inspired by kweenkwon 's izone purge ff 'eyes' - go check it out!

a/n: in honour of kep1er's two and a half years, I've revised and republished this story and intend to continue it. though, sadly, mashiro and yeseo will no longer be a part of kep1er, I intend to keep them in the story. 

hope you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

choi yujin tapped the tv screen, frustrated. the device was already quite old and the thunderstorm didn't do much to help. her younger sister, kang yeseo waved her phone in the air, a pout on her face, as she desperately tried to recover her phone's signal. as a cold front blew in from the open window, yeseo could've sworn she saw a streak of silver hair brush by the windowsill.

a cry of success from yujin brought yeseo's mind back to into their small, dimly lit room.
"come and sit, yeseo! Isn't it cold there by the window?"

"oh, I'm coming! doesn't look like my phone is going to load anytime soon..."

the younger girl jumped up from where she sat cross-legged on the dusty carpeted floor and tucked herself under her sister's arm on their worn-down sofa. 

the tv screen crackled to life. 

a woman in a business suit sat in front of the camera, reporting with a serious look plastered on her face.

"dear citizens of seoul, south korea's annual purge is set to start in exactly 1 minute, at 12am, to the pleasure of some and the dismay of many. keep in mind, for 24 hours, all crime will be legalised. make the most of this 24 hours, but more importantly, remember to stay safe-" 

the image of the lady was interrupted by a silent buzz and a gentle crackle of colour. somewhere, a church bell rang;one, two... 

twelve times. 

midnight. 

the sisters turned to one another as somewhere in the distance, a gunshot rang out, followed by a split second of silence. a scream followed and the storm beat stronger, fiercer, dashes of lighting drew across the pitch black sky.

"how fitting is it?" yujin murmured softly, "even the sky seems to know of our demise..."

yeseo wriggled closer towards her sister, trying to hide her panic. yujin could feel the younger girl shivering as she nestled her head in yujin's shoulder. neither of the two were particularly interested in the idea of the purge, not after what had happened on this day, 10 years ago.

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june 10th, 2013 - seoul, south korea

the incessant banging at the chois' front door only continued to get louder. 

a 16-year old choi yujin stood nervously behind her younger sister who held in her outstretched arm a broken wooden bat; their only line of defence. yujin felt bad about needing her younger sister, seungyeon, to defend her, but seungyeon has always been stronger, physically and mentally.

"appa, hurry up!"  the urgency was thick in seungyeon's voice. 

yujin turned to the direction her sister was looking at and saw a crack along the side of the door, followed by a metal bat swinging through the chois' front door. 

"seungyeon, take yujin and go upstairs! now!" 

their father burst into the living room, a rifle in hand. he faced it at their door, the sounds off bullets echoing through their once safe and cozy house. before the older girl could process what was happening, her sister had grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the stairs. halfway up the stairs, their mother stopped the two and pressed a hasty kiss onto the top of yujin's head, then embraced her younger daughter tightly. 

 "promise me you'll stay safe."

yujin turned back, just for a second, and caught her father opening the door in the corner of her eye.

"seungyeon," she let out a choked gasp. "dad's leaving- where is be going?"

the echoes of gunshots firing echoed up from downstairs. according to seungyeon, mobs like this weren't uncommon during the purge. everyone wanted money. but not everyone had enough of it to be satisfied and not everyone had the honest means to earn it.

through the floorboards, yujin could hear her mother's usually gentle footsteps rush out the door; she could picture their kind, gentle mother - who usually couldn't hurt a fly - following their father closely, a simple kitchen knife in hand. although she'd been facing the other direction, yujin could feel seungyeon's stifled sobs as they ran upstairs, gunshots firing behind them.

her younger sister's hands trembled as she hurried into their father's study, rummaging desperately through the drawers.

"yeonie, what are you doing?" 

seungyeon didn't reply. 

she kept her head down, her black hair draped across her face, obscuring yujin's view. a moment later, seungyeon raised her head from the drawer. in her hand, she clutched a small, black gun. 

"seungyeon, what are you doing?" yujin repeated, the urgency in her voice rising steadily. 

seungyeon headed for the door. 

the gunshots seemed to soften, as though the cause of the racket was moving further away from their doorstep.

"seungyeon!"

 yujin screamed. her younger sister had made a dash for the door, weapon in hand. before yujin could react, let alone reach out and stop her, her sister was already out of the door. 

a single gunshot fired, followed by an eerie silence.

yujin breathed heavily. she sat alone in the house which she'd spent her entire life in. which she's spent her entire life in, with her family. 

everything seemed too quiet.

yujin remembered how she would always go on about how seungyeon's voice always filled up all of the house. you could hear her from practically the other side of the house.

but this time, her voice was gone.

the thoughts spun wildly in yujin's head. without her family, she had no idea what to do. it was quiet enough to expect that everyone was gone. after a while, yujin forced herself off of the floor of the study and walked downstairs. she stopped at the door, one hand brushed besides the tear in the wall, left there by the metal bat. "ah, I should get that fixed... maybe tomorrow." she spoke softly, as if scared of disturbing the fragile serenity which spread across the empty house.

yujincould've sworn she saw a streak of dark hair brush by the windowsill.

perhaps she was just being paranoid. 

stepping out of the house, the wind chewed at yujin's bare arms. she could feel her face freezing almost. though it was freshly summer, yujin swore it felt like winter. 

as if on cue, the soft hum of raindrops falling against the roof filled up the emptiness. yujin stepped back tentatively. all the raindrops could do was remind her that she was still alive.

a stifled cough forced yujin out of her misery, replacing her grief with fear. she stepped back, a nervous hand on the doorknob. "who's there? "

yujin pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned on the flashlight, scanning it across her front yard. huddled under a tree was a small dark haired girl yujin could assume was no older than 10. the girl was shivering, wet hair plastered against her pale cheeks. with a gasp, yujin hurried out into the yard, shielding her face against the rain. she crouched beside the girl and pulled at her arm. "come with me, you'll get sick if you stay out here! 

the girl seemed reluctant so yujin held her hands above her head, and nodded at herself suggesting that she was unarmed. still, the girl didn't budge. 

yujin sighed. 

"look, I'll keep the door open. I won't force you to stay, I promise." she held out her pinky finger, waiting for the other girl to link her finger with hers.

the younger girl paused before stretching her own finger out and linking it with yujin's.

yujin smiled and stood up, holding a hand out, waiting for the younger girl.

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"so... " the two girls now sat in the chois' kitchen. 

the younger girl sat wrapped in a thick towel, her hands trembling as she clutched a cup of steaming hot cocoa. her shivering had reduced significantly now, much to yujin's relief. "what's your name? and how old are you? you look awfully young to be out here alone."

the girl stopped in the middle of sipping her hot chocolate and blinked at yujin with wide, innocent eyes. "yeseo. I'm 8."  she looked so young and yet when she spoke, yujin felt yeseo carried the air of someone her own age.

"what about your parents?" yeseo tensed up, dropping her gaze to her mug.

yujin knew she'd hit a nerve, but she couldn't avoid the question forever.

"gone."

"ah, well..." yujin shifted awkwardly in her seat. "why don't you stay the night then? I'll leave the door open if you decide you want to leave, but I'll sit watch in case anyone tries to break in." 

yeseo nodded, too tired to refuse.

that was the last they'd spoken the for the rest of the evening. 

yujin offered her and seungyeon's room to yeseo, then settled in the kitchen, prepared for the rest of the lonely night, a cup of coffee and a kitchen knife by her side.

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'bang bang bang!'

yeseo screamed and latched herself onto yujin who held a protective arm around the younger girl.

"go hide, yeseo." the elder girl gave yeseo a forced smile before pushing herself off the couch. 

she rushed into the kitchen then came back wielding the same kitchen knife from ten years ago. yujin couldn't help but laugh. that very knife had kept the duo safe for ten years through all the purges. seungyeon and her father had taken the only guns her family owned and yujin didn't intend to ever restock. who could bother breaking into their quaint, quiet house?

just as yujin went to open the door, she felt a tug at her arm. 

"don't. please." yeseo stared at yujin with pleading eyes, a nervous hand clung tightly to yujin.

"I'll keep you safe. I promise." yujin reached her pinky finger out. after a moment's hesitation, yeseo linked her finger with yujin's, a weak smile across her face.

"I trust you."

"who's there?" yujin put on as brave of a voice as she could and peered out at the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever just knocked. between the rain and the dark night sky, it was practically impossible to see anything. besides, whoever had knocked had moved themselves away from the front door, much to yeseo's relief.

"yeseo, grab an umbrella please, I'm going outside." yujin was surprised by her own sudden bravery, but she couldn't leave whoever just knocked outside in the rain.

yeseo could only reply with a squeak.

with a sigh, yujin pushed open the front door, a rush of wind and rain forcing its way in. she clutched her phone flashlight tightly and called out into the darkness.

"h-hello?"

a tall, foreign-looking girl sat under the tree in yujin's garden, her hands held to her head in a vain attempt to keep her soaked, silver hair out of her face.

as soon as she spotted Yujin, she leapt up, rushing towards her. 

"oh, thank goodness." yujin held out her knife in a defensive action, causing the tall girl to stop and hold her hands up.

"woah, I'd appreciate it if you didn't hold that kitchen tool as though you were trying to murder me."

after receiving no reply, the tall girl continued.

"look, I'm not sure where I am, nor why I'm here, but I really would like to get out of this rain." the girl proceeded to pat herself down, trying her best to show that she wasn't armed. "I promise I won't be of any trouble - I-I just need to find out where I am then I'll be on my way."

"well... you do look soaked." after a moment's thought, she said with a sigh, "come in, come in."