The urgent voice of the news reporter pierced the silence of Si-Woo's room, the words chilling in their clarity.

  "...unexplained earthquakes have been reported across the city, with no signs of letting up. Scientists are baffled by the sudden—"

  Si-Woo stared at the images flashing on the screen. Cracked streets, toppled buildings, and panicked crowds filled the television, their chaos mirrored in his chest. The spoon in his hand trembled, then slipped from his grasp, clattering onto the tray.

  "What’s happening?" he whispered, his voice drowned by the growing tension.

  The room jolted violently, the floor shaking beneath him. The walls seemed to pulse in time with his pounding heart, and the TV wobbled precariously on its stand, its image flickering with the force of the tremors.

  "Mom!" Si-Woo shouted, clutching the bedframe as if it were a lifeline.

  Mrs. Park burst into the room, her face pale and drawn with fear. "Hold on, Si-Woo! It’s another earthquake!"

  The house groaned, its very structure straining against the quake's fury. The floor buckled beneath them like the deck of a storm-tossed ship, throwing Mrs. Park toward the door. Si-Woo gripped the bedframe with white-knuckled desperation, his eyes wide as the TV toppled to the ground, shattering into a kaleidoscope of cracks.

  "Si-Woo!" Mrs. Park screamed as the floor tilted sharply, and she slid toward the edge of the doorway.

  Si-Woo lunged, his hand grasping hers just as an unearthly blue glow filled the room. The light streamed through the window, pulsing in rhythm with the earth’s convulsions. Outside, a monstrous roar rose above the chaos, drowning out the faint remnants of the news broadcast.

  "What is that?" Si-Woo choked out, his voice quivering with fear.

  "I don’t know," Mrs. Park replied, her eyes locked on the window, her grip on Si-Woo unyielding. "But we need to get to the basement. Now!"

  The hallway outside was a nightmare. The walls swayed and cracked, sending plumes of dust into the air. Lights flickered overhead, their swinging bulbs casting chaotic shadows. Si-Woo and Mrs. Park stumbled forward, navigating the shaking house with sheer willpower.

  The stairs groaned under their weight, each step a battle against gravity and fear. As they descended, the living room came into view—transformed into a war zone. Furniture lay overturned, broken glass glittered like jagged stars across the floor, and debris rained down with every tremor.

  A loud crash drew their attention as the chandelier plummeted to the ground, shattering into countless pieces. Mrs. Park tightened her grip on Si-Woo’s hand, her eyes filled with determination as they navigated the chaos.

  The roar outside grew louder, the blue light seeping through the cracks in the walls like the heartbeat of a monster. The very air seemed alive with the quake’s energy.

  Mrs. Park’s foot caught on a splintered plank of wood. She stumbled, her hand slipping from Si-Woo’s grasp as she fell to the ground. Si-Woo’s heart lurched, and he lunged to grab her, but the violent tremors yanked her further away.

  "Mom!" Si-Woo screamed, his voice lost in the cacophony of shattering wood and splitting earth.

  The floor cracked beneath them, splitting apart to form a yawning chasm that threatened to swallow everything in its path. Mrs. Park slid closer to the edge, her hands scrabbling for purchase as terror filled her wide eyes.

  Si-Woo’s fingers found the banister, his knuckles turning white as he strained to pull her back. "Hold on!" he shouted desperately.

  Mrs. Park managed to grab onto the edge of the splintered floor, her other hand reaching for Si-Woo. "I’ve got you!" she cried, her voice trembling with effort.

  But the earth had other plans. The chasm widened, mocking their desperation with its unstoppable force. The house shuddered violently, each groan of its failing structure a reminder of their fragility.

  A thunderous crack split the air as a beam from the ceiling crashed down. It hurtled toward Si-Woo, its jagged edges promising devastation. Time seemed to freeze as Mrs. Park, with a burst of instinctual resolve, flung herself in front of her son.

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  "No!" Si-Woo screamed, his voice raw with horror.

  The beam struck her with sickening force, the sound of snapping bones piercing the chaos like a gunshot. Mrs. Park’s body convulsed as the impact drove her to the ground. Pain and love shone in her eyes as she cupped Si-Woo’s face with trembling fingers.

  "I... love you," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the storm of destruction.

  Her hand fell limp, the light fading from her eyes as her body slumped against him. Si-Woo’s world narrowed to the unbearable weight of her lifeless hand in his.

  "Mom! MMMMOOOOMMM!" Si-Woo’s scream tore through the chaos, raw and unrelenting as he clung to her lifeless form. The house trembled violently around him, the ground heaving as if to swallow him whole. But Si-Woo couldn’t move—his body rooted to the spot by grief and the weight of his mother’s sacrifice.

  Across town, the once-bustling school had emptied, students and teachers fleeing as the tremors grew stronger. Ha-Yoon had stumbled into the bathroom, her small frame shaking as the aftershocks reverberated through the building. Clutching the sink, she tried to steady herself, but the cold porcelain beneath her hands only amplified her fear.

  The fluorescent lights overhead flickered erratically, casting jagged shadows across the cracked tiles. Ha-Yoon stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her dark cream hair was plastered to her damp forehead, and her wide eyes betrayed a terror that made her look far older than her six years.

  The building groaned around her, the walls cracking and buckling under the strain. Water splashed out of the sink, the basin trembling like it, too, wanted to escape. Ha-Yoon’s gaze darted to the warped bathroom door, its frame twisting as if alive. She knew she needed to get to safety, but her legs felt heavy, as though the fear had turned her to stone.

  With a shaky gulp, she crouched down, hugging her knees to her chest and tucking herself into the smallest space possible. The cold tile bit into her skin through her skirt, grounding her in the chaotic storm that raged around her. The air grew thick with dust, overpowering the usual smell of soap and bleach, and her trembling hands pressed tightly over her ears to block out the terrifying sounds of the collapsing school.

  Ha-Yoon squeezed her eyes shut, her mother’s prayer tumbling from her lips in a soft whisper. It was the only thing keeping her from being consumed by the panic. "Please, keep me safe... keep us all safe..."

  The lights flickered more violently now, plunging the bathroom into alternating flashes of brightness and darkness. The mirror above the sink rattled with each tremor, cracks spidering across its surface until her reflection was warped and unrecognizable.

  Then, with a loud crash, the bathroom door burst open. Ha-Yoon braced herself, expecting the worst. But through the cacophony, she heard a familiar voice—Mrs. Seul, the school’s English teacher, shouting over the chaos.

  "In here!" Mrs. Seul called, her voice steady despite the tremors. Her eyes locked onto Ha-Yoon, filled with fear but also a determination that gave Ha-Yoon a flicker of hope. "Get under a sink!"

  Ha-Yoon nodded, her legs wobbling as she rose. She stumbled to the nearest sink, her movements clumsy with terror. Mrs. Seul guided her into a crouched position, her hands firm yet gentle as she helped Ha-Yoon curl into a protective ball.

  "You’re so brave," Mrs. Seul whispered, her voice trembling as the ground continued to quake.

  Ha-Yoon didn’t feel brave. She felt small and helpless, her body shaking as the walls around them seemed to cave in with each passing second. The air was filled with the sharp tang of plaster dust and the high-pitched shriek of bending metal.

  Above them, the mirror shattered, raining shards of glass onto the floor. Ha-Yoon covered her head with her arms as the sharp fragments clattered around her. Mrs. Seul crouched protectively beside her, her body shielding Ha-Yoon from the worst of the debris.

  The school groaned like a dying beast, and in the distance, the thunderous crash of collapsing walls echoed through the chaos. Ha-Yoon’s heart raced as the destruction crept closer, each sound a harbinger of doom.

  With a deafening roar, the wall nearest them gave way. Bricks and mortar cascaded into the bathroom like an avalanche, the impact throwing Mrs. Seul across the room. Ha-Yoon gasped, her hands reaching out instinctively as she watched the teacher’s body disappear beneath the rubble.

  "Mrs. Seul!" Ha-Yoon screamed, her voice raw with despair. The teacher’s hand reached out from beneath the debris, trembling and searching for something to grasp. But the rubble pressed down relentlessly, her body pinned by the weight of destruction. Ha-Yoon could only watch, helpless, as the hand stilled and fell limp.

  Dust choked the air, turning everything into a haze of gray. Ha-Yoon coughed violently, her small frame wracked with heaving sobs. The once-familiar bathroom was unrecognizable—a tomb of shattered tiles, broken glass, and unfulfilled promises.

  Somehow, Ha-Yoon found the strength to crawl. Each movement was agonizing, her knees scraping against jagged debris as she made her way out of the stall. Her breath came in short gasps, the taste of dust bitter on her tongue.

  Beyond the bathroom, the school was unrecognizable. The orderly corridors had transformed into jagged ruins, walls caved in and lockers twisted into grotesque shapes. Books and papers littered the floor, their pages fluttering weakly in the drafts of collapsing walls.

  The screams of the trapped and injured echoed through the wreckage, their cries weaving a symphony of despair that made Ha-Yoon’s heart clench. But she pressed on, her movements driven by sheer instinct.

  The tremors surged again, the ground beneath her heaving like a living, breathing creature. She crawled desperately toward what she hoped was safety, but the shifting floor made every inch feel like a mile.

  Finally, Ha-Yoon felt her strength give out. Her arms and legs refused to cooperate, and her vision began to blur. The world around her tilted, the chaos fading into a muffled hum. The edges of her sight darkened, and her thoughts became a distant whisper.

  With a shallow gasp, she slumped forward, the ruins of the school swallowing her into the void.