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...
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I trailed behind him in utter confusion. Go back? All of a sudden? What about food?
But all I could do was follow him mindlessly.
Tap, tap, tap.
I hear his every step, the clink between his shoes and the limestone-tiled sidewalk. It was quiet, almost oddly quiet — as he walked wordlessly ahead of me. I don't know what he was thinking, and I couldn't figure out what he was thinking — that thought, alone, drove me crazy.
My gaze follow his footsteps. A step, another, then another. Finally, his footsteps slowed down to a gradual halt.
I raise my head.
Right then, I saw it again — that majestically gigantic sphere, that golden glow around it — I averted my gaze instantly.
"Yeonjun, are you insane?" I tear away from his grip finally, taking a step back. "Do you want to die?"
"No, Beomgyu, I am perfectly fine." His nonchalant tone made it harder for me to tell whether he was serious or not. "Listen, I remembered —" He sucked in a breath, "I remembered that day. Before Taehyun..." He trailed off, as if he was going to say a forbidden word.
"He saw something. Definitely." I could see the serious look on his face. "And we have to find it."
"I don't know what's gotten into you," I frown, "But I am not part of this. If you're planning to get killed and all, go ahead. But I'm not joining you."
"No, Beomgyu—" Yeonjun stops mid-sentence, his words oddly cut off by the sound of something a distance away.
Someone is coming! I could feel all nerves in my body tense up, and instantly, I grabbed Yeonjun by the arm and shielded ourselves behind a pile of stacked-up wooden cranes at the back of an alley.
Then, a series of footsteps erupted as two boys around my age appeared around the corner.
One had silver hair and a pair of odd, electronic glasses, just like how Taehyun appeared to be. Then, I got a clearer look of him.
Soobin! I could almost scream. I knew that face way too well. Soobin, my childhood friend of seven years. Choi Soobin!
Yeonjun seemed to sense my shock. Putting a finger to his lips, he signalled me to keep quiet.
On his back, another boy dressed in a similar sense laid on his back, unconscious. I squint to get a better view of him, and a sense of familiarity settles itself in my mind.
I've seen him before.
His eyes, shut tight — when have I seen this before? I furrow my brows, thinking hard. Then, Yeonjun shook my shoulder, signalling for me to look at the pair again.
Soobin turned into the building opposite us, where The Eye was hovering over. The building had seemed to be an office tower before, and the automatic doors opened with a swish as Soobin neared them.
As the doors opened, I got a closer look to what was inside. The white, sleek lobby, and instead of the receptionist at the front desk, something unusual was placed on the round desk in the middle of the room.
It seemed to be an ombre, glowing globe floating centimetres away from the desk. Soobin puts the boy down, then grabs his arm, pulling him closer to the globe.
As the boy's fingertips reach the globe, a yellowish glow erupted, from his fingertips, to his arms, then down and down, till his whole body glew amber.
Yeonjun watches with a sense of dismay in his eyes. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but decided to stay quiet.
From my direct line of vision, I could see an absolutely absurd scene unfolding in front of us. The boy...glowing brighter every second, starts to rise up bit by bit — first, his legs straighten up. Then, his body. And lastly, his head. They prop up like bits of a lego figurine.
Then, the boy stands up, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just gotten up in a humanly impossible way. He straightens up his clothes, then heads toward the back of the room.
He walked through a white, translucent sliding door at the back of the room. Soobin follows closely behind, and I watched their figures turn into a mere shadow, then gradually disappearing into the distance. Even as their figures were no longer visible, I can't help but stare at the spot they were previously standing at. Something hit me.
They're not who they are. They're clones. I remember what Yeonjun had told me.
Not just that.
They're...not human.
Yeonjun and I exchange a look.
Run, now! As if our thoughts had collided, our legs pick us up at the same time. Houses, flats, apartments — they flash past us like a bolt. I feel the burning, deoxygenated feeling in my throat; I feel the quick wind brush past my face like a sharp-edged knife; but I couldn't stop. Yeonjun and I ran and ran, till we reached our apartment and climbed into the attic. It was then I realised I was out of breath.
We pant heavily, gasping for air. Amidst the chaos, our eyes met. Then, as if some sort of button was switched on, we burst into laughter.
Oxygen knocks out of my lungs, but I didn't care. We laughed and laughed, till our abdomen hurt and we were on the floor.
"He was not human. They are not human. No one is human." Yeonjun cracks up.
It wasn't funny. Nothing was so funny about that. On the contrary, it was so morose no one would've laughed. But who would've thought? The situation was so hopeless, and in face of our overwhelming misery, all we could muster was one single, bitter laugh.
How could I be so unlucky?
All these days, we were waiting for someone to save us. Yeonjun has been hiding in this place, years and years, waiting for a survivor — just one survivor — to tell him, "Oh! The great blinding is over! You may step out of your house freely without being killed!"
But it's not true. Today's experience had thought us that there's too much going on outside. We don't know who is human and who isn't, and there's too much going on in the Central Building for us to find out. For all we know, we might be the only humans standing in this entire world.
And with that, the confusion from days before finally piece together, into one complete puzzle.
The murdered town council, the clones, the Central Building — whatever is out there , it could be one, two, millions, billions, or any unimaginable number. But there's one thing I'm absolutely sure of.
