beomgyu lost his sight - along with everyone else on earth - in the great blinding. two years later, without warning, his sight returns. as he look around, he realizes that every available wall, floor and surface has been painted with the same messa...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When I woke up, Beomgyu was already wide awake, freshly changed into a set of clothes which I assume he had gotten from my cabinet in the bathroom.
"Are those my clothes?" I asked him, fully aware of the answer, "When I said 'make yourself at home', I was just being polite, you know."
"I had blood on my shirt," He answered thoughtlessly, as if that answer is self-explanatory. "Do you have food here?"
I stand up to check the cupboard at the side of the couch. "Oh," I muttered, realising something.
"Beomgyu, I'm afraid your first hunting experience came earlier than expected. We'll have to get out and look for food."
Honestly, I was expecting to be refused, or at least a "what?" The experience he had outside yesterday was pretty traumatising to anyone. To my surprise, he simply gave a quick glance and replied, "Okay, where?"
He adapted to the situation surprisingly well, I was astonished. I sat stunned for a short while, then answered, "Well, I would usually sneak into houses to get their uneaten food. They often have too much, anyway. But if you want to stay inside for today, I'm fine with that."
"No, it's alright." He responds, turning around. "I'll have to do it eventually. I'm okay, really."
So that's how we began our first food-hunt together. I was happy to have good company, but it was more difficult at the same time, as I had to cover for my inexperienced ally constantly.
"The Eye is what checks for people wandering around outside their homes," I told him, "As long as it can't see us, we are free to move around."
The key to it was variety — you can't just target a certain house and continue taking resources from it: it was too easy to get caught by its owners. I had already ventured around most parts of the town, so that leaves only one unexplored area — the hardest to get around, too.
The North.
It was where The Eye was located. I would say there is a good fifty-percent chance of not returning.
I don't know where the clones are sent out from, but I am under the presumption that they came from the building The Eye rested on top of. That means if we were caught, there's close to no time for escaping.
I turn to look at Beomgyu. He definitely knew this. But he seemed completely unfazed of the danger arising. He seemed pretty excited even, I would say.
So we head North.
The north was immensely dark. The more we walked in that direction, the darker it got. The lack of sunlight made the grey houses more grey, and the gloomy mood got stronger as we entered the area.
"Yeonjun, look." Beomgyu gestures towards the left of the sidewalk. What seemed to be previous plantations that long wilted, covering the lane in various tones of greyish-yellow. "This place looks miserable," He added.
He was right. This part of the town seemed much dimmer than the rest, and I struggle to find a tinge of life here. Even the plants had been met with the finality of their lives, like how Beomgyu pointed out.
"Come on," I gently grab Beomgyu by his wrist, pulling him along as I spot a house with its curtains drawn open. This should be it.
We made our way towards the entrance. The streets are strangely quiet, and I could hear our footsteps echoing as our shoes made contact with the brick-tiled road.
Knowing that we could be in immediate danger at any point of time, I felt a sense of extrinsic tranquillity. In all strangeness, I felt at peace. The silence of the surroundings gave me an odd sense of security, as if the both of us were the only ones existing in this very world.
I couldn't resist the urge to turn around to look at him. Then, I met his pair of gleaming, amber orbs. He looked eager. He looked uncertain. He looked...confused.
All of a sudden, a wave of sorrow crashed onto me. If not for all of these, he would be living a normal life. Going to school — university, perhaps? If he had not been dragged into this spiralling pile of mess alongside me, we might have been really good friends.
It was then when I realised — this situation — the Great Blinding, it had robbed us of more things than I had imagined. It wasn't just sight, not at all. It was freedom. Freedom to wander out and interact with people you love. Freedom to see what's around you. Freedom to...exist.
I could almost see Taehyun's eyes right before me. What had he been thinking before he had passed? Sadness? Unexpectedness? Relief?
It was as if I could see his eyes right before me. That one moment before he had died, he looked in my direction. Then...what was that emotion in his eyes? Shock? It was more than shock.
Of course, he was shocked. He definitely didn't expect such a thing to happen. But when he looked in my direction...
He saw something.
My eyes widened at that thought. He definitely saw something. It was a split after the explosion. However, when he looked in my direction, his pupils dilated again. If he had been shocked by the sudden explosion, he would have shown that emotion much earlier.
Where was I? I close my eyes to think. We were so close to the eye. We were right below the building.
He was facing the alley beside the building. I was hiding in it.
It was all clear now. Swiftly, I turn in the opposite direction as Beomgyu's confused voice trailed behind.
