LOVE ASSIGNMENT | DAHMO

🄹🄸🄷🅈🄾'🅂 🅁🄸🄽🄶

People gathered around once the first two students finally got out of the building, laying on hospital beds as the paramedics rushed to the ambulance.

Mina and Sana were standing hand in hand by the vehicle, the brunette holding the blonde tight as she tried not to cry again. Though her sniffles and deep ragged breaths were enough for Mina to put the worst in mind.

"You're from the school, right?" a woman asked, pushing the gurney on which Chaeyoung laid, eyes half lidded and struggling to breathe.

"We are." Mina said, voice breaking when her eyes locked with Chaeyoung's, who simply smiled at her before bending forward and coughing profusely.

The blonde was conscious, gripping the remains of her shirt as she tried breathing properly. The usually lively color of her face was concealed from the dark one of the smoke dust and the shirt Mina had gotten her as a gift was torn apart. Her legs shook and back arched every time she felt the stinging pain inside her chest and down her spine, but still tried to hold in the whimpers of pain whenever Mina's eyes lend on her.

"You need to come with us," the woman continued as she waved her hands around for the man pushing another stretcher "We need as much information about the patients and incident as possible."

Sana shook her head, tears threatening to spill out while she desperately tried to peek behind the line of officers blocking the view of the paramedics helping the last two students.

"I'm staying here." she mumbled, hands moving to her face when the gurney with Dahyun unconscious on it got loaded in the ambulance.

The younger seemed to be worse than Chaeyoung. Clothes burnt almost completely, fire dust clinging onto her skin as the first visible burn marks started spreading on her chest, stomach, and neck. Beads of sweat cooled down her flushed skin as her chest barely heaved up and down. Her mouth was slightly open, eyes shut closed with eyebrows pinched as if in terrible pain. The tangled locks of hers were pushed back as the man in charge of pushing her stretcher held an oxygen mask to her face, his hands wandering on her neck just to confirm there was actually a pulse.

"I'm sorry, but no one is allowed to be here anymore," she replied "You need to come with us."

The people in scene had started to leave, being escorted by policemen while the students on campus could clearly see the wild flames burning down the building from every corner of it.

"No. Mina, tell them!" Sana was desperate, bottom lip tucked between her white pearls "I can't leave. What about Jihyo?"

"Sana-ssi, we need to leave," Mina cupped the blonde's face, urging the latter's eyes to look into her own "We will find her at the hospital, alright?"

The blonde's muscle tensed and throbbed, nostrils flared and eyes wide. She had just woken up to Tzuyu preparing to leave the dorm and help as a volunteer.

"How? She's--"

"Jihyo-ssi is absolutely fine," Mina said, forehead resting against Sana's "You will be by her side soon."

It was a time one of the had to be optimistic, on the outside at least. Even if practically never had had a conversation over than ten seconds, Mina felt like she had to hold Sana as tight as she could. Things were only about to get worse and having someone to keep her from completely loosing all sanity as she watched her girlfriend struggle was truly a relief. 

"Are you sure?" the blonde whispered, pulling away just a second to look up at the sky.

The sky wasn't bright anymore. Thick and dark clouds besieged the deep blue color of it, masking the intensity of the burning sun. The temperature had rose dangerously and small pieces of burnt paper and clothing fell like faint rain. Even if morning, it seemed like the sun had already set and planned on never coming up again, hiding behind the large and poisonous clouds of smoke as if irritated by the demeaning sound of the sirens.

"It's going to be okay," a forced smile crossed her face. Mina emanated confidence although deep down she was as scared as ever "We need to go now."

Another gurney passed by, the person on it covered from head to toe with a white sheathing. They didn't move or breathe heavily, only a part of their dark brown hair peeked out. The smell radiating of them was suffocating, so strong both girls standing by them could taste the bitterness. It twisted Mina's insides, who suddenly felt throwing up was the only way of erasing the scent of the burnt student hidden under the sheathing. She bend forward, mouth opening and eyes watering as she gagged with Sana by her side standing still and frozen.

The blondes eyes shook, scanning the arm that slipped from under the cover and lifelessly hung over the side edge of the gurney. Sana's breath hitched as the deformed fist of the victim opened, revealing  a familiar piece of jewelry that a few seconds later, rolled out of their hold.

The policemen dragged both girls inside the ambulance without caring if it was allowed or not while the blonde's mind slowly shut down, cancelling all noises, odors. Her vision got blurry, her head throbbed and heart leaped inside her chest and Mina harshly tapped on her shoulder when she wouldn't reply to her questions. Sana felt her airways close and her insides shrink to extinction. She felt empty.

"That's Jihyo's ring."