Hyukjae

                I watched as he shoved it into the incinerator machine. He callously flicked the switch and the flames were brought to life in an instant. I couldn’t exactly see that there was fire, but I could feel them somehow. It was like the entire room was radiating with heat and it became so stuffy that I had to step into the hallway to keep my cool.

                I didn’t look to see if he had followed me out, but I was almost wishing that he wouldn’t. It wasn’t like I didn’t want him to be with me…I just, I didn’t want him to see me right now, not like this. My emotions were uncontrollable and I wasn’t even sure of what I was feeling myself. I just knew that all of this was my doing and I didn’t want to cause any more problems. I didn’t want him to come to hate me for what I’ve done. That would be the worst thing imaginable.

                “Hey.” He was towering above me. “Mind if I sit?” I shook my head. He leaned against the wall and slid his back down as he plopped to the ground, stirring up some of the dust and debris laying around.

                We sat for a couple minutes in the silence, although there was the noise from the machine. It sounded just like any other mechanical whirring you would hear, only to me it sent shivers down my spine. I wanted to get further away, enough so that I wouldn’t hear that noise again. I was about to stand up but he opened his mouth and began to talk.

                “I’m sorry.” He said, his voice barely audible.

                “What?”

                “I said I’m sorry.”

                “I heard, but… why? You didn’t even-” My words got caught in my throat.

                “I know, I know what you want to say, but I’m still sorry for my actions. I think I haven’t been too considerate of your feelings. It’s just, we had to act in such a quick pace that there hasn’t really been enough time to process any of it. It’s just been one thing after the other and I can see how that’s had such a negative effect on you.” He didn’t look at me when he spoke, and his tone was rushed. I figured he’d probably be thinking this over.

                “Well,” I said after a while of thinking, “we’ll have plenty of time now, since it takes two hours to burn it all.”

                He finally looked at me, but it was as though his eyes were staring right through me. “I’ll make everything better, I promise.”

                I stared at my feet. They were caked in mud and snow and blood. I wiped a bit off onto my coat. It was already ruined anyway.

                “I’m going to go watch at the entrance.” I suddenly said as I stood up and dusted off my pants.

                He grabbed my hand before I could go and looked right at me, this time really looking at me. He said something, but I couldn’t hear him; my hearing was overwhelmed by the machine.