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The Second Chance

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The Second Chance

CHAPTER 1: THE END BEGINS

Gunsan-si (군산시), Jeollabuk-do (전라북도).

November 10, 2038

The air was thick with smoke and blood.

Kim Dohyun’s breaths came out ragged, every inhale tasting like rust and ash.

His broad frame leaned against a broken metal pipe, one arm limp and soaked red, his other still clutching a rusted crowbar.

His once-black tactical jacket was torn, shredded by claws and teeth.

The silence before the storm was deafening—before the next wave came. He could hear them.

The low snarls.

The dragging of limbs.

The screech of something inhuman echoing through the factory walls.

The Screamer.

He gritted his teeth.

They had promised to hold the line. The group he protected, fed, fought for. The ones he saved. He built this place from nothing—a fortress, a hope. And now… they were gone.

Left him behind. No. Not all of them. One stayed. For a moment. A glance. A whisper of guilt. Then they turned away.

Betrayal didn’t always need a knife. Sometimes, it came in silence.

He laughed dryly, the sound cracking in his throat. "Haaa... Haha... Hahaha... It's over... Finally..."

The footsteps were close now.

A horde of rot and rage, attracted by the mutated creature’s scream.

He knew this was the end.

He wouldn’t make it out this time.

His blood was already dripping in trails behind him. He dropped the crowbar, letting it "clang!" against the concrete floor.

For the first time in three years, he allowed himself to close his eyes.

A memory came—warm and soft like sunlight.

[“Dohyun, stop hogging the blanket,” Jihoon mumbled sleepily, half-buried under the comforter.

Dohyun turned, wrapping an arm around him with a quiet chuckle. “Then come closer,”

Jihoon grumbled but melted into his chest, their legs tangled beneath the sheets.

The apartment outside was quiet.

No screams.

No sirens.

Only the hum of the fridge and the soft breathing of the man he loved.]

—

He opened his eyes again.

The factory ceiling blurred above him.

A scream—closer now. He couldn’t move.

“Jihoon...” he whispered, a sad smile tugging at his lips. “I’m sorry.”

"... Hhhrrrggggggghhh"

And...

The sound of flesh tearing.

Claws scraping.

Teeth sinking.

Blood.

Pain.

And then—

A spark.

A blinding light seared his vision. Not the warm, forgiving light of death—but something else. Something electric. Surging. Pulling. The world cracked apart like glass shattering. And everything went black.

———

Hanyang University (한양대학교)

November 01, 2035. 11:32 AM

Three years earlier.

The university was on fire.

Not literally—yet.

But the screams, the sirens, the crashing glass, the sound of footsteps pounding down the hallways—it was as if the world had cracked open and swallowed everything sane.

Chaos reigned.

“Dohyun, this way!”

Jihoon’s voice rang out over the madness, high and sharp with panic. His hand gripped Dohyun’s wrist like a lifeline, pulling him through the corridor.

Their breaths were ragged.

Blood smeared their clothes—not theirs, not yet. Students ran past them, some shoving, some crying. Others didn’t move at all. Lay still. Torn apart.

The outbreak had started barely an hour ago.

No one knew how. No one knew why. One moment, it was an ordinary lecture day. The next, people were ripping each other apart with teeth and nails. They had no weapons. No plan. Just instinct.

“I think the south gate is still open,” Jihoon said, trying to stay calm.

He always tried to be the calm one. Even when his hands were trembling and his breath shook. Even now, when death was inches behind them.

Dohyun nodded, his jaw tight, chest heaving. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Down the stairs. Across the courtyard. A mob of students and professors trying to flee—then screams again.

A horde came from the dorm side. Fast. Rabid. Bleeding from their eyes.

They turned.

“Back inside!” Jihoon yelled, yanking Dohyun toward the library wing.

No.

Too late.

The creatures surged toward them.

Dohyun grabbed a metal trash bin, slamming it into the first one’s head, but three more replaced it instantly.

Doors. They needed doors.

Jihoon spotted one—an old supply room behind the library. They dove in, slammed it shut.

For a second, only the sound of their breathing.

Dohyun collapsed against the wall, arms shaking.

Jihoon turned and held his face between his hands. “You okay?”

Dohyun nodded, jaw clenched. “You?”

“Yeah. Just—” Jihoon exhaled. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

They held each other tightly in the dark, the noise outside getting louder. Closer.

Then silence.

Too quiet.

Jihoon crept to the tiny window in the door, looked out—and froze. “No...”

A horde.

Blocking the only exit. At least twenty. And more coming. They were surrounded. Dohyun looked around the room. Nothing useful.

No weapons.

No back door.

No vents.

Just shelves of dust and supplies

and a doomed future.

“We can’t fight them,” Jihoon whispered.

Dohyun’s eyes flicked to the hallway beyond the glass. Past the crowd. Just a few meters away—a gate.

The south exit. Wide open.

So close.

If one of them could distract the horde…

“No,” Dohyun said immediately, as if reading Jihoon’s thoughts.

Jihoon smiled, but it was hollow—cracked at the edges like a heart barely holding together.

“You’re the strong one, Dohyun,” he whispered, voice tight. “You can make it. If you survive… you’ll be able to help others. You have to.”

Dohyun shook his head, voice raised, his hands trembling as they reached for Jihoon. “I said I’m not leaving you behind!”

But Jihoon had already stepped forward. He gently cupped Dohyun’s face with both hands, his thumbs brushing along the sharp lines of his jaw. His touch was featherlight, as if afraid Dohyun would disappear if he pressed too hard. He leaned in close, eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“You have to,” he said again, softer this time—breaking.

Then Jihoon tiptoed, just slightly, barely tall enough to reach. He tilted his head and kissed Dohyun—a kiss that trembled like a dying star. It was desperate, trembling, fleeting. A kiss soaked in fear. In goodbye. In a love that couldn’t scream but bled in silence.

When he pulled back, his breath hitched, forehead resting gently against Dohyun’s.

“Please,” he whispered, voice cracking, “just this once… let me protect you.”

A moment of stillness hung between them—too fragile for the world they were in.

Then came the sound.

The shuffling. Scraping.

The unmistakable groan of the infected outside.

Too close.

The storage room walls suddenly felt like they were closing in.

Jihoon’s body tensed. Dohyun turned his head toward the door, heart pounding. The barricade wouldn't last. The bookshelves they pushed earlier were trembling now—barely holding.

“Time’s up,” Jihoon whispered, his voice hollow.

“No,” Dohyun said, clutching his wrist. “We can make it. Together.”

Jihoon’s lips trembled. “You know we can’t both outrun them.”

“We can try,” Dohyun shot back, desperation creeping into his voice. “Or else I'll die with you, together!”

He grabbed Jihoon’s hand, holding it tightly to his chest. “I'll always stay by yourside, no matter what.”

He held Dohyun’s face in both hands now—fingers trembling, eyes glassy with tears.

“I love you, Dohyun,” he whispered. “God, I love you so much it hurts.”

Dohyun shook his head, voice already cracking. “Don’t say it like that. Don’t—”

But Jihoon kept going, voice breaking with each word. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Wake up every day with your arms around me… grow old with you. Argue about stupid things and kiss you until you smiled again.”

His lips quivered. “I wanted everything. A future. Peace. You.”

Tears spilled down Dohyun’s cheeks.

Jihoon pressed their foreheads together, voice barely holding on. “But if you live… if you make it out—then maybe one day, you can still find happiness. Even if it’s without me.”

“No,” Dohyun choked, shaking his head furiously. “It has to be you. It’s only ever been you.”

Jihoon smiled—tired, soft, and full of love. “Then carry me in your heart,” he whispered. “Live for both of us.”

The door groaned louder.

The shelves gave a sickening creak.

Jihoon pulled back, and whispered one last time. “Please,” he barely holding himself together. “Let me do this. Just once.”

"I love you"

And then—without warning—he turned, gripped the handle, and wrenched the door open.

The hall beyond was chaos. Books scattered, papers soaked in blood. Screams echoed from a distance.

“Wait—!” Dohyun tried to grab him.

But Jihoon was already moving fast. He bolted down the hallway, away from the exit—toward the sound of the infected.

His voice rang out like a knife.

“HEY!! OVER HERE! COME ON!!”

“NO—JIHOON!!” Dohyun screamed.

The infected—dozens of them—turned at once. Snarling. Shrieking

They chased after Jihoon like a wave of death. But he didn’t look back. Not once.

Dohyun tried to run, but bodies swarmed. The other students—those still alive—were screaming too. Running. Pushing.

Someone grabbed him from behind-shoving him toward the library’s side exit. “GO! GO!”

“No! Let go of me-JIHOON’S STILL IN THERE!!” Dohyun thrashed wildly, elbows slamming against whoever touched him.

He managed to glance back—just in time to see Jihoon vanish around the corner, the infected pouring after him like a flood.

“JIHOON!!”

Another student slammed into him, and Dohyun stumbled through the door. The gate just outside was barely open. More hands pulled at him, shouting.

He turned, trying to run back in—but someone shoved him hard.

“We have to shut it!” someone screamed. “He bought us time—don’t waste it!!”

“DON’T—!” Dohyun screamed.

But the heavy door slammed shut.

CLANG.

Click.

Locked.

Dohyun’s fists pounded on the cold steel until his knuckles bled.

“JIHOON!! FUCK!! OPEN IT! PLEASE—HE’S STILL IN THERE!”

But it was too late.

Behind the door, the screams faded.

And then—nothing.

Only silence.

He dropped to his knees, fists limp against the door, breath ragged. “Jihoon…” he whispered, “why did you do this…”

Someone tried to lift him. He pushed them away. "FUCK DONT TOUCH ME!"

But more arms surrounded him. Pulled him toward safety.

And away from the boy he loved.

————

That day broke him.

But it also became the fire that forged the man who would lead a fortress, a resistance.

A future.

And now, somehow…

he's back.

It should have ended there.

The pain.

The sound of tearing flesh.

The world going dark.

But Kim Dohyun was still aware.

Floating.

No longer in his body, but not quite gone.

He couldn’t see—only felt. Cold. Heat. Weightlessness. Pressure. And something bright.

Blinding.

He drifted through a darkness that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Jihoon.

His name echoed like a whisper in the void.

Jihoon.

“...Jihoon?” he tried to speak, but no sound came. His voice was swallowed by the silence.

And then—

Something snapped.

A sudden rush—like falling, like drowning, like burning—and then a hard, hard crash.

————

Seoul, Seongdong-gu Wangsimni-dong (서울 성동구 왕십리동). September 01, 2035

He gasped awake. Dohyun bolted upright, drenched in sweat.

His heart thundered in his chest like it was trying to escape.

His lungs clawed for air.

His Hands gripped at nothing.

The world spun.

He blinked rapidly, expecting blood. Fire. Screams. But what he saw was—

A ceiling fan.

Turning slowly above him.

The room… familiar.

Clean. No blood. No rot. Just—Light.

Morning light. Soft and golden through gauzy curtains.

His breath caught in his throat.

"What…?"

He threw the blanket off, scrambled out of bed so fast he tripped.

Thud!

His hands hit the hardwood floor, chest heaving.

Everything looked... wrong.

But also right.

This was his apartment.

Their apartment.

Before...

“No,” he whispered, staggering to his feet. “No, this can’t…”

He stumbled into the hallway.

The scent of coffee.

The soft sound of something frying.

A voice.

His voice.

“Dohyun?”

The sound nearly knocked him off his feet.

Jihoon.

Alive.

Dohyun rushed to the kitchen like a man possessed.

And there he was.

Park Jihoon stood by the stove in a soft, oversized sweater, holding a spatula.

His soft brown hair was messy from sleep, his eyes warm and a little puffy.

“Babe You okay? You look pale.”

Dohyun couldn’t speak. His legs gave out and he sank to the floor, eyes wide, mouth open.

Chest tight like it couldn’t hold all the emotion crashing in at once.

“Hey—hey, what’s wrong!?” Jihoon dropped the pan and rushed to him, kneeling, holding his face. “Are you in pain?! Did you have a nightmare? Dohyun, talk to me.”

Dohyun couldn’t stop shaking.

His hands gripped Jihoon’s arms like they weren’t real. Like he was afraid they would vanish if he blinked.

“I saw you die,” he said hoarsely, barely a whisper.

“I saw you die and I couldn’t stop it and then I—” his voice cracked—“I died, Jihoon. I died.”

Jihoon froze, eyes widening. “What are you talking about?”

“It was real. It felt real. The screams. The blood. they ocked the gate. You left me—no—you saved me but you—”

He broke off, sobbing suddenly.

Loud and raw, like the grief had been buried too long.

Jihoon wrapped his arms around him tightly, holding him as he trembled.

“Shhhh,” Jihoon whispered, stroking his back.

“It’s okay, Dohyun. I’m right here. It was just a dream. I'm right here with you, safe and sound”

He paused.