Ichi

You came with the waves
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Taeyong was seven years old when he lost his parents in a car accident. The only person who decided to take him under his roof was his grandmother, who lived in a small town on a small Japanese island. At first, the little boy did not want to move. He was depressed that he was left alone and that he wouldn't be able to find any friends when he left. Eventually, however, he left Korea and lived with his grandmother in an old cottage near the beach.

 

The beginnings were tough because the language barrier seemed insurmountable to him. However, his grandmother's stubbornness and patience meant that in less than a year the boy spoke fluent Japanese, sometimes having only minor problems with reading kanji or understanding fast speech. Having no parents and being a shy child, Taeyong wasn't a social butterfly. Several of his schoolmates liked to play with him, but the boy never called them friends. He spent most of his free time with his grandmother, who taught him how to cope when he was all alone. The woman was elderly and had many serious illnesses, so she set herself the goal of teaching her grandson everything she could so that he wouldn't have to worry about anything in the future.

 

One fall, when Taeyong was eighteen, his grandmother passed away and the teenager was left alone in the big house. With no many options, the boy sold the house and bought a small apartment in a three-story block closer to the town center. He also managed to find a part-time job in the store, so he didn't have to worry about bills and was free to study.

 

Thus, Taeyong survived to his twenty-third birthday. Now he was preparing to write his thesis, balancing between the university, the library, and the florist's shop where he was currently working. He was very happy that he found a quieter job than a busy one he worked before because more than once he used a small number of customers to repeat notes behind the counter.

 

Everything was fine until dark clouds rolled over the island. The Taeyong was on his way home and felt that something bad was going to happen. The wind was extreme, and he had trouble gasping for breath. Various things were flying in the air, taken away by a strong blast. At the same time, it was stuffy, and while on the bus, Taeyong paid particular attention to the water receding from the mainland.

 

Reaching the house, the man the TV to the news program which broadcast a warning message. His fears became real immediately. There was a strong storm coming and the town was afraid that it might flood the roads closest to the beach, break power lines and deprive people of electricity. It was also strongly repeated not to leave their homes unnecessarily, and to ask for help from neighbors if necessary, rather than go out into the street.

 

As predicted, the hurricane struck hard in the late evening. Taeyong had lived on the island for years, but he himself claimed that it was the first such a powerful storm. His windows crackled with the force of the rain hitting them. Taeyong was sitting in a blanket with a candlelit because, shortly after the storm started, the electricity in his block went out. He tried to convince himself that he was safe and the brick walls of the building would protect him from the raging elements, but he still fell asleep only in the morning, when the storm stopped.

 

The next day the building was powered up again, but Taeyong got a phone call not to show up for work because the road to the florists was blocked by fallen trees, which the fire department was now taking care of removing. So he had breakfast and left the house to see what the situati

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