March 14, 2010 – 6:00 a.m.


Seung Hyun drives through an abandon dirt road. He makes a left turn into a small town. Briefly glancing at his sleeping passenger he chuckles, “He’s still a child in my eyes…” Mir is lightly snoring with his mouth open. Seung Hyun returns his focus back on the road. The town looks deserted and seems no one lives in the area anymore. He continues his drive through the ghost town and heads to the mountain.

After 30 minutes, he stops the car at a dead end. He gently shakes Mir’s shoulder, “Mir, wake up.” Mir turns his body and ignores him. “This baby is really stubborn…I doubt there’s anyone out here that will see me use my powers.” He grabs his backpack from the backseat then returns back to his passenger. He lifts Mir over his shoulder like a sack of rice. Mir is still sleeping like a rock even though he is hanging upside down over Seung Hyun’s shoulder. Seung Hyun laughs that he can still sleep in that kind of position. He grabs Mir’s backpack and puts it on his back. He locks door then faces the forest. The sun light is slowly starting to spread around the area. He smiles and runs straight into the forest.


Thud.



“Whoa! Am I dreaming? How’d we get here?” Mir rubs his head then quickly dusts the debris off him. He turns to look for Seung Hyun. He finds him standing in front of a traditional Korean architecture Ondol house built in the 1900s. It was simple and he hasn’t seen this kind of architecture since he was young. Suddenly he realized he was still sitting on the grass and stood up. He walks over to Seung Hyun, “Did you drop me on the ground?”

Seung Hyun chuckles, “Sorry but you wouldn’t wake up. I was even tossing you up and down in the air like a ball but still no sign of life from your body. I was actually getting tired already and I accidentally dropped you. It was only a minute afterwards you woke up.” He pats Mir’s head, “Good morning, Mir-eu.”

“Good morning, Hyung.” He smirks then looks at Seung Hyun’s old home. “Are you ready?”

“Please bear with me while we stay here a couple nights. I know there’s no electricity out here and you got used to living this modern lifestyle but let’s try reliving our past lifestyle. The way we grew up without all of these modern technologies that continue to spoil this human race.” Seung Hyun reaches out for the door knob and gently pushes it open. 

Mir follows right behind him.

“Wakey…wakey…”

Sandara grunts and pulls her covers over her head. Her bed starts bouncing up and down. Must be an earthquake… She feels something sit next to her. She quickly sits up and sees Bom brightly smiling at her in her dark room, “How’d you get in my room?”

“I guess your brain doesn’t really work well in the morning. It’s kind of slow right now.” Bom laughs. “Hello? Connections? Other guardians? Umm shall I connect the dots for you?” She pokes imaginary dots in the air and connects them.

Sandara rolls her eyes. “I’m going back to sleep since you said my main purpose here is to rest.” She lies back down and pulls the cover over her head again. Suddenly her cover is pulled off her and bright light hits her eyes. “Aahhhhh!” Her hands’ shields her eyes from the sunlight. She hears Bom’s laughter fill the room. 

“You’re not a vampire my dear. You’re not melting!” Bom pulls Sandara’s arms away from her face. 

Sandara pushes Bom back and she walks over to the balcony window. She angrily pulls the curtain close in one swift hand movement. Darkness envelopes the whole room again. She triumphantly smiles. Bom grins and quickly grabs Sandara by her wrist. She takes her into the bathroom.


Two hours has passed. Sandara is blowing out bored sighs in the passenger seat. She leans her elbow on the window shield. Bom from time to time glances at Sandara. Another five minutes passes by - she begins to feel the annoyance from Sandara’s constant bored sighs. She stops the car in front of a gas station.

“Sandara?”

“Bom?” Sandara innocently looks at Bom.

“What do you want me to do in order for you to stop sighing like that?" Bom pleads with her eyes.

Sandara feels a tinge guilty for acting like a spoiled brat after Bom forced her into a road trip. But she hates neither surprises nor the suspense of where they’ll end up. She forced a smile, “Just tell me where we’re going and I will stop.”

Bom shakes her head, “Don’t worry about it. My duty is to make you feel at home as much as possible while you’re here. Please don’t make it hard for me.”

Sandara blushes in embarrassment. She also hates being a burden, “I’m sorry Bom…”

“It’s okay. You’ll definitely relax at our destination. Here drink this to ease your nerves. We still have at least an hour to go before we get there.” Bom hands her a bottle.

Sandara looks at the clear bottle. It looks like a home-made milk shake. It looks disgusting. I don’t want to be rude. Just drink it! She smiles at Bom then takes a sip, “Yum! It actually tastes good!” She drinks some more and finishes the bottle. 

Bom starts her engine again and hits the road. Sandara’s head slowly nods back and forth. Bom reaches for the recliner and pulls it back for Sandara to comfortably lie down. She stares back at the road and smiles. You’ll be sleeping for awhile Sandara…

Seung Hyun starts a bonfire behind his house. Mir walks over with some fishes and a grill. He places the metal grill over the fire and slaps a couple fish on them. Seung Hyun sits next to Mir by the grill. Mir nudges Seung Hyun’s shoulder.

“You should roll up your jeans like mine.” Mir points at his jeans rolled up to his knees. He’s wearing a plain white tee and sneakers. He tried his best to dress simple like he would in the old days. He would have bought old costumes to match the theme Seung Hyun wanted if he knew ahead of time. He laughs.

“What’s funny?” Seung Hyun pokes the fish with a stick.

“You should have told me we were going to back in the past. I could have bought us the right outfit for this theme. We still look like we’re in the present time.” Mir lifts his sneakers up.

Seung Hyun laughs, “Clothes are clothes. We don’t need the past outfit to help us remember how to live our old lifestyles. We’re smart and it’s engraved in our minds. See you still remember how catch a fish without a high-tech fishing rod. Everything used to be simple then…”

“Oh wise, Seung Hyun.” Mir lifts both his hands and bows toward the grass and back up. He smirks, “You surely are my Hyung and seriously you are because you turned into a full guardian 50 years before I did. I’m still learning how to act mature in this young body.” Mir flips the fishes over. “Hyung? May I know your life story?”

Seung Hyun slaps Mir’s shoulder, “As long as you don’t fall asleep on me!”

“I promise I won’t!” Mir raises his right hand.

“I was born in this house. I basically lived here until I changed into a full guardian. I left home in the year 1910 and I began my journey on me finding myself….Everything is much clearer now to me since you guys revealed the truth to me. Thank you!” Seung Hyun lifts the fish onto his plate. He lightly blows the heat off it.

Mir shakes his head, “I was expecting an all-nighter story from you. Why’d you cut it short? What year did your father die? You said your father got bitten by a vampire right? My guess since you didn’t tell us but it’s very obvious that you’re father never mentioned to you that you were a guardian until his time of death. Which got me thinking that’s the reason why you’re so lost and that….” He was rambling so fast that Seung Hyun wanted him to stop just hearing from someone else about his father pains him. He covers Mir’s mouth. Mir realized he hit his sensitive spot. He softly moves Seung Hyun’s hand, “I’m sorry hyung.”

“It’s okay. I’m going for a walk…don’t worry about me okay? I’m fine.” Seung Hyun stands up and enters the darkness of the forest.

Mir stares at Seung Hyun’s untouched fish, “He’ll be hungry. I didn’t mean to make him lose his appetite. I’m sorry hyung… I wonder where Noona is at. If she was here she would have slapped my head and help hyung. I’m not good in this kind sensitive situation.” He looks up at the crescent moon.

10:00 p.m.



Sandara’s eyes slowly open and she feels groggy. She could hear a stream of water running. “Where am I?” Her blurry eyes try to adjust to her surrounding. Slowly everything starts to clear up. Immediately realizing where she’s at she stands and spins around. She closes her eyes and slaps her face, “I’m dreaming. This is a dream. I’m not really here. It’s a dream!”

She opens her eyes again. She still sees a river several feet away from her. It’s the same river she grew up seeing. This river holds so much memory. She cannot contain her tears any longer and they were set free. Her tears flowed smoothly down her cheeks just like the river. Sandara sniffles and wipes her tears away with the back of her hand. She walks toward the river. Her senses get to her and she realized her feet are bare. She looks down and gasps, “This white dress is the same style outfit I would always wear back when I was young…I really am dreaming….”

Sandara steps into the shore of the river. She smiles and feels the cool water through her ankles and feet. She looks up at the dark sky. The only light illuminating the night sky is her favorite crescent moon. “This would be a happy dream if Tabi was here…” She shivers as a cold breeze passes by. She takes a few steps back.



A few feet away at the opening of the forest a tall dark shadow is admirably watching her from afar. He very quietly takes a couple steps out of the forest. Seung Hyun blinks a couple times. I must have fallen asleep in the forest and I’m dreaming of my Dara. This place has a strong hold in my heart and it must have opened up my heart into my dream….I love this dream…I don’t feel any pain compared to my other dreams of her death…. Quiet as a ghost he appears behind Sandara. He wraps his arms around her. She leans her head back and places her hands on top of his arms. They remain in that position for a few minutes. He slowly removes his arms and Sandara turns around. He rubs her bare shoulders with his warm hands. She smiles and reaches her right hand out to him. She cups it. Seung Hyun leans in and gently brushes his lips against her. It was a sweet and simple kiss. 

Sandara smiles closely to his lips and closes the gap again with her lips. This time their kiss was longer and more passionate. Seung Hyun was the one to pull out first for some air. Both their foreheads were against each other as they softly pant for air. He lovingly looks deep into her eyes. He could see the same love he has always seen in her eyes since they met. It still hasn’t changed. His heart pounds and feels alive again. She too also sees the burning love in his eyes. The couple feels whole again in each others presence. To them it feels like their present lives were just a bad dream and that this moment is real. Nothing else really matters. But they still can’t deny the guilt they feel inside them for keeping their secret identity from each other.

“I LOVE YOU.” They both said at the same time while still looking into each other eyes. They continued their words in unison, “I’m SORRY…”

Both of them tilted their head at the same time. Seung Hyun allowed Sandara to speak her mind first because he believes she too is confused as to why he said sorry and he is also confused why she said sorry. 

“Tabi, why are you apologizing?” Sandara could see a mixture of pain and confusion in his eyes. 

Again they spoke in unison, “I lied.” Both of their eyes widen in shock. Seung Hyun like a gentleman allowed her to speak once more. “What did you lie about?”

Seung Hyun took her hand and kissed it, “My true identity.”

Sandara took his other hand and now they’re both holding each others hands, “Me too. I’m a Guardian, Tabi.”

Seung Hyun unconsciously squeezes Sandara’s hands tightly out of shock. Sandara knows he should be angry at her for lying. At least in this dream I can tell him the truth and try to move on with my life like what the Elders wanted me to do. Closure…but why does this dream feel so real? If I was still a human and Seung Hyun squeezed my hand the way he did just now. He would have broken both my hands…something is wrong with this dream… Sandara expected anger from his expression but what he saw was plain shock. She pulls one of her hand back, “Tabi, I’m sorry I faked my death…It was forbidden for Guardians to fall in love with humans…if the Elders found out… they were going to erase your entire memory even the ones with your father…I didn’t want that for you….it would be selfish of me to take away the memories of your loving father over keeping your love entirely for me…I only wished for your happiness…it was very hard after that day….my life felt incomplete….I still feel guilty until today that I wasn’t by your side to protect you from those men who murdered you…your death completely shattered my heart….guilt and hatred toward myself was what I felt afterwards….” Sandara lightly places her hand on his cheek, “Please forgive me…I wish to be at peace…”


“No.” Seung Hyun pulls Sandara into his arms. Sandara starts to cry. “You don’t deserve forgiveness because you are at no fault. No one is. Neither you nor me.” He laughs. Sandara looks up at him questioningly.

“You’re seriously laughing in the middle of this conversation.” Sandara pokes the tip of his nose. 

“This dream is unbelievable. If it’s real…listen to me my Dara…everything is a misunderstanding on both our parts….we both kept our true identities a secret because we both feared the consequences of what our identities carried…I’m a Guardian too…I thought you were a human and I too didn’t want to hurt you with my strength…I didn’t know….” Seung Hyun looked up at the crescent moon. 

Sandara brought his gaze back at her, “That’s one trait I really don’t like about being a Guardian…it’s hard to distinguish…”

“Tell me about it.” Seung Hyun cracks a smile. Sandara feels happy and relieved to see him smile.

“Wait.” Sandara has a serious look on her face.

“What’s wrong Dara?” Seung Hyun looks around. Even though he thinks it’s a dream he keeps himself alert for any danger that may harm the love of his life. This dream might turn into a nightmare.

“You think this a dream too?” Sandara too looks around. She feels like someone is watching them.

Seung Hyun and Sandara see a dark shadow run by in the forest. Even with their intense Guardian senses this shadow was running at an incredible speed. Seung Hyun stands in a protective stance in front of Sandara. She rolls her eyes. He’s still the same. Overprotective. We’re both strong. Sandara’s attention returns back to the shadow that stopped several feet at the end of the forest. They wait for it to come out and prepare to fight.

“BOM?!” They said in unison.

Bom grins as she gracefully walks toward them, “Wakey…wakey!”