Hae-Rin's voice was cracked, raw and desperate, slicing through the heavy silence.
Min-Seok and Hyun-Su gasped behind her, their shock palpable.
Hae-Rin's eyes were locked onto the figure by the window, a shadow outlined by the sunlight streaming in, casting a warm yet unsettling glow around it. At the sound of Hae-Rin's voice, the woman turned sharply, her movements urgent, eyes wide with disbelief.
As their eyes met, Hae-Rin's and her mother, the room seemed to collapse around them, the walls narrowing, the air thickening. A wave of disorientation washed over Hae-Rin, the world tilting on its axis as she struggled to comprehend the sight before her. Her mother stood there, alive, impossibly real, after three years of separation, after a year of an apocalypse with grief and loss. Her mother stared, shocked and frozen.
Hae-Rin's heart pounded, her breath hitching in her throat. She felt as if she might shatter, the fragile threads of hope she had held onto like a lifeline threatened to break right then.
Both seemed unable to move, unable to comprehend, as they stared at each other for a couple of seconds that might've felt like hours to Hae-Rin.
Tears welled up in Hae-Rin's eyes, blurring her vision, but she didn't dare blink, afraid that the image before her might disappear.
Her mother wore a black tank top, military pants, and sturdy black boots, her appearance was commanding and authoritative. Her hair was tied back into a tight ponytail, and a belt brimming with weapons was strapped around her waist. In her hands, she held a gun, its metal gleaming ominously under the sunlight. The sound the three hard heard, it seemed, was coming from a backpack lying on the floor.
