Nothing worth mentioning happened after that. I think I've slowly regained my posture and returned to my usual self. If that was fully possible at all. But the next big thing occurred when I left my room, taking a break from drawing all night (and morning). Of course, black and white pictures. I still haven't brought up enough courage to give the pastels another try.

Either way, I now make my way down the stairs, to find Soori and grab a bite to eat, but can't find her at her usual place. So I directly go for the kitchen, where she stands in front of the oven, cooking- whatever it is, I can't figure out by the weird smell filling the room. Glancing over her shoulder, I ask: "What are you cooking?"

And Soori flinches, but nevertheless smiles when she realizes it's me. "I was trying to make kimchi stew." Well, the insides of the pot certainly do not look much like the dish she'd been trying to prepare. I don't think I've mentioned before, but she at cooking. That's probably why none of the rare guests stay to eat here. "Let me take over here. I know how to do this." To be exact, kimchi stew is one of the few dishes I'm confident in. I'm not a master at cooking either, but it's enough to survive alone. My mother had insisted on having me take a cooking book with me to Korea when it was clear that I'd stay here by myself. That book is no more, though. Just like many other things that would've come in handy. Despite that, I continue moving around busily, while Soori assists, and she's fairly good at that. A concentrated and fast worker. It's actually the first time in a few days that I've had fun doing something else but drawing. My drawings were pretty...dark anyway. They turned out like that somehow, and I can't do anything against it. My head won't produce anything else.

The door in the foyer rings, and Soori scoots outside to greet the possible guest. I crack a smile. I could keep living like this, without having my work. I'll find something new. The sound of someone familiar speaking attracts my attention, and I turn off the stove, having finished cooking anyway. Deciding to see whether my ears hear right, I exit the kitchen, and find myself witnessing a strange scene. Daehyun had indeed been the one to enter the hotel. He is standing opposite to Soori, wearing an expression that I haven't seen before- or rather, no expression at all. His face is blank, serious. Only his eyes glare down at Soori as if she was nothing but an insect. Cruel.

"I- I can't offer you a r-room anymore," Soori says, her voice so weak and shaky that it's hard to hear. She desperately avoids keeping eye contact, and all color has drained from her face, making her look almost as bad as she had when I first met her. When Daehyun leans closer to her, she twitches. Still unwilling to meet his gaze. What he says next, I must've gotten it wrong, since he whispers it into her ear.

"Do you want to go through that experience again?" Seeing Soori's eyes widen remarkably, I consider trusting my ears again. But wasn't this- plain weird? It would, however, explain why Soori wouldn't want to talk about Daehyun whenever I'd asked. What had he done to her? Could he have done anything at all? He is ...special in a away, but I don't think he'd hurt anyone. Though I'm not too sure. I, too, have made experiences with his kind. I swallow hard, trying to not call those pictures back to mind- and it's enough to make them notice me. Daehyun does. In an instant, he flashes a smile- one of his usual, cocky ones.

"Oh. You're here. I'll stay the night," he declares, seemingly not caring that Soori had made clear that there was no room for him. But I don't dare to mention that.

"Is that so? That's great then I guess?" I say flatly, and only notice afterwards that it sounds so unlike me. He an eyebrow. "I was kind of expecting you to get all annoyed about it. What's wrong with you?" He gives me meaningful a look that must've meant something along the lines of 'is it because of ...that time?' , and I shake my head. I'm a little thankful thought. Since he doesn't voice it again. It is hard enough to refrain from thinking about it until my head bursts. "Now that you said it, I do dislike it," I declare. "But it's not like I can change it. This hotel belongs to Soori." I shoot said woman a glance, at which Daehyun directs his attention towards her as well. Making her freeze. The tense atmosphere between them kills me.

"Right, it's hers. And since she's such a close friend of mine, I'm lucky to have permission to stay." The way he glares at her is creepy, so I avert my gaze. Poor Soori. Whatever Daehyun did, I'll make sure to uncover it. He turns to me again. "I'll be in my room then," he says, making his way up the stairs. Only belatedly I realize that he didn't even take the room key with him. How does he intend to enter? As if reading my thoughts, Soori mumbles: "Room 27.." And then keeps quiet for a while, staring into nothingness. If I just knew what she was thinking about. I don't dare to leave her like this, so I softly grab her wrist and pull her into the kitchen, where I push her onto a chair and place a bowl of food in front of her. I haven't cooked for no reason. Taking the seat opposite to her, I hesitantly start eating, whilst keeping my eye on the older female. She doesn't seem to snap out of it any time soon. A sad view. "You should eat, unnie-" I barely finish my sentence when Soori opens .

"Room 27!" She suddenly screams, starling me bad. Her crazed eyes flick to me. "It's always been room 26. Until you arrived." I bite my lip, trying to keep my calm as I face that outbreak of hers. "What about it? Am I occupying his usual room?" She bobs her head up and down, her hands move around nervously, and I wish she'd just calm down and eat before the stew cools down completely. Then, her eyes look clearer suddenly. They pierce right through me.

"You're different. This hasn't happened before. I thought it ended. But now it's going to happen again." Her nails practically dig into the wood of the table, that tensed up is she. I can't comprehend at all. "What will happen again?" I ask, confused, but don't get an answer. Soori starts shaking her head violently.

"No, no. Not Eunji." And then: "Alive. Alive." I'm about to freak out at that point, so I place my chopsticks on the table and flee. I can't face her any longer when she's being like that. I need to ask Daehyun what's going on with her. When I pass the doorframe, the last words I hear Soori mutter are:

"Death. It'll be death."

It's giving me the creeps.

***

I practically flew up the stairs after that, locking myself in my room. I had tried to get to speak with Daehyun, who was supposedly staying in room 27. But when I knocked (and I kept trying for at least half an hour) no one opened. The room was dead quiet. As if he wasn't even in there, or at least not alive. I can't get Soori's words out of my head after that, so I start doing the only thing able to distract me: drawing, that is. Something happy. Something light-hearted. I think of cute animals, green grass, a laughing sun. Anything childish and colorful. I even use my new pastels, though I have sworn to not use them again- I automatically reached for them without even realizing. The harmless and happy pictures in my head, I project them all onto the white paper.

I don't remember how long I've been busy like that, until I hear laughter from outside. A woman's laughter. And certainly not Soori's. Do we have another guest? How unusual. I approach the door and press my ear against it, just to hear Daehyun's (unmistakably his) soft chuckle, followed by the woman's giggles. Unfortunately, I don't hear what they're talking about. But I wonder what he intends to do with that female, bringing her into his hotel room- I gasp. No way he was up to that, right? Blushing hard, I retreat and return to the small table. Only now I spot the mess I made. Drawing utensils scattered everywhere, even on the floor, along with many crumbled papers. I don't remember throwing any picture away though. Slowly, I approach the table. When my eyes land on the first image, my heart stops for a second. I stumble backwards and fall onto my bed.

"No way," I whisper, "I didn't draw that." The pictures are grotesque. Out of everything dark or spooky I've ever drawn, these must've been the most horrible ones. Faces I don't know, rid of emotion with empty, black eyes. Staring back at me. Sometimes only one person, sometimes a group. Their mouths slightly agape. And, against all logic, all in black and white. While being drawn with colored pastels.

This is too much for me to take. I need a whole fifteen minutes to calm down enough before I stand up, shivering, and approach the table again. With a swift movement, I wipe the pictures from the table, onto the ground. But they can't stay there either. I gather them all and throw them into the trash., but I feel that that's still not enough. My glance darts towards the window, I notice that it's dark outside already. I'm thinking about throwing them all out there, the terrible pictures. Not mine. I make a move to turn my plans into reality when a strange noise catches my attention. A scratching sound, followed by a thud. I freeze, holding my breath, as I crawl towards the wall on my bed, wrapping my whole body into the blanket. Then, a scream. High pitched and unreal. I nervously nibble on my lower lip, the silence that follows is even harder to bear. It makes me realize that I'm alone. That there's no one to hold me as I'm trembling underneath the blanket, even though it's not cold. Right when I think it's over, another scream resounds, louder, agonizing. By then I can't ignore it anymore- they originate from Daehyun's room. However, I'm unable to move in my fright, though I should go and see what's going on in the room next door. I know I'm being a coward. I can't help it. And so, I desperately cover my ears with my hands and press my eyes tightly shut, humming the first melody that comes to mind, waiting for the horror to end. Maybe I'm really going crazy. If not, the whole world around me does.

And I don't know how long I'll be able to stand it.

And this pretty much marks the end of everything I had written back in 2014 of this story. I'm.. a little sad? I think this is one of my better ones, and I miss being able to write so freely. It's like my writing skill and time all went into drawing and I can't even write one decent thing anymore (being out of the fandom doesn't help either). I also can't recall where I even wanted to go with this plot. I hate myself a little for that. I wish I still knew. I'm really sorry to everyone who just only found this. I'm being nostalgic right now. Thank you for reading up to here!