It was another dream and it was not her dream, she knew that much. But it was so vivid she couldn’t tell the difference at

times. This time, there was a girl sitting in a telephone box, bleeding all over and crying.

“Very sorry…. Very sorry….”

Her voice was muffled by the sound of rain, almost like a whisper, but she could hear it clearly as if she was saying it right

to her ear. But she ignored the apologies and the next words that came after it. “Don’t…,” the girl said, pleading, “don’t do

this….”

Her heart was hurting so much it made her body weak. She had to move away from the girl or she would break down even

more.

“Please,” the girl said again, “please don’t do this.”

But that was the only way. “Goodbye.”

**

Jessica woke up in tears to a familiar ceiling of her apartment. Again. She put herself up, leaning on to the head of the

bed, sighing. It seemed like all she did lately was passing out and waking up without her knowing.

She scanned her room, hoping to see her ghost sister, but she was alone. She turned to the window and flinched when

the sun ray hit her eyes. The rain had stopped.

Stepping down the bed, Jessica moved to the window, looking out to the city. The sky was clear with white clouds

scattered on it, creating wide spaces for the sun to shine down the earth.

She touched her forehead. Did something happen to her memory again? Did the girls she met yesterday mess around

with her head again? What happened after she fainted?

“Wait…,” she whispered to herself, thinking how could she remember fainting if her memory was erased? Then her heart

skipped a beat, her breath was choked and her fingers reached up to her lips. The kiss.

Blood rushed to her face, she felt her cheeks were burning. “Taeyeon…,” she muttered.

She remembered everything: the storm, the running, the flood, the girl that saved her from drowning and finally,

Taeyeon’s embrace and the kiss.

They kissed.

“Jessica…,” a voice came through the closed door and it startled Jessica. She stared at it for a while and then another

voice called her name again. “You can’t do this to Jessica.”

Jessica made her way to the door, opening it. Krystal stood there, right in front of the door and Jessica had to go through

her to get into the living room. Feeling her sister just went through her body, Krystal raised her shoulders in surprise.

“Unnie!”

There in the living room, Yuri was standing in front of Hyoyeon and Sunny, and a man she haven’t seen before. He was

tall, handsome and somewhat menacing at the same time.

“Yuri?” said Jessica, she went on to stand behind her.

“Sica,” Yuri looked to her. “These people….”

Hyoyeon had her hand on the forehead like she was exhausted. Sunny was looking at them intensely while the man was

calmly observe the situation. Far behind them, near the front door, almost hidden by the shoe cabinet because she was

so short, stood Taeyeon. Her expression was complicated, a mix between worried, sad and scared. Jessica held her

breath, feeling her heart thumping a bit faster when her eyes met the puny girl’s.

“She will be fine,” said Sunny. “Taeyeon will protect her. We will protect her.”

Once again, Jessica’s heart skipped a beat and she knew Taeyeon was feeling the same too because she flinched at

Sunny’s remark.

“What’s going on?” asked Jessica.

“You have become a Host, Taeyeon’s Host,” said Sunny.

“And they can undo it,” Yuri quickly said.

“But we won’t!” Hyoyeon raised her voice.

“That is not your decision to make!” Yuri shouted at the girl.

“And not yours to make either,” the man said and his eyes moved to Jessica. “It’s hers.”

Jessica took Yuri’s hand, squeezing it gently. She looked the man deeply in his eyes before averting her gaze to see

Taeyeon, who was still standing like a scared cat near the door.

“Jessica…,” said Hyoyeon but before she could continue, Jessica opened .

“Uh…,” she took a short pause, “leave.”

Hyoyeon sighed while Sunny looked at the man. “Byunghyun-oppa,” she said.

The man nodded. “She’s tired,” he said, “and I’m sure she’s confused too. Let’s just go. Let her rest and sort everything

out.”

Taeyeon bit her lower lip, turning around and opening the front door. Hyoyeon and Sunny walked to the door but

Byunghyun stayed.

“Thank you,” he said before leaving the apartment, leading the three girls out with him. Taeyeon lingered for a second

longer, her eyes locked to Jessica and the latter girl instinctively moved closer to Yuri’s back, hiding herself.

When the door closed, Jessica let out a relieved breath before plopping on the sofa.

“You okay?” asked Yuri.

Jessica gave her a small smile, “I’m good.”

**

The Head of Homeland Security Council of South Korea, Yoon Yoohee, stood behind a thick glass of the ICU in Central

Seoul Hospital, looking at an unconscious girl. Various tubes were strapped to her body, connecting her to complicated

machines on the side of the bed. She was young, barely hitting 25 years old.

“So much hatred from someone that young, that beautiful,” she said to a man standing next to her; the Secretary of Seoul

Police Department Consultant Division, Gaeil.

The man crossed his arms. “She lost her Host. Murdered.”

“By this serial killer we’re looking for?”

“No. Sunny had a look into her memory and she found another disturbing fact.”

Yoohee turned her head to Gaeil, bracing herself for the news.

“Her Host was killed by a Helminthia with the power to create fire, a female Helminthia. The killer we’re looking for is killing

normal people, searching for a proper Host for himself. He kills out of necessity. But this Helminthia who killed that girl’s

Host… is killing another Host with a purpose.”

“What purpose?”

Gaeil shook her head. “We don’t know. But if this Helminthia is still doing what she does, I am certain that we will find more

Hostless Helminthias and it is not impossible for them to create another chaos like this girl. Or the serial killer we’re looking

for.”

Yoohee massaged her forehead. “This is worse than April.”

“Much worse….”

**

Hyoyeon opened the door to their house, letting her friends inside before closing it behind her. Sunny went straight to the

kitchen to grab a glass of water while Taeyeon walked up the stairs.

“Taeyeon,” Byunghyun called her.

“Yes?”

Byunghyun studied Taeyeon’s face and then he said. “Are you okay?”

Taeyeon shrugged. “I… I honestly don’t know.”

The man let the girl retreated to her room. Inside, Taeyeon sat on her bed. There was a small framed picture on the bed

side, a picture of her and a girl. They were happy in the pictures with smiles on their faces, waving peace signs in the air.

Guilt made its way into Taeyeon’s heart. She lost that girl back in April, and even though it had been a while, she could

still feel the pain. She died because Taeyeon was reckless, she couldn’t protect her. And now Jessica filled that empty

shoes. Taeyeon was scared that the same fate would fall upon her. Afraid that she wouldn’t be able to protect her. But

she was even more scared of death. No matter how hard she convinced herself to just die, let go, but when she looked

death in the eye, she was scared, she gave up to the fear and made Jessica her Host.

“What should I do?” she whispered to herself, sliding down the bed to the floor and buried her face between her knees.

“What should I do?”

**

“That is by far the most painful thing I have ever felt in my life,” said Sunny, putting her hand on her chest.

Hyoyeon bit her lower lip. “Sorry.”

“Did it heal completely?”

Hyoyeon nodded, rubbing her chest. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Well, next time, please, don’t get hit by a lightning. It hurt so bad,” Sunny smiled and sat on the dining table.

“Right,” Hyoyeon smiled, “noted.”

 Then Hyoyeon stared at Sunny for a long time, too long that the latter girl felt a little uncomfortable and awkward.

“What?”

“Have you ever tired of being my… Host?”

Sunny raised her eyebrows. “Why?”

Hyoyeon shrugged. “It’s just…. You know…. I’m a parasite… and you are…. Don’t you want to be free? To live freely?”

Sunny took Hyoyeon’s hand. “I am free. Without you, I don’t feel like myself but with you around… I am me.”

**

Krystal sat on the sofa, Mika and Hana – the two little girl ghosts – were sleeping on her lap, snoring softly. The sun was

setting, sending orange light to the room. She was sitting in silence, looking to the two girls on the dining table; Jessica

and Yuri. The two had just finished a light meal and they were now talking about a serious matter. Yuri was telling Jessica

how Taeyeon knocked the flying girl out of the sky, fought with her, brawled in the storm. Throwing her to the walls and

she got thrown as well a few times before she finally won. Then, she told Jessica about the Helminthias, what they really

were just how Hyoyeon and Sunny explained it to her before.

“And the kiss,” Yuri said, “is called the Connection. You and Taeyeon are now connected….”

“And my energy will constantly flow to her, keeping her alive…,” Jessica finished Yuri’s sentence.

“Yes,” Yuri nodded.

“But I will feel nothing unless Taeyeon gets hurt?”

“According to them.”

Jessica played with her fork, spinning it, making it danced between her fingers. “Me and Taeyeon are connected…. And

I’m probably the only one in this world that could support Taeyeon’s life.”

“That’s why I told them to undo the Connection, break it. You can’t live like this, Sica,” Yuri leaned forward, pressing

Jessica with her words.

Jessica kept her head down but eyes were staring at Yuri. She sighed. “I… I don’t know.”

Yuri reeled back, leaning on her chair. “What?”

Slowly, gently, Jessica put her fork down, crossing her arms. “What if I want to… support her? Connected to her?”

Yuri was speechless.

“I mean… I’m helping her. I’m doing a good thi-.”

“I’m going home,” Yuri stood up, placing her dirty plate on the sink sloppily, before grabbing her stuff and walked to the

door.

“No, Yuri, wait,” Jessica followed the girl, catching up to her but Yuri was fast. She was already halfway out the door.

“Go get some rest,” Yuri said coldly and slammed the door.

Jessica let out a heavy breath, putting her hand on her head.

“Unnie?”

Jessica turned around. Krystal was looking at her, worried. “Yeah?”

“Is it… really okay?”

The older girl didn’t answer.

**

HwanHung Art Class was located just before the border of Seoul, a small music lesson place owned by a former diva in

South Korea. The place was teaching next generation singers and music players, and Seohyun was one of them.

Her piano lesson ended two hours ago but she stayed a little bit longer to wait out on the storm. After the flood had gone

completely, she went out the building, waving goodbye to some securities on duty that day.

She treaded the sidewalk alone, looking at the sunset. After the black cloud cleared up, the sky was so beautiful. Taking a

short stop at a crepe parlor, the girl continued on walking home, passing some happy people, thankful that the endless

rain had stopped and the flood had gone away.

When she took a turn at the park, she saw a man, drenched by the previous rain, sitting on a bench. He was leaning to

the back of the chair, arching his back and looked up to the sky like he was tired or far too weak to move.

Ignoring the man, Seohyun walked on but then she took a quick peek at him. He moved. He was now putting his elbows on

his knees, eyes averted from the sky to her back.

Seohyun felt her spine tingling, she walked a little faster.  But then her body moved to the side, flying and hit a tree. She

screamed, dropping her bag and the piano notes inside of it. Seohyun was pinned by an invisible force to the tree, a few

inches above the ground. Then the man she saw earlier walked up to her, placing his hands on Seohyun’s neck. His eyes

were wet, glimmering with tears. He cried.

“I’m really sorry…,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing?” Seohyun said, half whispering. Somehow, her voice had gone and she couldn’t speak properly.

The man put his face closer to Seohyun and the girl tried to scream, to shout, but no voice came out. “God! No! Go

away!”

His lips pressed against Seohyun’s, so hard. The girl’s body tensed up, pain crawled up her stomach, into , to

her head.

“Ah…,” the man broke the kiss, reeling back from the scared girl. He stumbled back, swaying on his feet. “What…

what…,” he stuttered.

The force holding Seohyun to the tree disappeared. She fell to the grass, panting and gasping for air.

“What’s happening?” said the man with his eyes to his hands, trembling hands. From the back of his skin, huge veins

popping up, dark like oil was flowing inside of him instead of blood. The dark veins spread all over his body like spider

web, covering his whole skin. “What are you doing to me?!”

His eyes turned black, taking all of his strength away and he fell on his knees before finally lying on the ground. In a fetal

position, the man retched, turning and tossing in pain.

Seohyun grabbed her bag, putting all of her stuff inside and ran. She didn’t know what was going on and she certainly

wouldn’t stay for the answer. She ran with all her might to her home, away from the park.

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