The small crack of light pierces my eyes like a knife as the shelter door is being opened. After ten days in near darkness, my eyes hurt at the smallest of light. The shelter entrance is packed with the hundreds of people who long to see the world again. We all shield our eyes as the light pours more and more into the room. The crowd gasps in unison when the world beyond us is finally revealed. Chanyeol grabs my hand and gives it a light squeeze, which is his way of letting me know that he's here and he's sticking with me. I pull my body closer to him.

"Holy ing ..." Chanyeol whispers in disbelief. The crowd in front of me blocks my view, and I jump up onto my toes, using my tall boyfriend for stability, catching a quick glimpse of what awaits me. I stand still and my heart drops.

I'm speechless.

We all are. After seconds of the silence and disbelief of people trying to fathom what's in front of them, the crowd slowly start exiting. I follow the flow, drifting towards the world ahead, refusing to let go of my boyfriend's hand. I move a few steps more, and before my body makes its way through the exit, a blood curdling scream pierces the silence like glass on a tile floor. My whole body jumps and chills radiate from my center. I instinctively press into Chanyeol's large body.

"Yoojeong! Yoojeong-ah, my baby!" A woman screams. I let go of Chanyeol and quicken my pace to see what is happening. I take my first step outside onto the gravel and my body comes to a halt. I'm frozen.

Everything is dead.

What used to be plants, flowers, and trees is now a field of dirt and rock. Small flames consume patches of dead leaves and grass. Smoke-filled fog covers the brown sky. Bodies lay distorted and lifeless, scattered across the earth. As reality sinks in, people being to cry, run, scream, and kneel by their dead loved ones. I stand for a good while - only God knows how long - with my boyfriend close to me. He takes my hand once again and we walk, exploring our now unrecognizable world.

My breaths slow and my senses blur. All I can see are the bodies upon bodies whose lifeless faces stare deep into my soul; all I can hear are the screams and wails of their families and friends who never got to say goodbye, mixed with the harsh pounding of my heartbeat. My head spins. I look deeper into the faces of the bodies. Terror lays in the expression of each one, making the hairs on my body stand.

Chanyeol gasps and covers his mouth with his hand. Curious of his sudden reaction, I turn to look at him, before following his gaze. My stomach drops at the sight of what lays in front of me. . I am going to be ing sick. Chanyeol falls to his knees and I can see the tears building in his eyes.

"H-hyung..." I whisper in shock.

"No!" Chanyeol screams, his voice rough with sobs. "No!" I stare into the wide eyes of Minseokie-hyung, who lays dead. His skin is pale, burns and dried blood being the only hints of color remaining on his body. He lays completely still, flat on his back, his mouth slightly open and his lifeless eyes filled not with fear, but peace and contentment. All of the brightness and happiness that I've known within my beloved Hyung, is now drained out to become the lifeless corpse in front of me, filled with nothing more than those emotions that remain lingering in his eyes.

I drop next to my boyfriend and bury my face in his shoulder as the tears start to fall.

Minseok was the closest thing to a real brother Chanyeol and I ever had. He practically raised us. He and Chanyeol's family were close due to their collaborations in the medical field. However, after an experiment-gone-wrong killed both of their parents, Minseok took Chanyeol in as a brother. Eventually Minseok continued his parents' legacy in the medical field, and his efforts granted him the highest position in governmental medicine in the country. He mentored Chanyeol as often as time allowed, just in case, as he always put it, "If you ever need to keep yourself safe; if for whatever reason I'm not here, I need to make sure you'll be okay on your own."

As for me, I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember. I don't know who my parents are or what happened to them, and I guess I've never really felt like I've missed them. One day I caught a bad case of the flu, and the orphanage sent me away to the medical institute to get cured. That's where I met Minseok and Chanyeol. Minseok used me to train Chanyeol in medicine. Because of that, he spent a lot of time around me, and it didn't take long for us to fall in love. After I was completely cured, Minseok took me in and the three of us have been able to live under the safety of the government thanks to him. Chanyeol and I just assumed that he'd be with the president, somewhere safe. I know Mr. President would've tried to keep his most treasured doctor safe. Minseok probably begged to come and help, pleading that it's his duty to put his people first. That ing bastard died because he couldn't put himself first for once.

Chanyeol and I remain next to our beloved hyung's body for minutes, wrapped in each other's arms, letting all of the tears and sadness flow out from us. When neither of us have anything left to cry out, we take one last look at him.

"We really should go." Chanyeol whispers, saying the first words either of us has spoken since minutes ago. I nod slowly in agreement. I turn my body and walk away from the body, reaching for the comfort of my boyfriend's hand. "Wait." He says, before running back to the body and taking something off of his clothes. He hands the object to me. It's the name tag. 

Kim Minseok
Chief of the Medical Services Association of the Republic of Korea (MSARK) 

I put the precious object in my pocket and take a deep sigh. I take my boyfriend's hand once again and we walk, to nowhere in particular, in order to try to fathom what is happening.

"Baekhyun, look at me." We stop walking and I obey his request.

"Yeollie?"

"Now that he's gone, we have to stick together. It's just me and you. You're not gonna like me saying this, but I'm going to protect you. I'm going to do all I ing can to keep you alive. I'm not gonna let anything hur-"

"Don't say that. We are going to protect each other. We are going to keep each other alive. Don't act like I'm worth any more than you. You're all I have, Chanyeol." I sigh, and a slight frown forms across my boyfriend's lips.

"I know. But Minseokie-hyung always trusted me with everything. He did all he could to protect us and keep us safe. I can't help but feel like it's my responsibility to carry on what he did. It's the least I could do to repay him. Just agree to make me feel better. Okay, Baek?" Sadness lingers in his usual confident and strong voice, and he stares at me with sad, yet loving eyes. I nod my head. "I love you, my Baekhyunie."

"I love you t-"

A loud sound explodes from the sky, silencing my currently weak voice. Everyone looks up, and a helicopter descends from the fog.

"This is the government of the Republic of Korea. Make way for the descending air vehicle. Warning..." A speaker repeats from the aircraft. People follow the given instructions until a giant circle is clear for landing, and within a minute, the helicopter makes it's way to the ground. Two big men in black suits step out of the helicopter before turning around to help a middle aged man out of the craft.

"I am President Park Jaeshin of the Republic of Korea. I am here to inform that you all have survived the final nuclear bombing of the Third World War."