Eyes in the Dark

The summer semester was about to end, the sun was making the air feel heavy and warm. Trees were covered with fresh green leaves and summer flowers were spreading a sweet smell. Students and workers brought their lunches and ate them in the parks; some people were riding bicycles and children were out playing on the playground. The weather was beautiful,  perfect for playing football. It was definitely the favourite sport of the boys in Seoul High School - especially Donghae who wanted to become a football player in the future. The school was located in a extensive building; it had its own patio and playing field. Donghae and his best friend Hyukjae would spend on it all day running after the ball.

One day the boys were playing on the school field, with Donghae as a shooter. He would always do his best and kick the ball really hard. This time the ball flew out of the field and into the bushes.

“ Ya! Watch what you’re doing!” barked Minho.

“ Ok, I’m sorry! I’ll bring it back!” said Donghae and ran to the place where the ball was supposed to have landed.

He was searching for it for a while because the bushes were really thick, and when he finally found it, he leaned down to pick it up. Suddenly the boy saw a pair of yellow lights looking like a pair of eyes. It was hypnotizing and gave him an anxious sensation of his stomach being . He bent forward a little to look closely at the eyes, but then the boys at the field shouted his name. When he looked at the direction of the bushes again, the lights were no longer there. He ran back to the field and tried to forget about what he saw.

 After school had ended, Donghae was heading home, firstly walking along the narrow streets and taking the train after that.

It was a bit late, the sun had already set and the city was dipped in darkness. The monotonous knocking of the wheels made some people fall asleep. Some grandpa with a hat supported his head on the shoulder and was snoring loudly, a few steps further some student was drinking a cola from the can. Donghae saw his reflection in the window on the other side of the car. His mind was still occupied with the strange light that he had seen at school. For a fair moment he could even see the lights in the window, next to his own reflection. He widened his eyes and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of a falling can. The student picked it up and nodded his head, apologizing. Donghae looked at the window again, but the lights were gone. “It was just my imagination,” he whispered, calming himself down.

When he reached his house, his mother welcomed him and suggested she’ll heat up the supper for him. Donghae washed himself and changed his clothes. When he entered the kitchen the supper was already on the table; a kalguksu with beef. His mother sat down next to him and asked how his day had been.

“ Donghae-yah, you shouldn’t spend so much time running after balls. Your hobby is important, but father wants to send you to a good college. You should study a lot," she added.

“Haven’t you talked to dad about what I told you? I want to be a football player, mom. There are regional eliminations next month and it’s my big chance," said Donghae.

“Your father won’t be happy to hear about it.”

“Yeah, probably. But don’t worry. I have it all arranged right here.” He pointed to his head and smiled brightly. The woman responded with a smile and gently shook her head. Her little boy, she thought.  

After supper Donghae went to his room and took out his homework. That was the minus of coming home late: studying at night. He sat down at his desk and tried to focus on the given exercises.

His room was large enough to hold a bed, desk and a few cupboards and a closet. There were many posters of football players on the walls, even on his ceiling so he could gaze at it while falling asleep. On the shelves there were many cups and medals that he had won at the matches.

In the corner of the room there was little night lamp. Since he was a child Donghae had always been afraid of the dark. The lamp would lighten the night so he could sleep safely.

While browsing through his notes he felt somebody's presence. He turned his head around but there was just him in the room. He sighed, rubbed his eyes and got back to his homework.

It was already long after midnight when he finished. He stretched, stood up and dragged himself to the bed, lied down and fell asleep almost immediately.  

In the middle of the night he woke up. The room was bathed in a complete darkness; the light bulb in the night lamp must have burned out.

Donghae lazily sat up in his bed. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get used to the darkness. He sat like that for a moment. Everyone in the house must have been sleeping, everything was quiet and even his neighbour who was usually up at night had his lights turned off. Suddenly one of his medals fell down with a clatter. Donghae stiffened and began to listen. How was that possible, he thought. It’s impossible for a medal to just fall from a nail on the wall by itself. To his dismay something moved in the darkness of his room. There was a strange creature standing on the foot of his bed. It was black and much bigger than a human being. The creature began to approach him and it looked like it was even bigger than he thought. Now it looked like a huge black cloud over his bed. Donghae swallowed in fear.

The last thing he saw was the pair of yellow lights looking like eyes.