Sungyeol thought that it was the last day of his life. Since it was Saturday, the weekend, he & his dongseang, Sungjong, were enjoying their time. After the shopping at the supermarket, they were returning home when suddenly the ground started to shake so violently. He could not think anything. The first thing he did was look for Sungjong. As soon as he found his dongseang nearby, he hugged him tightly & checked if he had any injuries. Sungyeol hold Sungjong’s arm & kept on praying that let this disaster be stopped, let his family be alright.

                When the earthquake was little mild, he called his family members but there was no network. Then, he wanted to run to his home. Sungjong had the same thought as his.

                “Hyung, umma..she has got a severe leg pain. She is not in the condition to run. Moreover, she must be worried sick of us. Lets’ go home.”

                “You are right. Let’s go. Everything will be alright once we meet each other”, Sungyeol was more assuring to himself than to his brother.

                Though his hands were trembling, Sungyeol was trying to call his family members but all in vain. There was no connection.

                On their way to home, they saw many people coming outside of their buildings, some without slipper, some were crying, everyone eyes showing fear. All people were trying to reach out to their family as well but none of them were successful. They saw many buildings collapsed right in front of their eyes. They could only gasp at the sight.

                When they reached the mid-way, Sungyeol received a call- it was from his house.

“Where are you guys? Are you & Jongie alright?”

“We are good appa. How is umma and hyung?”

“They are fine. Reach here fast. Your umma is panicking a lot.”

“I know appa. We will be there as soon as possible. Go outside. Don’t be inside the house.”

“I just came to give you a call. Mobile to mobile, there was no connection. I thought landline would definitely work.”

‘Okay. Now go out. We will be there.”

                As soon as the call ended, Sungjong asked, “Are they okay?”

“Yeah, Jongie. But umma is panicking. We have to reach there soon.”

“Let’s run, hyung.” Sungjong caught Sungyeol’s hand & they started running in their fullest speed.

                Sungyeol pulled is brother backward & covered him when he saw a big block of wall falling from the 7^th floor of a mall. The block broke down & fell on the road with huge sound, shattering it into tiny pieces. He didn’t want his life to end like that.

                He once again caught Sungjong’s hand & ran to their house. When they reached there, everyone were outside. In the crowd of people, their eyes were frantically searching their family. Hoya, their eldest hyung, appeared out of nowhere & hugged them. “Thank God, you guys made it here safely.”       

Sungjong hurriedly asked, “Where are umma & appa?”

“There they are”, Hoya pointed to the nearby empty ground. “I just came to fetch you.”

The three siblings rushed to their parents.

Their umma hugged her just arrived kids feeling the greatest relief.

“Thank you Lord for bringing my children safely home. You guys are not hurt anywhere right?” She started inspecting her children.

                “We are fine, umma. Don’t worry. How is your leg? Were you able to make it out in time? Appa, where were you that time?”, Sungyeol enquired.

                Their umma replied, “I and your hyung were inside the house only during the quake. Since we were at the kitchen (which was the top floor of the house) preparing meal, we could not come down the ladder. We were hugging the pillar tightly & came out only after sometime.”

                “And, appa?”, Sungjong asked.

[Their family owned a clothing store. Their appa always closed the shop at the mid-day on Saturdays to spend some quality time with his family.]

                Their appa replied, “I was on the way home when suddenly the earthquake took place. I was moving left & right, front & back. There was nothing to hold onto nearby. Stumbling upon my feet, I finally reached home.”

                They were amazed by how great their appa was.

                Sungyeol put their thoughts in words, “Wow!! Appa you are so brave. I was literally on the ground, I had no balance in my legs.”

                Their appa smiled & said, “More than myself, I was worried about you guys. Your love gave me courage to be strong & finally reach here.”

                They were so glad to see each other safe. Then Sungyeol asked, “Is our house okay?”

“Yeah. Our house seems good from out. But detail inspection must be done later.”

Their mouth formed “O”.

When they got hold of the network, they started calling their relative & friends. They were at relief knowing that their loved ones are safe as well. In situation like this, one’s life was the greatest assets, more than house, property & any other thing.

Later they found out that Earthquake had hit their country at 11:56 am, 7.9 rector for 56 seconds.