∞ 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄∞
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"Is she dead?" Chae-Yeong heard a voice ask as she opened her eyes. "Did you kill her?"
"Ah! I didn't kill her! Shut up!"
As her vision blurred, she found three people staring at her with worry in their eyes. One of them was the girl with glasses and short hair that she saw earlier and there were two more boys: one with a scarf tied around his neck and one that was chubbier. She pressed a hand to her head as a vein in her forehead started to throb.
"Where am I?" she asked them as she looked around. She was in some kind of infirmary.
"Oh, good, you're not dead," the boy with the scarf said. "I am Wang Tae-Man." He extended a hand, but the girl quickly slapped it away.
"You are in our school infirmary," she said as her eyes traveled to Chae-Yeong's abdomen. "Your bleeding stopped on our way here, but you fainted." She slowly looked down and she saw that the shard wasn't there anymore, an improvised bandage putting pressure on the wound.
"Did you do this?" she asked the three kids as she pointed to the wound.
"Ah, no, that was Lieutenant Lee," the girl said. "Then he left you here and said to take care of you."
"And do you know how to?" she asked them as she started untying the bandage. She knew the answer the moment they hesitated to answer.
"No."
"That's what I thought. You two boys can go, there is no need for so many hands here. What's your name?" she said as she looked at the girl.
"Kim Yu-Jung."
"Yu-Jung, I need you to find me bandages, hydrogen peroxide, rivanol and stitches."
She only nodded before she started searching through the cabinets. Chae-Yeong was examining her wound before slowly rising her head to the boys who were still looking at her. "I remember I told you to go."
"Y-You did, but I think we should-"
"Look, I get that you want to be helpful, but right now, the only thing you can do for me is getting out of this room." The boys looked at each other and then slowly nodded before leaving the infirmary. "Have you found anything?" she then asked Yu-Jung.
"Yeah, I'm coming." The girl put the resources that she found on the table next to her bed and took a sit in the chair nearby. "Do you need stitches?"
"Yeah. Do you know how to do it?" A moment of silence.
"No, at least I don't think so." This was going to be harder than she thought.
"That's alright, I can do it myself." She started cleaning her wound, careful not to provoke any more pain than she already felt. "You can go now," she told Yu-Jung as she finished, "I'll manage something."
"Are you sure?" Chae-Yeong nodded and the girl sat up and then left the room, hesitant as to leave her alone.
The truth was that she didn't want the girl to see her while doing the sutures, knowing that it will be painful as it was in the abdomen zone. She drove the thread through the needle and then made her best not to scream in pain as she felt it rip through her flash. She had done three before she heard a knock and lifted her head to the door. Chun-Ho was standing on the doorstep and looking at her. She felt a bead of sweat forming on her forehead before she wiped it off with a shaking hand.
"You're really stitching yourself up?" he asked her as he made his way to her.
"I'm the only one who can do it, apparently."
"Not the only one," he said as he sat onto the chair and took the needle from her hands. "Let me help you, your hands are already shaking."
Chun-Ho finished the rest of the stitches faster than she could with her shaky hands and then put a bandage over her wound. She then closed her eyes, trying to diminish the throbbing in her head.
"Are you part of the military?" he asked her. She opened her eyes and found him looking at her.
"No."
"Then how do you know how to use a gun?"
"My dad." She wasn't going to give him more information than necessary, she always likes keeping private things private. But surprisingly enough, he didn't ask for more details.
"You should come and eat something," he said as he sat up. She almost forgot how hungry she was, but now that he mentioned it, she started wondering if the pain in her abdomen was from the emptiness of her stomach too. She groaned as she got up from the bed, her vision blurry, almost falling. But she managed to take a step and follow Chun-Ho through the empty hallways of the school. They reached a dark room with a few stags inside and many papers spread over the whole table. She took a seat as Chun-Ho placed a casserole in front of her.
"Thank you," she murmured and then started eating. She forgot how good warm food was. She wanted to ask him if he wanted any, but her words were cut of short by a knock. She lifted her head as she saw Yu-Jung and another boy enter.
"Come," Chun-Ho said and they took a seat at the table. Yu-Jung handed him a paper. Chae-Yeong managed to take a peek. 'Petition' was written in big letters on the top of the page.
"The whole class agreed on this. We all want to go home." Chun-Ho looked at the paper and then back at them again. He stayed silent for a few moments, looking for something to say.
"It was just one. Just one sphere killed hundreds of soldiers. The area is now crawling with spheres, so how do you expect to go home?"
"It's true," Chae-Yeong said as she finished chewing the food in her mouth. The three of them looked at her expecting to say more. "I've been out there for a few days, I was with a few... friends." She gulped. "A few days ago, a sphere collapsed and fragmented. That's why I was alone and out of ammo out there. I was the only one left." She took a deep breath. She knew when she looked at the students' faces that they were pitying her, so she decided to continue before they could say something. "We've been looking for a refuge, but it is no easy thing to get through these streets, there are too many spheres. And it's a big disadvantage that you freeze when facing them."
"Even if you do go home, your parents won't be there."
"What?"
"They've been sent to the refuge. For their safety."
"You're lying, aren't you?" the boy asked.
"He's not," Chae-Yeong said.
"Can't you take us to the refuge as well?"
"You are current soldiers of the military and we are at war." Great job, you're great with kids, Chae-Yeong thought to herself. "You may not leave as you please." He took the petition in his hand and crumpled it up. "So don't get any ideas and prepare for training." He then got up and left the room.
"Training?" asked Chae-Yeong to fill the silence left behind.
"Learning how to shoot, building stamina," Yu-Jung said, clearly discouraged.
"Doesn't sound so bad for me."
"We are students, not soldiers," the boy said with an angry voice. "Don't pretend you know what it is like to live here and be tortured like that." Is he kidding me? "Let's go, Yu-Jung." They got up and left Chae-Yeong alone.
Were they out of their minds? They preferred going outside than staying here, protected by the military with warm food in front of them? They were really stupid if they thought going outside was a better option. They saw how it is there a few hours ago and it still meant nothing to them. Many died, she was sure of that, she could see it on their faces. And it was still not enough for them.
She finished her meal and got up, grunting as she put her hand on the wound. If it won't get infected or her stitches wouldn't come out, she should be good in a few days. She just needed to get a little rest. She looked around the school for a little bit and when she found no one, she stepped outside. It was already dark, she didn't know how much time passed since she was brought here, but it must have been only a few hours. She heard yelling in the courtyard. She made her way there and found the source of the noise. A military track. The students, some which she recognized, were limping as they were running to complete it. She made her way to Chun-Ho as he stopped yelling at them, only to observe a figure clinging to his hand, sobbing as she fell to her knees. Chae-Yeong waited until she disappeared, probably going to rest, because she was in no shape to continue, before she approached him. Chun-Ho looked at her, but he said nothing as they both watched over the students.
"Don't you think you're being to hard on them?" she asked him as a boy fell to the ground. "They just experienced a traumatic event, they are not -"
"Don't tell me how to do my job," he said coldly. She looked at him with eyes that could kill. "They have to get used to this."
"They are students, for God's sake, not soldiers."
"We are at war," he said and turned to her, fire burning in his eyes. "You know better than anyone else what it is like to fight those things, to lose people because of them. You should be the last to talk."
"And not everyone is coping the same way you do!" she said, maybe too loud, because a few students stopped to listen to them "Just because you look at death like it is something normal to you, that doesn't mean they will, too! Get your head out of your ass. Yes, fear is a great fuel, bur PTSD is no joke, take that from someone who has dealt with it in the past."
"Do not forget who you are speaking to," he yelled back at her, but she didn't back down. "I can throw you out back in the street any moment."
"Do it then, it's not like I have much left anyway. But don't blame me when these kids will try running off because you won't listen." She stormed off after saying those last words. She should feel bad, she knew that he was only trying to protect them, but she didn't like the way he spoke to her. She saved his students' asses and he still has the guts to insult her. She sat on a curb as she closed her eyes and tried calming down, but it was all pointless. She needed something to break.
"He's not that bad," a voice said as she opened her eyes and looked at a man standing in front of her. "He's just..."
"A douchebag with those who want to help him?"
"I was going to say temperamental, but that works too." She pressed her lips tighter so she would not laugh. "He cares for these kids, even if he has a weird way of showing it. And he wouldn't throw you out." A pause and then, barely a whisper, "I hope."
"I don't care." She did care.
"Anyway, I'll try talking to him."
"There is no need."
"Ah, by the way, I don't think we've met before. Kim Won-Bin," he said as he extended a hand.
"Nam Chae-Yeong." They shook hands as she smiled at him. The magic didn't last long.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" She paused as she looked at him without saying anything.
"What do you care?" Disgust was showing on her face. "Aren't you too old for me, anyway? What are you, 40?"
"I am 21!"
"And you really want me to believe that? I don't like liars, Kim Won-Bin."
She got up from the ground as he was trying to say something, but she stopped him, holding a hand in the air. She then dusted herself off and walked away. She took a walk through the courtyard as she nodded to the soldiers passing by. The kids already finished their training, so it was quiet and she could allow herself to relax for a few minutes. She didn't know when those minutes became an hour, maybe more than that before she heard Won-Bin's voice from behind.
"You should go inside, you could get shot if confounded with a sphere."
"Did you just imply that I look like a sphere?" She was only teasing him, but his face became red soon.
"No, no, that wasn't what I was saying, you got me wrong! I -"
"Won-Bin, calm down, I was just messing with you."
"I'll take you back inside," he said, changing the subject. She only nodded before they started heading inside, neither of them saying anything.
The quiet dissipated quickly when a loud noise came from behind them. She looked for her gun, but discovered that she didn't have it with her. She would look into it later. Won-Bin pointed his his gun in the direction of a pile of chairs, now some of them fallen from the top.
"Who's there?" There was a small pause before a chubby boy came out from behind them. Won-Bin lowered his gun.
"Duk-Jung. What are you doing here at this hour? What did you eat?"
"I didn't eat anything," he said as he made his way toward them. He stopped and looked behind Won-Bin, fear all written on his face. Both Chae-Yeong and Won-Bin looked behind, ready to attack. Only that they saw nothing. She turned back to the chubby boy just in time to see him run.
"That punk... Hey!" Chae-Yeong was left there alone as Won-Bin started going after him.
She heard a few whispers before she saw three more boys come out from behind the pile of chairs, but they didn't seem to notice her. Before they could get further, she caught one's ear and started pulling. Hard.
"What do you think you're doing here? Do you want to run? You are really stupid, aren't you?" Won-Bin came then with the other boy.
"You punks, do you think you can go around roaming just like that?"
After trying to make up excuses to get themselves out of this situation, they both agreed to not tell the Lieutenant, so they made their way back inside with the kids. They were almost there when a figure appeared in front of them. Lee Chun-Ho.
"Lieutenant..." Won-Bin started saying, but Chun-Ho stopped him with a raised hand. He then paused and looked at Chae-Yeong.
"I need to speak to Chae-Yeong, take the kids inside, I am goin to take care of them later." Her heart started beating faster in expectation for what he was going to tell her. Maybe he really wanted to throw her out. Won-Bin seemed hesitant, but then he finally nodded, and disappeared with the four boys, leaving only her and Chun-Ho alone.
"What do you want to talk about? I thought you made yourself clear a few hours ago."
"You really can't be nice for at least a second."
"I can be nice, I just need a reason to be so, and right now, you're not giving me any." He looked at her and then let out a breath.
"I wanted to apologize to you." She didn't try to hide the shock on her face. "I said some thinks there that I shouldn't have said."
"Next time think before you speak."
"That applies to you, too. If you wouldn't have provoked me, that conversation wouldn't have one that way."
"Is this the apology before throwing me out?" She should keep her mouth shut.
"I'm not going to throw you out," he said as if he was offended.
"Well, then, thank you. And... I'm sorry too." She extended a hand and thought that he wouldn't take it, but after a few moments, he squeezed it with his own. "And what I said stands. Those four tried running away because of the training, I told you that it would happen."
"I'll deal with them myself. Go inside and get some rest, I asked the girls to prepare your bed." So he did have a heart.
"Thank you. Good night."
"Good night," she heard him say, more like a whisper, before he turned around and left. She surpressed a smile.
She arrived in the girls' room as they were all chatting. They stopped when she entered the room. She extended a small 'hello' before she examined the room. She saw Yu-Jung and the two girls that were inside the safe zone. In a corner stood the girl that helped her and shot one of the spheres, looking at her with curious eyes. Chae-Yeong nodded toward her and she did the same. She then made her way to the bed and, as soon as she got under the blanket, she fell asleep.
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