Infinite ( all of us are dead)

The insufferable droning of her alarm clock made her open her eyes and turn to face her phone with an angry expression. Her hand left the warm comfort of her sheets and pressed snooze. She knew she shouldn't do it, those extra minutes in bed weren't necessary and made her almost late every day, but to her they were worth it. Every second of it was an indescribable feeling. It was such a simple thing that brought the girl so much joy.

After a few more extra minutes lying in, she finally dragged herself out of bed and to her bathroom to prepare for the day. She did her usual routine and got dressed into her school clothes, checking how she looked in the bathroom mirror when she was done. Her shiny black hair was straight with not a single hair out of place, exactly as she always had it. She wore a light layer of makeup, acceptable enough for school. Her clothes were perfectly ironed without a single crease in them and as always she looked impeccable.

She was a neat freak and prided herself on her appearance. Sa-Na loved when people noticed the effort she put in to look smart and it made her happy to know that people realised.

She heard her doorbell ring and moved away from the mirror, grabbing her bottle of perfume on her desk and quickly spraying herself with it before grabbing her bag and heading out her room. She walked downstairs

She heard her doorbell ring and moved away from the mirror, grabbing her bottle of perfume on her desk and quickly spraying herself with it before grabbing her bag and heading out her room. She walked downstairs waving hello to her mother before waving goodbye again and opening the front door, instantly revealing two faces stood outside.

Her two best friends, Da-Hyun and Suhyeok. Their parents had all been friends and that had somehow coaxed this small friendship group together. They were inseparable and were the trio that everyone loved and admired, watching afar in jealousy that they didn't share that friendship. Due to how close they all were, various different rumours were speculated by their peers such as Sa-Na and Suhyeok dating, Da-Hyun and Sa-Na dating or even Da-Hyun and Suhyeok. They'd instantly shut down the rumours when they heard, gagging dramatically at the mere thought of it.

"As if I'd ever date someone who looks like that, how low do you think my standards are?" Sa-Na has teased, nudging her best friend as he rolled his eyes and Da-Hyun chuckled behind them.

"You're later than usual." Da-Hyun commented as Sa-Na stepped out her house, closing the door behind her. "Sleep in?"

She nodded and Suhyeok gave her a grin, ready to tease her. "What, were you too busy dreaming of me?" He asked innocently, a teasing grin still painted on his face. Sa-Na scoffed and pushed him into the wall behind him.

"Not in a million years." She responded, rolling her eyes as Da-Hyun chuckled at her two friends. "Hey, don't you laugh or I'll feed you to a zombie." Sa-Na warned, pointing at her friend dramatically.

"Zombies don't exist, dumbass." Da-Hyun retorted, linking arms with Sa-Na and Suhyeok, checking the time on her phone. "Shit." The three of them looked down at the phone and began running down the hallway. They refused to be late, especially since the new rules about being late had been revealed.

After what seemed to be hours, they made it to school, rushing past all the running children, who were also trying not to be late. They successfully made it into school without being late and Da-Hyun cheered happily while Sa-Na and Suhyeok laughed at their friends reaction.

Sa-Na turned to watch all the unlucky students, lining up as the teachers wrote their names down on their clipboards. She noticed On-Jo glaring at someone, dropping the bag out of her hand and onto the floor, the glare burning holes into their skin. Her eyes moved to follow who she was looking at and noticed Cheong-San. grinning at his best friend.

Cheong-San.

She didn't know where her dislike for the boy had begun, maybe it was his constant teasing remarks or maybe it was how he purposely went out of his way to make sure she hated every second they were in a room together. The boy just filled her with rage every single time he opened his mouth and she could recall countless times she'd been dragged away by her two friends, in order to stop her from hitting him.

"What a dick." She mumbled to nobody in particular.

Suhyeok heard her and followed her line of sight, not even surprised to see her glaring at the boy. Nobody knew why they disliked one another but they were all getting tired of splitting the two up before they started a fight. He didn't understand why his two friends couldn't get along.

"Anyways, I want to go annoy Nam-Ra before class, see you soon." Sa-Na announced you her friends, waving goodbye as she left Da-Hyun and Suhyeok to follow Gwi-Nam and his gang into a building, suspicious of what they were doing.

Nam-Ra wasn't someone Sa-Na considered a friend, more of a classroom acquaintance. They got along really well and studied together but other than that their friendship didn't expand outside of those school walls. Sa-Na wanted to be close to the girl, she believed they could have a great friendship, but Nam-Ra rarely let anyone in.

She made her way down the hallways, smiling at those who smiled at her, finally reaching her English classroom. She wasn't surprised to see Nam-Ra already sitting in her seat, her nose in a book. Sa-Na grinned, making her way to her seat to place her bag down before sitting on the edge of Nam-Ra's desk.

"Hello." She greeted, a wide grin on her face. Nam-Ra looked up and raised her eyebrow at the girl.

"Hi?" She replied dryly, going back to reading.

She loved the conversations she had with the girl but she didn't know why she wanted to talk to her. Every attempt she made to speak to her somehow ended up with her brushing it off as if she didn't care but she did. She wanted to be friends with her but couldn't quite get the words out of her mouth.

"Want to study tonight? I really need help in maths, I'm falling behind again." Sa-Na lied, she wasn't falling behind, in fact she was one of the top students.

"Sure, are we meeting in the library again?" Nam-Ra

politely asked and the girl nodded, noticing the door open and their teacher entering the room.

"See you then." She replied, going to sit in her seat beside Nam-Ra.

Their teacher, Ms. Park, entered the room and everyone went silent, greeting her politely as they all made their way back to their seats. "Time to hand in your phones." She told the class and everyone made their way to the front of the class, placing their phones in the holder. "Who's in touch with Hyeon-Ju?"

The class went silent, looking at their teacher confused and Sa-Na looked over at Da-Hyun, an eyebrow raised as the girl shrugged. The last time she'd seen Hyeon-Ju was at the English classroom the other day.

"Nobody?" She paused, looking at her class. "No none of you have tried calling her today?"

Someone cleared their throat and began to speak. "Uh, we cleaned the science lab together yesterday, but I haven't seen her since." He explained and their teacher sighed.

"If anyone hears from her some time the next few days, let me know right again, okay?" She told the class and they all mumbled an 'okay' in response. She then moved to grab one of the phones out of the box,

sending a message from it. "Exams start next week, so get your acts together." She continued to speak while typing.

A phone chimed and everyone looked around the class, trying to find the culprit. Normally it would be Sa-Na, her being widely known for bringing multiple phones to school, but today she forgot to bring it.

"I heard that. One more time. Hand over your phones, please." Ms. Park repeated and someone walked back over, placing their spare phone into the box. "Dae-Su. Seriously?"

"You idiot." One of his mates scolded as he sat back down.

Sa-Na chuckled, making eye contact with Suhyeok from across the class. They both gave each other knowing looks before turning back to their teacher. Ms. Park told On-Jo about her phone left from last year and continued on with the lesson, after a round of laughter from the students.

The day moved on and Sa-Na was sat in her English lesson, tiredly tapping the table with her pen. She and Da-Hyun had been separated from each other after passing notes all lessons. The class was going slowly and she wished something exciting would happen.

14

"In fact, none of us are completely free from prejudice." Ms. Park explained to the class while Sa-Na sighed, resting her head on her hands. "We all gave preconceived ideas about others. Here, 'free from' means the lack of unencumbered by..." she paused, tapping the board with the chalk. "Does anyone want to interpret this?"

The class remained silent as she looked around, waiting for someone to volunteer. Suddenly, a girl at the back of the classroom, just behind Sa-Na, stood up. "Okay, Hee-Su?"

"I need to use the bathroom." Hee-Su told the teacher and Sa-Na turned around, noticing the girl did not look well at all. Sweat coated her face and she had gone sickly pale.

"Okay, go." Ms. Park motioned to the door and the class began to murmur as she left the room. "Anyone wanna have a crack at it, huh?" She continued on with the lesson but for some reason Sa-Na couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Hee-Su. "Class president?" She looked over at Nam-Ra and snapped Sa-Na out of her thoughts.

"The truth is, all of us have some sort of prejudice." Nam-Ra answered. "We all have preconceptions about other people."

"Hmm, okay, nice." Ms. Park looked at the back of the classroom, seeing a student talking. "Next, Bare-Su. Stand up." He looked over, confused, standing up once the teacher had repeated her command.

"Yes?" Suhyeok questioned and Sa-Na rolled her eyes, of course it was him.

"What's with Bare-Su?" She asked as he began to think about it.

"It's short for Barefoot Su-Hyeok. Bare-Su." Someone on the front row explained and the class chuckled.

"He hates wearing socks. He's so weird about it." Another person explained and Sa-Na grimaced. "I can smell it a mile away." The class once again erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Okay, Bare-Su. What did Nam-Ra say a minute ago?" She quizzed, knowing the boy didn't have the answer because he had been talking to his friend instead of listening to Nam-Ra.

"Uh..." he paused, looking over at Sa-Na for help while the girl stuck out her tongue and shrugged. His eyes moved to his other friend, Da-Hyun, the girl copying her friends actions. "She was absolutely correct. A hundred percent."6:26 97%

Sa-Na knew of Suhyeok's little crush on Nam-Ra and couldn't wait to bring this up every time he spoke about her.

"What was her absolutely correct answer then?" Ms.

Park pressed and Sa-Na tilted her head at her best friend. His embarrassment made her feel ten times better.

"All right..." before he could even finish his response he paused, looking over at the door as it slid open.

As the door slid open a girl walked in, her face bloody and her skin deathly pale. She looked exhausted and when Sa-Na Looked closely she could see it was Hyeon-Ju.

"Holy shit." She mumbled as the teacher rushed over to her.

The girl dropped down and the teacher yelled her name, catching her before she could hit the floor. "Hey. What's wrong? Are you okay?" The teacher asked multiple questions and Sa-Na walked over to the front of the classroom, looking at the girl worriedly.

"Is that blood?" Na-Yeon asked, staring in shock.

"Ms. Park." Hyeon-Ju whispered, her voice hoarse as if she had been crying.

"Yeah, it's me. Do you recognise me?" She asked the young girl to panic in her voice.

"He grabbed me..." the girl began, staring off into the distance as she spoke, "the science teacher grabbed me and locked me up."

The class began to murmur, not even surprised, considering the rumours that had been going around about the science teacher. "He locked you up?" Ms. Park repeated in disbelief. "The science teacher? Mr. Lee Byeong-Chan, huh?"

"He tied me up..." her voice wavered and Sa-Na pressed her hand over her mouth.

"Let's go to the infirmary, okay?" Ms. Park hid her worried as the class spoke their opinions to their friends. "Nam-Ra. Make sure they study on their own. And please don't say anything to anyone until I come back and confirm the facts." She turned her attention back to the girl in her hands. "Hyeon-Ju. Can you get up?"

"I'll carry her." Suhyeok instantly announced as Ms. Park asked for help from On-Jo and I-Sak offering. The two helped the girl onto Suhyeok's back as they left the classroom, heading to the infirmary. Da-Hyun walked over to Sa-Na, both girls too shocked to speak about the prior events.

her hand over her mouth.

"Let's go to the infirmary, okay?" Ms. Park hid her worried as the class spoke their opinions to their friends. "Nam-Ra. Make sure they study on their own. And please don't say anything to anyone until I come back and confirm the facts." She turned her attention back to the girl in her hands. "Hyeon-Ju. Can you get up?"

"I'll carry her." Suhyeok instantly announced as Ms. Park asked for help from On-Jo and I-Sak offering. The two helped the girl onto Suhyeok's back as they left the classroom, heading to the infirmary. Da-Hyun walked over to Sa-Na, both girls too shocked to speak about the prior events.