Kevin slowly opened his eyes, for a moment, his vision was blurry and his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up.
His body felt more exhausted than when he had closed his eyes.
"…How long…" he muttered, blinking slowly as he reached into his pocket and checked the time. His brows furrowed slightly. He had definitely been asleep longer than he intended.
The faint sound of the train filled the silence, but something about it felt off, which he couldn't shake.
He shifted slightly in his seat, rubbing his eyes before glancing around. Then he froze; the train was empty, with no other passengers besides himself, no chatter coming from the other cabin, just rows of vacant seats stretching out under dim lights.
"…What's going on?" he muttered under his breath, sitting up properly now. That didn't make sense. Even at this hour, especially in a city known as the city that doesn't sleep, there should have been people, even a single person besides himself.
The speaker above crackled faintly, breaking the silence.
"Next station… Neon Central Station."
The automated voice echoed through the empty carriage.
Kevin blinked again. "…Neon?" he repeated quietly. He didn't remember that stop being on his usual route, perhaps he had missed his stop or gotten on the wrong train from exhaustion as it had happened before.
Letting out a sigh, he stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "…Guess it's the long way home today…" he muttered.
The train slowed to a halt and the doors slid open.
Kevin stepped off the train, his shoes echoing with each step he took. The moment he looked up from his phone, he was greeted by an empty station; there was not a single person, not even staff or security.
His eyes scanned the area slowly. "…What the Hell's going on…" he muttered, his voice sounding louder than it should have. Still, he didn't panic he assumed that maybe it was some kind of late-night shutdown or maintenance.
He walked toward the exit, his steps echoing as he climbed the stairs. Each step felt heavier than the last, not because he was tired but because of the growing unease in his chest. When he finally reached the top and stepped out into the open, he stopped.
The city was absolutely empty.
There were no cars, no people, Shops were dark. Traffic lights blinked pointlessly at empty intersections, it was almost like everybody in the world except him had suddenly disappeared
His eyes began darting around as his breathing slowly became uneven. "…Did something happen?" he muttered, taking a few cautious steps forward.
Kevin's mind raced, trying to make sense of it all; perhaps there was a curfew, or perhaps an emergency, or maybe something he didn't hear about. But even then, there should have been signs; Sirens, announcements over the city speakers, or at least Police patrolling around.
Suddenly he heard a footstep approaching, he quickly spun around only to see a human figure approaching
Kevin's eyes narrowed slightly as relief made its way onto his face. "…Hey!" he called out, taking a few steps forward. "Excuse me, do you know what's going on?" His voice echoed in the empty street.
The figure didn't respond, it just kept walking towards him.
"…I woke up on the train to find the whole place like this" he tried again, walking closer. "Is there some kind of curfew or—"
As he got closer, a strange feeling crept up his spine. His steps slowed, then stopped completely.
The figure stepped forward into one of the street lights.
Kevin's eyes widened slightly as his heart began pounding and fear slowly took over
The person he had been trying to communicate with had no face.
Where there should have been eyes nose and mouth, there was nothing. Just smooth, empty skin stretched across where they should exist. It still had ears, but that only made it worse and it was wearing what looked like a uniform along with a crowbar dripping with blood
"⟟⟒⟟⟟… ᚷᛟᚱᚨ//██… ᛞᛖᛚᛟᚾ…"
"…What the—"
The figure immediately started running towards him at an insane speed
"—Shit!" Kevin without wasting time, turned and ran instantly, adrenaline surging through his body. His heart pounded violently against his chest as his legs moved on instinct alone.
He didn't bother to look back for even a second as he could hear the sound of footsteps slowly closing in.
He turned a corner. Then another.
"SOMEBODY!!!! HELP!!!!—?!" he gasped, nearly slipping as he ran through a narrow alley. He glanced back, It was still there, gradually closing the distance and unlike him, it didn't seem to be getting exhausted
Kevin pushed himself harder, ignoring the pain in his legs, his shoulder scraped against a wall as he turned too sharply, which caused a sting, but that didn't stop him. He stumbled slightly, catching himself before falling completely but as time went on exhaustion began taking over.
He quickly rushed into a building shutting the door behind him and made his way up the stairs
His lungs burned as he rushed up the stairs two at a time, footsteps echoing in the empty building. He didn't stop until he reached the topmost floor, shoving the door open and stumbling outside the rooftop before immediately slamming it shut behind him.
He moved quickly, grabbing the handle, pushing his weight against it, heart pounding like it was about to burst out of his chest fortunately for him it was shot right in time
But he didn't get to catch his breath for long when suddenly
BANG.
The entire door caved inward like it was nothing and the figure stepped through casually, like there wasn't a metal door in the way earlier
His eyes darted around but there was no way out nor was there a way to get around the figure
"…Shit…"
He turned, sprinting toward the edge at full speed without thinking then he jumped. For a split second, his body felt weightless, then—
Crash.
He hit the ground hard, and pain shot up his legs, but the adrenaline drowned most of it out. He forced himself up immediately, ignoring the pain, and kept running.
Behind him, it landed and immediately began full sprinting again
"…You've got to be kidding me!"
His vision blurred slightly as exhaustion and fear mixed. He quickly turned another corner only to be greeted by a dead end which caused him to come to a stop.
Slowly, he turned around but the figure was already there, standing at the entrance and blocking his only way out. It walked toward him slowly as the crowbar dragged slightly against the ground before lifting again.
Kevin stumbled back, his legs giving out as he fell onto the ground. "…Wait—wait—!" his voice shook now, panic fully taking over. "I don't— I didn't do anything—!"
But the figure didn't pause, it raised the crowbar preparing to finish Kevin off
Kevin's body moved on instinct as he closed his eyes while he raised his hand to block when all of a sudden, the creature glitched multiple times before completely vanishing
"…Hey—young man." an unfamiliar voice called out to him "…Are you okay?"
Kevin's head quickly snapped up to see an old man standing there. He had Dirty clothes and tired eyes, A homeless man.
"…What…?" Kevin whispered, his eyes darting around wildly his face visibly terrified.
"…You suddenly fell," the old man said slowly. "Thought you passed out or something…..could find someone to call you an ambulance"
"…No…" Kevin scrambled to his feet, panic rising again. "…No….there was….." he looked around again but there was nothing there that made him even more terrified.
"…You alright?" the old man asked again.
But Kevin didn't answer, he shoved past him and ran out of the alley, into the street and to his surprise, noise hit him.
Cars, Voices, Laughter, Lights. The city was alive again.
People walked past him as if nothing had happened. Some glanced at him briefly, his messy state, his panicked expression, but quickly looked away.
"…What…"
Jae-hyun staggered slightly, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His eyes darted around wildly, trying to make sense of it.
Everything was normal, like the world wasn't empty a few minutes ago and he was being chased by a strange figure. He grabbed his head in pain trying to make sense of it all
Suddenly
"…Hey—are you okay?"
A hand reached toward him.
Kevin flinched violently, his body jerking back like he had been burned.
"Don't touch me!"
His voice came out louder than he expected
The person froze.
People around them turned.
"…What's wrong with him…?"
"Did you see that…?"
Kevin's breathing grew uneven as he looked around, realizing all eyes were on him, he quickly turned around and ran