BSS 02

Was the tunnel always this long?

Panting and stumbling, the more I ran, the blurrier my vision became. My hands and feet no longer obeyed me.

“Is anyone there? Please, someone—anyone…”

My throat closed up painfully with a dry click.

The air around me was choked with acrid smoke, growing thicker by the second until I could see nothing at all.

Instead of human sounds, all I heard were explosions—something bursting again and again. The fire was spreading faster than I could believe.

“…No… this can’t be happening.”

Suddenly, tears streamed down my face without reason. I hadn’t run far, but I was already exhausted.

The tunnel was enormous, dark, and endless. Could I ever get out of here alive?

No light was in sight.

My legs kept giving out, but I forced myself to move. I had to—just a few more steps, no matter what.

If I stopped, I’d collapse. And if I collapsed… that would be the end.

For the first time in my life, I felt the raw instinct to survive.

Then—squelch.

I stepped on something soft. When I looked down, I realized with horror—it was a corpse.

“Ahhh!”

My heart pounded violently.

The headlight’s beam faintly illuminated the face—crushed, mangled beyond recognition. Flesh torn open, pieces of it sliding out from between cracked lips.

I gagged from terror and nausea.

I wanted to vomit. But I couldn’t stop moving.

Every ounce of strength in me wanted to give out, but I forced my trembling legs forward, guided only by the faint orange glow flickering ahead.

I don’t know how long I walked after that.

Six steps.

That was all. After stepping over the corpse, I barely managed six more steps before my body refused to go on.

And as if on cue, the dim orange lights around me began to flicker… then went out completely.

Darkness swallowed everything.

And then I collapsed.

“…Mom.”

It was then that I remembered—my phone. It was still in my bag.

I fumbled to take it out, trying to turn it on, but it was too dark to see the buttons.

I pressed random ones, but nothing happened. No power.

Why?

Why won’t it turn on?

Tears streamed down my face, soaking my hands.

“Mom! Dad! Huuuhhh…”

Nothing was working. My voice broke, and I began to sob uncontrollably.

I cried out of fear, guilt, despair. My whole body shook; I could barely breathe. Even crying felt like a luxury I couldn’t afford.

My head spun violently, saliva spilling from between my lips.

I must’ve inhaled too much toxic gas.

Just like all the others who’d died.

Then I remembered—the battery. I had taken it out earlier.

With shaking hands, I dug into my bag, fumbling for the battery. I jammed it into the phone and pressed the power button.

The seconds it took to boot up felt endless. I wondered if it would even turn on before I died.

“Please… hurry…”

Finally, the screen lit up. In the suffocating darkness, my phone was the only source of light.

My hands trembled as I saw the missed call from Mom. I pressed “Call.”

The dial tone rang.

Beep—beep—beep—

Please… please pick up. Pick up, Mom!

It was a strange feeling—

That, in this moment, being trapped here didn’t feel as terrifying as the thought of never hearing her voice again.

Smoke and soot crept into my throat, choking me. My whole body shook uncontrollably.

Beep—beep—click.

—“Hello?”

“Mom!”

It felt like salvation in the dark. For a single fleeting moment, I was saved.

—“Goodness, Jin, why are you screaming like that? You did the same thing earlier! What kind of manners are those? Who told you it’s okay to hang up on your mother like that?”

“I—I won’t do it again. I promise I won’t.”

—“Don’t say ‘yeah,’ say ‘yes.’ What’s wrong, Jin? Why are you talking like that?”

“Mom, I… please, help me. Cough! I—I don’t want to die.”

Once the words left my mouth, the sorrow hit all at once.

I was really going to die.

Unbelievably, I was going to die before my own mother.

Without ever knowing what life meant, after all those days of forced studying and nothing else—this was how I’d die. Alone, and meaningless.

—“What? What’s wrong? Jin, what’s happening?!”

“I… can’t… breathe…”

—“Jinaaa!”

I was their only child. Late-born, precious—their beloved daughter Jin, their little princess, as Dad always called me. Thinking of that, guilt and tears surged together.

I couldn’t stop crying.

If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have snapped at Dad every time he called me “princess.” I wouldn’t have rolled my eyes or said it was embarrassing. Now, all I could think about were regrets.

The dizziness worsened.

Each breath felt like my throat was being strangled shut. I knew—I was at my limit.

My vision blurred.

My throat made horrible, rattling sounds I could barely recognize as my own. It was ugly, and frightening.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

—“Where are you? Jina, tell me! Mommy’s coming! Jina?!”

“You know I… I love you, right? Really… really love you. And thank you. Please… don’t fight with Dad, okay…? Huuuhh…”

Speaking hurt. The pain inside my chest flared with every word. But I couldn’t stop—I needed to say it.

Tears streamed down with every breath.

I sobbed and choked, trying to speak through the convulsions.

Then, without my control, I couldn’t speak anymore. My lungs refused to work. When I collapsed, clutching my throat—barely, just barely—

—“Honey! Honey! It’s Jin—our Jin!”

I heard Mom calling for Dad. But soon, everything faded away. The last thing that brushed my ears was Dad’s voice—thank God for that much.

Dad.

The word formed inside me but never made it out.

—“What’s wrong with her?! Jin! Jina!”

I couldn’t answer.

The phone slipped from my hand, and Dad’s voice shouting my name was the last thing I heard.

Then I closed my eyes, my face wet with tears.

That… was my death.