I believe blood and water have the same viscosity. 

For most people, when they are presented with a situation, one either scary or sad, their natural instinct tells them to either scream, cry, or both.

Ae Sook has always been a decisive person, so she only had two options: scream or cry, and crying wasn’t the one she wanted. But, somehow, she needed to get the compressed anxiety out of her system, so she chose what any normal person would do: watch a horror movie at 1 AM in the morning.

It was when her aunt and cousins fell asleep and Hwan left for some paperwork that Ae Sook decided to cramp herself into the farthest corner of the living room couch and watch Woman in Black.

Was this the wisest decision she’s ever made? No. Could she leave the couch and go to sleep? Of course not. Because that was the perfect magic of horror movies; once you started, you can’t leave in fear that the thing on the screen is going to come chasing after you. Ae Sook may be 21, but she still believed that if she left her feet dangling off the edge of the bed at night, that the creature from Paranormal Activity would take her by the ankles and drag her to a godforsaken place below.

She’s not proud of it, but it’s the reality. So being the scared kid she is, her fear paralyzed her to the seat with a warm computer in her lap and a nervous feeling.  

As the village children spontaneously burst into flames, Ae Sook gets a sick feeling.

Then there’s a creak.

Jerking one headphone out of her ear, Ae Sook looks around for a moment before determining that it’s an alright type of silence. She tentatively places it back in her ear and watches the screen with scared eyes.

The burning child begins to speak in a demonic voice. “Look, she’s here.”

Then there’s a footstep.

This time she tears the headphones out of both ears, as well as out of the computer outlet. The eerie music leaks into the room, sounding to the erratic soundtrack that is Ae Sook’s heartbeat. She places the computer across from her on the coffee table. All her muscles are tense in anticipation.

A black face appears in the screen of the computer, surrounded by orange flames. A black hand on the child’s shoulder, hollowed eyes.

A black figure at the edge of the living room. It closes the space between the front door and the coffee table, the stature overpowering. Twisted shadows play on the wall as the scene of the movie comes to meet reality.

Numbness spreads throughout her system, shocked at what she’s witnessing. The figure steps closer and closer and closer before it steps right in front of the coffee table. A hand extends outwards towards the computer screen, the fingers surpassing the thin top of the device. Outstretched, wanting, haunting.

Ae Sook screams. Not just any scream, but a blood-curdling one. It takes everything out of her, robbing her lungs of their air and her blood of its oxygen to the point that she feels light-headed. Suddenly, the room is flooded with a warm light, replacing the black figure with Hwan.

“Shhhh! Sh! What are you screaming about?” He whisper-yells. He’s kneeling close to her now, a hand hovering over to buffer the sound.

Chest heaving, Ae Sook struggles to reply as she weakly removes his hand away from the vicinity of her lips. “,” she breathes, not knowing what else to say. As strength slowly trickles back into her body, she pushes against his chest which causes him to fall back a little.

Now sitting on the floor, Hwan turns around to look at the image on the computer. He turns back with an annoyed expression on his face. “Are you serious? A horror movie?”

Ae sook ignores his biting comment and places a hand on her heart. Of course, it’s still beating like a hummingbird.

With a deep breathe, she replies. “Are you serious? Walking in like something out of the Walking Dead at 1 AM?”

Hwan crosses his legs and leans back against the coffee table with a judging look on his face. “What are you, 12?”

“What are you, a zombie?” Ae Sook fires back. She is now regaining most of the feeling of her body, but one that she begins to recover is annoyance, which she is pretty sure wasn’t there before. Being on the sofa, she looks down at Hwan’s position on the floor.

“You were sitting there in the dark like some sort of goblin. Why is it my fault?”

“You didn’t have to come in like that! You scared the bejesus out of me, goddamn!”

“Yes, but I still don’t see why this is my fault. You were sitting there by yourself, and technically, you set up the situation for this to happen! Don’t blame it on me.”

Ae Sook scoffs. “What even? Who comes over like that? Reaching with their hands in the dark?”

“I was trying to get your attention, obviously.”

Ae Sook cannot explain the stupidity flowing out of Hwan’s mouth right now, so instead of explaining it to him in words, she leans over to hit him upside the head.

Cupping his ear, he yells, “What was that for?”

With narrowed eyes, Ae Sook begins, “Are you really a detective? Because I was clearly sitting over there with no headphones! How could you not hear the music of the movie? Could you not see me crouched in the ing smallest crevice of the couch, trying to hide?” Her voice steadily rises with each word, “Who sees all that and decides, ‘Oh, let me go and get her attention’? You got it just fine by walking over!”

“Hold on, there is no need to insult my position. I just got the job anyways. And who watches a horror movie at 1 in the morning by themselves?”

“Look, there are reasons for it.”

“Oh, then I had a reason too. Who knew I would be inviting such an annoying girl into my home? You’re just like my sisters.”

“Well damn, you’re like the annoying brother I never wanted.”

The comments barrage each individual at rapid fire, not letting either person breathe before they have to respond.

“Well I’d be screwed if either of my sisters acted like you-,” Hwan begins to shout.

With menacing eyes, Ae Sook reaches down to shut his mouth with her hand. “Shut. Up. You’re going to wake them up!” She gets up to turn the living room light off and instead turns on a tableside lamp. When she gets back, Hwan is sitting in her seat.

Ae Sook narrows her eyes. “Get out of my seat, Hwan.”

He crosses his arm defiantly. “You are such a hypocrite. You were just yelling at me not even two minutes ago and now you tell me to shut up? Jesus woman, are you on your period or something?”

Ae Sook’s eyes widen to the largest fraction. “Are you kidding me right now?” She reaches over and hits him even harder on his head this time. “Do not even go there.”

“Ow!” Hwan interrupts.

“Why do men always think that women are on their periods? Am I always supposed to be rainbows and sunshine to you? I’m am pretty sure men don’t get periods, so what’s your excuse for being an ?” Ae Sook rants.

Hwan opens his mouth and stands a bit, ready to fire another smart comment. Ae Sook takes the chance and pushes him so that he falls back onto the other side of the couch, leaving her original spot open. Like a queen, she sits down victoriously.

Hwan huffs in disbelief and annoyance on the other corner of the couch. He sits up from his position and just scoots closer to Ae Sook. Once he’s situated, he lets his head fall against the back of the couch and closes his eyes.

“Thanks for that.”

At those 3 words, Ae Sook is confused as hell. “What?”

“That argument,” he sighs. Tilting his head towards Ae Sook, he opens his eyes and looks at her. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been home, and you reminded me so much of my sisters just now. It helped a lot.”

Sorrow fills Ae Sook’s stomach. She avoids his gaze instead and glares at the lamp that’s on her right. “No problem.”

“And what I meant back there, you really aren’t that annoying. I was just frustrated and I went along with the moment. You're actually pretty soft-spoken. I haven't heard you speak like this up until now.”

“Yeah.” Actually, Ae Sook had been grateful for the moment too, but for completely different reasons. She was glad that she could yell at someone, argue with someone, and now that it ended, she didn't want to talk anymore. Because it was over and the feelings took over again.

Ae Sook’s eyes remain on the lamp, but soon enough, the lights start to swim and dip, making her a bit dizzy.

“Hey, are you okay?” Ae Sook's feels a hand on her arm, but she refuses to turn around and instead just shrugs it off.

“Yeah, completely,” she answers shortly.

“You know, I may be a new detective, but I'm not stupid. What's bothe