Chapter Text
I-sak's POV
After everyone calms down, which takes a while, a long while, they all settle down and try to brace themselves for the next episode.
Soooo....
I-sak really hopes that 'All of Us' doesn't include her and On-jo, and of course everyone else, or at least most of everyone else if that's realistic, but it would just break her heart if she saw her best friend or herself turn into one of those things.
One of those zombies.
Watching the opening title screen knowing what they know now is really tough. Those are zombies reaching for them. God, zombies reaching for them. What has her life come to?
She tries to calm herself when the episode doesn't immediately start with zombies, and instead on living, breathing humans, who are doing something goofy like filming something on their phones. Maybe it'll stay like this for like five minutes and then it'll cut to everyone escaping zombies.
Oh no.
The zombies come in almost immediately.
All the students groan when they see their principal, denying on the phone that anything wrong.
Everyone hates the principal so much. Hell, if Nam-ra's little speech about buying her way to the top was as self-judgmental as I-sak thought it was, maybe even their class president hates him.
"Your boss is a piece of work," Commander Jin says as he dismisses the teachers' concerns.
"He's a piece of something," the girl who wanted a cigarette earlier mutters, and everyone who hears stifles a snort or laugh.
Ms. Park leaves to make an announcement, but gets distracted. I-sak frowns, sad that the cone leg boy from the beginning didn't escape. She wondered if she'd always feel bad about zombies she saw being humans first. Except now as he eats another teacher, she knows that will be the least of her problems.
But she really hopes Ms. Park gets away.
Back in the cafeteria, it's chaos, just like the teachers said. Just like they left off. Zombies are pushing people over, trying to bite them. A fire even starts. I-sak doesn't know if she should be scared or relieved when she doesn't see On-jo and Cheong-san at first.
Thankfully, when they do show up, he is pulling the zombie from last episode off of her and she seems to have not been bitten. They hide under a table, and take a second, then when the sprinkles go off they try to help another girl, but by the way she's shaking...
It's total chaos.
They're falling over, slipping, trying to push away zombies. It's hard to watch other kids get turned, especially one kid who seems to be attacked by a friend. They finally find a way to go and move, but the camera instead focuses on a boy turning. The process of becoming a zombie looks so painful and scary, especially the part where it seems like the neck is snapping. I-sak never wants to see herself or someone she loves become like that.
Gwi-nam, that horrible bully, is trying to fight them off, and for all she doesn't care about him and for all he might deserve it more than most other classmates, she doesn't want to see anyone get hurt anymore. She never wanted to see anyone get hurt. There was a reason she never watched Train to Busan. And looking at her classmates, maybe there was a reason none of them ever watched Train to Busan.
On-jo and Cheong-san get to a window, and I-sak feels a bit of relief when her best friend goes first. He stays behind a little longer to fight off zombies and help other students by the window, which, wow, guess he's the male lead. He stops for a second to really take in the overwhelming chaos, and how did this happen? They were a normal school, or so they thought. They were going through relationship drama and all that stuff. But no, the science teacher just had to create zombies.
Okay, there is plenty of room under there with Gwi-nam, I-sak doesn't even watch horror movies and she knows survivors run in groups.
On-jo is waiting outside for Cheong-san, calling him out when more zombies start coming from outside. They seem to be trapped, but find a way around a corner. They run through a parking lot, past so many screaming people, but zombies seem to show up everywhere they turn.
And-
"Holy shit, is that a zombie driving a truck!?" Gyeong-su balks.
In real life, I-sak wishes she could hold her hand, or hug her, or assure herself that she's fine, but On-jo is firmly in her father's embrace, and he doesn't seem to be letting go anytime soon. Likewise, Gyeong-su also has his arms wrapped around Cheong-san, clearly scared for his own best friend. Instead, I-sak holds hands with Ji-min, who is also holding hands with Hyo-ryung, and reminding herself about the summary. They should be safe until they get into a classroom.
And even after that, they seem to be the male and female lead of the cast. Which I-sak is totally proud of them for. Those two probably don't die.
At least not in episode two.
(How long do perky best friends last in these kind of shows?)
Thankfully, they climb up the truck, which has crashed into a wall, and they climb onto a ledge and go through a window. But everywhere they try to go, there always zombies coming. Cheong-san even tackles her to get her out of the way from a zombie. He fights it off while On-jo finds a fire extinguisher.
She sprays it everywhere, and that actually does great in getting them away. This is why she's the female lead.
"Good job, sweetie." Mr. Nam mutters, and I-sak looks over to see him press a kiss to her forehead. She probably learned how to do that from him, being a firefighter and all.
I-sak really wishes her parents were here too.
Su-hyeok and Nam-ra are still outside running, and she doesn't think she's ever seen the prez show that much emotion. Then again, who isn't terrified right now?
"Thank you again!" her mom cries, also holding onto her daughter for dear life, something that's actually pretty sweet.
They see the gardener fighting off the monsters from on top of a ladder, using his tools to hurt them, even after he falls off. He still gets bitten, but I-sak can tell that one of them wants to use that ladder.
And then- Joon-yeong is there! Along with other kids in their class, like Na-yeon, and... that's the only other one easy to distinguish... Is I-sak there?
Cheong-san and On-jo make it outside the door, and Gyeong-su and Woo-jin fight over whether they should open the door, with Na-yeon demanding they keep it close. Gyeong-su eventually shoves him back and lets them in. A weight is lifted off of her as she sees herself running up to hug On-jo. She's safe and her best friend is safe.
"Sorry?" Woo-jin winces as his sister audibly sighs in relief.
Cheong-san narrows his eyes and then shrugs. "Who can blame you?"
"We can't just let anyone in!" Na-yeon protests.
Cheong-san glares at her. "I can blame you."
Hyo-ryung and Ji-min are also there, and she feels hopeful that at least her friends that were also taken (and Na-yeon and Nam-ra) can make it out of this show alive despite the title. Maybe the title only refers to background characters.
Cheong-san looks out the window again, at the zombies attacking everyone. They all jump and flinch when there's a rattling sound, but it's just Dae-su.
Gyeong-su huffs when Woo-jin immediately tells him to get in, but I-sak puts a hand on his shoulder and leans over to whisper in his ear. "It's a best friend thing."
"Some crazy jerk sprayed me with a fire extinguisher."
"An awesome, crazy jerk," Dae-su tries to amend to On-jo and her father. "A crazy, awesome jerk."
Cheong-san points out what they all already know, that this is like Train to Busan, and he calls a skeptical Dae-su and Woo-jin over by the window to look at it all when Su-hyeok comes through the window. He has Nam-ra come up just in time, because she makes it just before a zombie knocks the ladder over.
Nam-ra's mom sighs. "I will compensate you greatly."
"There's really no need," Su-hyeok tries to tell her.
"I insist."
"But-"
"I insist."
Su-hyeok is so tired he collapses on the floor, and for second they're all a little scared that he's gonna turn as well. But she thinks it's just exhaustion.
Oh, look, Min-ji is safe too! That's another friend safe from the virus. I-sak wonders why she wasn't taken as well.
Yeah... All the survivors except for Min-ji, who's also a survivor, were taken to see the future.
A zombie bangs on the glass right next to Joon-yeong, and if this were any other instance then they would all be laughing at his expression at that.
At the... Emergency Medical Center (oh god) an ambulance arrives. Mr. Nam helps Hyeon-ju, who at least is restrained. I-sak might be silly to think this, but hopefully she'll just stay like that forever and then no one at the hospital gets bitten, and then the city is evacuated with the high schoolers in tow.
Let her be a little optimistic while she still can.
Detective Jae-ik is interrogating Mr. Lee, which will hopefully lead to him telling everyone that zombies are attacking and they need to send help to the high schoolers.
"You should be a college professor with this resume. Definitely not some lousy high school teacher."
I-sak has to wonder about what life would've been like if Mr. Lee was a college professor, or if he stayed in the U.S. Then Hyeon-ju wouldn't have found the hamster, and none of this would be happening.
Frustratingly, the detective cares more about his motives than listening when he says that she needs quarantine. And when he's ignored he says-
"Fine. Let's do anything. Everyone will die. This world and all those damn imbeciles."
No. That can't be it. The world won't just end. They're just high schoolers they have so much to live for. So much- So much I-sak has to live for.
The detective doesn't care, calls him out for his nihilism, reminds Mr. Lee and the rest of them that he was the one who did all this. Even if society and those bullies did him wrong, Mr. Lee still caused a zombie apocalypse.
He then suspects that Mr. Lee is the one to kill his son, which is so harsh even with everything that he's done. He doesn't- Does he deserve this? (And obviously, the detective didn't pay attention during English class. 'World swallowed him up', that's just good wording.)
There's a video recording of Mr. Lee, confirming that Jin-su actually is dead. Which means that all the zombies, everyone who's turned, are dead.
He then explains something about a mouse and a cat, an analogy he uses a lot in class. There's footage of the actual animals, intercut with footage of Eun-ji and other victims being bullied. He then explains how exactly he made the virus, extracting the hormone that comes from overwhelming fear leading to attacking.
Maybe that's how it happens. If a bitten person is extremely afraid then they turn. After all, On-jo might've gotten bitten by Hyeon-ju (it was kind of unclear though) but she was calm. If this was science class she would raise her hand and ask, but now she doesn't think she could ever even look at Mr. Lee in person ever again.
She has to look away at the close up of a turned Jin-su, and winces when he hears him say that the mother was also bitten. All of this happened in their city? To their teacher? And none of them had any idea?
"You killed your son, didn't you?"
With Hyeon-ju, she wakes up while getting an MRI, leading to them trying to hold her down and then-
"Oh, what the fuck," Dae-su shakes his head as she bends over backwards until the upper half of her body is lying on her legs. And then finally, the nurse gets bitten.
The hallway clears out, much in the same way the one at school did. It's only a matter of time before they're overrun by chaos as well.
Hee-su is on a street, alone. She still looks sick, but she hasn't turned so I-sak doesn't think she's infected. Pee runs down her leg, and Na-yeon gags, but I-sak feels for her. She didn't think she noticed the zombies, but hey, even if the girl escaped, that's still so terrifying.
She's so out of it that she nearly walks in front of a bus, but luckily there's no crash.
On the bus, she sees that Woo-Jin's sister and her friend are on it.
"Wait, you're in Hyosan?" he asks incredulously, looking deeply unhappy with this development. No wonder why.
She shakes her head. "But that would mean- Oh." She frowns.
Whatever she was going to say, it clicks for him as well, and he agrees, also frowning. "Oh."
I-sak wants to ask what's wrong, but it seems personal to them.
Oh, wait, she thinks that coach is gonna tell everyone anyways.
Okay, wow, that is so harsh.
I-sak always imagined that if her life would be a tv show it would be a happy one, full of love drama, and petty arguments. Which, to be fair, kind of is what this show is like, just with zombies and bullies and bad authority figures.
Really, really bad authority figures.
No one's sure what he's gonna do when Woo-jin silently stands and sits on his sister's other side. Her friend is patting her back.
He puts a hand on her shoulder, and says calmly, "I'll kill your coach."
"No, you're not."
"I will! Watch me."
"No, you're saying this in front of policemen and a military commander. There is no possible way we could get away with it-"
"'We'?"
"I'm not letting you murder someone on your own, it's called loyalty," Ha-ri snaps. "But never mind that, because we can't. And it's all because you never learned to whisper, and that's why Mom always catches you when you do something wrong. Because you always say your plans out loud. God, Woo-jin ah."
He breaks into a grin, wrapping his arms around her in a hug that she gladly returns.
I-sak blinks. She- she hadn't been expecting that.
"What the fuck just happened?" Cheong-san asks, eyes wide.
"I don't know..." I-sak answers him. "But I think I'm glad to be an only child." He nods.
That's a lie, of course. She doesn't know what it's like to have an older sister or a younger brother, but she thinks it might be nice to get a hug from one of them right now.
Not Woo-jin specifically, or even Ha-ri specifically, they both seem exhausting to be related to, even if Ha-ri has barely said or done anything in the short time I-sak has known her, but a metaphorical sibling.
That's when the archery bus discovers the zombies. Hopefully, Ha-ri and the friend I-sak should probably learn the name of can get away. They are right by the entrance after all.
Back in the classroom, zombies are clawing at the windows, while Gyeong-su is holding the door shut. They're all looking for something.
I-sak is the one to find it, retrieving a phone from a backpack. They all crowd around her and speculate the passcode. Cheong-san says he sees Yeong-ju, who the phone belongs to, but how? She's not in the room... Oh... She's a zombie. That's... That poor girl. They worked on a school project together not long ago, and now she's a zombie.
Face recognition doesn't work on her in that state though, and On-jo ends up pointing out that they can just use the emergency calls, using the knowledge from her dad, or maybe common sense.
And the emergency services don't even believe them!
On-jo points out that people don't believe in zombies. However, as more and more calls come in, the 112 people are slowly but surely getting the idea that this is a serious matter.
The zombies outside the classroom run off when they hear a noise, something that sounds like screaming, which Gyeong-su opens the door to investigate. Su-hyeok scolds him for that.
"Idiot," Na-yeon scoffs under her breath, but luckily he doesn't hear.
They all speculate as to whether or not the authorities actually will come, and her best friend in all the world comes through, calling the fire apartment asking for her father and lying about a fire.
Almost immediately firefighters, including Mr. Nam are running to go.
"You're coming," On-jo sighs in relief.
"Of course I am," he says in assurance. "I'm glad you called for me."
I-sak smiles. She figures that her parents won't be showing up, and that this room is designated for people and family members who are in the show, though that gives her the room to believe that her family makes it out a'ok.
Back in class, the boys notice something happening at the gate. She sees Woo-jin tense and lean into his sister.
Na-yeon is... being herself, but in crisis mode. I-sak tries not to be annoyed, since this is such a distressing situation.
She marches up to Nam-ra and starts making demands, even when Su-hyeok stands up for her.
"Do something. What have you done as class president?"
Uh oh. Nam-ra's standing up, and jokes aside, she really can be intimidating. She's not even saying anything particularly intimidating, and yet the hair on I-sak's arm is standing up.
In the show, they're all trying to diffuse the situation, but that only serves to rile her up even more. Well... rile her up in that cold, calm, and collected class president way.
Ugh, Na-yeon is so annoying. Honestly.
Hey... Su-hyeok, in real life, is staring at Nam-ra with this concern but also... affection?
I-sak narrows her eyes. She looks from Su-hyeok to Nam-ra to Su-hyeok to Nam-ra.
No way.
Really?
Su-hyeok and-
He likes-
But does she-?
Oh, she does!
Poor On-jo. To crush on someone who doesn't like her back is one thing. To crush on someone who prefers a robot to her is another.
Su-hyeok and Nam-ra could be kind of cute together though, especially with how he was looking after her when the outbreak started. Maybe he can bring her out of her shell a little. Humanize her. Show her that average people aren't so below her. Hey, if Su-hyeok can go from bully to sunshine boy, anything is possible.
Oh! And On-jo and Cheong-san can still be together.
Wow...
She mentally sighs. I-sak needs a boyfriend. She glances at the other boys here.
Joon-yeong? Too much of a know it all for her taste. And she ships him Woo-jin. Woo-jin? Gay. And has a really scary older sister. Even if she hasn't done anything scary yet. And she ships him with Joon-yeong. Dae-s- No. Gyeong-su? ... They are both the funny best friend types. Especially since their friends seem to be the show's leads. And he makes her laugh. And he's so sweet. But he's Gyeong-su. And she should keep her options open.
Um... She doesn't know the other three boy students, which could be a good thing. Cheol-soo has a lot of stuff to work out before getting into a relationship though, so she takes him off the list. The other two? ... She'll keep her eyes out for them.
"Oh no!"
I-sak blinks. She completely zoned out there, but she's not gonna ask for a rewind.
Hey, when did Coach Kang get here?
No, he's bitten!
She's proud of herself, at least, that she's the one to stand up to him and tell him to leave. But if that fear thing is right, then she might be making things a lot worse, but her show self has no way of knowing that.
Commander Jin clears his throat. "So all the teachers in this school, besides you Ms. Park, they're-"
"I'm so tired." Ms. Park puts her head in her hands. "All the time."
Did Coach Kang just call I-sak a cocksucker?
That's when his nose starts to bleed. On-jo tries to hit him over the head when his back is turned, but that didn't do anything. He collapses and turns.
"The windows!" Ha-ri yells, clutching her brother's hand. "Get him out the window!"
Oh, that's a great idea! But it might be too late, as Coach Kang attacks Min-ji and bites her before Dae-su can pull him off of her and throw him down.
"I can't... I don't want to die."
"Oh, Min-ji," I-sak whimpers, her heart just breaking in two for her friend, who was never anything but sweet and kind.
"What a selfish man," Ms. Park shakes her head.
Su-hyeok fights off Coach Kang. (I-sak still isn't sure how Nam-ra scored that.) And then Cheong-san holds him to the wall with a desk. (I-sak knows exactly how On-jo scored that.) Gyeong-su is by his side, helping him. (... No one's scored that yet, but whoever does is very lucky.)
Na-yeon, surprisingly enough, actually does something useful and productive, and runs to the stack of desks (when did they do that?) and begins taking them off.
And I-sak just tries not to look at or think about poor Min-ji, who stands trying to- to get help? But she's kicked away by Nam-ra and begins to turn. It hurts seeing someone they were friends with topple over and twist and change like that.
They decide to just leave, run out of the classroom, and get away from the zombies. She doesn't know if it's because they didn't think about the windows or if no one was strong enough to get them out or if they didn't want to risk it and wanted to try another classroom.
I-sak holds onto Ji-min and Hyo-ryung. Here's hoping they won't lose anybody else.
Now in the hallway, they run, but zombies turn the corner. Su-hyeok- Okay, he fights them all off. Literally all of them, one by one. This is I-sak's first time seeing him fight and it's so impressive.
The rest of the boys begin taking windows off and using them as weapons and shields, forming a barrier of sorts against them.
And then this happens; Dae-su takes one, yells "Hey! Out of the way!", runs towards the barrier in slow motion(?) as action music plays, the girls are all in the back watching this looking both scared and confused, he's still running, and then he- Oh, he took off the entire door, that's why this got special attention. They all use it to push off the zombies. It's effective.
"Good job, Dae-su," I-sak says, impressed. He might need the encouragement since Min-ji called for him specifically when she was bit.
They manage to push the zombies back so much that the girls have the time to run upstairs, and the boys follow. Su-hyeok does stay behind though to kick more zombies. But there are zombies upstairs too!
"Oh my god," Nam-ra's mom buries her face in her daughter's hair as they see Ji-min pull her away from a zombie.
"Woo-jin," Ha-ri groans with worry, seeing him fight off a few of zombies on his own.
I-sak herself knocks into a zombie and runs away. Su-hyeok ends up staying behind. They're heading to the science lab, using the windows to hold them off. Dae-su comes with the door, but I-sak points out that there are some behind him. To make matters worse, the door is locked.
On-jo sees another emergency thing, and makes them push away the horde of zombies so that she can reach it. She uses a hose to beat on the lock.
One zombie even jumps up over other zombies, which Cheong-san breaks his window to knock down. When she is down, she seems to grab someone's leg, but it cuts away and I-sak doesn't think anyone got hurt. And just in time, they finally get inside the science lab. They just break a few windows first.
"Oh thank god," Ji-min sighs in relief. I-sak nods. That was crazy.
"I'm so proud of you," Mr. Nam tells On-jo, holding her close.
"They all made it?" Ha-ri asks.
"Yeah, I think so. It would have focused if any of us got left behind or bit," Joon-yeong says to her. His eyes widen. "Oh, Bare-su."
"It's fine," Su-hyeok assured them all. "If one of us had to be separated, I have the best chance. I'm a good fighter."
"You're a very brave young man," Nam-ra's mom says to him. Despite her racing heart, I-sak had to smirk at that. He's got an in with her mom.
Just as things seem to be calming down, A HAND REACHES OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE AND GRABS DAE-SU'S HEAD!!!!
They all jump and scream and curse, because holy shit.
Joon-yeong takes a fire extinguisher and beats the zombies coming in through the window, though ends up breaking another window along the way. Ji-min also tries throwing stuff at them, crying as she does so. Cheong-San finally orders them all to block the windows with a desk, and maybe he was the one to get them to put up desks and chairs in the first room.
Joon-yeong looks at his shaking hands, and I-sak really hopes that he wasn't bitten when he was at the window. The last time someone turned was enough of a disaster and she's not sure any of them are thinking of the windows anytime soon.
"Are you okay?" Woo-jin asks, also noticing this. He doesn't respond. He probably doesn't know, this being in the show and all.
Na-yeon wants to try calling again but On-jo had dropped the phone. She's so annoying. When Gyeong-su tells her to focus, she gets on his back immediately. Though, fair is fair, in case I-sak missed something else the first time they were stacking desks, this might be the longest she's gone without yelling at him.
"Did you just call me a bitch!?" Na-yeon shouts
They rightly tell them not to fight until after everything is secured.
"This is so fucking annoyyyiiiing."
"You're annoying!" Gyeong-su says like it's obvious, which it is. "I can't do this. I cannot stay twelve hours in the same place as her!"
"You're the one who-"
"SHUT UP!!!" most of the people in the room yell at them.
On-jo realizes that Su-hyeok is missing, and calls attention to it. And Nam-ra, the class president herself, looks out the window to the hallway as if to check that he's not one of the zombies.
She might not have always liked Nam-ra, but...Okay, not the time, at all... but... the ships, I-sak's personal ships, have been made up in her mind. Maybe they can change later, but for now she's pretty secure in who she wants together.
Eun-ji, the bullied girl that I-sak and On-jo are definitely befriending the minute they figure out what to say to her, stands looking over the chaos.
The roof seems like a good place to be in the zombie apocalypse. They'll probably be the first to get rescued. Good for them, even if does mean more trouble for I-sak's group. They deserve some peace after what those bullies put them through.
"We're outcasts again. And this is still hell. I hope everyone dies. Every single one of them."
I-sak winces. That's- She has a right to be angry.
And I-sak would never wish anyone any hurt, but it is kind of annoying that one of their bullies, Gwi-nam is still alive while Min-ji and who knows how many other good people have been turned.
He- Oh, holy- He pushes a crying girl to her death because her sobs were getting the attention of zombies. I-sak turns away and tries to reckon with the idea that maybe it's okay to be okay with another person dying if that person is a really, really bad person.
"Son of a bitch!"
"What an asshole!"
"Freak!"
"I want him as far away from other children as humanly possible!"
The other boy and Gwi-nam look at one another, and everyone can just tell that that other, unnamed student is a goner.
"Ha! A cigarette!" one of the seniors, sighs in relief, looking at herself onscreen almost jealously. "What I wouldn't give for one of them right now."
Everyone looks at her either like she's weird or needs to be reprimanded, but who cares about that now?
The final boy is in another bathroom stall with a friend.
"Ha-lim!" he smiles. "She's okay. Why isn't she here?"
I-sak bites her lip, not wanting to share her theory that only people who live to the end were taken, not when he's so happy to see his friend.
But based on how sick she's getting, it's not hard to guess.
Joon-seong assures her that it's from the shock, but Mi-jin knows what's about to happen and makes him get out and then locks the turning girl in the stall, making it very clear why with a tag analogy.
Ms. Park, who is thankfully alive, goes to an empty room, and looks on the blood on her shaking hands. Despite I-sak's theory, she really, really hopes that Ms. Park hasn't turned.
Back in the bathroom, Mi-jin and Joon-seong deal with the girl, with him being really, really hesitant.
"We ran away together earlier. I saved you." "If you let her out, we all die."
I-sak winces. Best friends just have this special bond, especially in high school. She would cry hard enough to drown everyone in this room if it was her having to deal with a bitten On-jo.
She tries to climb up, though she has no one to jump on like that one zombie from earlier, but Mi-jin knocks her down with a broom and tells him that they have to kill her.
"Kill her?" Joon-seong repeats with wide, scared eyes.
Ha-lim hears her and insists that she'll kill her first, sort of like how Jin-su was mumbling about stuff like that when the show first began. But she admits that she's scared, and then finally turns into a full zombie.
And even though it's wrong, I-sak takes note of how the girl breaks off the end of a mop with her foot, leaving a very pointy end. She commits it to memory how Joon-seong opens the door on his best friend and lets Mi-jin run the spike through her head. And commends Joon-seong for helping, no matter how much he clearly doesn't want to.
But it's still not enough, and the zombie is still alive and trying to get closer to them. She thinks that they'll have to kick her, hold her down, stab her again. But before they have to do anything else, an arrow is shot through her neck.
"Ha-ri!?" Woo-jin says in disbelief.
"Ah!" Mi-jin looks ecstatic. "Thanks so much, bitch... Woah, why are you pointing that at us?!"
The other archer shows up, and they all argue over whether or not the bathroom kids will turn or not.
"What are you doing there!?"
Ha-ri's face shows no emotion, except for a flicker of something in her eyes, but she just bluntly says, "Clearly you're being irrational, and we can talk about this later."
"Irrational!?" Woo-jin repeats, and I-sak has never seen him so worried. He mumbles to himself, "We- we're in a zombie show."
Ms. Park makes an announcement over the loudspeaker, getting the attention of both the kids in the bathroom and in the science lab. Also, another remaining teacher. She decides to repeat it, but-
Well, she seems to break down.
"Hey, everyone... You're okay, right? You're not hurt? I don't know what's going on out there or how this whole thing happened but still. Find a safe place and hide."
It's daunting, seeing her demeanor crumble as the desperation seeps into her voice.
(Ugh, the principal survived? And is he eating a candy bar?)
But in the show, all of their resolves fall as well. Some them begin to cry as they all realize that these are their lives now. And there was nothing they could have done to stop it. I-ask sees herself put her head on On-Jo's shoulder.
At least she has her best friend.
Wait, wait, wait. I-sak sees a look pass between Ha-ri and Mi-jin. An annoyed, dismissive look. But also a look of intrigue, maybe even respect. Admiration.
Attraction?
...
... Ha-ri is gay like her brother.
"You're not coming!?" On-jo cries, I-sak looks at her and sees her staring up at her father, betrayed and scared, as if the thought that her father was coming to rescue her was the only thing keeping her from breaking down.
"On-jo, I can assure you that the second I figure out how bad it is, I will be doing everything in my power to get to you."
"Do you promise?" On-jo asks, and she's never seen her so desperate. She never wants to see her that way again.
"I promise."
Already, in the show, Mr. Nam can tell that something is wrong as he leaves his car, but they all walk inside the building before they can run into a zombie. Yeah... it's only a matter of time before someone saves them.
Back with the classroom, I-sak talks to Cheong-san, and she wonders if her tv show self also jumped ship back to On-jo and Cheong-san at some point. Maybe she's also a Su-hyeok and Nam-ra shipper. Who knows?
Oh God, boys can be so stubborn when they're jealous. And every other time.
Since Cheong-san is refusing to, I-ask tries again. Her bestie isn't all that moved by her efforts, but they hold hands, which has to comfort her somehow. And then I-sak broaches the topic of her and Cheong-san. You know, in a respectful way.
"He's too busy teasing me all the time."
Teasing. Doesn't she know that that's a show of love for some immature people? Immature people like the two of them.
Honestly, it's like they're made for one another.
"Why are you so cold?"
Huh?
It's an innocuous enough question, but for some reason it catches her off guard when she would have loved to be daydreaming about her friends' love lives.
But why is On-jo so concerned?
She glances at her best friend where she's sat next to her father, and both of them are looking at her with growing horror. But why?
She gasps when she sees herself with a bloody nose, as does everyone else.
There's a flashback, to that zombie girl from earlier on the ground, biting a leg. I-sak's leg.
No. No. She- I-sak wasn't- The show is lying. "The show lying! I wasn't- I wasn't!"
Everyone in the show seems to come to the same, very wrong conclusion, staring at her like she's one of those- those freaks, but she's not! She's fine.
Even if her eyes are red.
"Are you okay?"
"Obviously not, dipshit!" Na-yeon shouts at him.
"Shut! Up!" I-sak yells at her in frustration. And she flinches. Like I-sak could ever hurt someone. Ever!
Gyeong-su. Gyeong-su isn't afraid of her, or afraid to approach her. She's just feeling under the weather.
"I-sak!" On-jo cries, flying towards her and wrapping her arms around her in a hug. I-sak doesn't hug back, because there's no reason to. She's fine.
Even if her sight itself is tinted red.
She looks away from the screen, unable to see herself with those eyes, looking like that. The chaos, it- it's catching up on them. Na-yeon is being her annoying self, the actual zombies are trying to climb over the barricade, and I-sak... Her eyes! They're back to normal! She's gonna be fine! Just fine.
She doesn't know why Cheong-san is dragging On-jo away from her. Or why she falls to her knees. Or on her face. Or- or-
I-sak doesn't want to die. She wants to live. She wants to go to a university, and fall in love, and get a job, and have kids and grandkids and a pet or two. She wants to live abroad, and take an art class. She wants so many more years being On-Jo's best friend. She wants to see all her friends fall in love, preferably with one another.
On-jo is sobbing, holding onto her like she never wants to let go. I-sak thinks she might be crying too.
She doesn't look up, but hears the growls that they all know. Hears the sounds of something hitting something else. Hears On-jo's pleas for it to stop. She wants it stop too. She wants it all to be over. She wants to go back home and forget any of this ever happened, and when she goes to school, never, ever worry about zombies ever.
Finally, there's the sound of glass shattering, and that's enough to startle her into looking up.
She's-
On-jo grabs her arm. On-jo. Her best friend will pull her up, and she'll be safe. And this will all have been a big misunderstanding.
Why is Cheong-san trying to get her to let go? Why does he hate her? Why does he want her dead? She wanted him to get the girl. She was happy to think they could be together. Who needs him? Her and On-jo. That's all they need.
Is she gonna bite On-jo? Her mouth looks close to her hand. She can't. She can't bite her. She can't kill her. No.
Everything made so much sense when they were just two girls trying on makeup at the mall.
A tear falls down her cheek.
On-jo needs to let go.
They had so much fun together.
She doesn't let go.
Maybe it's a good thing, that Na-yeon passes a stool for Cheong-san to knock her off. He's just trying to protect her. They both want to protect her.
On-jo doesn't let go, but she watches her fall. Until the camera cuts away, she stays.
All that's left to do is cry. And they cry hard. They aren't the only ones.
"Come block this!"
Right... The chaos is still happening.
Who cares?
At least Su-hyeok is still alive.
Blah blah, ship stuff, awkward since On-no is grieving and Cheong-san knocked I-sak off from her hand. Blah, blah, he's the male lead with a plan to maybe not kill the rest of them even though the show is called 'All of Us Are Dead' and they'll probably be dead in a little bit, so they're really just wasting time until they die as well.
Oh look, they're opening the door to kill more friends. Or get a hose. Same difference.
That's a long hose.
Yeah, they're making room for feet, and zigzagging, and they all care so much about surviving but no matter how much you wanna live or how much you have to live for, it just takes a single bite from being in the wrong place one time, and then you're dead.
How are there still people screaming when they open the window? How have the zombies not gotten every last one of them yet?
Anyways, he decides to sacrifice a best friend for a best friend, or maybe he wanted to stay with On-jo which is... nice, and makes Gyeong-su go down first.
Woo-jin is being way too aggressive getting Gyeong-su to go down.
I-sak doesn't want Gyeong-su to die.
Na-yeon is so fucking annoying.
It's nice, seeing Ms. Park eagerly letting him in. Everyone gets to go see Ms. Park. Na-yeon, Dae-su, Ji-min, Hyo-ryung, Joon-yeong, Woo-jin, Nam-ra...
Wait, Nam-ra's leaving a note for Su-hyeok? That is just the sweetest thing ever. She likes Nam-ra now.
Everyone gets to see Ms. Park except I-sak. If I-sak hadn't just died, she'd get to see Ms. Park, but unfortunately, she was turned into a zombie and then was thrown out a window.
There really is no time to lose. The zombies are coming.
"Well, there are people who like you. Like your dad. You have to stay alive for them."
He has such a way with words.
Why is soft music playing in the background? This isn't romantic or touching.
But it somehow convinces On-jo to go (to be fair, she really loves her dad) so it's fine.
(It was a note for Su-hyeok)
Su-hyeok also leaves through a window, and just kinda climbs across the edge.
The zombies finally get into the science lab, just as On-jo is getting into the broadcast room. But it's too late, because the zombies run at him and he falls off the ledge. I-sak gapes as bodies begin flying down, but she can't see if Cheong-san is one of them.
Everyone in the recording room looks out the window in shock.
On-jo sobs.
She deserves better than to lose two best friends in one episode.