Two glasses of water were sat in front of the two, and the woman providing the guests with beverages and preserves asked them if they were sure if that’s all they wanted. Ilhoon reassured her and as soon as she was out of earshot, he pushed the glass aside. He wasn’t remotely thirsty as he was curious; practically a thousand questions surfacing his mind. Sohyun could sense it; she said nothing sitting across from him in the café that was now a shelter home for those who didn’t have the safety of a building.  The teen kept quiet and poured the sweet condiment from the sugar jar into her water until it was almost empty then began drinking. Ilhoon watched her carefully.

“Why …so much sugar?” He asked.
“Don’t know. My mouth is craving for something sweet.”
“Sohyun…” He leaned in and lowered his voice. Snuck a few side eye views from their booth to make sure no one was watching.
“No one is watching.” She informed so surely.
“Just to make sure…Kwon Sohyun…why are you so weird?”
“Is that the best way you can phrase it?”
He responded sharply, “How else would you phrase it?”

Sohyun scoffed. She grabbed Ilhoon’s glass of water and began playing with the condensation; made faces and random signs.

“I finally took off my ring and I feel fine.” She started. “The things happening to me…I can’t quite explain. I know just as much as you do.”
“What about the ring?” He eyed the jewelry piece Sohyun had set aside on the table.  His hand reached for it but Sohyun, without looking, grabbed him away from it.
“I found it.” She responded.  “I was with my older brother yesterday outside the safety zone. I found it randomly, and at the time something really strange happened…” She paused, feeling as though she was back in the forest the very moment she found the ring. How she felt when she put it on, and what had occurred shortly after. “I was standing there, just standing, and then I became so powerful…I just knew. It overwhelmed me, and it was frightening. I couldn’t control it, so therefore it did something I was not prepared for. As my brother and I left the scene, I heard…something…someone…laughing…”
“This is a creepy story.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’m living the story.” She pressed on the glass hard enough to where it shattered. People turned their heads but Ilhoon announced in a sheepish manner as he cleaned up the broken glass and smiled that Sohyun shouldn’t be so clumsy; then everyone looked away. “Sorry.”
“No, that was on me,” He corrected piling up the pieces of glass together. “I’m not in your shoes, so I may seem insensitive not understanding how you must feel or…what you must be going through.”
“It’s like an extreme case of puberty.” Sohyun put it.

And with that, Ilhoon burst out into laughter, causing Sohyun to chuckle a bit too.
“I didn’t know how else to word it.”

The laughter died down as the building began to shake. Ilhoon paused, ready to go into shock until he looked at Sohyun as they and everyone else in the café realized what was happening.

“Earthquake!” Someone screamed whilst the small restaurant and the few amount of people began to scramble and find a place for safety. Ilhoon threw his hand out across the table to grab Sohyun’s. She stretched her arm out but for some reason it wasn’t reaching. Then she noticed that the ground between her and Ilhoon was splitting, causing a deep crack to form in the Earth. Ilhoon threw himself out the booth but Sohyun slipped into the crack.

“Sohyun!” He jumped over the widening split that was nearing two yards long. The people in the shelter panicked; as the Earth shook more, they were being torn from the exit. Sohyun was hanging on the ledge of the crack she had slipped into like she was hanging from a cliff. Ilhoon dropped down to a prone and grabbed her by the blazer. Quickly he pulled her up while the ground was still splitting and then the two rolled away to avoid slipping in again. Within a few more moments the Earthquake stopped shaking and the building’s floor stopped breaking. It’ll take a few more moments after that for Ilhoon to realize he was completely on top of Sohyun. She pushed him off.

“Sorry!”
“I really hope this isn’t considered two timing.” She could even think about her school crush in a near death situation.
“You’re in a relationship?” Ilhoon asked again.