mirrorball // AOUAD

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"What the hell was that Gwi-nam kid?" Joon-yeong asked. They were all taking care of their larger cuts and (Y/n) was letting them use the instant cold packs finally, for she had made smoke bombs out of sugar, potassium nitrate, and baking soda after she had finished eating. She was now merely waiting for them to harden so that she could remove them from the tubes she had used as a shape.
"You said he got bitten," Joon-yeong said to Cheong-san.

"I don't know," Cheong-san said. "It looks like he became something totally different."

"I don't think he can die," Su-hyeok stated.

"What if he climbs back up here?" Wu-jin asked.

"He's bad enough... but to be honest, I'm scared of Nam-ra too," Ji-min said. "You saw her fighting before."

"Well..." Dae-su said. "I think it's reasonable to assume they're both Hambies—" Hyo-ryung poked his side. "What?"

"Are you really okay, Nam-ra?" Ji-Min asked. Nam-ra looked up at her. "You won't do that to us, right?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I wouldn't?" Nam-ra asked.

"Why do you have to say it that way?" Ji-min frowned. "Can you at least try to make us believe you? We're going to be together anyway." They all stared silently at Nam-ra and (Y/n), who shared a blanket with her, taking hold of her hand.

"I... I've never done anything but study," Nam-ra began. "I don't think I was naive, I was a coward. I was too scared my grades would drop and my mom would get mad. So I didn't do anything. I was too scared to make any more friends. My mom would always ask me what rank they were in class, what their parents did, how big their house was..." She took a piece of wood and poked the fire with it.
"I never thought I'd get a chance to sit around a fire with all of you like this." She smiled faintly. "It's really nice. It's my first time. If we somehow manage to get out of here, I really hope we could make a fire and hang out like this again... I really hope we can do that."

"Sure, let's do it," On-jo said. "If anyone wants to make a fire, we can all get together."

"Sorry, Nam-ra," Ji-min said. Nam-ra chuckled softly and lowered her head.

"Ooh. Did you just smile?" Dae-su asked. "Super awkward."

"God, come on," Hyo-ryung scoffed.

"What now?" Dae-su snapped at her. "What?"

"Why don't you two just date already?" Wu-jin asked. "You guys are so annoying."

"Are you crazy?" Hyo-ryung asked.

"Psycho!" Dae-su huffed.

"Hey, kids," Jae-il called from two of the radios. (Y/n) reached out and grabbed hers.

"You alive still?" (Y/n) asked.

"Of course," Jae-il mused. "Don't have that much trust in my survival or what?"

"Not really," (Y/n) admitted. "You guys were kind of in the middle of the city... How you got very far at all is a wonder. Make it quick. We're really tired. We just had to battle a... what'd you call it?"

"Hambie," Dae-Su said.

"A Hambie," (Y/n) said.

"A what?" Ha-ri asked.

"Half-zombie. Like someone who's been bitten but hasn't turned," (Y/n) explained lamely. "Not fully human but zombie enough that they won't be ripped apart."

"Are you a 'Hambie' in that case?" Ha-Ri asked.

"I don't know... I can't remember a time I was bitten or scratched," (Y/n) said. She paused as though actually needing to think about the question. "Actually... There was a time a couple weeks ago that I found a kid that I thought was dead and he bit me... But I doubt that's related." she said. "Unless my cats have the virus, of course," she added jokingly. "Anyways, what were you saying, Mr. Detective Man?"