Chapter 3: Kwon Ji Yong

Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved to play hide and seek. He always hid in the darkest places; in places so dark and scary where the girl wouldn’t even dare to look for him. But it was too easy and certainly too boring, so he decided to come out from the darkness and hide in a place where he could watch the girl and laugh at her clumsiness. He learned to hide right in front of her – he was there yet he was invisible. Little did the boy know that one day his pranks would become his destiny. And so, he was cursed to remain invisible forever. He was there right in front of the girl, but she couldn’t see him no matter how she yearned to see him or how he yearned to be found. They crossed paths countless times yet… they never met again.

As time passed the boy’s hope started fading, until one day he finally decided that he didn’t want to be found at all. Perhaps, the best hiding place was the darkness? Perhaps, that was his fate.

They say Peter Pan didn’t go to Neverland.

He died.

Curled up under a heavy comforter, that’s how I woke up. The bed seemed softer and more comfortable than usual and the pillow smelled better than ever before. I buried my face into the softness and inhaled deeply. Then I realized that this was not my bed. That instant, I sat up and threw the comforter off myself. Indeed, I was not home.

The walls were painted black, the curtains were so black they barely let any light in, the TV that hung on the wall across from the bed was black, the bedsheets were black, bedside tables were black, the bedside lamp was black, and when I turned it on I saw a photograph in a black frame. It was a photograph of a beautiful woman and a handsome man, based on their intimate position I made a conclusion that they must have been a couple. And when I stared at the photograph for a bit longer I realized the man looked familiar. It was the very same man I had bumped into on the staircase of Tango.

What the hell is going on?

When I got off the bed my feet came in contact with a black furry carpet. It felt comfortable under my soles, but the chilly air made me tremble in discomfort and my skin went on goosebumps. Hugging myself and rubbing my arms, I threw one glance around the room which was actually large but seemed smaller because of the black color. The walls seemed to be crashing in – creating a suffocating atmosphere – and the darkness gave me distress.

What kind of sick person lives in a place like this?

The first door took me to a wardrobe bigger than my whole apartment and my jaw dropped when I saw rows and rows of black clothes without a single flash of color. There was not even one white collar shirt and even all the underwear was black with no exceptions. Everything was arranged neatly on the shelves, all underwear rolled up like a piece or art. The ties were placed into a special compartment with glass lid along with cufflinks and expensive looking watches. I traced my finger along the wooden rim of the lid; I touched the fabric of the fancy suits that hung neatly from black hangers and my eyes settled on comfortable looking pullovers. It was chilly and I would have gladly borrowed one, but it would not have been polite so I gave up on that thought.

After tearing my gaze off the high-quality clothes I would have loved to feel against my low-quality skin, I saw a body-sized mirror at the back of the wardrobe. And I have to admit, there was nothing glamorous about my reflection. My makeup was smeared all over my cheeks, my hair was a mess and I was still wearing that trashy high school uniform with a ridiculously short skirt.

I better leave before I accidentally destroy something.

There were two doors in the black room and since the first one had led me to the wardrobe I guessed the second one would lead me somewhere else. I grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open, gingerly peeking out – hesitant to face whatever was awaiting me on the other side. Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than a completely black room, right?

HOLY COW!

I could say it was another spacious room directly connected with the hallway and separated from the kitchen by a long counter. So it was just one enormous room that had no blind spots whatsoever, if you stood in the middle you could see everywhere – the kitchen, the front door, the huge from-ceiling-to-floor-window and the spacious balcony. I could say that but… it wasn’t just a room it was a space filled with things.

I mean, there was this huge bookshelf that consisted of small box-shaped shelves and it covered the whole wall at the back of the room – from ceiling to floor just like the window on the other side of the room. The sunlight seeped through the clean shiny glass. The curtains had been pulled to the sides revealing the splendid view of the city beneath. Immediately I recognized Gangnam. Our location – the heart of Seoul.

Between the bookshelf and the window stood a billiard table, a plush corner sofa, a coffee table and a TV even bigger than the one in the black room on a TV stand with three shelves packed with video games and the newest Play Station. Let me take a breath.

Yup, that’s right. All that furniture somehow fit in the room so there was still enough space everywhere. The billiard table was placed quite near the bookshelf close to the wall, and the sofa-coffee-table-TV-arrangement stood right in the middle of the room on a fluffy carpet similar to the one in the black room only coffee colored. The corner on the right of me near the balcony was definitely ‘the exercising corner’ with a treadmill and a bunch of weights scattered around it.

I hope they fired the one who was in charge of interior design because this place makes no sense.

Across from me, all the way on the other side of the apartment behind a counter was the kitchen, well equipped with every necessary gadget you never knew you needed – even the espresso machine! That’s where the ro