Miyeon always told me that we should be thankful for everything we are given in this world and that staying optimistic would only make things better. For a while, I took her word, trying to make every poor situation into a good one. But no amount of appreciation or positivity could ever make that old warehouse on the outskirts of Seoul any better than the garbage dump it was. Now that the world had ended and humanity was low on resources, conventional housing was only something the elites could obtain. The commoners of society such as my girlfriend and I were on our own, scavenging around the streets to find a place to shelter us. The day we stumbled upon that old warehouse was like a dream at first. Finally, we would have a place to live; a place we could call our own. That is, until we ventured inside…

    As I twisted the cold silver knob and used all the force in my body to push the thick metal door ajar, a putrid odor of grease and dust expelled from within and flooded my senses. It was hard to breathe at first, but once my lungs adapted to the musty environment, I lead Miyeon in as well, now glancing around at what I could expect. Scattered around the cold cement floor were remnants of wild animals that had used this building as shelter during the many storms that rolled through the area. Bones, fur and droppings piled in the corner signified that this old warehouse had been the final resting place of many unlucky creatures before us, which made my stomach rather uneasy.

    On the far side of the wall were various forms of graffiti where people had scribbled down messages to the loved ones they had been separated from, along with a plethora of bare spots where the paint had chipped from the walls and floated to the concrete below. There were large stains covering the span of the ceiling where small cracks allowed the rainwater to seep through and penetrate the porous material. And as Miyeon and I explored our new environment further, I turned to her, helping her step over debris from the roof, small bits that had broken off with age.

“We can’t stay here,” I inquired to her, knowing that a place like this would only make us feel worse after all we had been through. “It’s unclean and uncomfortable. We need to find somewhere else to stay for now.” At that, she turned to me replying in a soft tone.

“After the last place we stayed, this place is like a palace, Taekwoon.” She sounded a bit uneasy about the place, but I knew she had no problem staying here for a while. After all, she never was the type to complain about much.

    As I listened to her speak, I managed to pry open a large metal storage cabinet in the corner, a variety of common household tools falling out before my eyes, their slick metal coated with layers of fresh blood. The loud clamour of the metal tools crashing onto the hard cement sent a resonating reverberation throughout the small confines of the building, causing both of us to flinch. After backing away from the cabinet, I soon noticed a thick species of ivy growing up from a crack in the ground and engulfing the sides of the metal as it made its way up to the top. They too had the splatter of blood tainting their leaves and dripping down the vine. As my eyes widened, I turned to Miyeon and ordered her to leave immediately.