Yi Jeong was falling.

Down

Down

Down…

It was always the same. The same murky depths blinding his eye. The same icy water freezing his skin. Funny how even in his sleep, he could sense the cold engulfing his body. Gurgles of water escaped his airless lungs as the boy, the monster, dived deeper into the nightmare, plunging into the dark unknown. Limbs fought against the swollen current as stringy vines clung to his arms and legs. He lashed at them with his claws, shredding the thin green membranes to pieces. An agonizing fear rattled in his chest as seconds stretched into minutes.

He was losing time.

Straining his heightened senses, fuzzy shadows began to take shape as slivers of golden sunrise flitted through the expanse of water bearing down on his body. Yi Jeong dove deeper.

Far underwater, the cries of townspeople were now a distant memory, no longer strumming painfully in his ears. Monster! They had shrieked at the young boy, but now all was silent. The rat he had found in the old man's shed had given him strength. And with that strength, Yi Jeong discovered a power completely foreign to him. The moment the slightly acidic blood had stained his lips, a new vigor had exploded in his veins. As the rush of blood clouded his senses, Yi Jeong had rushed through the woods toward the outskirts of the village where the river ran. Angry villagers met him, beating him with fists and rocks, but Yi Jeong retaliated, swinging clawed hands back at them. He had never killed a living creature before that day, yet, as their voices were silenced in gurgles of their own blood, no sorrow afflicted him. They were the monsters. They were the ones that had drowned an innocent family.

His family.

The family who had always kept him from the nature that had made him a monster. The family that had tried desperately to save him from the unknown force which turned his eyes a feral ember. Yi Jeong now bitterly regretted following their instruction as his own family was punished for their choice to limit his power. If they had only let him eat rather than starving him on raw turnips and thin broth, they might still be alive. He could have saved them!

Maybe he still could.

Splashing into the water no longer barred by villagers, Yi Jeong had dived headfirst into the inky blackness, leaving the red carnage of bodies behind him.

Through the grimy water, Yi Jeong propelled himself forward toward the dark, slinky object that had caught his eye below. Grasping at it, his fingers brushed against the frayed ends of a rope swaying slightly in the current he had created. Just a little further…He traveled down the rope, gripping it tightly with bloodied fingers as he pulled towards the weight at its end. Fine, silky wisps of hair brushed against his hand as fragments of light scattered across the small, shadowy form below. He had found her.

Up on land, the young boy crouched beside the soggy figure he'd just fished out of the river. "No! No! Mi-Soo!" Red tears dropped on the girl's face as Yi Jeong shook her shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up!" His voice croaked in anguish, but she did not wake up. Blank eyes stared back at him, devoid of all the warmth they'd once held.

She was gone.

"No!" Yi Jeong refused to believe he was too late "No!" He clawed desperately at the rough twine that bound her arms and legs together, releasing them from the cruel stone weight that had ushered her to death. As he did this, a thought threaded its way through his mind. A small sliver of hope stolen from the rumors he'd once heard whispered.

Devils were said to turn their victims into themselves. That was why the villagers had gone after them with such vengeance. That was why they weighted their victims in the river so they could not come back from their watery graves.

Perhaps they were right. Perhaps there was an evil force he possessed that was stronger than death itself…He wondered if Mi-Soo would hate him for what he was about to do. If she would view him as the vile devil he had been called. He remembered the flash of fear in her eyes when she had found him that night so long ago—the night he had become a monster. Yet Yi Jeong couldn't waste precious seconds worrying about that; there was no time to lose. He'd gladly be hated for all eternity if it meant saving her. With this thought, he grasped her small hand in his and bit her wrist, sinking his fangs deep into her cold skin.

Time droned on around the two children lying side by side on the embankment. Yi Jeong had gone back for his parents, hoping whatever dark force that possessed him only needed some time to work, but the fast running current had driven them further than he could reach and Mi-soo still lay lifeless when he returned. Utter hopelessness had settled within him as he lay beside his sister, his weakness returning as the ember glow, no longer rich on blood, left his eyes. He picked up her hand where the two puncture wounds had bled purple. "I will find you Mi-Soo." He held it to his chest, "Someday, I will find you."

Yi Jeong awoke with a start, the image of his sister's still, lifeless eyes swaying before him. It was always the same dream and always the same outcome. He threw the covers off listlessly and walked towards the window of his high-rise apartment. He had work to do.

Ga Eul stared at her phone, relieved that what little gossip had reached the tabloids had already been distorted from the truth. If there was one thing her mother was good at, it was spinning a story, and she had really outdone herself with this one. Photos existed of Ga Eul's hurried exit from the press shoot, but the headlines sweeping the web were quite different from what she was expecting. No mention was made of Yeoni or the strange man who had dropped her off at home the night before.

"Mystery illness plagues Nation's top star!"

"Famous actress wears herself out for her fans!"

"Korea's fairy on thin ice with Star Group talent agency, is this the end of her reign?!"

"Secret baby news?! See the exclusive photos!"

Ga Eul sat in her room, knees tucked under her chin as she scrolled. It seemed all that the world really knew about yesterday was that the famous actress was suffering from fatigue, anemia, or a secret baby, and had pushed herself too far in order to appease her fans. Righteous indignation colored the comments as netizens shared their support and attacked the few negative anti-fans brave enough to show their anonymous faces. She sighed. Whatever dread she had carried about her mother's indignation melted away as she read through the brilliantly executed media campaign that would surely distract the world from the scent of the truth. She wouldn't even be surprised if her company was pressured into giving her a better contract soon. There was nothing like the wrath of fans. While relieved, Ga Eul almost wished the truth had come out. It was exhausting pretending that all was well.

Tossing her phone away, Ga Eul wondered about something else that had been bothering her that morning. All her memories from the night before were faint and muddled together. She could remember things perfectly up until her walk home in the rain, but after that, everything was hazy. Like a dream she had dreamt rather than lived. Yet, she knew it wasn't a dream, given the cranky ahjumma who had knocked on her door earlier that morning, offering homemade porridge and curt advice to take better care of her health. She glanced at the still untouched thermos sitting on her counter, trying desperately to detangle the cloudy memories. She couldn't believe she'd actually fainted on the road! And in front of a stranger at that! She tried to remember the handsome, smirking man who had driven her home the night before. Well, almost home…Her neighbor had been quite put out when she appeared on her doorstep late the night before. The ahjumma had adjusted her bubblegum pink curlers and tut-tutted at who she believed was an ill-fated suitor driving the young girl home. But thankfully, she'd played along with Ga Eul's little scheme and had welcomed her into her home like the annoyed grandma Ga Eul always wished she'd had.

Originally, she had planned to cut across the neighbor's backyard towards her own, but when the mystery gentleman had walked her all the way to her door, she'd had no choice but to feign forgetting the passcode and hope someone would answer. At the sight of her neighbor, the man had left, and Ga Eul had done her best to act surprised that she had mistaken the neighbor's door for her own. Her neighbor seemed hardly convinced and told Ga Eul to get out of the rain before she caught her death as she slammed the door with deafening ferocity.

Ga Eul smiled faintly at this recollection before her thoughts turned troubled again. She hoped the man would assume the grumpy ahjumma was her grandmother; for some reason, she didn't want him to know she lived alone. Something behind his smiling eyes felt dangerous to her, and if there was anything Ga Eul needed to avoid right now, it was dangerously handsome men.

Her stomach growled, reminding her that she had not eaten since yesterday evening. Perhaps that was why she had fainted—she distinctly remembered turning down a sandwich before the press shoot. Hand on her growling belly, she shifted off her bed with a groan and headed towards the kitchen, wondering if her assistant had filled the fridge for the week. Halfway through her kitchen, she remembered the porridge. It was so sweet of that ahjumma to make her something with her own hands. Ga Eul had never had someone make her porridge before! Her thoughts drifted to the image of the feisty neighbor toiling away in a warm kitchen after being so rudely awakened the night before. Grabbing the container, she discovered a sticky note she hadn't noticed before. "Be strong!" Was written in thick marker. With a smile, Ga Eul twisted the lid and inhaled deeply. The pungent aroma of garlic stung her eyes and Ga Eul slammed the lid back on as the sticky note fluttered to the ground. The words Be strong! Laughed at her from where they sat on the floor.

…Perhaps it'd be best to make her own dinner, Ga Eul decided, moving quickly away from the offending object. Opening the door of her fridge, she eyed the fresh stock of fruits and vegetables before turning towards the cupboard where the top shelf hid her secret stash of ramen. Scoring an egg and a green onion from the still-open fridge, Ga Eul closed it with her hip and set about making her first real meal of the week.

1930s Chosŏn

Woo Bin disentangled himself from Mi-Soo's arms and studied his sister harshly. She'd been trying to convince him to let her stay for the evening show, and he frankly didn't know what to do with her. He felt the nightclub was no place for a young girl but didn't fully trust that she'd stay out of mischief at home by herself. He had been surprised and shocked when she'd shown up at the club, suitcases in tow and a thrilling story to share. Somehow, in a very Mi-Soo fashion, she'd weaseled her way out of the women's school and landed smack dab right in the center of danger. What were their parents thinking?! He'd never been so happy yet angry to see his sister as she spun around on the polished wood floor and shared the latest gossip in her life. When she had said she had a story to tell, Woo Bin had half-expected her to say she had recognized him following the train he hadn't known she was on or to recount the story of his comrades meeting their end…but his relief that she was uninjured had been replaced with shock as she described the stranger who had upset the railcar. Could this have been the strange man he'd seen standing on the platform?

Woo Bin asked what happened after, but Mi-Soo was strangely tight-lipped about the events following. They'd all sat back down, and she'd, well, she had sat back down too, and all was quiet again after the soldiers established order. He knew she was lying by the way her left eyebrow raised subtly—a habit she'd formed as a child—but decided to press her further in the privacy of their home. Woo Bin wasn't sure if she had noticed their car behind the train, but if she had, she was deciding not to let on for now.

Watching the girl in her newly grown-up attire flounce through the nightclub, Woo Bin raised a hand to his tired brow. Her presence added a new complication to his work. He would have to be extra cautious to keep her uninvolved.