Inanima - English version

1.6 The curse

The sun's rays mercilessly warmed the desert dunes, but inside the cave the rocky walls allowed the climate to remain cooler.

Yeonjun smiled, satisfied for the first time in a long time. He had finally regained his enthusiasm for archaeology as when he decided to start that path of study. For a long time he had sought it out in those months, but he feared he had lost him, buried under the sands. He even came to the idea that he had most likely always mystified reality, believing that archaeology was the most beautiful and free work in the world. He had already imagined many times returning to Korea and locking himself in some office, what most likely his parents would want for him. Fortunately, he hadn't given up, even in the harshest moments. And in the end he had been repaid.

Yeonjun settled on the folding camping chair that he had brought into the cave to work more comfortably. He kept an open notebook on his legs and accurately transcribed the symbols depicted along the walls of that strange place they had discovered by chance. He lightly passed his fingers over the painted engravings, trying to imagine who had made them and for what purpose. His mind ran fast chasing fantasy and trying to visualize the faces of that population, their customs and their values.

"Do you realize it's only because of me that we discovered this precious cave?" commented Beomgyu, not lifting his head from his computer. He had been sitting on that laptop for hours, consulting an offline archive where all the known symbols were recorded, going from hieroglyphs to ideograms. However, he hadn't yet been able to find any correspondence with the engravings in that cave, which represented an increasingly dense mystery. "It was just luck- snorted Yeonjun, amused- if we talk about merits, you should already be on the first plane to Seoul". "You are exaggerating- blurted Beomgyu chuckling- remember that luck only helps the bold". "Yeah, sure," replied the other one, shaking his head. "I'm right- insisted Beomgyu, fixing the dark hair that fell on his forehead- if it wasn't like that, you wouldn't be here with me but scattered in various parts of the desert" "Don't make me comment about it, it's better for you, trust me," replied Yeonjun promptly.

Beomgyu tilted his head to one side, noticing for the umpteenth time a sad expression obscuring the boy's face. It was from that morning that Yeonjun oscillated from moments of pure serenity, to moments of veiled sadness. "What is going through your mind- he asked him- what is bothering you?". Yeonjun turned to look at him, surprised by his direct question. After a few seconds he surrendered, taking a deep breath. "I don't understand his behaviour," he simply said, shrugging.

Beomgyu raised an eyebrow, not understanding who he was referring to, but his friend continued, "Why did he never show up for the excavations? Is he really so uninterested in his own expedition? Or is there an explanation that we don't understand?". Beomgyu frowned, sensing that Yeonjun was talking about Soobin. It's been a while, in fact, since his friend seemed obsessed with their boss. For Beomgyu the motivation wasn't clear, yet he didn't feel he needed to ask for further explanations. Yeonjun, however, was a raging river.

"In short, you also noticed his behaviour immediately after the explosion- Yeonjun continued to complain, biting his lower lip- he was so considerate to me, I had never seen him in this aspect. And yet, now he's identical to before, nothing has changed between us. Indeed, if possible, it almost seems to ignore me on purpose". Beomgyu didn't answer, trying to metabolize that speech so full of frustration that his friend was pouring against him. Honestly, he didn't care if Soobin paid attention to him or not, why for Yeonjun did it seem to have a different value?

"Are you guys still there?" a loud voice said, ripping Beomgyu from his thoughts. The boy leaned slightly back with his back, noticing Kai peeping out of the hole. "Where can we go? We're literally inside a rock," Yeonjun replied, rolling his eyes, slightly amused. "You can join us if you want," Beomgyu replied. Kai shook his head, "I don't even think about it, I'm terrified of that place".