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Chapter 27:

"He isn't dead," Eun-hyuk says after standing up from his crouched position.

"How is that possible?" Eun-yu asks, suddenly reappearing in the doorway. She wore a confused look, but something else was hidden in her eyes. Was it fear? Worry maybe? Maybe she was friends with the boy.

"Do you know him?" Eun-hyuk asks his sister.

"I don't think so... I've only met him once before." She says after a moment of silence.

I could now hear the voices of the other residents. They were all crowded around the doors, wanting to see what was happening.

"Everyone back away. Don't go near him." Eunhyuk says as he then tries to herd the residents back down the hall.

"We can't keep infected in here!" "Throw him outside!" "A human couldn't survive that, he's a monster!" The crowd kept yelling.

Eunhyuk comes back, looking at the man with the sword.

"Do you mind helping me? We should transfer him to somewhere we can monitor him?" He asks.

The man nods his head and puts down his weapon.

"Where will we take him?" The man asks. There's a pause as Eun-hyuk hadn't yet thought of where to take the unconscious boy.

"The old arcade." I finally chime in.

"There's a door that we can close, and windows so we can watch over him safely." I continue to say.

I looked down at the boy, seeing that he had a long stick with a knife attached to the end. He also wore a bag on his back. I reach out, hesitating to touch the boy at first before finally continuing what I was doing. I gently pry the weapon from his hands and place it beside me. Next, I move to remove his backpack, but I have to roll him over slightly to do so completely. In the process, the ends of my sleeves get covered in his blood. I stand once I have the backpack and weapon.

"I'll bring these to the office. Then I'll meet you at the arcade." I mutter, not looking at anyone in particular.

After making it back to the office, I look around the room before deciding to shove the long sharp weapon underneath the forgotten mattress. I don't think it would be smart to leave it out for everyone to see. I don't bother looking inside the book bag, kicking it under the bed to get it out of my sight.

I then focus my eyes on my arms. Or more so the sleeves covering my arms. They were soaked in blood. That boy's blood. I had never seen so much blood before. Not ever had I bled that much before. If he wasn't infected, the boy would surely be dead with the amount of blood that surrounded his body. He either had to be infected or he somehow had the same illness as me. But considering the height that he fell from, there's no way he would have survived that otherwise.

"My brothers looking for you." A voice says from the office doorway.  I knew it was Eun-yu before I even looked up.

"He should still be at the arcade." She tells me before walking away and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I decided to go to the bathroom first to try to wash away the blood from my sleeves. It wasn't too effective. as there was still a dark tint to my sleeves and now my sleeves were left wet from the water. But it would have to do. I knew I should go see what Eun-hyuk needed from me.

Arriving at the arcade, I step inside to see Eun-hyuk talking to the now-awake boy. The boy seemed so innocent. 

"Are you okay?" Eun-hyuk asks.

"Do you think he's okay? He fell from the 9th floor." I say, walking further into the room now. The boy looked at me, confusion written on his face as he wondered who I was.

I smile slightly at the boy, wanting to create some positivity after all that's happened so far. God knows that I could use a little bit of happiness right now.

"I'm Ji-eun-" I say, stepping forward and sticking my hand out for the boy to shake, but instead, Eun-hyuk steps forward and links his hand with my own. He then pulls me back to stand beside him.

"My girlfriend," He says, only letting go of my hand once I'm placed at his side.

I can't help the sudden blush that rushes to my cheeks just then. Why would he say that so suddenly? Especially since we were only faking our relationship.

The unnamed boy continues to watch with as much confusion as before. He reaches his hand up to scratch the back of his head before speaking.

"I think I'm okay," He says, before looking down at his blood-soaked clothing.

"Good, because it's going to be tough from now on," Eun-hyuk says as he moves to stand slightly in front of me now.

"Take a few minutes to prepare yourself, then meet us outside."
 Eun-hyuk tells the boy before grabbing my hand again and leading me out of the room.

"Are you alright?" He asks, stopping to look me over.

"Yeah, just still shaken up a bit. There was so much blood. I can't believe he even survived." I say, looking down at my red-tinted sleeves.

"I'll help you clean this up later," He says, looking at my sleeves.

"But for now, I don't want you to be around him by yourself." He says. Again, a blush forms on my cheeks. Was he trying to protect me?

"He's infected, we can't risk him infecting you or anyone else here." He continues.

"Why did you tell him that I'm your girlfriend?" I suddenly ask.

Eun-hyuk looked around, ensuring that the hallway was empty, but it wasn't. The store owner's wife was currently walking down the hallway. 

Eun-hyuk pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me in a hug as he spoke quietly to me. "Because if we want everyone to think we're dating, then we can't let some kid know that we're faking. Even if he won't be here long," Eun-hyuk speaks as the woman finally disappears down the hallway.

Moments later, the arcade door swings open and the boy walks out. I pull away from Eun-hyuk as my face blushes a dark shade of red. He continues to keep a hold of my hand as he turns to speak to the boy.

"I hope you're ready. Because we're going to vote to see if you get to stay here." Eun-hyuk says.