| thirteen | nothing

Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy, I hope you can show me

Jung Yi Hyun was never the one to give up on his own. He was in high school when he suffered an lifelong injury and had to give up on his dream of becoming a baseball player. He had dedicated his entire life to playing baseball and just because of an accident, his entire life came crashing down. That was when he sat on the rooftop of his school, the day was bright and sunny, yet for him it felt like a stormy cloudy day.

The sunrays were pricking his skin, the light was blinding his vision and all he did was dangle his long legs as he sat on the edge of the rooftop. The police had gathered, there was an entire rescue operation being carried on and he could hear the sirens from below, yet he sat there unfazed.

That was when the brightest ray of sunlight walked towards him in the form of Yoon Saebom, the girl who was two years older to their class. She was smart, stubborn and had an attitude that always kept him on his toes. He knew she was trouble, the way she was often sleeping in class, or spoke back to the arrogant teachers and gave bullies a taste of their own medicine. He liked her, just not as much as he did when she sat besides him that day.

"Your life should not revolve around a single thing," She had told him, shaking her head with a cute smile. "So what if baseball is not the end goal, something will defintely pop up. You just cannot quit before trying."

And then she threw him off the roof, the adrenaline he felt from that jump gave him the taste of what life really was. He watched her as he fell, for two seconds, all he did was watch her smile and that was when it was decided that baseball did not matter anymore.

Yoon Saebom did.

He loved her, from long back, but he never acted on his feelings until the entire apartment fiasco happened and they got married under the pretext of getting the apartment. The lockdown and Mad Human Disease made him realise how much Saebom meant to him and then their twins became a even more big of a reason to keep living.

Saebom had passed out from exhaustion post delivery and it was Yi Hyun who had both his babies in his arms, awake the entire night only because he was very concerned about his little ones. They were his only priority, his babies, his world.

But everything fell apart six years back when they had to part away for a reason that now seems stupid and unimportant. All of it flashed in front of his eyes, just like they say it does when death is creeping behind you. The parting away, staying separately, watching the kids grow up without each other and their parents, the extinction of their happiness and the constantly barging sadness.

The spheres were many, they were feasting on the dead bodies of what seemed like the store manager and employees, but when Yi Hyun walked on the scene, and the door bell rang indicating his arrival, all of them gathered to pounce on him. He knew this was the end, but he would let harm to befall on the kids out there. One of them was his own, but the rest were kids too and their parents were hoping to see them again so he did what any father would do.

"LEAVE!"

He shot the rifle shifting it from left to right, and aiming at them, but they were already attacking him, one of them knocked him down. That lead to his rifle sliding away from him, and before he could get it back, one of the slimy creatures slammed straight on his helmet. If it was not for the helmet, his face would have been sucked by now. The other creatures were soon ready to pile up on him and Yi Hyun shut his eyes, this was the end for him.

Series of gunshots were heard, instantly. His eyes shot open to see the creature on his face now disintergrated into ash, and the ones around him were vanishing in thin air. From the entrance, the kids were aiming at the rest of the creatures, shooting them whilst So-cheol took the lead, grabbing the rifle and handing it to his father. He knelt down and touched his dad's shoulder, "you okay old man?" So-cheol smiled, grabbing the rifle and standing up.

"I told you kids to leave." He yelled at the students who were busy shooting the creatures, each of them standing in front of the aisles. "This generation just does not listen anymore."

"Yes," Yoo-jung adjusted her helmet, aiming at the spheres that jumped from the back, "we don't leave anyone behind, Mr. Jung. This generation will do anything to save one of our own."

So-cheol got back with the rest of the squad, each of them shooting the spheres, shattering the things in the store on their missed shots and Yi Hyun took a deep breath.

He took a step forward, "So-ah, Tae-man, on my either side. Banjang, Kim-chi gather whatever you can and keep storing in the jeep, we need to make out of this place before ammunition is over. Move on three."

_

Yoon Saebom was always a crystal clear woman. That was also a reason why she never had friends. She was to the point, crisp, polite when needed and mostly the bad cop whenever there was a threat to her family or team.

Ever since her father had left her mother and she when she was only a kid, Saebom sworned to never ever be dependent on anyone for anything. Her mother should never feel the absence of a man in the household, so she stepped up as one. She had a successful career, financial stability and yet the only time she truly felt happy was when Yi Hyun was with her.

It was funny how one man destroyed her, and the other stood by her, no matter what.

Even now when they were seperated, all Yi Hyun wanted was for her and their kids to be safe. She could tell how nervous he was, not because he had to face the deadly spheres, rather for being a witness to any misfortune that may arise.

Yes, she loved him, and he loved her, but they had to part ways six years back, stayed five years apart only to come back together but now with kids who did not want to do anything with them. Distance put them apart and rightfully so, fate mocking them again.

When they had to part away, the hardest was not separating from each other, rather the mere decision of choosing one of the kids. They were twins, two of the same and they loved them both so much but a decision needed to be made and they spent an entire night sitting across each other, mute the entire time.

How could they choose one and not the other?

At first Saebom was worried about So-cheol, his anxieties held him back so she chose him but the very next moment, she wanted Nara with her, and then the cycle continued. Yi Hyun was convinced that they would never come to a conclusion, almost giving up both of them so they could stay with their mother but it was Nara who made the decision for them the next morning.

"Omma wants So-cheol," She had overheard their conversation from the previous night, "and I want to be with Appa. That is it." So-cheol was not in the state to counter that, and nor were their parents, and so it was decided.

What Saebom did not know was Nara had harboured hatred in her heart towards her all these years based on a conversation she did not fully hear. She had just heard one part of it, where she said she'd pick So-cheol, without waiting for the part where Saebom said she wanted Nara too.

Now it hardly mattered, Nara would not believe her and why should she? Why would she?

It was too late for things to be resolved by words, and Saebom only prayed that her kids with the rest of the lot would be safe and away from this situation. She would beg if need be to the officials to come rescue her kids, she'd do anything for them, in a heartbeat.

That was exactly what ran in her mind when a sphere dropped in the middle of the room through the air vents and snarled at them. The kids were frozen at the sight, they hardly got any time to react. Nara was the closest to the nasty creature which immediately raised its tentacles towards her, Ae-sol got hold of rifle from the floor and aimed at it while Saebom threw herself in front of Nara, shielding her by cocooning her in her arms.

The gun shot was loud, deafening them. The sphere integrated, in to dust and trail of blood trickled on the floor.

Ae-sol's hands were shivering, Woo-Taek seemed unreasonably stunned while the other lady's eyes widened. Nara got out of her mother's hold, scared when she held her arms.

"You okay, peanut?" Saebom asked, clenching her teeth as she held her right side, she could feel the pain numbing her senses yet her daughter's safety stood supreme.

"OMMA!" Saebom looked at her mother's hands, covered in blood, and then at her daughter.

"Its okay," Saebom lied, holding the very deep cut on the right side of her abdomen, "its okay..."

With that Saebom knelt on the floor, holding back her painful groans so the kids would not be worried however Nara was crying, kneeling down with her and the others were besides them, crestfallen just the same.

Nara held the side of the cut pressing it so it would not keep bleeding, the blood was everywhere on the floor. "Omma, jebal," She cried, holding her mother in her lap, blood did not scare her as much as death did. "Please, please..."

"Know that I'd never love you..." Saebom took a deep breath, tears blurring her vision from the pain and loss of blood, "I'd never love you any less than So-cheol..." She gulped, ignoring Nara who asked her to shush. "You both mean the world... the world to me...."

"Hold on Omma, please," Nara cried, the lady with Woo-Taek were trying to tighten the grasp of a cloth on the wound so to stop the bleeding, Ae-sol was still frozen.

"Don't give up on me, don't give up on your family..." Nara was breathing rapidly, she realised how So-cheol's anxiety attacks felt, "we are nothing without you."

A smile lit up Saebom's face, and with a bloodied imprint on Nara's cheek, she shut her eyes. She was in her daughter's arms, there's no better way for a mother to die than like this.

_