“...Shit.”
For once, Hyunmook let out a rare sound of dismay and ca to a dead stop. Alard by the sudden change, Yohan craned his neck, scanning their surroundings nervously.
“Is it... an earthquake?”
“No, this is probably...”
And then Yohan’s eyes went wide—mouth too. The ground rumbled, and the gorge ahead began to collapse. No—move. With a trendous rumble, the path to the next zone vanished right in front of them.
The monsters, robbed of escape, scrambled to climb or dig into the mountain in a desperate frenzy. Hyunmook imdiately began putting distance between them and the spreading madness, slipping into the shadows near a building wall. He pressed their bodies close to the surface, hiding them in the darkness. Yohan’s voice trembled as he whispered:
“I-is this a common thing too...?”
“...Even I haven’t seen this more than a couple tis here.”
And with that, Hyunmook fell silent. Yohan fidgeted nervously, glancing back again and again. In the far distance, the Flood inched closer, devouring everything that lived—or existed. Monsters, maddened by contamination, started ripping into themselves, clawing into the earth, and attacking indiscriminately. And they were growing in number. Fast.
“Then what do we... do now?”
Yohan whispered, almost inaudibly, hoping desperately there was so other option. He didn’t ask if they could climb the mountain—he had already seen monsters try and get sucked into the ground like they’d been swallowed alive.
“There has to be... sothing, right?”
Too scared to even cry, Yohan clung tightly to Hyunmook’s back, flattening himself against him in an unconscious search for comfort. Eyes shut tight, Hyunmook finally muttered:
“...We’ll head to the subway station.”
* * *
Even after saying it, Hyunmook stood frozen for a few more seconds, clearly hesitating. Yohan could sense it—that whatever danger awaited in the subway station, it still wasn’t as bad as the Flood.
They returned to the downtown area, and before long, Hyunmook stopped in front of a building and pointed.
“There. That’s the subway station.”
Yohan stared, disbelieving. After everything they’d seen—like the ruined hospital—he had expected yet another half-destroyed, derelict wreck. But what stood in front of him was the complete opposite.
[□■ Station ...Exit]
The characters and numbers were a little smudged, hard to read—but aside from that, the station looked spotless, as if people were still commuting daily. No graffiti, no gri, no decay. Not even dust. It was... unnerving.
“Why is it so clean...?”
“Because sothing dangerous’s inside.”
Hyunmook offered no further explanation and stepped boldly inside the station. Yohan shrank into himself and followed, carefully observing everything around him.
Surprisingly, though dim, the place still had working lights. Other than the long, winding stairs, it looked like any subway station late at night when no one was around. The tiled floors and walls, the familiar signs, even a working ticket machine... Yohan felt like he was suddenly back in Korea. There was even a completely useless turnstile.
Hyunmook passed through and continued down the stairs. At the bottom, they found a train that looked like it had just pulled in. Yohan lit up.
“Hyunmook! There’s a subway train—! It looks brand-new!”
After the Rift crisis, Korea had overhauled its subway systems—strengthened the infrastructure, redesigned the colors to be highly visible. Bright yellow beca the standard.
And the train in front of them looked exactly like that.
“Yeah. A subway.”
Hyunmook replied flatly and ca to a stop. The train idled with its doors open for a long mont, then started rolling away with a soft chanical whir.
‘I wish we could just ride that to Seoul Station...’
Yohan watched the departing train wistfully—until Hyunmook suddenly jumped down onto the tracks. He headed in the opposite direction of the train’s departure.
“That way leads to another zone?”
“Yeah. From now on—silence.”
Without breaking stride, Hyunmook marched into the dark tunnel. As shadows closed in, Yohan felt an intense urge to pull out a flashlight—but resisted. Attracting a monster with light was the last thing he wanted. Instead, he clung to Hyunmook tightly, mouth sealed, ears alert.
‘But why’s he walking now? Why not run?’
Yohan noticed it quickly. Though they were moving fast, it wasn’t at a sprint like before. The pace was deliberately asured.
Then he heard it.
BWAANG—! A familiar roar echoed from up ahead. A train was coming. From the direction they were headed.
Its headlights glowed—not bright, but strange—and the train barreled toward them with a shriek. Yohan buried his face into Hyunmook’s neck, holding back a scream.
Hyunmook, unfazed, pressed himself flat against the tunnel wall. WHOOOM—the wind surged past them as the train thundered by. And then—through the windows—Yohan saw sothing shocking.
People.
Wearing suits, coats, jackets, skirts. Ordinary people sitting and standing as if on their daily commute. They passed by with peaceful expressions, like nothing was wrong. Yohan’s heart jumped.
‘P-people? Are they... really people? Not monsters? But why do they look so... normal?’
His palms were sweating. His heart raced against Hyunmook’s back. After a mont of hesitation, Hyunmook shifted his supporting hand from Yohan’s back to his lower half and gave him a pat. Yohan flinched, staring after the train.
“Don’t overthink it. I’ll explain everything once we get out of here. Just hold on.”
“O-okay.”
There were so many questions—but Yohan swallowed them down. Just escape. That was the priority. They walked for several minutes.
And then—the second train ca.
It was faster this ti, more aggressive. Yohan couldn’t look away. He watched it pass, eyes locked on the passengers inside.
The people looked happy. So happy it made his chest ache. Smiling, chatting, listening to music, scrolling on their phones. Yohan couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Then—Hyunmook patted his butt again.
“Did I pack the dicine earlier?”
“dicine? Yes! You did!”
Yohan tensed up, recalling the mory. He’d definitely seen Hyunmook pack it. His heart finally settled.
“Yes, you packed it. I’m sure.”
“Right... sotis I forget stuff when I go crazy.”
Yohan’s heart ached at how casually he said that.
By the ti the third train ca, Yohan was glaring daggers at the back of Hyunmook’s head. This ti, he hadn’t said a word—and yet his hand had definitely brushed Yohan’s ass.
“Hyunmook...”
“What?”
“...Nothing.”
Was it just an accident? It felt deliberate, but maybe it was just a shift in balance? Blushing furiously, Yohan battled with himself—until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“H-Hey! What are you even doing?!”
He whispered in frustration, eyes glued to a man in the train eating a warm cream-filled pastry like it was heaven. And that was when it happened. Hyunmook didn’t pat or graze.
He grabbed.
Yohan stiffened in shock as fingers clutched his butt.
“That wasn’t an accident!”
His face turned beet red. There was no way to explain that away—it was definitely on purpose. Hyunmook, watching the fifth train approach, casually admitted:
“Yeah. Wasn’t an accident.”
“...!”
The hand that had grabbed him now shalessly started groping. Yohan froze, rigid with disbelief. All the while, the train sped by.
When it finally passed, Yohan gritted his teeth and yanked on Hyunmook’s ear.
“Are you... out of your mind?”
A loaded question, carrying more than one aning. Hyunmook gave a quiet chuckle and patted his butt again.
“Shh. From here on out—absolute silence.”
Yohan clenched his jaw, glaring furiously. In the distance, the sixth train was coming.
But this ti... sothing was wrong.
‘Was... was the train always that big?’
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