Sun and Moon (Sweet Home)

06

In the lobby, the air was heavy and tense with anxiety. Everyone was either silent or talking in hushed whispers, nobody seemed eager to break the silence. A few, including Mi-Sun, were still recovering from the shock of the night's events, even hours later when the sun had risen, filling the lobby with the soft glow of sunlight. Normally she would have marvelled at how aesthetic the sight of sunshine pouring through the shutters was, but she couldn't find it in herself to see the beauty in anything at that moment.

Mi-Sun rubbed her hands together, comforted by the fact that she could actually feel them again, her panic had calmed and she was left simply feeling exhausted and numb. She was sitting on the bottom step of the same staircase she had walked down earlier, her legs outstretched. A young woman with a short bob, who's name she hadn't caught yet, was sat on her left a few steps above her, and the woman with the dog was on her right, a couple feet away.

The girl with the bob was mute, seemingly traumatised, whilst the older woman occasionally spoke to her dog. Mi-Sun thought that was a bit weird but she couldn't blame her, it was a cute dog. From what she had picked up, it's name was Bom.

The firefighter, or Seo Yi-Kyeong as Mi-Sun had learned, and the soldier, Lee Su-Ung, had carried the businessman's body into an empty room. She was happy to no longer be looking at it but out of sight didn't necessarily mean out of mind. She could see the poor man's shrivelled up corpse every time she closed her eyes, she didn't think she'd ever forget it.

Eun-Hyuk and Yi-Kyeong had taken up the roles as temporary leaders and had some people help barricade the entrance. A man and a woman were standing in front of the shutters, moving furniture to block it off, Mi-Sun numbly watched them work. Her gaze periodically flickered to the green door that led to another stairwell, she hoped and prayed to see Mun-Su walk through that door. Where was he? It had been hours, surely he had found his phone by now.

'Could he be..? No!' She thought. 'He's fine.'

"You're Cho Mun-Su's younger sister, right?" The dog lady said, snapping Mi-Sun out of her thoughts.

"Yeah," she replied, scratching the shaved side of her head. "I'm Mi-Sun."

"Son Hye-In," the woman said, petting her dog. "Where is your brother?"

"He went upstairs to get his phone, he hasn't come back yet."

"Do you think he's dead?" Hye-In asked. Mi-Sun tried to not let the insensitive words bother her, the woman was awfully blunt.

"I don't know. Eun-Hyuk and Yi-Kyeong said I can't go after him- it's not safe." She had begged to go and find her brother but the older two managed to talk her down, convincing her to sit and calm herself.

"My daughter isn't back yet! What are you doing!?" A voice cried, Mi-Sun didn't bother looking up to see what was going on. Judging by the voice, it was Cha Jin-Ok, the worried mother from earlier and director of the daycare. "You can't block this!" The woman cried, pulling at the barricade.

There were pleads for her to calm down from the people closest to her, which she ignored, continuing to struggle against them and try to clear the entrance. "If anything happens to Min-Ju, it'll be all your fault!"

Hearing soft footsteps, Mi-Sun looked up to see Eun-Hyuk. He was watching the scene unfold, his face impassive.

"Block it."