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Sayeon was wearing a black mask and a cap to hide her appearance. She ducked behind a wall when a guard passed nearby. Sayeon held her breath, and as soon as the guard turned his back, she quickly slipped into the restricted area.
There were several yellow warning tapes telling people to keep away: restricted area, danger, infection by bite.
The hallway was dark and filled with a strong, nauseating smell that made Sayeon want to throw up even through her mask.
But she had to stay strong. She had to find her.
Ryujin.
The delinquent who had studied with her since middle school. The one who was always getting into pointless fights and had been nothing but a headache for Sayeon as class president. They had nothing in common, and every conversation between them inevitably turned into an argument. But because Sayeon was such an excellent student, she started tutoring Ryujin, and through that, she realized the other girl carried the same kind of loneliness she did.
That was when Sayeon's obsession with Ryujin began. She started getting closer to her and eventually became the person closest to Ryujin. Carefully making sure that no one else could get close to her in the same way.
Deep down, she knew it wasn't right, but it felt so good. It made her feel alive, and it was the closest thing to love she had felt in years. So it didn't matter if others found it strange, she liked the feeling of power she had over Ryujin.
Apparently, she was the only one who felt that way.
She still clearly remembered the rotten smell of Ryujin's disgusting cigarettes. When she told her to stop smoking because it would ruin her lungs, Ryujin's response had been the sting of a slap that burned for hours.
The spiral eyes look she gave her and the words that followed made it clear that Sayeon's way of loving was suffocating Ryujin.
After that day, they never saw each other again.
The sound of incoherent groans and chains dragging across the floor drew her attention to the cell beside her. What she saw was a disfigured "person", half of their face had been torn away, and their left eye was hanging out of its socket.
Sayeon grimaced. What the world had become was disgusting.
The past few months had been hell.
A new virus had spread across the world, causing people to lose all sense of reason and become violently aggressive, attacking one another through bites, almost as if they were—zombies. No. That wasn't the term people used. They called them "the infected."
Sayeon's first concern should have been her own safety, but she couldn't calm down knowing that, in a world like this, Ryujin was out there, at risk of becoming infected.
Through the right connections, she managed to track down Ryujin's location and discovered, far too late, that she had been taken to the isolation ward where the infected were being kept.
Her chest ached at the realization that she had failed the person she loved.
She looked away from the "zombie" and continued searching for purple hair and spiral eyes. A variety of infected turned toward Sayeon at the sound of her footsteps.
It wasn't until she reached the cells furthest down the corridor that she finally saw Ryujin.
The breath left Sayeon's lungs at the sight before her. There was a hole in the center of Ryujin's forehead, exposing her brain as though it might spill out at any moment, yet somehow it never did. A trail of blood ran down her face, staining the white cloth they had used to cover her eyes.
With another glance, Sayeon noticed the scar on Ryujin's hand, now split clean in half.
She swallowed hard and wasted no time opening the cell, kneeling in front of Ryujin. Her hand reached up to cup her face.
"It's okay, Ryujin," she whispered, her thumb brushing over Ryujin's lips before slowly slipping into her mouth. "I'm here now."
Ryujin didn't react.
It didn't matter.
What mattered was that she had found Ryujin, and not even "death" could separate them now.
Sayeon had never felt happier. She pulled off her mask and cap, revealing a sinister smile as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
Oh, how she had missed Ryujin.
She was so happy that she could kiss her, just as they always used to whenever they argued and didn't know how to apologize. Communication had never been their strong suit. That wouldn't change now.
She brushed Ryujin's bangs aside and tucked them behind her ear before leaning in and pressing their lips together.
It was only a soft press, but it sent electricity coursing through Sayeon's entire body.
"Mine."
She said it before kissing her again.
This kiss tasted like iron and something else she had never experienced before, but Sayeon didn't care. She stuck out her tongue and licked, letting out a satisfied moan.
An incomprehensible grunt snapped Sayeon out of her daze, and in the next second, Ryujin's hands were gripping Sayeon's shoulders and pulling her closer.
It took only a fraction of a second for Sayeon to realize what was about to happen, her blue eyes shining with excitement.
Although part of her thought it was a good idea, her treacherous body reacted in time, and she instinctively raised her arm to shield herself.
Ryujin's teeth sank into her flesh as she let out another incomprehensible groan.
The pain was sharp and seemed to intensify the deeper Ryujin sank her teeth in, drinking her blood before tearing away a piece of flesh.
A pained moan escaped Sayeon, but she made no move to pull away. Quite the opposite, she pushed her arm further against Ryujin's lips, biting down on her own lip to endure the pain as she felt her cheeks heat up.
"That's it, Ryujin," she said, her voice trembling.
When Ryujin's hand tightened around her shoulders, her nails digging into Sayeon's flesh, she moaned again.
"Good girl."
She was so absorbed in the moment that she failed to hear the approaching footsteps and the cell door opening.
"What do you think you're doing?" a male voice said in disbelief.
Sayeon turned to see who it was and froze when she recognized Taeho.
Her expression twisted into a grimace before shifting into a smile.
"Oops."
Then she snapped her fingers.
Snap.
She blinks.
The hallway was dark once again, and that sickening smell filled her lungs.
This time, she had to be much more careful if she wanted to get Ryujin out of there, or Taeho would ruin her plans.
Sayeon adjusted her cap and quietly moved along the wall.
She had gotten carried away again, but this time she would stay focused.
It was just that feeling Ryujin's teeth sinking into her skin felt so good that it didn't matter this was already the fourth time she had done this.
But this time, she wouldn't lose herself.
She hopes.