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The room was clear, no zombies in sight, as Cheong-San and Su-Hyeuk dropped to the ground and went to the phones to get one that was working. There were dozens upon dozens of them on the table and floor, most of them smashed.
"I found one," Cheong-San stumbled over to him, and that's when they heard the familiar sound of growling. They looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, and spotted a zombie crawling towards them. Grabbing another phone, he smashed it into its skull. The others must have heard the commotion, and the next thing they knew, zombies were barreling into the room.
Luckily, there was a closet nearby, so Su-Hyeuk took Cheong-San's arm, dragging him in.
"Shit, what now?" The taller boy asked. "We're trapped."
Cheong-San turned on the phone and held it in the air, trying to get a signal. The phone was at 6%, and the 'no internet' sign at the top of the screen stared right back at him like it was mocking him.
"Do an emergency call," Su-Hyeuk suggested, so that's what Cheong-San did.
The busy phone line rang.
"Why isn't it working?"
Cheong-San dialed '112' again.
"Raise me up." He said.
The taller boy squatted immediately, and Cheong-San got on top of his shoulders.
"Shit, you're heavy," Su-Hyeuk whined as he picked him up.
The other boy was too busy trying to get the internet to work to register his friend's words. He raised the phone even further, the beeping only continuing.
He screamed in frustration as he got off of Su-Hyeuk's shoulders, kicking everything in his vicinity until he fell down on the floor. He threw the phone and clutched his eyes as he sobbed, Su-Hyeuk trying to calm him down, hugging him as he stopped fighting it.
"We're gonna die in this shitty school, aren't we?" Cheong-San said as he calmed down.
"Maybe, but at least we have each other."
Cheong-San chuckled. "Should've known you would've said something like that, Bare-Su."
Minutes passed, the zombies still at their door, and when his friend showed no intention in leaving his arms, he held onto him tighter. "You like this, huh?"
Cheong-San laughed and flipped him off as he got up from the floor. "Fuck off."
Su-Hyeuk wished he could hold him just a little bit longer, but Cheong-San's smile was worth the comment.
He picked the phone up from the floor, turning on the flashlight and lighting up the small room. It was the size of one of those big stalls in public restrooms, and there were school supplies on one of the shelves. Nothing useful except for pairs of sharp scissors, which they both pocketed. Then, that's when he saw it. . .
A ceiling vent.
Su-Hyeuk nudged his friend's shoulder and pointed up. "Here, I'll give you a boost."
Cheong-San put his foot on Su-Hyeuk's waiting hands and boosted him up, climbing onto his shoulders until he finally reached the ceiling. The vent was already open, so he climbed in, though it took a bit of effort. Su-Hyeuk stepped onto the shelf, leading to the vent, Cheong-San helping him in.
They crawled and crawled, and crawled, until Su-Hyeuk stopped abruptly, making Cheong-San run into his butt.
Su-Hyeuk shushed Cheong-San as he groaned. "Go back. Go back."
"Wh-" And that's when he heard it, the low, faint growl just up ahead. And that's what he did, slow and steady, he backed up, trying not to make any noise. Someone must've gotten in there just before they turned.
The zombie must have heard them moving around because the next thing they knew, it pounced over at them, Su-Hyeuk putting his hands to its shoulders. Cheong-San pulled out a small sharp pair of scissors he had swiped from the school supply shelf. "Move over." He told his friend, and he did as best he could in the small space provided, shifting his head out of the way as he struggled to hold the zombie upright. Finally, Cheong-San stuck the scissors into the zombie's head, the zombie sagging down in an instant, blood covering the scissors as he took them out of its skull.
Su-Hyeuk huffed as his back hit the floor of the vent, a little cramped from the dead zombie lying next to him. "Shit, that was close."
Cheong-San gagged at the putrid smell emanating from the corpse. He wiped off the blood from the scissors on the zombie's clothes and took the phone from Su-Hyeuk, shining its light on the nametag. Soo Si-Woo.
He swore under his breath, and when the other boy turned to look at him, eyes furrowed in question, he responded. "This was OnJo's crush last year. After that, though, she kinda had her eye on someone else."
"Me," Su-Hyeuk replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Do you like her?"
"No." This was his chance to say it. "But I do like someone."
"Is it Nam-Ra?" Cheong-San asked, and was that jealousy seeping through in his tone? Probably the hunger and thirst coming up to his brain.
"Nah. She's just a friend. You know that feeling when you just want someone to be your best friend so bad 'cause you think they're so cool? And sometimes you mistake that as a crush?"
Cheong-San nodded. He got that feeling with On-Jo all throughout middle school. He also had that feeling with Su-Hyeuk, but it was quite the opposite with him mistaking his feelings and thinking he wanted to be his best friend when in reality, it was a crush.
"Do you like On-Jo?" Su-Hyeuk asked before Cheong-San could ask who he really liked.
The teen in question started laughing. "No! God, no. She's like a sister to me. We've been best friends for years."
"Then who do you like?" He pried.
"I was about to ask you the same thing until you took over."
"Mhm. Boo-hoo. Who do you like?"
"I'm not gonna tell you."
Su-Hyeuk laughed. "Ok, then I'm not telling you who I like either."
Cheong-San rolled his eyes. "Ok, fine, let's just go. The others will worry about us."
They continued crawling through the vent until they found another opening.
They were on either side of the entrance, and peering down, they could see it was a janitor's closet. It was screwed shut though, so Cheong-San thought of a plan as to not attract the zombies with the sound. "Give me your shoelaces."
"Why?" He asked, already untying his shoelaces.
"I'm gonna hook them on while you kick it in, so it won't fall on the ground and alert the zombies that we're in here."
Everything was going according to plan until Su-Hyeuk kicked the thing a little too hard, and it ended up on the floor, Cheong-San hitting his head on the metal wall as he lost his grip.
"Shit, are you ok?" Su-Hyeuk asked,
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Fuck, let's just go in and see if there's anything to protect us from their bites."
Cheong-San dropped down to the floor, Su-Hyeok following suit, but before he could take the chance to look around, the taller boy grabbed the other's shoulder, turning him around so he could look at his impending bruise.
"Stop mother-henning me." Cheong-San playfully hit him on the chest. "I'm fine."
Su-Hyeuk looked at his friend's eyes, and suddenly he was in a trance, looking at his angelic eyes. His eyes flickered down to Cheong-San's lips and then, without thinking, traced them with his thumb. They were chapped and chewed raw against his coarse fingers, and he wondered how they would taste. Su-Hyeuk's eyes found Cheong-San's once again, and that's when he saw his pupils were shot wide.
Cheong-San hadn't moved from his position or even looked away from Su-Hyeuk's stare. They were only semi-aware of the noise of the zombie's footsteps and groaning outside of the closet.
Finally, Su-Hyeuk made a move, lowering down to Cheong-San's lips, who was already closing his eyes as the taller boy came closer. Their lips met, and if they weren't fighting for their lives right now, trapped in a closet while dozens of zombies roamed around outside, it would've been absolutely perfect. And yeah, it was somewhat awkward, their noses bumping into each other's, teeth clattering together, but it was perfect in their own little way.
They separated, hot breaths mingling together, foreheads against each other's.
"What? No sassy comment?" Su-Hyeuk's breathless voice made Cheong-San open his eyes, brain foggy from the intense make-out session. "Cat got your tongue, huh?"
Cheong-San smiled, playfully punching the other on the chest again, then grabbing his shirt collar, pulling him in, "Shut up and kiss me."
And Su-Hyeuk gladly did, running his fingers through Cheong-San's hair, his other hand, caressing his jaw. The taller boy decided to be bolder and slip his tongue in, which had Cheong-San's brain short-circuting as he opened his lips to let it in.
They were too caught up in each other's tongues to realize that the sound of zombies growling and walking stopped, the sound of bodies thudding onto the ground quickly filling the void. It was only until their closet door was thrown open that they realized what was happening, quickly separating, Cheong-San raising his scissors, and Su-Hyeuk grabbing a mop from the corner of the small room.
Two seniors wearing black and white jackets aimed their bow and arrows at them.
"Were you bitten?" the girl asked.
They shook their heads, and another girl appeared, shorter than the other, grabbing their arms and pulling them outside the closet. She started pulling down their sleeves and checking everywhere for bites to see if they were lying.
"Mi-Jin-"
"Be quiet, Jun-Sung." She kept on, and when she finished up, she said, "Ok, they're safe. No bites."
The other two lowered their weapons, Cheong-San and Su-Hyeuk, with their guards still up.
Mi-Jin rolled her eyes. "Relax, love birds. We come in peace."
"I'm Ha-Ri. Have you seen my brother? His name is Woo-Jin-"
"Woo-Jin?" Cheong-San immediately said. "Yeah, he's in our group. They're in the broadcasting room. We were trying to get back to them, but we got stuck."
Mi-Jin scoffed and muttered under her breath. "Sticking your tongues down each other's throats."
Ha-Ri elbowed Mi-Jin's ribs, making her hiss in pain, and Cheong-San's face reddened, Su-Hyeuk chuckling next to him. The other boy hit him, making him laugh even harder.
"All right, let's go if we don't want to be caught by a hoard, then," Ha-Ri said, taking the lead as they marched towards the broadcasting room. She then shot an arrow at a zombie that emerged from a classroom.
"Damn, she's so cool."
Jun-Sung chuckled. "And you're so whipped."
Mi-Jin smacked the back of his head. "Shut up."
Su-Hyeuk caught Cheong-San's eyes for a moment, and the pair couldn't help but smile at each other like a couple of schoolboys high off the sensation of their first kiss, cheeks and ears tinted red from being caught.
If they hadn't been caught, they'd probably still be in the janitor's closet, making up for all the lost time. Cheong-San sorted his hair and clothes out, trying to make it seem like they hadn't just made out in the dark, but then he figured that the others would just assume they'd been fighting zombies. Well, that would be the case if their lips weren't so swollen.
Next to Cheong-San, Su-Hyeuk practically skipped, proudly sporting his disheveled look, and he figured, what the hell? He held his hand out for his boyfriend to take, and - wait. . . were they boyfriends? They hadn't actually discussed it. . .
He was about to revert his hand when Su-Hyeuk took it, a smile gleaming his face, and soothingly rubbing the back of this hand with his thumb as if he had read his mind and was reassuring him that yes, they were boyfriends.