| WARNING | The following page contains SPOILERS leading up to and including the final chapter. Reader discretion advised. |
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Hyuk Lee is the de facto leader of the Green Roof Apartment Survivors, Eun Lee's older brother, and is a recently infected human.
Appearance
Hyuk Lee is a young man with spiky silver hair and glasses. He is of average height and wears button downs and khakis.
Background
Hyuk was born to a successful family in Korea. However, his mother died some point after giving birth to Eun Lee and his father's company eventually went bankrupt. His father left Hyuk and Eun at an orphanage while going off to find a new job, promising to return for them with more money. Unfortunately, some time later, the father would suffer a tragic accident and die on the job, leaving Hyuk and Eun officially as orphans. The two eventually move in to Green Roof Apartments.
Personality
Hyuk is an intelligent and level-headed young man. He often plans the many missions the survivors need to undertake. He is unafraid to take risks, such as accepting an infected human into their ranks, if it helps boost their success rates. He also was prepared to take underhanded measures to tip the odds in his favor. However, as other survivors have learned, Hyuk is extremely blunt in speech and often says things rudely or in a way that would draw their ire. Hyuk is aware of this trait and either uses it to energize people or to provoke people for his own enjoyment. Due to his video game playing habits, he occasionally offers explanations using video game terminology. Both his bluntness and his geeky habits embarrass his sister Eun. Despite this, Hyuk deeply cares about Eun. He notices her actions and is able to deduce that Eun has a crush on Hyun. Additionally, when he learns he is infected, he asks the other survivors to not tell Eun so she won't worry.
Plot
At the start of the monster apocalypse, Hyuk is seen with Eun in the lobby wondering why everything is locked up. He breaks into the security office, but notices it is completely empty. He returns to the lobby where he sees a strange man approach the front entrance. When the gates open, he and Wook Pyeon manage to fight him off and lock him back outside. Hyuk takes the time to get on his online game to check if anyone outside the apartment might be alive and connected to the internet. He does manage to connect with someone, not realizing it is another apartment resident, Hyun Cha.
Hyuk forms a rescue party with Wook, Eun, and a few other survivors. They slowly make their way through each floor. Hyuk realizes the monsters can be killed by fire, though his explanation was phrased oddly and embarrassed Eun. The rescue party eventually saves Jayhun, Jisu Yoon, and Hyun. Hyuk is the first survivor to greet Hyun and explain the situation. In particular, he notes Hyun is locked up because the other survivors don't trust him. At a meeting over Hyun's fate, Hyuk calls for a vote, which ends in Hyun being accepted. To fully gain the survivor's trust, Hyuk has Hyun accompany Wook on a mission to save Dusik. Hyuk privately confides with Hyun to treat the children as expendable, which infuriates Hyun. Hyuk then explains to a worried Jisu some of his reasons for sending Hyun on the mission and why the party was so small. Hyuk explained he was taking a gamble on Hyun's ability to keep himself from monsterfying and his rapid healing ability to boost the odds of success. Hyuk also explains that he was prepared to rig the vote in Hyun's favor, but was surprised he didn't have to. He alludes to the fact that during these times, a group of survivors would not so easily accept an infected human and wonders if others could be infected and may have voted to keep Hyun to set a precedent should their infection be discovered. He also notes that some people's actions become just like those of the monsters, predicting and warning of Seong Kim's attempted murder of her husband. Following restraining Seong Kim, Hyuk overhears Jayhun and Jisu planning to escape. He points out how cold it would be to abandon someone they recently stuck up for. He notes that they are unable to leave, though initially phrased it in a way that drew hostility from the two. He warns them that monsters broke into the parking garage, which makes escape impossible. He does note he would not care if they thought they could handle themselves, but advised them it would be suicide to try. Eun confronts Hyuk over his callousness, having overheard the conversation. When Hyun successfully completes the mission, Hyuk reveals he only said what he said to provoke Hyun, earning him a punch in the face.
Hyuk later helps the survivors take inventory and repair the elevator, though he was unable to help the survivors fight off Mr. Kim. At Jayhun's makeshift funeral, Hyuk makes an insensitive comment. He reflects on the Tongue Monster's attack and what he is able to see outside the windows. Hyuk notices that there has been very little monster activity outside and wonders if the monsters are just quietly waiting or if their numbers have thinned out. He bluntly asks Hyun to go outside to check, but gets forcefully rejected. Hyuk again has to talk to his sister about his bluntness, but manages to turn the conversation against her when he notices Eun has stood up for Hyun several times, realizing she has a crush on him.
Hyuk later helps clear the garage of monsters, and plans a supply run mission. Hyuk, however, had to be coerced in agreeing to let the team go to a hospital to retrieve inhalers for Yuri Park. Hyuk is quickly forced to fight as the rescue team immediately gets ambushed by the Steroid Monster before they can leave the parking lot. Hyuk declares they have to kill the monster now as no barricade will be able to stop it. They are saved by the arrival of Joon Shin and his gang. However, Joon Shin's gang quickly seize control of the situation and note that Hyuk does not actually have a long term survival plan. Hyuk is tied up and locked up with Wook Pyeon. Hyuk's nose starts to bleed and he passes out, indicating he has started turning into a monster. Wook breaks free of the restraints and a recovering Hyuk asks to check the prison bus for supplies. They are disheartened to find the supplies were a lie and discovered the gang's method of survival. Hyuk notices a horde of monsters approaching the apartment building. Hyuk begs Pyeon not to act as bait to help Hyuk get back inside, but Pyeon knocks the wind out of him and does it anyways. Hyuk goes back to the building and saves Jisu from Joon. Hyuk holds Joon at gunpoint, but Joon points out he knows Hyuk knows a gunshot would attract every monster in earshot. He is forced to retreat when monsters start breaking down the barricades. Hyuk is then momentarily dazed by the effects of monsterfication, but does not appear to know his inner desire. He asks that Jisu and Hyun not tell Eun, and then gets everyone to evacuate towards the roof. He goes to tell Dusik the current situation and that they need to use their emergency back up plan despite the risks. Dusik also confides with Hyuk that he is turning and to just leave him. Hyuk catches up with the other survivors and explains what happened to Dusik. He stops Jisu from chasing after Hyun and continues to go upstairs. As he does so, he notes that it is not like the monsters to leave their territory and all gather in one location.
He and Myeong-Il set up the rope to escape, but only have 3 pulleys to carry people, meaning some will have to cross by hand. Yuri and Sook, as well as Eun and Yeong get the first 2 pulleys, and Hyuk gives Hyein Son the last one. When Eun escapes, Hyuk calmly says his good byes, knowing that he is on the verge of turning and cannot resist much longer. He tells the others that he will not be joining them, but also wishes to take care of something else as he pulls out a gun.