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Jongin lets out a frustrated groan for the nth time that night. It’s way past dismissal time but he and his partner are still stuck in their lab to do additional research. Curse his smartass partner for choosing such a complicated topic.
“Chanyeol, professor Kim gave us a chance to change our topic. This looks hopeless.” Jongin whines.
“You think it’s hopeless because you lack dedication dude. You don’t know how much recognition we could get if we actually pull this off.” Chanyeol explains as he scrolls down the thirtieth news article that he’s been reading that night.
“And if we don’t pull it off, we’re not going to graduate.” Jongin points out.
Chanyeol was about to make a smart retort when lightning and thunder suddenly strikes, a strong downpour comes right after. Jongin glares at his thesis partner. “I didn’t bring an umbrella, how are we supposed to go home now?”
“Wait,” Chanyeol raises a finger like he realized something. “I think we found a solution.” he gestures outside. “I saw an easier method earlier that only requires high electric voltage, this is our answer.”
Jongin’s eyes widen at him. “Dude are you crazy? That’s too dangerous!” he exclaims.
“Now or never, Jongin.” Chanyeol cocks an eyebrow at him.
Jongin sighs in defeat. “I’ll go get the cooler.” he grumbles.
“I’ll get the lightning rod. Meet me at the field in five minutes. Handle the cooler with care.” Chanyeol says before scurrying out.
Jongin scoffs as he takes the cooler that they brought. He is definitely going to regret this but on the bright side, this might be what Chanyeol needs in order to give up on this stupid topic.
Jongin hugs the cooler onto his chest and starts running towards the field. He gets there first and Chanyeol comes after with the lightning rod and an umbrella in hand. On the other hand, Jongin is already completely soaked from the rain.
“We need to hurry, take this and I’ll do the setup.” Chanyeol says as he hands him the umbrella. Jongin complies because he really is in no mood to work anymore. Chanyeol has kept him in the lab three hours past dismissal time. He hasn’t even eaten dinner yet.
Chanyeol opens the cooler and Jongin winces at the foul stench. There were two things in the cooler. One, a dead cat and two, a pig’s brain.
It was during their internship when Chanyeol thought of their thesis topic. They were interns at a prestigious hospital and they were often told to observe whenever one of the neurosurgeons have a scheduled operation. Chanyeol asks questions a lot and in one of his conversations with their superiors, he learned that his superior has actually revived a pig’s brain hours after its death.
This thought alone branches out into more ideas for Chanyeol because if it is possible for a pig’s brain then it could be possible for a human’s as well. When the brain enters a death spiral, scientists consider it as irreversible and that’s what Chanyeol is trying to find a solution for. But since they’re still students, he’d try it out first for animals.
Jongin just got dragged into this because Chanyeol is his best friend and they’ve been partners throughout their whole college journey. He honestly wants a much safer and easier topic but Chanyeol likes taking risks.
“Is this even going to work? The brain is supposed to be… fresher, right? It’s been hours. Don’t even get me started with that cat.” Jongin worriedly asks.
“There is nothing to lose. We can always try again tomorrow.”
Jongin is sure that his partner is close to turning into a mad scientist. The dead cat has been with them for two days already and they went to the butcher’s that afternoon for the pig’s brain. He can’t imagine doing this again. He’s not sure if his sanity could take it and it’s not like there’s going to be a thunderstorm everyday.
Chanyeol places the cat on the ground and the brain right on the other side. He fixes the wires of the contraption he and Jongin worked on as an improvised dialysis machine to make the blood circulate. Chanyeol is one heck of a genius and Jongin isn’t that bad himself. Lastly, Chanyeol takes the lightning rod and plants it in between the two.
Lightning and thunder strikes again, a bit louder and closer this time and Jongin tries his best not to flinch. “Uhm Chanyeol, we need to move somewhere further.” he says.
“Okay, all set.” Chanyeol grins. “Let’s go.”
They both run towards the bleachers to take shelter. Jongin justs wants it all over with. Thunder and lightning continue to clash and Jongin had to cover his ears because it keeps getting louder. “This is insane!” he yells at Chanyeol.
“I know, right?” Chanyeol chuckles as if he’s proud of it.
Jongin was about to yell again when lightning suddenly strikes the rod. “It worked!” Chanyeol exclaims.
“Hold on genius, we still haven’t seen the results.” Jongin tells him.
“I need to check.” the taller says.
“Wait it’s too--” All of a sudden, the lightning strikes from the ground up and an explosion on the exact spot happens. It wasn’t that huge but it was enough to make the two fall back due to shock.
The rain calms down right after that and the lightning and thunder stops. When it all clears out, they both see a hole in the field due to the explosion. There were also small patches of fire on the grass.
“Holy shit.” Chanyeol gasps.
“Chanyeol, we need to go. There might be a guard or a janitor that heard that, we’ll be in trouble.” Jongin panics.
“No, no wait. We still need to check the results.” Chanyeol brushes him off as he went to the middle of the field.
“Do you think the cat and the brain would survive that explosion? Well technically they’re dead but we basically turned them into mush!” Jongin mentally apologizes to the dead cat that they found on the street. He never should have allowed Chanyeol to take it.
Jongin was in the midst of a mental breakdown but he follows the elder anyways. He sees that Chanyeol has actually stopped midway. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Jongin asks.
“Dude, I think I saw something move there.” Chanyeol says.
“Don’t joke around--” Jongin stops when he sees the serious expression on the other’s face. “It worked?”
“Let’s check together.”
Jongin snorts. “Now you’re acting cowardly?”
“No for real, something really moved.”
Jongin gulps but he nods anyways. They slowly step closer towards the hole. Every step feels agonizingly slow and right when he’s just one step away from it. Chanyeol suddenly pushes him and screams which causes him to yell in surprise as well.
Jongin was covering his face in fear when he suddenly hears Chanyeol laughing. The younger of the two uncovers his face and glares at the elder once again. “Not cool man.”
“You should’ve seen the look on your face.” Chanyeol guffaws.
Jongin turns to him and raises his middle finger. “Good luck finding a new partner, asshole.” he threatens.
Chanyeol’s laughter suddenly dies out and his eyes widen in shock again. He slowly steps back. “Jongin, don’t move.” he says.
“Haha, very funny.” Jongin mocks. “The first time was effective but I’m not going to fall for that again. I’m not stupid.”
Chanyeol looks completely terrified. He’s a great actor, Jongin will give him that.
“Hnnngg…”
Jongin stiffens when he hears groaning. Chanyeol’s mouth was agape in shock so it couldn’t have been him. Shivers suddenly run down his spine when he realizes that Chanyeol isn’t acting anymore.
He suddenly feels a cold hand wrapping around his ankle and he just freezes. Chanyeol, on the other hand, bolts out--the traitor. Jongin slightly turns and he sees a figure of a person standing right behind him.
“Fuck, fuck fuck.” he internally curses.
He kicks the hand away and turns to look. He nearly faints when he sees that it really is a person that’s emerging from the hole in the ground.
“Chanyeol!” Jongin shouts as he runs after the other. Stupid Chanyeol. Stupid thesis topic. Stupid dead cat. Stupid pig’s brain. Stupid lightning. Jongin is cursing everything as he catches up with Chanyeol.
“Dude what the fuck is that?!” he yelps.
“I don’t know, that was not supposed to happen!” Chanyeol screeches.
They were already halfway through the field when they look back and surprisingly, the figure they saw isn’t chasing them at all. Just like every dumb main character in a horror movie, they both stop and turn around.
Jongin squints and he sees the figure struggling to climb out of the hole. It really is a body of a person. It’s pretty dark but Jongin could tell that the figure is a man, he had black hair and it looks like he’s wearing a uniform.
“A student?” Chanyeol asks.
Jongin gulps. “Should we check?”
Chanyeol warily glances at him. “Together.” he nods.
Jongin agrees. They both return to the spot slowly. Dumb horror movie characters indeed.
They both gasp when they see that it really is a person that emerged from the ground. “Hey, who are you?” Chanyeol asks shakily.
The… person? Grunts in response, he places his palms against the grass and he shakily gets up. Jongin notices how pale his skin is. It’s literally skin that is as white as snow.
Jongin observes his body and his breath hitches when he sees a ghastly cut on his chest, his uniform is also stained with so much blood. “C-chanyeol?” he stammers. The other looks just as terrified as he is.
"Jongin, I think I know what he is…" Chanyeol says.
"Huh? What am I?"
They both flinch back when the person suddenly speaks. His voice is actually… softer than what they expected him to sound like.
The person suddenly lifts his gaze to look at them and they look at him in bewilderment. He almost looks… normal.
Heck, if Jongin isn't terrified shitless he'd even think that this creature in front of him is beautiful. He looks just about their age and is about the same height as him.
"Do I know you two?" the creature speaks again.
"Are you harmless?" Chanyeol suddenly asks.
The creature looks confused. "Huh? Why wouldn't I be?"
Chanyeol steps closer to Jongin. "Dude… I think he's a zombie."
Jongin looks at Chanyeol in disbelief. "Then why isn't he attacking us?"
Chanyeol looks at the creature again. "Perhaps he's really harmless."
"Please explain to me what's going on. What are we doing here this late? Did you two take me here?"
"First of all, you emerged from the ground so if anyone should be asking questions it's us." Chanyeol retorts.
"I think I… fell?" he asks.
He really looks clueless and it doesn't look like he's lying at all.
"Do you have a name?" Jongin asks.
"Sehun, I'm Oh Sehun." he introduces.
"Sehun," Jongin repeats. It's a nice name.
The creature--Sehun, takes the time to look at him then Chanyeol. He then looks around the field as well.
"Sehun, how long have you been… there?" Chanyeol warily asks as he points the hole.
Sehun scratches his head. Jongin notices some faint marks on his wrists. "I think I fell and lost consciousness for a bit? I don't know… I can't remember much."
Jongin doesn't know where to start. Although a part of him wanted to run for his life because this is something that science can't explain, another part is desperately looking for answers to whatever phenomenon this is.
"I'm sorry to tell you this but that," he points at the wound on Sehun's chest. "Doesn't look like something that happened because of a fall."
Sehun frowns at him in confusion before following Jongin's pointer finger. He looks completely baffled then he frantically places his palms over his bloody clothes.
"No way…" he pants.
Sehun raises his shirt in and all three of them were left stunned when they see a wound. It wasn't bleeding but the wound looks deep and painful.
Sehun slowly drops onto his knees. "What… what's wrong with me? What happened to me?" he asks. "Did you do this?"
"No! We were just working on our research then you suddenly showed up. We're just as confused as you are." Chanyeol explains.
Sehun takes the time to observe himself. He looks at his arms, his legs then he touches his face. "I… died?" he asks in complete disbelief.
While Chanyeol tries to think of an explanation, Jongin observes Sehun once again. Aside from the wound on his chest and the marks on his wrists, there were also some parts of his clothes that were torn. He wasn't wearing any shoes either.
"You were killed…" Jongin says. Sehun looks at him and that's when Jongin notices that there was something different in his eyes. His pupils were dilated. He looks like he's dazed or something.
"But… but how am I?" Sehun blinks at them.
"That's something we don't know too but--" Chanyeol stops when he spots a flash of light at one corner. It was probably one of the security guards.
"We need to go." Chanyeol says.
"But what about him?" Jongin asks.
"We'll take him with us."
"B-but he's…"
"Completely harmless, am I right?" Chanyeol asks.
Sehun still looks completely dumbfounded but he nods anyways. "I just want answers. Please."
Jongin rubs his palms against his face. "Okay, make sure we left no traces here. We can hide him in our dorm in the meantime."
Chanyeol makes sure that the lightning rod and the cooler are nowhere in sight. Jongin faces Sehun. "Can you run?"
Sehun makes no response. "Jongin, we need to hurry. The guard will get here soon." Chanyeol urges.
He doesn't wait for Sehun to reply. Instead, he grabs Sehun by the waist and carries him over his shoulder before running after Chanyeol. Sehun is surprisingly light for someone who's supposed to be dead (not that he carried a dead body before but he knows they're supposed to be heavier because well... dead weight).
Jongin is thankful that he and Chanyeol are staying at the same dorm. They’re staying at different floors though and Chanyeol happens to have a roommate so it automatically means that Sehun is going to be staying with him. They enter as quietly as possible. They all have their own spare keys for the front door anyways so they have no curfew to worry about. They manage to get in Jongin’s bedroom without any suspicions.
And now here they are standing in Jongin’s bedroom, all soaking wet due to the rain with an… undead being right in front of them.
Sehun is just looking around like he’s familiarizing himself with the place. Jongin doesn’t even find him that scary anymore but he’s still a bit disturbed even though Sehun really doesn’t look like he’s going to hurt him. From the way Chanyeol is looking at Sehun, he could tell that the other is fascinated too.
“Wow, now that I can finally look at you better you really are one.” Chanyeol breaks the silence.
Sehun looks at him. “I’m what?”
“You really are a zombie.” Chanyeol concludes.
“A zombie…” Sehun repeats. He places his hand over his chest, right where the wound should be. “I still don’t get it. I don’t even remember dying.”
“Sehun I know this is weird but Jongin and I are biology majors. Is it alright if I take a good look at you for a bit?” Chanyeol hesitantly asks.
Sehun still looks like he’s having a hard time processing everything that’s going on but he still nods and say, “Okay.”
Chanyeol moves the chair over and asks him to sit down. Once Sehun is seated, he takes a hold of the other’s arm and they he places a hand over his neck. “You have no pulse.” he says. “Jongin come on, check this out.”
Jongin is hesitant but he checks it out himself anyways. Sehun’s body is cold and he really has no pulse but despite that, his skin is soft and supple. “The reason you’re here is because our experiment went wrong.” Jongin honestly says as he crouches down. “We were trying to revive a dead cat and this pig’s brain but we didn’t know that you were… there.”
Sehun’s brows furrow at him. “A dead cat?” he repeats. “And a pig’s brain?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy.” he side eyes Chanyeol. “But we were trying to strike those with more than a hundred thousand volts of electricity so we put a lightning rod in between them. In other words we were trying to pull a Frankentstein.” he explains. “And it somehow ended up with you living instead?”
“Wait, it still doesn’t explain anything. I’m not supposed to be dead. Why did I die and why was I there instead?” Sehun sounds distressed.
That was when the realization hits them both. “Oh fuck, you were killed on campus.” Chanyeol says.
“And he was buried there… this whole time.” Jongin cringes at the thought.
Sehun covers his mouth in shock and disgust. Jongin pities him, he can’t imagine how the other feels. He wakes up one day and realizes that he’s dead and it looks like he has no recollection of his recent memories either.
“So if it wasn’t for your experiment, I would’ve stayed dead… does anyone even know?” Sehun worriedly asks.
If Sehun’s body was buried in their school this whole time then that probably means that no one knows that he’s dead. He’s probably reported as missing if ever.
“Where do you live? Your family is probably searching for you.” Chanyeol asks.
“I have no family.” Sehun quietly answers. “I live with my aunt but we’re not exactly on good terms. I barely come home and it’s not like I can show myself to her or her family either, not in this state.”
“Wait, you’re a student at our university too, so what’s your major? Do you have any friends?”
"I take journalism. I've only been here for one semester so I only have acquaintances." Sehun explains.
"I see." Chanyeol crosses his arms. "This situation is a lot more messed up than I thought." he huffs. "We need to find a way to return you to normal, we can't have you running around campus."
"Please don't." Sehun says. He looks down on the floor and bows his head. "I don't even know why I was killed. I can't go like this."
Chanyeol purses his lips. "You don't understand, this situation is… unexplainable and dangerous. It's bad enough that we resurrected a corpse but now we have a murder case intertwined with it as well? This could harm both Jongin and I."
"So what now… you'll find a way to kill me again?" Sehun murmurs.
Chanyeol exhales. "Look, you're already dead so we're technically not going to kill you."
"I just… want to find out why my life ended up like that." Sehun says, voice breaking. "Don't I deserve to know the truth?"
Chanyeol looks like he's about to counter again but Jongin cuts him off. "Dude, it's our fault for bringing him back. I don't think my conscience can take it if we brush this off right after knowing what just happened to him."
"We're biology majors Jongin, not detectives." Chanyeol hisses.
"And we're not criminals either." Jongin snaps. "He got murdered and if we ignore that, we're just as bad as the person that did this to him."
"Please," Sehun begs. "You're working on your research, right? Use me all you want for that and in return, I just want to find out the truth." he bargains.
"Listen, you don't know what you're saying. We're the same guys that just used a lightning rod on a dead cat, you can't just offer yourself up like this." Chanyeol warns.
"I'm begging you." he pleads. "You'll need me for your research and I need you to find out the truth. Let's help each other. Please."
Jongin looks over at Chanyeol, his partner seems to be in deep thought. “Okay fine.” he sighed in defeat. “But don’t make it sound like we’re just going to use you. I honestly feel sorry for you and I really want to help but I’m just worried, okay?”
“Everything about this situation is scary.” Jongin adds.
“Even me?” Sehun suddenly asks.
Jongin’s eyes widen a fraction and he stutters for a moment, Sehun sounded so dejected. “N-no, not you. You’re not scary at all. Of course it’s a lot to sink in but I don’t think I should be afraid of you.”
For the first time, Sehun actually smiles and Jongin actually finds the zombie boy pretty. Jongin tries his best to not flinch away when Sehun suddenly grabs his hands. “Oh, thank you so much. I promise I won’t cause any trouble. I’ll do my best to help in any way that I can.”
Sehun’s hands were really soft even if they were nearly ice cold. “We’ll try our best but we need to be really careful.” he assures.
“Yes, for the time being you’ll have to stay here in Jongin’s room. We have classes to attend to as well but we’ll work with you during our free time.” Chanyeol adds.
“That’s alright.” Sehun nods. “Thank you for this.”
“I’ll head over to my room now, my roommate might look for me. I’ll try my best to do some you know--zombie researching as well.” Chanyeol chuckles. “We have a lot of stuff to figure out. Will you be alright Jongin?"
"Yeah," Jongin nods. "I'll call you if something comes up."
"I'll be here first thing in the morning." Chanyeol says.
"Have a good night." Sehun says right before Chanyeol left.
Awkward silence falls upon Sehun and Jongin the moment that Chanyeol left. “I need to take a shower since I got soaked in the rain, so excuse me for a moment.” Jongin says. Sehun simply nods. He takes a shower and changes into his pajamas, Sehun is still seated on the same chair the moment he stepped out of the bathroom. “I think you should clean up too,” Jongin says as he picks out a different set of pajamas and a new towel for the other.
“I’ll do that later. I just need to let it all sink in first.” he fakes a smile. “I’m still not used to it.”
“Take your time, I know that this is very difficult for you.” he says. Awkward silence fills the air once again so Jongin tries to speak up again. Jongin clears his throat and Sehun thoughtfully looks at him.
"So… I have morning classes tomorrow so I should go to bed. Do zombies sleep?" Jongin immediately regrets asking the dumb question.
Sehun shrugs. "It's my first night as a zombie so I don't really know."
"Yeah, that's a stupid question." Jongin winces. "Uhh… you may take my bed."
Sehun quickly declines. "No, you should take it. I'd feel bad if you'd give that to me when you're already making me stay here."
Jongin feels exhausted so he doesn't argue. He opens his closet instead and grabs a blanket. "Take this in case you're going to sleep." he also hands him a pillow.
"Thank you Jongin." Sehun says.
"I'll turn off the lights, is that okay?" Jongin asks.
"Yeah sure."
"Wake me up if you need anything." Jongin reminds before switching off the lights.
Jongin drifts off to sleep easily due to exhaustion. He has a long day, week or probably even month ahead.
It was around dawn when Jongin hears the shower running. He shifts on his bed and tries to get back to sleep. Not even a few minutes have passed by when Jongin hears the bathroom door opening and light footsteps.
Jongin ignores it since it’s probably just Sehun getting ready for bed. He’s slowly falling back to sleep again when he suddenly feels a drop on his face. One drop, two drops, three…
Jongin slowly opens his eyes and he sees Sehun standing by his bedside, hair still dripping. "Is there something you need?" Jongin asks as he rubs his eyes.
Sehun makes no response and when Jongin squints he realizes that Sehun is naked. All the drowsiness disappears and he quickly tries to get up.
To his surprise, Sehun easily pushes him down and climbs onto the bed. "Se-Sehun?!"'Jongin stammers.
Sehun actually seems stronger right now since he easily has Jongin pinned down. Sehun's pupils were blown wide as he looks at Jongin.
"I'm… hungry." Sehun says lowly.
Jongin squirms as he tries to push the other off but Sehun is probably stronger since he's no longer human.
So this is it. This is how Jongin dies. He'll be devoured by a zombie right on his very own bed.
Jongin turns his face away when Sehun leans down. Sehun began nipping at his neck and he continues to nip until he reaches his collarbones. He flinches when Sehun bites him but not enough to make him bleed.
It felt… weird. Jongin thought his flesh was going to get torn off and he'll start bleeding to death but Sehun's just nipping, biting and licking his exposed skin.
"Oh fuck," Jongin curses when Sehun presses more of his weight against his.
He feels the blood stirring in his nether regions due to both the friction and the weird sensation that Sehun is giving him. The fact that Sehun is naked isn't helping either.
Sehun suddenly stops and Jongin notices that the zombie boy is staring at his lips. Before he could even react, Sehun leans down but instead of kissing he bites Jongin's lips instead and nibbles it. Sehun gives his plump lips one kittenish lick before he loses consciousness and falls limp against Jongin's body.
Jongin is wide eyed and stunned as he stares at the ceiling. He tries to calm himself. What the fuck just happened?
After convincing himself that he's kinda fine, he slowly moves Sehun's body off of his own. With one hand on Sehun's waist and the other supporting his back, he shifts their weight so that Sehun's resting on his bed. He notices how Sehun's body feels a bit warmer right now compared to his ice cold skin earlier.
He can conclude that Sehun loses control of himself when he's 'hungry' but was what he did just now even considered… eating? He was just biting and… tasting Jongin.
His eyes fall on Sehun's body. He feels his face heating up when he recalls how Sehun was pressed against him earlier. Sehun is lean and slender, he has broad shoulders and a small waist. Jongin stops himself before he ends up ogling him. It's wrong.
He pulls his hair in frustration as he stands up and paces around his room. He feels guilty. The worst part of this is the fact that he got turned on by whatever it is that just happened.
He takes his blanket and covers Sehun up with it. He'll have to explain things to both Sehun and Chanyeol tomorrow.
Jongin manages to fall asleep again but it didn't take long until he's awake again but this time it's because of his alarm.
He drags his feet to the bathroom and freshens up. He was having his morning hot chocolate when he hears Chanyeol knocking on his door.
"So, how's the specimen?" he immediately asks.
"He has a name, Chanyeol." Jongin rolls his eyes at him. "He's still asleep."
"Dude, you let him sleep on your bed?" Chanyeol gawks.
"Actually, there's a long story for that but I'll explain it once Sehun is awake too since he needs to know it as well." Jongin says.
"How do you wake a zombie up?" Chanyeol asks.
"The same way you wake a person up?" Jongin shrugs.
"I'll wake him then." Chanyeol says. He starts off by gently patting Sehun's shoulder. "Sehun, hey Sehun."
Sehun shifts and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He sees Chanyeol first. "Oh… good morning." he says with a yawn.
"Cute." Chanyeol mutters under his breath, Jongin hears it though.
Sehun sits up and Jongin nearly spits out his hot chocolate when he remembers why he covered Sehun up with the bedsheet in the first place.
The blanket slides down and reveals Sehun's milky white skin. Chanyeol gawks while Sehun blinks in confusion at first before he takes the blanket to hug it against his chest.
"Why am I naked?" Sehun asks.
Chanyeol gives Jongin a suspicious look. "Okay, I can explain."
So Jongin explains what happened. Of course he had to leave out the part where Sehun gave him something that's close to a kiss but not quite and the part where he actually gets turned on is something he'd take to his grave.
Once he finished narrating, Chanyeol looks completely interested while Sehun looks mortified and embarrassed.
"I-I really have no idea. I was just supposed to shower but then I got this weird feeling and everything turned black right after that." Sehun stutters.
"You said you were hungry." Jongin adds.
"But he did not eat you though." Chanyeol winces. "Okay that sounds weird but ignore it. I barely got any sleep too since I was reading out blogs and I even watched some zombie movies in case they would help. There are several types of zombies that appeared in different games, movies and series but Sehun has the most human like description among all."
"As far as I know, zombies eat flesh and honestly, I thought I was done for last night." Jongin tells.
"Well I guess it is only normal for Sehun actually act like a zombie at times. I've read somewhere in a forum that a zombies' first instinct is to eat so that's probably why Sehun kind of lost control of himself last night. It's the zombie part that's taking over." Chanyeol muses.
"What if it happens again? I don't really want to hurt any of you anymore." Sehun frowns.
"How did he return to normal, Jongin?" Chanyeol suddenly asks.
It was when Sehun licked his lips but he's not going to tell them that. "He lost consciousness, he probably feeds like that until he's satisfied?"
"Well as long as he doesn't eat us then it's fine, I guess." Chanyeol shrugs.
"What?" Jongin exclaims. "You haven't seen him in that state yet. He gets stronger. What if he doesn't just do that next time? I can't handle that alone."
Sehun looks down in shame and Jongin feels a bit bad for talking about him like that but it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I'll move into your room for the time being." Chanyeol sighs. "If it gets out of hand, at least there's two of us."
Jongin simply agrees. On the bright side, at least they will suffer together since Chanyeol got him into this mess in the first place.
"By the way, this might make you uncomfortable but is it alright if I check your wound?" Chanyeol asks.
Jongin can't even tell if Sehun is embarrassed because of the lack of color in his skin. Sehun avoids eye contact as he slowly puts the blanket down.
The cut wasn't big but it is deep. "It's a stab wound, right? Jongin asks.
"Looks like it." Chanyeol says as he brushes a finger over the cut. "He has bruises and marks all over his wrists too."
"There are marks on my ankles too." Sehun adds quietly.
Jongin exhales. "They didn't scar though, they just bruised so I'm guessing that it's either he didn't struggle much or the criminal used cloth instead of ropes."
Chanyeol and Jongin are definitely novices in the whole detective work but they did watch lots of crime movies and they read lots of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels.
"Sehun, do you know of any enemies or someone that would do this to you?" Chanyeol asks.
Sehun shakes his head. "Not that I remember. I never fought with anyone. And I think I never did anything wrong for someone to do something this… inhumane to me."
Sehun looks down again until his hair is covering most of his face but that wasn't enough to hide the tears that were falling. Chanyeol and Jongin exchanged sympathetic looks. Sehun didn't deserve to die.
"Hey, I'm sorry that this has to happen to you but we will do our best to find the truth so that you could get the justice you need." Chanyeol gently says as he takes a seat on the bed. "We need to find out more about you and your life if we have to solve this, but if you aren't ready yet we will give you time." he pats Sehun's shoulder.
Sehun still doesn't look up but he hurriedly wipes his tears. "I'm scared that I might put you two in harm's way. But I feel so selfish because I badly want to know the truth."
"You deserve the truth. Honestly, I'm terrified of this whole situation too but I really do want to help you." Chanyeol chuckles.
Sehun then looks at Chanyeol and gives him a small smile. "Thanks."
That's one thing Jongin envies about Chanyeol. He is always good with words.
"I'm sorry for last night Jongin." Sehun suddenly says.
Jongin clears his throat. "It's alright, it was something beyond your control and I wasn't hurt so it's fine."
Sehun smiles shyly at him and Jongin wants to pat his shoulder like Chanyeol did but he didn't move.
"Okay then, Jongin and I have to attend class now but I'll leave my spare phone with you, if something happens just call Jongin or me. Lock the door when we leave." Chanyeol reminds.
"Okay," Sehun nods.
Chanyeol leaves first but Jongin approaches Sehun one last time. "Try to keep yourself entertained while we're gone and if it could help, you may use my computer. Perhaps going through your social media or anything could help you recall your memories." he tells him.
"That's thoughtful of you. Thank you." Sehun says.
"Have a good day, Sehun." Jongin says before leaving.
Jongin couldn't focus on class and from the looks of it, Chanyeol can’t focus too. It’s the first time that he sees Chanyeol not paying attention to their professor. His partner is currently hiding his phone behind his book and it looks like he’s watching a series or something. When Jongin scoots closer, Chanyeol was watching The Walking Dead. Jongin shakes his head in disbelief before returning his attention to their professor.
During their break, Jongin and Chanyeol head over to the journalism department. If they're going to solve Sehun's case, they need to know more details about Sehun.
They head over to the office of their local student council. The president and secretary were both there.
"Hello, what can we do for you?" the president asks.
"Hi, we are actually here to ask about a student named Oh Sehun?" Chanyeol starts.
"Oh Sehun? Why?" she asks.
"Uhm… you see we made an online post about our thesis topic and he actually reached out to us and he wanted to make a documentary of our research procedures. His works were very interesting, so we want to work with him but we haven't had a chance to meet him yet." Chanyeol says.
Jongin is actually impressed, he didn't expect Chanyeol to lie that well.
"I see, let me check the records to see which class he's from." the secretary says as she types on her computer. It doesn't take long for the results to pop up. "He's the newbie that transferred last semester." she says.
"Yeah, that's all we know about him too." Jongin says.
The secretary suddenly frowns and raises an eyebrow at them. "When did he reach out to you two?"
"Last month?" Chanyeol quietly answers, hoping that it's not the wrong thing to say.
"That's weird, he hasn't shown up this whole semester at all." she says. "He hasn't filed for a transfer either but he did enroll. He won't be able to graduate on time at this rate." she clicks her tongue.
Jongin tries to hide his grimace. Sehun will not be able to graduate at all.
"When was the last time he attended class?" Jongin asks.
"Well I was here during the whole summer since I was a TA for the summer classes and I think I remember seeing him on campus a few times. I think he had a part time job."
"Ah right, I think I remember him." the president suddenly chimes in. "I see him heading over the science department a few times."
"Science department?" Chanyeol's ears perk in interest.
"I think he was a student assistant for someone there. You should ask around, they might know." the president says.
"Thank you, we'll do that." Chanyeol nods.
"Oh and if you two meet him, tell him to attend class or at least formally drop his classes so that he won't get any failed marks." the secretary adds in right when they were leaving.
"That's noted, thanks." Chanyeol says before saying goodbye.
Jongin lets out a sigh once they were outside the office. That talk only left a heavy feeling in his heart. Sehun was supposed to graduate this school year as well. No one even knows that he already passed away.
“Damn, I feel so sorry for Sehun.” Jongin frowns. “I can’t even tell if what we did is good or bad. Giving him life again means he could at least get justice for his death but we’re also causing him so much pain and sadness.”
“Jongin,” Chanyeol places a hand on his shoulder. “Giving him justice will give him peace too. It is his request for us to help him, let’s just do what we’re supposed to do.”
“Alright.” Jongin nods.
As they were walking back to their building, Chanyeol suddenly remembers something. "Didn't the president say that she saw Sehun at the science department a couple of times?"
"Oh right, she did say that."
"That means his part time job is probably at our department." Chanyeol says. "And the last time he's seen is during summer classes."
Jongin halts on his tracks. "Then the culprit could be…"
"Someone from our department." Chanyeol sighs.
Silence envelopes for a moment before Chanyeol speaks again. "What if we don't graduate because of this, Jongin?"
Jongin doesn't answer. Of course he'd be worried but it's not like they can just brush off Sehun's case either.
"We'll find a way, Chanyeol." is all he says. It will sound unbelievable but for Jongin, giving justice for Sehun is what's important. Who knows, if they find out who the culprit is then they might even save other student's lives.
During their last class, they worked on jotting down notes and revising their written paper for their research paper based on their experiment the previous day. But of course they weren't able to change a lot of things because Sehun's situation is really unexplainable.
"Hey, you two." they stop when their professor calls them.
"Yes professor Kim?" Chanyeol asks.
"What time did you two go home?" the professor asks.
They exchanged glances. "About an hour and a half after you dismissed us." Jongin answers.
"Well, you're no longer allowed to stay past eight here on campus starting today."
"But why?" Chanyeol asks.
"Well it might be dangerous. Have you two seen the mess at the open field yet? We still don't know what's the cause of that. Professor Lee is freaking out since the school board are insisting that it's probably our department's fault."
Jongin simply shrugs while Chanyeol laughs it off. "I think it's one of those students from the art department, they're always up to weird stuff." one of their classmates jokes.
"The engineering department do experiments too, why does it always have to be our fault." another follows in.
Luckily, that immediately changed the topic and took the attention off of Chanyeol and Jongin.
Once classes were over, they bought takeout and went to their dorm. Jongin went to his room while Chanyeol dropped by his first to take some of his things and to tell his roommate that he’s staying over at Jongin’s for a while.
“I’m back,” Jongin announces once he got in his room, and it’s weird since he never says that.
“Welcome back.” he hears Sehun’s voice.
Jongin sees Sehun seated on the floor right beside his bed. “Hey, what are you doing?” Jongin says as he places his bag right by his desk. Sehun has a marker on one hand and there were lots of sticky notes plastered on the wall in front of him.
“Oh, hi. I’m trying to recall most of my memories. I hope you don’t mind.” Sehun answers.
“No, that’s fine.” Jongin says as he climbs onto his bed and checks out the notes Sehun made. “I think this will be a great help for us.”
“Well I haven’t written much.”
“Have you used my computer? That might help.”
Sehun nods. “I did but I’m not really that active on social media so it wasn’t too helpful but I’m trying my best to manually remember everything.”
Jongin nods understandingly. He scoots forward to look at what Sehun wrote. He sees a few names and Jongin’s brows arch in interest when he sees summer job written on one. “Summer job? Chanyeol and I actually have a lead on that.”
“You do?” Sehun quickly turns to him.
Jongin freezes because he didn’t notice how close their faces were. Sehun didn’t seem to mind but Jongin feels so conscious. He really can’t help but think that the zombie boy is pretty. His skin is super pale yet it’s soft and smooth. His eyelashes were long and his lips look nice despite the lack of color. His eyes however, they look very dull and lifeless and Jongin wants a chance to at least see those eyes filled with life… too bad it’s no longer possible now.
Somehow Jongin can’t believe that he had the chance to kiss--well that’s not really considered a kiss but whatever--Sehun the previous night.
“Well… this is interesting.”
Jongin snaps out of it when Chanyeol enters his room. He gets up and properly sits on the edge of his bed. Sehun, on the other hand, acknowledges Chanyeol. “Hello there Chanyeol.”
“So, what did I miss?” Chanyeol looks over at Jongin with an interested look on his face. He knows that look, that’s the look they give each other when they’re trying to hookup with someone and that’s simply wrong especially in this situation.
“Not much.” Sehun shrugs. “Well Jongin told me you two have a lead about my summer job?”
“Well it’s not much but I think it’s a start.” Chanyeol says as he places his bag by the bed. “We were able to talk to some officers of the journalism department. The president says she saw you in our building a couple of times during summer. We think you probably worked for someone.” he explains.
“I did.” Sehun nods. “The only thing is I can’t remember who. But I remember bits when I was still working.”
“Mind telling us about those?” Chanyeol asks as he settles himself on the bed beside Jongin.
“I think I was an assistant for one of the professors.” Sehun says. “I needed extra money since my aunt doesn’t provide me with any and my other job isn’t enough.”
“You had two jobs?” Jongin asks.
“I remember working at a coffee shop, I’m not sure if I worked until summer though.” Sehun says.
“Doesn’t matter, the culprit is on campus since you’re killed here.” Chanyeol interrupts.
Sehun winces at the choice of words while Jongin rolls his eyes at his best friend. “Well it’s not like I can sugarcoat my words.”
“Sorry, I’m just… still not used to it.” Sehun forces out a smile. “By the way, how is your research going? We had a bit of progress with my case today so I think I should pay you back at least.”
“We’ll do that later. Jongin and I haven’t had dinner yet.” Chanyeol grins as he takes out the food they bought. “I still want to figure out what zombies eat though.”
“O...kay?” Sehun looks over at the food.
Sehun was observing them as they ate their dinner. In the middle of it, Chanyeol hands a forkful of meat over to Sehun and asks him to eat. Sehun takes one bite and the next thing they know, he’s running over to the bathroom to throw up. Chanyeol asks him to try fruits or vegetables too but it always ends up with Sehun running to the bathroom.
Chanyeol was taking notes. “How do you think about raw food?” he asks.
Jongin sighs and takes Chanyeol’s pen and paper away. “I think it’s confirmed that he can’t eat whatever we eat. We can’t keep doing this to him, don’t you feel bad?”
“It’s part of our research Jongin. We need to know what he eats too so that we can prevent him going all zombie mode on you or me.” Chanyeol retorts.
The bathroom door opens and they both see Sehun stepping out. His eyes were droopy and he’s wiping off the water off his face.
"Are you alright?" Jongin worriedly asks. He hands over a box of tissues to the other so that he could wipe his face.
Sehun simply nods before stumbling onto the floor. Jongin quickly gets up to check on him. “Sehun? Hey, do you want to lie down?”
“I’m alright.” Sehun quietly says.
Jongin glares over at Chanyeol. “Okay sorry, no more taste testing.” Chanyeol says.
The two finish their dinner and clean up. As they were working on their homework, Jongin notices that Sehun hasn’t moved from where he’s seated on the floor. Jongin takes a closer look and that was when Sehun moved.
Sehun slowly blinks at him and Jongin feels his blood running cold when he sees the familiar dilated pupils that woke him up last night. “Jongin,” Sehun softly calls. “I’m hungry.”
Jongin gulps and cautiously turns to Chanyeol. The taller obviously heard Sehun based on the look on his face right now. “Hey, you said you’ll help me deal with him.” Jongin says.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol nods as he takes his phone. “I’ll help.” he opens the camera and starts recording.
“A zombie just told you he’s hungry then the first thing you do is record it?” Jongin asks in disbelief.
“I’m documenting.” Chanyeol balances his phone against the books at Jongin’s desk before sitting down on the floor beside Jongin. Sehun starts panting and he absentmindedly crawls over to Jongin. The first thing he does is bury his face onto Jongin’s neck, the latter stiffens and looks over to his partner for help.
Sehun climbs onto Jongin’s lap and starts nipping on his neck again. Chanyeol cocks an eyebrow at him and smirks. “That looks nice.” he comments.
“Fuck off.” Jongin grunts as he tries to push Sehun off.
Sehun growls and bites him harder which causes him to yelp. “Chanyeol, make yourself useful. I can’t be his food all the time.” Jongin complains. “I already have enough marks to hide.”
"I don't know, maybe he has a taste he likes." Chanyeol jokes as he pokes Sehun's cheek.
The biting suddenly stops and Sehun turns towards Chanyeol now. "Oh…?" Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at the other. Sehun follows his hand and gets off of Jongin's lap.
"How did he attack you last night again?" Chanyeol asks.
Jongin flushes in embarrassment. "I already told you, I was sleeping when he did it so I really didn't have my guard up."
Sehun was about to climb onto Chanyeol's lap when the taller pushes him away. Sehun snarls before pushing him, his back hitting the edge of the bed.
"I told you he gets stronger when he's like this." Jongin rolls his eyes as Chanyeol winces in pain.
Sehun didn't even lick and nip his neck like he did with Jongin's, he immediately skipped to biting. "Dude, you said he doesn't bite!" he exclaims.
Jongin shrugs. "You have more meat."
Chanyeol shifts their weight so that Sehun has his back flat on the floor. Having the zombie boy squirming on his lap isn't the best situation to be in and he does not want to make any awkward things happening.
Sehun tries getting up again but Chanyeol pushes his face down. Sehun bites his hand this time. "Was he like this to you?" Chanyeol asks.
"He didn't… bite much." Jongin says. "I think he just likes tasting… flesh?" he sounds so unsure.
Upon hearing that, Chanyeol tries moving his finger over Sehun's mouth. He expected the other to bite him again but this time, Sehun simply parts his lips.
Chanyeol, experimentally, pushes a finger in. This time instead of biting, Sehun starts licking his finger instead. He pushes another in and Sehun lets out a soft whine before sucking onto his digits.
"Fuck," Chanyeol lowly curses.
Jongin watches in both horror and interest. Is this appropriate? He thinks. But Sehun visibly did calm down. He didn't struggle to get up anymore since he's more focused on Chanyeol's fingers right now.h Sehun’s pupils are blown wide as he dazedly looks at Chanyeol.
Jongin shifts uncomfortably in his seat, he did not expect things to turn out this lewd. When Chanyeol tries pulling his hand away, Sehun chases after him and takes a third finger into his mouth.
“He likes it.” Chanyeol curls his fingers. Sehun moans and nibbles on them. Soon enough, Sehun’s eyes slowly close, Chanyeol pulls his fingers out and a trail of saliva obscenely follows. Jongin checks to see if Sehun already lost consciousness, in which he did.
Chanyeol grabs the box of tissues to wipe his hand while Jongin doesn’t say anything. “He goes back to normal when he’s satisfied, I guess.” Chanyeol says before grabbing his phone and stopping the recording.
“Don’t feed him anything that will make him throw up anymore. He can’t get hungry too often.” Jongin tells his partner. He gently slides his arms down Sehun’s body, picks him up and moves him onto the bed.
“So was this how you reacted yesterday? Did you just tuck him into bed right after he tasted you?” Chanyeol asks.
"When you say it like that, it sounds weird." Jongin cringes. "And yes, I left him on the bed after he jumped me last night."
“On the bright side, I think we can control him better whenever he gets hungry.” Chanyeol muses. “Unless you want him all over you.”
Jongin scoffs, but his cheeks were red. “I’ll use my fingers on him.” he stops when he realizes how it sounded. Chanyeol guffaws.
“Damn Jongin, you’re kinky.” Chanyeol says in between laughs.
“Fuck you.” Jongin grunts. “Anyways, I think we’ll have to go with…. Uhh, your way of calming him down since it’s less troublesome.” he explains. “But we’ll have to tell Sehun about what happened once he wakes up in the morning.”
“Don’t you want to spare him from the embarrassment?” Chanyeol asks.
Jongin hesitates but he shakes his head. “He needs to know. I don’t want it to look like we’re… taking advantage of him when he’s out of it.”
Chanyeol nods. “Okay point taken.”
“It’s for his own consent too.” Jongin says.
“Such a charming sweetheart you are.” Chanyeol whistles. “But really though, I find it cute that you’re so thoughtful for our zombie boy over here.”
“He has feelings too, you know.” he says as he looks at Sehun’s peaceful face as he sleeps. “I don’t want him to think that he’s just some research subject for us.”
Chanyeol gives him a weird look but he nods anyways. They finish off their homework before going to sleep. They laid out blankets on the floor on either side of the bed. It’s a good thing that Jongin’s room is spacious enough.
Jongin takes one more glance at Sehun before switching off the lights. Right as he went to his makeshift bed, he hears Chanyeol say “Don’t get too attached, Jongin.”
Jongin knew exactly what he meant but he chose to shrug it off.
The following morning, Jongin wakes up when he feels a tap on his shoulder. His eyes flutter open and the first thing he sees is Sehun’s face. Sehun peering from his bed and he has an embarrassed look on his face. Jongin rubs the sleep off his eyes and sits up, but he keeps a distance between him and Sehun.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I kind of blacked out again last night.” he murmurs. “Did I do something bad again?” he worriedly asks while unconsciously pouting his lips.
Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle, he’s just too cute. “Yeah but Chanyeol was there so we had it under control… kind of.”
Sehun blushes when he recalls what Jongin said before. “How?”
“Well it was like last night but Chanyeol found an easier way,” he lowers his voice out of embarrassment. “And I do want to talk to you about this because I want you to know what we have to do to keep you in control.”
Sehun slowly nods. “Okay, go on.”
Jongin doesn’t think he can go on. Why does it have to be so awkward? He was trying to construct an explanation on his mind when he remembers that Chanyeol actually recorded it. He sneakily gets up and snatches Chanyeol’s phone which was charging at his bedside table. He unlocks the phone (Chanyeol trusts him enough so his fingerprint is saved onto the phone) and opens his gallery to show Sehun the video.
Sehun’s usually calm or neutral expression immediately morphs into horror the moment he sees the video. It starts off with him on Jongin’s lap, then after a short while Chanyeol comes into the scene and Sehun moves onto him. Jongin watches as Sehun covers his mouth out of embarrassment when he comes to the part where he’s sucking Chanyeol’s fingers. Sehun doesn’t even finish the video.
“I’m so sorry. I really am.” Sehun lowers his head.
“No, don’t be.” Jongin counters. “I should explain it more to you so that you’d know what’s going on. It isn’t like we could stop you, or maybe we could but there might be consequences. That’s why I just want to…”
“Ask my permission?” Sehun asks.
Jongin shyly nods. "If you don't like what we're doing, just tell us. We'll try to find another way. I know this makes you uncomfortable."
Sehun averts his gaze and Jongin notices how the other presses his thighs together before shifting a bit on the bed. "I don't want to risk hurting anyone. If this is the way you have right now, it's fine. As embarrassing as it is, at least it doesn't look like I'd actually harm you two."
"Are you sure?"
Sehun bites his lip and Jongin feels hot as everything that happened throughout the two previous nights replays.
"Jongin, you'd make such a good boyfriend." they both snapped out of it when they hear Chanyeol's voice.
Chanyeol gets up and slumps onto the bed right beside Sehun. He turns to the pale skinned boy and smiles. "Good morning."
Sehun looks completely flustered but he greets the other back.
Jongin narrows his eyes at his partner. "How long have you been awake?"
"Since you snatched my phone, but I was too lazy to get up and I knew what you were up to anyways so I just decided to hear things out." Chanyeol shrugs.
"And what do you think?" Jongin asks.
Chanyeol simply turns to Sehun. "What does our zombie boy think?"
"I already gave Jongin my consent…" Sehun clutches at the sheets.
Chanyeol looks at Sehun for too long that the other actually looks at Jongin for help. "Chanyeol, what is it?" Jongin asks.
"I want to ask Sehun something," Chanyeol says.
"What is it?" Sehun asks.
"Are you a virgin?"
Silence.
Jongin gawks at his best friend while Sehun looks too stunned. "W-why would you even ask me that?"
"Well I am sure you've seen the video. To you, we're just food but I'm sure even you can agree that it doesn't look like that." Chanyeol says. "I'm asking if you are a virgin to know which is crossing the line for you."
It kind of makes sense but it is still awkward nonetheless. Poor Sehun looks completely embarrassed.
Well based on Sehun's reactions since yesterday, Jongin thinks that he's definitely a virgin.
"I'm not."
Wait. What?
Jongin is sure that the expression on his face is a dead giveaway because Chanyeol ends up laughing.
"What's with the reactions?" Sehun's lips pout in confusion.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect it since you're so… timid and shy." Jongin explains himself.
"I was laughing at Jongin's reaction." Chanyeol sniggers.
"Wait, were you dating anyone?" Jongin asks. Sehun doesn't look like the type to sleep around but then again, he can't jump to conclusions.
"Not dating, we meet often but he…" Sehun suddenly stops.
He suddenly scrambles off the bed and rushes to grab a marker and a sticky note. He sits beside Jongin and pastes the note on the wall together with all the other notes.
"I can't believe I almost forgot about him." Sehun frowns.
Jongin squints as he reads the name written on the sticky note. "Donghae?"
Sehun nods. "It's a long story but we've met when I transferred here."
"Holy shit, professor Lee?! You were seeing professor Lee?" Chanyeol gasps.
"He's your professor?" Sehun tilts his head.
"Oh god…" Chanyeol pulls his hair in frustration. "He's our thesis adviser. Fuck. What kind of relationship do you have with him?"
"Chanyeol, calm down." Jongin intervenes.
"Don't tell me to calm down." the elder snaps. "Why didn't you tell us sooner, Sehun?"
"I told you… my recent memories are hazy and my relationship with him is supposed to be our secret." Sehun answers quietly.
Jongin gently holds Sehun's arm. "Tell us more about you and him, everything you tell us is just between the three of us."
"Well I met him during an event. It was a seminar for the professors and I was documenting the event. I interviewed him and that's how we first met. When I was heading home he approached me and offered to give me a ride. I declined but he insisted."
"And let me see, you easily got a crush on him. He took your number, you started meeting in secret and you let him fuck you." Chanyeol cuts in.
"Chanyeol!" Jongin exclaims.
Sehun looks at them guiltily. "He's right. It was something like that. But it's not just the sex that we're both after. We really did find comfort in each other."
Chanyeol looks like he's about to say something offensive but Jongin gestures for him to shut up. "This is… a lot to sink in for Chanyeol and I. We've known professor Lee for four years now and his students all assumed he has a girlfriend or something."
"I understand." Sehun nods.
"We'll ask more about your relationship with him later but have you been seeing him up until recently?"
"As far as I remember, yes." Sehun answers.
"That makes him a suspect." Chanyeol says.
Sehun looks at him in surprise. "But… Donghae wouldn't."
"If there's one thing that's important to professor Lee, it's his job. Your relationship with him is a threat to that. It's a possible motive." Chanyeol explains.
Sehun looks incredibly hurt and in disbelief but he didn't say anything anymore. "Didn't professor Kim say that professor Lee is panicking about what happened in the field? It might be because of Sehun." Chanyeol adds.
"Okay that's enough." Jongin stops him. "We'll discuss this later. You should go and shower first Chanyeol, we might be late for class."
"I'll take a shower in my room. I'll meet you downstairs later." Chanyeol grabs his things. "See you later Sehun." He says before leaving.
Jongin exhales once his best friend left. Sehun looks a lot less tense when he left too. What Chanyeol said affected Sehun, Jongin could see that.
Of course he's doubting professor Lee as well but what he told Sehun was a bit insensitive.
"I'm sorry on Chanyeol's behalf." Jongin says.
Sehun shakes his head. "It's alright. I kind of get where he's coming from. It's reasonable to make Donghae a suspect… although I really can't think of a reason on why he'd do it."
"Chanyeol and I will try to find out. In the meantime, just slowly try to remember more. You're doing well." Jongin smiles.
"You and Chanyeol are doing even better. I wish I could help more." Sehun sighs.
"Don't worry about that." Jongin assures. "I really like helping you."
"You're a sweet guy, Jongin."
He chuckles. "It's nothing."
When Jongin meets Chanyeol later, he immediately reprimands the other. "Dude, you were a bit insensitive to Sehun earlier."
"He wants the truth and I'm just giving out my ideas." Chanyeol shrugs.
"Well sometimes it wouldn't hurt to hold back a bit." Jongin remarks.
"He's a zombie. He's already dead."
"What did I say last night? He still has feelings." Jongin retorts. "You are partly responsible for bringing him to life again. He is our responsibility."
Chanyeol groans in frustration. "I know, okay? Stop making me feel like a jerk. I'm just… scared and worried. It is bad enough that Sehun's culprit is from our department and his involvement with professor Lee just makes it worse. There is just so much on the line."
"We'll stick to doing what's right. Hopefully, it will all pay off." Jongin says.
"Is that really it?" Chanyeol smiles knowingly. "Or does zombie boy have you wrapped around his pretty finger?"
Probably both. Jongin internally admits but he replies to his partner with a scoff.
"Anyways we'll have to be subtle with our investigation for professor Lee." Jongin changes the subject.
"No shit. This is gonna be hard." Chanyeol whines.
Their last class for that day was with professor Lee. He discussed more about their thesis then proceeded with consultations. A lot of pairs were called out first and some took a lot of time.
Their professor asked them if they wanted to reschedule the consultation but Chanyeol said that they'll wait since they already waited long enough anyways.
It was an hour and a half past dismissal when they were done with their consultation. "Hey sir, about the news about the field…" Chanyeol starts.
Their professor looks up at them as he's fixing his folder. "What about it?"
"Are they still blaming our department for it? Professor Kim said you were stressed out about it." Chanyeol adds.
Donghae chuckles. "Yeah, but the school board didn't want to make a big deal over it. There were funds to have it fixed quickly anyways. The sports department wants it fixed quickly since it's in the way of their practice."
"Oh that's kind of a relief, I guess?" Jongin chimes in.
"Yeah, I didn't want to do any paperwork." Donghae laughs.
"It's still really weird how it suddenly showed up. What do you think sir? It could be aliens." Chanyeol jokes.
Donghae snorts. "There is not enough basis Chanyeol. I'd focus on your my thesis more if I were you. The problems you stated will get you two in trouble with the jurors. Try to fix that part."
"Okay, got it sir. We'll see you next meeting then." Chanyeol salutes.
"See you." Donghae waves them off.
As they were on their way home, they stop by a diner to buy their food. As Chanyeol was at the cashier, Jongin takes his phone from his bag. It was on silent so he didn't notice the missed calls. He was about to check the calls when someone calls again, he sees Chanyeol's old number.
He was confused at first until it hit him that Sehun is the one using that phone right now so he immediately answers.
"Hey Sehun, sorry for not answering. Chanyeol and I were at class." he says.
"Jongin…" he jolts up upon hearing Sehun's voice.
"Is everything alright?" he worriedly asks.
"I feel… weird. I've been calling you since earlier. I… I think I'm getting hungry… I don't know." he sounded scared.
Jongin abruptly gets up. "Wait, I'll be there. Just stay in my room."
Jongin hurries over to the counter and taps Chanyeol's shoulder. "I have to go." he mouths.
He storms out of the diner and kept calling for Sehun's name but the other doesn't answer.
"Sehun?! Sehun?! I'm almost there, hold on a bit longer." he says.
Jongin hears laughter and chattering in the background then he hears something getting dropped.
Jongin runs as quickly as he could. He was out of breath by the time he arrived at his floor. He panics the moment that he realizes that his room isn't locked.
He opens the door and his knees weaken when he sees that Sehun isn't inside. The phone he used to call them was on the floor as well.
"Shit," he curses.
He searches all over the corridors and when he's nowhere to be found, Jongin searches outside.
His heart is pounding against his chest. He needs to find Sehun before someone else finds him.