"I'm going to ask the conductor to stop the train, okay? Be my backup?" Seojun asked.
"Of course." Taehyun was quick to agree. He turned to look at Yeongsu who seemed more reluctant than him. He nudged Yeongsu's side with his elbow, hoping for a response.
"I've got no choice in the matter." Yeongsu said nudging Taehyun back, he knew Yeongsu wouldn't let him go alone with Seojun. Taehyun picked up his backpack and followed the detective.
They opened the train car door and closed it behind them. They slowly made their way through the first train car. The train car was completely empty. It was clean too, aside from a couple KTX guides that were strewn about. He let out a sigh, relieved that there were no creatures in the first train.
"I've never seen a train so empty." Yeongsu stated as they moved on to the next cars.
They passed through eight clean cars. They were nearing the last four train cars. Taehyun stood behind Seojun as the detective peeked into the next train car, opening the door slower this time. As Taehyun entered the room after the other two he noticed how messy the train car was. It had papers all over the ground and some red stains painted the floor.
"Somebody clearly needs to work on their art technique..." Taehyun said through a nervous laugh. The comment caused Seojun to turn and briefly scan over Taehyun's features with a questionable look.
"Art technique wouldn't have been the word I would use, maybe better table manners, look at this mess." Yeongsu stated nonchalantly, which earned a disgusted look from Seojun, clearly not amused.
"Really? Your mind really went there?" Seojun asked, obviously disturbed by the comments.
"I mean... I dine like this too, when the food tastes great." Yeongsu shrugged.
"He really does." Taehyun chimed in as they approached the next door. Seojun gestured for them to be quiet and cautiously slid the door open a little. Taehyun observed Seojun as he peeked through the door and reached down for something, only to grab at the air.
"Where's your gun?" Yeongsu questioned the detective.
"I forgot I lost it in the station when I was attacked," the detective said.
"Oh how wonderful, we just walked over here unarmed. Might as well ring the dinner bell, fine dining for all who come." Yeongsu grumbled distastefully. Taehyun turned and rummaged through his bag.
"I uh... have a crow bar, and some large wire cutters." Taehyun said in a small voice. "If that helps any." Yeongsu turned and gave the artist the most questionable look.
"If I didn't know you, I'd think you were a burglar... carrying those kinds of things in your backpack." Yeongsu said while wearing a slight smirk.
"I agree, though vandalism and breaking and entering is still a crime." Seojun frowned knowingly, he was Taehyun's arresting officer after all. Yeongsu snatched the bag from Taehyun and took the wire cutters for himself. He then passed the bag to the detective. Seojun took the crow bar and examined it.
A weird look crossed over Taehyun's face, "Please help yourself."
Taehyun snatched his bag back from the detective and rummaged through it some more. His shoulders slumped when he found nothing helpful. Taehyun then turned and looked at the older boys.
"Why do you guys get weapons and I don't?" He pouted. "They're my tools to begin with."
"I wouldn't trust you to swing at something and not send your weapon flying in the process." Yeongsu stated jokingly as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Humphh!" Taehyun turned away from Yeongsu as if he were offended.
"I have a plan." Seojun suddenly spoke, causing the other two to get more serious. "Taehyun, since you don't have a weapon, I want you to hold the handle. Make sure that the door doesn't slide too far open. I'm going to have you open the door slightly and I'll get their attention by bringing them to the door. While they are trying to get to us, Yeongsu and I will stab their heads through the gap that Taehyun will be holding in position. It'll be almost one on one."
Taehyun wasted no time in grabbing the door handle. "I am ready."
Seojun gestured for Taehyun to slide the door open slightly. Seojun smacked the wall with the crowbar a couple times. As he expected, the creatures came flooding over towards the noise. Taehyun made sure to hold the door in place as the creatures plowed into it. Their hands gripped onto the door as they tried to reach the three men. Even though their hands gripped onto the door, they never tried to open it properly. They more so ran into it and tried to push the door forwards, like they didn't know how to function unless something living was in front of them.
"They don't even know how to open doors anymore." Taehyun muttered to himself.
Seojun stabbed the creatures through the head as they leaned on the door, while Yeongsu drove the large wire cutters into the monsters' eyes. Only a few minutes passed before Yeongsu was plunging the wire cutters into the last one's eye. The method they used to dispose of the creatures created a large pile of corpses on the other side. The detective slowly opened the door and cautiously examined the surroundings. When he opened the door fully, some of the bodies that were piled slid towards their feet.
"Remind me to thoroughly disinfect myself later." Yeongsu grumbled from in front of Taehyun as he lightly kicked a fleshy hand out of his way as he stepped over the pile of bodies. A terrible stench reached Taehyun's nose as he followed behind the other two.
"Is it them that smell so bad?" Taehyun asked as he stepped on one of the bodies. As he walked behind Yeongsu he examined the surroundings, observing every detail. His eyes wandered from the blood on the floor to the luggage that was knocked off the racks above. "Someone must've climbed up top and used the luggage to their advantage while trying to fend off the creatures." Taehyun pondered as he passed a row of seats. Taehyun stopped in his tracks as he felt a threatening aura. He turned his head just as a monster lunged at him. Taehyun jumped backwards and swung his backpack at it. The impact caused it to fall towards Yeongsu. Yeongsu, thankfully, was prepared as it flew into him. He impaled its head with the wire cutters and gave a strange look as some blood splattered onto his clothes.
"Eww, what makes you think I wanted it?" Yeongsu whined as he took his foot and pushed its head off the wire cutters. After he got rid of the creature from his weapon he looked at Taehyun with the 'I was right' face. "So it wasn't a weapon that he sent flying... It was the whole damn body!"
Taehyun simply gave the fireman an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders.
"What was I supposed to do? All I have is my empty backpack." The artist retorted.
"It isn't empty. You have the cans of paint." Yeongsu responded.
"Ughh! What am I going to do with..." Taehyun began, but stopped as a thought came to mind. He started rummaging through his backpack and pulled out a black can of spray paint as they approached the next train car.
"You aren't serious, are you?" Yeongsu questioned.
"You said it, not me." Taehyun pointed out.
With a sigh, Yeongsu shook his head. "I can't with you sometimes."
"I know you love me." Taehyun stated proudly, which earned an eye roll from Yeongsu.
They moved on to the next train car and handled the creatures through the door as they planned. Before they knew it they reached the front of the train. Seojun let his guard down as he opened the door to where the train was operated. Seojun looked at the other two boys and smiled as a way of saying they did it. Taehyun's eyes widened as they landed on the train conductor. He burst forward and rammed into the train conductor with his backpack, causing the conductor to crash into the back of the seat and fall. The conductor groaned loudly as he tried to stand back up. Seojun came forward now, he shook his head before swinging the crowbar down on its head.
"Thank you." Seojun bowed his head to Taehyun.
Yeongsu approached the controls and pulled the brakes causing the train to slowly come to a stop.
"I can't believe we didn't find any survivors." Seojun said as they made their way back to their original train car. Taehyun came to a stop when he heard a sniffle in one of the bathrooms. He tilted his head to the side curiously as he reached out for the handle.
"What are you doing?" Yeongsu grabbed Taehyun's hand.
"There is someone in there." The artist stated as he continued to stare at the bathroom door.
Yeongsu released his hand and knocked on the door himself. "If someone is in there, it's safe to come out now."
"Are you s-sure?" The man sniffled from the bathroom.
"Yes, we cleared the whole train." Seojun said from behind Taehyun and Yeongsu. Taehyun jumped a little in surprise when Seojun spoke, he had completely forgotten that Seojun was there.
The man slid the door open and peaked out. Making sure it was safe before he joined them. They then escorted the man back to the last car.
"You guys take him to go sit down." Seojun ordered Yeongsu and Taehyun. He quickly led the man to sit, he was shaking violently and was still crying.
"Hey, it's okay... You're safe for now. I'm Lee Taehyun, what's your name?" He gently questioned the shaking man.
"M-My wife, she's gone... I couldn't do anything. They just hoarded her and I could only watch." He cried sorrowfully as he looked at Taehyun, his eyes were drooping and his shoulders were slumped. The man was utterly defeated. Taehyun didn't know what to say or how to comfort him. To be honest he didn't even know how to comfort himself, let alone someone else. He patted the man on the shoulder gently, not sure of what to do. Taehyun examined the man's features. He didn't look much older than Taehyun, so he was surprised to hear that the man was married.
Minseok ran to the side of the train drawing Taehyun's attention. Yeongsu followed after and then Hanwoo, who had just woken. Taehyun then joined the group by the window,
"What is going on?" He asked Minseok.
"Aren't you curious about who was on the roof?" Minseok questioned as he glanced at Taehyun .
Taehyun had completely forgotten about it. "Oh yeah!"
"I really don't think anyone is up there." Yeongsu said apathetically .
"Someone was on the roof, how do you know?" Hanwoo questioned, clearly missing something.
"Yeah, apparently they used Morse code. Apparently Jiwon knows Morse code." Minseok informed Hanwoo. Taehyun caught on to the slightly bitter tone that he used when mentioning that Jiwon also knew Morse code.
"Minseok-hyung what's wron-?" Taehyun started.
"Oh, won't you guys be quiet and just see what happens." Yeongsu interrupted.
They all turned their focus back out the window. The train door opened and three people climbed out, too curious for their own good. A grumpy looking business man stepped out first followed by a teenage boy, Jiwon came out last. They stood staring at the roof, as a foot dangled down then another. The person wore black Timberland boots. After a few seconds of staring at the person's feet, a whole body dropped down to the solid ground. It was a quick blur and nobody saw who it was, the person quickly turned towards the people who had come off the train. Taehyun couldn't see the man's face from the window, he just knew he had light brown hair. He watched as the small blonde took a few hesitant steps towards the man before he broke into a run. Jiwon nearly tackled the brown haired man as he flung his arms around him in a tight embrace. He could see the tears flood down the blonde's face clearly from where he was.
"Who is that?" Taehyun asked, not really expecting an answer.
"I'm not sure-" Minseok began.
"It's Kittichai." Yeongsu responded confidently.
"How do you know? Did you see his face?" Minseok queried.
"I could recognize his favorite black boots from a mile away." Yeongsu said, "he wears them everywhere."
"Then you know him too?" Taehyun asked curiously and looked at Yeongsu expectantly.
"Yeah, he's my good friend actually." The fireman said blandly.
"How come you didn't say anything about it back when Jiwon punched Seojun?" Minseok questioned, "did you think it was someone else by the name of Kittichai?"
"I knew, I knew very well it was the same person." Yeongsu stated. "I mean, I became friends with Kitt two years ago. Jiwon is his best friend from fourth grade.."
"Oh so... He has mentioned Jiwon to you?" Minseok pouted. "I thought I knew everything about Jiwon, but he never really brought up his childhood. He has mentioned Kittichai before, but he kept it vague." Minseok said, the tone of his voice made it seem like he was bothered by something.
"Don't think too hard about it Minseok-ssi, it probably isn't that he didn't want to tell you..." Taehyun said, trying to comfort him, "maybe there are parts of his past that he doesn't want to recall, or something that could affect the way someone sees him." He said, giving Minseok his most convincing smile. Taehyun knew far too well how it felt to not want to recall past memories.
"He's right. I know a little about Jiwon's past from Kitt," Yeongsu said. "Usually he kept it pretty vague when it came to Jiwon. Kitt never had a problem telling me about their best moments, but if I ever asked about the darker parts of their lives." Yeongsu stopped briefly before continuing, "Kitt would change the subject, therefore I don't think you should take it personally, Minseok-ssi." Yeongsu said, drawing Taehyun's attention as he smacked Minseok on the back.
"Ow, what was that for?" Minseok asked, earning a shrug in response from Yeongsu.
Taehyun turned his attention back to the people outside, the brunette finally managed to free himself from Jiwon's visible death grip and patted him on the head. The blonde smiled so hard his eyes practically disappeared. They exchanged some words before Kittichai reached up and pulled the boy's dust mask off and shoved it into Jiwon's pocket. He gave Jiwon's slightly chubby cheeks a pinch which made his smile widen more. Now that he could see the blonde's face he recognized him.
"He is that one top model right?" Taehyun asked Minseok to confirm his thoughts. Minseok simply nodded his response as he sat down in the closest seat. Taehyun now realized that he was the only person still interested in looking outside the window. He glanced around and noticed that Hanwoo had gone back to his seat to rest, along with Yeongsu. Taehyun turned his eyes back to Kittichai once more, before he released a sigh and slumped down into the seat he was next to. "Maybe I'll have the chance to talk to him." He thought to himself as he closed his eyes in wonder..