Yurim hid, pressed into the shadows, her body shaking as confusion and fear twisted together inside her.
"Where am I? Why can't I remember anything?" Yurim whispered, grabbing her head.
"A human… I smell a human," a few students passing by whispered to each other.
Yurim's breath stuttered.
"S-smell of a human…?" she whispered, then clamped a hand over her mouth, terrified that even a sound would give her away.
Somehow, she slipped out of the locker room and ran down the hallway without thinking. Her heart pounded loudly.
She quickly spotted another empty room and blindly ran inside, but—
Suddenly –
She crashed straight into someone.
She froze. Fear chilling her spine.
Slowly, she looked up. A boy stood in front of her, staring down at her with a mix of confusion and curiosity.
His eyes met hers — steady and unreadable.
Tears burned her eyes.
"Please… let me go," she whispered, her voice breaking.
In her mind flashed the image of the creature she had seen earlier—dragged away, screaming.
He said nothing.
Without a word, he removed her hand from his sleeve and walked past her, leaving her standing there alone.
Yurim turned toward him in confusion.
But her thoughts snapped back to the locker room. She looked around frantically, searching for a place to hide —
but no.
"I can't hide here… other students might come," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Yurim didn't stay.
Somehow, she escaped the school and stumbled into a dark alley.
Night had fallen. The streets looked familiar, yet completely wrong. People walked by — human faces, human clothes — but something about them felt off.
The truth settled in her chest, cold and terrifying.
Suddenly, slurred voices rose behind her. A group of drunk, human-looking figures turned their heads at the same time.
Their eyes sharpened.
"Am I smelling a human…?" one of them whispered, staring straight at her.
Yurim's eyes widened.
"What is happening to me .....… what should I do now?" she muttered, tears filling her eyes again.
Without thinking, Yurim ran.
Footsteps crashed behind her as panic took over.
She didn't know where she was going — only that she couldn't stop. Her vision blurred, her lungs burned, until she collided with someone again.
It was him.
The same boy.
Her legs gave out. Yurim grabbed his arm, trembling.
"Please… help me," she begged, barely able to speak.
He looked at her, then at the drunk figures.
His hand lifted slightly, reaching toward hers — but then his eyes shifted somewhere else, and he stopped.