CHAPTER 4: TOO SOON

The air had gone still.

The sheets were a mess-twisted, half kicked off the bed-but neither of them moved.

Jihoon lay curled beside Dohyun, his cheek resting on the curve of his shoulder, fingers drawing faint, mindless patterns across his bare chest.

His eyes were heavy, lashes brushing his skin. He was just on the edge of sleep-until something dim caught his eye.

A soft glow.

"...Mm?" he murmured, voice drowsy. "What're you doing?"

Dohyun didn't answer right away.

He was sitting up slightly, staring at the faint light of his phone. His thumb hovered above the screen. Jihoon blinked the sleep from his eyes-and saw.

A ticket confirmation.

Two round-trip seats to Jeju Island.

Departure in one week.

The sleepiness drained from Jihoon's face. "...You're serious," he said quietly. Not a question.

Dohyun locked the screen and set the phone down, almost like it hurt to hold. "...Yeah."

There was something fragile in his voice. And the way he avoided looking at Jihoon made something in Jihoon's chest twist.

"...Dohyun?"

He sat up now, the blanket falling to his waist.

Dohyun let out a breath, slow and unsteady. He stared forward-his jaw tense. "I didn't want to tell you like this," he said. "But I can't keep pretending everything's normal."

Jihoon's brows pulled together, worry flickering in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Dohyun swallowed. "When I said I wanted to protect you... I meant it," he said. "But not just in the way you think."

Jihoon tilted his head.

"I don't understand."

Dohyun went quiet for a beat. And then-gently, carefully-he spoke. "The day we were trapped at the university," he began, "when the outbreak started... I remember it too clearly. Too much. The gates. The students running. The fire alarms. The screaming. The smell in the air."

His voice caught.

His hands clenched.

"You... pushed me through the emergency exit. You let yourself became the bait... and you were left as the door behind me closed, locked."

Jihoon's breath hitched. "That... didn't happen," he whispered, eyes wide. "Dohyun... that's not real."

"I know," Dohyun said. Then, softer-his voice trembling-

"...But it felt so real for me."

He swallowed hard, eyes still not meeting Jihoon's. "I lived through it, Jihoon. I suffered through three years without you. Every day was a fight. Every night I remembered how I lost you. And then-suddenly-I'm here again. Back before it all."

His hands clenched into the sheets. "Like time folded backward. Like someone gave me a do-over. I don't know how or why-but I opened my eyes, and you were there. Laughing. Alive. Like none of it ever happened."

The pain behind his voice was undeniable now-raw, unfiltered. "I thought I was going crazy at first. But everything's been the same. The little details. The headlines. The smell in the air. Even the way you looked at me that morning... it was exactly the same."

He finally looked at Jihoon then-and his voice broke into something raw and quiet. "I—

thought I died, Jihoon. I was dying. And then I opened my eyes... and you were here. Alive. Smiling. Saying the same words you said the first time. It's like I was thrown back into the beginning."

Silence.

Jihoon sat there, stunned-like the floor had just dropped beneath him.

Dohyun's voice softened, cracked.

"I know you think I'm insane. I know it's too much. But every detail... it's happening again. The outbreak in the Middle East. The man and his dog. Your assignment, those rumors. Everything."

He leaned in, voice trembling. "I remember years of horror. Building that sanctuary. Losing people. Fighting every day. And worst of all-I remember you. Dying. Right in front of me. And I couldn't do anything."

Jihoon's lips parted, but nothing came out. His hands trembled. "...So this is real?" he said, barely audible. "You're not dreaming?"

Dohyun reached forward, gently wrapping his fingers around Jihoon's hands-steadying them. "I don't know how it's real," he whispered. "But I hope you trust me"

Jihoon searched his eyes. His chest rose and fell with every shaky breath. "...Y-you serious?."

"Yes."

His hands tightened around Dohyun's.

A pause. A heartbeat. Then-

"...Okay."

Dohyun blinked. "Okay?"

"I believe you."

"Jihoon-"

"I don't understand it. I probably never will," Jihoon said, voice shaking. "But I know you. I know when you're lying. And this... this feels too real to be anything else."

His voice cracked at the edges.

"There's something in your eyes, Dohyun. I don't know what you went through. But I can see it. You've already lost me once, haven't you?"

Dohyun's throat tightened. He couldn't speak.

Jihoon exhaled shakily and crawled forward, slowly, carefully-until he was straddling Dohyun's lap.

Their foreheads touched.

"I'm scared," he whispered. "But if you're with me... I can face it."

Dohyun cupped the back of his neck, holding him like something fragile. "Jihoon..."

A quiet sound left Jihoon's lips.

"...Dohyun..." His voice trembled, soft and bare-like he was giving him everything he had in just that one word.

Dohyun's breath hitched. His arms tightened around him, like he could protect him from the world.

Jihoon rested his forehead against Dohyun's, eyes fluttering shut. "Just promise me one thing," he whispered.

"Anything."

"We stay together. Always."

Dohyun's eyes closed as a shaky breath left him.

He pulled Jihoon into his arms like he was sealing a vow.

"I promise," he murmured. "With all my heart. I'll never let you slip from my arms again."

A beat passed.

"I love you," Jihoon breathed.

Dohyun smiled faintly, brushing his thumb along Jihoon's jaw.

"I love you more."

————

October 11th, around 9:45 AM.

Three weeks before the outbreak.

A normal day for ordinary people. But Dohyun isn't ordinary, or so he thought.

The radio hummed softly in the background as Dohyun stood at the window, arms crossed, gaze locked on the world outside.

The announcer's voice cut through the quiet like a scalpel-calm, detached, too calm.

"—and in response to the growing cases of the unidentified respiratory virus, the World Health Organization has advised border screenings and local quarantines in multiple cities including—"

Click.

He turned it off.

He had counted the days.

Each one. Each hour.

The outbreak wasn't supposed to begin yet-not for another three weeks.

The first city to fall was supposed to be far from here.

A slow collapse, start from the airport.

He exhaled slowly, trying to shake off the unease curling at the back of his spine.

Behind him, cardboard boxes lined the walls of their apartment-neatly labeled, sealed with care. Food. Water. Ammo. Medicine. Everything he'd spent the past month preparing, just in case.

Jihoon's voice broke the silence.

"I'll be back soon! I just need to return this book to Sooyoung."

Dohyun turned.

Jihoon stood near the door, a soft grin on his lips, the worn paperback in one hand, his bag slung carelessly over one shoulder.

"I'll only be ten minutes," he added, slipping into his sneakers. "It's okay, babe. I'll grab us something sweet on the way."

Something twisted in Dohyun's gut.

"...You sure? I can come with you."

Jihoon chuckled. "What, afraid I'll get attacked by literature majors?"

He winked. "I'm a big boy, you know."

Dohyun hesitated. But then he nodded and smiled softly. "Alright. Be careful."

"Always am~"

And just like that, Jihoon disappeared into the hallway with that familiar bounce in his step-utterly unaware of the dread tightening around Dohyun's chest like a noose.

————

10:11 AM.

It started small.

A faint siren in the distance.

Then another.

Then another-louder, sharper, overlapping in a rising chorus of panic.

Dohyun frowned, walking slowly back to the window.

Down on the street, people had stopped. Some turned toward the noise. Others checked their phones. A woman shouted from a nearby balcony. Somewhere, a child began to cry.

Then came the first scream.

A sharp, blood-chilling sound that tore through the street like a ripple.

A sudden CRASH rang out-loud, metallic.

Dohyun flinched as a car slammed into another at full speed just down the block. The noise of shattering glass and screaming metal filled the air.

Then smoke. From the hood.

People scrambling.

A man limped from the wreckage, bleeding.

Someone shouted for help-but no one moved.

He backed away from the window, heart hammering.

What the hell is this?

Then-

BOOM.

The floor vibrated beneath his feet.

The windowpane rattled violently.

In the distance, a plume of black smoke rose into the sky-thick and fast, curling up from one of the city's commercial districts.

And a second later-

A fireball bloomed.

A building had exploded.

Glass and debris shot outward. The blast echoed through the city like a war drum. Alarms began to scream from every direction.

Dohyun's breath caught. "No. No, this isn't—this isn't right."

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Not yet. Not now.

His mind flashed.

Jihoon.

And just like that-nothing else mattered. Without hesitation, Dohyun turned and bolted for the door.

————

The stairwell echoed with his footsteps as he flew down it.

His chest burned.

His mind raced.

Jihoon. Jihoon. Jihoon.

By the time he hit the street, chaos had spilled in every direction.

People were screaming. Running. Some were covered in blood.

Others shouted names of loved ones. Cars had slammed into poles, crashed into each other.

Smoke and sirens choked the air.

"Back away! You can't go this way!" a police officer shouted, arms stretched out to block him.

Dohyun tried to push past.

"My boyfriend's out there-he went that way! I have to-"

"You don't understand, it's not safe-"

A scream tore through the air.

The officer turned just in time to see his partner get dragged down by a man-no, not a man-something twisted, jaw unhinged, blood on its face.

It tore into the officer's neck.

People screamed louder.

Dohyun didn't wait.

While everyone else turned to run-he pushed through. Everywhere he turned, the city was unraveling. A bus had swerved off the road, smoke pouring from its hood. A child stood sobbing beside a body in the street.

Sirens wailed from every direction.

From an alley, he saw a woman biting into another's arm, tearing flesh as the victim writhed.

No one tried to help.

Dohyun's heart pounded.

Jihoon. Please. Please-

He didn't realize how far he'd run until his lungs started to burn.

Then he saw it.

Across the intersection, at the edge of a small convenience shop-

Jihoon.

His palms were slammed against the glass, screaming.

"OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE, PLEASE-OPEN-!"

But inside, people cowered.

One man shook his head and locked the second latch.

"No-NO, PLEASE!" Jihoon pounded harder. "Don't-! Please-!"

Dohyun's stomach dropped.

Two infected rounded the far corner, sprinting toward Jihoon's direction in jagged, animal-like movements.

Dohyun's eyes widened. "JIHOON!"

Jihoon heard, then turned

"Dohyun!?".

But the infected didn't stop.

He reached for his gun-damn it, he forgot it.

There wasn't enough time.

Too fast. Too close.

Dohyun didn't think. Didn't plan.

He moved.

The street was in chaos. Too many people running, too many cars crashed.

Then he saw a man stood frozen nearby-paralyzed by the chaos, eyes locked on the horror unfolding.

Dohyun lunged, grabbed his collar. "BASTARD MOVE!"

The man blinked, stammered a breath, took a shaky step-

Too late.

Dohyun shoved him hard-straight into the path of the infected.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YO-" The scream was cut short.

The infected crashed into him, teeth tearing into flesh as he hit the ground. Jihoon's eyes widened in horror, as he turned just in time to see it.

His whole body trembled.

"W—wha—!"

Dohyun reached him.

He didn't get to scream more-

without a word, he grabbed Jihoon's wrist, yanked hard.

"We have to Run. Now."

They didn't stop.

Dohyun's mind raced as they darted between parked cars, knocked-over trash bins, and panicked civilians.

They ran until their legs burned, until the chaos behind them blurred into noise and fire.

He needed shelter. Fast.

There-a car. Abandoned. Door open. Engine off.

He shoved Jihoon inside, followed, slammed it shut.

Only then did he allow himself to breathe.

Jihoon was breathing hard-panicked-face pale and eyes wide with tears.

His hands were covered in dust and blood-none of it.

His voice cracked.

"What... what was that-what just-Dohyun...?"

Dohyun reached over, pulled him into his arms tightly.

His heart was pounding too fast to speak. His whole body trembled as he cried in Dohyun's arms, pupils wide with shock. Disbelief tangled with fear.

"Th-that man... he died... D-Dohyun, what did you do?"

He looked at him, betrayed.

"You pushed him-! You pushed him-!"

"I know," Dohyun gasped. His chest heaved. "I know what I did."

His voice broke, not from regret-but from the truth he couldn't hide. "I didn't have a choice, Jihoon. I'd do it again if it meant keeping you alive. I'd kill ten people if it meant saving you."

Jihoon's breath caught.

But Dohyun kept going. "I'm sorry. I know it was cruel. I know it's terrifying. But I don't feel guilt—not for anyone else. Only for you."

He leaned in, his voice trembling. "You're the only one who matters to me."

Jihoon's eyes brimmed with tears.

"...Why-why is this happening now? You said we had time. You said three weeks..."

"I did," Dohyun whispered. His jaw clenched hard.

"It was supposed to start on November 1st. I was sure. I remembered it."

He looked out at the burning city, heart sinking.

"...But something's changed."

"...And it's happening too soon."

As he stared through the windshield-people still running, sirens still wailing.

And in his mind-

Did I really change the future... or just make it arrive faster?

————

Dohyun twisted the ignition.

Lucky the key was still intact.

The car coughed... then roared to life.

He checked the fuel gauge - three-quarters full.

Good enough.

He gripped the wheel tight, his eyes flicking to the side mirror.

Outside, the chaos hadn't slowed.

People screamed, stumbled, bled.

He spotted a teenage girl clutching her stomach, crawling behind a trash bin, her fingers smeared red.

His eyes burned.

They weren't ready.

No one was ready.

A trembling hand wrapped around his wrist. "Dohyun..."

Jihoon. His voice cracked, raw with fear. "Please... Let's just go to the airport. We can leave now. We can catch a flight. Please..."

His voice broke at the edges.

His eyes shimmered, puffy from crying. He looked like a frightened child in the skin of a grown man.

Dohyun's expression didn't soften. "No."

"But-"

"The airport will be hell," Dohyun said coldly. "It started there. The customs line. First bite was in an inspection room. Within an hour the whole terminal fell. You'll walk into a massacre."

Jihoon's mouth fell slightly open. His lips trembled, but no sound came.

Dohyun turned toward him, brushing his knuckles gently against Jihoon's pale cheek. "I need you to stay here, Baby. Lock the doors. If anything comes close—don't move, don't make a sound."

Jihoon's fingers clutched at Dohyun's sleeve, voice soft with worry.

"Wait-are you going out?"

Dohyun nodded, gaze steady.

"We need the supplies. At the apartment

His hand Grabbed dohyun's sleeves tighten. Panic rising in his voice.

"Huh-Are you crazy?! You can't go out there alone!"

Dohyun's eyes flicked to the chaos outside, then back to Jihoon. "I have to. We need the supplies-everything's still at the apartment."

"Then I'm going with you."

Jihoon tried to move from his seat, but Dohyun caught him by the shoulders.

"No. Absolutely not."

His voice was low but firm.

"It's too dangerous. I need you to stay safe, Jihoon. Please."

Jihoon shook his head, voice breaking.

"But I-what if you don't come back?"

Dohyun leaned closer.

Slowly, he brought his hand up and rested it against Jihoon's cheek, thumb brushing gently across his skin.

Then, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jihoon's forehead-slow, lingering.

"I'll come back to you," he whispered.

"No matter what."

Jihoon's hands trembled as he held on to Dohyun's sleeve.

"Promise me."

A beat passed-filled with every unsaid word between them.

Dohyun looked him in the eyes.

"I promise."

————

The apartment building loomed ahead like a rotting carcass in the dusk-windows blown out, scorched edges framing the hollowed bones of what once was home.

Dohyun pulled the car up to the curb and killed the engine.

"Stay here. Don't open the door no matter what". He said firm toward jihoon who responded with a single nod.

Then... No hesitation.

He stepped out, hood drawn up, barehanded.

His snicker crunched on broken glass, the wind carrying a foul mix of burning rubber, blood, and something worse-death left too long in the summer heat.

Sirens screeched far off.

Closer still: screaming. Wet, panicked.

Then-cut off.

The front doors hung loose-barely on their hinges.

The glass wasn't just cracked-it was blown inward, like something exploded from within.

A dark arterial spray painted the wall. A severed arm rested against the base like a broken umbrella.

Dohyun didn't flinch.

He stepped over it.

Inside, the hallway was slaughter.

Blood soaked the carpet.

Bits of skull crunched under his clean snicker.

Something soft squelched beneath his heel-an eye, maybe.

A stroller lay overturned by the stairs, one wheel still spinning.

On the wall-tiny red handprints, dragged down like someone had been pulled away screaming.

He moved like a phantom.

Fast. Precise. Eyes sweeping corners.

Just the bag. Just get the supplies.

Quiet. No sound.

He skipped the elevator. Took the stairs. Two steps at a time.

Second floor.

The air shifted. Hot. Copper. Rotten. Familiar.

Dohyun slowed. He knew that stench.

Infection. Transition. Death-in-progress.

From the above—a gurgling sound. Wet. Sharp. Like meat churned in a blender. He crept up another step.

Another.

There-on the landing-a man in a janitor uniform.

Sprawled against the wall, chest heaving. Fingers twitching like dying spiders. Eyes wide. Vacant.

Then-

CRRRRK.

His ribs snapped outward as if something inside him was rearranging, tearing its way through meat and bone. His spine cracked with a jagged pop, head lolling unnaturally.

Muscles tore open. His mouth split at the corners like wet paper, lips curling back from teeth too wide for a human jaw.

A sound clawed out of him.

A moan.

But not from this world.

Dohyun didn't blink. He took a step back.

Turned.

SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK.

It lunged.

Faster than a corpse should move. Skin peeling in strips, eyes milk-white, jaw hanging in two halves. Black bile frothed from its throat.

No weapon. No gun. Just him.

Dohyun pivoted, dodging the swipe, and slammed his elbow into the thing's throat. Bone cracked.

It reeled—but came again.

He caught it by the hair and smashed its face into the railing. The jaw unhinged further, tearing on metal.

Blood gushed.

It howled.

He grabbed its skull with both hands and rammed it against the stairs, once.

Twice.

A third time-harder.

The sound was wet wood cracking.

Still, it moved-clawing, twitching.

He straddled its back, shoved it down with a growl, and dug his thumbs into its eye sockets, deeper, until they popped.

It shrieked, biting at the air.

Dohyun's hand raised, as he slammed his fist against its temple with a savage grunt.

CRACK.

Then again.

CRACK.

The thing spasmed. Twitched.

He rolled off, panting. Blood dripping from his sleeves, his nose, his hands.

But it still moved.

Still reached.

With a snarl, Dohyun stood-and stomped.

CRUNCH.

Again.

CRUNCH.

Until the head was a pulp of skull and brain, splattered across the stairs like a crushed watermelon left to rot.

Chunks of jaw and teeth clung to the soles of his white turned-to-red snicker.

He didn't look away. Didn't breathe.

Then-slowly-he wiped his sleeve across his cheek, leaving a bloody smear across pale skin.

His eyes burned. But not with fear.

Focus. Rage. Purpose.

He turned and started up the stairs.

No pause. No glance back.

He'd done this before.

He'd do it again.

And this time, no one he loved would die.

————

The hallway stank of decay.

By the time Dohyun reached their apartment, his shoes were soaked.

Blood, bile, and whatever oozed from the corpses he'd crushed on the stairs.

The door-

Oh? It's Unlocked. He must have forgotten to lock it when he left.

He didn't hesitate. Dohyun shoved it open and slammed it shut behind him. Locked it.

Silence.

No infected. Not yet.

The place was gladly untouched. Boxes stacked by the wall. Jihoon had packed them neatly, like he knew they'd need to run one day.

Dohyun dropped to his knees and tore the first one open.

Water bottles. Canned soup. Bandages.

He shoved it all into a duffel bag with quick, practiced movements.

A second box.

Painkillers, vitamins, rubbing alcohol. Ammos, another weapon. And last is his pistol which he bought in the dark market, wrapped in a towel.

He grabbed it, checked the chamber. Loaded. Full mag. But he didn't raise it.

Gunshots meant noise. Noise meant death. He zipped the bag shut.

Then-

A sound.

Soft. Wet.

Sniffling.

His eyes snapped toward the closet.

Dohyun rose slowly, pistol loose in his grip.

He approached.

"Who's in there?" he called out, voice cold.

Silence.

Then-

"...Please... don't..."

He grabbed the handle. Yanked it open.

Inside: a man. Early twenties. Shirt stained red. Pale. Eyes wide with tears.

"Please," he whispered. "Don't hurt me..."

Dohyun didn't blink. "Are you bitten?"

"No-no, I swear-it's not mine. My roommate... he didn't make it. I-I ran, I hid-"

"Show me your neck."

The man hesitated.

Dohyun raised the pistol-not aiming to shoot, just aiming to silence hesitation.

Shaking, the man stood. Showed his arms. His legs. His neck.

Nothing.

But something felt wrong.

"How long have you been in there?"

"I don't know-ten minutes? Maybe more-"

Ten minutes. Long enough.

But...

Dohyun's eyes narrowed.

Then he saw it.

Just under the man's left ear-barely visible beneath his hair.

A bite.

Small. Fresh. Still glistening.

His blood went cold. "You lied."

The man froze. Guilt, terror in his eyes. then his expression twitched.

There's something else.

Regret?

"...I just didn't want to die alone."

LUNGE.

The man moved too fast.

But Dohyun was faster.

CRACK.

He slammed the pistol into the man's temple mid-air-bone split, blood sprayed.

A scream.

Dohyun caught the wrist mid-swing, twisted until it snapped-CRUNCH-the flesh peeling as tendon tore.

The scream became a howl.

"Tsk! Too noisy". Dohyun didn't stop.

He dragged the man forward, spun him, and kicked-ribs shattered beneath his shoes, the man's body slammed against the table.

Wood cracked. Blood smeared.

He tried to crawl.

"Pathetic."

Dohyun stepped over and ripped the bags off the floor. Without a word, he backed out.

Slam.

Click.

Lock.

From inside came the transformation.

Screaming, then shrieking.

Skin ripping, bones dislocating.

Flesh slapping the floor.

Nails clawing the walls.

Teeth clicking.

Then the thud of a body slamming against the door again and again.

Dohyun didn't flinch. He backed away, slowly.

Breathing steady. Eyes flat.

He didn't waste a bullet.

Didn't waste time.

Didn't feel guilt.

He'd done this before.

And he'd do it again.

———————————————––––———————

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