Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 1 Part 2

[Ding-dong! This is the first basement level.]

Yuju quickly stepped out of the elevator. There was a hint of urgency as her suitcase got caught in the gap. The dimly lit underground corridor illuminated brightly. Clack, clack. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway, and the dragging of the suitcase became more pronounced.

On the other side of the transparent glass window, a man could be seen leaning against a black vehicle, engaged in a phone conversation. Despite leaning at an angle, he still stood a head taller than her. The muscles of his arms, visible beneath a black short-sleeved shirt, appeared noticeably strong and well-toned.

Once Yuju rushed over and finally spotted the man, her footsteps slowed down.

It was due to a mix of shyness and excitement at seeing her boyfriend who she had only been dating for less than a month. However, the automatic door, sensing the subtle movement, opened wide. Yuju, without fully preparing herself mentally, greeted him.

“S-Sehan…!”

Yuju whispered softly. The man, who had been on the phone, noticed her and narrowed his eyes slightly. His stoic expression softened.

The man approached Yuju and lightly pressed his lips against her cheek.

“Transfer the rest of it to Team Leader Ahn.”

Despite his gentle face, his voice was cold and businesslike.

She heard the sound of the other person. Afraid that the sound of Sehan sucking her cheek might be heard through the phone, Yuju held her breath.

“I will turn off this phone for two days.”

He placed the phone between his cheek and neck and opened the trunk, loading Yuju’s suitcase into it.

“Can’t you understand? It means don’t contact me during my vacation.”

Yuju’s yellow suitcase was placed on top of his own navy blue suitcase. Closing the trunk, he ignored the voice of the person pleading on the other end of the phone and pressed the power button.

“You waited, right? I’m sorry.”

Sehan naturally wrapped his arms around Yuju’s waist, his expression softening.

“No, it’s okay. Sehan, you’ve been working hard to pick me up since morning.”

“It’s hard when you have to do something you don’t like. I wish I could pick you up like this every day.”

Yuju’s cheeks blushed with embarrassment and happiness.

“I brought sandwiches as a snack. Let’s eat together.”

Sehan placed the icebox in the back seat and helped Yuju into the passenger seat. After fastening her seatbelt, he went into the driver’s seat and sat down.

Yuju tightly held onto the seatbelt he had fastened, trying to calm her pounding heart. She was afraid that even the slightest sound would make her heartbeat audible from the outside.

The passionate longing she had for him since she first saw him as a freshman magically came true. He, wearing just a light short-sleeved shirt and pants like back in those days, felt like a dream.

For her, who had just been hired and became a new employee at a company, this summer vacation was going to be her first proper date with him.

The day they decided to go on a 1-night 2-day trip, the day they would spend their first night together, today was a historic day for Yuju.

She tightly pressed her chest, which pounded as if it would burst, at the thought of the alluring underwear she had carefully packed in her suitcase. She tried to contain the excitement from spilling out of her throat.

***

Yuju tilted her head, her fingers gripping the seatbelt tightly until they turned pale. Since entering the bridge, she has felt an odd sensation of the vehicle shaking. As if there was an earthquake.

Feeling uneasy, Yuju anxiously gazed at the Han River beneath the bridge. Sehan was equally aware of the tremors. It was at the very moment when he was about to say something to Yuju, just as he was about to open his mouth.

“It seems like…”

Screech! Crash!

Accompanied by a jarring noise that numbed their ears, the car began to sway violently and started to fall. Sehan instinctively used his arm to shield Yujus’s chest, his face stiffened.

In the dizzying sense of freefall, as if all his organs and bones were left suspended in the sky, leaving only his flesh falling, the world before his eyes turned dark.

In a last-ditch effort, Sehan reached over to the side and lowered the window. He needed an escape route in case they ended up in the water.

With that, Sehan lost consciousness.

He regained his senses only at the sound of a loud thud. He pressed his head with his hand, still dizzy from the impact, and looked at Yuju.

“Yuju! Yuju! Are you okay?”

When Yuju didn’t respond, he unbuckled the seatbelt he was wearing and stretched his body towards the passenger seat, cupping her cheek.

“Uhmm…”

With a small groan, Yuju regained consciousness. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be hurt. Sehan, who was looking around with relief, felt a sense of incompatibility at that moment.

Outside the window, a dense forest came into view. Just moments before the accident, the two of them were in the middle of a bridge over the Han River. It was a situation that didn’t make sense to him.

Yuju, who turned her gaze following Sehan, who was looking out the window with a somewhat dazed expression, immediately felt the same and froze.

The strangeness didn’t end there. Outside, a vivid red sunset adorned the sky. Just as she was about to check the time, her cellphone, which she held in her trembling hand, brightly lit up.

[AM 10:37]

A creepy sense of unease and chills ran down her spine.

“Please help here! Someone’s injured!”

In response to the loud voice, Yuju gasped for breath. In addition to Sehan’s SUV, there were other vehicles in the dark forest. Three sedans, including Sehan’s car, and a camping car were unscathed, but the police bus was overturned 180 degrees and severely damaged.

“Hold on for a minute.”

Sehan left Yuju in the car and ran towards the police bus. People who had come out of the relatively undamaged cars surrounded the police bus, inspecting the situation.

Yuju, who was thinking about the possibility of falling into the dense forest from the Han River Bridge, turned away from the sight as if avoiding the thought. Her trembling hand pressed 119.

[Out of service]

119 did not connect.

“Is it broken?”

Yuju tried to make an emergency call with Sehan’s phone, which he left behind. Although she could contact 119 from the lock screen, the same message appeared.

[Out of service]

[Out of service]

[Out of service]

[Out of service]

It was the same even after trying several times.

“Out of service? In Seoul…?”