The sound of sirens woke you up. This wasn't anything new, and you knew the drill. You slowly looked towards Minhyuk, who was waking up and looking around. You sat up in the small bed, which was more of a cot, that the both of you shared. When the war started, you both went from sturdy to poverty. Air raids caused your small house to fall apart. There were cracks in the walls and they seemed to get bigger everyday. Not to mention the floods. "Babe c'mon." Minhyuk said, shaking you. You snapped out of your thoughts and got out of bed, grabbing a blanket and sliding on your shoes. Minhyuk grabbed a T-Shirt and slid it on over his head before grabbing his sandals. There was a loud booming sound and the ground shook. You responded with a small scream because although it was common, it still scared you. Dust and small pebbles from the ceiling came falling down and you felt Minhyuk quickly engulf you into a hug and you both dropped to the ground. The shaking lasted for about a minute and once it stopped, Minhyuk helped you up. "Are you okay?" You asked, scanning his body for any injuries. "Yea. You?" He asked, heading towards the door. "Good. You replied, picking up the blanket you dropped. You both made your way towards the door. "Wait!" You said quickly running over towards the bed. "{Y/N} we have to go! Now!" Minhyuk hissed. You frantically searched until you found the small box that contained your Mother's necklace. You sighed with relief when you saw it was still intact. You shoved it in your pants pocket before going back towards the door and taking Minhyuk's hand as you both went outside. Going outside was dangerous, but you had to get to the shelter. You looked back at your one room home one more time, not knowing if it would be intact when you came back, if you came back. As you and Minhyuk ran down the street, another bomb hit not too far away. This time, the ground shook harder, sending you and Minhyuk to the ground. There was no time to ask if anyone was okay this time, you both got back up and ran faster. Minhyuk pounded on the door of the shelter. "Please let us in! Please!" He pleaded, after a bit, you saw the familiar face of Son Hyunwoo, the owner of the car repair shop, and he let you in quickly before locking the door behind him. You greeted the people in the small dark cellar before you and Minhyuk took your usual seats in the corner on the floor. You wrapped the blanket around the both of you and felt your eyes grow heavy but was startled awake by another bomb. "Shhhh Junwoo... stop crying." You heard someone say, you looked over towards the sound and you could just barely make out Yoo Kihyun in the dim light. Kihyun was a kind man who used to own the small convenience store on the corner before the building was destroyed by an air raid 5 months ago, he lost his wife and 2 children in that raid, leaving him with his small son and his baby daughter. He was struggling and you tried to help him as often as you could physically and financially while balancing your own life. Minhyuk was a little hesitant about this because you both struggled financially as well, but he agreed eventually. "Junwoo-Ah. Come here." You whispered softly to the small boy, he turned his attention to you and you took the small boy in your arms, stroking his head softly. Trying your best to replicate the feeling of comfort only a mother could give to her small child. "Try to sleep." You whispered to him, and in a matter of time, small snores from Junwoo could be heard. Kihyun gave you a look of thankfulness as he cradled his daughter. You smiled at him as a 'your welcome' before looking over at Minhyuk, who was drifting back to sleep again. He smiled at you sleepily. You brushed some of the dust from his hair with your free hand as he closed his eyes. You, too, felt yourself getting sleepy and you rested a head on his shoulder. The next thing you knew, there was a pounding sound on the door. You saw Hyunwoo open it slowly and outside were what looked like a KNP SWAT team, but they didn't look like they were on your side. "How many people are in here?" One of them asked, his voice boomed through the dark cellar, waking Minhyuk up. Hyunwoo turned nervously towards everyone and tried to count the best he could. "About 17." Hyunwoo said. "Children?" Thé man asked. You saw Hoseok, one of your neighbors, hold onto his younger sister, who was around 12 years old, tightly as she slept peacefully. Hyunwoo counted his three kids, Junwoo in your arms, Kihyun's daughter, Hoseok's sister, and Jooheon's, the owner of a small mandu restaurant own the street, daughter as well before looking back up at the officer. "Seven kids." Hyunwoo stated. "Adults?" The officer asked, peering into the cellar. You looked around, Hyungwon, who owned the laundromat and tailor, was clinging onto his brother, Kyungwon (Yea, according to my sources, Kyungwon is the real name of Hyungwon's little brother. How cute!) for warmth. Kihyun was still holding his daughter and half asleep, Jooheon was sitting with his wife who was holding their daughter and Hyunwoo's wife was sitting in front of her children in a protective stance almost. "Eight adults." You answered before Hyunwoo could, knowing how his math was a little slow. "Everyone out, now." The officer said. You shook Junwoo, who looked around confused. "Go to 아빠." You said, he nodded sleepily and went towards his father who was waiting for him with one open arm. "C'mon buddy, no need to be scared." Kihyun said the Junwoo who clinched at the man when they passed on their way out of the cellar. That was a lie, if these men weren't on your side, they could kill you in an instant. "Gather in families." The officer said, you squinted in the bright light provided by the street lamps. The man did a small inspection before stopping at Hoseok's sister. And you feared the worst. "How old are you?" The officer asked Hoseok's little sister. You could see the fear in Hoseok's face as she looked up at her brother for a signal that it was okay to answer the officer's question. "She's ten." Hoseok lied, swallowing hard. You hoped the officer would buy it. But instead, the officer started to laugh. "You expect me to believe that? I mean look at her!" He said, gesturing towards her body, which disgusted you. "Please don't take her away! She won't survive out there!" Hoseok pleaded, getting on his knees. "She looks strong enough to me..." the man said, grabbing the girl's arm. She yelped in pain. "Hoseok!" She called out to her brother. "PLEASE DON'T TAKE HER!" Hoseok pleaded, tears rolled down his cheeks. "Minhyuk... we should do something..." You whispered, hating to see Hoseok like this, not to mention the look of fear on the little girl's face as a group of soldiers grabbed her by the arms. "NO!" Hoseok yelled, trying to push and punch the soldiers off his sister. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and Hoseok was on the floor, blood pooling around his body. Instant kill. The little girl's screams could be heard from the inside of the truck as they hauled her away. You saw Jooheon's wife fall to the ground. He quickly rushed to her side, elevating her head. His daughter helped her father assist her mother's needs. Kihyun had an arm wrapped around Junwoo, his hand covering Junwoo's eyes while he held his crying baby in the other. "S-Sir please, we are j-just innocent civilians-" you heard Hyunwoo's voice shake. His wife holding onto their three children. Although you always dreamt of having a family, you and Minhyuk decided not to have children, not wanting to bring children into such a harsh world. And at moments like these, you were glad you made the decision. "{Y/N}... on 삼(sam, three), we're gonna run." Minhyuk whispered, grabbing your hand. You could feel him shaking. "We can't just-" you retaliated but he squeezed your hand hard and you took that as a 'shut up' and you stopped. "If we stay longer, we'll be joining all of them in the pile of dead bodies." Minhyuk whispered, which sent chills down your spine. Since you didn't have children, the officer wasn't very focused on you. Which gave you the perfect opportunity to get out of this situation. "알... 이..." (il, i. 1, 2) Minhyuk counted under his breath, you felt like you weren't ready, you felt so weak. But when Minhyuk said 삼, you felt adrenaline take over you. You heard shouting but blocked it out as you and Minhyuk sprinted down the street. There were gunshots but you ducked, the bullet grazed you, and you felt a tingling feeling in your side. You stumbled but Minhyuk caught you as you kept running.
