∞ 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄∞
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Death. One word that has made every generation of people that has ever lived on this planet lose their minds. One word that can mean liberation and imprisonment for eternity at the same time. What is after death? Reincarnation? Afterlife? No one knows and it shall remain that way. Because those that were once dead, they can never come back in the world of the living, in the realm where not only the heart beats, but the soul soars in the sky as if it doesn't know what death is. Once your body dies, once your heart stops beating for the eternity that follows, your soul falls into the pits of hell. Because everyone has their own hell, full of made-up monsters that haunt you in your sleep and every time you close your eyes, nightmares that crawl on your skin and eat you alive, laughing as you are screaming in despair for someone, something to save you.
But nothing can save you from the claws of death, not even the Gods, not even the Love, not even the Fear.
Some have given up on life, some have chosen to fight for it. But once it is promised to you, once it is written in your stars, once destiny takes a hold of your life, there is nothing you can do to slip though death's fingers.
❃❃❃
"She's waking up."
The voices were followed by a loud ringing in her ears. Trying to open her eyes, she saw the blurry lights over her head. Blinking fast, she tried making up a few of the faces she was seeing above her head, but it was too dark to recognize anyone. She tried getting up, but a hand pushed her back. But that was not the reason she was forced to lay back down, it was the agonizing pain in her left shoulder.
"Don't try getting up," she heard the same voice say. "How do you feel?"
"Am I de -" she tried speaking, but the voice didn't seem to belong to her. It was too hoarse. "And I dead?" she forced herself again.
"Not yet, buttercup. You're lucky we got here in time." Another voice. Who was this?
"Got here in time? Where am I? Who are you?" She concentrated on the person's face more.
"I must say that I am disappointed. It hasn't been that long since you've left us, you know? I'm Ji-Eun, you dummy." Ji-Eun? Where was she?
"Why are you here?"
"You've been shot, Chae-Yeong. Chun-Ho called for us through the transmitter, we came as fast as we could." She was shot. Chun-Ho. The memories were starting to come back to her. "Do you remember what happened now?"
"Where are the others? The kids? Chun-Ho?" Her vision started to clear now. Ji-Eun and Da-Mi were standing in front of her.
"Chun-Ho is with Seong-Jin and the others," Da-Mi told her. "They are inspecting the school grounds so there are no spheres in the area. The kids are in the other classroom, they are pretty shaken up after the attack."
"Attack?"
"Yeong-Su told Il-Ha what happened when he found you. He heard a gunshot and came to see what happened. A sphere came toward you and when he tried shooting you, he shot you by accident. The sphere crawled in the ocean after that." That's not what happened. Not what Chae-Yeong remembered. She closed her eyes, averting the bright lights that were giving her a headache. What happened out there? There was no sphere. Or was there? She had to talk to So-Yeon. She must know what happened.
"Take me to the kids," she told the girls as she got up, feeling her whole body pulsing.
"That's not a good idea," Ji-Eun said. "You've lost a lot of blood, it's a miracle we managed to save you, really. We'll bring Chun-Ho to you as soon as they are back, ok?"
"I'm fine, I just want to go and see the kids." She tried standing up, but as soon as she was on her feet, the world became blurry and her legs became numb. Ji-Eun and Da-Mi caught her before she could fall. "I'm going to need a little bit of help to get there, though."
"You should really -"
"Please. I just... I need to see them." The two girls looked at each other, considering their options. She knew that if they said 'no', there was nothing Chae-Yeong could do in this shape.
"You are a pain in the ass even when you're shot, you know that?" Ji-Eun told her and she started laughing, but stopped soon enough as her shoulder started throbbing again.
"You're the best."
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.
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𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒:
𝒾 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝑒.