Expiry Date

Concept/Prologue

I was supposed to die yesterday.

I mean, I was ready for it. I'd said goodbye to all the people that mattered, mum, dad, my younger brother and my three best friends from college. Mum and dad had assured me that it would be over fast as I hadn't been suffering with any kind of illness or injury. Mum had spent most of the day before yesterday crying as we did everything that I loved most. I'd gone to sleep almost accepting that it would be my last day alive. It had seemed normal. I'd gone into class, gotten the same pitying looks as I had gotten for the last week, had very sombre conversations with my friends then gone home. Mum cried again when she saw me. She hadn't wanted it to be something that had happened away from home so she couldn't say one last goodbye. My brother had cried when he got back from school too. Similar reasons I guess. Mum over cooked dinner to make sure she didn't give me some kind of food poisoning that was severe enough to spontaneously kill me and then I spent the next few hours gaming with my friends and brother like always. I kept waiting for something drastic to happen. My chest to suddenly constrict in agony or a bang to sound as something exploded around me or really anything. But no. Nothing. I was getting more paranoid the longer the day progressed and when 11pm rolled round, I decided I'd had enough and was just going to go to sleep. I got ready for bed, lay down, comforted my now sobbing mum, dad and brother and promptly fallen asleep.

Which brings me to this morning.

When I woke up.

Now, waking up isn't normally something I look forward to and it isn't normally something that I'm not supposed to do either but remember, I was supposed to die yesterday. I'd known that for the entire of my 19 years alive that yesterday was the last day I got to live but here I was. Awake.

I've been sat in bed for a while now. It's definitely still early, I don't hear my family in the house and the light coming through the gap in my curtains is only faint. I've already checked myself over and I seem to be fine. You know, for someone who is supposed to be dead. It's not really something I'm used to, considering I've never died before but I feel normal. Ordinary. Like I always do when I wake up. I gather myself and go to check my watch on the desk to confirm what time it is. 5:48am. So definitely too early for my family to be awake. I wonder how they'll respond to me being alive. I already know mum is going to cry. Should I wake them up? Show them that I'm not dead? I'd probably scare them if I did. No, I'll just stay here. I check my arm for what feels like the thirtieth time today but the black numbers still read yesterday's date. I don't really know what to do now. I literally thought I wouldn't get to see this morning. I sit for what feels like ages but probably wasn't more than 15 minutes. Then the banging starts

It scares me. I haven't heard anyone knocking on our door in that kind of anger ever. Knowing that my family aren't awake, I get up to answer the door. I make my way through the house like I've done thousands of times before and get to our front door. I peer through the hole in the centre. Two men stand outside. They're all in black and have masks pulled over the lower half of their faces. Goosebumps instantly break out over my skin. These aren't friendly people. The left one raises his fist and bangs against the door again with the same amount of force as before and I step back. My hand jerks away from the door and I find myself glancing around. I don't know if I'm checking for my family or a way to get away from the people outside. I hear footsteps behind me and know it's my dad from the heaviness of the steps he's taking. I panic. I need to hide but no matter how much I urge my legs, I'm rooted in place. Dad stops when he sees me. There's shock in his face and something else. Fear perhaps. How am I standing before him? Neither of us move for a long moment after that. There are voices outside though and my head snaps to face the door. The voices also seem to inspire my dad and he's walking again. But not towards me. He moves straight to the door, unlocks it and swings it straight open without hesitation. The two men outside barely look at him. They look straight at me and I can't move again. They gently push past my dad. There's no malice in the movements towards him, they seem almost respectful. I assess them as best I can as they walk over to me. They can't be too much older than me given by the way they're still respectful of my father but look at me like I'm inferior. There's this part of me that feels something is wrong about them. As they stop about a foot away from me I realise I can't see their dates. It's tough to explain why this makes me uneasy, it's not exactly against the law to hide them, but they haven't just worn long sleeves. There aren't even sleeves to their shirts, they stop at their shoulders. What unnerves me is the black band around their right bicep that isn't fabric or tape but more like a tattoo that obliterates their date.

"Come with us, Hee Jin." The taller of the two says. My eyes flash between the two of them, unsure of what to do or say. I hear more footsteps behind me and turn as my mum gasps. Hands grab my shoulders and before I'm able to choke out anything more than a breath myself, I'm pulled out of the house and into the street.

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