Chapter Text
The LCK squad, fresh off of finishing their summer playoffs, landed in the USA for yet another tournament. This time around, it’s for Worlds, the biggest tournament of the year, where your whole year of playing League builds up to.
But nevermind all that, the players, after such a long flight to Allen, Texas, need their rest, and their readjustment to the timezones. Sanghyeok arrived last at the hotel. As Sanghyeok looked around the warm colored walls, the brightly shining chandeliers and lamps decorating the reception room, and the genuinely intricate carpet that was put on the floor, he also noticed his fellow teammates, bantering and talking lively as the managers were securing them rooms for stay. The pair of Hyeonjuns were bickering like always, Minseok was laughing at their antics and the youngest, Suhwan, was just sitting on a couch with a soft smile watching the trio, before he turned around and noticed Sanghyeok’s arrival. He gave a small wave, which Sanghyeok returned, and then immediately went to the manager to get the keys, which she just finished getting.
After everyone received their hotel keys they started going upstairs to get some pristine rest. On their way up they saw some of the other teams that were staying around, a white man near presumably his hotel room talking to someone on the phone, dressed in near black, with only his coat being a deep brown, which stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all of the colorful jerseys of the players, and noticed some of the players not being around. When players arrive at an international tournament, different teams and players unwind differently. Some of them go out for dinner on their first day, some of them go for a walk around the city, some of them just sleep the day/night off to accustom and many more. For T1, they immediately go to their rooms for rest. Sanghyeok, specifically, goes to sleep, while everyone else stays awake to watch Netflix or just visit each other’s rooms to talk.
Sanghyeok woke up from his sleep sounding extremely groggy. He yawned and stretched like a cat before exiting the mess of a bed he made during his…apparently thirteen hour sleep. The flight must’ve taken a bigger toll on him than expected. It was 11pm when he slept and it was noon when he woke up. But he brushed it all off, and started his daily morning routine. He loved to stretch his body, especially his arms, considering his injuries. Sanghyeok, after finishing his stretches, went to his personal bathroom and started doing his skincare routine as he looked at the time.
I might be late for scrims again…
But once again, that was usual for him. He was always the one late to scrims, and he always paid the late fees. He didn’t really mind being late, as long as he had a comfortable start to his day. After the skincare routine and getting his pajamas (which were t1 clothes) changed to his everyday clothes (which were also t1 clothes), he wore the slippers (guess from which brand) and haphazardly made his bed before grabbing a snack and leaving the room to go to scrims. This time around they would be scrimming G2 for two blocks and then BFX for yet another two blocks. The hotel thankfully provided them with separate rooms for scrimming and they weren’t in need of any special facilities.
Their first two scrim blocks with G2 went rather roughly, 3-3 to be exact, but they still gained a lot of lessons regardless and were preparing for their break. During the break, in the hallways, Minseok was talking with Hyeonggyu and catching up, while everyone else was in their rooms. Sanghyeok decided to go out for a walk around the hotel, to get used to the area a bit. After he said hi to Hyeonggyu, who enthusiastically bowed to him back, and told Minseok about his plans for the break, he went out. As he exited, he saw the middle aged man in the brown coat again, who sat down in his car and went for a drive. Something about him was alluring, yet intimidating at the same time. He also seemed to carry a small handgun around, from which Sanghyeok presumed that he could be an officer of some sort, maybe even a guard for the players? Unlikely, but possible.
He brought that train of thought to a stop when the bright sun shined upon his face, forcing him to blink rapidly and rub his eyes off for a second. Maybe he really could use this walk. It was a fresh sight, compared to the usual view from Seoul. There weren’t any skyscrapers nearby, and the space was far more open than he thought. Unfortunately, despite it being fall, it was still hot so he couldn’t stay far too long in the sun. As he took his stroll, Sanghyeok noticed some other players across the street, mainly members form GenG and HLE just walking around in their own groups. He thought it would be cool to take pictures of the area they were around in, since it was a different sight from Seoul in general. As he unlocked his phone and opened the camera, echoes of sirens were heard from the distance.
I wonder what that could be…
He turned around to see the sirens being around the hotel he was staying in. These were ambulance cars, and it seems like one of the players was immediately being sent to a hospital. The players from across the street also noticed it, and everyone rushed back to see what went down. As Sanghyeok made back to the hotel, he saw the worried faces of 4 BFX members, with their manager and head coach missing from the picture. They noticed that their midlaner, Daekwang, was missing, and Sanghyeok asked for an explanation.
“He was feeling sick for half the day, we thought medicine could help, but then he suddenly started shaking and immediately passed out.” Their team captain, Hyeonmin, gave Sanghyeok a brief explanation with a worried, shaky tone. Sanghyeok winced over the troublesome news, but still gave him an empathetic pat on the shoulder with a hopeful look on his face, hoping that it could take away some of his uneasiness. As everyone was standing in a silence as deafening as a rocket getting launched, the door was hurriedly opened by the same man he saw minutes earlier leaving with his car, now back with some food in his hands. He gave a confused glare before approaching the receptionist desk to ask what happened. She gave all of the explanations and the mysterious man in the brown coat immediately left the building.
Sanghyeok was now just confused about this man. If he was a bodyguard, then why don’t the BFX team know about him, or anyone for that matter, if he was an officer, why would he even bother to go after the sick midlaner. It was a bit scary to think about, but they had bigger worries on their hands. As he turned back, he saw everyone leave their respective rooms, full of worries in their faces. Some of the T1 players, and some players from other teams, decided to accompany the BFX players to ease theìr stress, which made him slightly relieved. It was always nice to see the friendship that the players display with each other, especially in times like these when they're far away from home and their comfort zone. Sanghyeok decided to go to his own room, the worry never fading away, but still hopeful enough that this was just a sick day for Daekwang.
Now Sanghyeok had around 4 hours to himself. He thought about booting up League, but at this point the day has been so stressful, it would be not ideal to add more solo queue stress onto him, especially since its NA servers. So he decided to unwind again by, once again, going out for a stroll, since he barely began the one before in the first place. It was almost 6pm, which meant that there was a beautiful sunset potentially being there in the sky. He thought it would be a good idea to take some more pictures to unwind from today. He decided to wear his signature Faker denim jacket, with a plain white shirt, some leggings and shoes (once again, guess which brand) and go out. He went and informed their manager this time around, and Sanghyeok began strolling around town.
He didn’t stumble across any other players around the hotel, presumably either scrimming or taking a break. It was a lonely evening for him this time around, but he didn’t mind that. It meant that he had all of the time to himself, and that will always be a good thing to have. The sky was darkening, so he had to find good pictures of the sunset to take, and quickly. There was a small park nearby, and he decided to go through it to take pictures of the sunset, and oh boy, it was as beautiful as it could be. Sanghyeok couldn’t believe the people living in the province just had a view like that to themselves, for a boy that was born and raised within the tall, towering skyscrapers of Seoul, this wasn’t a common sight. And then the stars started twinkling in the sky. Now that's a sight he hasn’t seen in a long while, because unfortunately, light pollution is very much a thing in big cities. He wanted to take a picture of that as well, and Sanghyeok seemed proud of the pictures of the stars he’d taken. He checked the time on his phone, which struck 7pm. He was surprised at how fast the time went. He put the phone in his pocket as he saw the lights of the park turn on in harmonious fashion. Sanghyeok looked around and noticed something.
It’s quiet.
Sanghyeok grew a little wary of the time and tried to find his initial way back, only to hear sudden growls startle him. He didn’t see where it came from, but he heard it and assumed they were some untrained dogs running around. Scared of something happening to him, he decided to go the opposite way and go to the main street instead. As he was going, he saw a person lying on the ground, seemingly passed out, or a homeless man that fell asleep within his baren, ragged clothes. He ran to check up on him to see if he was okay, only to turn his body and see a shell of a man that once lived. His other side of the torso was bare and missing, like something ate through it. As he was processing…well, attempting to process the newly rotting corpse in front of him, Sanghyeok got flashbacks. Flashbacks of him watching the news about Umbrella’s collapse. About bioterrorism and zombies. They weren’t new things at this point, but this…whatever was happening right now, it seemed like he wasn’t going to be a spectator in this game. He started to hear the sounds of growls and other disturbing noises fill up the park, which sent chills down his spine and made him breathe heavier than he has ever before. He slowly made his way to a relatively big tree and ripped off a twig to attempt to keep whatever was around him at bay. Sanghyeok tried to climb the tree with the spare athleticism of a proplayer, and that’s when he got attacked. It was the dead corpse he saw, reanimated, and that sent him screaming.
It’s real.
He got sent down from the halfway climbed tree to the ground, but because of his slim build, he managed to get away from the newborn zombie’s hands. He started running for the hills like he has never before. Sanghyeok’s heart was at full speed, adrenaline levels were sky high, his breaths were uneven, heavy and desperate, and his pupils dilated near instantly as he was narrowly dodging every zombie that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He ran towards the lights, towards the streets, where life would exist, or anyone could help, only to discover his horrors being deepened into his skin.
Everything was on fire. The streets, the homes, the people even. The streets that were brizzling with life were now set ablaze by terror. Screams, shots of firearms, the cracking of fire, the sounds of the undead. It is as the stories have told alright, as the news reported, as the movies have portrayed. Except it's now real, and now, he was a victim and not a spectator. The worst possible thing has happened, and he needed to flee. And so, he did the only thing his weak, average self could.
RUN.
The doctors were busy trying to understand Daekwang’s condition. He was passed out and the blood sample analyses were not giving pleasantry or obvious results. In the midst of the ruffling chaos of the hospital, a cool and collected man was making his way through. At least he reached the room that Daekwang was staying in, which was surprisingly guarded by a nurse, with the coaches sitting next to the door on the bench. They were surprised about the man’s arrival and immediately questioned his appearance, same with the nurse. As the nurse warned them about unauthorised access, the man scrambled through his pockets to find the badge he was looking to show. He opened the badge and with a deep, assured voice, he answered.
“Leon S. Kennedy, DSO.”
The nurse immediately quieted when she realised who was present, and let him in without hesitation. The doctors in the room, though, immediately recognised the man and let him investigate. They explained the issues with his blood samples provided and the biting injury he had around his leg.
“We assumed that it could be a potential case of rabies, but none of the data matches.” Is what one of the doctors said, which sent Leon into a deep train of thought.
“Let me check on the bite.” Is his response.
They opened the wound site and saw that the bite was relatively small, the size of a rat’s bite to be exact. It wouldn’t have been too far-fetched to call this an infection of rabies, but something about the bite itself that threw Leon off guard. It had some greyness around it that seemed to be found in…
“Shit, this is bad. Real bad.” Kennedy’s voice echoed all over the room for everyone to hear.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Kennedy?” Said one of the doctors present in the room.
“This might be a case of yet another virus.” Leon heavily sighed. This situation, it felt all too familiar. He has seen this. Innocent lives being victim to Umbrella's games. He prayed that with the Raccoon City incident finally finished, and Umbrella’s final legs dug six feet under, it would never repeat itself. But alas, history is a flat circle, and Umbrella is always about nasty surprises. The medical staff around him weren’t happy to hear this either. That one was a city outbreak, this is Allen, an entire province of people. This could end up cataclysmic for the USA. As all of them were worrying about this, some coughs were heard from the bed the player was lying in. Leon immediately rushed in to see how he was doing.
“Where…am I?”
Daekwang’s voice was tired, groggy, and scared, with a hint of innocence. Leon kneeled down next to him and asked whether he understood him. Daekwang gave a small, barely noticeable nod to Leon before continuing to try and at least sit for the staff. They all immediately urged him to lie down, and so, he obeyed. Leon saw his tired face, a face that he has seen and killed countless times before. Near corpselike, all of his life being on a cliff’s edge, ready to wither away at any instant. The weight of his regrets were slowly clawing back underneath his skin, yet he had to shrug it off. Because people, regardless of the regrets he’s left, still need him. With a deep breath, he started asking questions.
“What happened? What were you bitten with?”
Daekwang slowly started reciting the day with his groggy, raspy, almost whisperlike voice. The exhaust was just leaking from him and that broke something in Leon’s heart. He intently listened to the kid’s every word, not wanting to miss anything. This was already too much for a 20 something year old, what is gonna happen to everybody else. To the kids, or the elderly, or the disabled…god it was horrific to think about. Leon’s thoughts always drift to others, and never for himself, but he's getting too ahead of himself and needs to concentrate to get to the bottom of this.
“Is that all…Daekwang? Right?” He received a nod in response, to which Leon gave a small smile. As he gave the smile, he started coughing immensely and putting his hand to his chest so tightly it could rip off his shirt. The doctors immediately came in and took over Leon’s place, who was still equally worried. The tired voice echoed through the room with only one important sentence.
“I wanna…sleep…”
The doctors picked up on what he meant. The head doctor gave immediate orders of bringing the strongest general anaesthetic to put him to sleep with, with the rest of them rushing out to bring it. Kennedy kneeled down and gave a small shoulder pad, seemingly proud of the kid for being a quick-thinker, and wished him well, before starting to head out himself, to deal with the mess that will unearth before him soon. As he stepped down the stairs, he called and informed everyone within DSO that there is a potential outbreak happening in Allen, Texas, and soon they need to bring forces. He made it outside and finally saw the destruction that was going in the distance. He ordered the hospital to close themselves in and out, meanwhile he, himself, went towards his car to get more weapons. Unfortunately, the car was trashed by zombies, but the trunk wasn’t, which he had a small sigh of relief for.
Leon already had a battle axe and a pistol with him, all he needed to was to get the sniper rifle and his shotgun from the trunk, which, of course, he got to with ease. The zombies were falling down left and right, the touch of his younger self seeming to have never faded away. He’s already seen a lot of bullshit before, at this point a small hoard of zombies was almost nothing to him. Leon opened the trunk to pull out his sniper rifle and his shotgun, and now there was one thing for the zombies to do.
RUN.
Sanghyeok was attempting to traverse as carefully as possible through this…disaster. He kept looking around, the terror eating every part of his cells alive. There were so many different victims that he had to see die in front of his own eyes, the worst part being that he was completely powerless to help them. He didn’t have a real weapon, the only things he was finding were sticks and rocks to distract the zombies away, and the tree twig that he wishes to use for fighting but certainly can’t, cause it looks like it is one hit away from snapping in two. It didn’t help that the smoke covering the streets is making him cough like a maniac. Sanghyeok needed to leave this area, but his options were limited. As he slowly snuck himself into an alleyway, he decided to check if he had any phone reception. Sanghyeok never really prayed for anything, he always considered that things would come to him as time went on, but this was certainly a time he would resort to that, and resort to it hard. He made a genuine big sigh of relief after seeing a small white bar appear on the top corner of the screen, meaning that he can, indeed, call for help. With fearful scrambling to write the number, Sanghyeok managed to call the police.
“H-Hello?”
His voice was as small as it gets, barely edging one of a whisper. His breaths continued to dilate as only silence was heard from the other line. Sanghyeok really, really didn’t want to believe that the worst had happened over the line.
“Is-is anyone there?”
He spoke a little louder this time, and with it, a noise echoed over the phone call as a response. Sanghyeok’s breath hitched from it, and his fear was starting to eat him alive. The echoes from the call were getting louder and louder, until he clearly heard the sounds emitted from there. Sanghyeok heard unintelligible roaring and growling, which made his breath more uneven than it already was. He was too stunned to turn off the call, and the sounds were so loud in his ear that it became the only thing echoing in his already frozen mind. And then, a snap was heard. A loud snap, with a sound of something dripping down on the floor. That awoke him from his stunned state, and he sent the phone flying out of the sheer panic and broke it. Sanghyeok screamed over it and then, out of sheer dizziness, collided with the wall behind him and started sliding down, with his head in his hands. The rapid heartbeat started overlapping with the latest imprints of the horror that crawled out of his phone right into his brain, as the sinking realisation was muttered in shaky breaths and stuttered words.
“They…T-they were…eaten…alive.”
His eyes were burning, waiting to burst with tears, yet they never came out. Sanghyeok just stilled in his place, with nothing but his heavy breaths being heard through the dusty and smoked up air of the destroyed streets. He was near a garbage trunk, lying on one of the sides, crawling into himself as hopelessness was stilling every fiber of his being. He broke his phone, the police station was in shambles and he didn’t even know where his friends could be. His teammates…his teammates…
Sanghyeok finally twitched from his numbed position and slowly started getting up. After the fear of his own life being taken away by literal zombies settled in him (in the form of nihilism), the worry of his team’s safety started creeping in slowly. Where could they be? Were they in danger? Were they…God forbid…bitten by the zombies? He took a deep breath to attempt to calm himself, and with shaky legs, he was finally on his feet, preparing to move to a new location, in hopes of finding at least one lucky survivor. As Sanghyeok had the thought cross him, a gunshot was heard from a distance, which immediately made him turn his head around the direction of the sound. He slowly started to walk towards the disastrous streets of the district. As he was, frankly, limping towards there, loud footsteps were heard, until they both bumped into each other, with Saghyeok falling down, and the person pointing the gun towards them.
“Get away!” It was a police officer, who was just as scared, helpless and paranoid as him. Sanghyeok scrambled back up and immediately put his hands up. His mind couldn’t think straight in the moment for him to speak in english, so Sanghyeok hoped that his miserable and helpless look could convince the officer to not shoot. Thankfully, he realised that he was a weak survivor, hell, he even recognised who he was.
“Oh my…I didn’t expect to stumble across Faker on the streets like this. I am so sorry for scaring you!”
Sanghyeok gave an exhale so hard that he almost passed out. He finally felt his body unclench for once as he put his hands on his knees, which prompted the officer to come and hold him. Sanghyeok gave a small wave to say that he was fine and stood up once again, this time, with a more relaxed posture. He was thinking of what to ask the officer about what was happening around here, but he remembered that the police are just as clueless about this as he is. Instead, the officer started asking him questions.
“How did you even end up here?”
Sanghyeok promptly started giving an explanation of his average start to a day. Now that his headspace was a little cleared out, he could finally formulate the sentences in english and actually…well, talk. It was a brief explanation, and the officer nodded as they were slowly walking to the other side of the alleyway, to avoid the danger of the streets from the other side. Snaghyeok probably has never felt more safe than in this one instance where he was craving for it. He informed him that the police department had..succumbed to the attack, to which the officer could only wince at. Sanghyeok realised that never knew of this stranger’s name, who was apparently also a fan. He should give him his deepest thanks for assisting him, even if they were together for…five minutes? Yeah, he was really desperate for someone, anyone, to be around.
“By the way sir..w-what's your name?” It came out a bit shakier than it needed to.
“Oh, name’s TJ, nice to meet you as well, Faker!”
They shook hands, with a small bow given to him by Sanghyeok. A handshake has never felt this good before. Sanghyeok looked at the ground and remembered his broken phone and decided to take it with him before they leave the alleyway. As he went to the ground to pick it up, a sound was heard from the path they would be taking. Sanghyeok got up from the ground and immediately snapped his head to where it was coming from, meanwhile TJ pulled out his gun and urged Sanghyeok to stay behind him, as he was standing in position to shoot. They were both rapidly looking everywhere to search for the enemy-
BOOM. The zombie jumped on them from the rooftop. TJ barely avoided the attack, but the gun was slapped away from his hands backwards, towards the garbage trunk that Sanghyeok was hiding behind, which made him resort to the small pocket knife he was carrying. TJ knew that this knife wouldn’t be enough to kill the beast that was very eager to attack. So to keep the danger away from Sanghyeok, TJ yelled.
“Take the gun and leave, now.”
Sanghyeok’s mind came back to that dire state again. The state of helplessness, the hopeless soul that possessed him the instant, just stood there, not being able to move.
“Faker, LEAVE-”
And a snap was heard. The same snap he heard from the phone before. The dripping was no different either. Just now, it was actually close to his ears, and now, to his eyes. The blood was on the floor, with TJ’s expression being one of desperation. Whether it was about his desperate attempts to live, or to protect him, it didn’t matter. There is a dead person next to him, and he didn’t even bother to listen to him. He didn’t even move a muscle. He didn’t even process his words. He chose to stay stunted. At least, that's what he was now thinking. What his useless soul, his helpless body and his fearful mind was feeling. And the zombie was still in front of him. A former human, whose autonomy was taken away by something terribly vile. It was a complete staredown, with the zombie slowly coming in as it started sensing yet another presence near it. Sanghyeok presumed the zombie was blinded and only moved because of his other senses, as it was having a bit of trouble trying to find him. The stench of the garbage next to him was absolutely saving him, like the most unexpected form of a guardian angel just descended next to him. Sanghyeok was still frozen, he needed to move. Sanghyeok was still frozen, he needed to move. He needed to move, he needed to move, he needed to move he needed to move-
BOOM
It was a gunshot instead. He chose to pick up the gun instead. Something possessed in him. He didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was the helplessness tiring him out, maybe it was the anger of seeing an innocent man get killed, maybe it was the fact that the zombies were also just innocent men, stripped from their lives. Maybe it was some irrational feeling of self protection, or vengeance, but now, he revealed himself to the enemy, and its speed increased towards his direction. Sanghyeok was shakily holding the rifle, adrenaline flowing through his veins so hard it almost blinded him. With an inexplicable mix of emotions, he aimed the gun and started shooting the undead. The first shot was fired on the body, the 2nd shot was on the shoulder, which made it recoil back, the 3rd shot coincidentally landed on the head, which sent its body flying backwards from the recoil. Sanghyeok found the pattern, and with deep breaths, and 3 bullets left, he started to focus up his trembling hands.
Headshots, Sanghyeok…headshots
He opened his eyes, with a determined look he has never had. The nerves were at a standstill in that moment, his throat was tight, he needed to get this right. The 4th shot landed on the head, the 5th shot landed on the arm, which made him return to his panic instinct. The zombie started ragingly sprinting forwards, and that's when Sanghyeok finally hit the nail in the coffin.
The 6th shot landed on the head, and the zombie that stood in front, finally fell.
Sanghyeok stood still. He didn’t move. There was too much to process. Too much to think about. To feel. He just killed a person with his bare hands. The zombie could’ve been cured if he had just ran away and let it run rampant on the streets. He could’ve just not done anything and listened to TJ. He could’ve just listened. He could’ve just listened. He could’ve just listened. Now TJ was dead, because he was useless. He didn’t even get to honour his last request. He felt unimaginable levels of regret and pain. He didn’t get to honour him. He didn’t listen. He didn’t listen. He didn’t listen. He refused to listen-
Sanghyeok raged. Sanghyeok raged a scream unlike anything he has ever done. He yelled and started kicking the undead body. He wanted to give it hell. He wanted it to suffer. He wanted to make it more miserable than it already was. Tears were streaming down his eyes, his face was more red than any of the jerseys he has ever worn. He kicked the dead body again, even harder this time. He hit it until he had no strength to hit anymore and finally fell down next to TJ’s corpse. Sanghyeok looked oh so broken at the moment. He didn’t know whether to blame himself, or everything else for the misery that came crashing down. Despite his emotions consuming him, he still lifted TJ’s pale body with unseen gentleness. The pool of blood made his clothes dirty as well, but he didn’t care. He wanted the man to at least rest in a safe place. He tried to scoop up the body to no avail, knowing that all of his brain power goes to strategic gaming and not to his muscles. So instead, he brought him next to the wall of the alleyway, laid him down, and finally closed TJ’s eyes with his dirty, bloody hands. He was never the one to usually pray, but he closed his own eyes and clasped his hands together and started praying.
“May you rest in peace…thank you..for protecting me.”
It was barely audible. He couldn’t afford to speak higher than that, his own vocal chords too broken from the manic screaming before. He felt a limp in his throat before finally getting his shit together and going back on his two feet. He felt a little calm, until he saw the undead’s corpse lying on the corner, and the mix of guilt and anger strapped itself back into the heart. He picked up the pocket knife from TJ’s hands, and angrily stabbed its head with it, multiple times. After seeing the face completely dismantled by the sharpness of the knife, he finally managed to calm down, but not before saying his spiteful, yet empathetic final words.
“I may spite you for what you did…but…you deserve your peace as well.”
He strapped his empty gun next to him, and pulled out the pocket knife from its skull. And with the lives of two that he’s caused the death of, with pain in his chest, and anger in his veins, Sanghyeok finally left the alleyway, and for his last prayer of the night, he wished for it to never repeat.