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Walking Dead (Part 1)
Posted on June 22, 2013
Hyung-ah I m hungry
A small, pale hand carefully tugs on the edge of Sunggyu s shirt. It was a voice s
o small that only Sunggyu could hear. Sunggyu lifelessly lifted his head buried
in his knees and hugged the little Dongwoo who sat attached to his side. The chi
ld seemed to have gotten smaller. Dongwoo, who just turned 9, and Sunggyu haven t
eaten anything in two days. They had been trapped in the house for two weeks and
had survived eating the little food that was left, but now there was no food no
r water for them.
Hyung-ah
Sorry Dongwoo-yah. But there s nothing to eat.
There was nothing they could do. This place they were hiding in was Dongwoo s hous
e. Dongwoo s parent s were working parents, so they could not take care of Dongwoo.
Their relationship wasn t good either. The person always taking care of Dongwoo, w
ho was always alone and couldn t eat a proper meal everyday, was Sunggyu, a colleg
e student who lived in the upstairs floor. Sunggyu received a call from Dongwoo
two weeks ago, saying that he was scared of being alone and couldn t fall asleep.
He went over to his house, and from then on till now, they haven t been able to go
back out. No they couldn t go out.
Can we at least turn on the lights? It s too dark.
No. Listen to hyung. We can t let anyone find out that we re here.
It s quiet now. There are no monsters please? I want to see my mom and dad. They sa
id they ll be back, but they re not coming.
Dongwoo softly hit Sunggyu s hands that were wrapped around his shoulders with his
tiny hands and burst into tears. Dongwoo was only 9 years old, but he was matur
e than other kids his age, and knew to quiet down his sobs. But a child was a ch
ild. Even though his parents were busy and were always fighting with each other,
the thought of wanting to see them made it hard to stop the tears. Sunggyu seein
g Dongwoo this way didn t say anything but pulled Dongwoo s small and round head towa
rds himself and sighed deeply. He couldn t tell Dongwoo that they will soon be one
of those monsters walking right outside those doors.
Sunggyu patted Dongwoo s thin and shaking back and thought that they had to eat so
mething right now, anything. They couldn t stay like this. At first, he thought to
feed Dongwoo some vitamins, but Dongwoo had none in his house. During times lik
e these, he really resented Dongwoo s careless parents. Sunggyu carried Dongwoo in
his arms and laid him in bed and quietly went to the curtained veranda, careful
not to make any noise. He slightly lifted the curtains and saw the city wrapped
in darkness. He could see the state of the city clearly, due to the apartment b
uilding being so high. A few lights were still on here and there, but almost eve

rything was consumed in darkness. He spotted a street light, blinking on and off
as if it were going to be dimmed any time soon. Sunggyu pulled back to curtain
a bit more to see better. He didn t think that the creatures will be able to reach
this high up anyhow, and slightly opened the veranda door.
Even if he d opened the door, the outside was silent. Normally, there were sounds
of cars, people talking, honking, and loud street music. Now there were sounds o
f strange cries and disturbing screams filling the air. Sunggyu bit his lips and
shook his head knowing that it will be impossible to just go outside without an
y thought.
Sunggyu just stared blankly into the ruined world outside for a while. Suddenly
he felt something, and quickly covered the door curtains and hurried to the room
he d put Dongwoo in. Of course. Dongwoo had put up all the curtains Sunggyu had c
overed the windows with and had turned on all the lights. Sunggyu rubbed his eye
s in shock of the sudden brightness as Dongwoo hurried to finish the chocolate b
ar held firmly in his hand. Dongwoo spoke with big, surprised eyes
I..I m sorry I ate alone, hyung-ah

I was too hungry

That s not the problem.

Sunggyu quickly turned off all the lights and put the curtains back down. Ha He s
ighed with worry once again. He turned is body back to the whimpering Dongwoo, p
laced his hands on his shoulders and spoke.
Jang Dongwoo. Listen to what hyung is saying. I say this again, but you are not a
llowed to turn on the lights or put up any of the curtains. Hyung will do those
things.
.I m scared.
Hyung is beside you.
the noona next door was also with a strong hyung-ah but they re..d-dead.
Dongwoo rubbed his chocolate-smeared lips with his sleeves with fear-filled eyes
and kept on repeating the word, dead to himself. Don t say that word. Even with Sun
ggyu s words, Dongwoo s eyes continuously filled with tears. Having to witness it wh
en he was only 8 years old was too much of a shock to him.
Sunggyu reminisced the events that happened about two weeks ago.
.
.
2011, December 31st 10:10 PM.
.
.
Ah, mom. I m really okay! Yeah. Don t worry. What s wrong with being in Korea by myself
?
It s been a while since mom had called. Our relationship was not as friendly as it
sounded right now. I only acted like I was comfortable, like I really loved he
r, just to please her. Of course, I didn t hate her. Only, it seemed foolish the thi
ngs that she regrets doing right now.

Are you really okay? I heard there s some strange virus spreading around there.
I m healthy. And I just need to wash my hands well.
I heard that there are no cures
Really

A professional talked about it on tv. There s nothing to worry about.

Really? Okay

I guess that s good.

Is the virus the problem right now mom? Is that guy and my little brother living
well? Is my brother surviving the life with him? Did he adjust well? I only saw
my brother, Sungjoon, once. When I was 18, my mother became pregnant and divorc
ed with dad. There was a lot of fuss about who will keep the child, but since he
wasn t born yet, my mother had the choice. My dad didn t tell her, but he was diagn
osed with cancer. When I was rejected from college and turned 20, mom visited Ko
rea for a bit. She had with her a little child that looked just like her. When I
told her that dad passed away, she just dropped to the floor. And from behind h
er, stepped in an unfamiliar man. Ah. He was the guy she had remarried.
And now, 3 years after that one meeting. I was currently attending college after
a gap year, and here is my mother persuading me to come live in America. She wa
nts us to live together. But I don t want to. I m not generous enough to watch my mo
ther and that guy taking care of Sungjoon and living happily together.
Sungjoon knows your name
I m not surprised. You always talk about me.
Sungjoon
..
I want to formally introduce him to you. That you are his brother.
I gave a bittersweet smile. I felt the cold wind coming through the veranda door
. It s cold. Cars honking in the distance. Loud and noisy people. The smell of mea
t on the grills. I like it here.
The house phone rings. There s only one person that calls through the house phone.
Mom. I ll call you back later.
Something come up?
Eung. Call you tomorrow. Ah. It s 2012 soon. Happy New Years.
Okay

My Sunggyu, I hope you re happy in 2012.

I smiled and hung up to pick up the ringing house phone. Hyuuuuung. It was that
kid, like I thought. The little kid living downstairs.
You calling hyung again.
Hiiing . I m scared.
What s so scary. Be a man.
Mom s not here, dad s not here.

It s the last night of 2011, both of them aren t there?

They didn t come yet?
Eung. They called way way way long ago to tell me to go to bed. And now they re no
t answering.
Did you at least eat?
No .
You should at least spend tonight with your child. Even if your relationship isn t
that good. I thought of how his parents fight and get at each other, and frowne
d.
Hyung will come down right now. What do you want to eat?
Ddukbbokgi
!
I smirked and thought of the dduckbbokgi rice cake in the kitchen. How d
id this kid know I had all the ingredients. I ll go make it for you, just wait.
Eung, eung!
I looked at the watch. 10:30. A few hours more and it will be January 1st. Ah. I
t feels weird. I went to the kitchen and took out the rice cakes in the cabinet.
The rest of the ingredients should be in Dongwoo s house.
I opened the door and felt the chilly wind. Now
one out today at all. I wasn t very social, and
ollege anyway. Junghoon called two days ago for
today, but I guess it didn t really matter if I
all me today at all.

that I think about it, I haven t g

I didn t have any close friends in c
a party that was supposed to be
went or not, seeing that he didn t c

The apartment hallway was quieter than I thought. Was everyone eating out and co
ming home late? I shrugged and made me way to the elevator. Seeing that the elev
ator was in the first floor, I thought it was a hassle to wait and just headed t
o the stairs.
Uh?
As I was going down the stairs, I saw something strange on the hallway of the op
posite side and stopped. It s the security ahjusshi..?
It was the hallway on the opposite side, but I could see clearly from this dista
nce. I couldn t be seen from the other side, being in between the stairs, but I co
uld surely see from here. He s hurt? He d always greet me kindly, knowing that I was
living alone. He was like a father-figure to me. I think he s bleeding quite a bi
t Him walking with a limp looked a bit odd too. I started back up the stairs to c
all him, but I stopped when the door that the ahjusshi was standing in front of
opened. It wasn t the owner, but it was the cleaning lady in charge of that house.
She saw that he was hurt and screamed from the surprise. And she led him inside
. Yeah, I mean, who wouldn t offer some help after seeing someone that injured. Bu
t how did he get hurt?
I can t be doing this right now.
The child that hasn t eaten till now came to my head. I quickly went up the stairs
and knocked on Dongwoo s door. Is it you, hyung-ah? I answered yes in reply to hi
s voice. When the door opened, I assumed he was watching cartoons by the sounds
of his tv. Who said to be watching tv. You should study. I nagged and came insid
e. After I stepped in, Dongwoo put on all the security locks on like usual. He h
as developed it into a little habit of his. I guess something good did come out
of having him home alone all the time.
Ddukbbokgi rice cake!

You know hyung is good at cooking, right?

Eung!
What do you think it ll taste like. Do you think it ll taste good?
Eung! it ll be the best!!
You re smart. You ll go to Seoul University.
I m gonna go to Harvard!
Don t fuck around, I was going to say but I thought it ll be bad for a little kid to
hear, and I just smiled. Just go watch cartoons.
While the water boiled, I just whistled and looked through my kakaotalk. 11:05.
Will he be still spending his last day of 2011 alone? We did promise to go to th
e party together, and I felt bad that I just ignored him today, and gave him a c
all even if he didn t call me either.
?
Hel
Shit!!.. you fucking bastard, are you trying to kill me?
Uh ?
Hooo Ha.. Shit. I should ve Ha I should ve put it on silent
What s wrong, something happen? Did you get in a fight?
I wish I was in a fight you bastard.
Weird. I pulled my phone away from my ear for a second and put it back on and sp
oke. What s wrong?
Kim Sunggyu. Are you home?
Junghoon s voice became a bit calmer. I was actually surprised that he cussed so m
uch. He naturally had a lot of manners, was social and was pretty popular among
other sunbaes. Looks aside, he had a good personality. He was kind. The noises a
nd loud screaming distracted me a bit, but I thought that they were partying lik
e that, so I just said yes .
Listen carefully. Don t come out of your house.
What? What are you talking about.
Ha

I can t really explain this situation either. And I can t talk for long.

You knew I liked Minjung, right? Minjung liked you. But this little girl got ang
ry that you didn t come today. So I didn t call you. I m immature, right.
Haha. No.
But, Sunggyu-ah.

Uh.
That Minjung

she s running here right now to kill me.

What?
Kim Sunggyu.
Yah, Yoon Junghoon.
Don t come out of your house, the news may tell you. Anyway, this place is hell. D
on t ever come out.
Yoon Junghoon!!!!
AhhhHHHHH!!!!
The phone hangs up together with a disturbing scream. Dongwoo
fter hearing me yell and looks up asking what s wrong. I don
No. What are you talking about. I had a thought that I had to
nd see what s up. I call again but he doesn t answer. Minjung
ther does any of the sunbaes I know of.

comes to my side a
t even know. Monster?
go to this place a
doesn t pick up, and nei

Dongwoo-yah. Hyung will be right back, I have to go somewhere.

I m certain they re near the school, at the nearby bar. I grab my coat, and Dongwoo
asks, what about my ddukbbokgi?! Do you want to eat out? At my words he thinks f
or a second, and says, Eung. He s nice. Change your clothes. It s chilly outside.
[ The person you are calling ]
[ The person you are calling ]
[ The person you are calling ]
[

has a voice mailbox ]

What s up with everyone.

Hyung-ah. I m done changing. Jjan~ It s my Ppororo hat.
You re cuter than Ppororo.
How d you know?!
.
I just played along with his joke, and headed out the door with his hand in my h
and. Ah, he has so many damn locks.
I unlocked everything, and turned the door knob. The freezing air came rushing i
n. It s cold. Dongwoo sticks closely to my legs. He s smaller than other 8 year olds
, and when he sticks close like this, it s so cute.
I closed the door and squatted down to secure his loose scarf to his neck. Do yo
u like Ppororo hat this much? Eung! he answers, and taps on my hands that were f
ixing his scarf. Weh? I say looking up, and saw that his head was already pointi
ng to the side. Elevator.
I hear weird sounds.

It s the elevator coming up.

The sound is so loud
You re right.
The distance between Dongwoo s place and the elevator is very far. It usually clun
ks, but the sound does seem to be unusually loud today. Is it because the apartm
ent is ghetto? I chuckle thinking this, but it doesn t feel good. Dongwoo seems to
be feeling the same way and doesn t go any further. The next-door girl that suppo
sedly lives by herself came out. She looks once our way and keeps walking. Looks
like she s going to the elevator. Dongwoo tugged on my pants. Hyung-ah. Can we ju
st go back in?
Dongwoo s place is on the 11th floor. When the elevator reaches the 11th floor, sh
e quickens her pace to catch it. The elevator door opens. And.
I suddenly chocked on my breath. I stiffened at the sight happening before my ey
es. As the elevator door opened, there lay a bloody man with half of his face an
d top part of his shoulder ripped off. The elevator door kept opening and closin
g due to his body being stuck there. Then a person? Girl? No a mon..ster? with a
missing arm, comes out from in between the doors and comes closer and closer. Th
e girl in front of us gets scared and turns to run toward us when she trips and
falls on the floor. She looks like she has no strength to get back up and just e
xtends a hand to us. Ha ..Please .. The girl s voice echoes in our ears. But neither m
e, nor Dongwoo, can think about helping her.
The strange figure keeps inching closer and closer. But its speed was pretty slo
w judging that it couldn t run. So it looked as if it was going to fall any second
. That thing, I think it was a human. Dongwoo tugs at me again and shakes. Hyung,
hyuuung. Let s go back in!!
Right then, a tall, muscular man came running out of her house. He had a phone i
n his hand. I presumed that he had a call to answer. Was he her boyfriend? He lo
oked at Dongwoo and I and frowned. He looked at the girl and ran to her. She rea
ched out her hand for help but he ignored her hand and went for her pocket. He t
ook out a car key and twisted his body to head to the staircase in the middle of
the hallway. The thing that came out of the elevator inched closer to the girl,
and as he was about to go down the stairs, his body just fell backwards. There
was another creature in the stairwells that attacked the guy. I forgot to even c
over Dongwoo s eyes.
The creature that climbed up his body started eating the guy s face away, tearing
and ripping it apart. The guy didn t even have the chance to scream like the girl
whose legs were getting torn apart right in front of us. I froze in utter shock
at the sight of what looked like humans eating other humans, and noticed somethi
ng else in the distance. The man that I thought was lying dead with half of his
face torn off in the elevator started to move. He stood.
This this does t make any sense
Hyung, Hyuuung. Let s go in, hurry! Hurry!!
I felt like I made eye contact with the guy that rose up in the elevator as he c
ame closer, and felt chills up my spine. I quickly reach for the keys and try to
fit the keys into the lock but it doesn t go in. I keep missing. It s running towar
d us. He s running. I hear its footsteps. Dongwoo screams. No. No. Go in fast!!!
Click.

It opened! I open the door and push Dongwoo in and pull myself in and immediatel
y close the door behind me with a slam. Maybe it s because I pushed him in, but he
remains shaking on the floor. I lean against the closed door as I heave big bre
aths in and out when suddenly something slams on the door with a loud THUD. It s h
im. He had been running from the elevator to the end of the hallway to this door
and ran into it. I quickly started securing all the locks on the doors. And wit
h my body still shaking, I put eyes in front of the peephole to look.
Holy
The creature that was running toward me was pushing his eyes into it. But his on
e eyeball had fallen out too. It fumbled around and eventually fell down the sta
ircase after loosing its balance. The heavy thud was heard from here. And the gi
rl that had her legs ripped apart was crawling on her stomach now. The guy that
was torn from his head was also moving around bumping into the walls. A man sudd
enly jumped out from the stairs,
Security ahjusshi
I carried Dongwoo, whose body was still shaking, and placed him on the couch as
I headed to the veranda. As I opened the veranda door, the place that was filled
with loud laughter, and honking car noises, was now filled with strange cries a
nd frightening screams. The streets were filled with people running frantically,
and cars were crashed and destroyed.
I closed the veranda door. I came into the living room and turned off all the li
ghts and put the curtains down everywhere. I grabbed the heavy cabinet in the li
ving room and placed it behind the door to block the entrance.
I can t believe it. This situation right now. I wipe my forehead damp with sweat a
nd pull Dongwoo into my chest, who was now crying and shaking so much it got me
worried.
The clock in the living room points only one way and strikes. 12:00.
Dongwoo-yah
Hell

It s 2012 now

has begun.