Chapter 1

I couldn't remember anything.

my past.

my 'friends'

my family

and myself

Yunji still questions herself, why was she even born in the first place if it was meant to be this way? why can't the Gods kill her now if she's just meant to suffer? what is the horrible thing she did to suffer like this?

She didn't know.

She was full of numbness.

She was sick and tired of her miserable and poor life.

Kicked there, punched there, left in the cold rain with blood pouring down the parts of her body.

She couldn't do anything about it.

Her life was a whole pity party.

It was full of bitter tears.

Her unhealthy way of coping made it worse, cutting herself as a form of discipline if she thought something was wrong with her.

Smoking relieves some stress from her exams and tests.

She didn't know what kept her from pushing forward even though her life was hell.

She just... did.

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : BREAK STUFF - LIMP BIZKIT

⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

Yunji lit a cigarette while perched on the edge of her apartment complex's rooftop, the wind ruffling her hair as she heard vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

She drew a long breath.

Considering whether or not to take her own life already,

She never knew her own answer.

Until she heard the door of the rooftop open.

She moved to the sound's origin out of curiosity. only to discover a certain child standing on the brink.

She observed him, took the cigarette out of her mouth; stomped on it, and tucked her hands into her jacket.

Yunji removed the headphones from her head, as the kid turned around, noticing something as he saw the girl staring at him.

"His eyes... they're the same as mine."

The man proceeded down the edge and into the building after the two introverts looked at one other. However, the female spoke out before he could.

"You."

Said Yunji, taking the boy's attention to her.

They both sat next to each other, the silence surrounded them.

"...What made you think of killing yourself?" Yunji softly spoke, in slight embarrassment from her.

"..."

The boy took his time to answer, before speaking with the same tone as hers.

"I... don't know." He murmured, clear enough for her to hear.

"Do you have any friends?" She asked, staring into the blue sky above them.

"I don't h-have friends..." The boy muttered, Yunji not surprised one bit.

"Shin Yunji."

She introduced herself to him, startling him for a moment, realizing what she wanted to do.

"Ch-"

His voice started to tremble, as he spoke again.

"Cha Hyunsu..."

"Come to me whenever you feel like shit, I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"...?"

Yunji checked her phone, saw the time, and stood up from her seat.

"Don't die here."

Was her last words before leaving the rooftop.

Drops of red fluid dropped from her nose, as the rice was soaked in a crimson color.

She was in the middle of writing her 1500-word essay on how important being a medical student is and had to submit it after her shift.

Yunji didn't dare to look at the scarlet color, instead, she quickly ran to the bathroom to grab some tissues.

This has been quite routine for her.

It has been her fifth time this month, they still don't know the cause of this. They assumed it was dry air or allergies, but it wasn't the real cause.

She let the bleeding continue before she could cover her nose, just as she'd normally do.

But she kept quivering, Yunji clasped her hands together in hopes it could calm her down. But it was unsuccessful so she had to close her eyes.

Once she felt nothing drip anymore, she assumed her nose stopped bleeding and wiped the tissue on her hand.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, looking at the red liquid on her sink as she flushed it with water.

It reminded her of her past,

She hated it.

Yunji's tired eyes stared at herself in the mirror, weird hallucinations started appearing.

People identical to her started whispering her name all over the room,

"SHIN YUNJI"

"SHIN YUNJI"

"SHIN YUNJI"

"SHIN YUNJI."

"DO YOU BLAME YOURSELF?"

She was startled, feeling the vibration that rang through her ears when she heard that question. 

Yunji brought a hand to her ear, her whole body shaking in fear.

She prepared for work by washing her entire face with a dry towel, putting her leftover meal in a plastic bag, and donning her shorts and blazer.

She grabbed her headphones and played her usual music.

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ:  CHANGE (IN THE HOUSE OF FLIES) - DEFTONES

⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

She made sure her room was secure before leaving it. The gun and bullets were still hidden in her drawer, so I checked it.

She took her stash of cigarettes grabbed a pack, and left.

Yunji pushed the down button as he walked up to the lift. Observing the screen's maintenance notice on the sign.

She deadpanned, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"This day couldn't get any worse."

Despite just being on the 12th floor, she felt a little worn out as she down the steps from the 16th floor.

The girl felt frightened by the loud sounds of the metal clanking that resounded throughout the hallway.

She looked closer at the empty hallway, the light flickering abnormally, and the smell of blood disturbed her.

"What the fuck?"

When she arrived on the first floor, where they typically leave and enter the building, the apartment's occupants gathered and struggled to unlock the shutters.

Removing her headphones, she looked around the room and could see that everyone was definitely under stress. 

Yunji's part-time coworker, Lee Eunhyuk, stood there in his customary attire.

"Excuse me, does your cell have service?" A lady asked her named Yikyung.

Yunji checked her phone and shook her head no.

"None." She replied.

"...What's going on?" Yunji asked the lady, 

"Did you just come down?"

"—Yes."

"Didn't you see anything strange on the way?"

Yunji took a moment to reply, recalling what she smelled on the 12th floor of the apartment.

"I smelled blood." The girl replied.

"Blood?" Yikyung inquired,

"On the 12th floor...I think, sorry, I have a bad memory..."

Yikyung exhaled, "No-No it's alright, thank you."

"May I ask... what's going on?" Yunji spoke.

"We're trying to figure it out, the back doors and the parking lot doors are locked as well," Yikyung responded.

"...Or, someone may have locked us in," Yunji muttered, audible for Yikyung to hear as the girl drifted into her mind.

She realized what she said out loud and looked at the lady, "S-Sorry... It's just-"

Yikyung smiled at the silly girl, embarrassed of what she said to her.

"Hey! Hey!"

Screaming could be heard outside the chained-up door to the management office from the man who owned the convince shop in this building, named Kim Seokhyeon.

"Excuse me," Yikyung said to the girl and headed over to the commotion.

"—Hey!"

"—Honey... let's just wait," said his wife, named Ahn Seonyoung.

"—Isn't anybody in there?!" He continued, completely ignoring her.

"—Honey..."

"But Ma'am, we can't just sit around and wait forever, this is so annoying..." A man stated, named No Byeongil

"These jerks are going to ruin our business, damn it." Mr Kim continued pushing the chained door.

"—I took photos as evidence, bam!" Mrs Hyein said, showing the photos on her phone.

"Is it not opened yet?" Yikyung inquired.

Pushing the people in front of the door aside, and kicking the glass entrance aggressively.

"Wait! What are you doing?" The man stopped her from kicking it any further.

"Move if you're not going to help."

Yunji noticed her coworker grabbing the unused fire extinguisher and moving forward to the people, using the item to break the chains.

"Are you okay, sir? Your hair." Eunhyuk said to the guy,

Yunji also entered the workplace, believing that her expertise with computers would be helpful. The wig-wearing guy continued.

While the girl looked about the room to see what she could do to help, Yikyung rushed straight to the landline and called for assistance.

She looked at the security cameras, as it was connected to every hall.

The voice from the landline was audible for the people inside the room to hear.

"—Landlines must be working..." He said, going off to the switches.

Yunji inspected the screens, not noticing any movement yet.

"Sir... I don't think you should—"

"—What?! I'm trying to open the doors!" He raised his voice at the girl which made her flinch a little, as he continued pressing the buttons without knowing.

"Did you touch something?" Yikyung questioned.

"Hey, you little... I'm trying to open the doors!" He shouted.

"—Put it back to how it was." The lady demanded.

"—Fine!"

He pressed the wrong button which made some noise that disturbed Yunji.

"Maybe it wasn't that..."

"Move aside, please." She pushed him out of the way to fix what he pressed.

"Whatever! The employees will fix the phone tomorrow. That's not the point when we're locked in here."

He walked away from his position, his curiosity pointing at something as he removed the box on it, finding the switches to the door.

"I found the switches!" Yelled the man,

"Sir, please refrain from pressing any buttons. I'm trying to fix what you did here." Yunji remarks, closing the cover of the buttons.

"Who are you to tell me what to do, huh?! I know this more than you! You should listen to what adults do!"

Yunji sighed in frustration.

"Raise the main doors... and press this."

The people outside saw the shutters open... but, they saw a silhouette of a man that was unidentified.

"What's that?"

"What the hell?"

The creature in question was tall...unusually tall. The three residents who were inside the management office went outdoors to witness the same event.

The shutters were fully opened, and Eunhyuk appeared beside Yunji. Looking at the figure in front of the residents that stood oddly

Mrs Hyein's dog continued to bark at it after detecting an odd sensation coming from the creature-looking statue.

"IT'S TIME TO DIE IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA CLOSE THE SHUTTERS! HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"...Close the shutters..?" Yunji breathed out trembling, instinct instructing her to switch it down once more.

"What? I just opened them!" The man yelled at her, as she slowly stepped back.

Outside the glass doors, a beast suddenly extended its mouth wide, which wasn't physically possible.

The people retreated in panic when its long, extendible tongue shattered the glass door.

"Close the shutters!" Eunhyuk shouted.

Forcefully entering the building, the creature's bizarre body hurled as its tongue prowled close to the people who fled.

However, it penetrated the guy in front of Yunji, sucking on the person's life as it fought to escape.

Mrs Hyein was scared as she fell to the ground, same with Yunji who stood there in front of the scene.

Yunji had an adrenaline rush, but she was unable to move since her body was frozen with terror. Her face was covered in blood as she watched someone get slaughtered in front of her.

Her widened eyes shook, as her whole body became frozen.

She was about to die.

She was going to die.

Was anybody there who could save her?