They stood outside, finally free from the nightmare that they experienced inside. But they all understood that the nightmare was not over, it had only just begun, and that this nightmare was no nightmare... it was hell.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.
Crickets and cicadas chirped, leaves rustle as the wind gently blew. The outside seemed normal, as if nothing had happened.
Junghwa looks into the distance, at the sunset and the houses below the hill that the school stood on. He takes a deep breath and looks at his blood stained clothes.
He turns to his friends behind him, their clothes containing minimal stains.
He exhales deeply as his three friends step closer and stand next to him.
" We have to leave and change clothes. We can go to my house. We also need to get cleaned up." Said Junghwa while attempting to wipe the blood off his hand.
My house is on 12th Street, so 1 to 2 miles from here. It'll probably take us 20 minutes walking, 10 if we run.
" I live on that street too, so we can get some clothes for me and Minjoo." Said Shinhui.
This reveal makes Minjoo flinch, she glances at Shinhui, who is staring at the sunset with a confused expression, then her eyes widen.
" Is that.. a sunset? How's that possible?" Muttered Shinhui.
Minjoo turns to her, her expression is a mix tired and confused. " What do you mean? It's just the sun setting. What's so weird about that?"
Jinsung and Junghwa turn to look at her explain.
Shinhui shook her head and she held up one finger. She turned to her left, looking at the others, and spoke confidently. " Firstly, the sun sets at around 7, but it should be around 11 or 12 right now."
She then held another finger. " Secondly, the sun sets in the west..."
Shinhui points in the direction of the sunset. " That's east."
Minjoo, Jinsung, and even Junghwa widened their eyes in shock. They slowly turn their heads and look up.
Jinsung spoke with slight fear in his voice. "Then what is that?"
What was formerly believed to be a sunset suddenly shrank into a golden horizontal strip in the sky. That strip began to move in a spiral-like motion.
The four friends couldn't believe their eyes. They couldn't move.. couldn't blink... only breathe.
That's... That's the...
Due to it's unusually small size, the spiraling object was clearly, very far into the distance. But despite that, it began to spiral towards them.
It seemed to grow bigger and bigger after every second. This meant that it was getting closer at an extremely fast pace.
It's getting closer!
Chirp. Chirp. Ch-.....
The bugs around them suddenly became quiet, the sounds of leaves rustling disappear, but the leaves continue to move
Junghwa's expression becomes serious as he coughs.
Our surroundings have silenced, and the air feels dry and hot...
!!!
No way...
As it came closer, it's features became clearer. Four limbs, a serpent-like body, golden scales that shine brightly.
Large white branch-like horns that grow outwards, and hair-like strands of flames coming out of it's top lip and chin.
Junghwa's eyes widen with awe as he realizes what that creature is..
A dragon..
" What is that?!" Yells Jinsung.
" It's coming right for us! We have to move!" Shouts Minjoo while pointing at the dragon.
Jinsung, Minjoo, and Shinhui quickly run and move out of the way, but Junghwa stays still as the dragon neared his position.
His friends quickly noticed his absence and turned around after moving to a safe distance.
" Junghwa!!" They all shout simultaneously.
Junghwa moves 2 steps to the right as the fire-breathing reptilian flies by his left side, inches away from his body.
Time seemed to slow as the giabt dragon flew by his side. Junghwa stared into it's ruby colored eye, it stared back at his.
The Flaming Gold Dragon!
It's eyes glistened before looking away and flying forward, then upwards inches away from the school.
Flames sparked and ignited around the dragon's neck, then they extended and engulfed it's body in a spiral formation while it's body straightened up.
SCREEEECH!!...
It let out a sound that sounded like a mix of a screeching noise and a whale vocalization. A strong breeze of wind followed it's arrival and exit.
" Woah.." Junghwa smiles while watching it fly away.
I'm going to either ride or kill that thing one day...
Junghwa, now facing the school, looks to his right and sees a part of the school gate burnt off, the area burnt areas still glowed red, heatwaves visibly coming off of it.
" Junghwa! Are you alright?! You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Minjoo pulls him out of his daze, and turns him around, checking for wounds and wetting her hands with blood.
Minjoo... she's worried about me...
Junghwa smiles and gently pets her head. "I'm fine, Minjoo. I won't die that easily..."
Minjoo tenses at his touch, then slowly looks up at him, her eyes tearing up. " Don't scare me like that again."
" Hehe, alright, I won't~" responds Junghwa while gently patting her head.
That was a lie..
She suddenly becomes irritated, she makes a fist. " Hey..."
"Huh?"
Minjoo punches Junghwa squarely on the face, knocking him down. " Who said you could touch me!!?"
" Oof!"
Her sudden actions left Jinsung and Shinhui speechless.
She holds up her fist, slightly blushing. "It's not what you think! I wasn't crying! Something just got in my eye!"
Junghwa and Jinsung smile awkwardly think to themselves. "She's back to her normal self again..."
Junghwa slowly stands up, rubbing his cheek. " Alright, let's get out of here. The longer we take here, the less time we'll have to get ready for tomorrow."
Their faces turn worried and slightly scared as Junghwa and Minjoo walk towards them.
Junghwa touches their shoulders, and smiles at both of them then back at Minjoo, who stands next to him. " We will survive this. Together. We're the Starling Knights, remember?"
His words cause Jinsung and Minjoo to smile and their expressions soften, their eyes fill with hope and reassurance.
Junghwa notices Shinhui's confused expression. He smiles at her. " Oh.. that's just our team name. It means we're in this together, you included... would you like to join our team?"
Shinhui smiles and nods tearfully. " Yeah.. I'd like that."
" Alright then, let's get going." Junghwa strides forward. The others follow him confidently.
.
.
.
Click.... Creeak.
The door slowly opens, Junghwa and Jinsung enter into the living room and look around.
" ...Where do you think your dad went?" Jinsung asked hesitantly.
Junghwa walks across the living room, into the kitchen and opens the fridge. " I don't know, but he should still be alive."
He tosses a soda can to Jinsung, who catches it.
Jinsung's eyes widen before he looks down, holding the can tightly. " Oh.. So he probably killed someone then..."
Pop!
Jinsung flinches as Junghwa opens the can and chuckles. " No, I don't think he did. He's a doctor after all. I think he probably figured out a hidden meaning like we did."
Not only that, but he also knows about 'Survival of The Fittest'. I told him quite a bit about it...
He probably told that guy as well...
Jinsung sighs in relief, but his fingers tremble as he tries to open the can.
POP! POP! POP!
They popping sounds replay in his head as he remembers the heads of the students exploding, his breathing intensifies.
" Jinsung."
Junghwa's call breaks him out of his thoughts, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, looking down.
" Jinsung. Open the can." Says Junghwa.
Jinsung open his eyes in surprise. He quickly looks up at Junghwa with slight panic. " What did you say?..."
Gulp. Gulp.
Junghwa takes a drink from his soda can while staring at Jinsung, then he puts it down on the small living room table.
He walks over to Jinsung with a serious expression. " Open the soda can, Jinsung. Now."
Jinsung begins to sweat, his breathing intensifies once again, and he looks down at the soda can in his hands. " But Junghwa, I can't..."
" Do it." Junghwa commands firmly.
Jinsung's body begins to shake, he gasps for breaths as it gets harder to breathe.
Junghwa sighs and touches his shoulder, then speaks calmly. " Jinsung, open the can."
Jinsung hesitantly looks into Junghwa's confident eyes. He clenched his teeth and grunted while looking at the can.
Pop!
He opened the can and gasps, he breathes deeply as he kneels and calms himself.
Junghwa smiles at him and pats his shoulder. " Good job. I'm sorry for being rude. I thought it was the best way to do this."
Jinsung chuckles and looks up at him. " It's alright... I needed that.."
Junghwa smiles. " You're welcome then."
You did need that.
I can't have you getting PTSD when it's only just begun. I need you strong, Jinsung.
Junghwa helps Jinsung stand, then leads him to the couch. " Just sit here for a bit. I'm going to take a shower first."
.
.
.
Junghwa enters his room to look for clothes to change into. He opens a drawer containing clothes and takes out some clothes.
He turns to leave, but something in the corner of his vision catches his attention.
Huh?
He looks at his large book with widened eyes. He drops his clothes from shock. "What the hell is this?..."
All the books about Survival of The Fittest that he collected over the years... had disappeared.