The dim light from the long torch she carried could merely show her the path she took. She just decided to let the flow of the water guide her. It knew where she needed to go. She knew. 

"Do not go to that swamp alone. Not again." Seulgi's voice echoed inside her head, and she wished that she could listen to her friend's advice.

But she could never do it when it came to her.

Seungwan.

Joohyun felt breathless only by thinking about her name. That was how powerful she was.

She could see how nervous she was by the way shadows trembled amidst tall thin trees just as much as her hands while trying to keep a firm grip on her only light source.

She wondered if the stars in the sky looked at her from above and laughed at her pathetic human attitudes. This is where they came from, wasn't it? The ones like Seungwan.

"I'll go. You can't stop me."

"You don't need that, Joohyun!"

"Of course I do! I can't do anything else other than think about her. She cursed me. She cursed me and I can't stand it anymore."

"... That's what you get for messing around with something like that."

The girl knew that behind her friend's harsh words, there was only worry for her safety.

But that didn't mean her statements weren't true - nor did it mean that they hurt any less.

"Let me go. I want to solve my problems already."

"Fine. Just don't do anything you might regret."

Too late.

Because her biggest of regrets was that day, by the edge of the lake, when people danced in the orange light of the fire as the moon and the stars watched them celebrate the Gods. She remembered it vividly, every detail of the girl's curves moving along to the sound of the instruments around her that played a song Joohyun would hear inside her head every night since that day.

It was still so clear in Joohyun's memory, the way the girl seemed to shine while dancing as her golden jewelry shone brighter than the flames in front of them.

Her eyes were nothing like she had ever seen. They seemed to hold stars, like the ones in the sky which they danced for and celebrated passionately.

Joohyun could only sink in those alluring brown orbs that stared her while she moved, ignoring the amazed looks from the people around her.

She didn't know that feeling in her chest.

Lust.

The desire for the body of a woman.

The dark haired girl tried to look away, hoping that hiding herself from those eyes - from that face, that body - would make the unusual feeling stop.

But she couldn't hide.

"Let me make you mine."

It still sent shivers down her spine when thinking about the way her words melted in a sweet whisper, so close to her ear, leaving the fair skin of her neck feeling like it was on fire.

When she looked, there was no one there.

She had felt the urge to grab her canoe and rush to the waters of the swamp, with just the stars to guide her that night.

Her situation wasn't much different at present time.

But this time around, she wouldn't repeat her mistakes.

She wouldn't let herself fall for her voice calling her, singing songs to her that a human tongue couldn't ever reproduce; she wouldn't fall for her touches, sweet touches no men from her village could ever give her; she wouldn't fall for her tricks.

She wouldn't fall for Seungwan. Not again.

It was easy to say that to herself, repeating the same sentence inside her head like she really believed it.

However, it wasn't so easy anymore when she heard her voice.

Joohyun's hands trembled even harder as she entered deeper into the swamp, hearing the chant of a voice that, if she didn't know better, she'd call as the voice of an angel. But being through hell like she was? She might as well just call Seungwan's voice as the voice of the devil.

Tempting, burning. Awaking things on her which were never supposed to awake.

She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her own body, to make it stop shaking like the earthquake she felt inside her chest (Because Seungwan had made her heart a true mess).

Trying to concentrate, she focused on the path in front of her, reminding herself of her real objective.

Barely did she know that big glowy eyes followed behind her, a subtle glow amongst that much darkness.

"Joohyun." Said the melodic voice, music to the ears of Joohyun that the girl tried hard to ignore. "You finally came see me again. I have been expecting you."

Joohyun could hear the smile in her voice, that dangerously beautiful smile of hers.

Reluctantly, she turned around but was surprised at the image of only the lake and its cattails and water lilies. No Seungwan.

She turned her head back to the path, sighing in relief as she didn't see the one who filled all of her dreams and nightmares.

But of course, it wouldn't be as easy as that.

Her eyes widened as she felt the water beneath her shake her canoe, glowing around her boat like the water held gold inside of it. The giant figure of a girl rose from the dark water, colored in a natural tonality that seemed to merge with the environment around her. Her long hair was covered in water lilies that once lied on top of the water, and various plants covered the tiniest bits of her body - after all, the ones like her weren't afraid to show their forms completely.

Spirits like her.

As she opened her eyes, the golden glow they held appeared again, making Joohyun's torch useless in comparison. It was insane how scaringly magnetic they were.

"I came to claim my freedom back, Seungwan." Joohyun's words sounded shaky, yet it was the best she could do when that sentence had come out with many internal fights. Her voice of reason against her cursed heart. The heart which the water spirit in front of her had cursed mercilessly.

The spirit chuckled, approaching her face to the girl, who flinched a bit - she had never seen a spirit in a form as tall as Seungwan's was then, and to her, it was kind of scary.

"Silly of you to think that you came because of yourself."

Even her gaze burned Joohyun's skin. She was helpless.

"Then why would I come?" She faked bravery in her voice - or, at least, tried to.

"For me."

"That's not it!" She screamed fast, spilling that lie she told herself.

"There's no problem in admitting it, my sweet Joohyun."

Sweet. How could a word so simple make her head dizzy like that? How could words make her feel like she was being touched once again by the water spirit?

"I-"

"Besides." Her words cut through like a sharp knife, making the human girl freeze. "There's no reason for you to try denying it. I've already made you mine in each one of our nights together."

Suddenly, Joohyun's chest glowed in golden light where her heart was, beating so loud that the girl felt like it was beating in her ears.

Inside her head, memories replayed in a loop.

Memories of Seungwan's kisses, wet like the water, her only home.

How they'd make love to the sounds of nature and nothing else, far from the sounds of Joohyun's tribe by the edge of the river.

Memories of the way the spirit touched her, leaving kisses in every inch of her skin.

Those left on her skin a burning sensation she couldn't explain, invisible marks only she could see and feel.

Memories of her own moans as Seungwan drank up her purity, connected to Joohyun's body in what felt like a connection made by the stars that held her destiny.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, my lovely Joohyun." She'd say every night to the girl who rested breathlessly by her side, caressing her flushed face while glancing at her with eyes that seemed to be dripping honey.

Memories that hurt her to remember, a betrayal of her own words and naive heart.

"How can I make you mine forever?" The spirit had asked her, Joohyun's mind unable to think anything else other than that she loved her. That's what her heart told her unceasingly. I love her, I love her, I love her.

"You don't have to do anything else. You already have my heart in your hands."

Joohyun remembered the way Seungwan smiled at her statement, the one she regretted the most, and leaned in for a kiss - which she promptly returned, a smile never leaving her lips.

The human girl screamed at the heavy feeling inside her chest when all the memories came back, falling to her knees with uneasy breathing.

That was what kept her prisoner of Seungwan's existence - her poor heart, that couldn't forget the spirit.

"Stop!" She sounded desperate. "Please! I can't take that anymore..."

"That's why you came, isn't it? That feeling in your chest."

Joohyun avoided to look at the gigantic figure, but she noticed the way the spirit's voice seemed much closer and like it came from a smaller form. She was scared to look behind her because she knew she was there.

Goddamn spirits and their shapeshifting omnipresence.

"... It hurts." Her voice cracked up in a mumble, tears streaming down her face. "Please make it stop."

"It isn't supposed to hurt. It hurts because you want to deny it... but you keep forgetting that there is no way to deny something from a spirit."

The human's breathing turned even shakier as she felt a hand on her shoulder, fingers making their way to the exposed skin of her neck, nails brushing past it.

"I don't want to deny anything..." Lies. "I'm doing what's right."

"What's right?"

"Humans are not supposed to fall in love with spirits! Especially because you... are a female spirit."

"And still, you wouldn't feel attracted towards me if I took the form of a male, would you?"

To that statement, Joohyun stayed quiet. She was already crying too many lies out of and she didn't need any more to cope with.

"I thought so." The spirit said, a smug smile on her face.

Joohyun got startled as pale hands - not a dark greenish shade anymore - moved to her waist, hugging her closer from behind. Even if between their skin was the beige clothing she wore, it felt like Seungwan's hands hugged her body in its pure , just like it did many times before.

God, it even seemed like those hands could reach her soul.

 And maybe they could.

She furiously bit her lip as she felt that familiar mouth on her neck, whispering words against her skin between kisses.

"Accept that you're mine, my love. There's no way to deny your own words."

"You already have my heart in your hands."

Joohyun wasn't strong enough to deal with that, so she just gave up. The human girl decided to turn her body slightly, finally facing the spirit she hid from, the lover she denied, the one that made her be known as crazy and hysteric in her village.

"... Please. Let me go." She asked, one last time. It was the last bit of resistance she still had.

Seungwan giggled.

"You're always free to go, but you know where your heart will stay." The water spirit kissed her cheek lovingly where there were tear paths, leaving Joohyun wanting to melt into . "That's why you came. I never made you prisoner. You made the water your home just like it's mine."

"If I stay with you, will it stop hurting?" Joohyun asked with a murmur.

"Certainly, my love. You just have to let go."

So she did.

The human let herself sink in the lips of the spirit, Seungwan's mouth a welcoming familiar taste that she missed.

Finally, she was hers completely, and her chest glowed like it held the sun inside it.

When she opened her eyes again, she was under the dark water, the surface getting more and more distant by each second. Her eyelids felt heavy, just like her lungs.

"It still hurts." She tried to say, knowing that the spirit - who held her back and pulled her down - would be listening.

When she hit the sand ground, all she could see was Seungwan staring at her with a soft smile, hair flowing graciously underwater. She gave the human one last kiss.




 

Suddenly, it didn't hurt anymore.