ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜ . ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ¹

XI. ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ

It wasn't until the next morning that the door to the quarantine room opened. Eun-hyeok entered, to which Mr Kim quickly scurried up to him.

"I'm really okay," Mr Kim said with a confident nod and smile.

However, Eun-hyeok ignored the man. "Cha Hyun-su. I need to speak with you."

"What?" Mr Kim gaped. "Why are you only taking him? What about me?"

Eun-hyeok continued to ignore Mr Kim and left the room. Hyun-su got up from where he'd been sitting and began to head towards the door, where Mr Kim grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"You're just being used," Mr Kim said to the boy.

However, Hyun-su showed no reaction and left the room, where Eun-hyeok shut and then locked the door.

Moments later, Mr Kim was banging on the door and trying to twist the doorknob. "Hey! Hey! Let me out, too!"

"It's vital the front gate be properly barricaded, but it hasn't been," Eun-hyeok explained to Hyun-su as they walked through the hallways. "And we only have wooden planks and chains

blocking the stairs. Monsters could get through at any moment. The same goes for where you were just now."

Eun-hyeok and Hyun-su stopped walking, and Eun-hyeok faced Hyun-su and crossed his arms. "Why do you think I took your side? I'll be straightforward. You'll be taking on all the dangerous work from now on. If you don't want to, then I can't help you."

"What do you mean?" Hyun-su asked.

"The guy in Room 1408," Eun-hyeok replied. "Can you bring him here?"

Hyun-su hesitated, unsure if he could. He still didn't know what had knocked him off the stairs the day before, but chances were it was still up on the 9th floor.

"If you're worried about going up by yourself, Sung-hyo already volunteered to go with you," Eun-hyeok announced, which only made Hyun-su's eyes widen.

"What?" he gaped.

ᶠYͧoͨᵏu

Hyun-su found Sung-hyo not long after he'd geared himself up. She was with Ji-ji in Mr Kim's store, grabbing some food and putting it in a rucksack that Ji-ji had let her use.

Hyun-su walked over to the girl as she exited the store, grabbing his arm. She turned to him, already having a feeling of what Hyun-su wanted to say.

"Say what you want, Hyun-su," Sung-hyo said before Hyun-su could even utter a word. "I'm going with you, whether you like that or not."

"No, I want you to stay here," Hyun-su shook his head. "Stay where I know you'll be safe."

"I promised those kids I'd come back for them," Sung-hyo protested, tying her hair into a ponytail. "I'm coming with you, end of story."

Sung-hyo sighed to herself as everyone nearby watched Sang-wook rip away the things helping to barricade the main door. He began walking up the stairs straight afterwards.

"If you aren't back by this evening, I'll come looking for you," Ji-ji said, standing beside Sung-hyo.

"Thanks," Sung-hyo smiled. "But I'll be fine. I survived three days up there."

Sung-hyo gave Ji-ji one last look of reassurance before waking past the large, green doors.

She didn't stop until she realised Hyun-su wasn't following. She turned around in time to see Eun-hyeok whispering something into Hyun-su's ear, and whatever he said made the teenage boy grow worried.