FSA 15

“…Damn.”

Lee Hyun-muk, unusually, let out a sound of dismay and stopped walking abruptly. Yohan, extremely tense from the sudden anomaly, craned his neck and looked around.

“Is it an earthquake?”

“No, this is probably…”

Soon, Yohan’s eyes and mouth widened. The earth trembled, and the canyon was collapsing. No, it was moving. Then, with a huge sound of kugugung…, the path connecting to another area vanished before their eyes in an instant.

The monsters, their escape routes gone, thrashed about, trying to climb the mountain or burrow into the ground. Lee Hyun-muk quickly distanced himself from the increasingly frenzied swarm and retreated. He pressed himself against the building wall, hiding his body in the shadow. Yohan asked in a trembling voice,

“Is, is this something that happens often?”

“…I’ve seen it only a few times here myself.”

After that, Lee Hyun-muk fell silent. Yohan nervously swayed his feet, constantly glancing back. From afar, the Flood was drawing nearer, and the clamor of it greedily swallowing everything, including living things, could be heard. Monsters, driven to Madness by the moment, were self-harming, burrowing into the ground, and attacking in all directions. And their numbers were growing terrifyingly.

“So, what do we do now…?”

Yohan asked, desperately hoping there was another way. His voice was barely above a whisper, trying not to attract the monsters’ attention. He didn’t ask if they could go over the mountain. It was because he had seen the monsters digging into the mountain instantly swallowed and sink into the ground.

“There is a way, isn’t there?”

He was too scared to even cry. Yohan trembled violently, pressing himself flat against Lee Hyun-muk’s back. It was an unconscious act, seeking any comfort he could find. Lee Hyun-muk, eyes closed in deep thought, opened his mouth.

“…We have to go to the subway station.”

Even after saying they had to go to the subway station, Lee Hyun-muk hesitated for a few more seconds, lost in thought. Yohan could sense the danger of the subway station from that hesitation. Nevertheless, heading there now was likely safer than the Flood, no matter how dangerous the station itself might be.

Returning to the city, Lee Hyun-muk soon stopped in front of a building. He pointed somewhere and said,

“That’s the subway station.”

Yohan doubted his own eyes. He had expected a dilapidated station, like the hospital and all the other buildings in this place, but what lay before him was the complete opposite.

[□▉ Station … Exit]

Though the letters and numbers were blurred and hard to read, it was a subway station that looked as if people could commute to and from it at any moment. Apart from the lettering, there was not a single spot that was damaged or dirty. That fact, paradoxically, aroused his wariness.

“Why is it so clean here…?”

“That means there’s something equally dangerous.”

Having spoken, Lee Hyun-muk strode into the subway station without further hesitation. Yohan, shrinking his body as much as possible, held his breath and scanned his surroundings.

Surprisingly, though it was a bit dim, the lights were on. Apart from the long and complex stairs, it looked like a subway station in the dead of night with no passengers. The tiles on the floor and walls, the familiar signs, the ticket machines…. Yohan felt as if he had returned to Korea. Surprisingly, there were even meaningless ticket gates.

Passing through the ticket gates, Lee Hyun-muk continued along the stairs. There, he found a subway train that looked like it had just arrived. Yohan became a little excited.

“Lee Hyun-muk-ssi, there’s a subway…! It looks brand new!”

After the Rift incident, Korea had resumed maintenance of its subway system. It had been reinforced to allow citizens to endure for a long time, even if Rifts suddenly opened or monsters attacked. In the process, it had been repainted a bright yellow to be easily visible. The subway train before them was exactly that color.

“Right, it’s a subway.”

Lee Hyun-muk replied indifferently and paused for a moment. The subway doors, which had been open for a while, slowly began to depart with a mechanical sound.

‘I wish I could get on that and arrive at Seoul Station.’

With that thought, Yohan watched the departing subway train with a sense of longing, but was soon surprised. Lee Hyun-muk had descended onto the tracks where the subway had just been. He then began walking in the opposite direction from which the subway had departed.

“If we go this way, will we reach another area?”

“Yes. From now on, be quiet.”

Lee Hyun-muk nodded and quickly walked into the dim tunnel. As he was enveloped by darkness, Yohan felt a strong urge to turn on his flashlight, but he suppressed it. He didn’t want to do something foolish like turning on a light and attracting the attention of unknown monsters. Instead, he firmly shut his mouth, pricked up his ears, and stuck as close to Lee Hyun-muk as possible.

‘But why isn’t he running this time?’

Yohan, with all his senses heightened, wondered. It was a fast pace, close to running, but distinctly different from actual running. It was different from when they were in the city earlier. His question about Lee Hyun-muk’s slower pace was soon answered.

Paaang-! From up ahead, the familiar sound of a train approaching could be heard. A subway train was coming from the direction Lee Hyun-muk was heading. It was rushing towards them noisily, its strange headlights on, neither intense nor bright. Yohan buried his face in Lee Hyun-muk’s neck, suppressing a scream.

Unlike Yohan, Lee Hyun-muk pressed himself against the wall, showing no fear. Whoosh!* With a gust of wind, the subway train sped past them. And surprisingly, Yohan could see the citizens inside through the train’s windows.

‘P-people.’

Ordinary people in suits, padded jackets, windbreakers, and skirts were sitting or standing. They were riding the subway as if they were going about their perfectly normal daily lives. Yohan was flustered by the sight of them seemingly heading to work.

‘People? No, are they really people? Not monsters? But why do they look so normal?’

Cold sweat slicked his palms. Lee Hyun-muk, sensing Yohan’s rapidly beating heart against his back, hesitated for a moment before moving the hand supporting his hip. Yohan was staring wistfully at the departing subway when Lee Hyun-muk’s hand suddenly patted his backside, startling him.

“Don’t think too hard. I’ll explain everything once we get out of here, so bear with your curiosity.”

“Ah, okay.”

Though he had many questions, Yohan decided to hold them in. As Lee Hyun-muk said, he decided to focus only on getting out of here, away from the Flood. After walking for a few minutes, a second subway train rushed by. Strangely, it seemed to have a more ferocious momentum than the previous one. Yohan peered intently into the train with eyes full of longing and desire.

The people inside the subway train looked incredibly happy and joyful. Yohan couldn’t tear his eyes away from those looking at their phones or wearing earphones. It was then that Lee Hyun-muk patted his backside again.

“Did I pack medicine in the backpack earlier?”

“Medicine? You did!”

The vivid memory of suffering greatly from a past leg injury made Yohan react sensitively, and he fell into deep thought. Recalling clearly, he was sure he had seen Lee Hyun-muk pack medicine. His pounding heart finally began to calm down.

“Yes, I definitely saw you pack it.”

“Right, maybe I’m going crazy, but sometimes I can’t remember.”

Yohan felt a pang of sympathy for Lee Hyun-muk’s calm voice, but when they encountered the third subway train, he found himself staring intently at the back of his head. This time, without a word, Lee Hyun-muk’s hand brushed against his backside.

“Lee Hyun-muk-ssi….”

“What?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Was it just his imagination? He was sure he had felt him stroke his backside earlier. Or perhaps his hand had just brushed against him while adjusting his posture? His cheeks flushed as Yohan pondered intensely. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he protested.

“Ah, no, why are you doing this?”

Yohan, who had been wistfully watching a citizen inside the subway eating a delicious Delimanjoo, hissed in a small voice. This time, Lee Hyun-muk wasn’t patting or stroking, but had firmly gripped his backside.

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake!”

Yohan’s face turned bright red at the unbelievable excuse. That hand earlier could not be seen as a mistake at all. It was clearly a very wicked touch. Seeing the fifth subway train approaching, Lee Hyun-muk said,

“Yes, it wasn’t a mistake, actually.”

“…!”

The hand that had firmly gripped his backside moved, deliberately massaging. He continued to do so throughout the passage of the fifth subway train, leaving Yohan frozen stiff. After the subway passed, Yohan gritted his teeth and pulled one of Lee Hyun-muk’s ears.

“Are you, perhaps… going mad right now?”

It was a question laden with multiple meanings. To Yohan’s question, Lee Hyun-muk surprisingly let out a low chuckle. He patted Yohan’s backside and said in a low voice,

“Shh, from now on, be really quiet.”

Yohan clenched his jaw, glaring at Lee Hyun-muk. From far away, the sixth subway train was approaching. But… something was strange, unlike before.

‘Was the subway this big?’