Earth Alone
The ti was April. The university newbie left the room as soon as the lecture ended before everyone else at 2:45. He did not want anyone to recognise him as not an outsider, though no one knew him as such hence he would not have been stopped anyways; he still resolutely walked on to the hill road outside of the plaza.
There, he felt the unexpected change for the first ti.
‘No one’s around...’
There was a huge number of people in lectures that ended at 2:45 Sure, not all of them were like Yoo Il Han Il Han, an outsider returning ho, yet the complete absence of people in the plaza as well as in the hill road was strange.
‘Carnival is not on today. Was there a school event?
Even so, there was no need to feel strange. Yoo Il Han Il Han exited all invited chat groups ever since he attended his university! It was not as if he left out of pressure, it was solely out of his choice!
Sensing sorrow out of vain, Yoo Il Han walked down the hill valiantly in spite of the dearth of people. He wanted to hitch a ride on a shuttle bus, but there were no vehicles to be seen.
Was there a military exercise in the university? Perhaps a school wide hide-and-seek? All kinds of thoughts ca into his head but he dismissed them readily. For twenty-odd years he had never held hands with a girl, and the lack of other presences right now was nothing in comparison.
However, those musings dissipated as soon as he exited the school entrance.
‘What?’
There was no one.
‘What the hell!’
No one was around!
‘What’s going on. What’s going on!’
In panic, Yoo Il Han repeated the sa phrase inanely as he ran around. No-one. To conjure up a crazy idea like a mass picnic was impossible. The situations were too alarming to escape reality.
No one. No human to be seen!
He looked through the windows of the convenience store he often visited. The al on a table was emitting warm vapour, the chair was pulled slightly back as if soone was sitting on it monts before. Furthermore, spoons and chopsticks were erratically thrown aside, giving them a sense of their users abruptly disappearing out of thin air.
This oddity applied for all shops. Incidentally, how about parked cars? Moving cars that were in traffic had violently collided in such a way that they lost their drivers, with so on the verge of explosions due to leaking, ablaze gasoline.
‘Damn it’
His mind may have been in disarray, but Yoo Il Han identified the hazard and escaped to a vehicle-less street. The reverberation of explosions like the ones in films soon tickled his ears.
Wind carrying the hot air blew, and Yoo Il Han fled like he was drifting on the wind. Then he shed pointless tears.
His mind was puzzled back together at a bus station.
‘Let’s go ho’
Maybe after he washed and ate his mother’s als, maybe after he slept, things would be different.
Foolish ideas again sprouted the mont the crises were over. His fantasies were broken quickly this ti though .The bus was simply not arriving.
‘What the fuck. What’s going on.’
Yoo Il Han prided himself over his ntal fortitude. From primary to high school, he overca everything by his own effort. As a result, he was attending a quite reputable university, and he was confident to do well on his own for a foreseeable future.
The chinese character ‘person’ is to symbolise two n relying on each other; he never needed such weak stuff. Yoo Il Han always believed that he was like an upright number ‘1’-soone could accomplish anything unassisted
But, this was too much to handle
‘Have I alone moved to a different world?
His situation was too out-worldly that he said sothing so stupid. Nothing was changing. The bus was not coming, his knees were swelling in pain due to reckless running. Growing sadder every minute, he noticed his tears falling onto the bare earth like bird-droppings.
‘Pathetic, crying over trivial matters as a university student. No, fuck it. If I don’t cry now, over what would I ever weep? Isolation during his primary school days has made dismal before, now the entire district is avoiding .’
Knowing crying wouldn’t change anything, Yoo Il Han ca back to his senses swiftly. It was feverishly hot and tiring. Ho was his priority.
‘Let’s walk’
Despite the knowledge that no one was there to hear him speak, he shouted in hope for soone to reveal oneself. Yoo Il Han embarked on an hour-and a half journey shrouded in an added layer of disappointnt to the obvious result.
Of course, his mother wasn’t present. He tried to check the ti, yet all clocks, including those in mobile phones and computers, were stopped. Dad wasn’t coming either, Yoo Il Han concluded following a couple of hours of waiting as he stared at the everlastingly blue sky.
The TV only showed static screens, the radio the sa and the internet was not working. It was like humanity itself had vanished. Except himself, who was trapped in a stagnant ti.
At least, water and gas pipes worked. He showered and cooked a package of instant noodles.
Slurp...Delicious
The taste deepened his sadness and more tears flowed down. He was drowzy now that he was full. I don’t care for the mass disappearance, and whether or not the night was arriving, I must sleep. Possibly, sothing may beco different as I sleep. He laid on his bed in these complacent thoughts. At that mont...
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