Chapter 5; Jimseung

Unbelievable. A wall of rock had sprouted up right in front of Kyungsoo, and the jimseung had crashed into it. The wall crumbles, leaving him standing there, very disoriented. The beast is temporarily disabled. That being said, Su Min seizes the moment to grab Kyungsoo. She grips his arm and rips him away from the monster. The two sprint away, but sadly, it doesn’t take the jimseung long to catch up.

“How did you do that?” Su Min yells as they run, desperate to defeat this thing. Kyungsoo seems just as befuddled, and the running doesn’t seem to be helping him. She drags him into an alleyway where they press against the side of a house. His breathing is ragged and labored, and his eyelids are slowly falling shut from fatigue. “No help...At all! Just, wait here.” she instructs while helping him to sit.

Reaching inside her robe, she withdraws Mirae. The sheath gleams in the waning sunlight. She takes it out of the sheath, and in the light, the blade displays a rainbow of colors. Raising her fingers to she lets out a shrill whistle that echoes through the whole village. The jimseung turns towards her and scrapes its hooves on the dusty ground. “Come at me!” Su Min beckons, grinning smugly.

As the beast plows forward, she raises the blade behind her head and then in a single , sends it flying forward. The combined forces of it running and her let the blade penetrate deep into the beast's heart. It wobbles back and forth for a bit before falling to the ground with a resounding thud. “Heh,” she coughs as she steps forward and retrieves the dagger. Thick blood covers the crystal, and she uses the side of her robe to wipe it off. “That wasn’t that hard.”

Striding back to where she left Kyungsoo, she looks down at him. “Oh, get up, you’re not dead yet.” she asserts. He stands up and rolls his eyes at her, obviously annoyed.

“I did well, huh?”

Su Min scoffs, “And exactly what did you do?” she asks, an eyebrow raised inquisitively. He opens his mouth to speak but quickly shuts it as he realizes he’s fighting a losing battle. “Exactly.” she finishes, obviously pleased with herself. The two of them walk back to his Grandmother’s house, where she waits in a back room. She seems pleased with the two of them, and insists on letting Su Min stay the night there. And, of course, it isn’t polite to deny someone's request.

- - -

She sits on one of the small stone steps, sharpening her equipment. Her bangs have fallen out of her bun, and they fall in front of her face every so often. She sets her sword to the side and pulls out the crystal dagger, Mirae. A small growl escapes her lips when Kyungsoo takes the spot next to her. “Did I say you can sit next to me?” she asks, casting a fiery glance his way. He simply ignores her and stares at the dagger.

“It’s gorgeous.”

Su Min smirks, “I know.” Using a special steel instrument, she sharpens it, making sure to be extremely careful. “I have a question,” she begins, her gaze still locked on the blade. He nods, allowing her to go on. “What did it feel like, you know, to summon to Earth?” she asks, now looking directly at him. Her stare is so intense that Kyungsoo can’t help but feel slightly nervous.

“Like a surge of energy. At that moment, I felt powerful, but out of control.” he explains as he kicks some pebbles on the ground. “Why?”

She shrugs and looks away. “I was just wondering.”

Kyungsoo pulls the medal out of his pocket and stares at it, occasionally twirling it around. “You told my grandmother that you were looking for the Twelve Divine Forces. And I’m one of them, what now?” he asks, still entranced by the intricacy of the trinket. Su Min simply frowns, as if regretting her decision to start this. After sheathing her blades, she picks them up and stands.

“Simple. You have to come with me.” she states, not even bothering to ask his opinion on the matter. Frowning, he stands up, and despite his superior height, he lacks the confidence to intimidate Su Min. She tilts her head, waiting for him to talk back to her. She taps her foot impatiently, wanting to get this over with so she can sleep.

“Why should I?”

A shrill laugh comes from deep in and she walks past him. “You have to come with me, that is, if you want to save the world.”

- - -

The two walk along the dirt trail, Kyungsoo lags a few feet behind, as he’d rather do anything than talk to sarcastic Su Min. Although she is glad to be out of the woods, where everything is hard to see, she can’t help but feel wary about being out in the open like this. After a few hours of silence, Kyungsoo finally speaks up, “If you don’t mind me asking, exactly where are we going?”

Su Min freezes in her tracks and turns around. “Wherever I go, you’ll follow, isn’t that right? So, what does it matter?” she yells, her face becoming as red as usual. He frowns and stomps his foot slightly.

“It does matter!”

She throws up her hands as if admitting defeat. “The mountains. We’re going to the mountains, okay?” With that, she storms off, with Kyungsoo right on her tail. He smiles happily, proud of himself. Kyungsoo stares at the back of head and sticks his tongue out.

“Such a grinch.”