𝐯𝐢. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥

The teenagers were sitting on the floor, each with their own portion of ramyeon. They weren't talking with each other, the only sound heard was loud slurping and chewing. Soojin looked again at the table in the kitchen, where she put down the boy's ID. She then looked at Hyunsoo who was focused on his food.

"You know..." she finally started, mixing her noodles with chopsticks, "I work at the restaurant," the boy raised his head to look at her, "I mean, I'm only a waitress, but sometimes I help in the kitchen. I really like cooking and baking, so I'm looking forward to doing something in this direction"

Hyunsoo nodded his head, "That's cool"

"Yeah," Soojin didn't stop mixing, "After we get out from this shithole, I can make us some real food. Because from what I see, you've been eating this shitty food for a long time. It's tasty, but with that diet you'll die before turning 40" she giggled, looking at the noodles

"I hope so," murmured Hyunsoo to himself

Soojin raised her head, "Pardon?"

"Nothing"

He took a lot of noodles to his mouth, looking like a hamster with his full cheeks. The girl shrugged, and continued eating. She looked once again in the direction of the kitchen.

"You know," she started again after a few minutes, putting down her half eaten food. "While you passed out, I was walking around here. I didn't look through your personal stuff, but I saw your high school ID," the boy pursed his lips, "And then I realised why you remind me of someone"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Soojin sighed. She felt how her cheek are burning from embarrassment, "You are Cha Hyunsoo, the boy who got beaten up almost every day, and no one could say anything about it"

Hyunsoo felt a gulp in his throat. He held his hands on the knees after putting down his noodles on the floor. He didn't expect the girl to really know him, and especially not from school.

"I know that now, after all you have been through, my apologies won't make any difference, but I need to do that anyway," Soojin looked at him, biting her cheek from inside,  "I truly apologise for never having a courage to stood up and defend you as I should. I understand if you want me to leave, but I just want you to know how embarrassed and sorry I am"

She started to get up from the floor, but Hyunsoo grabbed her wrist. The girl looked down at him.

"You don't have to leave," he pulled her to sit again on the floor, but she didn't move, "It wasn't your fault"

"But I didn't do anything about that, I just joined others"

"You were probably scared," the boy shrugged, "If I were you, I would also stay quiet"

"But, I didn't just stay quiet, I also hit you," she said. Why was she trying to prove him how bad she was? "I took the fucking wooden stick, and hit you with it"

"Not only you," he shrugged, "You expect me to hate you now? It's really okay. I forgive you. Now, eat your noodles"

     She looked at him for a long time. Finally, Soojin sat back on the floor, taking her ramyeon. She started poking it with her chopsticks, a bit frustrated. Hyunsoo smirked softly, putting noodles to his mouth.

Later, Soojin took the stick that the boy was using, and from the kitchen she took another sharp knife that she could find. She sat down on the floor, legs crossed, putting a stick on her thighs. She bit her lip, thinking about something.

"Hyunsoo?" the boy looked at her, woken up from his thoughts, "There's a duct tape in my purse. Could you hand it to me, please?"

He nodded his head, and walked to the purse where pointed Soojin. He opened it unsure, feeling like it was crossing the line of privacy, but he took out the green tape. He handed it to the girl, who thanked him with a head nod.

For a while, she was looking for the end of the tale, slowly getting frustrated. But when she finally did, she exhaled the air loudly. Hyunsoo was sitting in front of her, watching her doings. Soojin tucked the tape on the floor to not lose the end again.

"Okay," she ran through her hair with fingers, "You're gonna hold the stick at this end, but also the knife. I'm gonna wrap it around with the tape, so try to hold this, but without putting fingers under the tape, alright?"

Hyunsoo nodded his head, and did what the girl said. She took the tape from the floor, and started wrapping around the handle of the knife and stick. The boy watched her face focused face, and how her lips pursed in the line. After many covers of the tape, the girl took her other knife.

"Watch your hands," she murmured, cutting the end of tape. She glued it, tapping a few times, "Okay, now you have something like that"

They looked at the weapon. Who knows if it'll work, but it was better than just the stick.

"Thank you," said the boy, raising his head to Soojin

The girl stood up, "No problem"

     Another minutes passed, as the teenagers got stuck in the apartment. Soojin was walking around, stopping under the hole that blind monster did in the ceiling.

    Hyunsoo at the same time was looking at his phone, where on the screen was showing date 25th August with a short note.

Suicide.

He thought that it will be much easier to kill himself now, than later. It's the way he could die as human, not as a monster. But then he looked at Soojin.

   The girl was stomping on her tiptoes, then again at the feet, swaying like that all the time. She held her hands together on the back, looking at the hole in the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing right now.

Hyunsoo thought, that if he would kill himself now, the girl could be angry at him for leaving her alone in this situation. Now, they were in this shit together.
    And also he had nowhere to do that. The girl was all the time in the apartment, so the only way to kill himself was locking in the bathroom. But he's not gonna traumatise her like that.

Or he could jump out of the window.

The boy got up from the mattress, walking to the window. He opened it, leaning on the sill. He noticed a man, two apartments under them, hanging on the line, wrapped around his waist.

Hyunsoo twisted his head to the brunette, "Soojin"

The girl looked at him curious, walking to him. She looked out the window, noticing the same man.

"Is he trying to get on the first floor?" she asked surprised, "From the outside?"

Soojin heard some girl's voice talking to the man. Probably his daughter. She sounded very scared.

The big eyeball appeared next to the man. Hyunsoo's eyes widened, when Soojin's mouth dropped. It was just an eyeball. It was getting closer to the hanging man.

"Get out of there," whispered the boy scared, but then he yelled, "Get out!"

The man on the line noticed the monster. The eyeball hit him, making the man lost his balance. Then it hit him again. The girl started screaming, when her father fell on the ground. Soojin gasped loudly, while Hyunsoo turned his head away. She put a hand to her mouth, which started trembling.

The little girl was crying and screaming for her father. Soojins felt pain in her heart.

She wanted to stick out her head to look at the monster, but Hyunsoo pulled her to the apartment, closing the window. Brunette looked at him surprised.

"What are you doing?" she asked. The boy pulled his hair in stress, "We should help her, it's just the kid"

Hyunsoo was trembling horribly. Soojin also was scared as fuck, but she can't just agree with leaving the girl all by yourself.

She opened the window, seeing the eyeball getting closer to the girl's apartment. She bit her lip.

"Okay," said Hyunsoo behind her, "Help me"

Soojin turned around to see him trying to drag his computer. She was surprised that he's gonna sacrifice it for the kid.
She rushed to him, helping lift it. Together they put it in the window, trying to point on the monster.
Hyunsoo lifted the computer the highest he could, and threw it at the monster. The eyeball looked around, noticing teenagers. They rushed to the apartment, Hyunsoo taking his stick, while Soojin went for the same knife as earlier. They stood together in the middle of the room, when big eyeball appeared behind the window. Hyunsoo took a step forward, covering the girl.
The big eyeball crushed the window, with the biggest speed wrapping around Hyunsoo, lifting him a bit. Soojin tried to stay calm, but her mouth dropped again from shock.

"Hyunsoo!"

She started stabbing the eyeball's, lets call it body, with her kitchen knife, but it didn't help much. She was cutting it, but the eyeball was only holding the boy more tight with every second. She dropped the knife, and took Hyunsoo's stick that fell on the ground, and stab with it the monster, from the side. It turned his head-eye to the girl, but apparently she wasn't as interesting as the boy. The monster was squeezing his body, she could hear him trying to catch the breath.

Soojin felt helpless. She had no idea what she could do more. But then, something snapped. The eyeball let go Hyunsoo, who fell on the ground, coughing loudly. The half of eyeball's body dropped on the floor in the apartment, while the other half slide down the building.
Soojin rushed to the boy, touching his arm.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" she asked worried, "I'm sorry...."

"I'm okay," he got on his hands, and with little help of girl, he stood up, breathing heavily, "You apologise a lot"

The girl shrugged. The teenagers looked at the eyeball on the floor. Soojin touched it with the end of the stick. It didn't react at all.

Hyunsoo walked to the broken window, and the girl followed him. When they looked out, they saw a man pointing out the gun at them. But it looked like he made it himself. He was an only two apartments away.

    The man disappeared in his room, appearing after a few seconds with a beer. He took a sip from it. Well, he actually gulped almost the whole bottle.
    He looked at the teenagers, and when Hyunsoo wanted to say something, he put a finger to his mouth. The boy nodded his head.

    The man took something from his apartment, and then stick out a big piece of paper. Soojin squinted her eyes to read the writing.

THEY MIGHT COME IF THEY HEAR ANYTHING

The man put down the paper, and took another one.

THOSE THINGS DON'T DIE

   He nodded his head on the ground. Teenagers looked down. The man that was laying there, didn't have a head, instead he had this body of the eyeball, but without an eyeball. He sat down, and the body fell off. Soojin grimaced.

    The girl from the apartment under started yelling for her dad. But it wasn't only her voice. There was another kid.

    The man appeared with another paper.

DO YOU WANT TO SAVE THE KIDS?

Soojin nodded her head, and after her did Hyunsoo, but he wasn't so sure about it.

IF YOU MAKE A CALL AND LEAVE THE PHONE ON, I'LL MAKE A NOISE WHEN A MONSTER IS NEAR YOU

Hyunsoo nodded his head.

COME WHEN YOUR MIND IS MADE UP

The teenagers stepped back into the room. The first person to spoke up was Soojin:

"You want to do that?" she twisted his head to him, "If no, I can do it myself, I won't blame you"

"You think you can do it by yourself?"

"I can try," the girl shrugged

Hyunsoo took his stick, "Let's go"

Soojin smiled to herself. She went for her knife, but then she thought about something.

"Shouldn't we... I don't know, prepare somehow?" she looked around, "Do you have a backpack?"

Hyunsoo nodded his head, and went for one. The girl grabbed a few packs of ramyeon that they still had. She put it in the backpack.
   Hyunsoo took  four cans of soda, and threw them inside. Then he took his personal stuff, like some clothes or toothbrush. Who knows when they'll come back here.

"What more?" he asked

"Probably a lot of things, that we can't think of right now," the girl sighed, "Come on," they went to the doors, but Soojin stopped again. She turned to confused Hyunsoo, "Could we head to my apartment first? I know it's risky, but there are a few things I need to take"

The boy nodded his head, "Sure"

Soojin looked down at his feet, "And maybe wear some shoes, huh?"

"You threw away my shoe..." murmured Hyunsoo

The girl rolled her eyes, "Then wear only one, and on our way we take another, it's probably laying on the corridor"

    The boy nodded his head, and went to take the shoe that was left in the room. Soojin watched him amused.
He took out his phone, and make a call, putting an earphone to the one ear.

"Ready?" he asked, turning back to Soojin, who nodded her head

The teenagers walked on the corridor, looking around, all the time. But they were luckily alone.

They went to apartment 1406, on the way taking the other shoe that Soojin threw away. The doors of the apartment were closed, but not locked. Soojin walked first, taking off her small purse, and looking for her old backpack. She was walking around the room, while Hyunsoo walk in unsure. He noticed a man, laying asleep on the couch, in white undershirt, with his mouth open. The boy was looking at him, with his stick in the end, while Soojin totally ignored him.
She opened the drawer, taking out her clothes. Hyunsoo looked at her.

"Can you stay here for a second? I'll change quick, these work clothes aren't the best for fighting with monsters," she asked the boy who nodded his head

Soojin went to the bathroom, closing the doors behind her.

Hyunsoo looked down at the sleeping man. So that was the reason of black eye on Soojin's face. Around the couch were scattered empty bottles and cans, and food leftovers. He was snoring loudly, but he seemed to be deaf if he didn't hear teenagers coming inside. Hyunsoo poke him with his stick, but the man only murmured something, twisting on the other side. The boy grimaced.

  The bathroom doors opened, and Soojin walked out. Hyunsoo turned to her, scanning her outfit, but trying not to be creepy. She wore a typical green top with black pants, and also black boots.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she was putting on her favourite hoodie. The other clothes for change she put in her backpack, just in case.

"Okay, I'm ready" she said, running through her hair with fingers

Hyunsoo looked down at his clothes, "Now I look like a homeless person"

Soojin waved her, "You look okay. I just wanted to get rid of this white shirt and apron. They are really uncomfortable" she walked to the doors, "Come on"

Hyunsoo looked at the sleeping man, "We just gonna leave him here?"

Soojin clenched her teeth, "If you want, you can wake him up and took care of him. I don't care"

She walked out of the apartment, leaving the boy in there. He looked at the sleeping man, and followed the girl.
He put his hand on the handle, wanting to close the door, but Soojin stopped him.

"Leave it open," she murmured, not looking at him

The boy wasn't surprised by her words. He nodded his head, and took the hand off the handle, leaving half open doors.