✔ 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 [𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒]

«... Government.»

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓. 𝟐:𝟏𝟎 𝐏.𝐌.

𝟑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝟓𝟎 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄.

The streets were packed.

At least Hyungwon felt far too cramped on the sidewalk and it was difficult for the two siblings to squeeze through the crowd. As Hoseok had said, there were many demonstrators, which is why it was extremely noisy. For a big city like Seoul, this was usually nothing new, yet on normal days, people were not interested in the welfare or demise of their fellow man.

"Why do you want to buy me this MP3 player now?" asked Jieun, who had a hard time understanding her brother's behavior.

As one of the passersby staggered toward the two clearly drunk, Hyungwon pulled his sister in front of him and gallantly dodged the man. He took his time with an answer. Staring stubbornly at the path ahead of them, he was careful not to run into anyone.

Finally he said, "Because I had a guilty conscience ..."

Jieun put his head and neck to look at Hyungwon. However, this only worked for a very short time because otherwise she would have lost her balance and stumbled, so she looked forward again.

"I've come to realize that three years is a hell of a long time, and I don't want to be the kind of brother who never keeps his promises." His fingers tightened around her shoulders as he piloted her in serpentine lines through the demonstrators. "So I'm going to buy you this thing and promise you that I'll be back with you in three and a half years."

He lowered his eyes, but couldn't see the expression on his sister's face.

Was she sad?

Hopeful?

Had he made the budding separation between them worse?

"A-And I ..."

"Don't give in to this shitty government! Don't kill people!" one man shouted through the crowd. A few seconds later, more and more people shouted this slogan.

Due to the interruption, Hyungwon had not understood what his sister had wanted to tell him. He bent down further. "What did you say?" he asked her, but Jieun just shook her head, unwilling to repeat her words. I guess the soldier had to be satisfied with that, because when it came to stubbornness, the siblings were no less than each other.

As soon as they reached the small music store and successfully stood in the store without any injuries, the 25-year-old could breathe a sigh of relief. Instantly he let go of his sister, who unbelievably knew immediately where to go, and looked around the room. There was only one other person and the salesman in the store. The latter was reading the newspaper where the Purge had made it to the front page. No surprise, the whole world was talking about it and of course the newspaper would report on it, so Hyungwon averted his eyes and looked at the other young man. Outwardly, he could be Hyungwon's age, but he was much smaller in stature. He had styled his light to medium brown hair so that the undercut could be clearly seen. He wore a thin, long-sleeved black sweater and light-colored jeans that were washed out and frayed. His interest was in a record whose cover Hyungwon couldn't make out. And he was so engrossed in it that he hadn't even looked up after his sister and he entered the store.