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A young man describes the struggles of trying to survive on a dying planet, and an advertisement captures the attention of the nation.

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This diary belongs to Lee Taeyong!

I decided to start a diary today. This is my first entry in here, but it's already off to a bad start. There's so many things I can talk about but I don't know where to begin...

Oh, ok. I'll just start off with a basic introduction of myself. I feel like... like some day when this damned planet finally kills me, someone will find this diary and my pathetic life story can be turned into some award-winning novel (hehe).

Anyways, yeah. My name is Lee Tae Yong, or Taeyong Lee, or Taeyong, or TY... yeah, those are all the names I've been called and they all sound fine to me so you can call me anything from that list. God, who am I even talking to... this is so stupid... I don't even have any friends anymore, since the school closed down three years ago. In fact, I don't think anyone even has friends at this point, since we're all stuck trying to survive with our families.

I'm 21 years old right now. I live with my mom, my dad, and I have an older sister, but ever since she joined the Peace Corps five years ago, we have neither seen nor heard from her. We did hear some things from around the neighborhood, though. We heard that down in the more southern area of the country (which is where my sister worked), there was this terrible heat storm. Everything was on fire, and there was an earthquake, and a hurricane- all at the same time. My mom thinks my sister died in that disaster. I don't even know what to think at this point. We're all gonna die pretty soon anyways.

All of this hell started 10 years ago. Climate change took a dramatic turn for the worst. Now, living on Earth is like living in an oven. If you expose any part of your skin outside for more than one minute, it will burn and sizzle. Even during the nighttime, the heat is unbearable. But I guess it's better than when the sun is out. That's why everyone walks around with five hundred layers of clothing on. It's best if you just stay inside.

To make things worse, there's no electricity anywhere. No more Instagram, no more binge-watching your favorite Netflix show, and worst of all... no more news. We have no idea what's happening in other parts of the world, but we can all assume that everyone's burning to death just like us.

Everyone's also broke. There's also a lot of corruption going around, but luckily my family stays away from all of that. We're nearly broke, though. The food we have left will probably last us only a few more weeks.

Maybe that's why I started this diary. Because I know that death is near. And maybe with this diary, I can say everything I've always wanted to say and everything I have left to say.

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6:06 pm

Taeyong sighed and closed his diary, his hand sore from writing so much. He closed his eyes and rested the side of his head on his desk. He sat there for a while as the heat made his eyelids heavy.

"Taeyong!" The young man's mother yelled from downstairs, making Taeyong jump a little in his seat. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

"Yeah, mom, what is it?" He replied a little too loudly.

"I think something's going on outside, son. Let's go check it out!"

"Mom, the sun's still kind of out. Can we wait until it's nighttime?" Taeyong moved to the window in his bedroom and peered through it. There was a crowd forming on the streets, and they were all moving east.

"No, we can't wait." Taeyong could hear his mother moving about downstairs, preparing her things to go outside. "What if it's free food? Or money? What if they found a way to generate electricity?"

Taeyong felt his stomach grumble at the thought of free food. But he was still doubtful. "Mom... I don't think any of those are possible right now." Nevertheless, he slipped on a few layers of protective clothing, applied a generous amount of sunscreen, and made his way downstairs.

The moment Taeyong stepped out of his shabby home, he could feel the intense heat threatening to rip through his clothes. He and his mom stayed close together as they joined the slowly moving crowd.

After a few more excruciating minutes of walking, the crowd finally stopped on the street and everyone seemed to be looking at something towards the sky. Taeyong shielded his eyes from the sun and tried to find what everyone was looking at. The source, however, ended up being easy to spot after all.

Right in the middle of the road, two towering metal poles held up an impressively large banner. Taeyong pushed his way towards the front of the crowd, his mother gripping onto his arm to keep up. He peered through his sunglasses and squinted at the banner, reading its message a billion times.

Excited gasps and murmurs rose throughout the streets. More people emerged from their homes, joining the crowd.

Taeyong couldn't tear his eyes off of the advertisement. His heartbeat accelerated in shock and disbelief. No matter how many times he read the words posted on the banner, he kept wondering if he was just dreaming. Did this "city" really exist? Controlled weather? A shopping mall? Trees? A university? These concepts that had become nonexistent for the past 10 years... now existing in this so-called "First Next City". It was too bizarre and impossible for Taeyong to believe.

"Taeyong." His mother's voice seemed far away. His mind was spinning too fast, he started to have a painful headache-

"Taeyong." He snapped out of his trance turned towards his mom, who was looking up at her son. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Taeyong." She said again. "We have enough money for you to be accepted into this city. It's enough. Can you believe it? Taeyong... You can finally live a normal life."

Taeyong stared at his mom blankly. He didn't expect her to believe this advertisement so easily, even though it was clearly a lie... This "First Next City" was probably just a fake idea developed by another corrupt politician, desperate for the people's money...

"No, I- I can't leave you and dad." Taeyong had to raise his voice more, as the crowd was becoming louder and louder with yells of excitement and confusion.

His mother shook her head and smiled. Taeyong hadn't seen that smile for a long time. Her eyes were filled with hope and happiness.

"We'll be fine, I promise. Please, Taeyong. You deserve a better life. We'll always be with you, in your heart-"

"No, mom, can't you see?!" Taeyong was pretty much screaming over the noise of the people. "That whole thing is a lie. The stuff on that banner is all impossible, ok? The planet is doomed. It's been doomed for the past 10 years... and then this weird city thing just shows up? People are just being desperate, mom. They can make us believe the stupidest things."

His mother kept shaking her head. She clasped her son's face in her hands and searched his eyes for any sign of hope, but Taeyong knew she wouldn't find any in him. His sense of hope had disappeared a long time ago.

"Haven't you heard of the First Next Cities?" She didn't notice, but Taeyong saw a single tear spill down her face. "They saved so many lives in the United States. I never thought the same privilege would reach Korea, but now it has... I prayed every night for this to come true, and now- now it's finally here-" Her bottom lip trembled and she started sobbing, burying her face in her son's chest.

Taeyong held his mother in his arms as she cried. He sighed and pulled her away from the crowd.

"Let's go home, mom. Let's go home."

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This diary belongs to Lee Taeyong!

It's settled. On the evening of December 31st, I will go to the banner and line up to make sure I get a spot. I have two days left in our home.

I tried SO HARD to convince my parents that I'm satisfied with the situation we're in, and I'd rather stay with them. I couldn't stand the idea of leaving them alone. But they made it obvious that they wouldn't be happy and calm if I didn't go. With a heavy heart, I finally agreed.

I mean, it shouldn't be too bad. Free education and all. A shopping mall too. Maybe I'll even see some old friends from school if they decide to go.

In all honesty, I should be feeling pretty lucky right now. Out of all the places in South Korea, they decided to build the country's only First Next City in SEOUL, and the admissions line starts at a place that's only a short walking distance from my house.

I can feel hope and relief squeezing at my chest, but along with those emotions comes a great feeling of guilt. And sadness. The thought of leaving all of this behind, and starting a new life... it was pretty bittersweet, actually.

I hope I can bring this diary with me to the new city. The advertisement said not to bring anything except for my birth certificate, so I don't know if they'll let me bring this.

It doesn't matter. Maybe the "Supermall" there sells diaries. 

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-to be continued-