JIYEON'S POV

I stayed in the village all night watching them grieving.

Now its morning and I'm still seeing the same scene in front of me.

This is heartbreaking.

"Jiyeon" Aunt Lee approach me on the corner where I stand.

She pat my shoulder.

"I know you are blaming yourself but please don't. It wasn't your fault. Our enemies were just really heartless to take those young lives." She said.

I know she's also weary inside but she needs to be strong as leader of this clan.

"It wasn't them Aunty." I said.

"What do you mean it wasn't them?" She ask

"Aunty. I know this might sound unbelievable but an evil force is doing all of this. Wanting the war much more than any of us" I said.

"Who did this then?" She ask.

"An evil spirit" I said.

Aunty was just quiet and I know in that moment that she don't believe in me.

"Aunty I'm telling you the truth" I said

"I'm not saying that you're lying sweetheart  but everyone thinks Evil Spirits never exist. If we tell them try to prove it we also need to tell them the truth about you and I'm not taking that risk" She said.

"I know but I'm just letting you know Aunty. Evil Spirits are sure powerful. I'm not sure what they're really capable of doing but by the way I see it, they're really strong." I said.

I almost tell her that the Evil Spirit inside Gyuri tried to kill me once.

I don't want her to worry about that too.

"I will make sure that we are prepared in whatever will happen next time." Aunty said to me before her attention was called by a vampire.

**sigh**

I hope those preparations will be enough. Coz if they manage to find this place that means we've got no place to hide anymore.

"I told you so." Hongbin approach me and said.

"Bringing her here would only bring bad luck. Those kids died because of the bad luck she brought here." He said.

"Hongbin please. I don't want to argue with you. Eunjung is not a bad luck and what happened here is not her fault." I said.

"Why do you keep defending her? You've been doing that since we're kids. Did she hit you with her arrows? You're acting like you're all over her" He said.

"Since we're kids?" I curiously ask.

"Did you forget? I wanted to kill her myself but you made me promise not to hurt her in one condition. I'm still holding on to that up until now Jiyeon" He said.

".... I have to go" I said.

I didn't wait for his response and just leave the village.

FLASHBACK

I come out of my room one morning looking for Qri.

"Aunty where's Qri?" I ask Aunty when I saw her in the living room.

"She was with your uncle. Training" She said.

Ohh that means I have nothing to do today again.

Hays.

"Is Grandma already back in the village?" I ask

"I believe she's not yet back sweetheart. Don't worry. I know someone whom you can spend your day with" She said.

Huh?

She called one vampire and orders him something.

"Who will it be Aunty?" I ask.

"He's your Uncle's friend's son. They came to visit. You can show him around" She said.

"But won't that boy kill me? He's new here in the village" I said.

"I'll make sure he won't. No one can hurt my family in this village" She said assuring me.

Because of what she said I let go of all my worries and just waited for the boy to arrive.

When the boy arrived Aunty talk to him first before she ask me to come closer.

The boy immediately smile at me which make me feel relieved.

At least he's not scary.

I think we could be friends.

"It was nice to meet you Lady Jiyeon.  My name is Hongbin. I hope we can be friends" He said and extend his arm offering a handshake.

He's a bit formal and cheerful.

"It was nice to me. Please just call me Jiyeon." I said and accepted the handshake.

"If you prefer it that way then. Jiyeon you're very pretty" He said.

From that time then, Hongbin become my friend.

We always play everyday with Qri while he and his family were still here in the village.

"Jiyeon-ah. Dad said he's gonna give me his sword if I do something brave" Hongbin told me one day when we both decided to sneak outside the village.

"And that brave thing would be sneaking out of the village?" Qri ask him

"No. Something brave like killing a Guardian" He said

Qri and I look at each other. Her parents and Grandma never thought us that killing anyone is a sign of bravery.

"Then, I guess you should train more. Or else you will get killed before you kill them" I said.

"I pick someone on my own size. And she's my target. Come with me. I'll show you" He said confidently.

Qri and I followed him but we're still unsure if it's the right thing.

"Hongbin-ah. Let's just go back to the village. We're not supposed to go this far" Qri said.

"Yeah. Let's just go back. We're not familiar with this place we might get lost." I said agreeing to Qri.

"It'll be just fine. I grew up outside the village. We could always find our way back" He said insisting.

Qri and I were not sure anymore which way is heading back to the village so we have no other choice but to go with Hongbin.

We walk on the streets with lots of vehicles and human walking around.

Some were just passing by and some are giving us weird stares. We'll at least that's how I feel it's like but it's really awkward.

"Are you sure you know where we're going Hongbin?" I ask.

"Yeah. We're almost there" He said.

Few walks more and he finally stop.

"So where is this Guardian?" Qri ask.

"There. That kid" He said.

Qri and I look on the other side of the road.

There's a girl selling cigarettes and candies to passersby.

"I'm going to kill that girl with this dagger. I put my venom on the tip of this" Hongbin said preparing to throw the dagger.

All I was thinking was for him to get done with this but fear creeps inside me when I recognize the girl on the other side of the road.

"Now watch carefully on how I will kill that girl" He said and was about to throw the dagger towards the girl.

"No!" I said and immediately grab his arm causing the dagger to slip and fall on the drainage.

"Why did you do that Jiyeon?" He ask calmly but I can see how annoyed he was in his eyes.

"You can't kill her" I said.

"And why not? Do you know her?" He ask.

"No. But I'll get hurt if you hurt her" I said.

I don't know why I did even say that. Maybe because I was desperate to save Eunjung's life.

"What are you talking about?" He ask.

"Please Hongbin. I will agree to be your Queen just like what you want. Just please don't hurt her" I said coz he always ask me to be his Queen.

"Jinja?" He ask and I nodded.

END OF FLASHBACK

I ruffled my hair for my paboness!

Why am I so impulsive?!

I should've thought about what he means by "being his Queen" before I make a decision and volunteered to be his Queen.

I go back to my apartment to prepare for school and also to check for Eunjung.

But then, when I'm about to knock on her apartment I didn't sense her inside.

I still knock to make sure but one of our neighbors said that she left early.

With that I just decided to go to school. After all  I have no idea where to start looking for her.

Maybe she's already at school.

I hope she didn't take what Hongbin said seriously.

It's still early and the school was almost empty. So quiet that I could hear chirping of the birds and some lost souls roam freely.

And because of that I decided to ask one of them if they already saw Eunjung but I need to choose whom to ask.

There in the corner I saw a lady staring at the trash can. She's wearing this school's old uniform.

Of course these days we don't have uniforms but I've seen some pictures in the old yearbooks where students wear that kind of uniform.

She was too focused on the trash can for some reasons.

Don't tell me she died in there?

I decided to approach that girl.

"Hey" I said and look around making sure no one else is around.

They might think I'm crazy.

The girl look at me and frown.

"Are you talking to me?" She ask and I just nodded.

"Do you know what I am?" She ask again.

"Yes, you are a lost soul" I said.

"Lost soul. Mortals call us ghosts. But you call us lost souls. You must've been a Guardian of Death. I never met one for years though" She said.

I wasn't expecting that she talks a lot.

"Uhm. I wanna ask something" I said.

"Ok what's the question?" She ask.

Very enthusiastic one too.

"How long have you been standing here?" I ask.

"I've been standing here since last night." She said.

"So that means you saw everyone who enters the gate" I said pointing at the gate which is not so far from this position.

"Yeah. Why?" She ask.

"Well, have you notice Eunjung came in? You know the girl with brown eyes and a little bluish when it sparkles. She's a little bit taller than me and sometimes she's just a pabo but she's kind and caring too. She's very lovely and charming. I'm sure you will notice her when she passed by" She said.

"I wouldn't know all those description in one look. Is she your girlfriend? You talk like she's the prettiest thing in the world." She said.

With that I become speechless.

".....You're acting like you're all over her"

What Hongbin said earlier flashbacked to my mind.

Am I really acting that way?

"Anyway, so far I only saw you and one other girl with a very scary aura. I feel like she's gonna eat me so I hide inside this trash can." She said it like she was modeling the trash can.

....girl with scary aura. Isn't that Gyuri?

"Where did she go?" I ask.

"I have no idea. She's quite scary so I tried no to look at her as much as possible. But she does remind me of that evil spirit the other lost souls were talking about" She said

"Evil Spirit?" I ask

"Yeah. The name was Zera of Darkness. Be careful. That Evil Spirit is so powerful." She warned me.

Zera....

So Gyuri was possessed by the Evil Zera?!

"How can I repay you for all this information?" I ask.

"The only way you could repay me is to help me cross. There's nothing much you can do for me since I'm already dead for a very long time. All I want now is to stay beside this trash can." She said.