01: Rubicon

     Suzy watched as the rain dripped from her window pane. The sky was gray and so was her entire life. She was twenty, the age she always anticipated. But now that she actually was at the age she dreamed of, life wasn't exactly that exciting. The ideal University life she dreamed of never really happened, because she was so busy with her medical studies at one of the top universities in South Korea -  Korea University. 

She never really planned to be a doctor, but came the pressure of her parents. She was an only chld, and she didn't want to disappoint her parents' expectations. She had heard so many people tell her to do what she truly wanted to do, but how could she? 

She came from a well respected family with a high reputation. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a professor. How could she just drop out of University and tell her parents that she wanted to study Culinary Arts at Italy? It was something that she could never imagine, even if her heart pounded so passionately for the art of cooking. Her father had already thrown out all of her crazy materials to stop her. 

"You haven't gone to school yet?"

Her father walked out of the bedroom with a newspaper gripped inside his hand. He sat down and pushed his spectacles up, slowly sipping the coffee that the housekeeper made for him. Suzy sighed and took a seat opposite her father at the long dinner table. He never looked at her in the eyes, and she never looked at his. It was just how things ran in this family, and Suzy was already so used to it. 

"Are you managing your 4.0 GPA?" 

"Yes Father."

An awkward silence wrapped over the two. She only chewed her food in silence, hoping that her father wouldn't bring up anything else about her grades. She hated talking about school, she hated talking about anything related to academics. If there was anything Suzy was afraid of, it was blood. She didn't know why she had to go in the medical field; even her father knew that she was afraid of blood. 

"Finals are coming up soon," her father said impassively and pushed up his spectacles. "I'll be expecting straight As." Her father rose from the seat and excused himself back into the bedroom. Suzy sighed and stared at her food with despair. She was barely getting any sleep because of all the hectic studying, and all she wanted was just a few words of comfort from her father. She wanted to hang out with friends, go to clubs, have a boyfriend, just do things that every college student would do. She felt more trapped than when she was a high schooler, and she would rather die than continue living this life. 

'Are you alright?" the housekeeper asked from the kitchen top. At least in this house, the houseekeper was the most humane person. Suzy nodded lightly and grinned. She didn't want to make the houseekeper worried; she was like a second mother to her. 

"I just wish.. i could go live in a parallel universe sometimes." Suzy sighed and rose from her seat, excusing herself to her room. She lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She really meant what she said; she would give anything to go live in another world. She didn't care if it was a place full of war and hate, anything would be better than her current life. She didn't think fighting would be so bad, and there would be more purpose to fight for something of value than sit behind a desk studying all day. 

She got dressed and exited the house. 

     At least the weather was nice, she thought. Suzy loved the rain; it was the only thing that comforted her during hard times. She stood infront of the elevator with a pounding heart. Every morning she got on the elevator, the door would open to the third level on her way down and reveal Nam Joo-hyuk , the boy next door. He was a Senior at the same University, and they had lived in the same apartment ever since they were middle schoolers. 

      Joo-hyuk was the perfect boy that every girl would have a crush on. He was handsome, intelligent, tall, polite, and  came from a rich family. On top of that, he swept the trophies in the  math competetion every year; he aspired to be a great Chemist he would always say. Suzy did think his looks were too good for a math major. She always thought he wanted to become a model or a kpop idol of some sort, but he surprised everybody with his aspiration to become a Pharmacist.

Everything was perfect about Joo-hyuk and just like the rest of the girls, Suzy fell for him.

It first started off as a typical crush which then developed into intimate feelings, and then to love. 

But she knew she could not tell him.

Her father would not approve, and she had no confidence to change his mind.

"Good morning," he smiled radiantly as he got on the elevator and stood beside Suzy. Suzy smiled back and peeked at Joo-hyuk who looked perfect as ever. She wanted to confess her feelings to him so bad, but she had no confidence to take on the aftermath. There was no certainty that he would accept her confession and even if he did - she would never get past her father. 

"Did you sleep well Oppa?"

Joo-hyuk sniggered and pressed on his dark circles. "Sleep is a luxury for a College Junior," he sighed and let out a big yawn. "I've just planned to not sleep at all from now. Sleeping even five minutes gets me into a slump these days."

The two of them laughed and got out of the elevator. It was snowing, and Suzy already began to shiver. Joo-hyuk chuckled and unravelled his scarf from his neck. He wrapped it around Suzy's neck and tied it tight, chuckling at her cute demeanor. Her face was burning red and she averted eye contact with Joo-hyuk. She liked him so much, too much that she couldn't even look at his eyes properly. 

Joo-hyuk seemed to know. 

"Suzy," he asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you.. free this evening?"

Suzy's heart skipped a beat. Without any hesitation, she nodded and glanced at Joo-hyuk who also glanced at her. The both of them averted their eyes in embarrassment and laughed it over with a chuckle. 

"I was wondering if.. you wanted to watch Star Wars with me tonight," he murmured. "You know.. i'm a huge fan."

"Yeah," she smiled. "I'd love to."

He nodded and pat her head. "Thank you," he smiled. "I'll see you at 7, infront of CGV." 

Suzy watched as Joo-hyuk rushed to get on the taxi and dissolve within the traffic. Her lips were hung over her ears, unable to hide the happiness. She couldn't imagine her life without Joo-hyuk, and there was really no one she loved more in this world than him. She barely had the time to make any friends at school because of her rigorous studies, but luckily some of her friends managed to make it to the same University as her - except in different courses. 

"Suzy!" Cao-lu called playfully as she joined Suzy. Cao-lu was a chinese exchange student that Suzy had met at the start of the year, and in a sense, was the only friend that Suzy really had at school. She was a nice girl, although sometimes Cao-lu was overly honest. 

"Hey Lu," she smiled.

"Was that Joo-hyuk?"

"Y..eah." 

"Did you finally confess?" she slapped Suzy on the arm and giggled playfully. 

"No," she breathed. "How could i? My dad would kill me."

"Oh yeah, why does your father hate Joo-hyuk so much again?"

"It's a complicated story," Suzy sighed. "They were College friends and.. Joo-hyuk's father always did a little better than him.  And you know my father.. he can't stand a day without victory."

"But is that really a reason to hate on Joo-hyuk? I mean.. Joo-hyuk really isn't at fault."

"I don't know.."

"When are you going to ask him out anyway?"

"He asked me out.. for a movie."

"Are you serious?"

"Not joking," Suzy and Cao-lu exchanged looks of joy. The two got on the bus and watched the snowy scene outside, happily dreaming about Suzy's soon to come date with Joo-hyuk. Suzy's heart still ceased to calm down, and even the fear of her father would not rid that. She had never felt this happy in a while, and she was sure that Joo-hyuk was the one that she wanted beside her. 

----

7PM

     Suzy got on the taxi with a mirror in her hand. She wanted to look extra beautiful for Joo-hyuk. She had never met him separately like this, and tonight she was determined to tell him how she really felt about him. She looked out the window and watched the snow fall softly. Everything seemed so much more beautiful when you were in love, and time seemed to go so slow. 

"First date?" The taxi driver asked.

"Yes," she replied shyly. 

Suzy gripped onto the sidebar as the taxi driver accidently slipped his hand, bouncing out to the curb. With a quick pant, he restrained himself and drove again, although quite unstably. Suzy didn't feel good about this man, but there was nothing she could do, seeing that she was already on the taxi. She glanced at the driver through the front mirror to see that  he looked like a gangster, and the only prominent thing about him was the stitches on his protruded cheekbones. His cheekbones and his slitty eyes made him look so stern, almost like the leader of a big gang. 

Suzy gasped as the driver slipped again and this time, nearly crashed into the side car. 

"S..ir," Suzy blurted. "A..are you sure you're a certified driver?"

The man jerked his head back with an insulted look on his face.

"Sorry.."

He began driving again, stepping all over the sidelines and constantly having a battle with the other cars passing by. Suzy really wanted to get off, but she didn't want to get beaten up by this crazy man. 

"Put your seatbelt on, young lady." The man muttered as he stepped on the accelerator and began speeding. Suzy grabbed her seatbelt frantically and hyperventilated. She hated speed and she wasn't sure what was going on. The sound of cars beeping filled her head, and her eyes were filled with the taxi driver literally running every red light with a maniac laugh escaping his mouth. 

She squinted her eyes to see a set of bright lights heading toward the taxi, and it was too late for her to realize that a large taxi was speeding right at them. Suzy was too afraid to scream, and no sound would escape . She sobbed as the taxi driver stepped on the accelerator, heading for the truck as well. She closed her eyes and drew the image of Joo-hyuk's warm smile, knowing that she would never see the love of her life again. 

But oddly..

It did not hurt. 

She felt a peaceful sensation as she felt the cold air wrap her face and-

THUD.

Suzy groaned. She fell flat on the floor and seemed to have broken her wrist, but other than that everything seemed perfectly fine. The sound of a festive crowd laughing and cheering filled her ears, but she was too traumatized to know what anything was. She coughed at the dewy smell of what seemed to be leaves and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurred, but it shaped back into focus and she met eyes with a man with a face of.. a  half fish human. 

She screamed frantically as she gagged for breath, trying to drag herself out of the place with her other arm. She looked around the place and saw that she was on a stage, and the audience was filled with people; monsters who took the shape of half human and half animal. She was sure this was just a nightmare, and she wanted to get out. She heard the bewitching sound of cackling and laughter as the fish man laughed and pointed at Suzy who was crawling toward the side curtains.

Behind the side curtains, she saw people.

She saw people.. who were normal. 

A bobbed hair girl crouched down next to a male with a short haircut, stretching their arms out to support Suzy as she made it toward the curtain. She closed her eyes as she felt their warmth reach her body and let them drag her behind the curtains. She clutched her wrist in pain and squinted her eyes to see a bunch of people looking down at her with a worried yet nonchalant face.

"Is she breathing?" A deep voice came from afar. 

"She's fine Myungsoo," the bobbed hair girl said satirically as she sighed and yanked Suzy's wrist. She grit her teeth in pain but refused to scream, because that girl stared at her as if she could murder her if she made another sound. A young boy approached from the crowd with a plaster and a cast set, stepping back as the girl treated Suzy's wrist and helped her sit upright.

Suzy blinked twice and stared at the people who sat around her. 

'Who are you," she opened . "And.. where am i..?"

"You're in Rubicon, and we're your enemies."