The air in the jeep was thick with the coppery scent of fear and the low, guttural snarls of the thing that used to be Minwoo. Yon’s face was a mask of cold fury. He didn’t hesitate. His hand shot out, gripping Minwoo by the shoulder, and with a brutal, grunting shove, he sent the thrashing form sprawling face-first onto the rough, grimy mat covering the jeep floor.

Ji-Hoon, his movements sharp and precise, was already there. He slammed the lock open and wrenched the door wide, the wind and noise of the speeding vehicle roaring into the cramped space. He leapt back, creating a void.

Yon drew his leg back, his boot aimed to kick the infected Minwoo out into the road. But in his desperate, flailing struggle, Minwoo’s hand lashed out. It wasn’t Yon he grabbed.

It was Yohan’s ankle.

The pull was sudden, violent, and utterly unexpected. Yohan’s eyes flew wide with shock. A short, sharp cry was torn from his lips as he was yanked off-balance. He tumbled through the open door, a puppet with its strings cut.

Time seemed to slow. Hailey watched, her breath frozen in her lungs, as Yohan’s body hit the asphalt. The sound was wrong—a wet, crunching thud that was sickeningly final. His head connected with the unforgiving road, and the world exploded in a spray of crimson. The light in his eyes snuffed out instantly.

And then Minwoo was on him. Not to help. To feed. Along with other zombies who were attracted by the amount of noise caused. The scene dissolved into a grotesque frenzy of tearing and snarling.

A small, broken sound escaped Hailey’s lips. "It... it happened again... my dream came true...?" Her voice was a thin, disbelieving whisper, drowned out by the roaring in her own ears. Her wide, horrified eyes were glued to the nightmare receding behind them, a living painting of gore she couldn't look away from.

Beep.. Beep.. Beep... Beep.. beep ..

The sound was soft, electronic. A heart monitor? Again? No. It was her ears ringing.

The world snapped back into focus. Eunhye’s hands were steady on In-Ha’s shoulders, her voice a low, calming murmur. "Shhh, it's okay, just breathe..."

Jaeyeon slid into the driver’s seat, the leather creaking. The key turned. The engine roared.

"Where are we going?" Minji’s voice, laced with fear, came from the back.

"A hospital. Any hospital," Jaeyeon responded, his voice tight as he slammed his foot on the accelerator.

The jeep lurched forward. Hailey blinked, her head spinning. The visceral memory of blood and cracking bone was so real she could still smell it. She looked down at her hands. She looked at Yohan sitting beside her.

_____________________________________

Jerk. Bounce. Jolt.

Yon’s fury was a live wire. He grabbed the snarling Minwoo and shoved him down onto the mat with brute force. Ji-Hoon was a blur of motion—unlatch, swing the door open, leap back.

Yon’s kick was meant to eject the monster. But the monster, in its desperation, grabbed the nearest limb. Yohan’s. The pull. The tumble. The crack. The blood. The feeding.

It played out exactly the same. A perfect, horrifying record on repeat.

Her own voice echoed in her mind, a terrified whisper from a future that kept collapsing into the present. "It happened again..."

Beep.. Beep.. Beep... Beep.. beep ..

The soft electronic beeping was a taunt. The ringing of her ears.

Hailey felt a wave of disorientation so strong it made her nauseous. "What... what is happening..." she murmured, pressing the heels of her hands against her temples. The interior of the jeep, the faces of her friends—it was all the same, but it felt different. Tainted. "This is the sixth time I'm having this dream... or am I just reliving the same nightmare?"

Her gaze dropped to the jeep mat. It was just a mat. But in her mind’s eye, it was stained.

"Hailey Noona... You seem distant. What's wrong?" Yohan’s voice, warm and full of concern, cut through her spiraling thoughts.

She flinched. "Oh, uh, it's nothing... just lost in thought," she deflected, forcing a weak smile. This seemed like a dream to her.

"What?" he pressed, his brow furrowed.

The words tumbled out before she could stop them, a desperate attempt to anchor herself in this reality. "The Yohan in my dream... he's... he's handsome as well..."

Yohan blinked, taken aback. "W-what are you saying?"

Charyeong snorted from across the jeep. "Looks like she's got a crush on you, dude."

The reaction that should have been embarrassment was instead a cold, sharp shock of realization. This wasn't a dream. The details were too precise, the consequences too dire. "But if this isn't a dream, then what is it?" she pondered aloud, her mind racing towards impossible conclusions. "Time travel? It's absurd..."

Through the window, the hospital loomed. As they drew closer, her vision blurred, superimposing a horrific image over the building: Sae Joon Hyun and the others, trapped at the gates, a sea of undead faces, nurses and doctors, the survivors inside, and. Him.

"Okay, Minwoo-ssi... you're out," she muttered under her breath, a vow spoken to the wind.

____________________________________

The hospital room was a sanctuary of sterile light and hushed voices. In-Ha’s labor, though intense, had been swift. Now, she lay exhausted but radiant, a tiny, swaddled bundle nestled against her chest. The baby’s faint mewling was the most beautiful sound any of them had heard in days, or even weeks. They had been given clean clothes, a blue shirt and pants, and even the simple act of washing their faces in a real sink, let alone a whole shower room, felt like a baptism.

As they stepped into the corridor, ready to leave, a figure detached itself from the crowd of survivors. Hailey’s heart plummeted. Minwoo. His eyes were red-rimmed, desperate.

"Can I join you guys, please?" he pleaded, his voice cracking.

Hailey’s head was shaking before he even finished, a violent, involuntary motion. "No," she stated, her voice colder than she intended. "You can't."

Tears welled in Minwoo’s eyes. Sae Joon Hyun, ever the soft touch, stepped forward. "Stop crying... you can come—"

"No!" Hailey’s voice was a whip-crack, sharp and final in the quiet hall.

"Why?" Sae Joon Hyun turned on her, frustrated. "He just wants to see his grandmother."

"No. He just can't," she reiterated, her gaze locked on Minwoo, seeing not the sad boy but the monster he would become.

The rejection was the final straw. Something in Minwoo broke. The sadness in his eyes curdled into something dark and feral. With a wordless snarl of hurt and rage, he lunged—not at Sae Joon Hyun, but at Hailey, the source of his rejection.

Yohan moved on pure instinct. He pulled Hailey back, putting himself between her and Minwoo. The sudden movement, the shock—it caused Yohan to stumble. His foot slipped on the polished floor. His arms windmilled, and he fell backward, his head connecting with the tile with a sickening crack.

He cried out, dazed. Minwoo was on him in an instant. But it wasn’t an attack of anger. It was hunger. Primal, ravenous. He seized Yohan’s leg, and his teeth sank into the flesh of his calf with a brutal, tearing bite.

Yohan’s scream of agony and terror echoed through the hallway, a sound that would forever haunt Hailey’s nightmares. He was dragged, kicking and screaming, the thing that was Minwoo consuming him. The survivors stared in shock for a second before running to lock themselves up frantically.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The beeping was a merciless metronome, counting out her failures.

"What... did I do wrong last time...?" she mumbled, the world coming back into blurry focus. The jeep. The road. The hospital ahead. "I'm back to the time when we were heading for the hospital. Minwoo-ssi got to Yohan all this time. Maybe the variable isn't Minwoo-ssi... maybe it's Yohan himself? Something he does?"

Yohan, hearing her mutter, leaned closer. "What's wrong? Talking to yourself like that."

Hailey seized the opportunity. "Ah, Yohan. I have a request."

"Go ahead."

"Can you wait here in front of the jeep? When we reach the hospital and get out, just... wait there. Don't come in with us right away."

Yohan’s face scrunched in confusion. "Hm? Why?"

"Please," she begged, her eyes desperate. "Just do it. Please."

He saw the raw fear in her expression and slowly nodded. "Uhm... okay, I guess..."

The plan unfolded as before. The net. The rescue. The lift. But this time, Yohan stood by the jeep, a solitary sentinel, just as she’d asked, along with Jeha who was inside the jeep, resting. That hadn't changed.

He never saw it coming. A zombie, stronger than the others, tore through a weak spot in the netting. It lunged from the shadows, a blur of decayed motion. It was on Yohan before he could even raise his hands in defense. Its jaws closed around his throat.

Hailey, watching from the fifth-floor window, felt her own scream die in her throat. She had saved him from Minwoo only to deliver him to another death. Hearing the noise, Jeha walked out of the jeep and whacked the zombie in the head with his staff but it was too late already.

Beep.. beep.. beep...

"I failed again..." The words were ash in her mouth.

"Failed what?" Yohan asked, turning from the window.

She couldn't tell him. She just offered a strained smile. "No... nothing."

Inside, her mind was a war room. Every time... if I do something different, the settings change. Last time, I spoke first. This time, he did. The difference is there. I can make changes. I can save him. But what am I doing wrong?

A new strategy. "Yohan, wait near the fire exit," she commanded as they piled out of the jeep at the hospital.

He gave her a strange look but nodded. "Okay."

Everything proceeded. Minwoo was denied. He turned. The chase was on. They sprinted, a terrified herd, Yohan leading them to the fire exit as instructed. He slammed the door open, holding it for everyone.

They flooded into the stairwell, their footsteps echoing loudly. They were going to make it. But in the frantic, panicked descent, Yohan, trying to check that everyone was behind him, missed a step.

His foot caught on the edge. He stumbled forward, his balance gone. There was no railing to grab. His head struck the sharp, metal edge of the stairwell wall with a dull, final thud.

He crumpled, silent and still.

Beep.. beep.. beep..

"Yohan, wait for us in the lift," Hailey instructed, her voice trembling with the weight of countless do-overs.

"Hailey Noona, wait. What's going on? Why are you—" he started, his concern morphing into confusion.

"No!" she cut him off, a hysterical edge to her voice. "You are not supposed to ask questions! Just do what I say!"

He stared at her, shocked by her vehemence, but nodded silently.

The lift was packed. Too packed. As it began its descent, the weight distribution was off. It lurched violently. Yohan, standing in the corner, was thrown off his feet. The sudden shift in weight made the lift cage tilt precipitously. He slid toward the opening, his fingers scrambling for a hold on the smooth metal mesh. He found none.

He fell. The sound of his body hitting the concrete shaft below was a sound she would never, ever forget.

Beep.. beep... Beep..

Tears of frustration welled in her eyes. She was running out of ideas. Out of hope.

"Yohan," she said, her voice hollow with exhaustion. "Sit. In the lift. Just sit down in the corner."

He looked at her like she'd lost her mind, but he sighed and complied. "You're being really weird, Noona."

He sat. Minwoo turned. They ran. They piled into the lift. This time, it descended smoothly. They had made it. Everyone spilled out, rushing for the jeep.

But Yohan, who had been sitting, was a beat behind. He had to push himself up from the floor of the lift first.

That one beat was all it took.

Minwoo, from some unseen perch above, leaped. It was a soaring, impossible jump, fueled by monstrous strength. He landed directly on Yohan’s back, driving him face-first into the dirt. His teeth found Yohan’s neck.

Yohan’s scream was cut short, replaced by the wet, horrific sounds of feeding.

Hailey could only watch, utterly broken. She had saved him from the fall, only to have him torn apart on solid ground.

Beep.. beep.. beep..

The soft, rhythmic beeping was now the sound of her personal hell.

"I am doing something wrong. Or he wouldn't keep dying like this," she whispered, the words tasting like defeat. She paced the confines of her own mind. "What is it? What is it that I am doing wrong?"

The pattern was clear now. "I traveled back to the time when we were heading for the hospital, not when Minwoo-ssi pulled Yohan's leg. The issue is here. The fault is in this event. But what is it? What is the key point I'm missing?"

The hospital stood before them, a monolith of impossible choices. "We are going to the hospital... should we not?" The question was agony. "But we won't be able to save In-Ha ma'am if we don't. Her or her baby."

She was trapped in an impossible equation: save Yohan or save In-Ha and her child. Every attempt to solve for one variable resulted in the other being tragically eliminated.