Inanima - English version

1.1 Sand grains

Yeonjun threw the shovel a few feet away.

"Remind me why we don't have decent diggers," he asked breathlessly, as his chest rhythmically lifted to catch his breath. Beomgyu, lying on the ground with his arm covering his face, shook his head. "Because first we have to find something relevant to be allowed to dig on a large scale in this place," he snorted, his breath halved.

"Not even a single thing, what are they waiting for to declare this site as devoid of any object? We are in the desert, what do they think they will find?" Yeonjun complained, spreading his arms wide. Beomgyu smiled with difficulty "And think about how Kai must feel. He chose to follow this expedition to write his University thesis".

Yeonjun shook his head, seeing the boy in question coming towards them as the sun began to fall behind his figure. Although the situation wasn't the best, he wandered among the tired archaeologists handing out bottles of water with mineral salts supplements, without losing his typical smile. When he arrived in the Ordos desert he immediately hit Yeonjun for his cute face, the classic person you already know that he could be your friend. Soon Kai had joined the duo formed by him and Beomgyu, but also became a victim of their frequent jokes. They weren't mean, they were simply bored, and Kai accepted everything laughing with them. At least, they never crossed the line.

The boy joined the two archaeologists, smiling widely. "I see you particularly tired," he observed as he sat next to Beomgyu, who continued to lie down. "Unfortunately, we're not as young as you are," Yeonjun commented with a smile, accepting the bottle of water that the boy handed him. Kai was always dressed in long-sleeved shirts and explorer's trousers trying to leave very few areas of his body uncovered due to the merciless sunlight of the desert. In fact, his skin was pale and his face had already reddened many times before he began to adopt the use of a wide hat. His hair was dyed a questionable bleached blond, almost candid white, which made him even more weird in the whole context.

"How's your thesis going? Did you find anything useful?" Yeonjun said, snorting amusedly. Kai shook his head "I could write pages and pages on every grain of sand in this desert, there are so many that I find them everywhere even at night when I go to sleep. However, I don't think my professors would be happy". "I would read it," Beomgyu exclaimed, barely lifting an arm to show support for his friend. Kai thanked him by giggling, then turned to Yeonjun.

"By the way, I was reading a book of ammonites last night, but the sandstorm of a few days ago ruined the pages and I can't figure out which class that ammonite belongs to," he said, pulling a thick worn book out of his shoulder bag. He quickly flipped through the pages, immediately finding the point he had marked. He handed the book to Yeonjun, pointing to a precise drawing. The archaeologist grabbed it, bringing it closer to his face to recognize the fossil represented.

"It's a specimen of Holcophylloceras calypso, a Phylloceratin of the Toarcian," he finally stated, returning the book to Kai. The boy opened his eyes wide, looking at him with surprise. "And you seriously realized it just by looking at it for a few seconds? How is that possible?" he exclaimed in an admiring tone. Beomgyu chuckled from the ground where he still lay. "Although everyone thought he was a slacker, actually the extra years he spent at the University allowed him to develop a better knowledge compared to others- he sincerely said- so Yeonjun is by far the best archaeologist of the entire site".

"Damn, I should do my thesis about you!" commented Kai, squeezing the book to his chest as he continued to admire Yeonjun standing in front of him, who began to feel uncomfortable with all that sudden attention. "Even if I think he only guessed the answers- Beomgyu laughed, not missing the opportunity to tease his friend- for example, what the hell is the Toarcian?". Yeonjun puffed his cheeks, as it was typically when he was nervous. "You ignorant punk, the Toarcian is another name of the Lower Jurassic!" exclaimed with a loud voice. "So, just call it Lower Jurassic, what cost you to do that? - retorted Beomgyu, without removing his arm from his face- or do you like to appear smarter than us?".