OTHER HALF , lee suhyeok

xxvii | the yellow ribbon

The smoke blew away, and the view of the forest came back. It hurt. It hurt to look at the scene in front, being displayed. Thinking about it hurt too.

All the lives that have been taken, and not even in one week. An orange light displayed, illuminating the forest.

With it being night too, the group decided it would be best to stay in the forest, continuing their journey the next day. And as fast as the smoke cleared up, night passed and it was the next day.

They sat in silence, while Wu-jin attempted to help Dae-su with his broken leg. On-jo sat by herself, while Hyun sat beside Nam-ra, and Su-hyeok by himself.

On-jo got up, walking down the mountain, when Su-hyeok got up and stood behind her. " Let's go. Let's go On-jo. "

" I can't just go like this. I'm sorry.. can you wait a bit? Never mind. Go ahead. I'll catch up. "

hm? Hyun thought, before getting up and following along. Nam-ra joined her too, stopping to turn to Su-hyeok. " We'll go after her. "

" The three of us will go together "

" I'll go too. " Dae-su yelled, but sat back down, crying in pain because of his leg.

" No. You hurt your leg. " Wu-jin held him down, putting a hand on his leg.

" Wu-jin, look after Dae-su. "

Hyun looked behind her to see Su-hyeok and Nam-ra following behind, and ran farther to catch up to On-jo.

" Hi. "

" Hello. "

The two shared very little words, but so much was shared in the silence. Even while not showing it, Hyun could sense the heartbreak On-jo was feeling. She'd just lost her dad the other day, and an hour later, her lover.

They soon arrived at the construction site. After the explosion, all that was left was bits of bricks, and old equipment. The walls were hit, leaving holes to view the sky.

" Cheong-san? Cheong-san! " " Cheong-san, you jerk! "

Hyun looked over to Nam-ra and noticed they shared the same expression. Nam-ra broke eye contact, and walked over to On-jo. " Let's go. "

" I don't smell anything. There's no one here. "

Nam-ra looked at Hyun who made her way over to the two.

" Let's... Let's say goodbye to Cheong-san... and leave. "

She pulled the two into a hug, and they stayed there, taking comfort in each others arms.

~

" The soldiers saw us at school, remember? They left us there without helping us. Then they bombed it. Maybe they want us to die. "

" That can't be it. " On-jo replied.

" I think it's because of me. Because we were with zombies, they must think we're neither zombies nor humans, like me. Maybe that's what they thought. "

" Don't say that. It's not true. " Hyun sighed, turning back to face the two. " It's not true. "

" Is it okay for you all to say with me like this? " Nam-ra asked

" You're still our friend and our classroom president. We couldn't have made it this far without you. "

" Do you think of me as someone infected? Or as your friend. " Hyun asked

" My friend. Of course. " Nam-ra confidently replied

She smiled, taking Nam-ra's hand into hers. " And that's what we think of you. Not someone who was bit... a ' hambie ' ... but our friend. We're not leaving each other. "

" Exactly. You haven't turned, and you never will. "

They all smiled in satisfaction, turning back to the path.

" Let's do that again later. It was my first time sitting around a fire with friends. We'll be able to do that again, right? "

" Let's do it tonight. " On-jo said.

" What the hell? " Mi-jin cursed from the front.

" What's wrong? " Hyo-ryung nervously asked.

" Shit. I think we're lost. "

" There's no trail? " " There hasn't been a trail for a while. "

" I feel like we're going in circles. "

" Why did you come this way if there was no trail? We might end back up at Hyosan. "

Wu-jin paused before peering down the hill. " Ha-ri. Look. "

Ha-ri looked into the direction of where he was pointing and spotted something. " There's something there. "

It was a yellow ribbon.