𝕎𝔸𝕐 𝔹𝔸ℂ𝕂 ℍ𝕆𝕄𝔼 ||𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋||

Chapter - 34

Yeon-hwa and Tae-man walked into the main room of the service area, their footsteps strangely muted in the heavy atmosphere that hung over the space. The low hum of conversation ceased abruptly as the students in the room turned their attention toward the entrance.

Confusion etched on their faces, as some members of the search team entered with a weightiness to their presence that hung in the air like an impending storm. The unspoken tension radiated from their figures, casting a shadow that seemed to stretch across the room.

Yeon-hwa's eyes flickered across the faces of her fellow survivors, catching glimpses of concern and weariness mirrored in their expressions. Her steps faltered for a moment, her instincts sensing that something was amiss. She tightened her grip on the rifle, a futile attempt to anchor herself in the midst of growing unease.

"Hey, Young-soo. What happened?" Hee-rak's voice cut through the hushed air, his brow furrowed in confusion and concern.

Then, the first sobs erupted.

Yeon-ju and Soon-yi, their faces marred by grief, entered with tear-streaked cheeks, their eyes downcast as if avoiding the prying gaze of their fellow survivors. The sudden, raw display of emotion sent a shiver through the room, a prelude to the storm that loomed on the horizon.

"Why, why are you crying? Hey, Soon-yi, Yeon-ju?" Tae-man moved forward with a furrowed brow, his gaze shifting between the grieving pair and the rest of the search team.

"What happened?" Young-shin's voice cut through the collective silence, a plea for clarity in the face of mounting confusion. The only response was the intensifying sobs of Yeon-ju and Soon-yi, their mourning a testament to a tragedy yet to be unveiled.

Yeon-hwa's breath caught in her throat, a foreboding sense of dread settling over her. The air became charged with the unspoken, a symphony of hushed whispers and stifled gasps. "Where are the others?" she inquired, her voice trembling with the weight of the unspoken fear that now enveloped the room.

Il-ha and Chi-yeol entered the room with a heavy solemnity, bearing a stretcher draped in a cover that seemed to veil the room in an eerie stillness. The hushed whispers of confusion swelled, and Yeon-hwa's unease transformed into a gnawing certainty. In a voice shaky with fear, she dared to voice the question that loomed over them all, "Where's Soo-cheol?"

The room held its breath, a collective pause pregnant with the anticipation of an answer that no one wanted to hear. Chi-yeol and Il-ha, their faces etched with the gravity of their task, gently placed the stretcher on the floor. An air of sorrow clung to the room like an invisible shroud.

Yeon-hwa, desperation mounting, approached Il-ha with urgency. "Where's Soo-cheol?" she implored, her eyes searching his for any sign of reassurance.

Il-ha's silence hung in the air like an unyielding weight, confirming Yeon-hwa's darkest fears. Panic and disbelief clawed at her as she pleaded with him, her voice now a desperate cry, "Hey, Kwon Il-ha. Say something!"

He remained silent.

Yeon-hwa's throat tightened, her pulse quickening in tandem with the collective heartbeat of the room. The gravity of the situation bore down on her, an invisible weight that threatened to crush the fragile semblance of normalcy.

Yeon-hwa's eyes darted between the covered figure and the grief-stricken Yeon-ju and Soon-yi. The pieces of the puzzle began to align in her mind, a sinking realization that whatever awaited beneath that cover would shatter the delicate equilibrium they had fought so hard to maintain.

Young-shin, Tae-man, Ha-na, and Ae-sol had gathered around the stretcher, forming a protective barrier that shielded the truth within. The air grew thick with anticipation, as if the revelation itself would bring irreversible consequences.