Teleporting has always been a weird feeling to Donghyuk. Even though his first teleportation from hell to earth took place more than 7 months ago after his coming-of-age ceremony, he still feels dizzy after teleporting. This time, he successfully arrived at his destination – in a cubicle in the male toilet of a bar in Chicago. After looking around the toilet and making sure that he looks okay in the mirror, he leaves the men’s and walks towards the bar table.

“Hey Donghyuk! I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?” Joy at the bar table says cheerily, with a beer in hand.

“Joy! I’m always happy to see you. I’m doing fine.” Donghyuk replied, a smile plastered on his face. Joy was a friend that he made on earth as he usually come to this bar, and Joy was always there. She was usually alone at the bar table, drinking beers and vodkas that she claimed “helps her de-stress”.

“Well, now that I realize, you always appear on stormy nights like this! Do you have a thing for drinking in the rainy weather?” Joy asked. Of course, Donghyuk cannot tell her the truth that he only comes on stormy nights because he can only teleport to the earth in storms. He was not human. He was one of what they call semi-demons, with the heart of a demon and the body of a human. The heart of a demon does not beat on earth unless it was raining. That is why he only has the power to teleport to the earth on rainy days. When he wasn’t on earth, he was stuck in hell. So, he makes up a story to Joy.

“Yeah, my mom died on a stormy day so these days are pretty special for me…”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that… Here, have a shot and cheer up!” Joy hands him a cup of beer. Donghyuk downs the cup of beer. He has been coming to this bar every time it storms in Chicago. Semi-demons like himself receive teleporting powers at the age of 20, the age at which they officially turn into an adult. They can control which part of earth they want to land at, but not the exact spot, and that has led to quite a few awkward incidents in which Donghyuk appeared in wrong places at the wrong time. But with practice, the semi-demons will get used to teleporting to an exact spot. Therefore, Donghyuk has been frequenting this bar in Chicago, and even made some friends here. However, as the thunder ceases, he would have to teleport back to hell and stay there until it storms again in Chicago. Actually, he can teleport to other parts of the earth when it is storming there, but after those embarrassing incidents in which he landed somewhere weird, he chooses not to take the risk.

But recently, Chicago was getting boring for him. It was the same streetlights and the same kind of people he meet everywhere, and he wants to try something new, go somewhere new.

“So Donghyuk, do you travel around much?” Joy casually asks.

“Hmm, not really. I don’t like taking planes. What about you?” Donghyuk lies. He has never even taken a plane…

“I recently came back from a trip to Seoul, and that place was beautiful. There were so much to see and so much to do! You should really go there if you have the chance, you won’t regret it!”

Seoul? Donghyuk wonders which part of the earth was that. He did not dare to ask Joy, because Seoul was probably a really famous place and he would look stupid if she knew that he doesn’t know of Seoul. However, he was interested in travelling there as he wanted to go somewhere new and Joy made Seoul sound like a cool place. He made a mental reminder to check that place out on his earth atlas when he go back to his house in hell.

Donghyuk finishes the beer, thanked Joy and left the bar. He walks into the streets and into the rain, and sees people holding onto umbrellas. He never knew why people need umbrellas, what is wrong with getting wet in the rain anyway? But of course, he never asked and just kept his questions in his mind. He lets the rain wash over him and looks around the streets, wondering what these streets would look like when it wasn’t raining. He once saw some pictures of Chicago on a sunny day, and he thought that it looked beautiful. He would love to see the real thing himself, but he couldn’t because if it wasn’t storming, his heart does not beat on earth. He would lie still on the floor like a dead body until the next storm arrives and his demon heart functions again.

Then, the storm ceased and the rain started to stop. After one last glance at the bar, Donghyuk turns into an empty alley and teleports back to his house in hell.