Unspoken Definites

10 Terrified

"My heart is pounding so hard. I don't think it's my asthma. I think it's because of you."

Yuzuru regreted saying this to Yuna. She acted distant from him ever since that night.

What could he be thinking? He kept his attraction lowkey for a long time and now he's suddenly blurting out to her how she made him feel?

What a fool, he thought to himself.

Yuzuru was in the rink. It was Friday and he was excused early at school to practice for an ice show that he signed up for. He was practicing rigoriously but his thoughts were about what to tell Yuna later. Yuna still talked to him at school but she didn't come to the rink anymore.

He thought of dropping by her house after this training. He hadn't seen her folks much these days. He missed eating Mrs. Kim's home-made kimchi. He really didn't like the taste of Korean food but had grown into liking them over the years since Yuna and him became friends.

When he missed to land with his foot on the ice and ended up squandering in the ice, his coach called, "Concentrate, Yuzuru! You're out of focus!"

He picked himself up and tried another. This time, he did a safe land but as his blades touched the ice, it cracked beneath his feet. His eyes widened when he realised that the ice was cracking as if pushing it self from the ground to move up. His legs started to shake. It didn't take him long to realise that the whole rink had been moving violently.

"Yuzuru! Move out from the ice!!!"

Without second thought, he rushed running to his head coach. With his blades still on, he ran outside the rink together with the other skaters, the coaches and staff to seek refuge from the sinking building.

The intensity of the Earth's movement unfolded before his eyes when he was outside the ice arena. People from buildings were flooding in the streets, in any open area where blocks of collapsing concrete towers would not crash them. The buildings that stood firm and withstood storms and strong winds did not last to the hauling of the tectonic plates beneath.

He heard the ruptures from the destruction, the crying of man, women and children and his own scream.

"Make it stop!" He heard his voice saying as he covered his ears.

But the wrath of the Earth was unattentive to their pleas and it went on to take its natural course. Gravity pulled him down to his knees. The shaking stopped and silence fell over the place. As if nothing happened. But when he opened his eyes, the horror of the massive destruction stung tears around his eyes. He looked around and everything was in turmoil and state of devastation.

When he looked behind him, he felt his heart fell in the cracks on the ground.

The ice rink had fallen.

----

From the ice rink, he was brought to a school that served as evacuation center for the casualties. There, he was reunited with his parents and elder sister. He was glad that they were alive. He learned that their house was still habitable but due to safety reasons, the local government ordered that all residents in their area must stay there.

A lot of people died, and when he saw Yuna's family in the center he was beyond relief. He felt terribly sorry to the young Min Seok who had been crying the whole time. Yuna seemed badly shaken too but she carried herself so well that Yuzuru felt sorry about himself for over thinking too much. She was not crying at all. Her expression remained flat.

The first few hours after the disaster was so dreadful-- there were aftershocks and each time the ground moved, children would cry and adults would panic. The relief goods from the capital and nearby cities had not arrived yet due to broken transportation system. Tents were built around to tend those who were badly injured. They had no food, no electricity and water to drink. The goods arrived at sundown and it was the only time in the whole day they were able to eat. Not that eating was his priority at the moment. He still was badly shaken.