Limited Days ｜Sweet Home Fanfiction

～3

We had all gathered in the reception office for some sort of announcement. I wasn't in the mood for this shit. The guy from earlier, who I found out was Eunhyuk, and some other woman, Yikyung, were standing in front of everyone. It was obvious they were the leaders of the group.

"We'll live together in one place until help arrives. Much safer together." Yikyung says.
"We are we all gonna go?" one asks.
"The daycare center." Eunhyuk responds. "It's relatively safe, because it's far from the entrance. It'll also be better to sleep in there than out here."
"I won't allow it," a voice goes. "No." We all turn in the direction of the sound. It was Cha Jinok. I felt sorry for her. She was desperately trying to save her daughter. They had barricaded the doors so there was no way out. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. I knew I would be losing my mind if I were in her position. Knowing that someone I loved was out there, but having no way to save them without putting myself in danger. That alone was enough to drive a person insane.

"Who are you to say no?" questions someone.
"She's director of the daycare center."
another answers.
"You scumbags. Pieces if shit." Jinok shouts. "You ignored me when I begged. You're shameless."
"Your daughter probably needs someone's help, too, you know." says Yikyung. Jinok was about to fall, but Yikyung steadies her. Jinok now turns to Eunhyuk.
"That's why I'm saying I'll go. Let me help. I might lose my daughter, but you can do whatever you want after I leave." Eunhyuk looks at her with a straight face.
"What about you? Are you okay with dying? Do you have a plan? There's no internet or phone service. How can you be sure where she is?"
"Still-"
"First you have to stay alive," says Eunhyuk blankly. "Otherwise you won't be able to find your daughter."
"Please," Suung, the solider says. "Calm down and help us. I promise I will help you later, too." He had opened a bottle of water and was gesturing it towards her. Jinok smacks it out of his hand.
"Do whatever you want." She grunts and stomps off. Meeting adjourned, I guess. As we all file out of the office, I grab Eunhyuk's wrist to stop him.
"You're really not going to help her?"
He stares at me with cold eyes. "You expect her to be kind towards you, when you're hostile to her. How does that work?"
"I meant what I said. She can't save her daughter if she's dead." He shakes my hand off.
I shake my head. "You're cold."
"So I've been told," he replies rather frostily and walks off. What the hell was that about?

Sitting in the daycare center surrounded by people, yet I still felt so alone. Everybody was talking, but I was trapped in my thoughts. Everything that had mattered yesterday seemed so irrelevant now. My exam, for example. I'd studied so hard and worked my ass off simply to never receive my results and likely die or get infected from one of these monsters. My one true friend, ignoring me for months without any explanation and leaving me to form my own conclusions wasn't all that important right now because we were facing an apocalypse. Apocalypse. That word made me icky. I still hadn't fully wrapped my head around it. We were living among monsters. At any possible moment a monster could break through here and we'd all be fucked. The thought of it sent shivers up my spine. The people around me were ingaging in conversation and I only caught bits of it.

"I'll be fine. Of course I'll be fine," one guy assures himself. Formal introductions go around. Lee Suung. Son Hyein. Ryu Jaehwan. No Byeongil So many names, so many faces. I suddenly felt a little guilty. These people were my neighbors, but I had never met them, never talked to them, never interacted with them once. Now we were forced to get to know each other under these circumstances. What did it matter? It's not like I would just become friends with them over night. Just because we were possibly at the end of the the world doesn't mean I'm going to change. Nope, I'm staying exactly how I was before, which means that I would not be warming up to these people, at least not anytime soon.

"And you? What's your name?"
Because I hadn't been paying that much attention it took me a moment to realise that he was talking to me.
"Seo Haena." I replied.
"Are you new here? I've never seen you around." Byeongil asks.
"I've lived here for two years," I answered, quite annoyed actually. In all the time that I'd been here, nobody knew who I was? Wow. That's one way to boost my self confidence.
"Two years! No way. How come I've never seen you before? "
"I don't know. Maybe you don't pay close enough attention. "
Byeongil laughs, though I'm not sure what's funny. Right at that moment Seokhyun stomps in.
"Where's that bastard, huh? Where is the bastard, huh? Where is he?" he screams.
"Who?" murmur some.
"Seokhyun, who are you looking for?" Byeongil asks.
"That dirty thug! Look what he fucking did to me. Son of a bitch."
"Can you just shut up?" I say. Everyone turns to me, looking all surprised. Even Seokhyun looked taken a back by my comment, before becoming annoyed.
"What did you say to me?" Seokhyun questions.
"You heard me. I'm sure whatever he did, you deserved. After all, you're only a little bitch who abuses his wife."
Seokhyun was red in the face. He was about to attack me, but the other held him back.
"You bitch! You should respect your elders. That is no way to talk to someone older than you!" he shouts. But I pay him no attention. I simply get up and walk out. I had had it with these people. As I walk Seokhyun is still screaming at me, telling me to respect him. I stop at the door. I turn and give him the finger. This makes his blood boil. If he was angry before, he was furious now. Still shouting at me, being held back by Suung and Byeongil, I walk out that room feeling kind of badass. Under normal circumstances, I probably would've kept my mouth shut. But these weren't normal circumstances. We were in an apocalypse. And besides, that man was starting to get on my nerves. He was a loud mouth, obnoxious, wife beater. I wished the gangster man could beat him up, so he could get a taste of his own medicine.

Where I was walking to? I didn't really know. Until I did. I needed to do something. Make myself useful. I walked into the office, where Eunhyuk sat, trying to get the radio to work.
"Assign me a task," I say. Eunhyuk turns around, a little startled.
"Do you know how to knock?" he says irritated.
I ignore his question. "Send me on a mission."
"What?"
''If I stay with those people any longer, I may just lose my mind. Give me something to do. I want to help. "
Eunhyuk studies me carefully. He pauses long, then he sighs.
"Even if your help was needed, there's nothing you could do. Yikyung went down to the electrical room and I'm working on the radio."
"Please, I'll do anything."
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing to do."
I sigh. Great. I sit down on one of chairs. Eunhyuk gives me a puzzled look.
"I meant what I said about not going back. Those people give me a headache." Eunhyuk says nothing more. He just continues with the radio. After a while he gets up.
"I'll be back." He stands from the office chair and walks out of the room. Why exactly was I so keen on helping in some way? If I was being honest with myself, I didn't really know. I just felt like I should be. It was this overwhelming urge, this constant tug in my stomach, telling me to be helpful. I realised how tired I actually was. I told myself I was only going to close my eyes for a moment, but before I know it, I'm sound asleep.

When I wake up I'm not sure how long I've been out, but Eunhyuk was wasn't back like he had said. I stretched legs and my arms. Would I ever go back to the daycare? Yes, I would, but not right now. No, I needed some time alone. I was not in the mood for all the looks and stares I would get when I returned. I did not currently have the mental capacity for that. My thoughts were interrupted as Eunhyuk walks in hastily.

"Have you seen my sister?" he asks. He looks pale in the face.
"Eunyu? No I haven't. Last I saw of her, she was off with that gangster man." Eunhyuk sighs, which I noticed he does a lot. He's quiet for a while before he speaks again.
"Will you look for her?" His question surprised me. I look up at him.
"You said you wanted an important job. This is an important job, to me at least." He looks at me with pleading eyes. I consider for a moment. I get up from where I was sitting and walk towards him so that I'm standing directly in front of him.
"Okay," I say. "I'll go out and find your sister."
"Really?" He looks surprised. He probably wasn't expecting me to say yes.
"Yeah. I'll do it."
"Thank you. I don't know how to repay you for this." he mumbles awkwardly. I almost burst out laughing. He struggles to get his words out. I personally thought he looked a little cute, being all dumbstruck and all. What the fuck, Haena? I say to myself. Why would I be thinking that. This was not the time to be letting your thoughts run wild.
"We'll see what we can do about that at a later stage." I manage.

Fifteen minutes later, I'm carrying a backpack filled with water, food, a change of clothes and a radio in case Eunhyuk ever gets it to work. I had pocket knife that was strapped to my leg. It was the only weapon I had.
"Be careful." Eunhyuk tells me. I nod.
As I was about to walk off, Eunhyuk grabs me by the wrist.
"Make it back alive, please." he says
He let's go of me, looking embarrassed. I give him a small smile.
"I'll bring your sister back." And with that I open to the double doors and walk out, plunging into the unknown, the possibility that I could die, weighing heavy on my shoulders.