SURVIVE

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: JIU AND GAHYEON SEO

“So, you’re the one who saved Yuqi from the monstrosity in the research book?” Soyeon said, her eyes thankful and appreciative as Jiu nodded, shaking her hand.

“My name is Jiu Seo, and you can call me Jiu or Minji, depending on whatever you like.” Jiu said with a serious tone, while the woman with her smiled brightly.

“Unnie is always a serious person, but she always wants to help other people. Maybe that’s why she volunteered at the Pilgrims in the first place, while I’m stuck at Patrols.” The other girl said, Soyeon and the others chuckling at that.

“Hi… what’s your name…?” a voice said, Jaechan smiling widely as his eyes spoke of confidence, the other woman blushing slightly at that.

“Ah, my name is Seo Gahyeon.” The woman said with a smile, as Jaechan nodded at that, Jiu nodding at Gahyeon who looked at her, the girl separating from them to talk to Jaechan, accompanying him in getting some food for dinner.

“You seem protective of Gahyeon, huh?” Soyeon said, as Jiu smiled and nodded at that.

“She’s the only family I have left, since my brother and my sister already died when the pandemic struck. She’s the only one I have left, and I’m sure I’d be ready to die for her to live, you know?” Jiu said, smiling, as she took a bite of the food.

“Hey guys, what’s up!” Soojin said, cheerily announcing her arrival, along with Minnie and Miyeon who arrived at the dinner hall side by side.

Shuhua could see the slight, almost unnoticeable shift in the lady’s behavior, unnoticeable to everyone who was too immersed in the arrival of her other friends, but her trained eyes could see it. The slight falter, the tension the girl tried to hide, but Shuhua saw that completely, noticing that just after a couple of seconds the tension was gone, replaced by the girl’s comfortable smiles.

Who could it be, Shuhua thought, who could be the person who triggered that change in her attitude that also disappeared so quickly?

“You seem to know someone who is with us, Minji-ssi.” Shuhua said silently, as they were engrossed in their own conversation, Jiu raising her brow at Shuhua.

“What do you mean by that?” Jiu said, as she smiled at Shuhua, but Shuhua could already see the cracks in the surface, her eyes that were shaken up by what Shuhua had just said.

“Oh, you know what I mean, Minji unnie. Unless… You’re pretending, or something? Is that what this is?” Shuhua said, as Jiu chuckled, flipping her hair, Shuhua knowing that the girl was only trying to be confident.

“Oh, I don’t know what you’re implying, miss…” Jiu trailed off, Shuhua chuckling and putting out her hand for the girl to shake.

“Ah, my name is Shuhua, Minji unnie. Yeh Shuhua. I feel like we’re going to be friends, unnie.” Shuhua said, as Jiu chuckled, and Shuhua could see and feel the frustration in the girl’s eyes and her hand, which trembled slightly, also slightly sweaty as Shuhua smiled, deciding to retire for the night.

Jiu got up and pulled Gahyeon from the conversation she was having with Jaechan, noticing that the girl’s lipstick was already smudged, getting her slightly irritated by that and adding to her anger.

“What is so important that you had to drag me away from that handsome man? I learned that he was the vocalist of Aces, that band we listened to when we were at—”

“I don’t want to listen at your moments with that vocalist boy, Lia! We’re in danger here of getting found out, because of that girl who talked to me earlier.” Jiu said, as Gahyeon widened her eyes, shutting up immediately.

“What should we do then?” Gahyeon said, as Jiu sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to think.

“Our sister is already here, but she doesn’t know we’re here or who we are, because I stared at her earlier and she doesn’t seem to recognize me or even know my name or our names when it was thrown into the conversation.” Jiu said, as Gahyeon widened her eyes, trying to think of something.

“Well… I leave the trickery and the deception all to you, unnie… or should I just kill everyone here in one strike?” Gahyeon said, the veins in her hand slowly turning red, then black, slowly shifting and changing shape—

“When you transform, the blockers we had learned to do would wear off, and you would be compromised. I would not hesitate to kill you off and throw you under the bus just to prove my alibi here and stick to the original plan, Gahyeon.” Jiu said, making Gahyeon chuckle as she turned her hand back to normal.

“Ah, the ever so loyal servant of the Master, are you, unnie? Precisely why he favored you and did your mutation the first, then mine.” Gahyeon said, Jiu sighing at that as she continued to walk to the dormitories with her sister, her eyes following Shuhua’s movements.

“When the plan takes place, I will personally kill that woman with my bare hands, along with all those people that she is with.” Jiu said with a harsh tone, her eyes flickering red for a moment as she went to their room, letting the blockers wear off as her eyes turned harsh red, her nails turning long and sharp.

“Now, Gahyeon… Shall we begin again, having you transform from a hideous beast to something beautiful like me? Promise that you wouldn’t claw off my eyes this time.” Jiu said, tracing her sharp nails onto her sister’s skin, Gahyeon’s eyes turning black as she nodded, biting onto a towel as Jiu started the brutal process, clawing onto the hardened skin that her sister had, the hardened and mutated flesh dropping down the ground and turning into mutated flesh.

The mass of flesh then flitted outside their room, going who knows where as Jiu repeated the process, the hardened mass of flesh gave way to smooth skin, but a knock on the door interrupted the process, the two having no choice but to stop the process and transform back to normal, Gahyeon having a wound on her forearm that Jiu quickly bandaged.

Jiu opened the door and sighed, seeing the Pilgrims Team Leader, Yohan Wang, having a grin on his face.

“How’s my beautiful girl?” Yohan said, as Jiu rolled her eyes at him and tried to close the door, but Yohan put a foot against the door, barring her from closing it completely.

“What are you doing here, Yohan Oppa? Suho Oppa would scold you again if he learns that you’ve been visiting Jiu unnie again.” Gahyeon said, managing to smile despite the intense pain that was coming from her forearm, the flesh healing itself, and Gahyeon knew she’d have to start the process all over again.

“Suho sent me here to fetch you, Jiu, since he specifically called you for something that he didn’t tell me what it is.” Yohan said, Jiu sighing as she looked back to Gahyeon, who smiled at her.

“Stay here, alright? I’ll be right back.” Jiu said, putting a hand on her head, Gahyeon nodding at that as she left with the man.

Jiu followed the man into an empty room near the end of Paradise, closing the door before him as she waited for him to speak—

Jiu knew those stares, and the behavior that Yohan was having. How he moved closer with a confident grin on his face, moving closer to her as she moved back, now realizing why she was here with him.

“You’re the reason why that new girl in Pilgrims before disappeared without a trace in one of the missions, didn’t you? What’s her name? Hara Cho?” Jiu said, sitting down on one of the tables and grinning at him, who raised his brows at what she said.

“What do you mean by that, princess? Hara died by an infected attack on one of our trips, right? You were also with us there!” Yohan said, as Jiu laughed loud, drumming her red nails over her thigh.

“You forced her to get infected and die on that trip, or you would take something precious from her. Is this why you forced Suho to reinstate her brother in the Patrols? So, she’ll have a reason to do what you wanted. In this case… You’ve been doing her, instead.” Jiu said, narrating what she had long seen against him, or the things that Hara had said to her before her death.

“What nonsense are you saying? Her brother definitely wanted to be at Patrols—”

“And her brother storming out of the Paradise could be your fault too, probably because you said that she’s still alive out there, and that he should find her. That way, he would definitely die having no weapons and the proper training, since you forced him to be assigned to Patrols, when he wanted to be at Pilgrims in the first place, wanting to protect his older sister.” Jiu said, remembering that she had seen Hara’s brother in one of their trips.

“Nonsense, all nonsense. I’m here to talk to you about something, and that’s concerning about you being my assistant leader, you know—”

“You tricked my sister into having the assistant leader position so you could get into her pants multiple times, Yohan Cho. That’s what happened, isn’t it?” a voice said, as Yohan widened his eyes, recognizing that voice.

Hayoon Cho stood at the back of the room, wearing the same clothes that he wore when he left the compound, some veins blackening on his neck, as he moved closer and nodded at Jiu, who nodded back at him, Yohan staggering back with fear written all over his face.

“Hayoon… How the fuck are you alive?!” Yohan said, bringing out his pistol and pointing it onto the man, Hayoon grinning at that as his eyes slowly turned red, his nails growing slowly as he lunged for the man’s neck—

“Take it easy, Hayoon-ah.” Jiu said, as Hayoon nodded, his features turning back to normal while Yohan sat down the ground, fear gripping his heart as he slowly backed away, trying to get close to the door—

“One more move and I’ll cut your precious thing between your legs myself and feed it to the undead outside.” Jiu said, her nails on her right hand growing, the red nails turning into something monstrous.

“Tell me… who did you put in as the leader just in case you die?” Jiu said, caressing his face with her long nails, Yohan whimpering and crying like a child.

“You… I promise, I put you… Let me go, please, and I wouldn’t get on your way again.” Yohan said, Jiu chuckling as she nodded, pulling his chin in for a kiss.

He kissed back immediately, as if entranced—

Yohan pushed Jiu away and picked up a knife that he had stored in his pocket, then swinging his hand back and stabbing her on her chest—

She held her hand up and his hand stopped just inches away from her heart, just stopping there no matter how hard he tried to push it into her chest.

“Funny, is it? I call it the Judas Kiss. The toxins I released into you had already reached your brain, it seems, and would adhere only to me. So, you will not be able to kill me, huh, Yohan-ssi?” Jiu said, as Yohan doubled over his back, clenching his fists and punching himself, using his knife to inflict wounds upon himself that Jiu’ power only healed over just little time.

“But I just have control over you for just a day, and the fun would soon be over. 24 hours should be enough to get what I want, doesn’t it?” Jiu said, as Yohan widened his eyes, standing up and erect, gritting his teeth as he tried to fight against the restraints of Jiu’ power, but could not do so.

“Go out the walls and find Hara Cho in just twenty-four hours. You should come back even if you haven’t found her, or you will turn into an undead if I do not give you the second kiss. If you do not find her within the given time and come back here empty handed, you will die by Hayoon’s hand, and it would be a very gruesome, torturous and painful death.” Jiu said, as Yohan nodded, Hayoon then stripping off all of his armor, then wearing it himself.

“Go now then, asshole. I’ll be waiting.” Hayoon said with a fierce grin, pushing Yohan out of the room, and into the back exit of the compound.

“Do you think that would suffice?” Hayoon said, tightening the armor around him and doing the skill that Jiu had taught her over the past month, blocking his powers and making it seem like he wasn’t infected.

“You are one of the two first Second Born that I had created myself, of course with the permission of the Master. You work under me and Gahyeon, and of course under the Master himself. I assure you that he would come back here empty-handed, and you would be able to do what you want with him, but I just give you three hours, alright?” Jiu said, smiling as Hayoon raised his brow.

“What? What do you mean that I am one of the two? Is there another one?” Hayoon said, as Jiu smiled, putting up her hand.

Another person entered the room, Hayoon widening his eyes as Hara stood before the two of them, rushing to hug her brother, tears falling from the two of them.

“I understand the bond you two have, and this is a second chance that I had given to you. No one else knows about this except the three of us, and under no circumstances should you tell other people about the things that I had done to bring you two back to life. I also take control of your minds, and I can have you drop dead instantly if you tell others anything.” Jiu said, the two nodding as they smiled.

“You two should be the ones to wait for that bastard to come back here tomorrow, but for now… Go out of the gates at the back and enter the front entrance, and bring another survivor so that your alibi would be sound that you had saved someone.” Jiu said, her features turning back to normal as she left, leaving the two.

“Marvelous work you had done, Jiu Seo…” a voice said, whispering as he watched her go out of the room.

“Looks like the plan is coming together, isn’t it?” he said with a vicious grin, gripping his revolver tight.