March 13, 2020, 12:09am.
The narrow streets of Itaewon were as bustling as always, with native citizens and foreign tourists exploring the bars that had bright signs that lit up the night in various colors.
On one particular street, a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties with dyed blond hair and piercings was walking together with a rather beautiful woman in a short skirt. He had his hand wrapped around her shoulders as they walked and chatted.
"Oh, you like this new hair color? I had one of my men dye it just yesterday."
"Anything looks good on you baby."
The girl responded as she stealthily slipped her hand inside the man's shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. This slightly revealed the tattoo on the man's chest that looked to be of a tiger.
"Oh? Do you wanna ditch the bars and head back to my place? I have some good stuff there."
The woman's bright red lips parted in a seductive smile but before she could respond, her eyes caught sight of something in the narrow alleyway they were passing.
"Oh my god, is that a person?"
The man turned to where the woman was now pointing and looked inside the alleyway.
Further inside the alleyway lacked light, so the man instinctively squinted his eyes. Sure enough, he could vaguely make out someone's feet poking out of the darkness into the light.
"Shit, you're right, it's a person."
The young man instantly stopped and walked over to check on the person.
Inside the alleyway, the space was only big enough to allow around three fully grown adults to lie down side-by-side.
The young man entered the alleyway and after shimming his way next to the person, he bent over while using the wall as a support to examine what had happened to them. However, the alleyway was too dark, and it took time for his eyes to adjust. He could barely make out that the person was a man who was wearing a tracksuit jacket and shorts, but weirdly he saw some white stuff at the man's mouth.
"Shit, did he choke to death?"
The young man's back straightened instantly as he recoiled from the potentially dead body.
"What?! He's dead?"
The woman who had been watching off to the side was shocked as well and took a few steps back.
"I don't know, I should check."
The young man said as he steeled his emotions and crouched down to get closer to the dead man.
"Hey, be careful."
The woman warned, but the young man waved off her warning while saying.
"What's there to be worried about? Instead, you should call the ambulance."
The woman perked up in realization and nodded before she reached into her handbag to take out her phone.
Meanwhile, the young man was over the dead man, and with his eyes adjusted to the darkness while being a bit closer, he was able to see a lot more details.
Along with the foam at the man's mouth, strange markings were running along his entire face.
"What…"
The young man muttered in confusion but soon his eyes drifted down to the man's left hand that was just next to his feet. He saw that the strange black marks were there as well. Suddenly, he realized that those weren't markings, but the man's veins.
"Poison?"
The young man looked back up at the man's face with a questioning expression before he reached out to shake the man to check if he was really dead.
"Hey, are you still alive?"
The woman had long taken out her phone and after unlocking it she went to dial the police. However, a sudden shout from the young man frightened her to the point she almost jumped out of her skin.
"FUCK!"
The woman quickly looked up to see that her potential one-night stand had sprung up from the ground before stumbling back out of the alleyway. The man who they thought was dead was lunging forward at him. Both land on the ground with the supposedly dead man on top.
"Fuck, what are you doing?! Get off me!"
The young man cursed and tried to push the man off, but the man with a pot belly was too heavy.
However, after his initial anger, the young man glanced up at the man's face, and what he saw sent cold chills down his spine.
The man's eyes were completely bloodshot and were dancing crazily in their sockets. The black veins on his face were pulsating and wriggling, giving off the feeling they were worms beneath his skin rather than veins.
A portion of the foam at the man's mouth fell onto the young man's shocked face as the man opened his mouth as if to bite him.
The young man instantly snapped out of his stupor and let out a squeal of horror. His human instincts told him that this man was definitely dead, but why was he still moving and trying to bite him?
"Zo… Zom-!"
Before the man could cry out, the man on top of him was struck in the back of the head causing a sickening crack to echo out.
The woman threw the piece of metal pipe she found nearby to the side and rushed towards the young man.
"Are you okay?"
The young man didn't respond and only hurriedly crawled up from the ground, all while staring at the man lying face down with trembling eyes.
By now the narrow streets had people stopping to watch what was going on.
Several minutes later the young man was sitting on the back of an ambulance while holding a pack of ice on the back of his head.
"I already told you; I don't know the guy. I thought he was hurt and tried to help, but he just attacked me instead."
The officer stopped writing in his notebook and looked up to nod before saying.
"Okay, that's all the questions I have. You should probably get that checked."
The police officer pointed at the man's head with his pen before walking away.
"That's right you might have a concussion so it's best if you come back with us."
One of the EMTs who were securing a body bag on the stretcher inside the back of the ambulance said while looking at the young man.
The young man hearing that turned to look at the body bag before saying warily.
"I'm not getting in this ambulance with that thing."
The EMT, who was a young woman, showed a weird expression before explaining.
"Don't worry, it's not like he can attack you now that he's dead."
"That's the point-"
"Boss!"
A shout suddenly interrupted their conversation, and a few men in all black with tattoos on their faces were seen hurrying over to this place.
The young man got up from the edge of the ambulance and said.
"I'll have my people take me to the hospital. Oh, and be careful with that thing. Something's weird about it."
As the men in black approached, the young man motioned to the bald man at the front. The bald man without a word took out a cigarette and handed it to him.
After the young man placed the cigarette between his lips, the bald man lit it.
The female EMT looked at the young man and shook her head before she went to close the doors. However, the young man suddenly turned to look back and asked.
"Wait, where are you taking that thing?"
"To the hospital?"
The young man clicked his tongue at the female EMT who was now giving the back of his head a worried look.
"I mean which hospital."
"We're taking him to the nearest hospital. Come on, we have to go."
The other male EMT inside the ambulance said annoyed. The female EMT nodded and then closed the doors.
The young man watched as the ambulance drove off while smoking his cigarette.
"Where's the nearest hospital?"
The bald man paused for a second upon hearing his boss's sudden question, but soon he responded.
"Boss, there are a few hospitals close by, but I recognize that ambulance, it's from Asan Hospital that's just a few minutes away."
The young man still holding the ice pack at the back of his head blew out a puff of smoke and then said.
"Good, let's not go to that one."
The young man then turned to leave, but the woman who hadn't yet left came up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Hey, why not head to Asan Hospital? I heard that the Prime Minister is going to visit there for some fundraiser, we might be able to see him."
The young man suddenly froze in his steps, and the cigarette he was holding between his fingers slipped and fell to the ground. Quickly, he turned his head to look at the ambulance, but it was already gone.