Lights of of the night markets flickered on as the sun set over Seoul. As the city bathed in darkness, one by one, like a colony of fireflies, the shops lit their light. Store owners bustled around ,setting up shop as they await for the arrival of their first flock of customers. 
The night markets were the night life of Seoul. It was a place where  people of all ages enjoy themselves in the bustle of food and laughter The enjoyment of themselves and others  growing out the worries they have in the day. Due to the cold weather, the activity in the market isn’t as busy as a hot summer night, but nevertheless, there were still enough people to make the market merry and enjoyable. 
 
The cheerful chatter of the market ringed in Joonmyeon’s ears as he strolled past it. Back when the schedules didn’t take over they lives, the young leader would sometimes go out with friends or even s (in disguise of course) to escape the pressure of their busy lives. Or sometimes, whenever he felt especially lonely, he would sometimes let himself wander around to soak up the merriment of others to give himself an artificial feel of happiness. 

But not even the happiness of others could fill the emptiness he was feeling right now.As he walked further and further away from market, the streets became more sparse until there was no one else except the occasional drunk and the rebellious teens that loiter around periodically to avoid their parents.
From obvious rich material of his clothing, he did get an few odd glances from the stragglers as they wonder what prompted someone like him to wander around alone this late into the night.
 But Joonmyeon didn’t mind. The calming ripples of the Han river had a soothing effect in him. Besides,, his mind was too busy to even pay attention to his surrounding.

“No, you don’t understand because you’re pretty much useless”

The words played over and over again, like a broken record in his head. 

He always knew that he was a burden to the rest of the group, so the thought of it was that big of a blow. Its the fact that it was the first time someone else in the group voiced it out. That was his greatest fear. Even if a small part of him knew that it was the stress speaking, not Jongin, Joonmyeon couldn’t help but fear that it was how the younger truly felt.

and perhaps hat was how everyone else felt as well.

‘!’ a loud bang from behind broke the man out of his reverie. The loitering teenagers from earlier ran past him. ‘Watch it old man!’ one yelled as they bumped into him, making his hat fall.

‘teenagers ‘ he muttered as he picked up his hat. ‘what the hell is their problem?’ 

A small glow piercing the inky black night caught his attention.

By the dry bushes where the teens previously loitered was was now a small bonfire. Even from his distance, he can hear the faint crackling of the dry branches as they are devoured by the steadily growing fire. The growing bonfire produced a eery red glow over the glittering Han river. The passing drunks soon became annoyed at the red light. The bright sharpen became too much to handle in their drunken minds. Feels stumbling against the pavement, they groggily wandered away to find undisturbed solitude. Leaving Joonmyeon, the only one on the cold winter road.

‘’I should probably call the police’ thought Suho as he can now feel heat from the once small bonfire. With shaking gloveless hands, he pulled out his phone. Whether it was from nerves or the cold, his phone slipped from his grasp. ‘’ he thought as he bent down to pick it up. ‘Guess I’m not making any calls from this’ he internally groaned looking at his phone,  the screen completely shattered. Pocketing his broken phone, he looked around to find a public payphone only to find none near him. There was a payphone by the night market but he would have to leave the fire by itself if he was to make the call. Worriedly, he turned to check on the progress of the fire, hoping it had not spread too much. 

the fire was still the same as before.

But the figure standing next to the fire was not. 

Standing very close the the flames was a tall lanky figure. Unmoving and directly facing Joonmyeon. 

Even if he couldn’t see his face, Joonmyeon could still feel the piercing stare.

‘Um sir?’ Joomyeon called out ‘ The fire is dangerous. You should get away!’ 

The dark figure stood unmoving. All he gave was slow wave , arms moving back and froth like a pendulum of a clock, to show that he acknowledged Joonmyeon’s presence. Joonmyeon tried calling a couple more times, thinking that the strange man didn’t hear him but no matter how much a shouted, the man didn’t move an inch from his spot. 

But what unnerved Joonmyeon the most wasn’t the presence of the man. No matter how much light is emitted from the brightly glowing flames, the visage of the man would still remain dark. It was as if the man was all light in its surroundings,like a black hole.

Unable to stand the presence of the man any longer, he decided to leave to look for the phone booth. Hoping the leave the problem in the more experienced hands of the fire department. 

But when he turned to notify the man of his actions, he was gone. 

‘what the actual…where did he go?’ Joonmyeon looked again. making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.

The man was gone.

vanished.

As if he was never there. 

Joonmyeon shook away the fear. Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him. He was under a lot of stress from recent events…

‘right?’

Shaking away the panic, he hurriedly looked fro a payphone. The sooner the fire department comes, the sooner he can feel at ease. 

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a slight movement in the darkness of a passing alleyway. Reassuring himself that it was probably a cat or raccoon, he urged himself to continue moving. But the familiar unsettling presence rooted him to his spot. 
Shrouded in the darkness of the alleyway, stood the same strange figure that originally stood by the fire. 

Even in the complete darkness, he could make out the outline of the man, wordlessly waving at him again.

A choked gasp escaped from Joonmyeon’s lips. His eyes blown wide and skin suddenly drained of colour.

With a turn on his heels, he quickly walked away. Not daring to run, to the thought that running may provoke the man. 

Even with the streetlights illuminating the abandoned road, never before have the darkness seemed more overwhelming. 

It was as if the shadows the consuming the only small amount of light that was available. 

He quickened his pace, praying that he’ll find a phone booth soon. Hopefully, well illuminated with other people around. 

He reluctantly looked back to see if the man was following him, but just like before the man had disappeared. 

Joonmyeon was officially scared.

‘Could it be a crazy stalker? a kidnapper? or even a serial killer?’ Fear clouded his mind. His head a mess from fear tinged thoughts overtaking his mind. 

With fear wracking his nerves, the feelings of hurt and stress was pushed to the back of his mind. Eyes locked ahead , not daring to look back, Jooonmyeon’s only thought was to get away.

In the not so distant past, he had dealt with a fair share of stalkers and harassment before, but never had he felt so scared.

He didn’t know if its was the dark setting that was amplifying his paranoia, or the unvarying presence of this man, but something about him

or even it, felt inhuman.

‘RUN’

‘RUN’

Screams of panic echoed in his head. His legs pumped faster and faster until he almost broke out into a near sprint. 

His senses were in such a frenzy that he didn’t notice the figure standing in front of him.

or even the glaring light of the motor bike rushing head on towards him. 

Before his sense could even register the speeding motorbike, a sudden pull on his coat violently tore him away from the oncoming impact.

He tumbled into the soft grass, thankfully cushioning his fall. Head still pounding with the adrenaline of nearly being ran over, Joonmyeon shakily stood up again. After a few failed attempts due to nerves. ‘’ he silently swore under this breath. 

All he wanted was some alone time. 

Not being chased by a potential stalker/kidnapper/serial killer and almost getting ran over. 

The rumbling of the engine in the distance ,signified the biker sped away. A (almost) hit and run. 

‘bastard’  thought the pained leader.

Finally gaining enough strength in his legs, he took a few shaky steps forward, until he suddenly bumped into something large and solid blocking his path. 

Assuming it was his saviour , he looked up to thank the mysterious man. Unfocused eyes squinting to make out his saviour.

He didn’t know if it was his unfocused vision, but he couldn’t make out any features of the figure.

The details remained completely dark.

But the tall foreboding physique of the figure gave off an unsettling feeling.

a familiar unsettling feeling.

Just like the one he felt with the strange man in black.

Eyes blown wide with realization,Joonmyeon took a shaky step back as his eyes darted around looking for an escape route.

But before he can even let out a scream, the figure surged forward

the cold and darkness

completely consuming him.

…..

‘boy,  are you alright?’

The first thing that Joonmyeon realized when he woke up was that instead of usually waking up from his bed or even the bathroom at the dorm, he was lying by the Han river, in cold wet grass.

The second thing he realized that it was light outside. The last thing he remembered before passing out was it was late into the night and the sky was very much dark.

That means , he stayed out the whole night. Without contacting the others.

Which leads to the final thing he realized was that his manager, no, s were going to kill him.

Jolting up, and scaring the poor cleaner, Suho quickly said his thanks and rushed back to the dorm. 

But not forgetting the events of the night before.

………

Lee Yoojin , a man of 67 watched as the young man ran away in a rush.  

In his morning routine to replace all the trash bags, he found the pale youth lying in a sprawled mess in the cold mildewed morning grass. 

Having a fair share of dealing with drunks in his past, Yoojin mistaken the youth as another waste of society. However, after realizing the lack of alcohol scent and the unnatural paleness of the boy, he immediately felt unease in his heart. 

Thankfully, the boy awoke after a few soft nudges. After the boy realized where he was, he seemed panicked and quickly scurried off. Not before thanking the older manof course.

The old cleaner watched the retreating back of the young man until he finally disappeared into the bustling morning traffic of Seoul.

Yoojin returned to his morning duties once he confirmed the youth was finally gone.

Even if the older man was glad to see that the young man was fine, a contrast to his pale pallor, a part of the man found the presence of the pale boy unsettling.

It could have been situation he found the boy in.

Or even the eery beauty of the ghostly pale boy.

But Yoojin, a man who is nearly at the end of his life
who has seen the oddities and wonders of the world couldn’t possibly find a mere boy found sleeping by the road strange at all.

Reassuring himnself , Yoojin went about his normal routines. 

Not forgetting the thought.

Nor did he forget the sickening darkness he saw lurking beneath the pale youth’s eyes.

………………….

I really have no excuse for not updating for a long time. 

I’m a sad excuse for a human being.