The Top of the World

He opened his eyes and realized he was in an unknown place. Couldn’t say it was a room; he was lying a the stone floor but there were no walls around him. Instead of that he was able to see the sky, the clouds and some bits of sun rays. The wind was blowing strongly, carrying no scent. The boy looked around. It must have been some kind of a tower. He crawled to one of the floor’s ends and looked down, but no matter how hard he was focusing, he couldn’t see the ground.

“ What is this place?” he whined softly. He sat up, resignedly and confused. The last thing he could remember was his dark room and the pair of two yellow, eye-like lights.

Donghae was imprisoned in that weird place; a tower, on top of the world. He lay in the centre of that small square in the sky. Didn’t know for how long, time didn't matter. He listened to the howling wind and hummed quietly to hearten himself. And what now?, he thought. I’m going to die if I stay here and I’m going to die if I jump down. I don’t want to kill myself. There must be a way!  In despair, he was looking straight ahead. Not only the unknown was scary, but the nothingness. He was surrounded by it, burdened. The one thing he could do was changing his position, but no matter where he was looking, there was a void. The boy closed his eyes, but it wasn’t much help either. 

The wind was constantly blowing. Donghae stopped paying attention to the sound it made.

Suddenly, a scratchy noise pealed. The boy's eyes snapped wide open and he turned his head in the direction the sound came from. He slowly sat straight and realized somebody was climbing up the tower. When the fingers of the climber appeared on the edge, Donghae desperately lunged for him.

“ Help! HELP! I’m here! Please!” he started screaming, hyped by a sudden hope for a change of fate. He reached out his hand with the intention of helping the climber, but when he cocked his head so unexpectedly, the man must’ve been scared of him. He let go of the wall and with a shadow of  horror on his face, he fell. Donghae missed to grab his hand and could only observe how the man disappeared in the endless abyss.

Completely shocked and broken, Donghae began to cry. He gripped his head and let out a scream. The sight of the man falling down was replaying in his mind over and over.

The chance of company and help he had a second ago had vanished. Now the pain he felt from the beginning was starting all over again. There was nothing more hurtful than the feeling of hope fading away.  

The hours had passed. It was getting darker; the night was approaching slowly. On the dark blue firmament the stars started appearing. Donghae remembered how his father was telling him about the stars and constellations. His favourite one, Sirius, was blinking at him from a far distance.

It was very cold. He was wearing his pajama, which wasn’t the warmest one; it was the beginning of summer after all.

He curled up, embracing his knees with his arms.

What do I do now?

In that moment the boy realized that it wasn’t the darkness scaring him, but the icy cold loneliness and the feeling of bleakness.

Lullied by the howling wind and in spite of the hard floor, Donghae had fallen asleep, hoping that sleeping was a way of escape from this place. Since people were falling asleep to hide from the merciless reality, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to try to do this the other way around, he thought.

Hyukjae took a swing with an axe and struck the door with all his strength. The wood broke and a small crevice appeared.

Those cases must have been connected. The boy felt that. He also was almost sure that he’d find some clue in the closed room. The police was stupid for not trying to open it, even if that meant to destroy it.

Another swing and strike. And then another one. Hyukjae was working like crazy. He was really strong, despite his slender body. Besides, the adrenaline woke extra energy within him. But he didn’t care if he’d have troubles later. His friend was missing and he’d do anything to find him.

The boy put away the axe and forcefully ripped off few pieces of wood. After the ruckus he had made, the only sound now was his own breath.

It was very dark in the room; there was no window nor lamp to light up. It was almost like the air had a different texture; the vibe was not pleasuring. Hyukjae stood in front of the hole he had ripped open and stared into the darkness.

Silent voices sounding like whispers could be heard from the inside. They were mixing and getting louder with each second. When they suddenly stopped, Hyukjae had a premonition and ducked.

In that very moment, over his head, huge shadow appeared. It looked like smoke but it must’ve been something living which wasn’t happy to be disturbed. The boy could feel the anger of the shadow. It flew down the stairs and out of the house.

When sure that the danger was gone, Hyuk got up and looked inside the room. His eyes were slowly getting used to the darkness and he could now see that something was lying on the floor. He wasn’t sure if it wasn't another monster.

It wasn’t moving even when the boy walked inside the room and said “Ya!”, trying to provoke it.

Hyukjae stared at it for a while. Gradually, the figure started to be more recognizable. He swallowed, trying to hold back his tears.

“ I found you.” He whispered.

A few meters in front of him was lying his best friend, Donghae. Afraid that the boy was dead, Hyukjae approached him and carefully propped him up. He was alive but unconscious.

Hyuk hugged him and was trying to pull himself together. He remembered about the cellphone in his pocket. With a shaking hand he dialed the emergency ambulance.

“ I found you.” He said again.    

Detective Yunho was sitting in his small kitchen and ate his breakfast. Jia, wearing an oversized t-shirt was drinking coffee from a mug. She was leaning on the white kitchen’s unit; with the slim body of a dancer and her messy red hair she looked adorable.

Their flat was small, since both of them weren’t super rich. A two room apartment with a kitchen’s unit and a bathroom. Thanks to Jia’s efforts, the flat was comfy and warm, with the typical atmosphere of a woman’s presence in it. Her trumpery lying everywhere was driving Yunho crazy, but he would have been lying if he said that it wasn't something he also loved about her.

Jia stretched lusciously and said she’d go take a bath.

“Maybe you’ll join me?” she asked.

“You know it’s impossible. Every time I see any kind of water tank it gives me the chills.  I guess I’m going to be afraid to the end of my life,” he said bitterly.

“ Don’t be too hard on yourself.” The woman kissed his forehead and left for the bathroom.  A few moments later, the sound of pouring water could be heard.

Yunho was finishing his meal when his cellphone rang. The man answered it and gasped in shock. He stormed out of the kitchen, grabbing his jacket and putting on his shoes.

“What’s going on?” he heard Jia asking.

“ I gotta go. One of the missing kids has been found.”

In the hospital’s corridor he found Donghae’s parents; his mother whimpering and holding her husband's arm. The man looked strict, but obviously he was worried as well. They were talking to one of the doctors. Yunho bowed and introduced himself.

“The boy was found in a state of burnout. He’s presently in a coma but his life is not in  danger.” said the doctor.

“We were so afraid! Our baby boy! We thought that we lost him!” sobbed Mrs. Lee and got  soothed by her husband.

The detective assured them that everything is ok now and asked the doctor again:

“ Who found the boy?”

Only now he noticed the presence of another person. Lee Hyukjae was standing in the door to the patient's room. He looked miserabe but some kind of a strange power was emanating from his gaze.

They sat in the hospital’s canteen. Yunho ordered a coffee for him and an orange juice for Hyuk. The boy told him about the events of the previous night.

“ I saw the message on your ipad. That’s how I got the address.”

“This is insane. How am I supposed to believe that? The flying shadow? A monster? There’s no such thing.” Said the man, playing with a sugar sachet.

“ I only tell you what I saw.” Hyuk shrugged.

It was the middle of the night. The kid was tired, he could’ve been seeing things. But how had Donghae gotten there? Was Sooyoung’s grandma involved into this?

After a while the boy spoke again, quietly, leaning closer to the detective, like he was about to confess a secret.

“You know it’s not a regular case, don’t you?” Yunho gritted his teeth when he heard the informal language, but Hyuk ignored it and continued. “ There was something in that house that made me feel anxious. It had something to do with that shadow thing. I’m sure you felt that too.”

Yunho remembered that indeed he had felt something like that. But it was still too abstruse for him.

The sudden ringing of his cellphone startled him out of his thoughts. He answered it but the person at the other side of the line was only breathing deeply into the phone.

“ Hello?”

“Yun-Yunho… Help…me…” Jia’s voice was soundless and weak. She must’ve been hurt. Yunho turned pale. His love was in danger.

I am sorry for such a delay but the Christmas were a real commotion. I hope all you spent it well, without a dust-ups or flu.

The New Year is coming soon. Do you have any resolutions? In the upcoming year I'll try to be more focused on studying. I also want to be more confident and relaxed. How about you? 

Love you!

Meg