Apocalypse: Apparently, I Can See Zombies

Chapter 52- A Massive Bear Hug

It didn't take long for Jin-woo's laughter to die down and the seriousness of the situation to sink in. But he gritted his teeth and said defiantly.

"I accidentally brought the pill to school, but it's not like I was the idiot who thought it was a good idea to throw it inside the school's water supply. Besides, even if that pill were actually my medication, no sane person would drop a medication for schizophrenia into a water source. Damn it, it's not entirely my fault."

After absolving himself of most of the blame for this zombie apocalypse, Jin-woo gathered his uniform and phone into his drawstring bag before slipping it on and exiting the stall.

'Even if I don't have the pill, Madelyn will do everything in her power to send the White Tiger armed forces to help since Mai-sun is also in danger. But… once she finds out I don't have the pill she might not help Mom.'

Jin-woo was in his thoughts as he reached the bathroom exit, but he suddenly paused.

'That's if she already hasn't realized the pill is what caused the virus to spread like I did.'

Jin-woo got a little bit nervous. Not because he thought the rescue efforts would decrease if Madelyn found out, but what would be his fate after it was revealed he started the apocalypse.

"I'm already a freak in the eyes of my classmates and they even avoid me like the plague. Admittedly, things felt like they had changed somewhat, but wouldn't me being the cause of them in the middle of the zombie apocalypse return things to how it was before, or even worse? Damn it."— Jin-woo suddenly gritted his teeth and added with hatred spurting from his eyes—"I'm not the only one at fault!"

Forcefully pulling the door open, Jin-woo exited the bathroom. However, before the door could close, he suddenly slipped back into the bathroom.

Jin-woo then walked over to the sink and grabbed the gun he accidentally left. His face was full of embarrassment as he hurriedly left the bathroom. Thankfully no one saw him.

After leaving the bathroom, Jin-woo quickly made his way to his classroom. He had wasted quite some time in the bathroom, and the zombies on the third and fourth floors could have already wandered their way down. However, as he cautiously made his way down the hallways, he didn't spot any zombies except the trapped ones in the classrooms.

Jin-woo had a clear path to Class 1A, and soon he was standing right in front of its door. After peaking through the small window into the room to make sure it was empty, he opened the sliding door and slipped inside.

After closing the door behind him gently, Jin-woo's steps were quick and light as he weaved through the desks to approach the shelves at the back of the room. However, he paused upon reaching the shelves and glanced at the various bags in them.

"He didn't tell me which one was his bag. Do I have to search all of them?"

Jin-woo frowned and scratched the back of his head.

After a moment, he closed his eyes and tried to recall every instance he had seen Seo-joon between yesterday and today. However, after he did, he realized that Seo-joon didn't have his bag during any of those times.

Jin-woo reopened his eyes and let out a sigh. He had to search all thirty or so bags.

After coming to terms with having to do this tedious action, Jin-woo was about to start searching the bags on the right shelves. Seo-joon's bag would likely be there since his seat was to the right where the windows were that showed the outside.

Jin-woo walked over to the right shelves and bent down to start searching the bottom-most shelf for the bag before going up. However, when his hand reached out to grab the bag there, a strange emotion appeared in his heart before fading away.

The emotion was strange to Jin-woo because it felt out of place. It was an emotion of emptiness as if he had suddenly lost something very important to him.

Jin-woo thought for a moment then reached out for another bag. The feeling of loss appeared once again and then disappeared.

As Jin-woo had suspected, this was his ability. However, he was a bit taken aback that it also had this functionality. It was like that blindfold game he used to play with Seong when they were younger, its name was Hot or Cold.

Jin-woo smiled slightly and used both hands to wave towards the bags on the shelves. He did this until he felt an emotion different from before, and he did on the third shelf.

After promising himself not to be surprised anymore by his ability, Jin-woo opened the navy blue Jansport bag and reached inside to feel around. An excited feeling was rising in his heart, but he could tell a portion of this emotion was due to his ability. He didn't know why it was this specific emotion though.

Not long after, Jin-woo's hand grabbed what felt like books from the bag. Indeed, he pulled out two school notebooks, but on top of these notebooks was another book about half their size with a brown cover.

'Seong's Research Journal.'

Jin-woo saw the name elegantly written in English on the cover, and his smile grew wider. That feeling of excitement in him also continued to grow even after finding the book. Though, he didn't mind.

However, as the feeling of excitement in Jin-woo's heart reached a crescendo, the words on the cover of the journal began to blur in his eyes even though he still had on his glasses.

Jin-woo didn't have time to think as a high-pitched sound suddenly erupted in his ears, while his pupils began to pulsate with a red glow.

But unlike before, these symptoms disappeared just as quickly as they appeared.

Before Jin-woo could recover from this sudden ringing he suddenly heard a loud voice echoing behind him.

"Yes! That actually worked! Haha! Now Jin, hurry and open it. And you have to praise me because I did a lot of research to find out your-"

The person wasn't able to finish their words since Jin-woo suddenly spun around and looked at them.

Seong, who saw Jin-woo suddenly turned around jolted, and also turned around to look at the door to the classroom. However, seeing nothing there, he frowned.

"Huh? What did you see Jin?"

Seong asked as he turned back around to look at Jin-woo. But he quickly noticed that Jin-woo was staring directly at him.

"You…"

Seong tried to say, but his words trailed off and he just stood there in a daze completely at a loss for words, a large part of him not believing that Jin-woo could actually see him. However, he suddenly saw tears well up in Jin-woo's eyes before he softly called out.

"Seong…"

Seong's body shook, and he stared at Jin-woo blankly. He couldn't help but reach out and tentatively touch Jin-woo. Upon feeling his fingers make contact with Jin-woo's body, Seong suddenly burst out laughing with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Jin! You can finally see me!"

Seong yelled before he quickly jumped forward and gave Jin-woo a massive bear hug.

"Damn it. What do you mean I can finally see you, don't tell me you were here all along?"

Jin-woo asked feigning annoyance as he tightly hugged Seong, tears rolling down his cheeks incessantly.