All for One, One for All

Chapter 8

She ran with all of her might after witnessing two people die right in front of her. Ms. Park and one of the soldiers that were with them. She was running without any clear goal in mind but to run away, as fast and as far away as possible. She felt like all of it was her fault. If only she could stop Ms. Park, it would never be like this. It's all her fault.

She ran until she arrived at the underground parking. Fuck! It's that scene. She could see Jang Soo, So Yeon, Woo Taek, and Young Soo we're with her. "Where are the others?" So Yeon asked everyone there but no one had the answer except Min Ha. "We got separated from others but don't worry, they will be safe." Min Ha tried to reassure the panicked So Yeon. All of them walked together in that empty parking space looking for the exit. They took cover behind a few cars left there. Min Ha crouched down right beside Jang Soo. "Jang Soo, cover me." She then stood up and walked to look for the exit door, just like what Jang Soo did in the drama. Jang Soo also stood up and followed her, making sure she was safe. She found it and turned toward the others. "Come on, the exit is right there!" She pointed to the door.

So Yeon and Woo Taek shook their head, too scared to walk out from their hiding place. "Yah, you better come out now, or else I'm going to get you myself and it's going to get so ugly." They contemplated at first but gave in eventually. Both of them walked toward Min Ha and Jang Soo, with Young Soo walking closed behind them. So Yeon suddenly started screaming and Min Ha quickly grabbed the big bucket she found there. Why was there a bucket there? She also didn't know. Jang Soo was busy shooting the small purple cabbage but all his shots missed it as it was too fast. Min Ha ran back toward Jang Soo with a bucket in her hand and captured the purple shit in it. She sat on top of it and shouted for Young Soo to bring the bag of cement to her. Again, why there was randomly a bag of cement lying around there? She would never know.

"You better stay in there, you purple shit." Jang Soo helped Young Soo to carry the bag while Min Ha was struggling to keep the small sphere inside the bucket. When they arrived with the bag, they put the bag on top of the bucket but the sphere was too strong that the bag of cement couldn't hold it. "Yah, run." Jang Soo and Young Soo stared at Min Ha as if she had gone crazy. Well, for everyone's information, she was crazy from the start. "Go! The exit is there!" Jang Soo shook his head. "I'm not leaving you behind, idiot!" Min Ha then tried to shove Jang Soo away with one hand but damn, that guy was too strong, he didn't move an inch. "Idiot? I'm trying to save you, you fool! You should shoot it, not me. My target paper had zero holes in it. Zero! Young Soo, please drag this big boy away from here, thank you." Young Soo nodded and tried to drag Jang Soo away but expectedly, failed. So Yeon and Woo Taek helped Young Soo and finally, Jang Soo moved but still hesitated to leave Min Ha behind.

"Okay, it's time to be Jang Soo." Min Ha mumbled to herself, readying herself to get attacked by the small sphere under the bucket. She let go of the bucket and ran as fast as she could toward the others but was caught by the sphere. Just like what happened to Jang Soo in the drama, it happened to Min Ha at that moment. She tried to stop the sphere from eating her face. Jang Soo whose eyes never left, ran toward Min Ha and stopped a few meters before he aimed his gun at the sphere but he was too afraid to pull the trigger as he didn't want Min Ha to get hurt. The others kept on yelling for Jang Soo to shoot. He finally pulled the trigger when he noticed the sphere was coming closer to Min Ha's face.

Min Ha could feel her heart beat too fast. She thought that it was the end for her. She could even see the light of hell calling her just now. She felt someone hug her tightly, asking if she was okay. She realized the person was Jang Soo. "I'm sorry, Jang Soo for giving you that heavy task but I know you can do it." She could feel the hug tighter than before. She smiled a little and hugged back. The hug was very comforting. She felt like she could sleep right there and forget all that had happened that day.

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Min Ha felt like a movie star as everyone's eyes were on them when they returned to school. All of their uniforms were dirty and they were all sweaty. They now sat in their own place in class. They were all minding their own business when suddenly Soon Yi suddenly started to speak. "This isn't a dream, right? Did Ms. Park re-really..." No one answered her. They all knew that it was not a dream. It never was. From the start, it was a nightmare. Min Ha stared at her hands. The hands that could save Ms. Park but failed to do it. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. She failed to change Ms. Park's fate. She silently cried in her seat, didn't want to cause any scene.

Then, she heard her classmates start to argue with each other, some wanted to go home while some wanted to stay. Some of them were already prepared to go home when suddenly Lieutenant Lee entered the class. He asked everyone to sit down and shouted at them when no one listened to him. "It's dangerous outside, school is the safest place for now." So Yoon scoffed when she heard that. "Safe? Our teacher died and we heard Min Ha was almost killed and you call that safe?" Lieutenant Lee stared at Min Ha who was busy wiping her tears. He turned his gaze back toward the others. "Being protected by someone else doesn't mean you will be safe, you have to protect yourself. And the school is training you to do that."

Hee Rak stood up and said, "But you saw us, we can't even shoot a gun, so how can we protect ourselves? Just send us home!" Soon Yi agreed with Hee Rak, saying that they would be alright if they just stay put at home. "Let's say you went home. What if the spheres attack your home? What will you do then?" Everyone became silent after that. "The night training will be held as scheduled, better get ready for it." Lieutenant Lee then walked out of the class, ignoring the gasps from the students.

Min Ha put her head in her hands. She couldn't think of anything right now. She felt the guilt slowly eating her from inside. She lifted her head when she heard someone call her name. "Min Ha, why are you not raising your hand? Do you want to stay?" So Yoon raised her brows toward Min Ha. Her voice was too loud, it made Min Ha want to shove her gun inside So Yoon's mouth. "Yeah, I'm not going back home." Some of them, especially Hee Rak started to complain and raise their voice at Min Ha. "Hey, stop it!" Yoo Jung tried to calm everyone down. Il Ha had started to yell at Young Soo, who also didn't raise his hand.

Min Ha who couldn't take it any longer slammed her fist on her desk. "Stop it, will you?! If you guys really want to go back home, then go. Why do you need to put up a fight with him if he doesn't want to go?" Il Ha glared at Min Ha before walking toward her and said, "What? Are you his girlfriend? That's why your fucking brain is fucked up, huh?" Min Ha slapped him across the face with her poker face. Il Ha was going to attack her but was held back by Jang Soo. Soon Yi suddenly kneeled in front of Young Soo and begged him and Min Ha to change their minds. Min Ha sighed and walked out of that class as it slowly suffocated her.

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After dinner, they were back to training. Min Ha knew what had happened with the petition. Lieutenant Lee obviously opposed their idea of going back home. Min Ha's legs were bruised after the attack that day but still she tried to run and do the training course. Jang Soo who noticed she had a limp, only could watch her from afar. He tried to help her but she refused as she didn't want to burden anyone. Then, everyone stopped when Yoo Jung started to cry and kneeled in front of Lieutenant Lee. Min Ha felt her whole body hurt. She almost fell but Woo Taek was able to grab her. He slowly sat her down on the field. She whispered a 'thank you' and stared at the sky. She closed her eyes. She hates this feeling, she hates this universe and she hates herself.

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Letter to myself,

I had failed and there is nothing I could do about it.