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(Gwinam be like)
vi. spidey senses
SINCE SHE could remember, Ma-ri has been terrified of heights. It all started when she went to her first swimming pool; a small, terrified ten-year-old on an unknown territory. Min-jun had made a bet that whoever could jump from the highest level of the daunting diving platform would get free ice cream and so she agreed. It ended up being the most terrifying six seconds in the air—not to mention she never got her ice cream—and the rest was history.
Ever since then she's avoided heights like the plague, that is, until Suh-yeok suggested to escape out the window.
"No."
"We have to."
"No," she repeats herself, sidestepping before two zombies got to her.
Suh-yeok pauses for a brief second before gasping in shock. "Are you. . . The great Ma-ri. . . scared of heights?"
Ma-ri blinks at him, digesting his words and scoffing. She tucks the scissors in the waistband of her skirt and heaves herself up on the ledge of the window while he fights off the incoming zombies. Without looking down, because it is universally known that it's a bad idea, she trudges on the edge of the building with her heels against the wall.
Screw that damn pool—this is the most terrifying experience of her life. Her heart is beating so fast she is sure Suh-yeok can hear it, and she grips on to the edges with all her might.
He follows soon after, but the space between her and the window is so narrow any zombie could reach out and grab him, and he presses into her to avoid getting bitten.
"Ma-ri." His deep voice sounds too close, Ma-ri peaks an eye open and looks up at him, nearly stumbling over at their proximity.
She is a girl, after all, and Suh-yeok is. . . well, Suh-yeok. The way her skin grows hot is embarrassing enough.
"What?"
He stares at her for a few seconds. "Why is your heart beating so fast?" A grin takes over his face. "Lovestruck?"
"No. We're four floors up in the air and one misstep away from death. And I am so hungry."
As if on cue, her stomach growls.
"You didn't eat lunch?"
"Lunch was disgusti—" She trails off as she remembers he wanted to ask her something during lunch. Usually she would've assumed it's a confession, but Suh-yeok very obviously has eyes on someone else and Ma-ri is not clueless.
"What were you going to tell me? This morning?"
"Uh. . ." He looks away, pressing his lips into a straight line. "You know how you're like. . . the vice president?"
Oh.
Class President was something Ma-ri had been all her life, up until her first year in high school when it was handed over to someone who had a mom that could pay the school.
Ma-ri rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, what?"
"So you're, like, friends with Namra, right?" He gives her a shy smile.
She nearly doubles over in laughter before remembering her situation. "You're ridiculous. I would rather die than call myself her friend."
He frowns. "Huh, really? But your parents are close friends, too."
"Are you insane?"
"Am I?"
"I'll ki—"
The rest of her sentence is cut off by a yell, causing her to lose balance. Suh-yeok pulls her back by the arm and Ma-ri shuts her eyes, clinging onto him until her knuckles turn white.
"Woah, Cheongsan." Suh-yeok laughs.
Suddenly she feels like gagging and jerks away, taking timid steps to the side to put space between them. She spots Cheongsan, hanging from a fire hose and battling a zombie in the air. The window to the broadcasting room is wide open, with her brothers peeking out. They haven't seen her and Suh-yeok, though.
"Señor," she mumbles, her eyebrows knitted as she notices her brother shake a little. "Suh-yeok. . ."
"Yeah?"
"Jump."
He looks at her like she just told him to kill himself, which isn't all that wrong. "I mean," she explains, "jump and grab onto that hose. Go inside through that window."
"Uh. . ."
"Just do it."
"Okay." Suh-yeok gazes at her with a smile. "Did you know, you're kind of growing a moustache."
"Pray you catch Cheongsan."
"Wh—" The rest of his sentence is cut off as Ma-ri pushes him with one hand, towards the direction of the other boy.
She's not sure whether he prayed or not, but his arms find themselves around Cheongsan's waist and he clings on to him with a scream. Sighing, she looks back at the art room and realises there's no way to get in without being jumped by zombies.
"You can do it," she tells herself, slowly scaling the wall like Spiderman. She has to go back to the science classroom to get her duffel bag, though if she can't get in from the inside, she has to climb through the window two floors up.
It's a lot she's risking—her life for a bunch of medicines, but of course it's also her life for her brother's, and her choice is easy.
"Ma-ri... What the hell are you doing?" Suh-yeok's voice cuts through the air, and Ma-ri tries her best not to look back and lose concentration.
"Climbing the wall."
"I can see that. But why the fuck?"
"Ma-ri?" The panic is evident in Jun-min's voice. "Please get down—What are you doing?"
She ignores his words as she reaches the ledge of the window to the science room, and she heaves herself up. The window is wide open and she spots her bag lying on the floor a few feet away. She's glad she slammed the door shut when she left, but her situation is not ideal.
Standing between her and her duffel bag are the zombified coach and Minji.
★★★
i did not abandon u all i promise studying got my ass im sorry </3 this chapter is so bad im also sorry for that i was planning for it to be longer but i had writers block
i cant wait for her interactions with namra those gay mfs 🥹
