Chapter Text
Generally when a story features a full scale apocalypse, there’s a foreshadowing event.
Sometimes it’s a grand thing, like large flocks of birds suddenly taking to a blood red sky, an asteroid falling in the distance and an eerie feeling of dread the main character just can’t explain.
Maybe there’s a more fantastical element. Something like other worldly portals opening around the globe. Or the ever popular regression trope, some higher being mercifully granting them time to wrack up a credit card debt they’ll never have to pay off as they build themselves an apocalyptic hamster nest.
It doesn’t matter what route the story chooses to progress, the point is, there’s always something to warn the characters of the world regardless of how subtle they may be-
Then again, that’s all just fiction isn’t it? And those advantages are usually reserved for the main characters. Aren’t they? Well in that case, Kim Rok Soo would love to hunt down all those woefully misleading authors and shake some sense into them! How could they be so biased!?
Were background characters not humans too?
What foreshadowing? What warnings? Did nearly running late to work really count as a warning!?
Ok, sure, maybe the accompanying traffic jam, lacking cell reception and news alerts pinging annoyingly on the radio as he was getting driven into work should’ve tipped him off— but cut him some slack! How was he supposed to put two and two together when there was barely anything else to link this to the start of an apocalypse?
Somewhere in the universe, hidden in a nondescript bare white room, a god sneezed and wondered who could be cursing him.
While Kim Rok Soo prided himself on being a veteran reader of this very genre, he had to admit, cramped as he was in the closet with a possibly infected child in his lap and a hoard of zombies banging relentlessly against the lone metal door between them…
He was well and truly fucked.
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~A few hours earlier~
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On a crowded highway in the busy city center, rows of cars packed into 8 narrow lanes crawled along to the beat of blaring horns. A pleasant welcome to anyone's early morning commute. Amongst the sea of caffeine deficient and road raging office slaves, sat a shiny black foreign brand car.
If this were a K drama, those commuters might’ve taken a moment to appreciate or fawn over the peculiarity of such a novel sight— but this was real life. So no one paid any mind to the occupants of the luxury vehicle.
Kim Rok Soo glanced at his watch for what must’ve been the fifth time in the past minute. He sighed. At the rate this was going, he’d be able to walk to the Stan estate faster than this.
It didn’t help that they’d been forced to ride in silence for the past half hour when the commute should’ve only taken 12 minutes. His usual preferred classical music station was replaced with some garish white noise, the occasional stutter of sirens cutting through the persistent buzz and giving him a headache. He shut it off.
The driver in front was quick to pick up on his irritation. The younger man, Hans, shot a weak placating smile through the reflection of the mirror. When he was thoroughly ignored, he fixed his eyes back on the wall of honking cars ahead of them.
Hans was relatively new to Stan's entourage of chauffeurs. Though young, he was incredibly professional. Apparently he was headhunted from another wealthy family overseas, notably for his punctuality and ability to mind his own business. A surprisingly rare skill amongst people in their line of work.
“Ahem, apologies secretary Soo, it looks like an accident might’ve occurred ahead of us. I’ll take us off at the next exit and try to find a less congested route…” Hans’s voice faded into an amiable silence as he knew better than to expect any positive response from the stoic secretary.
True to his character, Rok Soo made a noncommittal hum as he pulled out his phone. With nothing better to do, he casually scrolled through an already memorized schedule for the day. A slight frown crinkled the corner of his brow when he noted the dwindling bars of cell service in the upper left corner. It usually wasn’t so bad in this area… then again, traffic usually wasn’t this bad either.
Dismissing the odd cell reception, he tapped out of his calendar app and began religiously checking through what emails he’d missed during the morning rush. By the time they got off the choked highway and onto quieter side roads, Kim Rok Soo had already drafted 3 emails worth of apologies and outlined 4 requests to reschedule events; queued to be sent as soon as they reached a neighborhood with better signal.
Looks like they’ll have to postpone yet another promotional charity event. For once due to a matter entirely unrelated to his flaky charge. Though, he had a feeling Venion would’ve found some way to weasel out of it even without this divine intervention.
Apologizing seemed to be the only skills he’d needed since transferring to this glorified nanny position. In a way, it was almost more difficult than his time actually doing the job he was hired for under the elder young master of the Stan’s, Taylor Stan. He’s taken no pride in his role since the switch.
To this day, Rok Soo still thought it a shame that the first son could get into such a debilitating accident (which, if you ask him, wasn’t an accident). He had little to no hope in this new heir their father picked. Venion was far too narcissistic and self serving to properly manage a team, let alone a company.
His only redeeming quality was his face– but even that had to be manufactured to an extent.
It wasn’t Rok Soo’s place to judge the affairs of the rich though, and it wasn’t his money the lazy youth was squandering. At the end of the day, his bills were paid by looking after this self-centered waste of space. So of course, other than what little damage control he could do while at his side; he just looked the other way.
Now that they were out of the dead stop of the main street, it didn’t take long to pull towards the towering gates outside the Stan’s mansion. The gaudy, overly ornate black gates a stark contrast to the modern cement and limestone block walls of the otherwise large compound.
They pulled to a stop just outside the entrance, Hans rolling down his window and nonchalantly waving his employee badge over the sensor. They waited, Expecting the familiar beep and the gates to open–
Only for the gates to remain still, motionless.
“Huh, that’s strange, it usually works…”
Hans, unsure why the gates weren’t opening, leaned further out the window to press his badge firmly against the sensor. This time, they both heard the sensor beep loud and clear. The gate refused to budge.
Hans meekly scratched the back of his head as he turned around in his seat to face him. “Ah, looks like there might be some… technical issues?”
Seeing as this wasn’t getting them anywhere, Kim Rok Soo locked his phone and tucked it back in his pocket. He was out the door and speed walking around the corner before Hans even had a chance to ask what they should do next, leaving Hans practically scrambling to catch up. He squeaked a quick “wait! Don’t leave me behind Rok Soo-nim!” As he trailed after the rapidly disappearing back.
Assuming a technological issue was at fault here, Kim Rok Soo bypassed the smaller door next to the main entrance which used the same badging method. Instead, he made a beeline for the narrow alley wedged between the complex’s outer walls and the neighboring building. From past experience, he knew there was a good chance this discrete side entrance would be open and, mercifully, his theory proved correct with a click.
Pushing past the door, he made a mental note to file yet another complaint to the head of security later.
They pressed forward. Kim Rok Soo’s once brisk and purposeful pace gradually slowed as a creeping feeling of unease settled over him the deeper into the mansion grounds they went.
Usually the place was bustling with energy from the many servants and occasional guards stationed around the premises. The Stan’s were a proud and wealthy bunch with obnoxiously deep pockets rooted in old money. Needless to say, they lived just as extravagantly and spared no expense when it came to pampering themselves.
If there was a task that could be outsourced to hired help, they wouldn’t think twice about quickly dumping the responsibility on others. Anything to make their own lives easier and carefree. Thus, the fact they’d yet to run into another person for even the time it took to walk from the main gate here was concerning on its own.
Kim Rok Soo felt that niggling discomfort squirm further into his gut, his hand twitching towards his empty waist as he clenched around the air where the solid handle of a— what exactly should be there?
His mind pulled up a blank.
A soft crunch and low groan brought his thoughts reeling back to the present. His feet frozen in place as he heard what he could’ve sworn was a growl from just around the bend. Hans was faring no better behind him, his face and ears turning red from what must’ve been mortification and horror as he listened to the almost inhuman noises ahead.
Not wanting to take any chances with Hans, he straight up grabbed the younger man’s face to cover his mouth. He figured this direct method of preventing him from speaking was the optimal approach.
Hans made a barely audible offended noise behind the seal. Luckily, it was quiet enough not to draw unnecessary attention their way.
Taking a moment to calm his own nerves, Kim Rok Soo carefully peaked around the corner. There were two figures pressed intimately together against a wall in the next hall. Both (mostly) dressed in the typical attire of a Stan estate servant.
His shoulders slumped in simultaneous relief and annoyance. ‘Oh, it’s just two servants getting frisky in the hall again. At least they aren’t robbers or something’. He wasn’t paid enough to attend more than the compulsory self defense training.
What other staff get up to in their spare time was usually none of Rok Soo’s concern. He more often than not turned a blind eye to the occasional hickey or messy collar that was definitely breaking a few rules in their dress code… but this was just ridiculous.
Though he may no longer be the chief of staff, he still had responsibilities to uphold.
More peeved with the bothersome task than embarrassed, he straightened his back and walked out from his hidden corner while loudly clearing his throat. Usually that was enough to have the canoodlers leaping away from each other with every manner of excuse under the sun slipping from their mouths.
This time though, the pair reacted quite abnormally. They both whipped their heads to face him as expected— In fact, he was pretty sure he heard a snap from one of their necks with how quick they turned— but then, they just stared.
And stared…
And stared…
And continued to stare…
It was a bit unnerving how neither of them were blinking.
The woman pressing the man to the wall seemed to croak a noise from somewhere deep in her throat, her head tilting in an owlish fashion. And by that, he meant it was surely bending to an unnatural degree. It looked painful.
All these oddities added up had him really taking a closer look. His eyes narrowed as he noted the deep red taint applied like a child eating tomato sauce based spaghetti by the fistful around the woman’s lips… and the accompanying red mess left on the man's throat.
Either this woman was a fan of using a ludicrous amount of dark red lipstick, or that wasn’t makeup dripping down an exposed carotid artery…
Now it was Kim Rok Soo’s turn to stare.
A sharp inhale from behind revealed Hans had peaked. The following terrified whimper confirmed that he’d noticed the two ahead of them were doing more than fondling each other.
The woman’s head snapped following the noise behind Rok Soo, her lips peeling back in an unsanitarily bloody snarl.
Before Kim Rok Soo could really process what was happening, the woman moved. She released her grip on the man who crumpled to the floor like a sad deflated balloon.
She approached like a rabid animal, her limbs jerking and stumbling in a way that just screamed wrong. Her jaw gaped wide, a high pitched screech released as she leapt in the general direction of Hans who had stupidly begun shrieking in fear himself.
It took the channeled courage of every heroic protagonist he’d ever read about to move his body in time.
With a grimace, he caught one of her outstretched arms and yanked her back just before she could take out one of Hans’ eyes with the manicured nails on the end of her flailing hand.
She was quick to change targets, her focus now redirected to take a chunk out of his hand. Evidently, object permanence wasn’t high on her priority list. He swiftly dropped her, darting back several paces to put some distance between them.
He must’ve overestimated the amount of force he used to pull her arm earlier as it now lay limp at her side. Even through the thick material of her starch stiff dress shirt, Kim Rok Soo could see the obvious indent where a shoulder should be. Clearly dislocated. But if she felt the pain of it, it didn’t show on her face.
Instead, her unsteady gaze was clouded with rage and violence. It was a purely animalistic look, no hint of humanity or higher thinking going on in there.
With a new target acquired, she lunged at him again, her non-dislocated arm whipping around in a large arking motion as though searching for him. He’d long suspected her eyesight was compromised, but this just confirmed it for him.
He dodged her first few swings, but each dodge only made her all the more dangerous. Her movements grew more frenzied with each near miss as though enraged by her slippery prey. While he was quickly tiring, she seemed to have boundless energy. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer-
His foot slipped on a wet patch.
Distantly, he recognized it as the blood seeping out of the now unconscious man collapsed a few steps away. Overbalanced now, his final dodge had him falling on his back; his teeth clenched as he bit back a shout from the painful impact with the linoleum floor.
He couldn’t cover up the loud thump that followed his landing though.
She was on him in an instant. Desperately, he shot his hands out in front of him in an effort to keep her snapping teeth away. With one hand placed on her throat he grasped her frantically clawing arm before it could tear into his chest or face.
Forced into this too close for comfort encounter, there was no hiding the sheer power beneath her deceptively weak and small frame. It was a struggle to even hold her back! Kim Rok Soo knew he was out of shape, but even then this amount of strength was straight up un-scientific!
Sweat was gathering at the crown of his head from the effort, dripping past his bangs and teetering threateningly close to landing in his eye. While he still had his vision, he darted his gaze around the room searching, looking for anything he could use as a weapon.
It was through this mad struggle with her full body weight now pressed flush against his hands, that he made his second subconscious discovery.
She had no pulse.
She wasn’t even breathing!
The amount of force she was using to press her face close enough to bite him would’ve surely cut off any air flow with the position his hand was in. This didn’t phase her in the least.
The puzzle pieces were beginning to fall into place… and Kim Rok Soo desperately wanted a refund on it!
Right when he was reaching his limit, his arms shaking from the strain, a porcelain vase shattered overhead. Well, more like over the woman’s head, but that did little more than put a dent in her skull seeing as she didn’t even stop to figure out what hit her.
Thinking quickly, Rok Soo freed the hand restraining her arm and grabbed the largest shard of the vase he could find before thrusting it straight through her eye socket. With a grotesque squelch, the woman went limp in his hold. Her remaining eye now fully unseeing as he shoved her body off, panting with the effort.
Hans was standing with trembling arms in front of him. In his hands the neck of the shattered vase was still grasped tightly between whitened fingers. When he followed Rok Soo’s gaze down to the object still in his hold, he gasped before dropping the broken remains.
“I…I… it was self defense! Right? We didn’t… she… oh god!”
Hans sank to his knees just shy of the still spreading pool of the woman’s blood. His face was a mix of disbelief, horror and panic. None of those things were remotely helpful at the moment.
Thinking quickly to prevent the full blown panic attack from taking hold, Kim Rok Soo slapped Hans across the face.
“Focus!”
Hans went quiet for all of a moment, before he was grabbing Rok Soo’s shoulders with a surprisingly iron-clad grip.
“No no no, you don’t understand! We killed her! Wait, no, you killed her! But… oh fuck I’m an accessory to murder now- how many years is that? And- and her eye—“ he mimed a frantic squishing motion between his thumb and forefinger, “like a grape! A fucking grape!!!”
With more effort than he’d like to admit, KimRok Soo pried the fingers from digging their way through his shoulders. With the way Hans had been shaking him in emphasis of his words, he was honestly surprised he hadn’t thrown up already.
With nothing left to hold, Hans defaulted to hugging himself. He rocked back and forth, face pale as he rambled bits and pieces of sentences under breath.
“I’m too young… can’t bend over, soap’s a lost cause… no- no pets! My kitten nims… no more kitten nims…” his voice was wobbling on the verge of a sob towards the end.
The benefits were really starting to outweigh the cons of leaving him here.
“Shut up! She was dead from the start.”
Hans’s cry ended in an abrupt hiccup. He shot a look of utter betrayal Rok Soo’s way, his voice raw with hurt and disbelief “I heard the rumors, but I didn’t think you actually had no blood and tears!”
Kim Rok Soo pressed the back of his knuckles to his temple, an attempt to stave off the pounding headache from Hans’s obliviousness.
“That’s not what I meant! She didn’t have a pulse before you hit her with that vase! What we killed, it wasn’t human anymore…”
Now Hans was looking at him like he lost his mind. “What, are you saying she was a monster? A Doppelganger or some weird ghost? Because I know that woman- er… well, used to know that woman! She was a real breathing person with a life and family and-“
Rok Soo cut him off before he could go on another tangent. “Well, did that real and breathing person ever act like that before?”
He knew it was cruel, but Hans needed this harsh reality check. They weren’t out of danger yet and if his suspicions were correct, the racket Hans was currently making was just going to paint a glowing red target on both their backs.
“Hah, you crazy- delusional bastard! This isn’t one of those stories I know you read! This is real life Rok Soo, and we murdered-“
A low breathy hiss cut through Hans’s rant. They both turned to look at the man who’d been nearly forgotten. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor and if it weren’t for the slight twitching in his fingers, Rok Soo would’ve thought he imagined the sound.
Another oddly airy moan was enough to confirm that it really was the man making the noise. Hans was already stumbling towards him with concern and a desire to help spoken throughout his approach- but Kim Rok Soo wasn’t focusing on that. Instead, he found himself fixated on the man’s back, watching and failing to see any hint of a rise and fall to indicate breathing.
“Wait! Don’t-“
The second Hans was close enough, the man’s hand shot forward and grabbed his ankle. When the man’s head lifted it was clear he couldn’t still be alive. At the angle they were at before, they couldn’t see the extent of the damage the woman had done before; but now they could clearly see the gaping hole and even a bit of spine peeking through missing flesh.
Even with the obviously fatal wound, the man was clearly just as lively and determined as the woman to sink his teeth into something.
Frightened out of his mind, Hans kicked out at the man’s face, screaming all the while. He even managed to break the man’s nose! Though it did nothing to stop the corpse of a man from continuing to growl and chomp into Hans’ proffered leather shoe.
Maybe due to his recent re-animation, the man’s attacks were still weak; not aided by that supernatural strength the woman had or he’d long have bit through the shoe. Kim Rok Soo wasn’t going to waste time figuring out why that was.
Grabbing the first decorative object he could lift, he rushed at the man and viciously beat him over the head again and again and again. Even when the man stopped moving, Rok Soo continued to slam the blunt statue down until his head was near unrecognizable.
He was gasping for breath by the time he stopped. His stomach churned at the result, bile rising in the back of his throat. It was… it was one thing to read a scene like this on paper but in real life… He took a few wobbling steps back, dropping the statue with a thunk as he let the opposite wall guide him to a seated position.
Something must’ve broken inside him because even through the nauseating dizziness and instinctual repulsiveness towards his own actions; he couldn’t help but find the whole situation just slightly ironic.
Hadn’t he been an avid fan of this genre for years? Wasn’t he usually the one berating the characters for being too slow to catch on to their situation or trying to deny the obvious evidence put before them? Well, looks like he was quite the hypocrite then.
He quipped dryly towards Hans. “Still think what we killed was human?”
Hans seemed more open to listening this time around, as shook up as he was by that encounter. “That… what the hell was that?”
Rok Soo hummed, closing his eyes as he gave his response “My guess? Zombies.”
The younger driver parroted the word back, his own eyes blank as a slow rictus smile broke across his lips. “Ah, of course, why didn’t I think of that?” He then proceeded to step to the closest wall and softly bang his head repeatedly against it-
Which, honestly? Looked really tempting to the older secretary.
He settled for lightly thumping the back of his own head against the wall in the following silence, his heart still racing, though a gradual numbness was spreading through his body starting with the tips of his fingers. Kim Rok Soo was pretty sure he was experiencing the first signs of shock- but not under his watch!
He slapped himself. He wasn’t about to let himself die that easily!
“Can you move?”
Hans took a bit longer than usual to respond, his eyes still foggy and distant from his last kill as he mumbled out an airy response.
“Yes?”
Kim Rok Soo grabbed his shoulder in a grounding grip, his gaze firm as he repeated the question. This time Hans’s eyes were a bit more lucid, his response steadier as he followed it with a jerky nod of his head.
“Yes!”
Kim Rok Soo spoke a gruff “good” before grabbing a nearby metal tray and placing it firmly in Hans’s free hand.
They’d relocated since their first encounter. As expected, loud noises did attract more zombies. While Kim Rok Soo’s initial weapon put up a valiant effort against the first three or so of them, it wasn’t long before he had to retire the ill-suited object for something else.
Thankfully they found an empty reception room not long after that. While theoretically Kim Rok Soo could probably incapacitate them with his bare fists, he wasn’t about to put that into practice if he didn’t have to.
A bit of snooping around the room and testing later had them both armed with semi-sturdy fire pokers and another solid brass statue for Rok Soo. With both of them sufficeiently geared up, he gave Hans an encouraging pat on the shoulder and nudged him back the way they came.
“Don’t get bit.” He added after a beat, figuring some encouragement was necessary in this case.
Hans’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly like a fish, before a shrill squawk finally wormed it ways out of his throat. His eyes were blown wide and he all but collapsed forward, literally hugging his thighs.
“N-no, don’t leave me! I- I want to stay with you! I promise I won’t be a burden- you even saw! I can fight, I learned basic self defense for this job!”
Kim Rok Soo simply peeled the man’s arms off him again as he shook his head, his eyes firm even as his movements gentled while he pulled Hans to his feet.
“Inconvenient. You have your radio don’t you? I’ll send you a message once I find the young master and evacuate any survivors.”
Hans was still trembling like a newborn fawn, but he seemed to make sense of the words. Finally a look of determination crossed his features as he grabbed the tray and fire poker in one hand each; his lips pulling into the ghost of his usual joking smile as he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Man, and I thought Monday couldn't get any worse…”
The two crept back towards the hall, Kim Rok Soo looking side to side while straining his eyes and ears to pick up any signs of movement. When he couldn’t sense anything nearby, he nodded towards Hans and the two made off in opposite directions.
‘Hans should be fine. The way back is more or less a straight path and most of the obstacles were already cleared along the way…’
With his statue turned club gripped tightly in one hand, Rok Soo continued his journey deeper into the mansion. His steps faltered with his overused muscles still screaming from the last bit of action.
While doing his best to ignore the pain, he made his way through the halls, never allowing his eyes to linger long on any bloody smears or questionable viscera lining the floors and walls. However, without the distraction in the form of his younger colleague to look after, he found his mind easily slipping. A dark sense of familiarity hit him out of nowhere, twice as hard as fuzzy half forgotten memories seemed to begin unearthing themselves.
His breathing was quickening, a juxtaposition of images eerily similar to what he was experiencing in the present flashing to the forefront of his mind; though he couldn’t for the life of him recall where or when he’d ever encountered a similar situation. It felt too real to be his imagination though, like ghosts in his past.
He stumbled, his foot catching on a lump in the carpet below his feet as he smacked his hand into the wall for balance. He shouldn’t be making so much noise, he knew the possible consequences seeing as he was still mostly in the dark about what could trigger these zombies— but he couldn’t think straight!
His head was spinning up a fever, his eyes burned as he tried and failed to get his breathing back under control. With his mental condition rapidly deteriorating, he struggled to find something else to focus on; a distraction! His hazy mind brought forth the image of bright black eyes and he grasped onto it like a drowning man thrown a buoy. Rok Soo focused on the clear image of a boy with black hair, pouty lips and chubby rounded cheeks.
The rabbiting thuds in his chest quieted to a rhythmic drum beat. Clarity flowing through his veins as he recalled his first meeting with the true youngest master he grudgingly acknowledged in his heart.
To tell the truth, if it was only Venion he served, Kim Rok Soo would’ve long since jumped ship with Hans at the earliest opportunity. However there was someone else he stayed for, a being far more precious and deserving of protection.
Raon was only 2 years old when the head of the Stan family forced Venion to adopt him. It was a publicity stunt, their public relations team hounding them to do some sort of charity effort to soften the public opinion on their new potential heir. Of course Venion wanted nothing to do with the child since the moment he arrived. He only barely acknowledged the boy’s existence.
The press conference and newly published articles had only just hit the shelves when Venion tossed the boy to the side. Scorn and hatred for the forced responsibility left him cold, void of any empathy.
Raon was young, should’ve been too young to understand what was happening— but the rejection was clear enough for even a toddler to see.
There was a time when the little boy could be seen toddling after Venion, persistence and lovably round eyes always fixed on his would-be father’s retreating back. Expectant. Unfortunately his efforts were wasted as the man never once looked back.
Kim Rok Soo had recently been appointed as Venion’s secretary at the time, his own back constantly assaulted by those watchful little eyes. His heart wasn’t nearly as steely as his employers’ though. While he may have gained a notorious reputation as a cold and unfeeling machine among his colleagues, efficient but lacking any human sympathy; he was far from emotionless.
Though his face could never seem to express what he felt inside, he would always soften to a degree when meeting eyes with Stan's newest young master.
Raon was afraid. Even adults had a hard time feeling comfortable around his supposedly unfriendly face. Still, Rok Soo always turned around, met the boy's eyes and acknowledged him. It was one of the many tasks he’d taken upon himself to clean up behind the scenes for his employer.
As the days dragged into months, he always took it upon himself to divert the youngest master’s attention away from his charge. He didn’t know when it started, but eventually Raon stopped looking for Venion all together. Instead, Rok Soo found himself with a little shadow in the mansion. His daily routine changed overtime to accommodate the little steps of a young boy who refused to be ignored or left behind.
At first he would bring up matters related to the young boy to Venion. He tried to spark the man’s interest in his on-paper son. However, it only became more clear how much Venion didn’t want anything to do with him. Any mention of Raon around Venion would spark up a mad tantrum. The younger man would scream with rage and hatred anew of how unfair it was, how he was so terribly burdened.
It all came to a breaking point the day Kim Rok Soo walked in on a weeping Raon. The boy’s back and small hands were covered in belt lashes. The affected areas had become swollen and raw and so, so painful to even look at.
Rok Soo stopped bringing up the boy entirely after that. Venion was all too happy to let him be forgotten.
While Raon learned to come to Rok Soo when he craved attention; he knew there was a place deep inside the young boy that was still waiting. He’d never admit it aloud, stubborn as the kid was, but Kim Rok Soo didn’t need him to say it to intuitively understand. Raon still craved the validation and love of the person called “father”.
By the time he came back to his senses, he was leaning heavily against the second floor railing. Groans and shuffling footsteps reverberated from further down the hall. Like most problems in his life, he dismissed them, centering himself in the present.
He allowed himself the moment to take a few more steadying breaths, before readjusting the grip on his weapon. The solid weight in his palm felt all the more grounding.
Once he was sure he wasn’t about to relapse into that debilitating dark state, he pulled himself back into a ready stance. He was a professional secretary and he was damn good at his job. Something like an apocalypse wasn’t about to stop him from getting his job done.
He wasn’t nearly as lucky with his rng for the next set of corridors. He’d tripped upon a turning person in the first passage, alerting nearby zombies who were all too eager to get a piece of the action.
On and on he fought his way through the hoards. Thankfully none of the zombies had any abnormal traits or deviated too far from his experience during that first encounter. While some zombies obviously had the advantage of inhuman strength, they were still easily defeated due to the handicap of vision and lack of coordination.
With his own mental barriers in place, he found it easier and easier to deal killing blows straight to their head or targeting weak spots like their open mouths.
He was just finishing clubbing his way through the last of the waves in the area when he spotted the gleam of a familiar golden plaque. In his killing frenzy he nearly walked right past Raon’s bedroom!
It was no wonder there were so many zombies gathered in this hallway either. A soft whimpering was coming from just past the door, obvious scratch marks adorning the thick wood from where they’d attempted to claw their way to the source.
With his goal in sight, the built up fatigue and soreness from fighting his way here was starting to hit all at once. Still, he made sure the coast was clear before limping his way to the door.
The sobs had quieted further in the time it took him to clear away the zombies. It sounded almost muffled, like there was an additional layer of cloth or something attempting to block the sound.
Quietly, he rapped the back of his free hand against the door as he whispered “young master it’s me, please open the door, the area is safe for now.”
The noise on the other side of the door stopped all together. However, instead of the bright black eyes and hair he was expecting to greet him from waist height; all he saw was a hastily buttoned dress shirt. Drawing his eyes up from their original focus, he was met with the unpleasant scowling face of Venion.
“Took you damn long enough! What the hell does my father even pay you for?!”
It was only through years of training and professionalism, that Rok Soo held himself back from punching Venion in the face.
The man was complaining obnoxiously loud and with the rate his pitch was rising, he’d be attracting a new wave any moment now.
On the last dregs of his patience, Kim Rok Soo lifted two fingers and clamped them shut over Venions’ flapping lips. He didn’t even bother dignifying the outraged splutters with a response. Instead, he looked past Venion and into the room.
“Where is young master Raon?” He asked calmly, though his mind was anything but.
He knew the boy had to be in there somewhere, he wouldn’t mistake the whimper he heard earlier for anyone else. The sound ingrained in his very soul from the last time he heard it.
While his face might’ve remained neutral and unchanged from before, he himself was experiencing a turbulence of unfamiliar emotions rising more and more as the seconds passed with the boy missing. It was suddenly getting difficult to breathe again, his heart felt like it was being squeezed into ice cold shackles-
Then he spotted him, a flash of black wiggling in the corner just behind the bed.
The weight in his chest disappeared at once. Rok Soo all but shoved Venion out of the way in his haste to get to Raon. The boy had a makeshift gag fixed around his mouth, fresh tears gathered in his lashes as he looked up in desperation and just the barest traces of hope.
He made quick work of removing the gag and patting the boy down to check for injuries; all the while ignoring the whining from the grown man child throwing a tantrum behind him. Once he was sure Raon was ok and just a bit shaken up from everything, he could finally let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding back.
Now that the basics were out of the way, he was left in the difficult position of what to do with an obviously distressed child.
While Kim Rok Soo had essentially been by the boy’s side and watched him grow up for the past two years, he’d never had a direct hand in raising him. He was never that good with children in fact, a byproduct of his less than pleasant upbringing.
Awkwardly, he patted the boy's head in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture.
“You’re ok, everything will be ok now.”
He could only hope his voice sounded more confident than he felt.
“Um hello? You realize I’m over here don’t you? Face me when you’re talking to me! And yes, while I’m ok for now, I would be a hell of a lot better if you would get off your ass and get us the fuck out of here already! Don’t bother with that useless crybaby, he’ll only get in the way by leading those things to us with all his gross sniveling.”
Venion spat out his last words with enough vitriol to make the boy under his hand flinch back. Raon was blinking rapidly, his mouth pulled into a deep frown as he violently rubbed the tear tracks off his face. It was as if he was trying to destroy the evidence of his crying.
Despite their situation, Rok Soo couldn’t help the curl of amusement in his chest as he watched the little boy's action. Deep down, he was relieved Raon was spirited enough to act defiantly against Venion’s words. There was hope yet of getting them all out of this situation in one piece.
He stood up, faintly aware of the phantom sensation of soft hairs tickling his palm as he neatly clenched his fist and placed it behind his back. Back in professional mode, he turned to face his employer's son and bowed in deferral to the man. He’d long grown accustomed to the habits of his young master and if they wanted to leave this place alive, he had to get Venion at least marginally under control.
It was easy to manipulate a narcissist’s actions after all, if one played their cards right.
“Of course young master, this lacking secretary’s judgment was clouded and his actions have greatly inconvenienced you. This secretary will strive to reflect and do better in the future.”
Venion eyed him in distaste, but haughtily turned up his nose and harrumphed with a note of satisfaction coloring his words. “As long as you know. Now hurry up! My father was arranging an evacuation on the roof before we were separated.”
The younger man was already looking out the door, his back still stiff in fear as though he was afraid Rok Soo was lying earlier when he said the coast was clear. Rok Soo was about to make his way over too, sighing as his protesting muscles fought against the idea of going back into those monster infested halls; when a light tug caught his attention.
Raon had one of his hands balled tightly in the tail of his suit. His eyes were wide and betrayed with new tears just about to fall as he whispered “y-you’re leaving me…?” under breath.
Rok Soo’s heart was doing that funny flip in his chest again. It never once occurred to him to leave Raon behind, he didn’t know where the child could’ve gotten that idea from. Just as he held the child’s hand, attempting to loosen those little fingers from their painful looking grip, an unwelcome voice cut through the room.
“I thought I was clear about my position on the runt! Leave the trash behind and start doing your job already!”
His jaw clenched, a sudden flash of anger hitting him like a bolt out of the blue. It was unreasonable to get so angry. He knew very well that Venion was like this to everyone and he’d never felt such a strong reaction before. It was just different this time.
Through gritted teeth, he spoke the first thing that came to mind to get the bastard off his case.
“He could be useful.”
He refused to expand further than that. It would be a waste of time and effort to try and enforce morals in the irredeemable scum.
Venion actually appeared cowed by those words, almost awed. He seemed to be looking at Rok Soo in a new light, a gleam in his eyes that was unfamiliar and invasive. It made Rok Soo’s skin prickle.
“You…” Venion clicked his tongue and with a shake of his head, he dismissed the conversation. “Very well, have it your way.”
To his great surprise, Venion even walked back to them and grabbed Raon’s hand. He was hardly gentle when pulling the boy to his feet, but the fact this selfish young master of his would even deign to do this much was unheard of.
Pardon him for being skeptical, but Kim Rok Soo highly doubted Venion would have a sudden change of heart even under these circumstances.
“Well, are we going or are we just going to sit here and wait to die?”
He had a point.
Still, Rok Soo felt a bit off about the whole situation so he bent down to eye level with the youngest master. The little boy had heroically held back his tears this time. While his face was scrunched into a frankly adorable grimace and eyed the hand holding his with an iffy look, he didn’t let go.
He felt his lip twitch at the sight, a foreign feeling as it’d been a long time since he last had a reason to smile. Rok Soo schooled his expression back to neutral apathy as he gently grasped Raon’s free hand and pressed his most valued possession into it.
The young boy looked at the small pocket knife in his hand with wonder, darting his eyes back and forth between the new object and the person who gave it to him.
Rok Soo simply closed the boy's fingers firmly around the knife.
“Use it well.”
He was back to standing and grabbing his own tools before long. He cast a quick glance towards Venion, but a scoff was enough of an answer to know the younger man had no interest in holding a weapon himself.
Kim Rok Soo pushed the lingering unease aside. He chose to accept this suddenly enlightened version of Venison as he led them back through the mansion. They had to backtrack to the stairwell as it was the only way up from here.
The area he’d cleared before remained empty of anything reanimated; but he couldn’t say the same about the stairwell.
Perhaps his earlier fight had attracted the lingering zombies on the first floor as there were a group of them aimlessly shuffling along the various steps. Occasional snarls breaking the otherwise muted scuffle of dragging feet as they bumped into one another.
They hadn’t noticed they were there yet… but it would be a near thing to get past them unnoticed.
One of the zombies was crouched on the base of the first step to the third floor, sniffing the carpeted step with a fixation akin to a dog sniffing another’s butt. Other than that one, the rest were mostly congregated on the steps leading up to this floor.
If they were careful and if those zombies' eyesight was really as bad as he suspected, they may just be able to sneak around them.
Kim Rok Soo took another look at the stairwell, careful to analyze every detail in the position of the zombies before he turned back to his companions. He held a finger firmly to his lips as he looked purposefully at Venion.
His young master looked ready to scoff at the action but thought better of it at the last minute. He crossed his arms instead, urging with his hand for Rok Soo to get to the point or start moving again.
With as much emphasis as he could manage, he tried to indicate just through hand and body gestures alone that they would try to sneak past. When it still looked like neither Venion or Raon could understand what he was trying to say, he bit back a sigh and crouched to pull all three of them close.
In a voice barely above a whisper, he told them the plan. “Don’t make a sound. They have bad eyesight, we can sneak past but only if you both stay close and do. Not. React.”
Raon nodded after hearing the plan. The little boy’s hands shaking but a stubborn determination in the set of his jaw. Venion on the other hand looked about ready to faint.
He was too prideful to show it, but Rok Soo could practically smell the fear coming off the spoiled brat of a man.
Venion masked his own fear with feigned annoyance, snapping in a similarly quiet voice “Can’t you just get rid of them all like you did these-'' he pointed at the bodies lining the room around them.
He really did deserve an award for the next punch he just barely held back from connecting with Venions’ face. As it was, his patience was dwindling well below the safe threshold.
With as much calm as he could muster, Kim Rok Soo tried to explain why that was such a terrible idea.
“First off, these zombies were unavoidable as they already knew I was here. They also usually arrived in groups of two if not one at a time. As much as it saddens me to admit, this secretary is not so extraordinary as to be able to fight 10 of them at once and win with only this statue as a weapon.”
He lifted the severely dented brass object to further prove his point. The poor thing was already warped out of shape and likely wouldn’t have many more uses left in it.
Venion huffed and scowled at the floor as if that would make the situation any better. Although, following the young master's eyes to the black blood spattered floor… It did give him an idea.
“Did you or the youngest master-nim suffer any injuries before locking yourselves in the bedroom? Even scratches.”
Venion wrinkled his nose as if he’d been asked if he’d like tap water served with his dinner.
“Of course not! Why would you even-“
Rok Soo dragged his hand through a still wet puddle of the black blood before smearing it into Venion’s expensive clothes. The latter was caught off guard, his voice rising dangerously in shock “you dare-“
He never moved so fast in his life.
With his still clean hand, Rok Soo immediately covered Venions mouth before listening pensively for any movement from the stairwell.
It was quiet for a moment, even the shuffling from the wandering stair zombies had stopped. A low croak came from one of them, an answering growl from another. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the shuffling resumed.
He waited a few minutes longer and when the noises didn’t seem to be getting closer to them, risked another peek towards the stairwell. The zombies had moved around a bit more, though thankfully there was still only one interested in the stairs to the next floor.
Rok Soo almost wanted to cry from relief. He could barely hold back the glare as he slowly released Venions mouth.
“I would highly suggest you avoid making a scene like that again.”
Venion seemed suitably oppressed by the very real danger he’d almost put them all in. While he still didn’t seem happy about having his tailor made clothes ruined, he put up with his secretary’s actions for now.
It was only as Rok Soo was applying the blood more gently to Raon’s clothes that he bothered to explain what he was doing.
“When one sense is lost, others become heightened. How heightened, this secretary is unsure… but if we cover ourselves in their scent it may just buy us some time.”
Of course, his reasoning was actually ripped straight out of one of the stories he read. He may not be sure what characteristics these zombies had yet, but it couldn’t hurt to try using some of the strategies provided in the novels. Their head being their weakness had held true at least, so what’s to say this wouldn’t?
When he deemed all three of them suitably masked, he carefully looked back towards the stairwell and motioned for the others to follow.
Kim Rok Soo was grateful that of all the zombie types he’d read about, these seemed to take the most after the common western zombie stereotypes. Slow, ambling and stupid. He dreaded the thought of having to deal with any of those Chinese zombies with their ludicrous supernatural power ups and the like.
They moved carefully and close together. The zombies on the lower stairs didn’t pay them any mind, still busy exploring their little slivers of space and getting annoyed with each other. The one on the upper stairs was difficult though.
It had moved higher since he last spotted it, now sniffing around near the middle steps.
With the utmost caution, Rok Soo gently placed his foot on the first step and gradually pressed down harder and harder until he was sure it wouldn’t squeak. A majority of the mansion had been renovated quite recently so they shouldn’t creak, but there was no harm in being more careful.
He did this with every step on his way up, feeling out the next step before quietly signaling Venion and Raon to follow. Venion had gotten paler and paler the longer they stood in such close proximity to the zombies.
He looked queasy, his eyes constantly darting to the exposed wounds littering their bodies before holding back a gag.
It wasn’t a pretty sight of course, but the younger man was only doing more damage by seeking out the view himself. Raon was much smarter in comparison. He only ever looked towards Kim Rok Soo’s back or the floor the entire trip, looking down just enough to make sure he was stepping in the right spot before returning his attention to the secretary.
It was hard not to feel fond of the boy seeing him so diligent in following orders.
When they reached the step with the active zombie, Kim Rok Soo was even tempted to hold his breath. It hadn’t reacted to their presence so far, but there was no telling what would happen seeing as they were now right beside it.
However, it looked like he’d worried himself for nothing. Even when he was occupying the same step, the zombie did little more than huff and continue on its crawling exploration.
Nice, looks like smearing blood on yourself was just as op a strategy in this world as it was in that last novel he read. He’ll never call a trump card like this lazy writing again!
The higher they went the more Kim Rok Soo could make out their next landing. It was clear of any movement, though there was a pile of clearly dead zombies close to the drop down hatch hiding the stairs to the attic. From the looks of the still swinging string, someone had used them recently.
Venion must’ve come to the same conclusion as he was practically bursting with energy the moment he eyed that door. Salvation was only a few steps away from them… but they relaxed too early.
In Venion’s haste to get to the perceived safety, he moved to the next step before Kim Rok Soo had a chance to test it and— a loud, long creak released underfoot.
They each stared at the step uncomprehending, horror dawning on him the same moment an eager cacophony of growls erupted and reverberated through the stairwell. The zombie nearest them was already flying up the steps in response to the sound.
Venion knew he screwed up, his expression one of pure fear and panic as he rushed up the steps uncaring of the noise they were making anymore. Rok Soo wasn’t far behind, grabbing Raon’s hand and all built dragging the boy up the last flight.
They met at the top, Rok Soo releasing Raon’s hand as he went to go pull down the ladder.
He should’ve known better than to trust Venion.
Just as he got hold of the swinging string he heard a sharp cry punctuate the hall behind him. All the blood seemed to drain from his body at that moment. It was like the world had suddenly slowed down around him, his head turning as though it was mounted on rusty hinges.
He could only watch as Venion shoved Raon’s small body towards the awaiting maw of the nearest zombie. As heartbreaking as the shout was when it left Raon, all that appeared on his face now was resignation. The light in his eyes dying, replaced with a deepening chilling hatred.
The zombie bit into Raon Shoulder, ripping another scream from the boy as he twisted to try and sink the small blade in his hand anywhere he could reach.
“NO!”
The ladder dropped down, but Rok Soo didn’t pay it any mind. He rushed back towards the stairs blind to everything but Raon’s dripping blood.
“Heh, you were right! Turns out that trash was useful for somethin- hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going!”
He pushed past Venion, barely even registering his words as the zombie released its grip on Raon’s shoulder. This time, it’s aim was his neck!
Rok Soo saw red. He pushed himself, his legs disappearing in a blur of movement as he slammed his fist straight into the face of the creature while pulling Raon towards him.
The zombie went tumbling down the stairs with the force of his punch, knocking down a few others in its wake. He’d dropped the statue at some point, not that he’d have the sense to wield it properly at the moment.
It was like nothing else mattered besides protecting the precious weight in his arms. He fought tooth and nail through the growing crowd of zombies, his free arm and legs moving like they had a mind of their own.
Somehow they managed to break out of the encirclement, but just as he turned to make his way towards the attic, a slam echoed through the space.
He didn’t need to look to know it was Venion or one of his equally cowardly siblings shutting their only escape route. He wouldn’t put it past the bastard to cut the string before crawling up.
There was no point trying to plead his way up there, There wasn’t time. He turned his attention to finding somewhere else to hide.
It was a mad dash to keep ahead, the train of zombies in pursuit only getting added to further with all the noise they were making. Rok Soo had already been running low on strength before this and the adrenaline rush wasn’t going to last forever. When he spotted one of the upcoming doors was open, his brain was almost too slow to catch up.
With not a moment to spare, he took a hard right and slammed the door the rest of the way open. The ringing metal thud was music to his ears as he quickly rushed into the tight space and used a combination of his elbow and foot to kick it closed behind them.
Just in time too, as no more than half a second later the first body of a zombie slammed into the door. Rok Soo quickly pressed his weight against it from his end, fumbling in the dark to find the knob.
To his honest surprise this room, small as it was, actually had a lock on the inside! He wasted no time flipping it over, the following click sapping all the remaining energy right out of him.
There really wasn’t much space, the whole room measuring up to the size of a school janitor's closet. Kim Rok Soo wasn’t even aware they had such a room like this in the mansion before. Still, there was enough space for him to sit down, back against the wall, and legs curled up with the tips of his toes touching the shuddering metal frame of the door.
He rearranged Raon in his arms, the boy having been worryingly quiet throughout the ordeal. With the lack of light in the room, it was hard for him to gauge just how bad the wound was- but that was the least of his problems.
Kim Rok Soo was a realist. He was the type of man who’d rather call a cup half empty. He knew from the start that Raon wasn’t likely to survive this the second he was bitten. While he’d read many different versions of apocalypse stories, it was pretty much a unanimous statement that bites were fatal.
Maybe if it was just a scratch, or a bit of blood getting into the wound it would be survivable. Or if the wound was anywhere else, perhaps amputation could’ve been an option— But no.
Raon was bitten on his shoulder, dangerously close to his neck too. The feeling of warm wetness gathering in the dips of his fingers closest to the source was enough to tell him that the wound was still bleeding too. It must’ve been deep.
Even if by some miracle Raon was immune, the chances of him surviving this were close to 0 if they couldn’t get him medical attention in time.
“Sorry mister…dropped…drop gift.”
Kim Rok Soo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Raon’s stubborn insistence to still call him ‘mister’. He’d tried to fix the boy’s address of him, even tempted to just let him call him hyung—but Raon refused every request. An act of rebellion against his situation he supposed.
The boy's voice was faint, barely loud enough to hear even with the two pressed so close together. Rok Soo did his best to ignore the worry it inspired, focusing instead on tearing the arm off the mostly clean inner sleeve of his shirt to staunch the bleeding.
“It was old, there will be others.” He mumbled the words almost as an afterthought, doing his best to keep both himself and Raon calm. It was tough enough to tune out the constant banging from the door only inches away from them.
“No! I want that one! It’s mine…my first-“
“And it won’t be your last.”
Rok Soo cut him off, not wanting to hear the end of it.
His eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness, enough for him to be able to make out the outline of Raon’s face and trembling lashes. Raon seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open, though his expression was still hidden in the comforting veil of black.
The little boy seemed to lose strength even faster than before. Where he was still able to sit up when they first entered, he was now fully leaning against Rok Soo’s chest. That small head pressed just over Rok Soo’s pounding heart as his hand took a loose hold over the front of his shirt.
“Mister…it hurts. It hurts so much! Make it go away…like last time…please.”
Rok Soo was sure this room must not have been cleaned often enough as the dust was beginning to make his eyes itch. Still, he ignored the feeling again and carefully brushed his fingers through Raon’s hair.
He was taken back to that day, the morning when he found Raon curled up in the reddened sheets of his bed and covered in wounds all too similar to one’s he’d seen in his own past. His lips moved as he recalled what he said then, tracing idle patterns over the boy’s small back.
“It will be ok. Even if it hurts now, all you have to do is look forward and keep living. That is the best revenge against the people who made you suffer.”
He couldn’t stop his voice from cracking as he told Raon to keep living. It was the first time Rok Soo had trouble lying to another person and even himself. Mercifully, Raon was too out of it to notice. Feverish and most likely flushed with infection.
As the buzz of adrenaline faded from his system, Kim Rok Soo could feel all of the aches and bruises no doubt covering every inch of his skin with a vengeance. However, even without carefully checking, he knew he hadn’t been bitten.
If he’d left with Venion he could be safe by now, he could’ve escaped this shit hole of a mansion. Hell, if he’d just left with Hans' way at the start he probably wouldn’t have even gained half these bruises! There was nothing to gain from going back for Raon and it should’ve gone against every self-preservatory instinct he’d grown up believing in.
But even still, even though he’d likely just signed his death certificate by trapping himself in a room with a child who was probably going to turn any minute, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret his actions.
Even if he was given a second chance to revisit that moment, he’d do it all again.
Maybe…maybe there was more to life than just living. And maybe they’d be lucky. Maybe, it was ok to try to think positively…
In this forgotten corner of the mansion, surrounded by creatures that would kill him given the chance, Kim Rok Soo never felt more at peace.
Curling in on the boy in his lap, he sighed as he let the crawling blackness at the edges of his vision take hold. A numbing exhaustion won over all his muscles, relieving him of his current burdens as his eyes slid shut for what may be the final time.
Come what may, he welcomed the consequences with open arms.
.
.
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Also, just a small visualization of what Venion might look like standing in the doorway… pls don’t be mad, he’s canonically supposed to look hawt but in this universe he achieves this with plastic surgery sooooooooo, generic edgy but slightly attractive emo boi here we go!