Nurse Yeseung was on a break after her long fourteen hour shift, longer than usual due to the sudden storm that hit

Seoul. She was about to enjoy her hot noodle when three firemen brought an unconscious man into the Emergency

Room.

“Clear the room at the end!” said one of them in a hurry as he pushed the man further into the ER. “Don’t put him

together with the rest. We don’t know what he has.”

Yeseung stood up, rushed to the incoming patient, following the gurney to the room at the back. When she entered, the

three firemen created a wide space between them with the unconscious man in a very fast movement, like they were

scared.

“What do we have here?” asked Yeseung.

“We found him in the park when we scan around for flood victims,” said one fireman. “Just lying there….”

Yeseung moved closer to the unconscious man.

“I wouldn’t get too close to him if I were you, Ma’am,” he said again.

Yeseung stopped in her tracks and examined the man on the gurney. She cringed in horror when she saw the veins

underneath the man’s skin were black like they were filled with ink, mud even. It covered all of his body like a massive

spider’s web. “Wha-…. What happened to him?”

The three firemen shook their heads. One of them looked like he was about to barf. “It makes me sick….”

Yeseung closed the blind to the room. He shouted to the nurse station, asking for masks and latex gloves before shutting

the door. “An illness? Virus?”

One of the three firemen rushed out of the room. “I’m not staying,” he said and when he went out, a small built nurse

came and handed out masks to Yeseung and the remaining firemen. After putting on the mask and gloves, Yeseung took

an empty syringe from a drawer and carefully pierce the man’s vein with the needle.

Black liquid, thick and heavy, seeped into the small syringe tank and it made Yeseung backed away in an instant. She

stared at the syringe with wide eyes, confused and scared.

“What the hell is that?” asked the puny nurse.

Then the unconscious man opened his eyes, breathing in air through his mouth and coughed. Yeseung gasped and

reeled back in fear, dropping the syringe. The remaining two firemen were just as surprised because they were pressing

their backs to the wall while the small nurse held on to the door’s handle.

The man on the gurney sat up and like he had been drowning for a long time, the man was panting for air. Yeseung felt

horror down her spine when she saw the man’s eyes were completely dark, black, without pupils.

“Sir…,” said Yeseung, putting both of her hands in front of her, “are you… okay?”

The man looked at her with his black eyes, long and deep. “I….”

One of the firemen pulled Yeseung further back, afraid of what was going to happen.

“I…,” said the man again. “I feel….”

Yeseung waited in patience for the man to finish her sentence, trying to fight off the fear inside.

The man raised his palms, flipping it a few times in disbelieve. Like a newborn baby, the man was amazed by the sight of

his own hands, his fingers. “I’m… I’m okay.”

He made a fist with his hands and smiled, feeling an infinite amount of energy swirling inside him. “I,” his voice was clear, “I

feel great.”

Suddenly one of the firemen suddenly yanked his head back, screaming in pain. He fell on his knees with one hand

pressing his left eye. Blood seeped through his fingers and dropped to the floor. “My eye!”

Yeseung gasped, reeling back in fear as she saw the fireman bleeding from his eye. Then a short yelp came from the

puny nurse. The small girl’s eyes were open wide, tongue hanging out and hands were scratching her necks, as if she

was looking for something on it. She was choking, choked by an invisible string. The second fireman let out a grunt. He

put his hand on his chest and then he coughed up blood before collapsing to the floor.

“I’m filled with energy!” the man with black eyes shouted so loud it shook Yeseung’s insides. He stepped down the bed

and laughed.

Yeseung watched the man walked out of the room and in each step he took, everyone around him crumbled to the floor,

screaming, grunting in pain. The man reached the exit. He turned around and looked at Yeseung. The nurse dropped on

her knees, too fearful to even stand straight up.

“I’m alive again,” he said and at the same time, all the lights in the ER went out, enveloping the scared nurse in darkness.

Yeseung couldn’t take it anymore, she screamed her lungs out. Fear had overcame her.

**

Kim Youngah opened the door to her daughter’s room and found her jewel was still up, sitting in the corner with a dim

desk lamp.

“Seohyun-ah?”

Seohyun turned her head to her mother and smiled. “Yes, Mom.”

“You still up? Are you studying?” the mother walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Seohyun was reading a

book which she put away gently to look into her mother’s eyes with a smile.

“I can’t sleep.”

Youngah made a soft laugh. “There are not a lot of kids who choose to study when they can’t sleep.”

“I’m not most kids.”

Youngah knew that better than anyone. The girl was exceptional in almost every aspect. She excelled in school, bested

her friends in sports, singing and other skills such as; cooking and sewing. Seohyun even had a devastatingly beautiful

face. In addition to that, the girl was a sweetheart to everyone around her. A perfect package which would make every

mother envy and yearn to have her as a daughter. Seohyun was special.

As a mother, Youngah could read Seohyun like an open book and that night, she sensed that her daughter was troubled.

“Something bothering you, Dear?”

Seohyun bit her lower lip. She was never good in lying, especially to her mother, but she just couldn’t tell what happened

to her a few hours ago in the park when a man tried to attack her, kissed her and then somehow, he turned black and lost

his consciousness.

“Seohyun?” Youngah pushed a little harder.

“I…,” the young girl stopped, hesitated. “I hurt someone….”

Youngah smiled. “You? Come on, Hyunnie, a girl like you has no capability to hurt someone.”

Seohyun laughed and realized that her mother wouldn’t believe the story. “Uh, never mind,” she said cheerfully, “it’s

nothing big. I can’t trouble you with it.”

“Well,” Youngah rose and softly patted the girl’s head, “you know you can tell me anything. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Okay,” Seohyun nodded and watched her mother walked out of the room. When she finally alone, the girl sighed,

thinking about the man in the park and what she had done to him.

Closing her eyes, she whispered to herself, “God, what did I do to him? What exactly happened?”

**

“Oh, my God,” Sunny gasped and moved herself to stand behind Hyoyeon when they reached the ER of Central Seoul

Hospital. There were so many dead bodies in the room; young, old, men and women.

“What happened?” asked Hyoyeon, “Aren’t there police up there guarding Park Shinhye? How could this thing happen?”

Byunghyun, who was standing behind her, crossed his arms. “The police said they saw nothing suspicious, not until the

place lost power and a scream was heard from the room.”

Sunny, couldn’t take what she was seeing, moved away from the ER, crossing the police lines to the spacious parking lot.

Hyoyeon and Byunghyun walked behind her.

“And Park Shinhye? Was it her?” Hyoyeon asked again, looking up to the higher floor where Park Shinhye’s, the flying

girl, room was located.

“Nope,” Byunghyun shook his head, “Secretary Gaeil is up there right now and Park Shinhye is still in a coma.”

“What about CCTVs?”

“There were none operating in the ER. When the lightning storm hit the city’s power plant, a lot of the hospital’s breaker

exploded and they had to switch to emergency generators. They killed every unnecessary electronic device to support

the patients.”

“So we can’t tell what did all this?”

“Remember when I said the police heard a scream? We have a witness.”

Sunny cringed. “Someone saw this and survived? Is she okay? I will be in deep shock if I witnessed all of that…. Oh, no,

wait a minute.”

Byunghyun made an apologetic face, “Sunny….”

“I’m not ready for that, Oppa.”

“It’s a nurse and she is traumatized, hysterical, we had to put her down with sedative.”

Hyoyeon, catching up to the conversation, gasped. “Oh, you meant to make Sunny read her mind?”

Byunghyun nodded. “We need to know what happened here.”

Sunny looked away, shaking her head. “I don’t know, Oppa….”

“Do you know how many people in there last night?”

Sunny looked at Byunghyun in a complex expression, a mix of curiosity and fright. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know

the answer but she said nothing to stop Byunghyun from mentioning a number. “33. Seven of them were children.”

**

Yuri pulled her shoulder bag a little higher when she walked out the college, feeling the hot sun as soon as she out of the

air conditioned room. Her class was finished so she was going to wait for the next one in the cafeteria when Jessica called

her name and ran to her direction.

“Yuri!”

Yuri gave her a quick glance before continued on walking.

“Hey, wait,” Jessica finally caught up to her friend and they were now walking side by side. “Going to lunch?”

“Yep,” said Yuri flatly.

“What are we having today?” Jessica asked as cheerful as she could, smiling widely.

“Don’t know.”

Jessica then took Yuri’s arm and pulled her into a stop. “Yuri…. Sorry.”

Yuri sighed when she saw Jessica’s pleading face but then she looked away. “It’s… I’m not angry.”

“But you’re ignoring me.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you do. You didn’t even speak to me in class.”

“We’re not supposed to talk in class,” Yuri walked again, heading to the cafeteria.

“But…,” Jessica skipped ahead, catching up with Yuri’s fast pace. “You have that scary face whenever you’re mad.”

Yuri sighed and then she grabbed Jessica’s hand, “I’m not, okay?” she pulled the girl closer to her so their shoulders were

touching each others. “Let’s have lunch.”

Holding hands, the two walked toward the cafeteria. At lunchtime, a lot of people were out of classes enjoying the sun

after a week worth of rain and Jessica soon realized that almost every girl in there was looking at them “Yuri….”

“What?”

“The girls are looking at us. Probably they think we’re dating or something.”

Yuri stopped. She gave a deadly look at Jessica and asked, “You care about what they think?”

“Well…,” Jessica took a big gulp of her own saliva, “not really. But people will get jealous. You’re popular here, Yuri. I will

get in trouble.”

“I’ll protect you.”

Jessica cackled. “I mean it. I will be-,” then she stopped. Her eyes ventured far to the fences that separated them from the

street and then she smiled a little wider than usual. Yuri followed Jessica’s line of sight and found Taeyeon was standing

outside the gate, waving at her.

Yuri let Jessica’s hand go.

“It’s Taeyeon…,” Jessica shyly said with a smile.

“You… want to go with her?”

Jessica grinned. “Can I?”

“Why are you asking me?” Yuri shrugged.

“Right,” Jessica smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said and rushed to the gate.

**

Taeyeon gave Jessica a smile when the latter girl approached her.

“Hey,” Jessica chirped.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“Nope,” Jessica shook her head. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking you out.”

Jessica smiled wider. “What?”

“I told you I’ll take you on a serious date.”

**

From the cafeteria, Yuri unconsciously made a fist at the sight of Taeyeon. She watched the two girls walked side by side,

leaving the university, and she followed them with her eyes until they were far and out of sight.

“Excuse me. A little help?” a voice spoke from behind Yuri’s back and when she turned around, there was a girl standing

there. She had a long black hair, white skin and beautiful eyes. “Oh, sorry,” the girl was quite surprised when she realized

Yuri was not in a good mood. “Never mind.”

“No,” Yuri stopped the girl from leaving. “Sorry. I was spacing out.”

The girl was hesitant to say anything but when Yuri’s expression softened, she politely asked, “I’m looking for the dean’s

office. Can you help me with the direction?”

 “Um, it’s on the…,” Yuri pointed to the farthest building but then she stopped, “It’s kind of…. Ah, heck. I’ll take you there.

It’s easier that way.”

“No. If you could just point me the way, I could….”

“You’ll never find it. The place is like a maze,” Yuri gestured the girl to follow her. “I’m Yuri, by the way.”

“Oh,” the girl stretched out a hand for Yuri to shake. “It’s Tiffany.”

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