𝐙𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟔 | 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑶𝒀𝒁

PART II: THE CITIZENS

2021, January 10

Morning sunlight greeted Eric as soon as he got himself out of the front door. Standing on the tip of his toes with both arms raised above his head, he stretched for a bit before he started to jog. The people around the neighborhood greeted him and Eric would return them gladly with a big smile.

It has been exactly a week since Eric moved in Zone 1206. So far, it went well for him. Younghoon showed him around the place for two days and Eric is now familiar with the directions and places.

After some time, Eric decided to take a break and stopped by a convenience store to grab something to drink. The bell at the top of the entrance chimed as Eric opened the door, letting himself slip inside the place. After getting himself a bottle of drinking water from one of the coolers, he head up straight to the counter to pay for it.

"I saw you jogging from the outside," the cashier spoke as soon as Eric handed him the bottle of water. A small, rectangular name plate is pinned on the left side of his chest, which shows his name, Ji Changmin.

"I gotta take some warm up before training some kids later," Eric stated and mouthed out a thanks after Changmin handed the bottle of water to him.

"Training some kids? What kind of training then?" the latter asked, waiting for Eric to hydrate himself as the younger emptied the water bottle in a short span of time.

"Baseball," Eric breathed out, almost panting after chugging the whole bottle.

Changmin has an amused look on his face as he never expected for the younger lad to be that sporty. "Say, what are the other things that you are good at?" he asks Eric, wanting to know more.

"I am pretty good at basketball too," said Eric. "I also used to be a part of the dance club all throughout my college," he added.

Changmin raised both of his arms up in the air as if he is surrendering. Nodding his head repeatedly he looked at Eric in amusement once again. "You are the man," he mouthed out. "Ya got some skills there, huh."

Eric could only let out a chuckle, extremely lost for words. But after a few minutes, him and Changmin started to chat again with a random topic until they mentioned some dancing.

"I was once a dance instructor," Changmin shares. "But something really tragic happened."

"Oh, sorry," Eric apologizes. "You don't need to say it though."

Changmin gave a reassuring smile to Eric, telling the younger lad that it is okay for him to share what happened. "I was on my way home from the dance studio that night," Changmin began. "I was unaware that there were two vehicles that collided with each other from behind. The screeching sound of tires were already a meter behind me when I heard it, then I got involved on that accident."

Unable to utter a single word, Eric remained silent and let the sadness swallow him whole. Eric wished that he shouldn't have brought the topic about dancing even though he didn't knew what Changmin went through. 

"My left leg barely moved after that," Changmin continued. "I could not even feel it. That was the time when I decided to let go of being a dance instructor. Of course, it was hard, but I have to accept it though."

"You're strong, keep it up," said Eric as he gave a light tap on Changmin's shoulder, making the latter to stifle a laugh.

The bell on the entrance door chimed once again as a new customer have entered the store. The two boys looked on the side, trying to look at who just came in.

"Yo, good morning to you, Changmin. By the way, do─ oh, look who we have here."

Kim Sunwoo squinted his eyes as he eyed Eric from head to toe. Slowly chewing the gum inside his mouth, he grinned after. "How's your stay here, newbie citizen?" he asks the latter.

"Quite fine," Eric responded, followed by a small smile.

Sunwoo shot a wink towards Eric, making the latter to scrunch his nose in disgust and confusion. That made Sunwoo to let out a chuckle before turning to the counter and checked some packs of cigarettes placed in the racks.

"Why can't they fucking restock my favorite cigarettes?" Sunwoo cursed after finding out that his favorite pack of cigarette is still not in stock.

"Just get what you prefer," Changmin tells him. "The last pack of your favorite cigs was taken last night─"

"By fucking who?!" Sunwoo screamed, interrupting Changmin and making Eric to flinch in surprise.

"Tone it down, bastard," Changmin hissed. "It was Younghoon who got them."

Tons of profanities left Sunwoo's mouth, pissed off by the fact that Younghoon succeeded on getting on his nerves.

"Get out of here if you won't buy something else," Changmin tells the pink haired boy.

"Fuck you, Ji Changmin," Sunwoo spats at Changmin before exiting the convenience store.

Changmin could only huff in disbelief and muttered something under his breath.

"He really is something," Eric spoke after some time.

"That bastard is acting superior since he was born and raised here," said Changmin. "He's lucky on surviving the killing spree every year," he muttered softly, making Eric to hear it unclear.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Changmin smiled.