"I can explain." I raised my hands in a surrender motion. "I practice HEMA. It's kind of like fencing. I don't think that we've talked before, but you remember me bringing my protective gear to classes, right? My sword is usually bundled up."
"That's true…" Ren nodded.
"That still doesn't give us any reason to trust you." The tall girl, who I presumed to be Hiyomi, seemed to be on guard. I really couldn't blame her. "You could've killed someone for all we know."
I clutched my fists. Noooot gonna lie, she was real for that one. I probably wouldn't have trusted me either.
Then, the shy girl spoke up, clutching Hiyomi's sleeve.
"U-Uhm… Hiyomi, I trust her. She doesn't seem to be someone like that." She walked forwards, extending a hand. "I'm Yun, and this is Hiyomi. You already know Ren, and this is his brother, Park."
I wiped my bloodied hand on my shorts and cringed before I shook her hand. Her hands were soft.
Not my best first impression…
"I'm M."
I expected a tide of questions, but for some reason Yun never asked. I supposed that after hanging out with Ren, she was used to anything.
Hiyomi didn't seem to like her decision to trust me and glared daggers. Ren and Park were staring at me, too. I didn't like how they were staring—it made me uncomfortable. I pulled my hood up and looked away. Leches.
"So, M… where were you going?"
"I was going to get out of the campus and to Bulg-eun Haneul," I replied. "There's a military base there. Besides, finding a place to hide and getting food will be a lot easier there if this whole thing drags on." It could be theoretically more dangerous, but let's not think about that, shall we?
"How are you doing that with all the monsters around?"
"I go from building to building. Uhm…They're mostly destroyed, but the ruins are enough for me to get from one hiding place to another. I think I've only been seen once so far."
Yun glanced around and back to Hiyomi, who sighed.
"Fine," Hiyomi glared. "Come inside. If we're going to talk, then let's not have you standing outside of the door like a monster magnet."
- - -
We sat in a circle, where Hiyomi continued to glare daggers at me. "You said that your name is M, right? What do you want?"
Her stare I thought was scarier than a lot of monsters that I'd seen so far—and that's saying something. I shrank.
"Uhm… I… don't want anything? I was just passing by and on the way down. I figured I should say something, just in case, I don't know, before someone throws a knife at me or something…" I barely finished my sentence as I wilted under her gaze with each word. I looked down at my lap.
"Stop glaring at her, Hiyomi." Yun spoke up. "You too, guys."
I'll be perfectly honest; those two—Ren and Park—really creeped me out, even though I'm not sure why…
"D-Do you want to stay with us, M?"
I glanced up. Yun was looking directly at me.
"I appreciate the offer…" I laughed softly. "I don't know how long the campus will last, though. I'll probably head out soon towards Bulg-eun. I know that it's a long way, but it'll be safer there."
"...Take us with you." Park spoke up. His gaze made me uncomfortable, as if he were inspecting every nook and cranny of my body. It made me want to turn tail and bolt out the door.
"Park." Hiyomi stuck him with a shut up, bitch glare.
"No, Hiyomi, I'm serious. Like, how long do you think we'll be able to last here? At least at Bulg-eun there's armed police and a military base. Idk how well they'll be able to fight, but it'll be safer. There'll be more food, too, when we run out."
"I second my bro," Ren said, raising a hand.
I tried to speak. A larger group meant a higher chance of being detected and therefore a higher chance of dying… "Wait—"
"I think it's a good idea, too," Yun said, cutting me off.
"Which means I'm the only rational person here," Hiyomi said. "Though in the long run, it'll be better…"
"You don't have to come, Hiyomi," Ren shot back.
I tried to speak up again. "Hey, wait, please, I—"
"Yun agreed to come, so I'm going. I'm not leaving her alone with a possible murderer and you two sleazeballs." Hiyomi glared back at Ren.
While I was happy to have Hiyomi's glare off of me, I wondered: what the hell is wrong with these people? Yun must've sensed my hesitation of the plan since she reached over and grabbed my hand.
"Eep—"
"P-Please, take us with you, M. I don't want to die…"
She fixated that pretty face of hers on me. I flushed and looked away.
"Please?" Yun pushed.
"...Sure," I relented.
"Yay!"
Jesus Christ, what am I doing… I covered my face with my spare hand as Yun clung to my other. "Please let go," I managed.
"Huh? Oh! Sorry," Yun said, letting my hand drop to my side. "I got a little excited." She looked away shyly.
Excited? In this nightmare?
"I do have a condition, though." I added.
"A condition?" Hiyomi spoke up.
"No matter what happens, you all have to do exactly as I say." I blurted out, not thinking.
While I wasn't 100% confident at all, it'd still be better for me to take charge since they don't have experience building hopping… right? Mom, dad, please tell me I made the right decision… Why did I come up with this? I shouldn't be the one making decisions. But if I don't… and they don't know how to move… we might all die.
I don't know, I don't know—I just want to go home, I just want someone to tell me what to do, I'm sorry, I'll be good, please just let me live…
"I w-won't be weird, I promise," I clarified as Hiyomi opened her mouth. "It'll be mostly where to step, when to go, where to hide, where to stop, that kind of thing… I don't know if you've all been outside, but since we'll be in such a big group, I figured I should at least help us navigate so we don't all get killed."
Especially Yun. God, that girl was so pretty—wait. What the fuck am I thinking about…
Yun nodded, and the guys did as well. "We'll agree with that. We can also help you as well," Park said.
"Help… me?"
"Yeah. We know some information on some specific things."
…Oho?