Chapter 15
“……”
“It’s true that your prediction helped us. But do you really think staying here is safe?”
At those words, I slowly looked around the classroom.
The scene was so horrible that merely looking at it made me frown.
There wasn’t a single intact spot on the walls or floor, and blood-soaked corpses were scattered everywhere.
Only then did I realize it again.
There was nowhere in this building that was truly safe.
But that didn’t mean the rooftop was guaranteed to be safe either.
What if there’s a monster on the rooftop?
I clenched my fist.
What if something even more terrifying than the monsters we had already seen was waiting for us there?
I didn’t have to think deeply to know the answer.
Just like before, a few lucky people would survive.
But someone would definitely die.
And maybe that someone would be me.
I didn’t want to die.
And I was already sick and tired of watching other people die.
I glanced at my brother.
Knowing him, there was no way he would back down.
But since my prediction had turned out to be correct, there was at least some room for compromise.
Before my brother could say anything, I spoke first.
“Then let’s do this. It seems like people who awaken can sense monsters better, so we’ll go near the rooftop first. If it feels dangerous, we run. I’m not compromising any further than that.”
To be completely honest, I wanted to take those words back the moment they left my mouth.
But my brother knew me far too well.
“You’d better keep your word.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“You’d better not change your story either. If you do it again, I really will leave you behind next time.”
“Yeah, yeah. So we’re leaving right away, right?”
“Well… I guess so. Why?”
“Then wait a second.”
My brother turned around and started walking somewhere.
My eyes followed him for a moment before quickly returning forward.
Why is he going toward the corpses?
I never thought he was that kind of person.
Was he planning to give the dead some kind of funeral before we left…?
My thoughts abruptly stopped.
My eyes widened in shock, and I called out to him.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
“I can’t exactly walk around looking like this.”
My brother pointed at his blood-soaked shirt.
The elixir had healed his torn flesh, but apparently it couldn’t restore his ruined clothes.
“Uh……”
His pants could at least pass as intentionally ripped jeans, but even I had to admit that his shirt, drenched in sticky blood, looked terrible.
Still, watching my brother take a dead person’s outer clothes and put them on didn’t exactly feel comfortable either.
We hadn’t been able to save them while they were alive, and now we were taking their clothes after death…
Hmm.
It was probably better not to think about it too deeply.
I nodded.
“Yeah. That might actually be better. You should think about everyone else’s eyes too.”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The exact thing you’re thinking right now.”
“You haven’t been hit enough lately, have you?”
Without warning, my brother pulled off his shirt.
I instantly grimaced and turned my head away.
I’m sorry, my eyes.
Your big sister failed to protect you.
“Hey, Han Siwoo.”
Someone called Han Siwoo at just the right moment.
When I turned around, Lee Dohyun was standing there.
When I had seen him earlier, he looked like he had passed out.
Thankfully, it seemed he had regained consciousness.
He spoke in a low voice.
“I heard everything. You’re going to the rooftop, right? Take me with you.”
A brief silence followed.
Taking advantage of the moment, the survivors who had been trembling in the corner began raising their voices one after another.
“Take me too!”
“Me too! Please, I’m begging you.”
“Please……”
Their desperate pleas echoed throughout the classroom.
“…Hey, what do we do?”
Suddenly becoming the center of attention, my brother looked at us with an awkward expression.
He seemed conflicted because he had been caught off guard.
But knowing him, he probably wouldn’t take along people who would only become burdens.
That was only natural.
We were already struggling just to keep ourselves alive.
How could we possibly afford to take care of everyone else?
But…
Is that really the right answer?
If we didn’t take them, they would definitely die.
They must have known that too.
That was why they were clinging to us so desperately.
The thought of people who were alive right now dying made my stomach churn.
If I left them behind…
Or if I didn’t even make the smallest effort to help them…
And they died because of that…
The fact that I had simply stood by and watched them die might follow me for the rest of my life, eating away at me.
But could someone like me, who couldn’t even protect herself, really claim to be capable of helping them?
In the first place, the decision wasn’t mine to make.
I looked at my brother and Han Siwoo.
My brother seemed to have finished thinking as well, because he gave a small nod.
“As expected—”
“Let’s take them with us.”
“Are you crazy?”
My brother scolded me quietly enough that only I could hear.
I answered him calmly.
I wanted to convince him somehow.
Maybe I was a little desperate at that moment.
“Think about it carefully. If even a few of them awaken, wouldn’t that be a huge help?”
My brother narrowed his eyes at my words.
I knew that expression all too well.
It was the look that said, What kind of nonsense are you talking about?
The only difference was that, unlike usual, there was absolutely no playfulness in his face.
The longer our eyes remained locked, the more nervous I became.
“Are you seriously saying that?”
“If you really hate the idea, just think of them as bait……”
“Kim Jia.”
It was Han Siwoo who called my name.
He shook his head.
“Taking everyone is impossible. There are injured people here too. Leaving them here might actually be better for them.”
My fist tightened.
For a moment, I wondered if these coldly calculating people were really the same people I had known all this time.
But then, at some point, I understood.
The strength slowly left my fist.
Right.
This is the correct answer.
After ignoring countless deaths until now, what right did I have to suddenly pretend otherwise?
I wasn’t generous enough to give them the elixir either.
This wasn’t compassion.
It wasn’t a sense of justice.
It wasn’t even morality.
It was nothing more than contradiction and stubbornness.
“Sorry.”
In the end, I was nothing more than a weak person clinging to someone strong.
Once I admitted that, my chest strangely felt lighter.
I looked at my brother as though asking what he planned to do now, but his eyes were focused somewhere else.
Past the survivors desperately staring at him.
“Kim Taeyoon.”
My head turned.
At the end of his gaze was Kim Taeyoon, my brother’s longtime friend.
One of his legs seemed injured, making it difficult for him to move.
My brother looked at Kim Taeyoon and asked,
“What are you going to do?”
At that question, everyone turned toward Kim Taeyoon.
Looking uncomfortable under everyone’s attention, Kim Taeyoon slowly twisted his lips.
“Why? My leg’s screwed up. You’re still going to take me?”
“Yeah, idiot. If you say you’re coming, I’m taking everyone with us.”
My brother grinned mischievously.
What?
I stared at him in horror.
You bastard! You were the one asking if I was crazy a second ago!
Everyone except the person directly involved froze at his ridiculous declaration.
Kim Taeyoon looked the most shocked of all.
He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally managing to speak.
“Are you insane? Can’t you see my leg is injured? What, are you going to give me that potion you drank?”
“Are you crazy? Why would I give away something that valuable?”
“Ha…… Then why are you doing this if you’re not even going to give it to me?”
“Shut up. Are you coming or not?”
“I don’t need your help. I’m just going to stay here and—!”
Kim Taeyoon had been answering without hesitation, but his voice gradually faded.
He seemed to have noticed the eyes fixed on him.
The moment his voice died down, someone else spoke.
“Please say you’ll go.”
“Please. We’re begging you. If we stay here… we’ll all die. We need to stay with those people. You’re just an ordinary person like us too.”
With their lives on the line, it was only natural that every voice became increasingly desperate.
Kim Taeyoon awkwardly pursed his lips.
Seeing that reaction, my brother smiled triumphantly, as if he had already won.
Watching the situation unfold, I shook my head.
Even though he’s my brother, I seriously can’t understand what goes on inside his head.
He was just crazy.
But…
Thank goodness.
It felt as though the heavy stone pressing against my chest had finally disappeared.
“Kim Jihoon, you crazy bastard…… Fine! I’m going! Happy?!”
Kim Taeyoon shouted resentfully.
With a satisfied smile, my brother walked over to him and held out his hand.
“Don’t underestimate ten years of friendship.”
“Yeah. I’m really grateful.”
Rather than gratitude, his words sounded closer to, Just you wait.
Still, Kim Taeyoon grabbed the hand my brother offered him.
I could only stare dumbfounded at the supposedly heartwarming scene.
Including me, there were eight people heading to the rooftop.
At first, there had seemed to be quite a lot of us, but now…
Stop thinking about it.
We didn’t even know when we might die ourselves.
Was it really appropriate to worry about other people in a situation like this?
While I was trying to calm myself down, my brother began speaking to everyone beside me.
“Everyone, listen carefully. I agreed to let you come with us, but that doesn’t mean I can take care of all of you. If I decide any of you are becoming a burden, I’ll leave you behind without hesitation.”
His voice was calm and measured.
But there wasn’t even a hint of joking in his expression.
Everyone swallowed nervously.
I did too.
It wasn’t simply because of what my brother had said.
His words had forced me to remember exactly what kind of situation we were in.
A burden…
Where did someone stop being useful and become a burden?
I glanced at Kim Taeyoon.
He was pretending to be fine, but with that limping leg, there was no way he could run in an emergency.
And that didn’t only apply to Kim Taeyoon.
Even I, one of the healthier people in the group, had scratches and wounds all over my body.
Every time I moved, a stinging pain spread through me, making me frown.
Maybe because of fear, my body was trembling so badly that even walking wasn’t easy.
If I was struggling this much, how bad must it be for everyone else?
Maybe my brother was right.
Maybe staying in the classroom really would have been better for them.
While I was lost in thought, an index finger suddenly appeared in front of my face.
“Hey, are you listening?”
My brother pointed at me.
“I’m saying I’ll leave you behind too if you become a burden.”
I stared blankly at him for a moment.
Then I slapped his finger away with the back of my hand.
“Argh!”
I spoke through gritted teeth, emphasizing every word.
“Please do. I’m begging you. Leave me behind.”
I’d rather die.
