CH 89

“Kwon Chae-woo,” she called out softly. She could feel herself growing weaker as the words tumbled out of her mouth. She couldn’t believe she was witnessing the landslide in person.

All the trees in the surroundings broke and began to lose their shape. The stone wall was built to stop the landslide from coming in from both sides, but it didn’t stop the horrors that lay beyond.

“Lee-yeon,” Kwon Chae-woo said, panting as he came to her. He had grown tired from having to carry Lee-yeon and all their belongings. “Listen carefully.”

Lee-yeon watched him with panicked eyes, hanging onto his every word.

“If you go left from here,” Kwon Chae-woo continued as he caught his breath, “there should be a small cave where you can take cover.” He tried his best to piece together his memory of the map he had painstakingly tried to memorize.

He had learned that, in the past, Hwaido had been used as a military base. People had built caves all over it for all sorts of reasons, so they were in abundance here.

Distracted by his thoughts, Kwon Chae-woo nearly tripped on a rock. He could feel himself losing his balance until he managed to find stable ground. He moved his grip around Lee-yeon between her legs to make sure he didn’t drop her.

“The cave,” he said, picking up his last thought, “it’s narrow. You should be able to fit in there.” His voice could barely be heard as his breath quickened from exhaustion. “Get in the cave, block it with a bag, and hold.”

Lee-yeon stared at him, blinking. She didn’t understand what he meant and all she could do was look at him with a worried expression.

As she ran through what Kwon Chae-woo had said in her head, she felt her mouth dry and her heart sink. His words had bothered her. She grabbed his clothes tightly, her grip growing fierce by the minute. Around them, the trees continued to break.

“What about you, Kwon Chae-woo?” she demanded.

The man simply panted. His breath was shallow.

When she realized what he meant with his plan, Lee-yeon’s eyes widened. She looked at Kwon Chae-woo pleadingly, as if she was asking him to give her an answer. When he refused to speak, she shook her head.

“I’m not going alone!” she exclaimed.

Kwon Chae-woo’s eyes flicked to hers. He looked away. “Please,” he said. “Just listen to me.”

Lee-yeon’s eyes grew hard. She thrashed against him. “No!”

“So Lee-yeon!” Kwon Chae-woo said loudly. His harsh tone forced Lee-yeon into silence. “Keep it together,” he told her. “Do you want to die here?”

His words dripped with anger. There was no warmth to his tone, only the harsh reality of the situation that they were in.

Lee-yeon froze. She knew why he was making her do this. Her head understood, but her heart simply refused to give into reality. She shook her head again. “No,” she said quietly. “But still… I can’t go alone.”

Her grip on him was tight enough to leave bruises on both of them. Her expression remained as she glared at him defiantly.

The ground shook as the landslide rolled towards them. Kwon Chae-woo moved to let Lee-yeon go and take cover, but she thrashed and screamed at him.

“You can’t make me do this!” she yelled. Her voice was shrill as she strained to speak louder than the chaos around them. “I can’t do this alone!”

“Don’t be a fool!” Kwon Chae-woo shouted back. He was desperate now, watching as the trees beyond them slowly began to disappear. “Who are you to stop me from saving my wife?” He was not going to bend on this. He would force her to leave, no matter what it took.

Lee-yeon despaired. She believed that Kwon Chae-woo was being deeply selfish and unfair, even more unfair than the landslide that was destroying everything around them. She could feel her heart pound against her chest as she wept.

“Please, don’t do this, Kwon Chae-woo. Please don’t,” she begged, hoping that he would hear her. “You said that you would listen to me! You said that you would do whatever I told you to. You promised! So why are you making me do this? Why are you always like this?”

Why is all this so easy for you? she wondered. Why is it so easy for you to accept me? Why was it so hard for me to accept you?

The ground was coming up closer to them now. Lee-yeon watched as mud began to bury Kwon Chae-woo’s feet and pull her away from him. She could feel herself beginning to drift farther away.

“Don’t let go!” she shouted.

Kwon Chae-woo could feel his exhaustion slip away as Lee-yeon only grew more insistent. Even during a landslide, now of all times, she was determined to keep him by her side.