In an Alternate Universe, Lee Na-yeon realizes the error of her ways and makes amends with Han Gyeong-su before the events of the zombie apocalypse, which is good considering they're quickly separated from the rest of Class 2-5 near the beginning of the outbreak and instead meet up with Park Mi-jin and Jang Ha-ri and embark on a quest to reunite with their friends.
Also... feelings emerge.
This is a wild game of survival is an All of Us Are Dead fanfic by protectmikasamuels2017. It can be read on Archive of Our Own here
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This fanfic provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Na-yeon and Mi-jin bond over this. Na-yeon's situation is elaborated on more as it's shown that her parents care very little about her well-being and only cared about having an heir, leading to her feeling very isolated.
- Ha-ri and Woo-jin's parents. They joke about how the only reason they didn't abort their son was because of their own convenience as he was a Surprise Pregnancy. They neglect their son, who is very aware that they care little for him, meanwhile Ha-ri is put under a lot of pressure to be successful. Both know that they will be disowned when they're parents learn about their sexualities and Dae-su even fears that they might physically harm Woo-jin.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade:
- On-jo and Cheong-san are already dating, so all angst over his jealousy and her feelings for Su-hyeok have been long resolved.
- Gyeong-su no longer being dead certainly takes away a lot of angst, though now there is a lot of uncertainty from the class about his and Na-yeon's wellbeing.
- Cheong-san doesn't even bump into Gwi-nam here, let alone to make him want to murder him.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Ji-min is not shown to have any deep problems with her parents in canon. Here, her parents are very homophobic, which is extremely unfortunate given her Adaptational Sexuality. She's still quite close to her parents though, which makes the risk of losing them that more daunting to her. And then comes their ultimate fate, which is retained from canon...
- Ha-ri does get confirmation that her brother survived... in the beginning but is also met with a lot of doubt on his status as the reason Gyeong-su and Na-yeon were separated is because the class had to flee. The revelation that I-sak somehow died when she was supposed to be with their group doesn't help matters. Also, their group is now the one fighting Gwi-nam, who wants to kill her specifically.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Oh boy...
- The basis of this entire series is that Na-yeon changes her ways from her canonical classist self and has a much more friendly relationhip with Gyeong-su that borders on romance, though neither have made a move yet.
- Ji-min and Na-yeon in canon are implied to friends, though Ji-min has little patience for her bigotry and is the first to shun her after what Na-yeon does to Gyeong-su, calling her 'sub-human'. Here, they used to be best friends, though Ji-min developed strong feelings for the other girl, which came to a head when Na-yeon reciprocated and they had sex. However, thanks to her parents' homophobia, she pushed her away by hurling horrible insults at her, ruining their friendship and leading to things being sour between them by the time the apocalypse hits. After they're separated, Ji-min is extremely worried for Na-yeon and wishes to make amends.
- Joon-yeong here has been in love with Woo-jin since he was twelve years old. Woo-jin reciprocates and they eventually kiss.
- I-sak and Gyeong-su were definitely friends, but here they are best friends, with I-sak's death devastating Gyeong-su in a way that wasn't shown in the show. Additionally, I-sak had an unreciprocated crush on Joon-yeong.
- Mi-jin and Ha-ri have sex in a bathroom stall the night they meet.
- Cheong-san and On-jo start dating long before the zombies come thanks to a drunken voicemail he leaves her and have a very loving relationship with one another, having already said 'I Love You'.
- Gwi-nam no longer has beef with Cheong-san... He has it with Ha-ri.
- Adaptational Personality Change:
- Na-yeon undergoes character development that leads to her being a much better person, with all the traits leftover from canon (such as being a hothead, not taking shit from anybody, etc.) serving to make her seem more badass than bitchy.
- Ji-min clearly wasn't the friendliest person in the world in the show, but here she's shown to be a lot more spiteful and selfish, even before the events of the series.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Ha-ri, Ji-min, and Joon-yeong are gay. Na-yeon and Woo-jin are bisexual. Mi-jin is sapphic, though whether she's attracted to men as well is unspecified.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Did Jin-su have a crush on Hee-su? Did Myung-hwan sexually assault Hee-su to mess with him? Is that what sent Jin-su over the edge? Gwi-nam thinks so but given that the two boys are dead and Hee-su is unaware of that whole situation, it can't be known for certain.
- Additionally, due to the rest of Class 2-5 mostly being Out of Focus for school scenes, some things are left ambiguous. How did they end up missing the first helicopter despite not having to take a detour to the music room and with the roof door unlocked? Did any of them confess anything different during the campfire scenes given their expanded backstories? How did they come up with the plan to get out of the storage room without Ha-ri attacking Dae-su?
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Due to her group not crossing paths with Gwi-nam, Ji-min has a hard time believing it when Na-yeon and Gyeong-su tell her that human-zombie hybrids are a thing that they have to take seriously as a threat, despite zombies being very real.
- Beach Episode: All of Sun, Sea And Alcoholic Decisions is one for the entire series.
- Beach Kiss: Cheong-san and On-jo make out on the beach after her Love Confession.
- My Beloved Smother:
- Nam-ra's mother, as is in line with canon.
- Part of the reason On-jo and Cheong-san hide their relationship from their parents is because his mom is quite overbearing and would give them little privacy if she knew.
- Ha-ri and Woo-jin's mother forced her children to act as models due to her photography skills. She's also been shown to push her daughter to date boys and scolds her when she acts out even a little bit.
- Big Sister Instinct: Ha-ri towards Woo-jin. To the point that she cannot even pretend to care about any of the other Class 2-5 kids, which causes some resentment from Gyeong-su after he discovers I-sak has died. Na-yeon also notes that most siblings likely would not go through the lengths she goes to rescue him. It's shown that she was this way even when they were toddlers. When she thinks she's going to die her last thoughts go to Woo-jin, begging him to stay safe and to forgive her for not finding him.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Jangs, mostly thanks to their parents. You have Ha-ri, who is put under copious amounts of pressure to be perfect in order to succeed in archery, to the point that she's quite literally not allowed to do anything but train and go to school, resulting in her sneaking out in a potentially dangerous manner in order to enjoy her life every once in a while. Then there's Woo-jin, who is largely ignored and also tends to do stupid and reckless shit on good days and is implied to act out even more as a bid for attention. This strains their relationship and causes a good deal of resentment between the once close siblings. And then there's their parents, who cause these problems by completely ignoring their son and exploiting their daughter, not listening to either and often using their kids more as props than anything else. Not to mention, both kids are queer, which is sure to go over horribly with their brutally homophobic parents.
- Cannot Spit It Out:
- Su-hyeok struggles to call Nam-ra by her name instead of 'Prez'.
- On-jo wants to tell Cheong-san she loves him but only if the moment is perfect for her to do so.
- Joon-yeong has been holding back from telling Woo-jin he loves him for years. Woo-jin also wishes to confess.
- All of the above ends up being interrupted by Ji-min setting off the sprinkler system, which postpones the development of each relationship.
- Cassandra Truth: No one believes Dae-su when he says he has had sex before, not even Woo-jin. He did though, thinking to himself about how she asked him not to tell anyone about her.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Joon-seong, instead of throwing himself off his cart so that Mi-jin will stop dragging him along during a chase scene, instead convinces the others to leave him behind so he can distract the zombies and allow them time to escape before the bomb drops.
- Dramatic Irony: In Answering A Dreaded Question, many of the kids who suffered from some variety of Abusive Parents have to cope with being orphaned, and struggle with the complicated feelings of being relieved that they no longer have to deal with the bad aspects of their relationships, and being under the impression that that is so horrible that they can never express that to anyone else.
- Everyone's Baby Brother: Mostly to Ha-ri, his actual older sibling, but Woo-jin qualifies as this. Ha-ri has been overprotective of him since the moment their parents brought him home from the hospital as babies. Joon-yeong falls in love with him immediately after meeting him and can be protective of him, particularly when comforting him after Ha-ri finds out about their relationship and in feeling responsible for Woo-jin breaking his wrist and nearly getting killed. Dae-su also promises to kick the ass of anyone who hurts him, be it through homophobia or Joon-yeong breaking his heart. Tellingly, every one of the classmates present to hear the bastard soldier insult Woo-jin for grieving is pissed off enough to throw peaches at the soldier.
- Foil:
- Joon-yeong outright compares himself to Cheong-san, seeing that both boys were hopelessly in love with childhood friends, unknown to said friend. However, Cheong-san managed to get with On-jo much sooner while he was still stuck pining after Woo-jin. And while everyone except On-jo knew of his feelings, as he only cared about keeping it a secret from her, Joon-yeong had to keep his very close to his chest, with the only person who had the smallest inkling that he may harbor romantic feelings for Woo-jin being Woo-jin himself (though not enough that he doesn't dismiss the notion). Even after Joon-yeong confesses his feelings, Woo-jin has to hide it from his family while Cheong-san and On-jo go public with their relationship almost immediately.
- Ji-min and Woo-jin. Both are closeted kids with feelings for their friends living under homophobic households. However, Woo-jin is neglected while Ji-min is incredibly close with her loving parents. Both Woo-jin and Ha-ri accept that they will eventually lose their parents, though they aren't happy about it, while Ji-min holds onto the hope that she can change her parents' minds. And while Ji-min's paranoia over being found out and rejected gets the better of her and leads to her ruining her relationship with Na-yeon just as they were about to get a Relationship Upgrade, Woo-jin is nothing less than thrilled about his, though he remains secretive about it. It also helps that Na-yeon attempted to kiss her in a public area whereas Joon-yeong asked him to a semi-hidden spot in the woods. Him and Joon-yeong then enter into a secret relationship, though his sister and best friend find out and are supportive. In fact, the support he receives from those closest to him also works to set Woo-jin apart from Ji-min, as the only people who knows about her sexuality are Na-yeon and Joon-yeong, the former of which she’s estranged from and the latter she was never close to, so she feels even more alone than she did.
- Dae-su and On-jo have remarkably similar reactions to learning of their best friend's feelings for Joon-yeong. Which is excitement for the best friend, promises to hurt Joon-yeong should he break their heart, but hey, what are the chances he'd be dumb enough to reject someone so great? However, Dae-su is thrilled when Joon-yeong does end up confessing to Woo-jin like he wanted him to while I-sak's heart is broken, and On-jo is left making threats of violence.
- Both Mi-jin and Na-yeon failed to meet their parents' expectations and acted out as a result, though they ended up with wildly different personalities, with Na-yeon being more girly and indulging in her parents' neglects while Mi-jin is a brash tomboy that defies her mother's expectations for her to be a girly girl. They bond over it.
- There's also something to be said about both Woo-jin and I-sak sobbing into their pillows, and hiding it from their respective best friends, because they think they have no chance with Joon-yeong. However, I-sak genuinely doesn't have a chance with him while Woo-jin eventually does enter a relationship with him.
- Foregone Conclusion: A few thanks to the virtue of there being several prequels.
- Sun, Sea And Alcoholic Decisions has a pretty big one seeing as Ji-min and Na-yeon's friendship-ending fight is alluded to several times as happening right after the field trip ends. In fact, a reader could map out the entire plotline more or less from the third fic of the entire series, Say A Little Prayer essentially explaining all the major plot beats.
- Spur Of The Moment Decisions and Heartfelt Confessions is about how Cheong-san and On-jo started dating, as they're very much so in a happy relationship in the present, so you know they'll have a happy ending at least.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Thanks to pre-canon character development, Na-yeon no longer sees Gyeong-su as less than, doesn't kill him, and instead develops a friendship and even more with him.
- Them getting separated means that they end up meeting up with the bathroom kids, which neither got to meet in canon. Their added presence leads to a lot of changes for the group, most notably them crossing paths with Gwi-nam and fighting him.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Ji-min's family, who have no qualms about erasing her gay uncle from their family, as well as Woo-jin and Ha-ri's parents, who hate anything to do with LGBT people.
- Hidden Depths:
- Dae-su is dismissed and insulted by pretty much all the student characters. Despite this, he is an incredibly good friend to Woo-jin, insulted by the thought that he would reject his best friend for his sexuality. Even Woo-jin seems surprised by how well he handles the situation.
- Na-yeon is actually incredibly insecure due to many comments about how unlikeable she is (though this might be justified by her past bigotry). This is compounded by her parents' neglect of her, past caretakers cutting contact after they stop working for her parents, and a very traumatizing incident with her older sister figure. The worst part about her fight with Ji-min? When she's called unloveable.
- Nam-ra, like she is in canon, is secretly incredibly stressed out and has No Social Skills, which is why she struggles to reciprocate when her classmates attempt to befriend her. She is also interested in a career in music though knows her mother would never allow it. The real kicker is that Ms. Park asks her to keep an eye out for classmates engaging in drinking... as Nam-ra drinks from her bottle, full of alcohol.
- History Repeats: On the field trip, Ji-min sees Na-yeon and Gyeong-su getting close and does everything she can to sabotage any potential feelings forming between them in order to pursue a relationship with the girl herself... only to panic and ruin their friendship. As a result, Na-yeon and Gyeong-su slowly start to grow close again, to the point of verging on a Relationship Upgrade... which is pointed out to Ji-min, whose reaction is very similar to how she reacted to them during the field trip.
- Incompatible Orientation:
- It's not just Joon-yeong's love for Woo-jin that has him rejecting I-sak, it's that he can never like I-sak the way she wants him to.
- This is also why Ji-min's attempts to date boys, and her kissing boys at every party she goes to, never elicits a spark.
- Min-jae had a crush on Ha-ri before she unintentionally rejected him in a rant after Woo-jin invades her privacy trying to find proof that they were dating.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Without all the drama around Na-yeon killing Gyeong-su to distract them, Su-hyeok and Cheong-san leave to get the phone much earlier and come back with little trouble, but despite this, and the fire Mi-jin sets unlocking the roof, the author has confirmed that they will still end up missing the first helicopter so that they're still in school to reunite with the other kids.
- Joon-seong still gets stabbed despite the added help of Gyeong-su and Na-yeon, thanks to them being distracted by I-sak's zombie.
- Min-ji and I-sak still die exactly as they did in canon.
- Interrupted Intimacy:
- So jo walks in on Cheong-san giving his daughter oral and reacts very poorly.
- In a less mortifying example, Ha-ri barges into her brother's room while him and his boyfriend are making out. The only reason that Woo-jin is upset by this is because he hasn't come out to her yet.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Both Woo-jin and Joon-yeong think that the other has a thing for I-sak, and refuse to stand in the way of that, despite their (unknowingly mutual) feelings for one another. Subverted with Cheong-san, who is drunkenly furious when Su-hyeok tells him he reciprocates On-jo's feelings, but says he'll accept it once he's sobered up.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The majority of scenes set when the kids are trapped within the school focus on the bathroom group because Na-yeon and Gyeong-su's presence leads to many more differences for them. As a result, many of the adventures that the rest of Class 2-5 goes on happen offscreen. We go from Ji-min finding out about her parents dying all the way to the group's plan to take refuge in the auditorium and Ji-min abandoning Hyo-ryung. After that, the next time we see them, they've already managed to escape the storage room and have left school grounds.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Ha-ri and Woo-jin both suffer under their parents, with her getting no freedom and him getting no attention. They do not talk about this with each other despite their extremely caring relationship, and therefore a rift is formed between them. Ha-ri sees Woo-jin as having all the free time in the world and getting away with things that she'd be scolded for. Woo-jin is jealous of how proud their parents are of her and feels like a mistake as they show no excitement over his life or future.
- Ha-ri berates Woo-jin over his milk habits while accidentally making him think she is talking about his sexuality.
- Ji-min does not explain to Na-yeon, who likely would have understood her position being bisexual in a conservative country, that her parents are extremely homophobic and that they cannot date. She instead ruins their relationship, spitting out insults in order to keep her away from her, which ruins their friendship and her chances of getting with her later on.
- Related in the Adaptation: There's no indication that it was one of the Class 2-5 boys who fathered Hee-su's baby in canon. Here, it's likely Woo-jin.
- No Social Skills: Nam-ra, like she is in canon. She desperately wanted to make friendships but simply didn't know how to.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Woo-jin has a much more varied social life than Ha-ri, who is always busy with archery. This is because he is ignored by their parents, who didn't even mean to have him, while Ha-ri, who was a planned baby, had copious amounts of pressure put on her. These disparities do cause some resentment between the two of them, though they both love each other very much and consider losing one another (either to the zombies or because of homophobia) to be worse than losing anyone else, including their friends and parents.
- Spared By Adaptation: All over the place. Gyeong-su being the most obvious. Na-yeon and Ms. Park definitely aren't dying the way they originally did. Hee-su survives the trip to Cheong-san Chicken. Other character deaths are yet to be reached however.
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: In the fic There's Always A Place In Me That You Can Call Home, towards the climax of it, Ha-ri somehow manages to forget that she walked in on her brother with a boy, knowing that their parents are very homophobic, and when he asks to talk, continues to berate him for his milk habits without outright telling him she's talking about the milk, and comes across as homophobic as possible.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Min-jae has no idea of Ji-min's feelings for Na-yeon, and has no idea of the potentially terrible effect that telling the girl of Na-yeon's blossoming relationship with Gyeong-su might bring.
- You Never Did That for Me: A twofold example. Woo-jin resents that he never got the attention Ha-ri got for her talent while Ha-ri resents the freedom that Woo-jin was given instead.
