My life changed the moment I put the ring on.
—
“Are you not going father?”
“Go by yourself”, that was all he said. Father was always a very blunt person.
With the business falling apart recently, it’s been hard to see my father’s face. But it would have been nice to go and visit grandma together for Thanksgiving.
My name is Haneul Kang and I will be 22 this year and it’s been 2 months since I was discharged from the army.
Jamsil should already be bustling with large crowds. (TN – Jamsil is the town his grandma lives at)
Beep.
I got onto the bus that would take me to the riverside.
Once I get to the riverside, I need to grab the intercity bus at the East-Seoul terminal. It’s my first time visiting since my mom’s death 9 years ago, but I didn’t think I would feel alone. Not that I’m a kid that would need guidance, nor because I would I lose my way back home. I just thought I wouldn’t be going alone.
I’m sure the family members that I haven’t seen in a while will have a lot of questions to ask me. When they do, Let’s answer them calmly. Tell them that I’m fine, and that nothing is wrong.
As I was deep in my thoughts, I felt something tugging at my b.u.t.t.
I flipped my backpack over to my front, my hand reached behind me to feel what the uncomfortable feeling was, and found that it was a ring.
It was a large silver ring with bizarre patterns in black. No matter how much I flipped it around, there was no way for me to understand the pattern’s meaning.
‘This looks cool’ were my only thoughts.
I’m not really interested in accessories, so even if I saw a good item, I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was expensive or not. But I’m sure this isn’t that expensive, since it’s just rolling around on a bus.
To check the size of the ring, I slid it onto the middle finger on my right hand. It looked big in the beginning, but after I put it on, I realized it fit me perfectly. After opening and closing my fingers a couple of times and noticing nothing special about it, I smiled and took it off.
No, I tried to take it off.
“Huh?”
It’s not coming off.
“Huh, what the.”
Is it not coming off because it’s fitting me so perfectly?
As I was thinking this, I used all of my strength to try and get the ring off my finger. It’s as if the ring became a part of me, and it just did not want to budge. After attempting it a few more times, I let loose a big sigh and gave up.
The next bus stop was my destination, and I knew that there was no more time to get the ring off.
Even though I wanted to leave this here before I got off……
I got off the bus at the riverside and made my way through the bustling crowd to get my next ticket. I found an empty seat, sat down, and continued my attempts in getting rid of the ring. It still wouldn’t budge.
“Did someone put glue on this?”
Now that I think about it, this could just be a malicious prank by someone.
I walked to the bathroom, turned on the water, and attempted to rotate and rip off the ring. No change.
“s.h.i.t.”
I give up.
This pointless struggle is just making me hungry.
I’m sure it will come off on its own as time pa.s.ses. If that doesn’t work, I’ll probably look up a solution on my Smartphone.
I should first fill myself up with Kimbap in order to get rid of the hunger and just wait around for the next hour until the bus arrives. (TN – Kimbap is the korean sushi roll)
I frequently zone out into my own world and it seems to have gotten worse since I got discharged from the army.
I’ve always loved the heroes that came out in popular movies, in addition to monster fights, and so forth. Whenever such movies or dramas came out, I made sure to watch them. Although embarra.s.sing, I would also strike poses when I was alone.
I wonder how it would feel if there was a world made for heroes, and I myself was one of them? To be a lone warrior that puts my life on the line to save others!
There was 1 hour left before the bus departs. That one hour is the most suitable time to zone out.
The moment I closed my eyes to dream of my heroic world, a strange dizzy feeling hit me.
Jiiinnngggg.
The same dizzy feeling that I felt when I was training miserably in the military.
To find the exact words, I felt like s.h.i.t.
“Why am I feeling like this all of a sudden? Hmm…Guess I’m tired.”
I c.o.c.k my head to the side and ma.s.saged my neck, the strange feeling went away and my body starts to feel better.
As I look at the time, there’s only 15 minutes left until the bus departs.
I asked myself, “When did the time fly by so fast?”
As I try to head towards the bus.
–……The scale of damage this time around, is estimated to be in the billions. The special district authorities have stated that they will survey and check to see if there were any problems with the warning systems. Onto the next news……..–
Tons of people were huddled together and standing in front of the huge TV. It seemed like there was a big accident that happened just yesterday.
‘Billions of dollars, d.a.m.n……The world is in an uproar. Why did I not know about this until now?’
I just put it off as a mishap that happened over night and tried to make my way outside the station, but the atmosphere didn’t feel right.
“Ah, well, it’s already been taken care of. The decision has been made. I told you there’s a strict prohibition for the government to move right now. We cannot bring you out! There’s still time, so you must get yourself to a shelter.”
“Why, why are you saying no! Murray’s earthquake is supposed to hit, aren’t you civil servants supposed to put priority on the civilians! I’ve never understood you guys! If you block off the road like this, are you telling us all to just die?! Huh?!”
An angry old man was wagging his finger in front of the person’s face, as he yelled at him in a loud voice. Then the people around the scene decided to join in on the yelling, making the situation even more chaotic. Soon, the situation could not be contained.
I was stunned.
What does all this mean?
“Excuse me, I apologize, but are the buses working today?” I asked the guy standing there.
“I’ve said this many times already, but as of Friday 1:50 AM, Murray’s earthquake has. .h.i.t the level 3 warning. You should’ve seen it on the news. We don’t know when the next earthquake will hit, so please make your way back home.”
I thought to myself, Earthquake warning? I don’t get it, what are they talking about……
As I stood there still confused, a group of military officers came into the terminal. They made the urgent announcement:
“The earthquake seems to be occurring more frequently. Every civilian here must leave this place immediately. Please make haste now!”
Everyone’s faces turned pale as they heard the desperation in the officer’s voice.
People started running.
An earthquake, eh.
‘What the h.e.l.l exactly happened?’
That’s when,
BOOOOMMMMM!!!
The ground shook violently. The fallen Haneul could not concentrate because of the screams echoing from every direction. Haneul found that noise very similar to a bomb, like the loud sound that’s made when a mortar is fired off.
My ears deafened.
“What, what the h.e.l.l is going on?”
WINNNGGGGG!!!
The alarms went off.
It was the disaster alarm.
People were yelling and running around frantically. It was chaos. Haneul now felt the urgency.
Is this war?
Did North Korea finally start it?
s.h.i.t, it’s only been 2 months since my discharge.
Where am I supposed to go?
My head started turning. I shouldn’t be staying here right now. Right when I was about to make it outside, that’s when I saw it.
“f.u.c.k!”
My mouth dropped.
There was a huge gap ripped open like my mouth. Nothing but empty, blackness right in the middle of it.
“What, what is that…….”
If you got a knife, cut some lines onto a paper, pushed the sides inward, and made the holes overlap in the middle, that’s when a crack would form.
That was exactly what Haneul was staring at as his mouth still dropped open.
The dim sky over the huge crack. It was a hideous image to even imagine. It was to the point where one would get goose b.u.mps just staring at it.
“What the f.u.c.k…..!”, I yelled.
Everything was a mess. The streetlights were constantly blinking and changing as if they were broken. The same could be said for the LED billboards. The cars were all bunched up together, and everyone was running around deliriously.
My legs started shaking. My heart felt like it was going to explode. I took my phone out to call my dad, but there wasn’t any reception.
“This is crazy……”
I tried my best to calm down.
But my head was everywhere, I didn’t know what exactly was going on. I knew I had to calm down as if everything can be normal.
As I turned my head to look around, I saw people in what I thought were military uniforms. It was a special type of military uniform. They were controlling everyone that were running around and helping them get to safety.
As they were screaming,
“Hey, Hey You!”
“It’s okay! Please calm down and follow our instructions. We will keep you civilians safe. If you listen to our instructions, nothing will happen to you. Do not worry!”
“Wait, wait a second! Listen to what I’m saying!”
“Listen to our instructions……”
“f.u.c.k, listen to what I have to say!!”
Haneul couldn’t contain himself and grabbed the officers arm.
Although, Haneul didn’t have a ripped body, with his strong grip and powerful arm, the officer’s body swayed back and forth.
In that moment, the officer’s eyes changed.
“I am a law enforcer for the government!!! Please follow me.”
At that moment, Haneul closed his mouth as he pondered if this is really a war that was happening or was what he saw just an earthquake. Haneul knew this was not the time to be asking questions.
“Ah, okay.”
It happened as they were going along with the evacuation.
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!!!
It sounded like bombs were going off again and a building by the riverside came crashing down.
“RUN!!”
The officer ran without turning back. But Haneul just stood there, not being able to move.
When a person is placed in front of death, they can’t do anything. Life flashing by? Fear? Everything is a lie. As the picture of death comes towards you, your head blanks out like a blank canvas.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Chapter 1 – End.