Morning light filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting gentle beams across the living room where Sung sat motionless on the couch his unseeing eyes were open, staring at nothing, his hands resting on his knees
The television murmured in the background, a constant stream of increasingly desperate news reports
"Here, drink this," seo said, carefully placing a mug into her husband's hands her own eyes were bloodshot, her movements cautious as she navigated the room her vision had deteriorated overnight but wasn't completely gone just a frightening blur of shapes and shadows
"Thank you," Sung replied, his fingers wrapping around the warm ceramic mug he lifted the mug slowly, cautiously bringing it up to his lips
Moon watched from his perch on the armchair, legs pulled up beneath him his five-year-old mind struggled to comprehend why his parents couldn't see, why his father who had always seemed invincible now needed help to walk across the room
Jin entered from the kitchen carrying a plate of toast "I made breakfast," he said with forced cheerfulness in his voice "Well, it's just toast, but it's not burned this time..ha..ha.he"
"My talented son," Sung smiled in Jin's general direction
The toast was dry and slightly stale they were running low on food the refrigerator, which had been well-stocked three days ago, now contained only a few items no deliveries had arrived since the epidemic began
"I'll help Mom make a list," Jin said, noticing Moon's expression as he chewed the hard bread "Maybe we can go to the store later."
Moon nodded silently, though the idea of venturing outside frightened him he'd seen through the window how the streets had changed cars were abandoned in the middle of the road, occasional figures stumbling along sidewalks with arms outstretched
Suddenly the news anchor's voice rose in pitch, drawing their attention to the television jin quickly turned up the volume
"...global infrastructure is collapsing as the blindness epidemic reaches critical levels Power outages are being reported across multiple continents as plant workers can no longer operate essential facilities the military has been deployed in twenty-seven countries to maintain order, but their ranks are similarly affected
The WHO estimates that over eighty percent of the world's population has now lost their sight, with the remaining twenty percent showing symptoms..."
Jin muted the television when he noticed Moon's wide-eyed from fear "Hey, it's going to be okay," he said, though his voice lacked conviction
A knock at the door startled them all.
"Who's there?" Sung called, half-rising from the couch before Erina gently pushed him back down.
"It's Mrs. Kwon from next door," came a wavering voice "I've brought some vegetables from my garden... before they spoil "
Jin approached the door cautiously, peering through the peephole before opening it. Their elderly neighbor stood in the hallway, one hand on the wall for support, the other clutching a small basket of produce her eyes were milky white, completely sightless
"Thank you, Mrs. Kwon," Jin said, taking the basket "Do you need help getting back to your apartment?"
"No, dear. I've counted the steps," she replied with a frail smile "Seventeen from my door to yours i can manage how are your parents?"
"Dad can't see at all mom's vision is... fading."
Mrs. Kwon nodded sadly "The same everywhere my son called from U.S before the phones went down same situation there " She patted Jin's arm, missing slightly and touching his shoulder instead "You take care of your brother children must look after each other now "
After Mrs. Kwon left, Jin brought the vegetables to the kitchen fresh cucumber, a few tomatoes, some green onions not much, but whatever it were all precious nonetheless
"I'll make soup," seo said, squinting at the vegetables as Jin laid them on the counter She reached for a knife, her movements were uncertain
"Let me help," Jin offered, but seo shook her head
"I need to do this," she insisted "I need to be useful while I still can "
Moon watched from the doorway as his mother slowly, painstakingly washed and began to chop the vegetables her hands trembling slightly, and she brought her face close to the cutting board, trying to see what she was doing
Sung appeared from behind Moon, one hand on the wall for guiding him " Seo" he called softly "How are your eyes?"
She paused, knife hovering over a half-cut cucumber "Worse," she said "Everything's just... shapes now colors are bleeding into each other "
Sung moved carefully toward her voice, arms slightly extended when he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder "We'll manage," he whispered "The four of us, together "
Moon felt Jin's hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently for a moment, in that small kitchen with the afternoon sun streaming through the window, there was a fragile sense of hope
It shattered when seo suddenly gasped, the knife clattering to the floor. "It's happening," she started crying, her hands flying to her face. "It's getting darker..so much darker ! "
"Mom!" Jin rushed forward as seo stumbled, catching her before she fell
"I can't see," she sobbed, clutching at Jin's shirt "It's all black now all gone..."
Moon stood frozen in the doorway as his father fumbled toward the commotion, as Jin guided their mother to a chair, as both his parents now sat helpless and afraid
"Jin?" Moon's voice was small, frightened
Jin looked at him, ten-year-old shoulders suddenly bearing the weight of responsibility "It's okay, Moon i can still see I'll take care of all of us..."
That night, after their meager dinner of vegetable soup, after Moon and Jin had helped their parents to bed, the brothers sat together on the living room floor, the television's blue light washing over them. Most channels were now static, broadcasting systems abandoned by their blind operators but one channel remained the emergency broadcast system, cycling through text instructions that neither adult in the household could now read
"Do you think we'll go blind too?" Moon whispered, leaning against his brother's side
Jin's arm tightened around him. "I don't know," he said in a comforting voice "But I'm not scared " It was a lie, but a kind one for his little brother...
The television screen suddenly flickered, the emergency broadcast replaced by dark screen then, slowly, a figure faded into view a man seated at a simple desk
The lighting was strange, illuminating him from below so that shadows pooled in the hollows of his eyes and beneath his cheekbones he wore a dark suit, immaculately pressed, his hands folded before him on the desk's surface
"Look," Jin whispered, pointing at the screen
The man sat motionless for several seconds, as if gathering his thoughts when he finally spoke, his voice was melodious, almost hypnotic in its rhythm
"People of Earth," he began
Moon felt a chill run through him the man's eyes seemed to look directly at him, through him
"Everything has its end. Me, you, this futile life everything finds its end' but as always end could never have a true meaning. But beginning...on the other hand it holds the true meaning of itself..."
The camera drew closer to his face, revealing eyes of such a pale blue they appeared almost white
"Every human on Earth will go blind," he stated matter-of-factly "This is not a punishment it's just the how the world want to see you for a bit "
Scratching back of his head getting to the points " tomorrow, a box will appear at your door." He held up a small, metallic container that gleamed under the strange lighting. "Inside it will be a cure... A pill !
Old man on tv leaned forward, and closed his eyes, still smiling
"Let the world go blind for self...."
he whispered that and then, without warning, his head exploded in a spray of crimson the sound was deafening, causing both Moon to cry out out in shock and instantly jin blocked moon's eyes with his palms
On the screen, the empty chair remained, splattered with blood no body fell it was as if the man had simply ceased to exist, leaving only the crimson evidence of his passing and the small metal box, which had somehow remained on the desk, untouched by the gore surrounding it
The broadcast cut to static, then resumed the cycling emergency text as if nothing had happened
Moon buried his face against Jin's chest, sobbing in terror jin held him tightly, his own body trembling
"It's okay," Jin kept whispering, though his voice shook "It's okay ! "
From their parents' bedroom came Sung's frightened call "Boys? What happened? What was that noise?"
Jin took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Nothing, Dad," he called back, his voice stronger than Moon expected. "Just the TV I'm turning it off now "
He reached for the remote, clicking the power button the screen went black, but Moon couldn't unsee the image of the smiling man and his violent end
"Jin," Moon whispered, "is a box really going to come tomorrow?"
Jin stroked his brother's hair, staring at the blank television. "I don't know," he said in a warm voice"But if it does, if there really is medicine that can help Mom and Dad see again..."
He didn't finish the thought instead, he helped Moon to his feet. "Let's go to bed Tomorrow... tomorrow we'll see whatever comes "
As they passed the front door on their way to the bedroom they shared, Moon thought he heard something a soft scraping sound from the hallway outside he tugged at Jin's sleeve, pointing at the door
Jin pressed a finger to his lips, then carefully approached and looked through the peephole. His sharp intake of breath made Moon's heart skip.
"What is it?" Moon whispered
Jin stepped back from the door, his facenow looked pale in the dim light. "There's something out there," he said softly. "A box. A small metal box, just like the one on TV....