Reservoir Princes

The Streets of Seoul

1910

Baekhyun Byun, Age 15

Run.

I can feel my heart beating out of my body.

Run.

I felt a force pulling me forward as my will continued to shatter every second.

Run!

My cheeks was burning as drips of sweat fell from my face like a waterfall.

Drop.

To my left, a sound louder than a bowling ball crashes and quakes the ground my feet are under.

Drop.

To my right, I hear screams of a lady as she falls under the earth.

Drop!

I felt my legs go limp as a darkness claims my consciousness.

The peaceful world I once lived in disappears as a new me emerges from a shell of the old me. The long war has begun.

Jongdae Kim, Age 14

Everywhere around me is slowly burning down. I didn't have the time to stand, I must escape. My legs burst into flames as my soul burns. An empty body trying to escape from the impossible. The sounds of the gunshots disappear from my mind. The voices fading away as my consciousness leaves this world. I remember nothing, I do not recall my past. I lost everything in that instant. My hometown, my family, my dreams, my identity.

Minseok Kim, Age 17

I grabbed my sister's hand as we ran for our lives. There were shouts coming from people who were speaking a foreign language.

"Hyeong? Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe, if there is one,"

"I'm scared... I want eomma and appa."

"They will be with us soon, I promise." I said while trying to hold back tears.

"Hyeong... Are we going to die?" She stopped, forcing me to stop too.

I bent down and cupped her face. Her eyes were filled with tears of terror. I tried to think of anything to make her feel better but I had broken down as well. I pulled her into a tight hug and started to cry. She started sobbing too while mumbling eomma and appa. The breakdown didn't last long when the shouts were getting louder. I picked my sister up and I went for a basket a few feet in front of me. I opened it and slowly put her inside.

"Yeodongsaeng, don't say anything. No matter what you hear, what you see, don't say anything. Wait for me to come back, don't trust anyone."

"Hyeong, where are you going? Are you going to leave me here?"

I held my tears and shook my head, "Of course not! Wait for me here, I promise I'll come back for you, I promise."

I put the lid on and turned away quickly. As I turned the corner, I could hear voices behind me. I couldn't take my mind off of my sister as I ran. In front of me, soldiers stood ground with a rifle aimed for my head. Behind me, soldiers trap me with a rifle targeted my back. I held my hand up in surrender blankly. My soul, my mind... Refuses to give in to the red dot of evil.