LEFT TO DIE | AOUAD

CHAPTER 22

"What happened?" Cheong-san asked Su-hyeok. "Didn't Gwi-nam fall from the fourth floor?"

"Yeah, he did. I threw him out,"
Su-hyeok nodded.

"So how did he survive?" Y/n asked.

"Maybe he doesn't die," Su-hyeok
suggested. "Or maybe he dies and comes back to life." "Maybe he's not human, nor zombie," Cheong-san realised.

"Do you remember that girl in the
teacher's office?"

"The one destroying the phones?"
Y/n recalled. Cheong-san nodded.

"She was weird too," Su-hyeok
nodded. "Gwi-nam's like her, right?"

Cheong-san replied. "I think so," Su-hyeok said.

"It seems likely," y/n agreed.

"Then maybe Nam-ra is like them
too?" The boys fell silent, realising that y/n could be right.

"C'mon, let's go help make the SOS sign," Su-hyeok sighed, bringing y/n with him as they walked over.

Y/n  hoped her cheeks weren't burning as Su-hyeok wrapped his arm over her shoulder. Y/n turned back, noticing Cheong-san sad face. She walked back to him , he watches her standing in front of him with a smile. Su-hyeok was also watching them .

Y/n wrapped her arms around Cheong-san. He was stunned at a sudden action but he relaxed his body and hugged her back .

"Come on , let's go " y/n asked him .

Cheong san nodded.

Everyone got to work, trying to make the SOS sign bigger.

"This is too big."

"How about this?"

"Break it apart!"

"Here's a big one."

"How's this?"

"Not that one. Put it down."

"Not this?"

"Gather anything big and colourful."

"Can I take this?"

"Joon-yeong, go up there and look."

Joon-yeong went and stood on a platform that was higher up from the others, ready to give them tips.

"How does it look?"

"First... the O is a bit narrow."

"Dae-su, hand me that long one."

"It should be much bigger than this."

"Nam-ra, can you carry this?"

"Guys, keep it up!"

"That goes over there."

"It goes like this."

"And the S is too short."

"Get more of these."

"Is this enough?"

"Fill that spot too. That's it."

"I got this part."

"They're too tight. Spread them out a bit."

"Let's pull it all away."

"Come take a look," Dae-su said to the others when they had finally finished. "We did a good job."

Everyone walked over to see how
they'd done.

"You can't miss it," Joon-yeong agreed.

"We did a good job," Wu-jin nodded.

"What does SOS mean?" Dae-su
asked.

"It's a distress signal," On-jo
answered, who was sitting on a
chair nearby.

"I know that. But what does it stand for?" Dae-su asked.

"It doesn't stand for anything,"
On-jo replied. "SOS just means
SOS."

"That makes no sense," Dae-su
sighed.

"That's just how it is. It has no
meaning," On-jo shrugged. "Why
did you ask if you don't even
believe me?"

"I thought you'd know," Dae-su
sighed, wiping the dirt off his
hands.

"I do know," On-jo replied, arms
crossed. "Look it up. You'll see I'm
right."

"Whatever. How can I look it up?" Dae-su asked. "I don't have a
phone."

"What's going on?" Y/n asked,
walking over with Cheong-san beside her. "I asked On-jo what SOS means and she said it doesn't mean anything," Dae-su explained.

"It doesn't mean anything in particular," y/n shook her head. "You just get taught that it means Save Our Souls. In reality, though, it doesn't have a meaning."

"Just say you don't know next time," Dae-su said to On-jo before he walked away.

On-jo rolled her eyes, especially as Dae-su walked over to ask Nam-ra if SOS meant anything.

"That jerk," On-jo muttered.

"Forget him. Leave him be," Cheong-san said, standing beside On-jo. "Is it true though?"

"What?" On-jo asked.

"Are you both sure SOS doesn't mean anything?" Cheong-san asked On-jo and y/n. "Isn't it supposed to be an acronym?"

"You don't believe me either, do you?" On-jo sighed.

Angry at this, On-jo kicked Cheong-san in the back of his shin, making him fall onto the floor as he let out a hiss of pain. Y/n walked away from the pair, biting the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't start laughing.

"The sun is setting, let's start a
fire." On-io announced.

On-jo was rubbing the stick against the wood, hoping the friction would create enough heat to make a fire.

But eventually, her hands got tired, so she hand to stop. "Next."

Joon-yeong nodded, taking her place. However, he got a hand cramp and had to stop.

Dae-su went next, but he was going too slow. Wu-jin sighed and started rubbing.

"Hey, is that smoke?" Dae-su
gasped

Everyone began to smile as they realised smoke was coming from the sticks. Wu-jin moved the stick away so Su-hyeok could blow on the flame, try and make it bigger.

Unfortunately, it went out. Su-hyeok went next, rubbing the stick.

" Nam-ra do you still have the lighter? " Y/n asked her.

"Yeah , I have . Do you want me to give it to them ? "

" No wait . We'll see this performance a little more. " Y/n laughed.

As time went by , it was getting dark . Y/n sighed.

" Just give it to them . They all are useless . " Y/n snickered.

"Hey," Nam-ra said

"Hey."

When everyone looked over at Nam-ra, the girl reached into her skirt's pocket and pulled something out, "Just use this."

It was a lighter.

"Y/n and I smoke, sometimes," Nam-ra admitted when she saw all the confused looks she was getting.

Y/n laughed so hard.

They had a face expression full of betrayal.

Everyone apart from Nam-ra looked at y/n, confused and surprised. Y/n knew that Nam-ra smoked?

"You had that this whole time?" Wu-jin asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Do you want it or not?" Nam-ra
asked.

Once the question had been asked, su-hyeok reached over and grabbed the lighter from Nam-ra. She handed it to Su-hyeok, who lit the piece of paper.

Y/n smiled a little at Nam-ra, who smiled back at her best friend.

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