I eventually gave in due to his pout that I, with my self control, tried not to pinch off his cheeks. He seemed to be mature at times, but his face said otherwise. When I first met him, I thought he was a giant thirteen-year-old asking if I could aid his search for his parents, then when he stood taller than me, I was taken aback. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

No kidding. 

He drove us to a humongous mall that I've never seen in my entire life until now. Inside the building were many other stores scattered around food courts. There were expensive jewlers that I imagined only the wealthest people of Seoul would enter, clothes that revealed too much skin, skateboard and bycicle shops, you name it. To me, it seemed like miniature towns of clothing and necessities at every turn. I wasn't used to the neon and black lights that were flashing through the shop windows, so I would frequently jump, then ended up laughing at myself. We stood before a store that sold a variety of stuffed animals. I held up a tiger with lively and wide eyes and perky ears. It's coat was white with blue prints, marking his uniqueness. Yoseob chose a red bird with a broad chest from the shelf behind him. He placed the bird back to where it was and brought his arms to his chest so he looked like he had wings. Whistling through puckered lips, Yoseob sounded like the birds that used to perch on my windowsill. 

"Aye! How do you do that?" I ran and gazed at him in awe. He continued to whistle to my amusement.  

I wish I could do that to show off to my friends- 

I lowered my head once reality hit me at full force like a brick. 

In a matter of seconds, Yoseob his joyful grin dropped to a genuinely concern frown. He placed a comforting arm around my shoulder and shook me so that my head rested atop of his shoulder. Instantly, I felt myself giddy and stumbling over my own two feet; plus his. Compacted darkness hit me when I was off guard. I couldn't move or see anything. I could only hear the muffled voices of many people, and that was all I remember before I loss my sense of life. 

 

 

The pitch of the night was surrounding the trees and everything below them; including me.

I had nowhere to escape and no sense of directions. The darkness and trees, like soldiers, teamed up to corner me.

You would think that to scream for help would work, but the sudden lump in my throat didn't do me any justice. 

I was always scared of the dark even though I was seventeen.

I was never fond of the darkness ever since the day I watched the most demonic and hectic movie in my life.

I would walk in the woods to hike with my family, but I would end up returning home due to my paranoia.

It was so atrocious that I had to spend my nights with a lamp on. It was too large of a fear to handle so I just ignored up to this day.

But now, I couldn't escape or call for my parents. They slipped into a blackness such as this. I wasn't prepared to lock eyes with death.

Not yet.