(VII)

Seulgi quietly skims through the note containing some of the birds she managed to identify and begins sorting it into a list on her laptop with a lighter heart.

“Cyanoptila cyanomelana.” She types in the scientific name of a blue and white flycatcher she had seen perching on one of the tree pines during her observation time.

She feels so much better after accomplishing her target of getting a minimum twenty species in the first batch (she nearly got fortyish in total) and Seulgi has every right to be happy now. She is as far as sending Seungwan her recent taken photos but that’s another story to tell later because her best friend quipped that Seulgi had almost blown her phone with those bombarded photos.

Tomorrow is her last day in this guardhouse and the next day she is off to the coastal side before sunrise.

Without any unusual things happen for the past seven days, Seulgi finds herself picking up her old pace without difficulty.

All thanks to that nearly-dead experience, Seulgi is not going to gamble her life for the second time in a row. And so she has requested her local guard to stick around and not leave her sight at all.

For safety and precaution.

And it somewhat works.

Everything is normal and under control.

Nothing reminds her of those unlogical things, like that giant bear or Taehyung guy or even the source of her early distraction, Irene.

Speaking of Irene, Seulgi hasn’t seen her for roughly two weeks straight after their latest encounter. Well, it’s not like Seulgi is interested in knowing more about that creature but for some reason, Irene gives her the same chill and innocent vibe her former invisible friend had.

Although Irene is more annoying in a way Seulgi can’t explain.

Her fingers have stopped dancing against the keyboard. Why would she think of Irene now? After all the work of occupying her mind with anything but them?

Seulgi blows a tired sigh out as she massages her temple.

Dealing with this matter any longer will definitely takes her sanity along. And when she is about to smack herself for losing her together, the loud crashing outside manages to enter past her ears, making her stunned.

Her breath hitches when everything turns black out of sudden.

It’s a blackout.

Seulgi tries to adjust her vision in the darkness and realizes the only light is coming from her open laptop.

“Ms. Kang! I’m sorry!” Seulgi jumps in her bed as she hears someone shouting at the top of their lungs.

Soon the door to her room is haphazardly opened by this stormed figure.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me! Han Seung Hoon!” He responds while pointing his flashlight around in search of her.

Seulgi merely grimaces when he accidentally directs the light, right across her face. He hastily retreats his hand when he catches her displeased look.

“I’m sorry I kind of broke the old television in the living room, maybe it was the one causing all the light to shut down now although all I did was plugging its cable on the socket.” Mr. Han speaks in one breath. “But I already told Mr. Jung regarding this matter and he told us to wait for a moment.”

—

Seulgi silently observes the small candle in front of her, watching the flame burn the rest of the wax as she sits herself on the wooden floor of the porch. It has been five hours ever since the blackout and there’s no improvement either as their electricity are still unattainable.

If anything, they run of the candle’s stock by the time Mr. Jung arrived three hours ago.

“Ms. Kang.”

She looks up and sees Mr. Jung appearing at the foot of the main door, looking excessively exhausted. “I apologize for the inconvenience but I don’t think I can fix it now with the help of my current tools.” He cues at his small bag and places it down on the coffee table. “The electricity is cut off because the main circuit is pretty much burned. I can’t do much about it though.”

“I thought you have something to prevent excessive current from flowing through the circuit?” Mr. Han asks, joining her in watching the burning flame.

“Miniature circuit breaker you mean?” Seulgi chimes beside him and he nods in an agreement. “Yes, that MCB switch.”

“There’s no use of flipping the switch if the whole circuit is damaged.”

“It works as prevention.” Mr. Han speaks in a smaller voice.

“This whole house is unfortunately not maintained with such installation though, Mr. Han.” The tone in Mr. Jung’s voice is dry.

“Oh,” her local guide nods his head in surrender, acknowledging his wrongdoing.

“Okay, I’m sorry again. I will light up the rest of the house with candles.”

“Aren’t we running of the stock?” Seulgi lifts her head from her folded knees, watching her local guide shrug his shoulders.

“It’s better than stumbling around the house right?”

He slowly stands up and goes inside the house after no one seems to mind his reason.

There’s no wind or anything around them and it makes the air surrounding them seemingly warmer. Well... Seulgi isn’t the one to complain though, it’s still chilly outside so sitting in front of this little candle does provide the warmth she actually needs.

The fire igniting her candle doesn’t even sway as Mr. Han walks past by her place, and that’s it when Mr. Jung abruptly starts a conversation between them.

“Ms. Kang, I already notified my friend and he said that tomorrow is the fastest he could ever get here to fix and redo the installation.”

Seulgi heaves a sigh but nods her head nonetheless. “It’s okay, Mr. Jung. I’ll be moving to the second spot though.”

“I apologize again.”

She shrugs his apology with a small smile.

“Ms. Kang,”

The older man then takes a seat in front of her, sitting cross-legged. The light from her candle illuminates his face thus she faintly realizes his tensed demeanor. Seulgi quietly observes the change in his expression. “What is it?”

He slides his phone across the floor, prompting her to see the image it currently displays. “Take a look of it.”

Seulgi sees the picture of a clustered rattan species, some of it grow over other trees as well. She peels her gaze off the screen and meets his eyes. “Rattans?”

“Yes, I took it the next day after your arrival in the morning. I didn’t get to confirm it to you due to all those monthly report I had to submit. Explaining why you had rarely seen me here for the past few days because they were requiring me back at the station.” His expression profounds. “I had checked it countless time and there wasn’t any sight of it being cut off nor did I find any gap to pass it through without actually chopping the whole tree down.”

“I’m not lying if it’s what you’re trying to imply here, Mr. Jung.”

“I apologize. With all due respect I’m not accusing you or anything but I think that it’s really unlikely to happen here.” He holds their gazes and something flickers inside his orbs for a millisecond. Seulgi finds herself cautiously looking back at him as he drops his question.

“Are you hiding something?”

“Ms. Kang?”

She tears her gaze of him and turns to see Mr. Han popping his head by the door. “I think I heard your phone ringing inside your room.”

“Okay.”

Seulgi throws a quick look at the sitting man in front of her. “I’ll go fetch my phone first.”

“Sure.”

She pushes herself off the floor and walks inside the house, all the while feeling Mr. Jung’s gaze following her every move.

—

Seulgi jerks in her place when a dream about Irene suddenly appears, sending her eyes wide open as she stares at the dim ceiling of her room.

“What was that?”

She roughly rubs her face, wanting to erase the earlier image. “What the hell was that?”

The source of light in her room is this small candle placed on her bedside table, providing no more than an equally small range of lighting, only reaching the far end of her bed and the rest of her room is pretty much unidentified.

Seulgi tries to sort her jumbled thoughts amidst taking a steadier breath. She grabs her phone and dials Seungwan’s number.

Her best friend picks up on the first ring and Seulgi breathes out a relieved sigh.

Seungwan will always be the constant rock to keep her grounded. She really needs her. The only person who stayed by her side the whole time was Seungwan, and it still is, even until now.

Seulgi can’t be more grateful. “Sorry.”

She can perfectly hear Seungwan yawning from the other side. It’s past midnight for God’s sake, but her best friend manages to laugh and ask her back with her usual cheery tone. “What’s wrong, birdwoman?”

“I shouldn’t call you at this hour.”

“...”

“But still...”

“...”

“Okay, sorry.”

“...”

“No, it’s not emergency but I do have something on my mind and I can’t seem to get rid of it.”

“...”

“So…. I had a dream.” Seulgi quietly tells when Seungwan, for the third times, assures her that she doesn’t disturb anything in any way possible. “A dream about something. Uh okay.” She inwardly gulps. “A dream about this mythical creature that I happened to encounter when I aimlessly strolled around at the day one.”

“...”

“No, it’s not the day of my official observation time. It was during our arrival in the cottage.” Seulgi tries to correct Seungwan’s misinterpretation. “That one time when I stubbornly wanted to go out in the middle of the night? You remember?”

“...”

“Yes, yes. That one time I got to meet her was around the lake near our cottage. It was my first time seeing that creature....”

Seulgi peels off the receiver when Seungwan’s unexpected “I TOLD YA!” ringing loudly through her device. “Oh my god, you’re set to break my left tympanic membrane.”

“...”

“It’s biological term for eardrum, Seungwan.”

“...”

She momentarily stops easing her damaged ear when her best friend finally addresses the feminine term she used to describe Irene.

“Yes, it’s a she. And no, she is not a monster. Well, for as long as I remember those wandering souls I met didn’t appear scarily like ones you saw in the movies. I wasn’t really aware back then with my ability. But true enough they were normal, appearance-wise. Explaining why I only found out later that Jongin was a wandering soul as well when I got a little bit older by the time I turned nine. So, I couldn’t introduce him to you even if I wanted to.”

Seulgi purses her lips into a straight line. “Only then I realized how literally people in our school outcasted me for being a weirdo who talked to herself.”

She loses herself for a moment as she stares into the darkness.

“Anyway, back to the topic. That mythical creature happened to be a former swan as well. I first met her in her swan form though.”

“...”

“Ugh, if you don’t happen to notice, I’m still wrapping the fact that I could unfortunately see them again after twenty years of being a normal person?” Seulgi says matter of factly when Seungwan inquires her with the creature’s ability to shape-shifting. Seulgi’s tone is laced with a growing annoyance. “I don’t know? Why would this former swan even decide to show herself before my eyes and make my supposed happy life back to square one with her sudden presence? I couldn’t careless with her ability to shape-shifting though.”

Seulgi feels a surge of cold air emerging from the direction of her window, making the fire of her candle wobble violently. She peeks in between her two feet while she lays on the surface of her bed, witnessing as the curtains inside her room are drawn ever so slightly. It produces a tiny light passing through the fabrics being swayed by the wind outside. And Seulgi tries recalling whether she is the one letting the window open but after a long pause of pondering, she finally regains the fact that she has everything locked up before falling asleep.

“Seungwan,” Seulgi whispers, eyes darting as she tries to get off her bed without making any sound while reaching for her pocket bag across her bedside table. “Please stay on the line.”