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The wait was quite excruciating; that was all Jae-Heon could think about. It had been two days after Jisu had gotten surgery done in order to remove her appendix, and Jae-Heon was already beginning to fear she wouldn’t wake up. It was risky; she had a fair chance of dying during the surgery, but she had a high probability of dying if the surgery wasn’t performed. He put his faith in Eun-Hyeok’s surgical skill, or lack thereof, as well as Jisu’s ability to recover safely. He also put faith in God, although nobody in the building believed in God the way he did, thinking whatever God there may be in the world had since abandoned humanity and used this apocalypse as their punishment for their sins. He sighed, looking at the wounded girl who rested before him. She still had yet to wake since Jae-Heon had been supervising her like a hawk, awaiting the moment she may finally wake up.
Whether he would honestly tell her or not, he prayed every dusk and dawning specifically for her, and with every meal, she would make it into his every prayer. He wouldn’t admit it to her, or barely himself, but he was convinced that he was in love with her, wanting to stay by her side until she recovered just to tell her. He would say it to her regardless, even if the words ended up meet her in Heaven. ‘Stop it,’ he thought to himself. ‘Jisu is not going to die; she is strong.’ He told himself better of her in his mind, but he couldn’t help but not be able to shake the feeling of doubt that overwhelmed his spirit. He loved her; she couldn’t die; she just couldn’t. Unfortunately, dreadful thoughts echoed throughout the inner chambers of his mind as he tried his best to reassure himself. “If you want to stay here, you can analyze her condition,” He recalls Eun-Hyeok speaking to him. “Just don’t get your hopes up; you could be the first to witness her death.”
“Shut up!” He growled aloud at his thoughts which infested his mind as if Eun-Hyeok had been in the room with him. “Jisu is strong. You don’t know her.” He glanced at the girl in front of him with tearful eyes; she was strong, right? He grabs her hand, which is warm to the touch, and squeezes it gently. “You are strong, have faith.” He said as if he was speaking to her, yet he was attempting to reassure himself instead. He really wanted to believe in her, but he was confident she wouldn’t be waking up any time soon, at least not on that day. It was difficult, but he put his right hand on top of Jisu’s, which he had been holding, clasping it between both of his own. ‘Maybe it’d be better if I said nothing at all;’ he looked at the floor with introspection.
His thoughts began to feel more like strands of thought rather than complete sentences, but the words death and loss echoed throughout his mind. It made sense; it wasn’t very likely he would even live through this apocalypse, and Jisu didn’t need to lose anyone else that she cared about if she even reciprocated his feelings in the first place.
He shook his head; that didn’t matter. He should tell her. …Should he? He groaned, running his fingers through his hair with frustration. Would he bring her joy into the already dark world, or would he bring her more grief she had to carry as she lived on through the apocalypse? Whether he would die or not, one thing was for sure: Jisu would live. His doubts from earlier began to clear as she told him herself: she had picked the thread at her first birthday, and she would live a long life, even if Jae-Heon were to go before her. A small, hushed chuckle crossed his lips, and he rested his head on the table he was sitting at. ‘She chose life,’ he thought. ‘She chose life.’
“Jae-Heon!” A sudden shout woke the man, and he quickly sprung up, looking around the room worriedly. “It’s just me, idiot.” It was Jisu. He nodded, though he suddenly paused in thought as realization struck him, his jaw slightly unhinging. It was Jisu. She had finally woken up.
“Jisu!” He puts on his glasses to see her better, standing up and walking to her bedside. “Oh, God, Jisu. I was so worrie-”
“Stop.” She held up her hand. “I don’t want to… hear a word… until you give me those.” She lifted a weak and shaky finger, attempting to point at something. Jae-Heon tried his best to follow where she pointed, which had been at the counter behind him. Oh, he realized; she wanted the bag of painkillers sitting on the counter, unopened. He nodded, turning to grab it quickly and handing it to her. “Thank you,” She mutters weakly.
“Please, don’t thank me.”
“I’m pretty sure… God said I have to.”
Jae-Heon chuckles. “God says you have to get better first, then you can thank me.”
Jisu laughs, but it ends up being a bad idea, the jolting movement reverberating in her abdomen, and she groans in pain, grabbing her side out of reaction. “Ohhh,” She winces, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She swallows, looking up at Jae-Heon. “C-Could you… please… water?” She didn’t have to say more for Jae-Heon to understand, nodding and quickly making his way to grab her a glass of cold water. She held out her right hand expectantly, and he gave her the glass. “Thank you,” She sets it beside her, opening the bag of painkillers and dumping several of them into her left palm, and Jae-Heon raises an eyebrow.
“Hey, not too many.” He holds his hand out to tell her to stop.
“Well, how am I supposed to know how many I need to take? They’re all… unlabeled.”
He picks out a few of the pills for her, placing them in his palm. “They have a milligram amount on most of them.” He held out his hand to her, which contained three pills. “Here, this should work for now.”
She nodded, allowing him to dump them into her hand. She quickly stuffs them into her mouth, then chugs the glass of water to get them down as soon as possible. Setting the glass aside, she sighs when she finishes drinking the glass and lies back down. “And they start to work when?”
“It should be soon,” Jae-Heon speaks to her softly, and she nods, closing her eyes as she catches her breath.
He was excited to speak to her, but he knew he shouldn’t; she needed time to recover, even if she was awake now. He sighed and turned away from her to grab a glass of water for himself; they could at least have some sort of idle conversation as long as it wouldn’t be too much for her to handle. He set the glass on the table, took a seat, and looked at her intently; he wanted to concentrate on her since she required a lot of care at that moment. “It’s so… hot.” Jisu groaned, placing her palm on her forehead. The room hadn’t felt warm whatsoever, and in fact, it almost felt a little cold; Jae-Heon raised an eyebrow.
“That’s normal,” A sudden voice enters the room, causing Jae-Heon to jump with slight shock; it was Eun-Hyeok. ‘Can this dude not knock or something?’ Jae-Heon couldn’t help but feel his eyes slightly narrow, either with anger or contempt or whatever else it may have been; he couldn’t tell. Eun-Hyeok leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his gaze uncomfortably locked onto Jisu’s. “It means you’re recovering.”
Jisu laid back weakly. “D-Does it?” She whined, clutching at her stomach. “Recovering doesn’t… feel so great. How is this… recovering?”
Eun-Hyeok looks at the floor as he speaks. “Your body will heat up around the wound to keep bacteria and infections out of it,” He pauses to look up at her again. “It’s a good sign. It’d be better if you kept yourself warm; cooling down would make the process slower.”
Jisu grabbed her stomach once more, but not where her wound was, but rather the middle of it. “I’m starving,”
Eun-Hyeok shook his head gently. “My apologies, you won’t be able to eat for a few days.” He pauses in thought. “Well, at least, you won’t be able to eat solid foods. Drink plenty of water and once I’m sure you’re having normal bowel movements you’ll be able to get back onto solid foods.”
“This is torture.”
‘No,” Eun-Hyeok disagreed. “This is just what’s necessary to keep you healthy.”
“I’m going AMA.” Jisu softly chuckled, though Eun-Hyeok didn’t take her joke very lightly, giving her a stern look.
“I can’t allow that.”
She closes her eyes and scoffs. “It was a joke. Lighten… up a little, dude. You don’t have to kill the mood every time you… walk into the room.” Surprisingly, he didn’t seem phased by the comment whatsoever, nodding his head.
“I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
Eventually, Eun-Hyeok left the room, but not after giving Jae-Heon some orders to follow; he had been assigned Jisu’s babysitter. He was to monitor her fluid intake, handle any requests she may have had, help her move around as she needed to walk, and a few more he couldn’t recall; he simply called it the ‘babysitter’ role. He did quite enjoy the time he got to spend with her, but it was very taxing as he always had to be on his toes, watching her every move, barely finding time for himself for a short break. “Jae-Heon,” She says his name, likely with a new request for him to take on.
“Yes, Jisu?”
She grabbed her stomach, and he expected a request for painkillers, already reaching for the bag of them. “No,” She shook her head, and he stopped in his movement. “I need…” She looked to the left and furrowed her brows with a twinge of… embarrassment? Guilt? Worry? Jae-Heon couldn’t tell. “In my bag, I stashed a… heat pad. Could you… bring it to me and plug it in?” She pointed at her small bag, which was sitting against the wall. He nodded, scrambling inside it, although he wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for.
“This?” He grabbed something and held it out to her so she could see it.
“Yes, that.”
Jae-Heon moved around where she lay to plug it into an outlet beside her as a thought crossed his mind. “What do you need it for?”
“I,” She started, looking away from Jae-Heon. I think it was embarrassment, he thought; she seemed quite awkward as she spoke to him. “I’m on my period.” She said, looking him dead in the eye. He couldn’t help but awkwardly avert his gaze and feel his cheeks grow a little hot.
“Oh,” He mutters stupidly, unsure what to say in response. He didn’t exactly have much experience with women on their periods or how to help them through it in any way, but he should’ve seen it coming someday. He awkwardly clears his throat, holding the heating pad out to her, although his gaze is still averted. “Here,”
“Thanks.” She takes it, placing it on her lower abdomen. Jae-Heon wasn’t sure if she was even allowed to use it or if it would irregulate her body temperature, so he decided to keep this from Eun-Hyeok if he ever asked. “God, everything at once, huh?” She chuckled to herself.
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Well,” She pauses to laugh. “First, my appendix is bursting. And then I’m starving the moment I wake up. And now I’m getting period cramps. Which stomach pains do you think I’m going to get next?”
“I hope none,” Jae-Heon shook his head. He couldn’t precisely empathize with her pain, not having ever gotten appendicitis or ever had a menstrual cycle in his life, but he tried his best to feel for her. If what he was imagining was right, she wasn’t going through anything pleasant whatsoever.
“You know, periods, appendicitis, and hunger don’t mix, right?”
Jae-Heon looks at her with confusion. “I mean, I wouldn’t think so.”
“Doctor says I can’t eat… because of this, but I’m getting very awful cravings for two reasons instead of one.” She laughed softly.
Jae-Heon really did want to get her something to eat, but he couldn’t. He had to in order to keep her body healthy. “I’m sorry, I can’t get you anything.”
“What if… you didn’t listen?” She looks into his eyes deeply, and he looks back at her, listening intently. “I just want… a bag of chips. They’re nothing big, right?” She rests her head on the pillow behind her, looking up at the ceiling. “Why should we trust that guy anyway? He… literally dropped out of medical school. How… How does he know what’s good for me?”
“Jisu,” Jae-Heon sighed. “His short time in medical school is what kept you alive. He knows what he’s doing; he’s smart.”
“Well, Jae-Heon, you know what?” He tilted his head at her with curiosity. She leaned in close with a smirk on her face. “I picked the thread.”
“Jisu…” He sighs, saying her name with an unapproving tone.
Jisu sighs, turning to her right to get up from where she lay, and Jae-Heon anxiously rushes to her side. “Wh-What are you doing? He grabs her arm and shoulder to help ground her. “Here, let me help.”
“Thanks, but if you aren’t going to get me what I want… I’ll go and get it myself.” She holds her side with one hand, slowly limping her way toward the exit of the room.
“Woah, woah, woah. No way.” Jae-Heon stands in front of the door, holding both of his arms out to block Jisu’s path. “Not allowed.”
“I could push my way through you, I know you wouldn’t lay a finger on me.”
Jae-Heon looked at the floor for a moment and sighed; she was right. He wouldn’t want to harm her to the point of basically allowing her to slip right past him without any arguments. “Fine,” He says. “I’ll get them for you. Just stay here, please.” He tilts his head at her with concern and pleading eyes. “I don’t want to see you out there until you are better.”
She chuckles. “Thank yoooou, was that so hard?”
Jae-Heon crosses his arms. “We are going to get in so much trouble.”
“Trouble is my middle name.”
Jae-Heon chuckled and shook his head. “You’re lucky you picked the thread.”
The task Jisu had given him was simple: go to her room on the 15th floor and stuff a bag full of whatever snacks he found in there. He promised he would go on the account that she promised not to eat everything at once, and they reached a consensus. Going all the way to the 15th floor was already stupidly dangerous all alone; there was no way he would allow Jisu to do so normally, let alone just barely post-surgery. “Why couldn’t it have been something like yogurt?” Jae-Heon speaks to himself as he walks up the stairs. “At least yogurt won’t shred her insides like miniature… knives.” He pauses for a moment to catch his breath, looking up the stairs he still had to climb. He looked at the floor number that he was on, and it was only the 4th floor. A tired sigh crosses his lips, and he lets out a fake cry. “Why, oh why, did you pick the 15th floor, Jisu?” He didn’t have much room to talk as he also lived on the 15th floor of the apartment building, but he’d always taken the elevator to his floor, never even considering touching the staircase. He continues climbing the stairs, trying his best not to allow his low stamina to stop him. “God gave me… two legs. And I will use them.” He huffed, although he was already considering taking a break. It was pitiful, but dryness was already itching at his throat.
He paused on the first step up to the 6th floor, turning around and looking at the open door which led to the 5th. There’s got to be something useful in there, right? As their leader, Eun-Hyeok had already been making plans to sweep upper floors for supplies and such that they may deem useful. He knew the security guard had a skeleton key to every room—which they needed—and would either need to look for a copy, the original key, or the security guard whether he was dead or alive. Because of that, their searches hadn’t been too extensive, only making it through the 2nd and 3rd floors. ‘Maybe I could find something useful for everyone down there,’ he thought, though he wasn’t too sure he entirely had the group in mind. He was sure that he rather wanted to find something useful for himself. ‘Don’t be greedy;’ he thought as he pushed open the door to the 5th floor. ‘Just pick out a few useful things for the group and then yourself.’ He could care less about finding something for himself on that floor; he desperately needed a drink, and that was it.
The door didn’t squeak, rather than making an unpleasant, deafening scraping sound as its metal skirt skidded across the tile floor. It required a bit of force to push it all the way open for Jae-Heon to easily slip inside, grunting as he pushed it out of the way. Once he was inside, he looked around with a semi-proud expression on his face. The 5th floor hadn’t seemed like one the monsters really trashed all that much, only a few mounds of dirt every here and there as proof of their existence likely in a floor above. He coughed, deciding to start on the right of the hallway on his search for anything and, at the very least, just water.
He assumed every door had been locked so he looked for one that may have already been opened by the previous owner if they were even still alive. It was quite morbid to think, Jae-Heon had seen so many corpses at this point that it didn’t phase him anymore; most everyone was dead. That was just something everyone had to accept these days. Obviously, if he met someone up there, he would try to help them out if he could, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but think better of it. The group of survivors on the first floor were all people he mostly knew and mostly trusted, and if one thing was true, almost everyone who lived in this Godforsaken apartment was extremely greedy. ‘Love thy neighbor,’ he scolds himself in his mind. If someone needed help, he should help them; he was no more important than the next man.
He finally found a room that was open—room number 510—poking his head inside to analyze the interior. He retched at the sight, covering his mouth to hold back vomit. The walls were absolutely covered in blood and meaty bits of some sort, and he couldn’t tell what they were, but they were undeniably human. This is a terrible idea, his mind pleaded with him to turn back, but even the horrible rooms could hold something useful for them. The room was definitely safe as his phone had not been restlessly beeping at him, so he made his way inside. Not wanting to be in the room longer than he had to, Jae-Heon quickly scurried through cabinets and drawers in the room, and his search didn’t end unsuccessfully. He discovered a good amount of medications in the bathroom cupboards as well as bandages and a few more things they were running out of on the first floor.
His next trip was to the fridge in the room, and he opened it. To his surprise, a chilled breeze grazed his arm as the door opened meaning most of the contents in the fridge likely wouldn’t be spoiled. He smiled, grabbing what he decided was necessary to bring with him and that’s when he spotted it: a half-full case of water bottles. A sigh of relief left him as he reached for them; his search was not in vain. He shut the fridge, doing one final skim around the room before turning on the heel to leave. Unfortunately, right as he had been leaving, something had landed on his shoulder, and he froze, not wanting to look and see what it was. Whatever it was, it was slimy; vile. He swallowed nervously before slowly turning his gaze to his left to look at it. “FUCK!” He shouted; somehow there had been intestines stuck to the ceiling and it picked the moment someone was in there to fall. That meant that… whatever may have happened in that room must not have happened too long ago.
Jae-Heon dashes out of the room, falling to his knees and doubling over. A rush of sickness washes over him, and he vomits on the floor he sat upon. His throat burned as a horrible mix of stomach acid and bile left him in waves. He stared at his vomit with eyes full of fear, and he swallowed nervously; a pained tear rolls down his cheek. He took a shaky, deep breath before rising to his feet once more and deciding he didn’t want to return to this floor. His throat, now burning with the terrible feeling of dryness and sick, begged him for a drink, and he hastily reached into the bag he was carrying for a cold bottle of water. He didn’t hesitate before chugging the whole thing, shaking his head quickly to try and get rid of his anxiety. Maybe he would feel better if Jisu had been there with him; he couldn’t explore this building alone.
‘Wait,’ he thought. ‘Jisu!’ He’d almost completely forgotten. He was making this run for Jisu; if he took too long he knew she’d probably try to make her way up those stairs all by herself. He could not let her do that, not while she was still weak. Or then she’d… He looks back at the room he’d just left. Whatever happened in that room, Jae-Heon could NOT let Jisu meet whomever or whatever did it. He swallowed nervously before continuing up the apartment stairs, now feeling a push to move quicker than he had been before.
Walking up fifteen flights of stairs was more taxing than Jae-Heon would’ve liked to have admitted. It was likely none of the survivors on the first floor would be getting any of the water that he’d found on the 5th floor. He was just glad to have something to drink and his throat yearned for a drink with almost every staircase after another. The higher up he got, the more dread he got in his stomach. The upper floors seemed to be much more infested than the lower ones, and he couldn’t help but feel paranoia pursuing his every move, feeling overwhelming urges to look behind himself despite his ears telling him there was truly nothing following him. He pushed open the door slightly and that was when he noticed it: he kind of needed to use the bathroom. He wasn’t exactly surprised, as he did drink a bit too much on his way up to the 15th floor, but he knew he could wait until he was back by Jisu’s side and gave her what she wanted.
‘1510,’ he recalls Jisu’s room number in his head. He looks at the sign on the wall in front of him which told him Jisu’s room was to his right. He started on his route to Jisu’s room before pausing in his motion. He was standing in front of his own room–1506. It was kind of shocking to realize he and Jisu didn’t even live too far apart from one another. He entered the pin code to his room before making his way inside; there were a few things he left behind that he did want to bring with him. Nothing out of the ordinary; family photos, supplies, an unhealthy amount of items with crosses on them. It made him chuckle, though it was about what all his friends thought of him. They didn’t know what to get him as gifts, so they had just gotten him what they all knew him best for.
Content with everything he’d gotten, he makes his way toward Jisu’s room which wasn’t very far from his own. He tries his best to recall her pin which she had told him before he left. ‘3, 1… 0, 4?’ He presses in the numbers, and to his dismay, they do not work. ‘You’re kidding.’ He crunches his brain as hard as he can to remember the numbers. ‘I think it was a year,’ he rearranged his numbers from before in an order that made sense. ‘2, 0, 1, 4. ’ He pushed the pin keys once more, basically crossing his fingers. Ding! Click. The door lock was unlatched and Jae-Heon let out a sigh of relief, opening the door and letting himself in.
The room was a little messy, but Jae-Heon did his best to think modestly of Jisu. He looked around, not caring to grab anything in specific as Jisu did give him orders to stuff the bag with any sort of snacks he found. He made his way into her restroom checking the cabinets for medicines and first aid supplies, as well as a few… toiletries that would hopefully help Jisu out with her… girl things. Jae-Heon shook his head, he didn’t know why he was unbearably awkward talking even simply thinking about that kind of thing. Though, basically his whole life, he’d been surrounded by a whole bunch of dudes. ‘Oh God, don’t say it like that,’ he pleaded with himself. He grumbled, ignoring the pink that slowly crept onto his cheeks and leaving Jisu’s room.
He really wanted to use the toilet in Jisu’s room but thought better of it, deciding he should make it back to her as quickly as he could so she doesn’t go rogue. He resisted the urge to explore the 15th floor, not wanting the incident from earlier to repeat itself, and made his way down the stairs which was a lot easier than going up them. He tried to make his way down quietly, not wanting to disturb anything that may have been sleeping in the apartment halls. Unfortunately, going quietly also meant going slowly which was a little uncomfortable at that moment. Allowing himself a quick trip to the restroom wouldn’t have been extremely time-consuming, but he wanted to focus on Jisu and her needs before his own.
It grew more urgent with every step he took and he decided he should probably use the restroom as soon as he’d given Jisu everything she wanted. Why did I drink that much, he wonders with a sigh. It wasn’t a big deal, albeit a little annoying, but nothing he wouldn’t be able to handle. Beep. Jae-Heon freezes in his movement with fright as he begins to hear ringing in his ears; there was a monster coming toward him. He continued down the stairs as silently as he could but it was quite arduous. He let out a shaky breath as he put one foot in front of the other. Beep, beep. His phone began to yell louder and fast at him meaning that the monster was getting near him. Suddenly, he heard a thud against the door that led to the 11th floor which he had been facing. The handle began to turn and Jae-Heon squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
‘Heavenly Father, if you are watching me now I pray I am under your guidance.’ A weight of dread held itself strong in his chest, and he swallowed nervously. He wanted to run, but at the same time, he got the feeling to remain entirely still. Perhaps God was guiding him; he should stay put. The door to the 11th floor opens and he faces the monster, holding his katana out with both hands. To his luck, the monster was blind. ‘Wait,’ he looked at the monster once again; it was missing the top half of his head. ‘You? You’re still alive?!’ He swallowed, hoping the monster couldn’t sense his presence. “I… I…” The monster began to speak. “I… CAN’T… SEEEE!” The blind monster yelled unexpectedly with a horridly raspy voice. Jae-Heon knew if he stayed put and stayed entirely silent, the monster would eventually go away, but he couldn’t do that now; it wasn’t an option. He had to get to Jisu as soon as he could… but it also didn’t help that he really needed the toilet.
Keeping his katana aimed at the monster, he slowly crept down the stairwell, trying his best to ignore the fear in his stomach. He immediately paused as the monster walked into the stairwell with him, finding its way around the room by scraping the walls with its claws. It was a miserable sight, but the monster was hostile; it wouldn’t spare him as much pity as he did to it. The monster began to go up the stairs that he was walking down, and he stayed faced with it, slowly backing down the stairs to the floor below. He was now level with the 11th floor, but unfortunately stepped on a bout of broken glass which crunched below his feet. He swallowed as the monster turned, looking directly at him. “Foooound… yoooou.”
With sudden desperation, he tries to move down the next set of stairs hurriedly while still trying not to draw too much attention to himself. It didn’t take long for the monster to shoot its unbelievably long arm into the spot he once was standing, impaling the tile floor effortlessly. The monster’s arms functioned like the roots of a tree, and Jae-Heon ducked, knowing what was coming next. He felt the air woosh by him as did the branches of the monster’s arms, and he silently let out a relieved huff to be untouched. “Not… there…” The monster said with disappointment, sheathing its tree arms and thumping up the staircase. Swiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead, Jae-Heon stands up and continues his trek down to the first floor.
He decided to quicken his pace once he had been out of the monster’s hearing distance and found himself on the first floor before he even knew it. He let out a relieved sigh and he made his way into the little infirmary that Jisu was still patiently waiting inside. “Took you long enough.” Jisu jokingly groans. “I’ve been waiting for years.”
“M-My bad,” Jae-Heon laughs. “Ran into some… unexpected visitors.”
Jisu’s smile quickly rubbed off her face when she looked at Jae-Heon. “That’s a lot of blood on your shoulder.” She pointed at his shoulder as she spoke. “Are you alright?”
Jae-Heon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Um, alright.” Jisu decided to let it go, sitting up to converse with him better. “So!” She exclaimed excitedly. “Did you get the goods?”
“Every last bit.” Jae-Heon sets a relatively full bag on the table, unzipping it and revealing its contents to Jisu. “These are the ones you wanted, right?” He held out a bag of ketchup flavored chips to Jisu which sounded absolutely disgusting to Jae-Heon but he wouldn’t judge her for what she liked.
“Yeees, thank you so much.” She snatched them from his hand quickly. She opened the bag and offered it to Jae-Heon. “Do you want some?” Jae-Heon simply shook his head in response, and Jisu looked at him with concerned eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, all good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“Positive?”
Jae-Heon hesitates before answering. “Absolutely.”
Jisu sets down the bag of chips beside her, pressing her palms together as if to pray. “Thou shalt not lie.” She snorts.
Jae-Heon laughs, although he immediately regrets it as the jostling movement ended up being a bit too much. “Oooh, yikes.” He hisses through his teeth. “M-Maybe God is right.” He chuckles softly this time so as to not move too much once more.
Jisu tilts her head. “What does God want you to tell me?”
Jae-Heon stood at the table, pressing his fists into it anxiously and sighing. It wasn’t embarrassing; it shouldn’t have been. “Jisu,” He began, swallowing nervously. “I’m also on my period.”
“Oh, is that how you got blood on your shoulder? OH, don’t tell me. You just pulled it out and it shot out on you like piss didn’t it?”
“Jisu!” Jae-Heon grew mild at her comment, but she couldn’t care less, laughing up a storm. It was nice to see her having fun after having seen her in pain not much earlier. “No, I… I just need to use the restroom.” He finally bit out with a chuckle.
“Oh, sure. No problem, go ahead.” She picks up the bag of chips she set next to her, throwing one into her mouth. “Thank you for your oh-so valiant efforts.”
He felt his face grow warm with compassion. “Don’t mention it.”
She makes prayer hands once more with a smile on her face. “Thou shalt giveth thanks.”
Jae-Heon was about to leave the room until a sudden clearing of the throat startled both of them. Oh, great. If he could bring himself to speak at that moment, he would have definitely said ‘I told you so’ to Jisu; they were likely in trouble. “I’ll take that, thank you.” The good-for-nothing know-it-all enters the room, holding his hand out to Jisu to take away the well-earned stash Jae-Heon had gotten for the both of them. “I thought you said you were joking when you said you were going ‘AMA.’” Eun-Hyeok gives her a disapproving look.
“What’s seriously so bad about a single bag of chips?!”
He takes the bag from her and shows it to her as he speaks. “Eating this would be like eating a bag of knives. You should consider things that would be much easier for you to digest or you could get seriously hurt.” He walks over to Jae-Heon, his eyebrows furrowed with slight irritation. “I’ll be taking these as well.” Jisu and Jae-Heon began to speak at him with anger but he held up his hand. “Relax; I’m not going to take any of it. I just don’t want you to be able to allow yourself a whole bag of things you can’t eat when you should be recovering.”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t-”
“What, do you think Jisu went up and got all of these by herself?” Eun-Hyeok sighs. “You’re the one who enabled her, and I can’t trust you with these until she has recovered.” Jae-Heon groans, placing his face in his hands. “Why don’t you come out into the next room with me; we need to talk.”
“Wait, but I-”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
Jae-Heon felt childish as he was practically dragged out of the room by the ear by a kid who was probably much younger than he was himself. I‘ don’t have time for this, please,’ he begged Eun-Hyeok in his mind. ‘God, I have to piss.’ He was planning on using the restroom right after he’d given the chips as well as a few other things to Jisu, but now he had no chance to do so at all. “Lee Eun-Hyeok, please.”
“Just follow me.” Jae-Heon sighed, unsure if he really had any room to reason with the kid. Walking past the restrooms to get to wherever Eun-Hyeok wanted to speak to him was the most painful thing in the world. He didn’t even know what Eun-Hyeok wanted from him, but he hoped it would be wrapped up quickly. He opens the door to the security office, holding it for Jae-Heon to step inside first. He did so nervously, not ready to face whatever may have been in store for him.
The door shut and it felt permanent; Jae-Heon was trapped. “Take a seat,” He nodded, following Eun-Hyeok’s instructions. He fidgeted with his hands nervously where he sat. He wasn’t sure if Eun-Hyeok was one to yell, but if he decided to take him to a place this private, maybe he was going to show Jae-Heon his true colors. He shifts his legs around uncomfortably, hoping it wouldn’t give his problem up. “Are you alright?”
“Um, yeah. Why?”
“You seem nervous.”
Jae-Heon cocked his head at Eun-Hyeok with annoyance. “Well, what do you expect? I’m not exactly expecting you t-to give me a nice cupcake and send me on my way.”
Eun-Hyeok shook his head. “If you think I’m upset with you, I’m… well I am a little upset, but that’s besides the point.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head at Jae-Heon as he spoke. “I was wondering where you got all of that.”
“Well,” Jae-Heon looks away nervously. “From the 5th a-and 15th floor.”
Eun-Hyeok leans in uncomfortably close to him. “Are they safe?”
“What?”
“Those floors; are they safe?”
“I-I… I don’t k-know.” Jae-Heon’s right leg began to bounce out of control; he could almost feel tears welling at his eyes with pain. He needed to get out of that room immediately.
“Woah, calm down.” Eun-Hyeok backed away from Jae-Heon. “Take some deep breaths, okay? Do you have anxiety?”
“Wh-What? No, I…” Jae-Heon’s leg began to bounce faster and he bent at the waist, feeling his bodily needs take over him. Eun-Hyeok seemed startled, trying his best to calmly approach him and place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Unfortunately, he didn’t understand the true issue. He suddenly felt urine escape him without his permission to do so and grabbed himself instinctively. Now it was most likely clear what was wrong. He felt shame overtake him as he got up from his seat. “Please… y-you have to-”
“You don’t have to ask.” Eun-Hyeok sighs. Jae-Heon couldn’t tell if he was being judged but he was definitely beyond embarrassed. It wasn’t like him to give into pressure like this, but he’d likely pushed himself beyond his limits. Jae-Heon practically prayed that nobody was out in the halls as he opened the security office door, crotch in hands. He had his eyes shut but decided to open them after hearing a shocked gasp. He let go of himself quickly and looked up slowly. ‘Oh, God, why?’ He found himself face to face with Jisu who had apparently followed them to the room.
“Jae-Heon, are you alright?” She asked with genuine concern in her voice.
“I… I don’t t-think so.” He answered her honestly; he stuffed his hands into his pockets as a last ditch effort at trying to hold everything in, but it didn’t end up being very useful. “Oh… G-God.” He grimaces as he leans against the wall to his right, sliding down it as he falls to his knees. He tried his best to stop it—he really did—but it was no use. Urine escaped his body as quickly as it originally went in, inviting itself into his jeans, and unfortunately as well, onto the floor. He wanted to cry, his head hung low with shame, but he couldn’t. Not with Jisu there watching and possibly Eun-Hyeok as well if he decided to follow him out of the room. He didn’t exactly know how to feel, an unsettling mix of relief as well as shame blending within his mind. It took quite some time, but eventually everything he had been carrying was now lost. He began to breathe quickly as anxiety took over him. He just… pissed himself. In front of the girl he liked. “J-Jisu, I’m… I’m so sorry.”
He looked up at her with worry; she had her arms crossed with a pouty look on her face. “Right, you better be.” Jae-Heon felt a wobbly frown form on his face as he looked away from her. “...For saying the lord’s name in vain. Come on, man. Not cool.”
“What?” He shakes his head. “Are you serious?”
“I mean, I’m not Christian or anything, but even I know that’s wrong.”
“You’re not even… mad? Upset? Grossed out?”
Jisu chuckles. “Last I checked, ‘thou shalt not piss thyself’ was not a commandment in the bible.” Jae-Heon’s expression was replaced with a big grin. How could he not love her? He laughed at her comment and nodded. He was sure of it now: he was going to tell her.
He stood up and smiled at her. “I don’t deserve to get to know you.”
Jisu beamed back at him. “Thank God.”
He shook his head at her silly comment. ‘Little do you know,’ he thought to himself. ‘I already do that every night.’