One Day At A Time | sansang

4. panic

          ⚠️ descriptions of a car crash
                     + panic attack ⚠️

Time flew by, and soon they'd been living in the city for 3 months. They both developed a daily routine, everything was going well. Except, San still hadn't made any friends. He got himself aquainted with several people, but none of them could relate to his lifestyle and he couldn't relate to theirs. Conversations were so so dry. As a result, they never advanced to the friends stage.

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It was a sunny afternoon at the fruit market. They were selling out faster then usual, so he went to the back to get more boxes of fruits. The problem was, they had ran out. "San-ssi, the delivery man is stuck in a traffic jam. He won't make it in time, we need to close until he gets here." His boss informed him.

"O-okay," he replied, removing his gloves to cover up the remaining fruits.

All of a sudden, a deafening crash sound could be heard from the roadside.

"O-mo, what was that?"

San jogged to the end of the market street and his jaw dropped. A multiple vehicle collision had occured right before his eyes.

One of the cars was engulfed in flames, emitting smoke everywhere. Passers-by who wanted to help rushed to free the trapped passengers in the cars involved. He could hear people screaming for help, while others were dialing for fire and emergency services, emphasising the severity of the incident.

San had never witnessed a car accident in his entire life.

Several ambulances and fire trucks arrived at the scene, paramedics and firefighters handling the situation as fast as they could. It happened so fast, yet so slow. People carried away on stretchers, cars were badly damaged, and the air filled with a burning smell.

Then the siren went off, blasting through the streets as it sped towards the hospital.

That siren. The last time he heard it was when-

San swiftly turned around, pushed through the crowd and dashed back to the fruit stall, almost stumbling on his foot. He hid himself in the storage room at the back, finally letting go as he burst into tears. He didn't realise he was holding his breath the entire time and panted heavily trying to prevent himself from passing out. His heart pounded against his chest, feeling as if it was going to explode. The flashbacks from that night overwhelmed his mind and he gripped onto his shirt, eyes shut tight, body shaking in fear.

It lasted an agonizing 8 minutes. When it passed, his arms and legs went numb, head leaning against the crate beside him.

"San-ssi, the delivery is here!" He heard a faint voice calling out.

The worn out man stood up and returned to the front of the store, helping to restock the fruit baskets. He acted as if nothing happened, nobody needed to know.

The incident had caused a lot of commotion outside. As the various services cleared the crash site, people began to break away. One if the few paths that weren't barricaded was straight through the market and onto the road on the opposite side. They spilled into the narrow walkway, some stopping to buy things from the stalls and discuss what had happened with the owners.

As expected, the fruit stall was swarming with customers trying to get their hands on the fruits. It was chaotic, and loud. San sweared all he heard was ringing in his ears.

When the noise died down, he looked at his watch. It read 4.30pm. Time to pick up Rina.

He sent his goodbyes to his boss before leaving.

"Appa there is a learning journey next month. Teacher said you need to sign a form." Rina's voice sounded so cheerful and innocent, it helped San forget about his ordeal for a while. "Okay I'll do that when we're home."

When they got to the apartment, he checked their letter box. There was mail for him. Except it wasn't a letter. It was the freaking rent bill.