When We All Died

Five

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Riwon cussed, with the phone in her hand outstretched over her head, as she tried contacting her mother but there was no signal in the school premises. After she copied her father's signature in the consent form, she hadn't stopped feeling guilty of leaving her mother behind. Her mother wasn't the worst; she gave her food, bought her little gifts sometimes and cared for her but she also never said a word when her father raised his hand at her, her mother just stood there. She stayed quiet and when everything passed, she would sneak into Riwon’s room late at night to rub ointments on her bruises or feed her dinner if she missed it.

“I know you're angry, Riwon-ah, and thank you for defending me but you have to understand your dad too. He works so hard and he's always stressed and— he just has so much love but he's not good at express—”

“Leave.”

Riwon hated her. But her mother's love was the only love she had ever known, however useless it was. Now, as she was busy trying to call her mother, she didn't notice someone slipping inside.

“What are you doing?”

Riwon yelped but soon someone covered her mouth. It was Soyoon who leaned against the wall once she quietened, lighting a cigarette. Riwon truly didn't realize that many in their class smoked. She hated the smell.

“I-I was trying to call my mother… but there's no signal.”

“Have you tried going somewhere else?”

“I did. The hallways, other classrooms, and now here I am.”

Riwon couldn't see the other's face properly in the dim moonlight spilling from the windows but she could guess the frown from her hum. “The roof?”

“It's locked.”

Soyoon took her own phone out, trying to call her own family or even her classmate, yet it didn't go through. “That's strange.”

By that time her cigarette was almost over so crushing it against the damp sink, she discarded it in the dustbin and looked up at the girl. “C'mon. Let's get to bed. You can try again tomorrow. Or we can figure out something else.”

Riwon just nodded. She had nothing to say to her and even if she did, she'd rather keep quiet. This was their second interaction, as far as Riwon remembered; the first being her embarrassing fall right in front of Soyoon when Jaebum pushed her and she pulled her up with ease, telling the asshole to fuck off. When she came back, it was already too quiet with everyone sleeping (a few were snoring) and Soyoon just looking out of the window, chewing gum.

Riwon pulled the blankets up to her chin and just kept looking at Soyoon.

She looks cool.

It wasn't a thought Riwon ever had but she didn't fight it. Everyone knew Soyoon was cool. For a second, her heart climbed her throat when Soyoon turned back, meeting her eyes. Riwon just shut her eyes tightly, refusing to embarrass herself more than she already did on a daily basis.

Before she knew it, she was asleep again.

♤

And so the training started officially.

The first day, it had been a pain in the ass to wake up. The speakers in their room hadn't been enough so their Lieutenant and Sergeant personally sauntered into the rooms and their booming voices sent everyone scurrying out. Showers were a challenge since the school did not have proper accommodations for showering, much less for a few hundred students. Some just retreated back to their rooms to get dressed because they could shower after the training. The rest either cramped in one stall two at a time or had to speedrun their whole shower within two to five minutes.