CHAPTER 5

28-01-2514

Jaehee stared back at Eve wide eyed. She could feel the colour gradually drain out her face as the truth sank it.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?!" she stuttered in panic. It felt as if something had been put in her stomach and was carving her insides hollow.

Eve calmly placed a smile on her otherwise expressionless face. She nodded steadily and attempted to usher the girl towards Yuhan's bed. 

Jaehee refused to move—rather, she was unable to feel her legs. She leaned on the doorway, her left hand shaking the door knob uncontrollably, filling the room with the tinkering clatter. She brought her free hand to her forehead as her face curled into itself in a sort of grotesque expression. Each excruciating gap of silence was filled with the heavy echo of her heartbeat.

Hesitantly, Jaehee's gaze drifted away from the floor, across the android's unmoving face and towards her brother's bed. He lay there motionless, knowing what the blinking lights on his wrist meant made him appear less alive in his sister's eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking, how'd you come to know about this 'happening,' Jaehee-nim?" Eve asked, momentarily interrupting the girl's thoughts.

Something about the way Eve phrased her question made Jaehee uneasy, as if the description of the situation sounded accidental or coincidence—and an android shouldn't be capable of curiosity.

Jaehee eyes widened. "What are you?"

Eve kept her unwavering smile plastered on her face. She patted down her skirt, though there wasn't a speck of dirt on it. 

"Shall we have some tea?" she asked then, without waiting for an answer, walked pass the clattering girl by the door and towards the kitchen table where tea sat ready to be served as if she had already foreseen this. 

***

"Yes, Yuhan is a player of the virtual reality game Paradox Online," Eve started as she settled a cup of tea in front of Jaehee. 

The curl of steam slipped through the air and floated just above the cup. Jaehee wondered if it may be poisoned and decided it was better not to touch it. Instead she laced her fingers and placed her hands on the table and straightened in her seat. She tightened her fingers into each other to keep them from shaking. The pounding in her chest overpowered the pain between her whitening knuckles.

"I figured that out already," she replied as flatly as she was capable.

To her surprise, Eve leant forward and cradled her chin in her palm. "I'm curious as to how." The words sounded odd coming from her. The unfamiliarity in her tone and expression sent a chilly creep of electricity down Jaehee's spine.  

"The bracelets," Jaehee replied abruptly. "The white ones that are used to play the game, Yuhan has one." Her sentences wouldn't run as smoothly as she hoped but her mind was too filled with questions and not answers that it made it difficult to explain.

"The band," Eve corrected, "is indeed used to play the game."

Jaehee frowned, she felt like the tables had turned and that she became the one being interrogated. She waited a moment as she went over the question she wished to ask. "How'd he get the band?" she pressed cautiously.

"I offered it to him."

Jaehee's eye bulged out their sockets, her seemingly calm expression immediately transformed into one of morbid hatred and disgust. 

"Offered?!" Jaehee scoffed, choking out the word. "You can't offer him anything! He can't even feed himself! Let alone sit up, shake or nod his head—how can he refuse or accept anything?!" 

"Anyone can refuse."

Eve's voice rang in her ears, growing louder by the second. 

Jaehee jolted out her seat and slapped her hands onto the table. "But my brother isn't just anyone!" She growled. The tea in her cup shook violently between her hands

Eve sat in her seat completely still like a hauntingly beautiful portrait, staring expectantly up at the girl. 

Jaehee squeezed her fists shut so tight she could feel her nails dig into her palms. "Why'd you do it?"

Eve waited. The silence sank so deep into the bottom of Jaehee's stomach it made her feel sick. Gradually the weight pulled her back into her seat.

 "I was instructed to," Eve finally answered once the girl had resettled. She did not elaborate.

With this, Eve stood up. Surprised, Jaehee almost fell back in her chair. She looked flustered as Eve swept her uniform as usual and bowed her head, like nothing had happened to destroy their relationship.

"I believe it is time for dinner," she paused and added, "Do you have anything you would like to request?"

Jaehee looked up at her in disgust and waved her hand. "Don't bother. I've lost my appetite."

Eve bowed a second time and dismissed herself.

'I was instructed to,' but by who? The eerie mystery began to creep under Jaehee's skin. She could feel it pluck the hairs on her arm like a harp and it was no doubt she had gained more questions than answers.

***

Jaehee dragged a seat beside her brother's bed. She sat on it with her feet on the edge and her knees tucked towards her chest, a tablet balanced on top of her knees. The light hum of Eve's charging station could be heard from the other room but besides that, the house was oddly quiet for the middle of the day. 

Jaehee's eyes flickered from the tablet's screen to her brother's face. He was awake, his half-open eyes gazing up at his sister.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find a way out," Jaehee whispered before she locked her attention onto the screen in front of her.

She opened a browser and began to search news about, or any way related to, Paradox Online. 

Soon enough it was well into the night and Jaehee's eyes were stinging, her mind buzzing and her fingertips warm from the heat of the tablet. She sighed as she came upon   the last blog post mentioning the game. She had looked through millions of articles, news reports, reviews, social media posts and even blogs mentioning the game. They all raved on about it with high expectations, questions and short reviews but something always seemed to be amiss. For example, no one said a negative comment about the game not pointed out any side effects that what would be expected from such bold technology, and no one mentioned any background information about the game—there was no information on the creators, the company, the artists, producers etcetera. Nothing. 

Jaehee felt a surge of cold electricity zap up her back, her hairs lifting up like they had been rubbed by a balloon. She bolted out of her seat and immediately turned off the tablet. She glanced at her brother. He stared sheepishly at the ceiling. 

Jaehee shook her head. She felt so confused, lost and for some reason frightened like she was up against something she couldn't see. She felt like she was fighting in the dark with a cold-blooded assassin, armed with a mere spoon. Her bottom lip was trembling so violently she had to bite down on it. Just as she began to taste blood, she came up with an idea.

***

The darkness was skidding close to pitch black when a customer entered the store.

Jaehee was engulfed in white light the moment she stepped through the door. She looked around fretfully, unsure where to start as her field of vision flooded with all sorts of games and gadgets. There was aisle after aisle of every kind of device imaginable. Very few people were in the store at this hour and the ones that were, were quizzically analysing a device in their hand and comparing it with one on the shelf in front of them.

Silently, apart from the light tapping of her shoes, Jaehee crept towards the counter. The store had installed an android for the cashier like many other stores did for the less busy times of day. The android was male with rich brown skin and shocking green hair that stood out in odd angles.

“May I help you?” the cashier asked as he stared down the girl who was obviously unaccustomed to her surroundings.

Jaehee scanned around her, not completely sure what she was in search for. She turned to the counter, her bottom lip hanging as she bit down on it. She stepped in and in a whisper asked if she could purchase Paradox Online.

The cashier blinked, if he was capable of more emotions he would probably question why the girl was whispering, but since that wasn’t the case he turned around and searched for the game. He raked through some compartments behind him and came up with a white band. He handed it to the customer and politely named the price.

Jaehee left the store with empty pockets. She replaced the space where her money had been with her hands—a white bangle locked around her wrist.

***

Before creeping to her room, Jaehee ensured Eve had been turned off and her little brother was alright. Yuhan was lying in his bed, the lights of the band peeping out from the darkness as he slept.

Despite the warm weather, Jaehee wrapped herself in her blankets and curled on her side. She stared at the band strapped on her wrist. A sudden fear surged within her—there was something mysterious about the game and its origin. Anxiety pulsed through her veins and for a moment the girl wondered if she’d ever fall asleep. She then wondered if she could ever meet her beloved brother in the game, walking and talking like any other person—and with that dream, Jaehee drifted to sleep.

***

Jaehee gasped as she sat up, her hands clasping her chest. Her eyes instantly began to flutter at the sights around her. Only a breath of air escaped her lips as she took in her surroundings—it all seemed so real, from each blade of grass between her toes to each wisp of the breeze in her face. She was so mesmerized by the scene she momentarily forgot her reason for playing the game.

She rose up to her feet, fighting the dizziness as she took a step. Around her were flocks of people cladded in the same meagre clothing, clumsily hurling themselves towards their targets.

Jaehee stared down at her bare feet then at her clothing which had changed instantly upon entering the virtual game world. She was wearing a ragged brown dress that flared out at her waist and came down to her knees like sad decaying leaves. She carefully brushed at the skirt wondering if the filthiness of it could be wiped off but the soil seemed to be built into the fabric. Jaehee had decided on a Necromancer class after her long hours of studying the game—the class was a jack of all trades and efficient for soloing since they were able to summon monsters.  

In the next few minutes, several message boards appeared out of nowhere. The girl impatiently skimmed through each chunk of text before waving it away, only to be greeted by another one— ‘Why’s there so many? I have no time…’ After reading all of them there was one vivid question in her mind—‘How am I going to find Yuhan?’

The first time Jaehee tried to attack a rabbit she stuttered so much when reading the attack spell that the prey just wandered away. She decided to study and it took Jaehee the best of two hours to memorize the basic attack spells.

Jaehee’s head was throbbing by the time she shut the spell book she had received automatically the moment she chose her class. She rubbed her temples. She had never studied so hard, when she looked down at the spell book again she could memorize each page word by word as if she could see-through the cover.

The book was about the size of her palm. The crisp white pages were filled with basic magic attack spells in printed text, accompanied by clean diagrams. Jaehee had expected something more antique and old fashioned but figured since the spell book held the basics of the basics and were given out to each new Necromancer they had to be mass produced—a rarer spell book would most likely be worn out and personally written from an ancient legendary magician.

All the hard work paid off, after memorizing the spells they flowed out much easier and all the prey were almost instantly caught in a tangle of symbols and enchantments. For the next few hours Jaehee grinded and took on quest and quest with only the hope of finding her brother, clinging desperately to that tiny bit of hope.

Jaehee continued to work until her sweat could peel off in layers and her pores were blocked by dirt. She focused on her stats and levels like each digit was crucial to keeping her alive.

Once Jaehee had reached level 10 a message board instantly appeared in front of her. ‘Talk to Cassandra near Hephaestus City.’ Obediently without much more thought, Jaehee rushed over to Hephaestus City to find the named NPC.

Cassandra was a young woman that was so far away from the other townsfolk that she appeared exiled, which Jaehee later found was true. She was sitting beside a crumbling abandoned house in the far corner just outside the city walls.

Cassandra looked up from her palms, tears were running across her hollowed eye sockets and cheeks. She looked frail and dirty but nonetheless beautiful.

The women sat up, both shock and desperate hope in her face. “Will you listen to me?” It sounded closer to a plea than a question.

Jaehee nodded and cautiously walked towards her as she was ushered closer. Cassandra’s voice was soft and broke between the cracks of her tears.

“No one is listening to me,” she started, “all because of that malicious rumour! I never seduced the prince—no—he –he—!!” Cassandra broke down into tears.

Along the way to finding her, Jaehee had asked several other NPCs where she might be. They all gave her a disgusted look, some cursed and others reluctantly gave her where she may or may not be. ‘So that’s why they were all like that…’ Jaehee awkwardly waited a moment before pressing Cassandra to carry on.

She wiped her tears and apologized multiple times before continuing. “When people started cursing me I ran out into the forest,” she said this as she looked over her shoulder where a dense forest was. “I accidentally bumped into the foxes and overheard them planning to invade the city. I rushed back to warn everyone but no one would listen to me…” she paused and murmured, “because of the rumours.”

Jaehee pursed her lips, unsure what she was meant to do about it.

Cassandra then shuffled in her seat and pulled out a bottle of liquid from a pocket in her apron. “My father’s an apothecary and he used to teach me how to make potions,” she hands the bottle to Jaehee, “this will make you a fox for 2 hours, please find out the foxes’ plans and tell the citizens—they may listen to you!”

A chime rang and the quest box appeared before Jaehee.

‘Cassandra suspects the foxes are planning to attack the city but due to malicious rumours about her no one will listen to her. Use the transformation potion from Cassandra to sneak into the foxes’ lair and confirm their war plan.’

Jaehee nodded and wasted no time. She uncorked the bottle and drank the brown liquid. It tasted like the earth with a pinch of bitterness. Jaehee skewed her face in repulsion. Gradually she noticed Cassandra grow taller. The bottle in her hand became bigger and harder to hold onto, it slipped out of her hands which were now covered in orange fur. Her fingers began to curl into themselves and claws popped out of where her knuckles previously were. After some time the world stopped enlarging and Jaehee found herself on all fours, covered in fur and staring up at Cassandra.

Jaehee had transformed into a fox.

***

It had been a good 4 or 5 hours since she had entered the game, Jaehee calculated as she cautiously made her way through the forest. She had spotted various rabbit traps already and she was sure they’d be able to capture a fox as well.

Cassandra had given her some vague directions and description of the lair before she had departed— they made more sense at the time but now every tree looked the same. Jaehee had become too small to see or recognize the details Cassandra had described:

“Go straight for 15 minutes until you reach a small tree about 2 meters tall…a tree with a squirrel hole and a bird’s nest… 5 minutes… a mossy rock…”  

“But everything looks the same!” Jaehee whinged in frustration while recalling the directions. She had been walking straight for half an hour and all the trees all looked above two meters tall. Suddenly there was a rustle in a bush. Jaehee froze. Her paws gripped into the ground until she could feel dirt pushing her nail beds. A wild dog—no, a whole pack of them, crept out from the darkness. Their patched fur was a mess from running through the woods all day and hunger grumbled in their piercing eyes.

Jaehee stepped back, her hind legs trembling. ‘.’

The pack of dogs grinned, exposing their gleaming teeth, drooling just by the thought of fresh meat.

Jaehee could hear nothing but her breathing, her heartbeat and the grumbling of the dogs. Then they pounced. She fell on her back from shock and squirmed to her legs. Jaehee bolted away, kicking dirt in their face. And ran.

They were right behind her. If she slowed down for a fraction of a second she’d be dead. If she tried to attack them she’d be dead. Whatever she did, she’d be dead.

Jaehee’s heartbeat was plummeting into her chest, her spine vibrated loudly as it extended and contracted with each leap. She lunged over and under roots, swerved rocks, ducked attacks and they were still on her tail. She was running out of stamina and still had no idea how to get out of this mess. Suddenly the pack of wild dogs split. After ten minutes of chasing they now split into three smaller groups. They were on all sides, gradually closing in on her. Jaehee would have whimpered if she had the breath to. But was dry and her stamina bar was depleting. Then she tripped.

Jaehee tumbled over her head, landing on the side of her stomach. She winced. The pack of wild dogs though had halted. Jaehee looked up at the back of a player. They picked up a long sword from the ground—which must have been what she had tripped on. It gleamed in the light as the player brought it up and swiftly sliced through the chest of the leading wild dog. It slumped onto the ground. After a moment of confusion the rest of the pack looked at each other. The player lifted their sword a second time and before they could bring it down again the remaining of the dogs dashed back.

Jaehee breathed heavily and sighed in relief. The player turned around to face her. It was a boy. A familiar boy. Jaehee felt something swell in her chest. Something bloated and made it hard to breathe. ‘Yuhan.’

Yuhan flicked his sword and the dog’s blood slipped off the blade. He stared at the fox for a minute before realizing that it was another player.

“You’re a player?” he asked bluntly.

Jaehee stared at him dumbfounded. “Y-you spoke…” she murmured still in a daze. ‘He’s standing by himself, he killed the dog, he’s healthy, he’s strong, he saved me—’

“What?” Yuhan frowned with a perplexed look.

“Ah!” Jaehee’s dark fox eyes widened. “Y-yes I am. I’m on a quest,”—‘he doesn’t recognize me?’

“Oh, so that’s why a low level like you is lurking in the forest? I bet you had to drink a potion just to transform and—ah!” he covered his mouth, stopping himself.

Jaehee frowned. ‘Did he always have such a foul attitude?’

Yuhan dropped his eyes. He was making a hurt expression like he was the one insulted. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the remaining blood from his sword. “W-where are you going?” he stuttered without looking from his weapon.

The fox blinked. “I’m looking for the foxes’ lair?” she replied unsurely.

Yuhan paused for a moment before putting back the piece of cloth and walking away. Jaehee stood in her spot in utter confusion before he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “It’s this way,” he called out before continuing along.

Jaehee nodded and ran after him. ‘He hasn’t had much opportunities to talk to anyone… ’ she thought to herself, ‘he must be nervous.’

“I—I’m sorry about earlier,” Yuhan muttered after a long silence. They had been walking in silence for some time with Yuhan leading and Jaehee following a few steps behind him.

“I’m—” Yuhan paused for a moment, rethinking his words, “not used to talking to others,” he admitted. “My sister would be disappointed…” he sighed in disgrace.

Jaehee’s ears popped up. “Y-you have a sister?” she asked with more curiosity as to how he would answer.

He hesitantly nodded. “She’s the one who takes care of me the most,” he confessed in embarrassment.

Jaehee could feel fluttering in her chest and excitement build up in her compacted body. She caught herself smiling. “Don’t worry,” she assured her oblivious little brother, “she’d be proud since you saved me.”

Yuhan stopped in his tracks and timidly looked over his shoulder. “You… you think so?”

Jaehee smiled and nodded. “What’s your sister like?” she prodded, grinning inside.

Yuhan lifted his brow and pressed his lips. “She worries too much, over-dramatic and works too hard and… and it makes me worry,” he paused and added hesitantly, “because I know she’s only like that because of me.”

Jaehee’s heart squeezed. “Thank you,” she murmured, “for saving me back then.”

Yuhan nodded. His face grew warm as he turned away and continued walking. “Y-you should walk faster! I won’t be able to tell if you’re getting attacked again if you’re behind me!” he said, embarrassed and regretful once he had. Jaehee was only able to catch a glimpse of it, but he smiled.

After a few more minutes they arrived at the lair. Yuhan waited nearby as Jaehee slipped inside the den. It was swarmed with foxes cladded in armour, a peculiar sight. They all rumbled and clashed together. Some of the foxes had the muscular build of a beast and stood on two instead of four and others were still scrambling on the ground like Jaehee.

“Fellow fox!” a large armoured fox on two legs called out to Jaehee, oblivious of her true being. “Prepare your finest weapons and armour! We will be attack Hephaestus City in three days!”

Jaehee bit her trembling lip. ‘I need to know their strategy…’

“W-what’s out plan again?” she asked dumbly.

The armoured fox raised a brow, “We attack at daybreak while the oblivious citizens are still wiping their eyes of sleep! We are no cowards! We attack!!” and with this impromptu speech the foxes all cheered.

A chime rang and a message board appeared congratulating Jaehee and instructing her to report to the city guards.

The foxes’ logic was twisted. They were much less sly and much shallower than she had anticipated but none of that mattered. ‘None of this matters anymore.’ Jaehee thought, ‘I’ve found my brother.’

Jaehee slipped back out of the den. ‘I’ll tell him it was me all along. I will.’ She decided excitedly as she turned a corner to the tree where he was waiting.

Where he was supposed to be waiting.

Where he said he would wait.

Where he no longer was.

Author's note: I MISSED YOU GUUUYS!!! I have returned. Yes. I'm sorry orz I've just entered uni and still trying to get the hang of it (we're on mid-semester break)... and I need to get my liscense... and a job... I haven't even bothered with the last 2 yet... BUT! I have made a return *punches air*

On a not-personal-life and not B.A.P note: I'm going to the BTS Concert with my little sister!! YES! our very very verrrrry first concert! AND we got category 1 seats! floor seats! (there's no standing area) AND we get high fives TT TT... most expensive highfives... but... hobi (our parents paid anyway LOL) 

I also need to confess. I love Jung Hoseok.

But.

I still love Moon Jongup too.

Sorry.

Also I'm sorry. I just realized none of the B.A.P members are mentioned at all in this chapter. Oops.