Chapter Text
A terrible storm struck Seoul, South Korea. People frantically rushed into stores and fought over necessities, such as bottled water, canned foods, batteries, flashlights, and first aid kits. People who lived near the Han River were advised to evacuate to their nearest shelter.
It was December. Winter. The weather was already cold enough without the storm making things worse.
Kingsley Kwan and his parents were forced to evacuate due to living too close to the Han River. At the shelter, Kingsley bumped into Jake Ji, who had also evacuated with his family.
Large screens on the walls broadcasted the current news. The storm was extremely bad right now, but it would finish passing by morning. The news showcased live footage from some street cameras, and it showed how much the Han River had risen and how wild the waterflow was. The Han River flooded the streets surrounding it and broke down some windows and doors of the first floors of nearby buildings.
The camera switched to another area of Seoul. Lightning flashed across the dark storm clouds. Thunder boomed loudly throughout the area. Some of the buildings shook due to the intense winds.
It didn't take long for the cameras to lose power or be destroyed. The channel changed back to the news anchors in the studio. They continued to inform the viewers of all the information they currently had.
Kingsley—if he was going to be honest—did not care about the news. After the death of his boyfriend, Donald Na, he had fallen into a depression. He attempted to continue Donald's legacy and kept the Union going, but he was unable to recover it from the damage it had suffered prior to Donald's death.
His life had lost all of its color after Donald's death. He no longer had a purpose. His life went back to being a repetitive routine of going to school and returning home. Once he got home, he did his homework and then just laid down on his bed. He'd stare up at his ceiling until his parents called him for dinner. After dinner, he'd return to bed and go to sleep.
Kingsley didn't want to evacuate. He didn't have the strength to have self-preservation. He would've been fine with just being swept away by the storm. The only reason he did evacuate was due to his parents.
Kingsley decided that he'd go back to sleep until the storm was over.
~They Came Back~
The storm came to an end by morning. Kingsley woke up, and he saw the news was back on. Currently, reporters were at the scenes of various locations, and they showed the extensive damage to some buildings.
At first, Kingsley paid no mind to the news. It was only when he heard the reporter say the word "columbarium" did his head snap up quickly. He felt his heart stop when he heard the news.
The storm had destroyed the columbarium. It had destroyed the columbarium where Donald's ashes were. The only thing he had left of his boyfriend had been destroyed by a storm. His urn was most likely shattered, and his ashes were most likely spread and mixed in with the dirt, rubble, and other people's ashes.
Kingsley couldn't breathe. He needed to go to the columbarium. He needed to salvage what he could, even if it was just a piece of Donald's urn.
"Breathe, Kingsley!" Jake shook Kingsley's shoulder. "Kingsley, you're hyperventilating!"
"Hey," Kenny said, "I think you guys should continue watching the news."
"There are people trapped in the rubble of the columbarium!"
The cameraman and reporter rushed closer to the scene. Several people groaned and limbs could be seen trapped buried beneath the rubble.
Kingsley, Jake, Kenny, and most of the high schoolers in the shelter recognized one of the hands with its distinct paleness, signature tattoos, and expensive rings. That hand was Donald Na's hand.
"How..." Kingsley nearly lost his balance and had to be steadied by Jake. "...how is this possible? He was cremated!"
They definitely needed to get to the columbarium as soon as possible, even if they had to run all the way there.
~They Came Back~
"DONALD!" Kingsley yelled and pushed past the people who tried to prevent him from getting closer to the ruins.
"Kingsley, he's over there!" Jake pointed at a group of people who had been dragged out of the rubble and were given medical treatment.
Kingsley ran over to his boyfriend and hugged him tightly. "Donald...you're alive..."
Donald stiffened but slowly hugged Kingsley back. "Kingsley?"
"Donald, are these friends of yours?" Sua Lee, who sat next to her son, inquired.
Kingsley stared at her and recognized her from the photo in the niche next to Donald's. "You're Donald's mother."
"Yes," she nodded. "My name is Sua Lee."
"I'm Donald's boyfriend, Kingsley Kwan," Kingsley introduced himself. "If you two were revived..." Kingsley glanced at the other people who had been rescued from the rubble. "...are all the people here the ones whose ashes had been stored in the columbarium?"
"No," Donald answered, "it seems like only people who had died within the last ten years had been revived."
"Donald, how is this possible?" Jake asked, "Eunjang saw you get hit by a truck. The Union attended your funeral. Your body was cremated!"
"I don't know," Donald answered, "because the last thing I remembered was paramedics trying to save me, but I ended up dying while I was in the ambulance. The next thing I knew, I was in the rubble. It was as if I had blinked and teleported."
"That's similar to what happened to me," Sua said, "because the last thing I remembered was passing away in the hospital."
Donald flinched. His mother had died all alone. He hadn't been by her side when she had died. The last time he had seen her was when she had been in the morgue for two days already. It had all been that asshole teacher's fault.
"The rescuers want to bring us, and the rest of the returned, to the hospital for at least an entire day," Donald said, "but I'm not sure if they will really let us go afterwards."
"Why wouldn't they let us go?" Sua asked.
"People who were supposed to be dead were suddenly resurrected," Jake explained, "so, naturally, people would want to know how. Some people may even resort to human experimentation."
"I won't ever let anyone hurt my mother, never again." Donald's eyes were burning with anger at the thought of his mother getting hurt. "I'm stronger now, so I will definitely protect her."
Sua was surprised by her son's boldness. She remembered how, prior to her being hospitalized, her son often had her husband focus the physical abuse towards him in order to protect her. She had been unable to do anything but watch as her son became swollen red or bruised blue.
~They Came Back~
Fortunately, those that had someplace to go were discharged. All of the returnees' vitals and tests came back completely normal like any other healthy human. "Where will we stay though?" Sua wondered after she and Donald exited the hospital.
"Kingsley said that he had been paying for my apartment with my leftover funds since he couldn't bring himself to remove any of my stuff," Donald said as he called for a cab, "Although, I should start figuring a way to generate income again."
"Donald," Sua told him, "you're still just a child. You've already been through so much hardships. I'm the adult, so I should be the one looking for a job."
"I still have enough funds to support us for a couple months," Donald said as they got into the cab and headed to his apartment, "so there's no rush to finding a job. Besides, Mom, I don't want you to have to work so hard."
"Donald, I'm your mother," Sua said, "so it's my responsibility as your parent to be able to provide for you."
"I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm seventeen now, not twelve."
"You're still a child," she reminded him, "a child that was forced to grow up at such a young age."
They arrived at Donald's apartment. Sua was surprised that her son was really able to afford the place all on his own.
"Donald," Sua asked, "where did you get the money to afford this place?"
Donald was silent.
"Donald," Sua repeated, "where did you get the money to afford this place? Where did you get the money to afford these expensive brands of clothing and jewelry?"
"Mom...please sit down first."
Sua sat down on the couch. Her brows creased with worry.
Donald sat down beside her. He took a deep breath, and then he told her everything. He told her how he had been mistreated at Yeowon Elementary School. He told her about how his homeroom teacher hadn't told him about her death until two days later. He told her about how his stepfather had ran off with her life insurance money.
Donald told her the complete truth. He told her about how he formed a gang, and about how they broke into cars and stole jewelry to sell. He told her about how he had recruited Kingsley, and how the two had formed the Union. He told her about how the Union had defeated Manwol and took over Yeongdeungpo.
Donald told her about Eunjang and Cheongang. He told her about his first encounter with Ben and Alex in middle school, and he told her about how he had nearly killed both of them. He told her about how he had sent Hyeongshin and Ganghak to attack Eunjang. He told her about how he had sent the Mok-Ha Duo after Eugene Gale, resulting in Eugene's hospitalization.
Donald told her about the Final Battle. He told her about his fight against Ben Park and Gray Yeon. He didn't sugarcoat anything, and he didn't try to paint himself in a better light. He was completely honest with her.
Sua immediately hugged her son tightly once he was finished.
"Do," Donald asked, "do you hate me, Mom?"
"No." Her answer was immediate with no hesitation in her voice.
"I hurt people," Donald said, "and I grew up to become a bad person."
"I don't like how you lived such a violent life," Sua told him, "but I know that you did what you had to do to survive. Even if you hurt people, I could never hate you. You are my son, Donald, and I love you."
For the first time since his mother's death, Donald cried. He cried in his mother's arms like the child he was.
~They Came Back~
Author's Note: The idea of people who died within the last ten years being revived is based on the French movie "They Came Back", also known as "The Returned". This story will be relatively short, most likely only two chapters in total.