1 salt✅

Mother Earth

I sat in silence with Geonhak as the area around us became foggy. We held each other tighter as it started to become hard to see in front of us. I looked at Geonhak who was just as spooked and confused. I hoped the others were okay.

"Seoho, may I ask something?" Geonhak asked without meeting my eyes.

"Sure." I said as my eyes darted everywhere.

"Is there something going between you and Hwan...?" he asked quietly.

I kept quiet. I didn't think we'd be found out. How did he know?

"No sense in lying. Yeah, Hwan and I decided to date. I know, dating during an apocalyptic situation isn't smart." I confessed as I played with my fingers. "But I think it's not all bad. It hasn't hurt us or any of you four."

Geonhak looked at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen. Was he disappointed? Jealous? I didn't know and I probably never would.

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing really. You're both cute together." he said with a small smile.

I smiled happily as I was afraid that the others would be displeased by it. The fog around us was thick. We stood on alert at the sound of loud crashing.

"Hey, didn't that come from the direction they went in?" I asked warily.

"Yeah... I'm hoping that's a good sound." muttered Geonhak as he held my wrist tightly.

The fog started to clear up, but the sky was still cloudy. Another loud crash was heard and the clouds started to disperse, revealing small patches of clear blue sky. Geonhak pulled me into the sidewalk then looked in the direction they left in.

"I think they've done it." Geonhak whispered, but I had caught it.

I noticed the ground started to shake and soon leaves and petals suddenly appeared, leaving behind unmoving humans. We separated and checked them over to see if they were alive or dead. I exhaled in great relief at their slow pulses. I looked towards Geonhak who gave me a thumbs up. I rose from my squat position then noticed my phone started to ring.

"Did it work? Are they back?" Youngjo asked through parted breaths.

"They are. They're unconscious though. Hurry back so we can celebrate." I said happily.

He hung up and I hurried over to Geonhak.

"So, when will Hwan come back? Did he say when?" I asked impatiently.

"I'll tell you when the others get back." he said sadly.

ㅠㅛㅠㅛ

We were soon all together and the humans were still unconscious. I looked at Geonhak who whispered to the others.

"Seoho, about Hwan..." Dongju said then looked at Keonhee.

"He didn't actually go anywhere. He..." trailed off Keonhee who then looked at Youngjo.

"Believe it or not, he's not that far away... Hwanwoong is..." Youngjo said then burst into tears.

"Hwanwoong is... dead, Seo. He fell into a crevice. Even if he survived the fall, it's impossible to survive being smashed..." Geonhak said, finishing what the others couldn't.

I blankly stared at them. I shut my eyes as I covered my ears and crouched down. It couldn't be true. Tears escaped my eyes and ugly sobbing emitted from my throat quietly before steadily getting louder. Everything hurt. Memories of Hwanwoong flashed in my mind, making the pain worse. I fell onto my side and found it difficult to breathe. It couldn't be reality.