Despite the series’ moments of graphic violence, bullying, social critique (a K-drama classic) and teen death, there are still some moments bound to melt your heart.
General
- Seeing our leads preserve their bond with one another, even during a zombie apocalypse.
- Dae-su’s selflessness when it comes to protecting the group, repeatedly putting his life on the line to save theirs
- Whether you like them together or not, Su-hyeok’s sheer devotion to Nam-ra. While it might come off as a little cringeworthy, you can’t deny that he really does care about her.“Bite me, not yourself.”
- The close relationships of the four lead characters:
- Cheong-san and Su-hyeok are the most obvious with their brotherhood and fun banters, and after the outbreak, they look out for each other in both fighting the infected and personal problems.
- Cheong-san and On-jo: classic childhood friendship with jokes and protectiveness. She is the most worried when Cheong-san disappears and tries any way to find him back and of course Cheong-san always protects her when everything goes bad.
- Cheong-san and Nam-ra: while they are at disagreement in most of their screen time, at least Cheong-san tolerates Nam-ra for Su-hyeok's sake and Nam-ra does not judge him at all for his actions against her.
- Su-hyeok and On-jo: besides being normal good friends before shits go down, Su-hyeok protects On-jo from any dangers when Cheong-san is not around and after On-jo lost him, Su-hyeok becomes her close friend during her four-month self-isolation.
- Su-hyeok and Nam-ra: mutual crushes; they start awkward but after realizing their feelings for each other, they protect each other fiercely. Su-hyeok tries his hardest to protect Nam-ra when she was infected and everyone became wary of her while with her new powers, Nam-ra helps Su-hyeok and the group to survive the outbreak.
- On-jo and Nam-ra: while On-jo hates her at first, she is the first person to vouch for Nam-ra's possible immunity to the virus after Gwi-nam bit her and after accepting Su-hyeok and Nam-ra's relationship, helps the girl to open up to her friends. They become closer to the point that Nam-ra is the one hugging On-jo when the latter lost Cheong-san and On-jo is very determined to find Nam-ra again.
Episode 1
- Seeing the students of Hyosan High get to be normal teenagers. Becomes a bit of a Tearjerker when you remember what’s about to happen.
- Su-hyeok trying to help Eun-ji and Cheol-soo, albeit unsuccessfully .
- On-jo asking Cheong-san how her hair looks. Of course, he tells her to get lost, and she kicks him as she leaves.
- Su-hyeok chatting up Nam-ra after class, and even managing to make the seemingly cold and aloof girl smile.
Episode 2
- On-jo’s flashbacks to her friendship with I-sak.
Episode 3
- Gyeong-su and Cheong-san’s friendship.
- It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but On-jo hugging Hyo-ryung after a zombie almost gets into the room.
- Mrs. Park comforts Hyo-ryung, telling her to have hope and that the fact that they’re alive means that they’re lucky.
- Everyone, even the cold and distant Nam-ra mourning Gyeong-su’s death.
- Moreover, all of the students rallying behind their fallen classmate as the truth about Na-yeon’s involvement in his death is revealed.
- How deeply Park Seon-hwa cares about her students, going as far as to walk into a zombie-infested hallway to save Na-yeon, despite the latter’s murder of Gyeong-su.
- Despite being stopped by Seon-hwa, Wu-jin also wants to save Na-yeon (in fact, the only fellow peer in the group) from killing herself to the zombies. He even beats himself up a bit for that in the next episode before Ji-min rightfully reminds him and everyone else about Na-yeon's murder.
- Cheong-san’s mother rushing to Hyosan High, defying the military just to save her son, a mission that ultimately fails.
- A bitten Hee-su ties herself up so she won’t be able to hurt her baby once she fully turns.
Episode 5
- On-jo and Hyo-ryung crying for and with Ji-min after she sees her zombified parents.
Episode 6
- Most of the group immediately jumps in to prevent Ji-min from throwing herself out the window.
- This episode is basically the highlight for On-jo's emotional intelligence and why she is the main character that glues the group together despite the Western fanbase's dislike towards this kind of character:
- At the beginning, she is the only one who stays with the grieving Ji-min to make her have someone to talk to and tells her not to lose hope. Before running out to find Cheong-san, On-jo holds her hand and tells her not to let go.
- Knowing Cheong-san would not listen even after the group tells him to stay, On-jo contacts him through the microphone (remember, Cheong-san can hear what she says but not vice-versa) to beg him to stay despite his usual attitude towards her. And it works.
- When Nam-ra was found bitten by Gwi-nam and Cheong-san and Su-hyeok get into a heated argument which eventually escalates into a physical fight, despite her earlier jealously, On-jo protects Nam-ra by pointing out she did not have blood on her mouth, logically proving both Cheong-san and Su-hyeok have no reason to lie about Gwi-nam's situation, deflecting Ji-min's (understandably) cynical comments and comforting the infected girl. Even when she insists she still hates her, it is clear that On-jo places friendship and staying together first and foremost.
- Despite her lack of experience when it comes to physical combat, Nam-ra rushing to assist Su-hyeok in the fight against Gwi-nam.
- Also, Su-hyeok gets the spotlight as well:
- Despite her bite wound, Su-hyeok barely hesitates before helping Nam-ra up and joining the group.
- He protects Nam-ra from the group's growing fear, especially Cheong-san's proactive intent on killing her, even taking a hit for her when it looks like she bit him. After that, he ties his hand with Nam-ra's to make sure only he and Nam-ra are amongst the casualties if she bites him.
- Jae-ik taking Hee-su’s baby and Se-bin under his wing, despite knowing it would make getting to safety even more difficult.
Episode 7
- Nam-ra and Su-hyeok confessing their mutual interest towards each other, marked with a kiss (and Nam-ra is the one to initiate it!)
- On-jo convinces Su-hyeok and Nam-ra to untie their hands to make sure Nam-ra can integrate into the group, pointing out while fear can spread out amongst the group, so can trust. She even calls Nam-ra by name and smiles when Nam-ra says she should have been the president of the class.
- Su-hyeok making clear about his long-time interest in Nam-ra to Cheong-san and telling him to treat On-jo like a girl instead of a boy.
Episode 8
- Ha-ri teaching Mi-jin archery and the two of them bonding over their academic struggles
- Mi-jin’s sheer admiration of Ha-ri
- The group sitting around the campfire, opening up about their struggles and growing closer
- Nam-ra finally being accepted by her peers, as she explains that she never thought she was better than them.
- Su-hyeok and Joon-yeong encouraging Dae-su sing a song he wrote pre-apocalypse. Soon, everyone joins in.
- Hyo-ryung complimenting his song, despite previously telling him it was stupid
- The group teasing one another about their crushes and behaving like teenagers do, despite the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse.
- Flashbacks revealing that Ms. Park got infected while getting Na-yeon to safety, and that Na-yeon felt genuine regret for what she did to Gyeong-su.
- Na-yeon has a HeelFace Turn and decides that helping the rooftop survivors by bringing them supplies is more important than any heat she might get over her previous actions. Goes downhill when Gwi-nam finds her.
Episode 12
- Combined with Tearjerker, seeing the offerings pile for the survivors’ lost friends overflowing with gifts, showing how strong their bond was.
- Despite all the trauma of the zombie apocalypse, Nam-ra is thriving as a half-zombie. She’s assembled an army of other halfbies, and is finally able to break free of the unreachable expectations and isolation pushed onto her by her mother.
- The human survivors promise Nam-ra that they’ll still be close no matter how far apart they are.
- This would’ve meant a lot to her, seeing as she didn’t have any friends before.
- The human survivors promise Nam-ra that they’ll still be close no matter how far apart they are.
