Kill Me Softly

Save Yourself

  Yoonbum felt now more than ever that he had to find Sangwoo. He was confident Sangwoo wouldn't hurt him, but he needed to know the truth. There had been so many secrets recently, all Yoonbum wanted was to find the truth. Turning away from the table, Yoonbum eyed the closet. Inside the closet was the hatch that led down to the basement. Yoonbum shivered at the memories of all the horrors he had faced in that basement. When Sangwoo had killed his uncle, Yoonbum had thought he would never enter the basement again. But now he had no choice. He had to know for himself what was going on. He needed to see every part of Sangwoo if he was going to be able to find closure. All Yoonbum wanted was to know the whole truth, with nothing hidden. With this in mind, he opened the trapdoor and began to descend the stairs into the basement. When he reached the bottom, it was pitch black except for the light streaming down from the floor above. It smelled musty, like old clothes. Yoonbum felt around on the wall next to him, where he knew there was a light switch. He flipped the switch on and looked around, expecting the worst. Except for a few boxes, nothing was different. When Yoonbum went over to observe the boxes, he saw that there was nothing in them except clothes and some books, which he guessed belonged to Sangwoo. Yoonbum picked up the books and flipped through them. There was nothing unusual about them or anything else in the basement. Yoonbum felt confused and almost disappointed. He had expected something disturbing or some grand secret that would make everything clear. In his frustration, he threw the book across the room and was about to leave when he heard a hollow thump come from where he had thrown the book. He looked behind him and saw a door that he had not noticed. Yoonbum had completely forgotten about the boiler room! He rushed over, ignoring the throbbing in his head, and threw open the door. When he looked inside, Yoonbum screamed and stumbled backwards, hitting his head on a shelf. Pain shot through the back of his head, but that didn't concern Yoonbum.  What concerned him was Sangwoo's crumpled body lying on the floor of the boiler room. Yoonbum ran forward and knelt next to Sangwoo. He shook him aggressively, hoping he would wake up, or at least move. But Sangwoo didn't respond. Yoonbum grabbed Sangwoo's arm and slid his hand down to his wrist. Faintly, he could feel Sangwoo's pulse. Yoonbum was relieved, but then realised his hand felt strangely warm. He glanced down and saw his hand was covered in blood. Lifting Sangwoo's arm, he saw a deep cut running all the way from the crook of his arm to his wrist. In shock, Yoonbum realised that the other arm looked the same, and that Sangwoo was lying in a small pool of blood. Yoonbum's mind went blank. He couldn't comprehend what was happening, he only knew that he needed Sangwoo to live. Urgently, he ripped off a strip of his shirt and tied it tightly around Sangwoo's arm. He did the same thing with the other arm and then made a messy tourniquet with a length of rope he found on the ground. Yoonbum began to panic, not knowing what to do next. Suddenly, memories were streaming back to him. He remembered Sangwoo's determined voice when he had said he would protect Yoonbum from him. He remembered his pained tone when he had told Yoonbum about his uncle's murder. He remembered that Sangwoo had never wanted to do anything except protect Yoonbum. Most importantly, he remembered how he had felt before all this happened. When he and Sangwoo were friends living normal lives. Whenever he had heard Sangwoo call his name in the hall he had gotten butterflies in his stomach. When Sangwoo talked about something he loved, his eyes sparkled and Yoonbum couldn't look away. Sangwoo used to leave Yoonbum's favorite candy in his bag to make him happy. Yoonbum realized with a shock that he was in love with Sangwoo. He didn't care what he had done, he wanted to be with him always. His head was pounding with pain, and Yoonbum was crying profusely. Desperately, he dug around in Sangwoo's pockets, hoping he would have his phone on him. At last he found it and opened it. What came up was a text message, not yet sent, to Yoonbum. It said, "I'm sorry I hurt you. I'll never forgive myself. I love you, Bum." Reading this made Yoonbum cry even harder. He exited the message and tried to dial the police. His hands were shaking so badly that he could barely get the numbers right. He held the phone up to his face and tried not to look at Sangwoo as it rang.

"This is the emergency line, what can I do for you?"

"Y-yes it's my friend.... He... he's in trouble. I think he tried to kill himself. We need an ambulance, please!" Yoonbum had tried to remain calm but he couldn't stop thinking that Sangwoo might die. The dispatcher asked the address and Yoonbum told him.

"That's funny. We just received a suspicious person report from that same address."

"I know that was me, but listen! It's urgent you have to help him now!"

"Sir, please calm down. I'm sending an ambulance now. Just try to stay on the line until it gets there."

The person on the other end was trying to keep Yoonbum calm, but he only became increasingly anxious. His head was hurting even worse now, and the edges of his vision had started to go black. He was shouting now, and nothing the dispatcher said would calm him down. The room started to sway and Yoonbum's head ached in pain. Just as he started to hear sirens coming down the street, Yoonbum blacked out and collapsed beside Sangwoo.