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Yongsun loudly sighed as she looks over the damage, feeling the strain in her muscles just a little bit more as the coolness of the concrete she stood on began to seep through her skin and into her bones.
She swore she had put the little one to bed, flicked on her little night light and bid her good night before rushing to the parked car to retrieve her overnight bag. It couldn’t have taken more than 3 minutes of going through her school bag to find the elusive car keys, rush through the front doors, opened the car and hauled her things back to the house. Either her timing was off or little kids had gotten faster since the last time she cared to notice.
The baby blue bottom pyjama was caked with clumps of grass and what Yongsun had hoped to be just mud. Her top wasn’t any better. It looked like she had crawled on all fours, even the front of her shirt had smeared mud that one can hardly make out what the large print on her top was before. The only good thing was that the pumpkin head she had so adored since they made it that afternoon kept her drying hair away from the dirt. Yongsun had to admit, looking at the little girl she was kind of reminded of the pumpkins from Over the Garden Wall. And a little bit of Sam, she thought wryly, from the horror movie Trick r Treat.
To think she had just convinced Wheein to take a shower not more than half an hour ago. The 5-year-old, however, doesn’t seem to notice her dirtied state- or understand the exasperation flashing across Yongsun’s face- and she spreads her arms wide, a silent plea to be carried, her little legs spread out in a way that told the world she had just finished a hard task and was plenty satisfied with herself.
Uncrossing her arms Yongsun pulls the young girl to her body, the little one quick to wrap her short arms around her neck, leaving streaks of dirt wherever her hands and clothes went. Yongsun sighs deeply, accepting the fact that she was going to have to do her laundry that night to wash the stains off her favourite shirt and Wheein’s pyjama.
“What have you been doing out there, huh, Wheeinie? Didn’t your auntie Byul tell you to get ready for bed?” Yongsun asks, gently tugging the pumpkin off her head. She sets it down on the worktable promising the little one she could have it again come morning when she starts to make a fuss trying to reach for it.
“But it’s still early!” Wheein bemoans, her body flaccidly falling backwards in protest. In a burst of panic, Yongsun lurches forward, catching the youngster’s head with her hand, pulling the little body back to the safety close to her chest as her feet clumsily tried to regain some semblance of balance. She eventually catches herself, no small part of catching her shoulder against the wall and nearly smacking her face into it.
Heart pounding in her ribcage, Yongsun lets out a short cry of relief, hurrying along to the safety of her living room where at least they were surrounded by carpet and cushions. “Don’t do that!” she sighs into the top of the 5-year-old’s head, juggling her around to get a better grip on her. “I’m not as athletic as your auntie. My hand-eye coordination isn’t very good.”
“What’s curdinater?” Wheein instead asks, leaning her head back as far as she could with Yongsun’s arms still secure around her back.
“Co-or-di-na-tion” Yongsun corrects, cutting the word into syllables “It’s like… you know..” she stutters, eyes flickering to the ceiling, trying to find an explanation that could be easily understood by the child “It’s like if you’re good at dancing then it’s safe to say you have pretty good coordination.”
“Wheein is good at dancing!” was the eager reply and Yongsun only tightens her hold around the hyperactive child as she begins to show her exactly that. With a grimace, Yongsun tilts her head forward, reorienting her arms, wondering why she even agreed to do the babysitting again.
“That’s lovely Wheein” she replies patiently, fondly patting the child’s bottom as she makes her way towards the bathroom they had just vacated not too long ago. “You know you’ll have to take another shower, right?”
Her words cease Wheein’s exuberant demonstration. Her wide eyes turn from Yongsun to check behind her, taking in their surroundings and realizing they were indeed heading towards the bathroom. A small whimper falls from the tiny being as she leans forward, pressing her cheek to Yongsun’s chest. “But I don’t want to take another shower.”
“Too bad, you’re caked in mud and I don’t think your mommy wants a dirty little girl in Wheeinie’s clean bed.” Yongsun gently berates, flicking the light switch on and toeing the door close before she lets the sullen 5-year-old down.
“Can’t I just change clothes?” Wheein bargains looking up at Yongsun with her large, puppy eyes. Yongsun grimaces, letting her gaze wander off to the side to avoid getting ensnared by the adorableness. It was one thing to concede and give her a little extra candy bar after dinner, it was another to let the little one track mud all over her house.
Wheein’s parents were a wonderful couple, they were very lax when it came to rules. Didn’t seem to mind the whirlwind of destruction that their daughter often left in her wake. Still, Yongsun prided herself in being able to connect easily with the rambunctious 5-year-old. She’d say even better than her supposedly favourite auntie who was more than happy to let the little demon loose, and she held her ground. She eases the dirty clothes off the little body with little protest, regulated the temperature of the jet of water from the shower until it was just right, then ushered Wheein back into the shower to rinse out the dirt. The ordeal took less than 10 minutes, Wheein, fortunately, got distracted with the bubbles enough not to try and escape as she had done during her first shower. After a quick towel-dry Yongsun carried a giggling towel burrito back to her room.
She leaves the little one to choose her own bedwear and, with a bit of hesitation, took the chance to slip back down to the living room where she had left her overnight bag. Digging into the large bag it takes her a moment to fish out an oversized jersey of her school’s football team, her favourite player’s number and name printed along the back. She makes a quick work cleaning herself up, washing the bits of dirt along her neck- glad that she had the foresight to tie her hair up into a bun- changing out of her morning ware into something more comfortable. Giving herself one last look over, she hurries back into Wheein’s room, peeking her head in cautiously and then heaving a sigh of relief when she spots the little one by the window looking out into the darkness of the night. Her little hands were cupped around her eyes, pressing against the glass, her breath slowly fogging up the surface and she keeps moving her head around to get a better view.
Curious, Yongsun peers out into the darkness that was the backyard. With the only source of light coming from the light fixture in Wheein’s room, Yongsun could hardly make out anything besides the hazy reflection of her face squinting back at her. The downside of living a little way out of town was that by sundown it gets pretty dark outside. Street lights were a few and far in between, and the nearest neighbour was like a 20-minute walk from the start of the driveway. On the plus side, they had a large private land to do what they willed, which Yongsun guessed was the whole point the Jungs moved there.
“Wheein-ah, what are you doing?”
Wheein turns wide-eyed, looking as if she had gotten herself caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Yongsun almost laughs when she finally sees Wheein’s chosen get up. Her top had been worn inside out; the character design barely distinguishable through the thin white shirt. Her bottoms were at least on correctly though Yongsun thinks wearing shorts at that time of the year was a little too daring.
“Nothing.” Was her meek response as she hopped off the toy box she had been kneeling over, padding quietly back towards her bed.
Yongsun follows after her, helping the little one up and onto her bed. She pulls the shirt back off Wheein’s head, turning it around and putting it back on. She just couldn’t ignore something like that, and anyway, she wouldn’t want the parents to think she didn’t care for Wheein. She absolutely adores her despite all the messy trouble she gets into. She really was much like a puppy, take your eyes off her and she would run wild with abandon.
“Don’t you think it’s a little too cold to be in shorts, Wheein-ah?”
“But I like shorts. Auntie Byul likes wearing shorts too.”
“Well, your auntie is like a walking talking space heater and wouldn’t freeze in this weather. You on the other hand,” she says, wrapping her hand around one of Wheein’s chilly feet. The little one giggles as Yongsun begins to kneed the cool foot in her hand while simultaneously rubbing them to try and generate some heat to get the blood flowing. “You feel like you’re beginning to turn into a snowman!”
Wheein’s giggles intensify as she turns on her belly, trying to crawl up to the head of the bed in a poor attempt at getting away from Yongsun’s clutches. Yongsun doesn’t let her get more than a couple of inches up before pulling the little one back towards her, giving Wheein’s side a little prodding to send the 5-year-old into a shrill fit of laughter.
“Now let’s change into some nice, comfortable pyjama bottoms, hm?”
“Noooo”
“Change or I’ll tell your auntie Wheein’s been a naughty girl.” The threat of snitching made Wheein still. She juts her bottom lip out, looking pleadingly up at Yongsun. She doesn’t let the look get to her though and she easily lifts Wheein up, carrying her towards the cabinet.
She does give her the freedom to choose the style of her bottoms being rewarded with a more agreeable child as she digs into her closet. Yongsun grimaces as the once neatly folded clothes began shifting and toppling all over each other, it must have taken Mira unnie a while to lovingly pile the clothes up neatly only to have Wheein practically rumpling everything up as she searches for a specific pair of bottoms. Yongsun almost stops the little one, until Wheein triumphantly pulls out a pair of dark blue, bear-themed bottoms- Paddington bear by the looks of it though Yongsun wasn’t entirely familiar with what the character actually looked like.
Wheein takes no time in discarding the shorts, throwing them over her head and onto the clean pile of clothes, hurrying to put on the bottoms as if she was finally feeling the effects of the cold. Yongsun could only shake her head as Wheein then scurries back towards the bed. She picks up the discarded shorts, making a mental reminder to fix the mess Wheein left before the Jung's return, folding the shorts and placing them on top of the neatest looking pile. Closing the door, she pads softly towards Wheein’s bedside. She lovingly tucks the little one in, feeling her heart melt a little more when Wheein lets out a little yawn and shuffles more into her covers, blinking owlishly in hopes to keep awake. She was just about to switch off the light and head out when Wheein’s small hands catch the edge of the jersey.
She looks quizzically down at Wheein, the little girl smiling brightly up at her asks “Is auntie Byul coming to play with us later?”
Yongsun smiles, gently caressing her rosy cheek “Maybe tomorrow, baby. Auntie Byul will be coming home really late tonight, along with your mommy and daddy. You would be long asleep by then.”
“But I want to stay up. I haven’t gotten my goodnight kiss yet.”
“Well..” Yongsun hums, placing her index against her bottom lip as if she was thinking long and hard “what if, for now, I give you your goodnight kiss then tomorrow your mommy and daddy can give you two. How’s that sound?”
Wheein hums, long and low, possibly imitating one of the grown-ups when they were weighing their options, something Yongsun found adorable. The humming doesn’t last too long though as a wide grin finds its way onto the innocent face. “Can I get two from auntie Byul too?”
“Of course!” Yongsun nods “You can have as many as you want!”
“Okay!” Wheein cheers, leaning her cheeks upwards to the side, giving Yongsun more than enough space to plant a goodnight kiss.
“Good night, baby. Sleep tight.” Yongsun says, pushing the soft strands of hair back. She gets up, fingers trailing along the wire of the bedside lamp to switch it off when Wheein’s voice halts her.
“Can you say good night to Jinnie too?”
“Who’s Jinnie?” Yongsun asks, eyeing the three stuffed animals surrounding Wheein’s bed, all a gift from her favourite auntie. She knew one of them was named ggomo, after Wheein’s favourite yoghurt brand, and by the number of times that the name is mentioned Yongsun would hazard a guess that it was the large stuffed duck that was tucked right beside Wheein. She had an odd fondness for ducks. Despite having the energy of a puppy and going ballistic with joy whenever she saw a dog, ducks were her absolute favourite in terms of toys. She had asked Byulyi why once, all she got as a response was a lazy shrug of the shoulder.
“Jinnie is the girl who lives in my closet.”
Yongsun froze, her mind absorbing the new information at a snail’s pace, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck and arms gradually stand to attention. “I-I’m sorry?”
Not taking notice of the multiple distressing emotion flashing across Yongsun’s face Wheein sits upright, Ggomo held tightly to her chest as she points towards the closet they had not too long ago vacated. “Jinnie. She looks over me when I go to sleep. She says she’s like an angel, except she doesn’t have wings and can’t go to heaven yet- ah, she says she likes your jer-jer..” Wheein’s face contorts, struggling to say the word.
Yongsun doesn’t let her finish as she picks up the 5-year-old and her duck in one fell swoop, the blanket still securely wrapped around her. She throws the closed closet one last worrying glance, shivering in fear at the thought of a ghostly apparition making itself known to her.
“Okay, we’re having a sleepover on the couch tonight.” She announces loudly, hoping the loudness of her own voice could dispel some of the tendrils of fear clinging onto her.
“But-”
“No buts! Wheeinie, have you been to a sleepover? Of course not, you’re too young, what was I thinking? It’s fine. Sleepovers are fun. We get to sleep together. Say goodnight to Jinnie now. She’s staying there, right? Sorry- I don’t need to know. Goodnight Jinnie.”
Wheein giggles, waving over Yongsun’s shoulder at her invisible friend, only serving to further creep Yongsun out. She hastens her pace down the flight of steps, heading straight towards the inviting couch.
She wonders for the fifth time that night, why did she agree to babysit again?
Yongsun was a deep sleeper. Once her head hit the pillow it was lights out for her until her circadian rhythm woke her up in the morning right as her phone alarm starts blearing to start the day. Her older sister had once joked that she could sleep through a house fire and a level 8 magnitude earthquake and wake up none the wiser.
That was why when she blinks groggily up at the ceiling faintly illuminated by the light she’s left on at the front porch steps it was odd when she doesn’t fall right back asleep. Stuck between the haze of consciousness and dreamland, she lies completely still as the heaviness of her eyelids and the haze of her mind tried to pull her back under the spell of sleep unbothered to fight it.
Until a light thud snaps through the haze and Yongsun’s body tenses, her breath stopping short. She strains her ears, trying to catch another sound, her gaze wildly flickering around her trying to make sense of where she was and why the room didn’t look anywhere near what her bedroom looks like, yet it looked oddly familiar. Another creek on the wooden floor makes her jolt up from the couch, her mind finally clicking the pieces together and her fingers dances across the cushion of the couch frantically searching for the little body she had been cuddling to sleep and her darn phone.
“Wheein?” She calls softly, warily, her voice barely above a whisper “Baby, is that you?”
She swings one leg over the couch, sock-clad feet blindly tapping around the floor in hopes of finding her phone there. Her foot soon locates a small, hard object and she nearly cries with relief as she grabs onto her phone, pressing her finger over the lock button and illuminating the semi-dark room with the harsh blue light.
“Baby?” she calls a little louder, sweeping her phone across the living room floor on the lookout for a small body skittering around in the dark. Gingerly, she pushed back the warm comfort of the thick duvet she had swiped from the closet, rising from the couch, once again swinging the beam of blue light from one side to the other, slowly this time in hopes to catch a little movement.
Had she gone back to her room?
The few times she babysat she didn’t stay long enough to know Wheein’s quirks when she went to sleep. She wasn’t sure if the child had a habit of sleepwalking or waking up in the middle of the night. She worries Wheein had climbed up the stairs in the darkness in search of familiarity. She shouldn’t have taken her out of her room without consulting either her parents or Byulyi, but hindsight was 20/20 and now she was left in the dark, alone, and with a missing child.
With a groan she stumbles through the living room, making her way to the light switch close to the stairs. The bright light makes her flinch and she narrows her stinging eyes to help ease the transition a bit quicker. She takes one more sweep across the now lit up room hoping to find Wheein maybe dozing off under the coffee table or squeezed in between two pieces of furniture. She lucks out, not finding hair or hide of the little one.
“Wheein.” She calls up to the staircase, not loud enough to shout but she was getting pretty close to it. It was a little past 1 and Yongsun did not take to waking up at an ungodly hour like that only to find herself with a problem. After 9 hours of classes, a light meal of soup, a bottle of electrolytes, and the rest of the evening juggling between finishing one of her many school works while looking after a hyperactive 5-year-old, Yongsun was absolutely flat out tired. Her eyes felt heavy, the skin around her face felt dry and a little too taut, and the rest of her body was protesting even getting off the comforts of her makeshift bed and freezing her ass.
The quicker she can locate the little one the quicker she could go back to the warmth of the couch and, more importantly, sleep.
Dragging her feet, she manages to get up to the second floor, only nearly tripping once. She makes her way through the dark corridor, using her phone’s flash to illuminate the way rather than digging through her muddled thoughts to remember where the light switches were. She checks the bathroom first, toeing the door open and making a wide sweep of her phone’s light. Nada.
She moves to Wheein’s bedroom door. She’s careful not to make too much noise pushing the door open, somehow still remembering to be mindful that the 5-year-old may be asleep. Angling her phone light towards the ground, she squints at the visible lump on the bed. A big yawn breaks her questioning gaze from the bed, her vision instantly becoming hazy from the tears pricking along the side of her eyes. She sorely needed sleep but Wheein was her number 1 priority and she needed to make sure that she was safe. She idly wondered if it would be best if she just surrendered to her tiredness and cuddled up to the baby in her bed, they did fit alright on the couch. However, Wheein’s earlier statement came to mind and she shivered, resisting looking over her shoulder to the closet where Wheein claimed her invisible friend lived. The Jungs never did disclose anything about the house and Byulyi only really had eyes for her one and only niece so never bothered to check anything else.
Shuffling across the carpeted floor Yongsun reached for the bedside lamp, fumbling around with the switch a little as nerves at the thought of being watched by a non-corporeal entity made her a little jittery. Nothing quite puts the fear in a person more than the combination of something scary and a sleepy mind.
Instantly, the room is flooded with warm yellow light and Yongsun had to squint, waiting a moment to let her eyes adjust to the absence of darkness. Relief flooded her from the safety the light brought but just as quickly her gut dropped at the sight of the head of a stuffed toy over what she had initially assumed was the 5-year-old in deep sleep.
Fear washes over her like a bucket of cold water doused over her head. Her heart leapt to her throat as she wildly takes in the rest of the room, hoping to find any hint of the dark blue pyjama bottoms sticking out.
“Wheein” She calls out, desperately pulling the blanket off the bed with a sliver of hope that the odd little girl had retreated lower into the centre of the bed, then she checked under the bed in case she decided for whatever reason to crawl underneath. Her fear of the unknown was squashed by the fear of losing Wheein that she strode over to the cabinet, ghost forgotten, swinging it wide open only to wail in disbelief that there was still no Wheein in sight.
“Wheein!” She calls out to the silent house, her voice cracking as it pitches higher than what her throat can accommodate in her current state. Keeping quiet was the last thing on her mind as she rushed through the second floor, feet thudding against the floorboards, swinging the door to the bathroom and master bedroom a little too forcefully, flicking on the lights in the room and searching everywhere a child could fit and hide in- even going as far as opening the side drawers despite the ridiculous notion of a 5-year-old fitting in the small space.
Exhausting every possible hiding place, she rushes back out and made quick work going down the stairs. It was as she reaches the base of the stairs that her insides twisted and she froze. Despite her haste, she recalled switching on the lights in the living room and hadn’t bothered turning it off. As she stared into the darkness around her what little light could reach the stairs from the master bedroom illuminated the area just enough for Yongsun to see a sliver of a figure that stood by the doorway to the kitchen.
Yongsun gaped down at the figure, her heart dropping the longer she watched it and the more convinced she is that this dark figure neither resembled the slight frame of Mira nor the fit, upside-down triangular frame that Hyukwoo boasted during his football matches. This figure was a lot boxier, stouter, and though the thought of Byulyi coming back earlier to pull a trick on her crossed her mind the way this figure stood still, ominously staring at her for longer than she’d like made Yongsun’s gut drop in terror. The small hairs along her arms stood, breaking out in goose-pimples, and she began to tremble.
This was no prank and that was not Byulyi.
It was the slight movement accompanied by the creak of the loose floorboard that gave Yongsun a boost of adrenaline to have her tear her gaze from the figure to scramble right back up the stairs. If she was fast enough, she could slip back into the master bedroom and barricade herself inside, call the police, the Jungs, Byulyi, anyone.
Her thoughts then flew back to her missing charge and she internally screamed at her predicament. The smart decision was to hole up in the master bedroom and arm herself with whatever weapon she could get her hands on. But another part of her wanted- no, needed to assure herself that Wheein was safe somewhere. She was her priority, she had promised the Jungs to look after their only daughter. The thought of doubling back and using her momentum to barrel into the figure crossed her mind but another movement from the hallway that led to Wheein’s room halted her and her blood turned to ice.
The momentary distraction was all that was needed for her to lose her footing. Instinctively, her hands shot out to grab onto something to stop the imminent fall. The moment couldn’t have lasted more than a second in the mercy of the unforgiving force of gravity, but as her right hand brushed up against the flat wall, failing to find anything to grip onto, and her left a little too late to the jump, the moment had felt much longer as she watched the uneven floor coming up closer to her face until the impact of her brow meeting the edge of the staircase resounded in a loud thump, sending her pain receptors flashing wildly and static to fill her ears.
Everything felt too much, and then it receded to nothing in the pitch blackness offered by the dark.
Yongsun comes to with a groan, her head feeling physically heavy and yet she felt lightheaded at the same time. Her stomach was flipping and she almost spews what little dinner she had managed to keep down back up and all over her front. She had just managed to stop the bile from coming out of her mouth and instead forcefully swallowed it back. Her eyes felt heavy but she forces them to open to take in the space before her. Her blurry surroundings only further made her head ache and she struggles to keep her head upright, wondering why she even bothered when going back to sleep seemed like a better idea. Her entire body ached for some reason and now that her nausea had subsided a bit she finally took note of something tangy in her mouth that reminded her of the smell of rusted iron.
Next was the feeling of something sticky and warm along the right side of her face. It made her want to wipe it away. That’s when it finally clicks in her mind. She couldn’t move her hands.
“What the-” she manages to spit out. Heart pounding erratically, she struggles against the binds wrapped across her chest, straining her arms as the ropes bite into her wrist where they were securely tied behind her. Trepidation fills her as her eyes urgently fly over the empty space of the lit garage. She whips her head around to check behind her, something lead stars in horror films often overlook. For the moment, it doesn’t seem like anyone was with her in the room. She was by her lonesome, which meant she had some precious time to sort out her thoughts and find a way to escape.
She tries to think back to what had happened, her mind still a little fuzzy and the dull ache at the top of her skull increasing the more she tries to remember her night. She pushed past the pain, she had to piece her night together quickly and get some sort of theory going.
She had put Wheein to bed- no, she took Wheein to the couch with her to sleep. She was spooked by the thought of a ghost haunting the closet, which now she thinks is a bit silly. Then she woke up… she didn’t know why but she woke up and then Wheein was missing, so she went to look for her.
She winced as the ache in her head spread out all through her skull. It felt like bashing her face against something to ease the pain was a brilliant plan compared to gritting her teeth and bearing with it. It was impossible with her current predicament but she could store that idea for future use.
Which brings her up to the question, why she was tied up? Was this another of Byulyi’s over-the-top pranks? It certainly wasn’t the first time she woke up tied up, but the pain was new. No- this wasn’t a prank. Even Byulyi wouldn’t go that far. The garage had closed walls without windows so she couldn’t tell if day broke through the horizon, which meant she couldn’t cling on to the hope that the Jungs would find her soon.
If this wasn’t a prank then an intruder had obviously found their way into the house.
Yongsun’s stomach drops.
“Wheein” she whimpers, pulling harder against her restraints. Her wrist started to burn as the rope rubbed against her skin as she thrashed around in hopes to loosen her bonds. The one around her chest wasn’t budging any and was only eating up what little energy she had. She felt like absolute shit, worse than finals week even, but she couldn’t give up. Not when giving up meant her possible demise. Or Wheein’s.
Desperate, she began pushing up off her soles and flinging her back against the backrest. Rocking the chair backwards with the thought of falling over and breaking the wooden structure to help get her loose had sounded like a solid theory, but in practice, it hurt like hell. She stifles a cry as immense pain shot through her left arm. She wasn’t quite sure if the sound of breaking was her successfully breaking a piece of the chair or her arm snapping under the force of her whole body plus the chair’s crushing weight focused on one area. There’s a wildly painful sting above her right eyebrow like the skin had torn, and the same warm, sticky substance trickled across her face, pooling along the floor in a bright, cherry red splatter.
“Having fun there, little missy?” An unfamiliar gruff voice asked and Yongsun’s breath hitches.
She had taken into account that her little stunt can catch her captor’s attention and possibly call them to the garage, she just hoped it wouldn’t. That hope was dashed as the chair she’s tied to is pulled back to an upright position.
“Look what you did. You broke the leg. Now how are you supposed to keep sitting up?” She hears the clicking of the intruder’s tongue and she furiously restarts her wriggling, screaming at the top of her lungs as the chair is dragged across from the centre of the garage to lean against the workbench.
She continues screaming, hoping against hope that someone could hear her pleas and come to investigate. But soon enough her screaming is cut short as a heavy hand snaps her head to the side. Her mind spins and nausea comes back in full force. She lets her head hang, squeezing her eyes shut, pushing her tongue to the back of her mouth to pinch her throat and stop the impending vomit.
“Stop screaming. You and I know no one’s going to hear you.” He growls, his hot breath fanning along Yongsun’s cheek and she scrunches her nose at smelling the strong scent of soju.
“What the hell are you doing in there?” Another voice asks. This one has a higher pitch than the other.
Yongsun cranes her neck a little, peering through her heavy eyelids just enough to get a view of the two intruders in full black clothing. One of them had more of a boxier frame. A memory of a dark, boxy figure at the bottom of the stairs flashes in Yongsun’s mind, followed by another dark figure appearing along the hallway of the second floor before she slipped. She must have hit her head hard, it would account for the blood and all the symptoms of a head injury she had been enduring.
With a groan, Yongsun pulls her head back. The stinging in her right eyebrow made sure she wouldn’t forget the fresh injury freely bleeding down to the jersey. She wonders how much blood she needed to lose for her to fall unconscious again. Nobody bled to death from a facial wound… right?
“You should have gagged her earlier.” The slighter man sighed, stepping into the garage and in full view. He was taller with a gaunt face and long, unkempt hair in a way that worried Yongsun. He looked exactly like someone who abused some form of recreational drug.
Yongsun flinched back as he passed her by, gnashing her teeth together at the following slap and deep grunt as the larger of the two seem to almost cower at the slighter man.
“Well, it-It’s not like- there’s anyone around to hear her.” The larger man sputtered, shrinking a bit more as the slighter man sighed heavily and planted a hand on his broad shoulder.
“It wouldn’t have hurt to keep her mouth shut. Do you have a plan if someone did hear her and came to investigate?”
“Crowbar to the head will fix everything.” As soon as the words left his mouth the other man’s grip moved to his shirt collar, pulling the ends towards each other to constrict the air and blood flow to the head. Yongsun half expected the larger man to reach for the hands choking him and break them like toothpicks, but as his face turns a bright red and his large hands does nothing but unsuccessfully try to pry the other man’s hands from his neck and Yongsun’s thoughts of having one less intruder to deal with was stubbed.
“Then give her a crowbar to the head and fix this.” The other figure hissed, finally letting go of the larger man who leans against the worktable and wheezed an affirmative. Yongsun whimpered, feeling like the threat wasn’t just to keep her mouth shut.
Her gaze frantically glides over the workbench, hoping to see something to help her cut her way out of her bind and possibly give her a fighting chance to get away safely.
She’s surprised not to find the cute, carved pumpkin Wheein adored and her heart lifts a little at the possibility of Wheein escaping before the two intruders found themselves entry into the house. If she wasn’t going to survive the night, at least the little one could be spared. She lets the tension of her muscles relax, feeling the toll of the day catching up to her.
“Or, here’s a thought, get the girl to lead us to the jewels and money. We can deal with her later when we get what we came here for.”
“Still with the money- look, banks are a thing and most people put their money there for safekeeping, we’re not going to stumble into a safe full of money. These people aren’t from the little town. Forget it, we take what we can and sell them.”
“But the jewels can fetch a higher price.”
“Jewels are just going to get more questions. A tv won’t. Now help me grab the tv or deal with the girl, make your choice.” The other one snapped at his partner before turning on his heels and making his way back into the house. He stops midway, his dark eyes boring into Yongsun and a rough hand comes around her cheeks and chin, forcing her to look at him. Yongsun averts her gaze, feeling her whole body tensing once again out of fear. The man doesn’t seem to mind as he forcefully turns her head to the left and then to the right, clicking his tongue.
“Pity, she actually looks cute.” He lets her go with a rough shove, the back of her head colliding with hardwood and her neck straining from the action.
Yongsun groans, feeling her head spinning from the jarring impact. She tries to keep her eyes open, following the larger of the two running a frustrated hand through his hair before going to the far side of the garage to the toolbox that Hyukwoo always left close to the large doors of the garage. She could hear him digging through the tools – possibly to find a proper weapon to bash her head in like the other man told him to do.
Yongsun renews her struggling, unmindful of how the chair wobbled unsteadily on its remaining three legs. There was no way she was going to survive whatever this man was going to do to her. She had seen their faces after all. After they collect what they had come there for they wouldn’t just let her be. And Yongsun was getting so tired and everything hurt so much. The lightheadedness was overcoming her will to break out of her binds and she thought back to her girlfriend’s smiling face as she left that evening, the promise of taking her to her favourite restaurant for breakfast as a thank you for the last-minute babysitting.
She was just about ready to give in to the temptation of passing out. Until a low, mangled, long howling reached her ears and she sucked a deep breath in, eyes snapping up to scan the garage walls.
“What are you doing?” A small, muffled voice asks into the room.
Wheein!
Yongsun followed the sound of the voice, stiffening when her sights landed on the man, now brandishing a hammer in one hand and halfway across the garage who had halted in his tracks, eyes focused on something to the side. Yongsun follows his gaze to the flash of orange crawling up from the oversized doggie door that was installed at the back door.
“Wheein..” The little pumpkin head turned to look towards her and Yongsun couldn’t help but cry in both relief and terror at the sight of the dirtied pyjama and pumpkin head combination. She was fine, but she was now far from safe.
“Where the hell did this kid come from?” The intruder asks, hurriedly hiding the hammer behind his back, his expression troubled at what he was going to do now that a child was in the picture.
Wheein remains silent, eyes- or at least the eyeholes of the jack o lantern- fixed on Yongsun tied to the chair. Then, slowly, creepily, those same eyeholes turn to the intruder. There was a pregnant silence between them, the intruder’s stony face focusing on the child slowly coming up to rise on her two feet. Yongsun held her breath, afraid that if she let out even a small puff of air the frozen stand-off would break and spell their demise.
“Auntie is not going to like this.” Wheein’s monotonous voice breaks the silence, so unlike the childlike lilt Yongsun had gotten used to hearing, and brings a shiver running down her back.
It must have also taken the intruder aback as all he does is watch the little pumpkin silently pad her way over to Yongsun, his mouth agape as Wheein struggles to crawl up to her lap. Once she does her arms wrap Yongsun’s torso, the coolness coming off her tiny body from the night air further bringing unease to Yongsun’s already churning stomach.
“You’re hurt.” The soft observation sounded more like the Wheein Yongsun was used to and a few stray tears fall unbidden from her eyes. If she could she would wrap her arms around the toddler and make a break for the door.
“Don’t worry. Auntie is coming.” Wheein whispers into her ear, and by 5-year-old standards, her voice was still loud enough to be heard through the room. She pulls back, gently pressing her palm against Yongsun’s cheek to wipe away her tears.
“She’s angry. Jinnie said she told her.” She continues, in the same loud whisper. Up close, Yongsun could see better through the carved holes and see Wheein’s eyes staring at her. The shade of green in her iris looked mesmerizing, almost hypnotic and her laboured breathing slowed. “Don’t worry, Wheein and Hyejinnie will protect you until auntie arrives.”
“Come on, kid. You shouldn’t have come here” The gruff voice spoke, breaking the hypnotic calm that had taken over her. Yongsun’s eyes widen at the realization that the man had closed the distance between them and held the hammer threateningly up high over his head. Yongsun struggled against her restraints, hoping to buck Wheein off her, to at least spare her from a hammer to the head.
Her voice cracks as she pleads through her cries, nudging the pumpkin with her chin, Wheein only clinging to her tighter not wanting to get off, and just as the man breathed in to swing the hammer down the lights blow out with a shattering sound followed quickly by a pained grunt. The weight on her lap disappeared just as she heard the sound of what she assumed was the hammer falling to the floor followed by something heavier, meatier thudding on the concrete. She screamed harder, feeling her throat giving out from the strain until the sound of her voice cuts off.
“Junkyong?” The other man’s voice tentatively calls out from inside the house.
Yongsun sniffed, curling as much as she could towards herself, her voice muted and all that was coming out of her was the soft sniffles and heavy breathing.
“Junkyong, you fucking idiot, what did you do to the power?”
Yongsun flinched at the growl and the accompanying thumping that was a tad too close to her right for comfort. She scrunched her eyes shut- as if that would change her circumstance- and held her breath, hoping that if they can’t hear or see her then she was as invisible to them as they were to her.
A sudden snap makes Yongsun jolt and bite at her tongue and the tangy taste of copper quickly coated her mouth anew. Tears spring around her scrunched eyes but she continues to hold her breath, listening intently to the soft cursing walking further into the house-- looking for something to light his way she guessed.
The string of cussing gradually becomes faint as the other man moves further inwards and Yongsun shakily breathes out, her body trembling so hard she was amazed the chair hadn’t toppled over or- she gasps as the rope binding her wrists together falls apart and as she shifts on the chair her bindings fall away. Eyes wide, she blinks rapidly in the darkness willing them to acclimate quicker to make some sense of her surroundings, or at least who was around her.
A little hand slips into hers and Yongsun nearly weeps with relief as she carefully gets off the chair and down on her knees, pulling the small figure towards her as she breathes in the smell of baby powder mixed with Earth. She buries her face into the soft strands of hair that smelled a lot like the strawberry shampoo Wheein loved, unmindful of the tears freely falling down her stinging cheek or the pain in her mouth, her fingers combing through the soft strands to help calm her furiously beating heart.
“See?” She could almost imagine the coy smile spreading across the cute face as the sentence is whispered into her ear. She doesn’t trust her voice to come out and merely nods her head. “Jinnie said she turned the- the.. main switch? Off. What’s a main switch?”
Goose pimples spread across Yongsun’s skin as she’s reminded of the ghost in Wheein’s closet and she makes a mental reminder to make some sort of offering for the apparently friendly ghost later, that is if they survive the night. For now, Yongsun had to find her way to safety. It was her turn to protect the little one.
Gingerly, her ears perked to every minute sound, Yongsun lowered down to her knees, making sure Wheein’s feet were securely on the ground before she untangled her arms around her. Despite the light having been blown out for what must have been running over a minute her vision still remained shrouded in the inky blackness. Yongsun knew getting to the exit was easier said than done, not when she wasn’t sure if the threat in the room was fully incapacitated or not. One wrong turn could lead her toward the large man. One misstep could send things clattering around them and give away their position.
Her arms trembled as her palms lay flat on the cold, cemented floor. The unfavourable scenarios flashing through her mind served very little help in keeping her calm and levelheaded. Add on top of that was that she could feel the coolness coming off of Wheein than feel her body wedge between her arms. It was a bit unnerving, but at least she can rest assured that the toddler was safe.
Gingerly, she reached a hand outwards, feeling around her before firmly placing her palm against the floor, followed by the other, then shuffling her knees forward mindful of Wheein crawling along between her arms, the cool fabric of her pyjama brushing against Yongsun’s heated skin. One, then the other. Slow but steady.
Her heart was jackhammering in her chest as she extended her right hand out, fingers flexed as far out to get a feel of the space. She could feel small, rubble-like collection grazing the pads of her fingers as she drags them across the floor, bits of the blown fluorescent- she hazards a guess, and adjusted herself to make a sweep to her left.
She figured if she kept going at a steady pace, to the left and forward, she would reach the door. This was their chance. She didn’t know what happened to the big guy but his silence meant safety, silence meant the other guy was preoccupied. She pushed forward, ignoring the burning sting from her knees as debris dug through her thin pyjama bottoms. She willed her thoughts to ignore the pain, focus on her breathing, and focus on the path that would lead to their freedom.
Her focus broke as a yelp left her lips unbidden as her hands lost purchase from a harsh jerk from her ankle. She crashed chin first onto the floor, bright light burst across her vision in time with the explosion of pain that carried up to the top of her head making her head spin. Then she felt it, the tiny body pushing up at her abdomen accompanied by small whimpers of pain slowly crescendoing into a wail.
She felt a large hand grabbing at her thigh and that was enough to restart Yongsun’s panic. She turned on her back, freeing Wheein from underneath her and also putting her in a more advantageous position to fight back. She kicked wildly with her other foot, pushing Wheein’s body forward to get her out of harm’s way. She tried to scream, but her throat felt too shot to let out more than a squeak of protest, so she doubled her efforts fighting the man off her.
“You bitch!” The larger man growled, pressing his weight down on top of Yongsun’s legs, pinning them to the ground. Yongsun tries to buck wildly, swiping blindly with her hands, hoping to catch his face with one of her wild swings.
She hears a low grunt of pain, the man’s heavy weight lifting off her as he continues to scream in agony and curses heavily. Yongsun scrambles to her feet, confused about where she was facing, what to do next, and what the hell had just happened. None of her swipes had connected as far as she could gather. She takes a moment to stare in the direction of the disturbance. It sounded a lot like the man was fighting something.
And Wheein was awfully quiet for a 5-year-old who had essentially been squashed not more than a minute ago.
Yongsun mutters a small curse, stepping blindly towards the ruckus. It was stupid, she knew, but she pushed her hands out, swinging them around, trying to see if she could find something to grab on to.
“Junkyong!” A steady beam of white light flashed behind Yongsun, enough for her to see the large man on the ground, blood dripping from a circular wound on his arm, still struggling to swat at the small body hanging on to his back, mouth latched on to the back of his neck like a small aggressive dog sinking its teeth on the skin for a fight to the death. The sight of the dark blue Paddington bear bottoms made her heart drop and Yongsun wastes no time grabbing the child’s midsection, pulling her towards her chest while jerking her face upwards with the other, making the child release her bite.
“Stop!” Yongsun yelps as she feels a force tackle her back. She hits the floor again, groaning as the air is forced out of her lungs and her grip around Wheein loosens enough for the little one to wriggle free.
She hears the animalistic snarl first before the hollers of “Get that brat!” that follow the loud clatters of objects being thrown around the garage. Yongsun struggles to blink back tears as she pushes up on shaky elbows, intending to try and save at least one of them. She willed herself to keep to the present despite the ringing in her ears and the hammering in her head.
They would not be getting the child. Not Wheein. Over her dead body.
“Wheein! Run!” She swung her arms back, not expecting much other than to be a quick distraction. She just needed Wheein to run to the back door and escape. She just needed to buy a bit more time. Instead, her head explodes as a hard slap throws her to the side. She offers little resistance as the man hoovers over her, too dazed to make out what was even happening anymore.
She doesn’t react quickly enough to the hands wrapped around her neck. She claws weakly at the wrists as pressure begins to be applied and her breathing cuts off. With the weak beam of the flashlight, she could faintly make out the gaunt face of her would-be murderer, the crazed look in his dark eyes, the bags under them, and the unhealthy sallowness of his skin.
Her chest burned badly, her face swelling up to the point that her head felt like a balloon ready to burst. Her struggling weakened as the fight left in her was ready to be snuffed out, her body unable to cope with the lack of oxygen distributed to the integral parts of what kept a person alive. She hated the thought that the last thing she would see was the face of her assailant but if she had given Wheein enough time to get away she could accept that.
As her vision swam out to the beckoning of the eternal darkness she could have sworn the darkness around them began to pulse and grow along the edges of her vision before shooting and coiling around her like a protective shield. She heard the dull thump followed by a sharp scream that was almost inhuman and the panic in the mixture of voices around her that was coming in and out of her hearing. She was just so tired.
Yongsun gasped, her hands flying up to her neck as she took greedy breaths in. Fear and panic flooded her mind as the thought of the two men in black came to the front of her thoughts. It was no nightmare, the aches all over her body were proof enough for her, and she flew up and over the couch, eyes wild in search of her charge and the two men.
A startled squeak of a scream fell from her lips at the touch of her shoulder and instinctively she shot up and swung a fisted hand around.
“Whoa there!” Yongsun’s fist caught onto an open palm, her wild eyes honing in on a familiar worried face peering down at her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
“Oh-“ Yongsun breathed out, her knees giving out on her as soon as the singular word left her lips. She doesn’t mind the slight pinch of pain along her face as her cheeks bumped against Byulyi’s collar, not when her limp body is gathered up into a warm embrace and an unusual soft cooing is whispered into her ears.
“Wheein” she muttered weakly, straining her neck to look around for the little one.
“She’s fine. A little bruised, but she’ll be fine. She’s with her parents now.”
“Okay..” she croaked, “okay” nodding her head accepting the soft kisses to the side of her head, flinching a little when Byulyi’s lips came a little too close to the tender spot above her temple.
“I’m sorry I was a little late. But I have you now.” Yongsun could feel Byulyi’s embrace tightening like she was afraid Yongsun would disappear from her if she loosened her hold, or maybe Yongsun was projecting her thoughts as she too tightened her arms around Byulyi’s midriff, inhaling the scent of pine, sandalwood, and something a bit tangy.
“The intruders-”
“You don’t have to worry about them again.” There was an edge to Byulyi’s voice, and looking up Yongsun could see the turbulence taking over Byulyi’s usually smiling face. Then, her gaze fell to meet Yongsun’s, the hard edge to her look softening into the smile Yongsun was used to. “I took care of it.”
Yongsun would have prodded more but she had a feeling she didn’t want answers to her unspoken question. She recalled the shadows crawling around her vision and the screaming before she passed out and had all the answers she needed.
“You came.” She whispered, dropping her hand to where one of Byulyi’s was tracing nonsensical patterns along her flat stomach, intertwining their fingers. Shadows around them seem to dance in delight, taking various shapes before swaying back into unintelligible forms.
“Always,” was the soft response as another kiss was pressed onto her hair. “You did so well. Protected the little one so well.” Byulyi continues murmuring, shifting around so that they could both lay on the couch more securely. Her shadow seems to thrum in delight in knowing Yongsun was content, turning darker and more corporeal as it pulsed, taking on a form that stretched from where Byulyi was, her own pale skin taking on some sort of dark marking that seems to ebb and flow through her skin.
Yongsun made a soft noise in response, her eyelids fluttering to a close as tiredness won over. They were safe now.
Byulyi sniffles at the cold air nipping at her nose. Digging her hands into the pocket of her jacket she lazily followed the sound of shovelling, just faintly seeing the top of her cousin-in-law’s head from the hole he had dug. She would have chuckled at seeing such a thing right before the first rays of dawn light but knowing the reason behind it sours her mood.
“Aren’t you going a little too overboard?” she asks. Her eyes stray over to the two large black bags by the side of a sizable mound of dirt, her face turning into a bit of a sneer. “I mean, we’re just burying trash.”
“Overboard?” Hyukwoo scoffed, glaring up at Byulyi from down the hole “You’re one to speak. You made a mess in the garage.”
The darkness around Byulyi thrummed, turning malevolent as her pupils dilated until the whites of her eyes were stained black, dark marks swirled around her pale skin and a low, animalistic growl rumbles from her chest silencing the sound of the night. “They threatened my girls.”
“Calm down. I’m not your enemy.” Hyukwoo says, chucking the shovel out of the hole as if it weighed nothing. Byulyi offers a hand, easily pulling the larger man out before unceremoniously kicking the two bags into the pit.
“Why don’t you go take Yongsun home. I can finish up here.” At the mention of her girlfriend’s name, the darkness around Byulyi recedes and she is left with a worried frown and guilt weighing heavily in her chest. Shoulders slumping, she nods, stuffing her hands back into the warmth of her pockets as she heads back to the house.
“And Byul, the next time you plan on ripping a person apart do it outside. Or put a tarp on the floor. Gonna take hours scrubbing the blood off the floor.”
The sardonic laugh isn’t lost on Hyukwoo and he merely shakes his head. He couldn’t blame Byulyi for what she did. If he had arrived sooner, there likely wouldn’t even be a body left to bury.
He sighs, looking down at the black bags with little remorse and starts filling up the hole.