair and his voice breaking on the first syllable.

Their eyes met for only an instant. Muwon, who had just returned to the academy, vaulted through the window and sprinted forward with explosive speed, but Yu-su had already pulled Lee Yun into his arms and curled his body protectively around him.

CRACK!

The anticipated pain came.

“No! They said she would be cured. I only have to keep praying! She’s been sick for so long because my prayers haven’t been enough!”

“Use your head, for God’s sake!”

Yu-su seized his mother’s wrist and dragged her toward the front door. She refused to cooperate, collapsing to the floor and turning herself into dead weight as she pulled against him.

“Let go! Where are you taking me?”

“I’m getting the money back! Where is it? Who did you give it to?”

The check Do Muwon had given Jeong Yu-su had been taken from him that same day. Some of the money had gone toward urgent debts, while the rest had disappeared without explanation.

Two years had passed since then.

Yu-su was only twenty-one.

No matter how hard he struggled, his family’s circumstances refused to improve. If anything, their lives continued to spiral further downward. Between Jeong Yu-sol, the twins Jeong Yu-rok and Jeong Yu-yeong, their mother, and Yu-su himself, there were five mouths to feed. The twins’ poor health kept the household trapped in constant poverty. Their father, who had abandoned the family long ago, occasionally returned only to steal whatever meager savings they had managed to scrape together.

Lately, their father had stopped appearing, and Yu-su’s mother had been uncharacteristically quiet. Yu-su eventually discovered that she had been gathering every last penny they possessed and offering it to a cult.

“Come on. Get up!”

“No! I can’t go!”

Still clinging to Yu-su’s leg, his mother sank her teeth into his thigh. The sudden stab of pain froze him in place. She released him only to spit out a mixture of blood and saliva before screaming up at him.

“Don’t you understand? If you behave irreverently now, every prayer your mother has offered could come to nothing! Are you willing to let that happen?”

“Mother, do you even know what kind of money that was? That was Jeong Yu-sol’s college tuition!”

“Money, money, money! I’m sick of hearing about money! You can earn more! If that girl doesn’t go to college, she can work with you, and then things will be easier for you, won’t they?”

There was no reasoning with her. Realizing that the argument would only continue in circles, Yu-su stopped trying to pull her upright.

“…It was that church, wasn’t it? I’ll go alone, so stay here.”

His mother hesitated, caught off guard by his sudden surrender. Yu-su tore himself free of her grip and bolted outside. Behind him, she scrambled to her feet, clutched the front door, and let out a piercing shriek.

“No, come back! Because of you… because of you, we’re going to be punished! If the children don’t get better, it will all be your fault!”

Predictably, Yu-su failed to recover the money. The twins’ illnesses showed no sign of improving either. His only solace was that the pastor had been arrested after Yu-su reported him. His mother nearly lost her mind once she no longer had anywhere to offer their money, but Yu-su had no room left to care.

New debts accumulated on top of the old ones until the family could barely breathe. Not long afterward, the twins were admitted to the intensive care unit, where they hovered between life and death for an entire season.

On the day the twins were finally discharged, torrential rain had begun falling before dawn.

…This is bad. I’m going to lose half a day’s wages.

Yu-su should have been working at the construction site, but the downpour had forced the crew to leave early. He was making his way home beneath a flickering streetlamp when someone called out to him.

“Oh my, Yu-su.”

“Ah, ma’am. Hello.”

It was the neighbor from the third floor, who occasionally sent side dishes to his family and always said the poor young man worked far too hard. Even in the dim light, she frowned as she approached the haggard Yu-su. The rain that had been lashing down mercilessly seemed to vanish beneath the umbrella she held over them, leaving only the steady rhythm of droplets striking the fabric.

“How can you walk around without an umbrella in weather like this?”

“I’m almost home. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes, yes. Go inside quickly.” The neighbor studied him for another moment. “Come to think of it, did something good happen today?”

Yu-su slowly tilted his head.

“Something good?”

“Well, I ran into your parents on my way out. They were both beaming.”

“My father… came here?”

“Yes. Neither of them ever smiles, so I asked what had happened. They said there was a reason…” Her eyes widened. “Oh my! Yu-su, you’re going to fall!”

Dread slammed through his body.

Before the neighbor could finish, Yu-su bolted, taking the stairs two at a time.

CRASH!

He threw open the front door and stared into the chaos of the dark apartment. The desk had been overturned, dishes lay shattered across the floor, and muddy footprints covered the room.

“Jeong Yu-sol.”

The cramped, single-room, semi-basement apartment was small enough for Yu-su to know from the doorway that no one was inside. Even so, he called out again, his voice shaking.

“…Jeong Yu-rok! Jeong Yu-yeong!”

Only his own voice answered him.

His breathing turned shallow and ragged. Nausea rose with every violent beat of his heart, and the room tilted around him.

RUMBLE!

CRASH!

Lightning bleached the apartment white. The downpour swallowed every other sound, yet in that instant, Yu-su knew where his family had gone.

The rooftop.

He spun around and raced up the stairs. Rainwater poured down the stairwell, causing him to slip repeatedly, but he barely felt the impacts.

“Haa… huff…”

His heart seemed to hammer through every part of his body. With each beat, darkness clouded his vision and his balance faltered. When he finally launched himself over the last step, a scream cut through the rain.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

It was Jeong Yu-sol.

On the rooftop, beneath moonlight shattered by the storm, Yu-su’s parents were dragging Jeong Yu-sol and the twins toward the railing.

“M-Mom, why are you doing this? Why?”

“I was wrong. I won’t complain about going to the hospital anymore. I’m scared. Please…”

Yu-su’s mother had already dragged the twins close to the edge, while his father held Jeong Yu-sol. Yu-sol fought desperately, digging her fingers into cracks in the weathered concrete to keep herself from being pulled any farther.

Something snapped inside Yu-su.

He launched himself forward like a bullet and drove his fist directly into his father’s face.

CRACK!

The force of the blow sent the man crashing down. Yu-su stumbled with him, then dropped to his knees and grabbed Jeong Yu-sol from where she lay sprawled across the rooftop.

“Sol. Jeong Yu-sol!”

“O-Oppa…?”

“Get downstairs right now.”

The moment Yu-sol recognized him, she burst into tears and pointed a trembling hand toward their mother and the twins.

“The children… they’re…”

“I’ll handle this. Go downstairs and call the police. Lock the front door, and don’t open it for anyone. Do you understand?”

“I… I understand.”

Yu-su pushed Jeong Yu-sol toward the stairs. Still sobbing, she crawled away, glancing back over and over again.

Without pausing to catch his breath, Yu-su forced himself upright. Although his body swayed, he staggered toward his mother.

She was struggling to control the terrified twins, but Jeong Yu-yeong was already hanging halfway over the railing. As her body tipped toward the drop, Yu-yeong writhed and screamed.

“S-Save me! Mom!”

“No! I don’t want to die!”

The twins’ pleas were nearly swallowed by the thunder and rain. Yu-su caught Jeong Yu-yeong with one hand and slammed his body into his mother, forcing her away from the railing.