THUNDERBIRD | CHA HYUNSOO

00

the world isn't as predictable as we think it is. we all have had significant things that have happened in our lives that really add flavor to our memories. sometimes good like winning a trophy or our first kiss, while others are traumatic like losing someone you love. it's inevitable.

today marks that traumatic significant memory.

hours before dasom was getting ready to go to her college campus, a nice school that she pays about five million won for each semester while working her ass off at a job that she barely make livable wage at, only to be taught how to do art good. sounds silly for the most part. dasom wanted to convince herself for the most part that she didn't want to be an art student, if she was going to pick a career it would be for the money instead of interest.

dasom was so thankful for her aunt for giving her, her old apartment so she could retire in italy like she dreamed, however dasom had wished she had told her it was a run down green home. she had mentioned something about it being a green home but she never mentioned EVERYTHING seemed like it was recycled. the doors all look like they were taken from buildings that were going to be demolished. dasom didn't mind too much since green homes are better for the environment, she just wished her door couldn't be easily opened with a fork and a screw driver if you tried.

room 1508 was what she called home. rent was cheap so she hopped on the deal quickly. next door to her was her loud neighbor, jisu. she plays a base guitar to the tunes of different genres ranging from punk rock to mellow, dasom does enjoy the loud music though. yoon jisu was a very talented individual.

word has been going around about a new guy living in 1410, poor kids family died in a crash. the bank barely gave him a livable wage too. at least that's what one of the tenants, son hyein, was babbling about in the lobby this morning. dasom always wondered how she can find out things about everyone, probably because of the damn phone she never gets off of.

she glanced over at the clock on the left bedside table. 8:30PM. class didn't start until nine o'clock, but since she had to sell her car she knew it would be a long walk on foot. it was getting dark and late so she reached into the top medicine cabinet to grab the small yellow bottle

"PEPPER SPRAY: RAW PEPPER"

she hadn't had the need to use it yet so it was still contained it the strong plastic packaging. grabbing the kitchen scissors, she quickly sliced it open and shoved the yellow bottle inside her back pocket and headed out to the elevator.

after shoving her house keys in her other back pocket, she made a turn left straight to the elevators.

UNDER MAINTENANCE

fuck. "if i knew this place was this shitty i wouldn't have moved in." dasom mumbles quietly to herself, lightly kicking the sealed door of the elevators. she drags her feet down fifteen different floors. at that point she'd rather be marked absent in school because there was no way she was going to manage walking down fifteen flights and a twenty minute walk to the campus, however she couldn't afford to miss a day of school.

when she (finally) got down to the main lobby, majority of the people who lived here was down there as well. confusion was evident on all of their faces, including hers.

dasom scanned the room for a minute and spotted a guy. she had recognized him from campus due to the fact the medical and creative arts buildings were next to each other so they tended to cross paths more than once.

"hey, you." she makes her voice softer as she noticed it was coarse earlier at the elevators.

the guy turned around, seemingly confused. "what's going on? why are the gates closed?" her tone came out as more or a demand than a question as she assumed this guy even knew what was happening.

"we're trying to figure it out right now." his voice is calm and collected, the complete opposite of what he looked like. a loud pitched sound rang on everyone's phones indicating there was no longer a signal.

"shit." dasom whispered. she stuffs her phone into her backpack, there's no reason to stay down here longer. she, once again, trudged and dragged her aching feet up the stairs yet again. the slight tingling sensation burned the soles of her feet along with her heels, it was then she realized she wore the wrong shoes.

"i'm hungry..."

"i'm hungry..!"

the woman's voice sounded strained as if she smoked three different brands of cigarettes in one sitting.

dasom stopped mid-step. "hello? are you okay ma'am?" she peaked over the railing and felt sick to her stomach. a woman, no, a thing was staring to the side and down the hall. her skin was a leathery gray color, her hair was all dismantled, she had blood all over her face that came from what looked to be her nose.

she was not human.

that thing quickly turned its head towards her, so quickly it seemed like her head wasn't even properly apart of her body. her bones bent and cracked loudly as she crawled up towards me on the stairs. caught in the moment, dasom pulled the pepper spray from her back pocket and maced her. hands shaking and all.

she growled, snarled, groaned, then charged directly at her. she held her shoulders with a the strength she could possess and threw that thing down the stairs. dasom wanted to puke at the sounds of its bones breaking and rearranging. she wasn't going to waste the moment so she took this as a chance to dart to my apartment.

dasom could feel the thing hot on her trail. she punched in the code as quickly as her shaky hands would allow. she opened the door and chose to slam it into its face. it's blood smeared on the door and wall but in that moment she didn't care. she locked her door and propped a chair in front of it to keep whatever that was out.

"let me in.."
"let me in..!"
"let me in!"
"LET. ME. IN."

"get the fuck away from me!" dasom shouted back. on cue, she could here the sound of a base riff.

her neighbor jisu.

the woman seemed to be fixated on jisu's door now as she could still here the banging and screeching.
she slid down the door not caring that the woman's blood was getting onto the back of her brown jacket

what the fuck was that?