⠀⠀
⠀⠀that question raises to her throat a lie. was it ever really a lie though? cheol - soo was only ever interested in saving his own skin, watching her be tormented relentlessly and standing by, watching her leave the rooftop and 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 not having even come look for —
--->
Dead . With nothing to show for it but the people they helped alongside him .
" ... Were you with anyone ? Or were you alone when this kicked off ? "
⠀⠀
⠀⠀her. no, for all intents and purposes, she considers herself alone, but without self - pity. she just hates them all now.
⠀⠀ “ . . alone. i was looking for the teacher’s lounge. ”
⠀⠀no admittance why, and entirely omitting the rooftop. an entire day unaccounted —
⠀⠀
⠀⠀even now, there’s still shame, still that self - loathing of her weaknesses.
⠀⠀ “ is that the only person? ”
⠀⠀doesn’t care much, not when he’s just another person ready to throw her under the bus for his own gain.
⠀⠀
⠀⠀she hears him, hears the way his mourning seeps into his voice and words and tries to convey that impactful loss to her, and yet she still finds herself cynical to these people’s demises.
⠀⠀for so long, they turned the other cheek to her abuse, did nothing, even —
---> glance at his comrade's body , his eyes immediately dart back to her .
" He's got a mother and sister waiting for him back in the States ... I owe them something to remember him by . "
" ... What about you ? What happened here to turn people into flesh-biters ? "
⠀⠀
⠀⠀𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 like it was a spectacle. maybe it makes her no better than them that she feels no remorse seeing them this way, but she doesn’t care anymore. caring only ever stabbed her in return.
⠀⠀ “ . . i wasn’t here, ” she simplifies, because —
⠀⠀
⠀⠀ it’s equally as habitual to fall into silence, and yet something tells her that this time around, it would cost her more than if she didn’t.
⠀⠀ “ what class? ”
⠀⠀
⠀⠀staring the guy down, and the next moment starting down the barrel of a gun makes her instinctively stumble back a few steps — and it doesn’t matter that she knows she’s somehow different from before, that it may have just been a well - versed self - preservation —
⠀⠀
⠀⠀stood at the edge of the roof and looked down, but it’s somehow so different when it’s not on her own terms.
⠀⠀thus, she reverts back to an old tendency, moving her gaze to the ground but keeping her chin up and keeping her hands visible at her sides.
—
⠀⠀
⠀⠀forward again, unswayed by it, teeth baring in a grin as she realizes that it 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔 him.
⠀⠀ “ they never saw me anyways, ” her response comes, like that’s supposed to be an explanation for the phenomena.
⠀⠀then, she repeats:
⠀⠀ “ are you alone? ”
⠀⠀
⠀⠀she pauses, a breath of thought, brims squinting at the question, but not because it was uncalled for — no, she’s just tired of being questioned. tired of facing punishment when all of the answers she could ever provide are wrong.
⠀⠀and yet, she takes a slow step —
--->
" Why are they not attacking you ? "
A question answered with a question , a much better use of time given the abnormality of her being immune to attacks from them .
... Did she just sniff a bit too intensely ? Like a predator smelling blood ?