unfinished short story

Untitled

Universities have always been noisy and bustling. Especially when they're filled with energetic physical education students. It was so loud that it was hard to tell if this was a marketplace or a school for learning. But now, it wasn't noisy. It was more like a commotion than a bustle.



Lee Chan was lying face down. He'd fallen while running. The ping-pong racket he'd been holding had long since been lost in his fall. Dozens of sneakers passed by without a break. Lee Chan felt like he was losing his mind. Before he could even grasp the situation, the scene he encountered was like a hellish scene straight out of a movie he'd seen before.



"Ahhhhh - !"



Lee Chan could only sit there, dumbfounded, watching the scene unfold before his eyes. A horrific sight of man being torn apart by man. But the being doing the biting wasn't human. With eyes as sharp as those of a beast, eyes as inhuman, it brutally swallowed even the desperate screams for help. Lee Chan's classmate, who had been struggling, foaming at the mouth, trying to escape its grasp, soon succumbed. Soon after, blood spurted from his shoulder like a fountain. Lee Chan, who was standing close to his classmate, saw blood splatter on his cheek. Just a few dozen minutes ago, the gymnasium was filled with joyful laughter and fervent excitement, but the sweat dripping down just moments before seemed a lie. The sudden silence made the smell of blood even more insistent. Lee Chan, of all people, hated this very smell.



"Hey, Lee Chan!!"



Someone loudly called out to him and vigorously chewed on his motivation, and then, in an instant, he lunged at Lee Chan. Lee Chan swallowed back a scream as he watched it slam its face into the floor, biting where his hand had just been. Then, the person who grabbed his hand and pulled him up in an instant was his classmate, Go Soobin. They were part of the Taekwondo team. Fortunately or unfortunately, due to construction on the Taekwondo gymnasium that had begun yesterday, they were sharing the same gymnasium as the table tennis team. It was difficult for Lee Chan, a table tennis player, to keep up with the pace of a Taekwondo player who was far more physically fit. Nevertheless, Lee Chan ran, mustering every ounce of strength he had.





As I staggered out, a hellish scene unfolded behind me. The classmate I had previously thought dead, his whole body writhing, got up and repeated the same behavior I had experienced on someone else. And that person repeated it again, and again, and again, on someone else... It only took an instant for a person to become inhuman. The students who had been huddled at the entrance, desperately trying to escape, had all turned into monsters. The only sane people left in the gym were Lee Chan and Go Soobin.





The priority was to somehow escape this gym. Lee Chan, struggling to keep up with Go Soo-bin, who quickly opened the door as if she had a destination and ran without looking back, looked around until he found Seung-kwan and Ji-hoon in front of the shooting club practice range, gesturing for them to hurry. Was this their destination? Now that he thought about it, the shooting club practice room and the physical education club were right next to each other, I guess. Thanks to that, he could see the coach who had always complained about the loud shooting noise every day. Lee Chan took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the window outside the door. He then closed his eyes tightly and turned his head to Seung-kwan. He had met their eyes. His focus was unfocused. It was harder than he thought to face the people who had just practiced together, laughing and chatting, their flesh torn from their bodies. So Lee Chan decided not to bother with the hardship. Boo Seung-kwan barricaded the door with a long stick.



"Brother, what's going on? By the way, why are you here again? You're in the badminton club."

"I don't know why I'm here either... I'm scared, that's all. I'm just glad you're here."



Seungkwan was more fearful than he was. Lee Chan was also fearful. Of them all, the only ones who were the most fearless were Go Soobin and Lee Jihoon.



"..I'm scared too. So please be quiet."



Go Soobin must have been scared too. But before she could catch her breath, they started banging on the door. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.



"Ah... I miss Mom. I hope your brothers are all okay."



Boo Seung-kwan muttered in a daze.



"Brother, can you kill those guys with this gun here?"





Go Soobin picked up the guns rolling around on the shooting range floor and looked at Lee Jihoon.



"Oh, that... yeah."

"..Then, everyone take one. I'll take one more just in case."



Lee Chan, Boo Seung-kwan, Go Soo-bin, and Lee Ji-hoon hurriedly grabbed their guns and ran out of the shooting range.

























"Kang Ji-yoon, fighting~"

"Hey Jiyoon, don't let Seungcheol look at you. Haha"



"Oh, how are we supposed to practice without a coach?" He pouted and quickly swung his leg, knocking her over in an instant. "As expected, Seungcheol won." Ignoring the playful, laughing voice of his classmate, Choi Seungcheol helped Kang Jiyoon, who was sprawled out, up with a look of injustice in his eyes. "Brother, do you have a grudge against me...? Yeah. You stole my snack." Jiyoon's face turned completely pale, but Seungcheol let out a small laugh and patted her on the back.





The Taekwondo training room. The coach had left for a moment, saying he was going to run some business, so students from other departments gathered, laughing and taking a break. Then, two familiar faces opened the door and waved. It wasn't the coach, but Hong Ji-soo and Yoon Jeong-han who stepped in.



"Hi~"

"Huh, what about your coach?"

"Us? Where did you go, saying you were just going to take care of some business?"



Hey, you too? Me too. They were pointing at each other and laughing, then Jiyoon asked a question.



"But does everyone know when Soobin will be back?"

"Huh? Subin?"



He said he was going to go watch Jihoon at the shooting range earlier. That little brat, he just disappeared... When I asked about Go Soobin's recent activities, everyone immediately started joking around and dissing Go Soobin.



Exactly 15 minutes later, the laughter suddenly stopped. Someone, breathing unsteadily, threw open the door and came in. He was wearing a judo uniform... A judo student? Everyone was murmuring, but the student, seemingly oblivious, quickly locked the door and sat down, his back turned to the door. If you look closely at his face, you'll see it's one of fear. It's not the busy, unfocused look of someone too busy to care.



"What is it, Yeonsu?"

"Why is he like that? What's wrong, Yeon-su?"



Outside, outside... Yeonsu, a female judo student, seemed about to say something, but her friends' embraces her and she bursts into tears. Those who seemed close to her held her tightly, and she didn't stop crying. Even with her heavy breathing, she sobbed. Her eyes were so filled with tears that she could barely see, yet she kept her gaze fixed on the door outside.







"Hey, are you okay? Take a breath."



Yoon Jeong-han, the captain of the judo club, briefly patted the boy's back before walking toward the door. Following Choi Seung-cheol's footsteps, his three friends also headed toward the door: Kang Ji-yoon, Hong Ji-soo, and Yoon Jeong-han. Surely it was quiet? Choi Seung-cheol muttered and flung the door open.





No, senior. You must have known what happened outside. If Hye-yeon was that far away... Kang Ji-yoon was very scared. Even more so than Boo Seung-kwan. However, she couldn't bring herself to say these words. She couldn't bring herself to say such things in front of Hye-yeon, who was trembling with fear. The child who came in as if running away from something and was whimpering between the arms of her friends was Jeong-han's direct junior, and in any case, a junior to Hong Ji-soo and Choi Seung-cheol as well. In the physical education department, where love for peers was especially strong, if something happened to a peer, whether junior or senior, someone would always step forward. She was scared, but I think that's how it was. In the end, Kang Ji-yoon turned around and spoke. Because she was the manager. Ji-yoon became the manager in place of Choi Seung-cheol, who hated stepping forward.





"Everyone, stay still. Until the coach gets here. We don't know what's happening outside, so stay still—and no individual action is absolutely prohibited. If you understand, nod your head."



Everyone nodded as Kang Ji-yoon's tone, unusually stiff and businesslike, shifted from her usual tone. With the answer she'd been hoping for, Kang Ji-yoon smiled kindly and turned around again. Then she ran to her seniors, who had been observing the outside.





"Ugh... what is this blood?"



Choi Seung-cheol frowned at the thick blood on the soles of his shoes. Now that he thought about it, even though Yeon-soo had run so fast, as if being chased by something, the hallway was eerily quiet. Instead, the hallway was covered in blood. And not just any blood, but a dark red with a blackish tint. It was sticky and disgusting.



"There's no one in the hallway..."

“But why did Yeonsu run like that?”

"Ugh, what is this blood? I really hate it..."

"Ah, why are the seniors going first! There's no way they'd leave the girls behind."

"What are you talking about? She's stronger than most women."



Jiyoon and Seungcheol bickered softly. Seungcheol, the most physically fit, was put in front, followed by Jeonghan, Jiyoon, and Jisoo. Since there was no one else, only a quiet silence flowed, heightening the tension. The musty smell of the hallway, the unpleasant dampness, stung his nose. Jiyoon shuddered and urged them to hurry and check. Moreover, Choi Seungcheol, despite his large size, was surprisingly timid, grabbing Jeonghan's arm and whining that he was scared.



"Isn't it strange?"



"Huh? What?" Hong Ji-soo answered when Kang Ji-yoon raised a question.



"No... something feels a bit strange. Yeonsu came running like she was being chased by someone, but there's no one in the hallway."



It's just that I don't feel well... When Kang Ji-yoon said this with a dark expression, Yoon Jeong-han hesitated for a moment before speaking.



"It'll be okay."





I hope it's okay.



After passing through a long hallway and turning a corner, there was a large sign that said "Judo Training Room." Even though they could just open the door, "What is this?" Yoon Jeong-han asked his friends. "Open the door?" "Yeah, open it quickly."










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Yes, I'll finish this article someday. I can't even count how many I've just written and abandoned here, suddenly inspired by a sudden impulse.
Anyway, I'll finish this someday.