❝If only...❞ || All Of Us Are Dead

One

1 hour before the apocalypse

Hye-Rin

Mi-jin opens the creaky tennis court gate, closing it as soon as I step in after her. I set my backpack down beside me. The warmth of the sunlight hits me, and that's when I realise I forgot to put sunscreen on this morning. 

Mi-Jin grabs one of the tennis balls from the floor and she throws it up in the air, catching it one handed, again and again. "Why's it so hot today?" she sighs.

"Better than last week," I remind her, "since it was shit when all it did was rain." I walk around to the other side of the tennis net, holding my arm up as we fairly distance ourselves.

"Ready?" Mi-jin shouts to me, and I nod in reply.

These types of days are my favourite; when I can be with Mi-jin and not have to worry, when we can do whatever we want freely, and without a care in the world. Summer is the best season to me as we see each other outside of school a lot more, wherever it's going for a walk in the park or down to the beach, I don't know, but anything we do together, it's always fun.

I met Mi-jin in my first year at Hyosan high school, as she was the first person who talked to me. I also met On-jo, Su-Hyeok, Dae-su, Su-Hyeok and all the others on the same day. 

Mi-jin throws the tennis ball high across the courts, and I jump to the side to catch it.

She chuckles, shouting to me, "Almost caught you out there!"

I throw it back to her, and she catches it effortlessly. 

"You know," she says, "tennis has always been my favourite sport. It's the best."

Walking past the net, I pick up two tennis rackets, throwing one to her. "Wanna try a proper match?" I ask, already knowing she's going to win, since she's one of the best people I know for sports.

"Yeah, but, in a minute," Mi-jin says, walking across the court to me. She glances behind her shoulder, then turns to face me as she brings a packet of cigarettes and a lighter out from under her sleeve. Winking at me, she says, "Motivation."

I scoff, rolling my eyes. "Your lungs are gonna be so bad when you're older."

"Alright, mother." Mi-jin lights the cigarette and she takes the first puff, turning to the side to blow out the smoke, as she knows I hate the smell. 

"The wind will take the smoke with it soon," she tells me, doing it again. "There's loads of breezes today."

I look up towards the clear, blue sky. "And sun," I say.

The tennis court gates creak as they're opened. 

"Oh, shit!" Mi-jin exclaims, and she starts to panick, dropping the cigarette and stomping on it rapidly. She hastily shuts the lighter, shoving it back up her sleeve. Clearing her throat, she turns around.

I turn to face whoever's just come in, and I look over to Mi-jin, who's now scowling.

"You idiots!" she yells, but she's smiling as she walks forward. 

Su-Hyeok and Cheong-san stand in front of us, both holding a tennis racket of their own. 

"Hey," Cheong-san says, "We were just coming to play a match before lunch ends."

"We could do 2 vs. 2," I say.

Mi-jin smirks, folding her arms. "Alright, deal," she says. She grabs me and her a tennis racket, and throwing one to me, she goes to the opposite side of the court, with Cheong-san.

"Were you smoking again?" he asks her.

"No..." she replies. 

When Cheong-san gives her an unconvinced stare, Mi-jin sighs loudly. "Fine," she admits, "yes, yes I was smoking."