“I told you to burn it, not burn the stairs!” Victoria exclaimed walking back into the hall with a bucket of water after freezing the flames.

“I tried telling you my powers are still wacky,” Namjoo shot back.

“My love! Step back! The fire is hot, but not as strong as our love!” Suho dramatically exclaimed. “Water! Why isn’t there any water here?”

Then he spun and put his hands on Chorong’s arms.

“My love, step back. This is dangerous!” And he quickly pressed his back to her before abruptly turning when Victoria grabbed a bucket out of the closet. “I thought you were one of them! My love, stay back! If they attack again, I will protect you!”

“Get him back before I blow him up,” Victoria warned.

Victoria couldn’t help but try to withhold from rolling her eyes and threw the bucket of water drowning the last of the flames a few minutes later. She stared at the ruined stairs and groaned. When were they ever going to find time to fix the stairs with their lives like this?

“Forget it,” Victoria groaned tossing the bucket aside.

“I need to go to work,” Namjoo mumbled walking by.

“What!?” Victoria turned after her. “You can’t go to work! Not now! We need to stick together and find the King!”

“My love, thank goodness you’re not going out. It is dangerous going out there. We don’t know what monsters there are in this world,” Suho put his hand on Chorong’s arm. “My love…”

“Shut him up!” Victoria turned to Chorong irritated before looking at Namjoo. “You can’t leave! I’m even taking a day off from school!”

“But I’m not taking a day off!” Namjoo spat back before turning to open the door and muttered something Victoria couldn’t hear before she saw someone run up the steps to their house.

“Oh you’re home! I thought you would have left already!”

Victoria’s eyes widened when she saw Lee Dongsun holding a huge bouquet of yellow flowers in his hand. He shoved it into Namjoo’s arms before her sister turned around to look at her confused.

“Talk about thwarting reality,” Namjoo widened her eyes. “Look.”

Victoria peered out into the street to see all their neighbors suddenly out of their homes; some planting flowers on their lawns, others throwing rocks at each other and screaming.

“I’m really, really sorry about everything I’ve done. Please don’t call the cops. I don’t want to be fired,” Lee Dongsun apologized creepily. “May god bless you and please forgive me. Now have a good day.”

Victoria’s face contorted into confusion before she leaned back, “What the hell is with him.”

“Ha!” Namjoo snorted before handing Victoria the bouquet, “Well I’m going to go now.”

“Wait! Namjoo!” Victoria called after her, but Namjoo was already making her way down the stairs.

When Victoria turned around she heard Suho dramatically call Chorong, “My love,” again.

“Oh my god,” Victoria tossed her head back.

>_____<;;

Closing the door behind her she stepped onto the sidewalk just in front of her work place only to jump in surprise a few seconds later when a car rammed into another behind her. Namjoo turned to see that a Chevy had just bumped into another car. The two men walked out of their cars and Namjoo expected to witness an argument.

“Hey, look, I’m really sorry about that. Are you ok?”

“It’s just a scratch, don’t worry about it. Have a good day now,” they shook hands before returning to their own cars.

Namjoo’s face contorted into confusion. It wasn’t a scratch on the car. The bumper was dented. How was that a scratch!?

The two cars disappeared before she spun around frowning at the absurd incident before halting. The door closed shut behind her and Namjoo froze upon seeing the sudden disco light swirling rainbows all over the walls and streamers hung everywhere. She pushed a balloon out of the way before stepping any further in.

“Jaeho?” she called out for her boss.

“Whoa!! Hey, hey!” her boss pushed his door open with a wine glass filled with champagne in his hand. “Is this crazy or what!?” Then he placed a hand on his chest and sincerely shook his head, “I love parties. They’re just the best! Oh! And feel free to make yourself comfortable! Ignore all the phonecalls today! The party starts in an hour.”

He held his wine glass up as if to make a toast before winking and shut his door. She thought she heard him say, “Now, where were we?”

“What the heck…” Namjoo mumbled before spinning around when the door opened.

A brow slightly rose up when she saw Chanyeol step in. He didn’t look well and she had least expected him. There were slight bags under his eyes and his hair looked dishelved. Plus, he wasn’t in the usual attire he wore to work; just jeans and a t-shirt. She knew he should be at work, but what was he doing there?

“Chanyeol,” she started before he walked in and slapped the cup of pencils off her desk. She listened to them collide onto the floor noisily and stared at him wide eyed.

“No, you listen to me,” he growled, “do you know how much I’m hurting right now? What I’m going through? And you think it’s ok to dismiss it just because of a few words that will make me look like I’ll get over everything!? Who are you to do this to me!?”

Chanyeol let out an agonizing scream when he shoved the rest of the contents on her desk off. Everything landed on the ground beside her feet messily. When she looked back up at him his eyes were red and there was rage, pain, and frustration on his face.

“I waited for you! Every time you walked away! I always believed in you! But you don’t think about me at all!”

“No! That’s not…”

“You don’t and you know it! It’s always been you, you, you!” Chanyeol raised his voice each time. “What about me!? Have you thought about me at all!? Have you taken a freaking second to put yourself aside and put me first!? Because why!? Why am I always the last on your mind!? I waited for you!”

The tears fell from his face and Namjoo felt all will to retort disseminate. He was crying…

“I was disheartened every time, but I love you so I wait every time! What about me!?” Chanyeol shook his head in anger; his hair streaming about. “I gave up so much for you, and you want to walk away like this!? No! Because what about me!? What about my feelings, have you thought about me sincerely!? You think I’ll get over it each time!? Do you think I’m just a puppet sitting at the grasp of your fingers!? Now you’re telling me you can’t get over him, but what about me!? I can’t get over you! Why have you turned me into this!?”

Namjoo felt her lips fall apart and realization shake her world apart.

“You should have just walked away the first time and never come back, then I wouldn’t be like this,” Chanyeol cried, “I love you so much that I can’t even hate you for what you’ve done. My world falls apart every night I think about you, every time you walk away, and each time I remember how much you mean to me. What am I? In what way do I not measure up to your expectations? Why have you done this to me? You’re really awful, Namjoo. You don’t even know how much I hurt…”

“Chanyeol…”

“No! Don’t you dare call my name!” he screamed. “I know you hurt, Namjoo, but knowing that doesn’t make me feel any better. Why can’t I grieve over him with you? Why won’t you open up to me? Why can’t you talk to me about how you’re hurting? Why won’t you let me help you move on? You don’t have to do this alone. Why can’t you understand this?”

He hung his head and she watched the tears slip from his face. Pain eased through her body and she felt stress squeeze her from within. Suddenly getting over Luhan seemed like it would never happen, because she had more to focus on.

Chanyeol…

The thought that she was crushing him this badly never once crossed her mind. He was crying and breaking. It was something she had never seen before and she’d let it happen.

She was really bad.

>_____<;;

“Now you stay in here,” Chorong put her hands on Suho’s shoulders and looked him in the eye, but was unable to finish her sentence when he cut her off.

“My love,” he put a hand on her face, “you are so beautiful.”

“Ok,” Chorong sighed, “now listen to me…”

“Are they out there!? Are there more of them!?”

“Oh god…” Chorong closed her eyes and heaved a helpless sigh.

Then he whipped around and declared, “Do not worry, my love! For I am worthy and I will protect you! Stay here and I will go hunt those beasts!”

Suho walked around her and started for the door. Chorong immediately raced after him and pulled him back.

“No! No, no!” she shook her head. “Suho, you…”

“My love! Women shall not fight! For I am the hero of justice!” Suho slapped his chest theatrically walking around before turning around to face her. “Our children shall grow up in a world of peace, where no poverty and violence exist.”

“Children!?” Chorong repeated with a contorted face of shock.

“I will be right back!” he handed her the rose before stomping off toward the door.

“Suho!” Chorong shouted after him and pulled him back. “You can’t go out there! Listen to me, godammit!”

Suddenly exasperated she grabbed his jacket and pulled him back flinging him onto her grandmother’s bed before quickly running out of the door. Grabbing a chair from the side she stuck it under the doorknob and listened to it uselessly jiggle before heaving a sigh.

“My love! You cannot do this to me! You will be in danger! I have to protect you! My love!” Suho exclaimed against the door.

Placing her hands over her ears she she hurried down the hallway and down the stairs to where Victoria was staring out the window in the sitting room.

“Lock him up?” Victoria asked without turning around.

“Finally,” Chorong replied walking over.

“Good,” Victoria commented, “I was going to strangle him.”

Chorong dropped a frown on Victoria before asking, “What are you looking at?”

“At our neighbors,” Victoria said, “look at their kids! They’re drawing graffiti!

“That’s chalk, Victoria.”

“Who cares! They messed up our stairs; the whole neighborhood!” Victoria exclaimed. “And they’re throwing rocks at the other kids! This is so messed up!”

Chorong only shrugged when Victoria turned around to her, “Grim Reaper said reality is gonna be thwarted for a whole day.”

“I can’t take this,” Victoria groaned.

Chorong let out a shriek when a hand landed against the window, “It’s here!”

Jumping off the couch Victoria stepped back with Chorong cowering behind her.

“What are we going to do, what are we going to do?” Chorong repeated. “It’s so hideous.” Then she let out a loud yelp and ran back, “Oh my god! It’s going to kill us!”

“Get a grip!” Victoria turned to scream back at her obviously trying to suppress her fear.

Their window shattered when it jumped against it and tried to get in by continuously shoving its head in. Victoria screamed horrified and froze it before running over to her.

“Kill it! Kill it!”

“Why should I do it!?” Chorong retorted. “You do it! Fling a knife into it!”

“No!” Victoria shook her head. “Electrify him! Hurry! Before it unfreezes!!”

“No!! I don’t want to touch it!” Chorong refused and they argued back and forth repeatedly before the monster started hissing and gnawing its teeth.

They screamed and feel back a few steps before Victoria suddenly made it fly back.

“Come at me! I will defeat you!” they heard a voice screaming outside.

Chorong’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Victoria before running toward the broken window.

“Oh !” Chorong exclaimed. Then turning around to Victoria she screamed, “What are you doing!? Trying to kill him!?”

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Victoria shouted back.

Chorong swung back her arm to point outside the window and started to open before she heard the monster hissing even louder outside. Groaning loudly she ran out of the room and pulled the front door open. Dimissing the ugly drawings on their staircase she ran donw the steps to see Suho wielding a tiny statue belonging to her grandma’s collection at the monster.

“Stand back or I shall hurt you!” Suho warned.

Chorong glanced across the street to see her neighbors normally going about their day ignoring the monster on their lawn. Thank god for thwarted reality, she thought, for if that weren’t the case they’d have some real explaining to do.

“Suho!” Chorong shrieked when an arm that hadn’t been there shot out from the monster’s side pinning him down onto the grass.

She took a step forward, hesitated, and clenched her eyes shut realizing she’d have to do this if she didn’t want him dead. Then letting out a scream hurried forward and grabbed the monster’s sharp shoulder and listened to it scream while electrifying it. The long tail of hair on his bald head waved back and forth touching her arm, screaming in its high pitched tone wildly before it finally vanished.

“Ugh…ew!” Chorong mumbled when she opened her eyes to feel a kind of sticky goo on her hand.

“My love!” Suho jumped up from the ground to grab her arm. “Did he hurt you!” Turning around to search for more he loudly stated, “That beast! They’re so malicious! No, you get back.”   

Chorong almost tripped back before catching her balance and grabbed his arm, “No! You get back inside! Come on!”

>_____<;;

“He jumped outside?! He jumped!?” Victoria exclaimed at the doorway when Chorong pulled Suho back into their grandmother’s room.

“That’s it! We’re getting rid of all the windows in this house,” Chorong muttered underneath her break pushing down the window and locking it.

“My love, but windows are beautiful,” Suho went on, “your eyes are the windows to your soul, so beautiful and tender.”

“What the hell is he doing? Reciting a Shakespeare play?” Victoria crossed her arm while judging Suho.

“I don’t know what he’s doing,” Chorong turned back to look at Victoria and muttered, “did you see where that monster’s spirits went? The Grim Reaper said it’d go in the direction of the King.”

“I don’t know,” Victoria shrugged, “the east side of Korea?”

Rolling her eyes she stared at her sister, “Can’t you be any more serious?”

“The ocean! Such a beautiful place!” Suho added. “My love, we shall have our honeymoon there. Your soft and sweet skin under the touch of my lips. Soft, fluffy beds. Heaven! Heaven!”

“Ew,” Victoria commented.

She watched Chorong heave a sigh before asking, “Do you have a rag we can use to tie his mouth up?”

“No,” Victoria muttered, “but we have knives that could maybe shut him up.”

“Oh my god, Victoria!” Chorong muttered in disbelief.

“I was just kidding!”

Then she immediately turned when she heard a horrified cry echoing from down their hallway. When Victoria turned she felt something cold pass through her body and her eyes roll back in her eyes. She felt light headed and chills creep up and down her arms before she heard Suho screaming, “My love! Get back!”

“Help me! Save me!” the spirit pleaded stopping in the middle of the room. “It’s coming!”

When Victoria finally regained her senses she saw the thin, bony monster thumping down their hallway snarling as it neared at full speed; saliva dripping out from between its tiny sharp teeth as it hissed continuously. 

***By the way, I have a short story up for HunJoo! The Wild Life