Eun Tak glanced around herself. Something about the dark made even familiar surroundings look sinister.
"Thanks for walking me over here, No Ra." Eun Tak smiled warmly at her friend. "I'll go the rest of the way by myself."
"All right," No Ra replied, and Eun Tak watched as she faded away.
Where she went, she didn't know, but she could always count on No Ra to pop up whenever she needed her.
She looked down the street. She was close to home but she didn't want to go inside just yet. Her aunt and cousins were probably still awake and she'd rather creep in after they went to bed so she didn't have to get into yet another argument with them.
She walked over to the house slowly, breathing in the crisp, night air. The streetlights shone feebly through the thickening fog, and the fireflies that were floating around were blinking rapidly at each other.
She took a seat on the steps of the house and listened to the noise from inside. She must have dozed off at some point, and woke when a few drizzles of cool rain fell on her.
She shivered from the cold. There was silence coming from inside, and she hoped they had fallen asleep by now. She took out her house key and gently opened the front door, hoping they wouldn't wake. After quietly tip-toeing to her room, she gently closed the door. Going through her nighttime routines quickly, she pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed.
The blankets were cool but they warmed her quickly, and she was asleep in seconds. She didn't even know when the dreams started.
A woman and a man were sitting on a couch in front of a TV. It was a tastefully decorated house: the walls featured many photos of the happy couple. Their wedding photos were hanging over the mantle.
"Honey," the woman turned to the man, "I have to tell you something."
"Uh oh." The man chuckled. "That doesn't sound good."
The woman smiled gently. "Look at me."
The man turned off the TV and turned towards her. "What is it?" He looked worried now. "Did something happen?"
The woman took both of his hands in her own. "You are going to be a father. I'm pregnant."
The man looked dazed. "Are you serious?" He chuckled. "You're pregnant?"
The woman nodded, then burst out laughing as he lifted her off her feet.
"He's absolutely beautiful," the woman cooed as she held her newborn son in her arms. They were seated on the hospital bed, and there were blankets piled all around her. The baby was sound asleep. She pressed a kiss to his forehead.
Her husband wrapped his arms around her. "Yes, he is."
There were tears of joy in his eyes, and the love he had for his wife and son were evident.
A knock sounded on the hospital door, and they both glanced up.
"Advisor Ha!" the man said quickly and stood up. "Thank you for coming!"
"Thank you for inviting me." Advisor Ha smiled and held up a bright gift bag. "Some gifts for the baby."
He walked over to the woman and the child and bent a little to their level. "I can see his resemblance to you, sir." He chuckled.
There was another knock on the door, and they all turned towards the door again. An old woman stood at the door, bent over and stooped with age. The deep wrinkles on her face looked like they were cutting into her skin.
"Halmoni, do you need help?" The husband stepped towards her, concerned.
"No, I do not," she said, firmly. She walked towards the baby and put one hand on his tiny forehead.
"What are you doing?" the wife asked, but she didn't move the baby away from her.
"Hush, I'm blessing it," the old woman said and closed her eyes. "This child will do many great things in his life. He will-"
"What kind of great things?" the advisor interrupted, with a strange expression on his face.
The old woman turned around and looked him in the face for a couple moments. "Well, that depends on your definition of great, doesn't it?"
She turned back around and looked at the baby again.
"But," she began. "There is one person who will stand in his way."
"Who?" The advisor interrupted her again.
"Another child I blessed. A poor family, a baker."
"How is a baker going to stand in the way of this child?" The father asked, the pride visible on his face. "This child will not lack for a single thing in his life. He is my Wang Yeo, I will raise him to be a great man."
The advisor chuckled.
The advisor and a boy stand in front of three graves. Blooming flowers stand guard in front of them, the green grass a carpet under them. One is new, the dirt freshly overturned under their feet and uncovered by grass. The soft dirt is marked with the many footprints of the mourners who came to the service.
Puffy clouds floated across the blue sky, racing to get away from the dark blanket gathering at the horizon. A fierce thunderstorm was sure to follow.
"Advisor Ha," the boy asked. "Why did my dad and mom have to die and leave me alone? And now, why did my Oraboni have to leave me too?"
The advisor rested a hand on the boy's head. "They were killed in accidents, Yeo. Those drivers weren't paying attention. Your family didn't want to leave you."
The advisor looked at the small boy and then at the gravestones, and chuckled softly. Now his plan could finally start. With the parents and the brother out of the way, he could mold the boy into his perfect object for ultimate power.
It had been easy enough. Some money was slipped, and a detailed description of the parents' car was given. It had been a head on collision, and if the hired killer had happened to die in the accident too, well, it didn't really matter.
The brother's had been simpler: a hit and run, as he walked to the convenience store in the evening to buy some ice cream for the boy.
The advisor looked down at the boy again and smiled sinisterly.
Eun Tak woke up with a start. With heaving breaths, she looked around her room. In the darkness, all the shadows on her wall looked scary and alien.
She swung her feet out of the bed slowly and grabbed a water bottle off her bedside table. Taking a few gulps, she tried to relax. It had just been a bad dream.
But, she thought, that dream had seemed so real, almost as if she was looking into someone's life. She put the bottle down and nestled back into the bed.
She glanced at the wall in front of her, then suddenly bolted up on the bed. There was a man's silhouette on the wall, almost as if someone was just standing outside her window. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, and she felt an indescribable panic.
She turned around slowly, even though she knew that was exactly what all the people who ended up dead in horror movies did, and looked at the window. She couldn't see anything through the curtain, and she turned around again.
The silhouette was gone.
She rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was just imagining things. She lay down again and tried to calm her racing heart. Before she knew it, her eyelids fluttered closed. When she opened them again, it was morning.
A few golden rays of light streamed in through the curtains and her room was illuminated in the pale glow of sunrise. Eun Tak pulled opened the curtains and took a glance outside. The sun was just starting to come out and the sky was streaked with scarlet and gold.
She smiled and started getting ready. Since it was a Saturday, she would go straight to work. Since it was this early, she didn't think any of her relatives were awake yet. It would be better to go while they were asleep than having to talk to them.
She pulled on a worn pair of jeans and a shirt. Grabbing a thick coat and her red scarf, she pulled open her door gently and stepped out into the hallway. To her dismay, she spotted her aunt sitting in the living room and staring at the TV, a bowl of rice in her lap.
"Where are you going, brat?" her aunt asked coldly, her eyes still stuck on away from the TV.
"I'm going out," Eun Tak said firmly and started pulling on her shoes.
The aunt looked at her in disgust. "Coming and going whenever you please. What do you think this is, a hotel?"
She straightened up. Her aunt was about to have one of her fits.
"You don't even pay me for the luxuries I give you every day," the aunt ranted.
Eun Tak snorted. What luxuries?
"And I want to know, right now," her aunt screeched again. "Where are you hiding your mom's bankbook?"
"Again with the bankbook?" Eun Tak exclaimed. "I told you, I don't know where it is. I've never even seen it."
"I know you have!" the aunt screamed. "I request a new one, and it always goes missing in a day. You're taking it and hiding it."
Eun Tak scoffed and opened the front door. She stepped outside into the nippy air and tried to calm herself.
Just another ordinary day, she thought to herself as a bowl of rice flew out the door and hit her on the head. She brushed the grains out of her hair and hurried down the path.
Once she had enough money, she would never come back here again.
She walked slowly down the road now, taking in the silence of the early morning. The sky had deepened to colors of pink and purple, and the thick clouds were illuminated by the rising sun, making them shine pink like cotton candy.
Before she knew it, she was walking towards Kim Shin's cafe. The city was coming alive, and a few early risers crossed paths with her. Some in athletic gear, power-walking on the sidewalks. A couple cyclists zipped by, leaving cool blasts of air in their wake. A couple walked dogs, and a few were pushing strollers.
She stopped in front of Kim Shin's store and exhaled sharply, her breath hanging in a cloud of fog in front of her.
She needed to cheer up.
She put a smile on her face, pulled open the door, and stepped inside. Upon seeing Kim Shin already there, and yelling at a confused Deok Hwa, her smiled turned genuine.
"Good morning! What's going on?" She walked over to them and asked.
"Oh, good morning." Kim Shin gave her a warm smile and then glared at Deok Hwa. "Someone has rented out my house, without my permission."
"What?" she asked, letting out a brief laugh. "Deok Hwa, you rented out his house?"
"And you'll never guess who he rented it too," Kim Shin continued, rubbing a hand across his face and suppressing a yawn.
"Who?" she asked, curiously.
"To that jerk, Wang Yeo!" Kim Shin burst out.
Eun Tak started laughing. "Is this a joke?"
"Imagine my surprise when he shows up at my door at six in the morning, asking about the paperwork to live there."
"And, did you give it to him?"
"I wasn't even aware there was a plan to rent my house!" Kim Shin exclaimed. "Deok Hwa showed up just then and gave him the papers. But, you know, his expression when he realized I was the owner of the house was pretty funny."
"But why did you do it, though?" Eun Tak asked Deok Hwa.
"He did it because I asked him to," a gravelly voice said from behind them.
Kim Shin turned around. "Chairman Yoo!"
Thanks for reading everyone! I have a favor to ask. For my research project for my college English class, I am researching fanfiction. It would be a huge help for me if you could take a quick survey for me. This is completely anonymous, so if you could spare a couple minutes to take it that would be a huge help! :D This is the link to the survey: Remove the parenthesis: (goo).(gl)/forms/jY8Ow4YRZB4aBkI12