"Hahaha. Why do they even do that? Yell like that? They obviously know noone's coming." Min Jae wrinkled his nose.
The living room smelled faintly of instant noodles and the old leather couch that had survived too many years. A storm tapped at the windows like impatient fingers, and the television painted the walls in shifting shades of burning orange and collapsing skyscrapers.
A movie.
Min Jae was young. Small enough that his legs swung instead of rested, big enough to pretend he didn't enjoy leaning against his father's side. The movie was some hyper-dramatic disaster flick, the type where the world kept ending in new, increasingly stupid ways. Explosions, screaming, the works.
From the start of the film up to now, all the protagonist ever did was ask for help. The movie was just hitting its peak, nearing the end.
On-screen, the doomed protagonist clung to the broken glass window, his hand getting cut in the process. His voice was raw as he shouted for help into an empty sky. It was a hopeless situation, he wouldn't survive the fall from up there and no one was definitely going up there to save him....and yet his voice grew hoarse from the calls of help.
His father didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the screen, but his eyes were somewhere far beyond it, tucked away in a place Min Jae didn't yet know existed in adults. A place made of regrets and late nights and the heaviness of being alive.
Finally, he said, "People call for help because they're scared. Because the moment you stop calling… you've already accepted you're going to fall."
"That's dumb," Min Jae muttered. "If you're gonna die, why waste your breath?"
His father laughed quietly, not mocking, more like someone remembering an inside joke. He placed a warm hand on Min Jae's head, fingers threading through his messy strands of hair. "You think like that now. But one day, when you're hanging off your own edge, maybe not a bridge, maybe something bigger....you'll understand why people shout."
The storm outside rumbled, soft and distant.
The movie's hero slipped further, knuckles white, voice hoarse as he screamed for someone, anyone.
Min Jae hugged his knees. "Still useless."
His father didn't argue. He just watched the screen with a strange softness, as if he knew something Min Jae didn't. "Sometimes shouting isn't about being saved. Sometimes it's just… the last thing a person can do to say they're still here."
Min Jae didn't get it, never did, never tried to. Not then. But he did now.
"HEELLPP!!" Joon-ho shouted.
But the monster was done playing, before it could finally pierce into Joon-ho's chest, its head...fell.
**Klaang!!**
It all happened so fast. Neither did Min Jae, Soo-min nor Joon-ho actually see what happened . The next thing they saw was a black haired man standing over the monster's corpse with a sword in hand.
...
..
.
The man stood over the monster's corpse as if he'd simply swatted an annoying fly, not decapitated a mutated train pilot. His sword dripped dark blood that sizzled when it touched the floor.
For several seconds, no one moved. The world felt muted.
Then the man lifted his head.
His long black hair, wet from either sweat or the humidity inside the train, as if there was any..wet either way, clung to his cheekbones. A tattered coat swayed slightly behind him as the train continued its violent run, the fabric catching faint glimmers of passing lights.
"Come," he said simply.
His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It carried the same weight as the sword he held.
Joon-ho scrambled backwards from the corpse, clutching his chest as if checking it was still intact. Soo-min trembled, half-hidden behind Min Jae. Min Jae himself only managed a weak nod.
The man sheathed his sword in one smooth motion and turned toward the back exit of the cabin. "Follow. If you want to live."
And that reason alone was enough.
The trio stumbled after him, hurried steps echoing against the metal floor. Sparks burst from exposed wires overhead. The lights flickered as though the train itself was on the verge of transforming just like its passengers.
They reached the rear door of the pilot cabin. The man kicked it open. Cold air slammed into them instantly, carrying the endless noise of a world unravelling.
The train was still moving at frightening speed, tearing down the tracks toward a city in the middle of its own nightmare. Buildings shook from distant impacts. Smoke curled into the sky like dark ribbons. Sirens wailed, some human, some definitely not.
"W-we're jumping?" Joon-ho squeaked, voice cracking.
"No." The man stepped aside and pointed.
At some point during the chaos, the rear cars had broken away. The back of the train was damaged, the last intact metal platform narrow and uneven. But right beside the tracks, as if waiting for them, was a long stretch of abandoned maintenance walkway. Close enough to leap onto, stable enough to not kill them on landing.
Hopefully, of course.
The man didn't hesitate. He leapt first.
He moved like gravity was a mild suggestion. His coat snapped behind him. He hit the walkway in a roll, came back to his feet, and looked back at them expectantly.
"How… how did he even do that?" Soo-min whispered.
Min Jae swallowed the lump in his throat. "We don't have time. Go!"
Joon-ho went first, shrieking the entire way. He landed on his side with a horrible smack but survived. Soo-min followed, more graceful, though she stumbled to her knees.
Min Jae jumped last. The world spun for half a heartbeat before he crashed down beside them, gasping.
The man didn't bother checking if they were alive. He was already walking along the maintenance path, sword now loosely held at his side.
"Stay close," he said.
They ran to catch up.
The walkway stretched parallel to the tracks, dipping and rising as it followed the terrain. The train screamed past them, the metal giant shedding sparks and shredded parts as it barreled toward the city.
"What was that thing?" Soo-min asked breathlessly as she caught up to the man.
"First wave of monstrosity." he replied.
Min Jae blinked, panting. "First wave? There's… more?"
He did not reply.
The breeze caught his hair, revealing a faint scar along his jaw. Not a fresh scar. Something old.
Min Jae matched his pace despite the burning in his legs. "Who are you?"
The man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he scanned the horizon with sharp, predatory eyes. The world reflected in them was one Min Jae didn't recognize: a world he already understood too well.
"Name," the man finally said. "Hyun Reeve. That's all for now."
They continued along the walkway until it split into a stairwell leading down toward a fenced-off maintenance yard. Several cars and cargo containers were scattered around, overturned, or dented. Something huge had torn through the area recently.
Hyun Reeve lifted a hand. "Quiet."
They froze.
A shadow shifted behind an overturned cargo crate. Something breathed. Slow. Wet. Heavy.
Hyun Reeve raised a finger to his lips, then pointed for them to follow him around the far left side. Min Jae didn't dare breathe too loudly. His heart thrashed against his ribs like it wished to escape his body.
As they crept along the fence, something massive emerged behind the crate: a dog-like creature the size of a truck, skin pulsing with black veins, and jaw split into two uneven halves dripping mucus. It sniffed the air.
Soo-min's hand clamped around Min Jae's shirt. Joon-ho silently cried into his palm.
Hyun Reeve didn't flinch.
He led them behind another crate. His voice came soft, barely audible, yet steady. "Don't run. It will chase sound before sight."
As if testing them, the beast growled, vibrating the ground beneath their feet. But it turned away, slowly lumbering toward the tracks, drawn to the dying screech of the speeding train.
Only when it disappeared into the distance did Hyun Reeve move again.
"Why help us?" Min Jae asked.
Hyun Reeve didn't slow. "You are just lucky I appeared in there. I have my own interests and agendas."
"Is that so? Well, thanks for saving me back there. I would've been a gonner." Joon-ho said , the same exact words as that skyscraper movie.
"Don't forget to turn off the TV, Jae. I'm off to get a nap." His father said, leaving Min Jae in the living room just as the cast was appearing. The man had called for help, and miraculously, someone did come to save him.
Min Jae grabbed the remote, "That they are still there.." he pressed a button, and the screen went black.