The library; a quiet, peaceful, and self-nurturing place. That's what Kahei loves about it. It's her safe zone away from reality. A place where she can learn new things and of course, a place where she can imagine that everything is possible.

It was Monday. Kahei loves to start her school days going to the library to do advance reading and sometimes to read stories.

"Good morning Mrs. Yoon." Kahei greeted the librarian as she entered.

"Good morning to you as well, Kahei. I prepared your books and placed it on your usual spot." The librarian replied, giving Kahei a warm smile.

"Ah, thank you so much." Kahei bowed at the librarian and went to her spot - the long table at the middle of the library that is facing the door.

As Kahei sat down, she saw her usual books that she has been reading for days. Books about law to be exact. Next to it is her favorite book, To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Wong family is one of the most prestigious families in Korea despite coming from a foreign country. Her family's wealth almost stopped her from following her dreams. Being the only heir of the family, Kahei's father instilled that she should stop studying to focus on running their business. Kahei didn't want to follow her parents' footsteps because of the dirty works that comes with running a business company. Fortunately for Kahei, her mother knew what she wanted to do in life. After numerous discussions (and arguments) here and there, Kahei's father let her pursue her dreams of becoming a lawyer. One of the reasons was that this was a professional career - something that would help her daughter earn a lot of money and make her life financially stable.

Making friends became a challenge for Vivi. Language barrier was one of the factors which made it difficult. During her first year in law school, Kahei managed to make a single friend, Handong. They clicked in an instant since Handong was from China too. Unfortunately, before the semester ended, Handong had to go back to her homeland because of family matters.

Because of that, Kahei spent her time at school alone for almost a year now. She learned to speak the local language although befriending other people is still isn't her cup of tea.

Everything is going as usual - the silence in the library, the sounds of the book as she flipped its pages. Kahei took a deep breath, smiling contently. Another day, another normal day in the library or so she thought.

***

"Okay! Let us first do some stretching and after a while, we can continue with our daily routine." The dance instructor said.

On the other side of the street, a dance academy is located. Ha Sooyoung spends most of her time there, in hope of becoming one of the best dancers in Korea.

Doing stretches is a piece of cake for Sooyoung. There are some days where she only stretches for a short time because of the urge to start dancing right away.

After some stretches, the dance instructor called everyone back to their places to start their routine. "Everyone, back to their respective places now and don't forget the formation just like what we practiced. We don't need to waste anymore time! Come on, come on! Move faster."

They started dancing for a few hours. Their routine is composed of solo dances, pair dances, and lastly, group dances. After what seemed like forever, their practice ended.

"Nice job everyone. You can now fix yourselves and I'll see you guys tomorrow for another session." The dance instructor left her students as they began to fix their things.

When Sooyoung reached for her duffel bag, she noticed the girl standing beside it. She looks like she was about to lose her consciousness.

"Are you okay...?" Sooyoung hesitantly reached for the girl's shoulder. Before her hand reached the girl's shoulder, the girl started to lose her balance. Sooyoung's reflexes came into action, catching the girl unto her arms.

"Someone! Please he-"

Sooyoung's words were cut off when the girl lunged forward unto the floor and started vomitting blood.

The noise caught the dance instructor's attention as she sprinted back to the room . "We need to call an ambulance! She needs help!" After hearing those words, she immediately went outside to get her phone, leaving Sooyoung and the girl alone.

"Umm...here, just...I don't...just rest. Help is on the way." Deep inside, Sooyoung was panicking. She didn't exactly know what to do in a situation like this. The girl sat down on the floor, lips now filled with blood.

Minutes passed and the dance instructor still haven't returned. There weren't any sirens that can be heard from outside.

"Where the fuck is she?!" Sooyoung stood up to check the hallway and saw the instructor running towards her direction.

"The ambulance is on its way. Tell her to get ready." The dance instructor announced. Sooyoung nodded in response and focused her attention on the other girl.

"Chaeyeon-ah." Sooyoung called out the girl's name. "The ambulance is on its way. Hang in there." She noticed that Chaeyeon isn't moving, as if she was dead.

"Chaeyeon?" She gently shook the other girl. "Yah, this is not the right time to fool around." Sooyoung let out a forced laugh. "Yah! This is not funny! Wake up!" She exerted more force into shaking the girl to bring back her consciousness.

"Please, please don't die on me..." Sooyoung didn't know what to feel at the moment. The girl whom she went to practice almost everyday is dying right in front of her.

"Chaeyeon-ah..." The girl's eyes shut open as she heard her name.

"Oh my god! You're alive! The ambulance is near so we have to go outsi-" Sooyoung was harshly pushed towards the wall when Chaeyeon began to attack her before she could even finish what she was saying.

Thanks to exercising everyday, Sooyoung was able to push Chaeyeon away. "Yah! What are you doing?! I thought you were dead and now you're attacking me!!"

When the girl faced Sooyoung, that's when she saw Chaeyeon's features. Her eyes were milky white, you can barely see her pupil. Her skin was as pale as a corpse. Chaeyeon was drooling - it was as if she has rabies. On top of that, her teeth is now a bloodstained color. Her whole body is shaking and twitching.

Sooyoung slightly raised her hands. "Hey, hey. It's me, Sooyoung. I'm one of your dancemates here at the academy. Look at me. Look at me. I'm Sooyoung," she gestured at herself. "and you're Chaeyeon." she pointed at the girl in front of her.

Everything happened at the speed of light. The next thing Sooyoung knew was that Chaeyeon lunged in front of her, trying to bite her in the process. Before Chaeyeon could reach her, Sooyoung saw a chair right beside her. She grabbed it in an instant and swung it to Chaeyeon's direction.

Chaeyeon fell on the floor but it didn't last long. The corpse-looking lady stood up again and prepared to attack Sooyoung for the second time.

"I swear, if you don't stop right now, I might have to ruin that pretty face of yours." Sooyoung warned.

Chaeyeon seemed to lost her sense of hearing and understanding as she attacked Sooyoung again. Without hesitation, the chair hit Chaeyeon's face for the second time. Chaeyeon fell again, but this time, Sooyoung swung the chair unto her face over and over again. The girl's face was now half broken. Sooyoung made sure that the girl in front of her wasn't breathing anymore.

The dance instructor looked at Sooyoung with wide eyes.

"What? She tried to kill me." Sooyoung shrugged, letting go of the chair in the process.

"Don't tell anyone about this." Sooyoung shot the instructor a glare. "We need to let her stay here, whether she's dead or alive. We don't know if she's sick or something. Clean this up for me. I'll go warn the others."

Deep inside, Sooyoung knew that any of this is not normal. Her parents might've warned her about something like this so this wasn't really new to her. She didn't mention anything to the dance instructor because it was too early to freak out. Sooyoung wasn't even sure whether this was the same thing as her parent's told her.

As she was about to open the knob of the practice room beside her, she heard screaming and growling from the inside. Sooyoung retracted her hand in a flash and stood there in silence. Screams and growls were heard everywhere the academy.

"Shit."

***

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to a friend's house!" Yeojin shouted.

"Just be safe and be sure to get home before 12 noon. If you go home a minute late, I promise to confiscate that Nintendo switch if yours." Her mother responded back. Yeojin rolled her eyes and didn't reply back.

She went to the garage to get her bike. Yeojin plugged in some earphones to listen to some songs as she started to head towards her friend's house. Yeojin promised her friend, Dayeon, that they will go to the arcade together. It was the first time in a while that Yeojin's parents allowed her to go meet a friend. They were very strict and Yeojin was feeling more than happy knowing that they allowed her to go.

Dayeon's house wasn't far from Yeojin's. Surely, after three songs, Yeojin would reach her destination by then. That is if Yeojin wouldn't get distracted. It came to a halt when she saw a massive Pokemon billboard. She was busy looking at the billboard to notice the car in front of her. Fortunately, Yeojin was able to move her bike's direction to the side. What she didn't anticipate was that she would fall on the ground together with her bike.

"Oww, oww, ouch." Yeojin saw the large wound on her knees. "Aww shucks, I should've listened to my mom when she told me to wear my knee pads instead of telling her 'I'm not a kid anymore'" Yeojin stood up slowly.

"My mom would kill me if I go home with this wound. She probably wouldn't let me head out again if she sees this." Yeojin looked around and saw a woman behind her.

"Excuse me?" The woman looked at her. "Do you perhaps know any pharmacy near here? I have this stupid wound and I need to treat it before I go home."

"Hmm, I'm not sure about a pharmacy but I do know that there is a hospital around here. Move straight, turn left, and about a few minutes, you'll get there."

"Oh, okay, maybe I should just go there since it's near. Thank you!" Yeojin hurriedly went to pick up her bike. She put her earphones back and rode her bike, not minding the stinging sensation that she feels on her knee.

The music blasting through Yeojin's earphones was too loud to hear the growling man who attacked the woman from behind.

***

Flashing red and blue lights accompanied by a distant alarming siren, bloody and wounded patients on stretchers coming in from the double doors - that's where you can find Jo Haseul.

Haseul is the head nurse of Samsung Medical Center Seoul. She works at the emergency room, which meant that everything about blood isn't unfamiliar to her.

Today was one of the most hectic days at the hospital. Almost every room are filled with patients. Most people stayed at the emergency room's waiting area because of the lack of rooms. It was almost as if it's back to the beginning of the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

"Ms. Jo, we have a situation at room 180." The nurse announced.

"I'll be there in a sec." Haseul went to the said room in a rush.

Taking the stairs was a faster way for Haseul than taking the elevator. Several people are already using the elevators, which means that there aren't any that is available at the moment. In spite of her height, Haseul can swiftly climb the stairs in a matter of seconds.

"What's going on here?" Haseul asked, seeing her fellow nurses arguing with an old man.

"Are you the one who's in charge here? I keep telling these petty people that I am in need of a room!" The raise in the old man's voice signifies his anger towards the others.

Haseul carefully observed the old man instead of allowing her self to argue with him. It is evident that this man is rich. From his well-groomed suit and his well-kept hair, indeed he is rich. It is then accompanied by the gold watch that he's wearing and the rings he wore with it.

"I am sorry for this mess, sir. Please stay calm and let me talk to them." Haseul looked at her co-workers.

"Let him have this room. If we keep on arguing with him, we can lose our jobs. He looks like the type who can buy the whole hospital if he wanted to." She carefully whispered to her colleagues.

"But Ms. Jo, a man with his wife already occupies this room. If this old man didn't come barging in, the couple would've stayed h-"

"Shh, shh, do not worry. I'll handle this. I'll check the rooms upstairs if there are still any available space. Everyone, relax. I'll go talk to the couple." Haseul turned to look at the old man.

"I'm sorry for the mess, sir. You can now stay this room." Haseul bowed down. The old man gave her a smug expression.

As the nurses, together with Haseul, are about to leave the room, another person came rushing in the room.

"Ms. Jo!! Ms. Jo!! We have an emergency downstairs!!" It came out ironically since they were working at the emergency room. Haseul tried her best not to roll her eyes.

"What is it this time?" Haseul asked.

"There's this bloody girl who came in. She said that a man attacked and bit her. She's freaking out and crying. She's losing a lot of blood." The nurse said in a fast manner.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll be down in a minute. Sir, if would listen to me, you can stay here, lock the doors an-" The old man talked before Haseul coukd finish her words.

"You can tell that bloody couple a while ago that they can have this room!" He hastily wore his suit and went outside the room.

"But sir-"

The rich man was already out of sight even before Haseul could ask the reason why he was such in a rush.