𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄 ▪︎ [𝘋𝘜𝘛𝘠 𝘈𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘓]

ꜰɪꜰᴛᴇᴇɴ

The first step was the hardest, even though she put most of her weight on Da-Mi and Ji-Eun. She felt like she was stepping on nails. She almost managed to make it to the door before it opened and a tall figure stood in front of them.

"Chae-Yeong," Chun-Ho said as he dropped his gun and made his way to her, cupping her face, gently rubbing it, as if he was afraid she was going to dissolve into thin air. She leaned into his touch and put on the best smile she could at that moment. "You really scared me."
"I'm sorry." She put her good arm on his cheek, rubbing the lonely tear that slid down his face.
"How do you feel? Why are you on your feet? You should be in bed."
"I'm fine, really. I'm sorry I gave you such a scare, but it's going to be harder to kill me than just one bullet. As for why I'm on my feet, I want to see the kids. So be a gentleman and help me get there, ok?"
"The kids can wait, Chae-Yeong."
"No, they can't. I need to speak to So-Yeon."
"I'm not sure if she is in the best shape to talk to you right now. She hit her head back at the amusement park."
"Please, Chun-Ho. I really need to see her."

Chae-Yeong thought that he was still going to say no, but, after a few moments of hesitation, he finally nodded, letting her lean into him as they left the room and entered the hallway. She heard whispers from the next door, as if they did not dare to speak louder than that. Chun-Ho gave her one last look before he pushed the door open, revealing a bunch of tired-looking kids. She stepped inside, trying not to grunt when she let go of Chun-Ho.

"Chae-Yeong," Yu-Jung said as she got up from her seat and made her way to her. "You're awake!"
"I hope you're not too disappointed."
"Don't say that!" Bo-Ra said. "We were really scared that you would die when we found you shot. We're lucky your friends were able to come here quickly."
"I'm good now. Is everyone else ok?"
"So-Yeon hit her head pretty badly," Jang-Su told her. She looked in his direction and saw him beside So-Yeon with the other girls. So-Yeon didn't look any better than she did, the color was drained from her face and her eyes were glossy. Chae-Yeong took Chun-Ho's hand and made her way to her, leaning into his touch. She took a seat next to So-Yeon just as Yeong-Su got up and left the room.

"So-Yeon, how are you?" she asked her, only above a whisper. So-Yeon looked at her as if she was already dead, which made Chae-Yeong even more worried. What really happened out there? "What happened before I was shot? Do you remember anything?" A minute passed before she answered, making Chae-Yeong wonder if she was going to answer her.
"Yeong-Su... He was hurting me. And you... You came to help me, but he shot you. I thought we were both going to die, Chae-Yeong," she told her as tears started forming in her eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to remember those last few minutes before she blacked out. Yeong-Su was fighting with So-Yeon about the CSAT and then he pushed her. And then he shot Chae-Yeong. She looked around to see where he was, but then remembered he left the room a few minutes ago. She looked at Chun-Ho, who heard everything and could see the anger in his eyes. She got up, steadying herself by the table.

"We need to find him," she told him and he nodded.
"I'm going to kill him," was the only thing he told her before he left the room raging. She tried going after him, but as soon as she took a step, her feet gave out. Before she reached the ground, Jang-Su steadied her and put her back in her seat. 
"I'm going with him, you stay here with the others." Chae-Yeong wanted to argue back, but she knew she couldn't do anything in that state. She was still weak because she's lost too much blood, and the throbbing in her shoulder and her head did her no good. 

So she stood there, beside So-Yeon, waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

And then a shot was heard. Her eyes widened as she looked around at the others, looking just as startled as she was. She got up to her feet and pushed herself toward the door, supporting her body by the wall. She heard footsteps on the stairs, so she made her way toward them, heart beating fast, ears ringing, eyes starting to fill with tears. Chun-Ho. She needed to make sure he was alive. He had to be alive. There was no other option. He survived an explosion, he can survive until the end. He would die of age, not because he as shot. He wouldn't leave her alone. Not now. Not ever.

She stopped walking as soon as she saw the figures coming up the stairs. She almost forgot when she saw Chun-Ho coming toward her. She was now crying, relief taking over her body as she saw his face. She didn't care about her shoulder, she pushed through the pain and hugged him. He was alive. He didn't leave her. He put his hands around her body, careful not to hurt her shoulder, kissing the top of her head as she sobbed into his chest. When she raised her head, she saw pain on his face. The gunshot. He was fine, there was no blood, so who was shot? Maybe everyone was ok. She looked behind him and saw Jang-Su. He was fine too. But wait. What was he carrying? Chae-Yeong put a hand over her mouth, holding back the gasp when she saw what - no, who - he was carrying. Il-Ha. 

She made her way toward them. Why was he with them? He should have been with the other kids. Chae-Yeong was so preoccupied with Yeong-Su that she didn't bother to check if all of the kids were there. Jang-Su put Il-Ha down, letting his body lean on the wall. Chae-Yeong crouched beside him, not daring to even think that he was gone. No, that couldn't be the case. She raised his head with a trembling arm, tears sliding down her face. His shirt was full of blood, his face drained of it. 

"No," she started saying, whispering the same thing over and over again, until it eventually became a scream. "No, no, no, no,! No!"
"Chae-Yeong," she heard Chun-Ho's voice say as a pair of arms pulled her back. But Chae-Yeong was still screaming. "Chae-Yeong, look at me!" he screamed at her and turned her head toward him, so that he was the only thing she could see through the tears. "Chae-Yeong, stop."
"No, he's not dead. He can't be! He's not dead!"
"He's dead, Chae-Yeong!" he said, a tear sliding down his face.
"How?" she managed to choke out. "How did this happen?"
"Yeong-Su..." Jang-Su said. "He shot him in the heart. He was dead before we could do anything about it." Shot him in the chest. Dead before we could do anything. Dead.
"Where is that bastard?" she asked, the sadness transforming into anger.
"He's dead," Chun-Ho said. "I shot him."
"He deserved worse. Il-Ha was his classmate, they've been together since the beginning of war! How could he do this?"
"I don't know, Chae-Yeong, I don't know," he told her as he hugged her again. 

The next hours were a blur for her. Maybe it was because she was shot, or maybe it was because of the anger. Or maybe just because of the tears that refused to go away. All that she could hear were sobs. All that she could feel were Chun-Ho's arms around her. All that she could see were the tears in everybody's eyes. All that she could taste was the metallic flavor of blood. Il-Ha was dead. Chae-Yeong refused to believe that. He was not dead. He was still alive, still there with them, still protecting everyone in his own way. He was the one that found her and So-Yeon when she was shot. Who knows what would have happened if he wouldn't have been there? He was the one who was supposed to live. He was the one supposed to have a future. But maybe no one had a future.

There was no future for any of them.

_______________________________________

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒:
𝒾 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝑒.