Chapter Nine - Focus Shift

”Are you sure that you don’t want me to come along with you?”

Seohyun looked up at Yoona who was ready to leave and had her bag on her shoulder. Seohyun smiled at her and shook her head.

“It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll be just fine by myself. I know her and she is a friend of my mother’s so I can do it alone.”

“Well if you are sure. I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“See you tomorrow.”

Yoona walked off towards the elevators leaving Seohyun alone sitting in her cubicle. She tabbed her work aside and looked at the website that was open. She had checked more information about the shrine and she wrote down the contact information and details to the shrine just in case she was being fooled. Sparing a glance at the clock that hung on one of the many columns in the open plan office she noticed she was running a little late. It was ten past four.  

Seohyun turned her computer off erasing her browser history before that just in case. In case of what? That someone snooped around her computer? Seohyun laughed a little at herself with all the precaution she was taking but thought it best to always be careful. She picked up her bag that was already packed and now raced to the elevator, quickly calling it and arriving down at the lobby.

There were quite a lot of people down at the lobby at this time of the day and she felt a bit safer in the crowd that made it challenging for anyone to see who she was meeting and where she was going. Everything that had transpired with Yoona this past week made her feel insecure and she had started to act as if someone was following and watching her.

Outside the sun was still high and there were no clouds in view and as Seohyun stepped out of the building the sun struck her directly in the eyes. She stopped walking to cover them with her hand, standing in front of the doors to the office with people walking out from behind her flowing like a stream.

“We’re parked on the other side in the convenience store owner’s spot.”

Seohyun looked to her right and saw the same short hazel haired girl from the yesterday, the one who claimed to be her friend Yoona in Hyoyeon’s friends Sunny’s body.

“Why did you park there?” Seohyun asked her as the two began shifting themselves passed the flowing mass of people, slipping between them as they went sideways to the current.

“Well, you know. The owner doesn’t have a car so it’s always free,” the smaller girl smiled before stepping in front of her and making her way quickly around the next corner towards the convenience store that was behind their office block.

Seohyun looked at the small figure that now sped in front of her. How did she know about that? The shop owner had only told herself and Yoona about it.

The two arrived at the car where Hyoyeon was waiting in the driver’s seat. Yoona took the back seat so that Seohyun could go sit in the front with Hyoyeon. As she sat down she greeted Hyoyeon with a small nod and before she could start the car asked the two.

“This may sound very… untrusting but could you two show your ID’s? I would like to see if you two are who you say you are. I forgot to ask yesterday.”

“But I only have Sunny’s ID cause I can’t get back home without the keys…” Yoona carefully sounded her opinion from the back seat.

“That’s all I need to see.”

Hyoyeon pulled her driver’s license from her wallet and passed it to Seohyun and Yoona pulled Sunny’s one from her wallet in the backpack she was using. Seohyun looked at them, the pictures and the names matched. She handed them back to the two.

“Thank you, I just needed to confirm it. You understand.”

“Yeah it’s fine. Should we get going?”

“Sure.”

Hyoyeon started the car and carefully left the parking lot making her way to the busy afternoon traffic. Most people were leaving work and it took a while for their car to squeeze itself into the slow crawl of thousands of other cars, each and every one of them trying to get somewhere. For miles on end the streets looked like a piece of chainmail, the cars links in the chain all of them clamped together and moving along in the same direction at an excruciatingly slow pace.

The afternoon sun was boiling the people in their cars, everyone blasting their air-conditioners on full. The trio was trying to get to one of the highways that linked to the outskirts and mountains near the city. With all the people that lived in the countryside but worked in the city using the same route it was going to take a while to get there. Each of them sat silently sat enjoying the cold air gushing through the slits in the dashboard while cursing at the hot sun.

Yoona slumped in her chair and then rolling off to lay down on the backseat, sprawled on the leather seat.

“Why does it have to be so hot today? Can you turn the AC higher? I can’t feel it here in the back,” Yoona complained, breaking the silence that had reigned over the car since their departure.

“It’s already on the highest setting but I can direct that centre air-vents to the back.”

“Ahhh that feels better,” Yoona cooed as she stuck her face in between the two front seats and enjoyed the fresh cold that was now coming straight towards her.

“How far is it once we get on the highway and out of the city?” Seohyun asked Hyoyeon. She had been feeling slightly nervous of asking any questions while everyone was quiet but with Yoona’s apt intervention she felt that she was free to speak.

“Not far. It should take us about twenty minutes on the highway and then another fifteen up the mountain. You know where the hot springs are right?” Seohyun nodded. “Well it’s just like ten minutes further up the mountain.”

“Hmmm.”

The car was silent once again as they sluggishly made their way in the huge winding metal snake that was the traffic. Since the silence had been broken once Seohyun didn’t want to let it return and made every attempt to keep the conversation going.

“So, what exactly is this shrine and how do you know its shrine maiden? And if you don’t mind me asking how do you know that this… well, stuff that happens at the shrines works?” Seohyun asked Hyoyeon whose eyes creased in thought making Seohyun almost regret asking the questions, but she knew that she had the right to know more.

“I’ve been friends with Jessica for a very long time, since elementary school. We were the best of friends and used to do everything together. Since Jessica’s mother used to be the shrine maiden that’s where she lived so I visited it quite often. Sooyoung was a friend of ours too and us three were the best of friends. Until we had a falling out a little over half a year ago…” Hyoyeon paused for a moment, gathering courage to speak up.

“Stuff happened and we have not spoken since, until yesterday. So I’m sorry if it’s going to be awkward once we arrive. I’m warning you in advance.” Hyoyeon let out a little laugh to lighten the heavy mood that was threatening to fall over them. “As for knowing that it works. Let’s just say I’ve experienced it.”

Seohyun looked at Hyoyeon curiously.

“Experienced it?”

“Yes. I… was in trouble and was, sort of, possessed.”

“Possessed?!” Both Seohyun and Yoona shot up in their seats. Hyoyeon looked away out from the window. She didn’t like talking about the event especially to strangers. She knew she sounded weird and unbelievable but regardless she knew what she had experienced and wouldn’t lie about it.

“Yeah… but it got solved with the help of Jessica’s mother so I’ve been close with them because of that too.”

“I understand.” Seohyun looked once again away and Yoona sank back into her seat, the two of them leaving Hyoyeon alone and not bothering with anymore questions.

Hyoyeon tightened her grip of the steering wheel, her knuckles slightly bulging and the veins in her hands colouring through her skin like vines wrapped around her hand. Her anxiousness about meeting Jessica was making her sweat even with the air conditioner on.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence as they finally made it out of the packed city to the highway and the heat was slowly but surely letting up. As they turned off the highway into the mountains the air was much cooler and by the time they finally arrived at the shrine it was well past five and the cool mountain air eased the excessive scorching by the sun.

The three stepped out of the car and looked up at the flight of steps that lead from the slightly open gravel parking lot into the forest. The stairs winded up covered by tree-tops as if they were entering a cave of dark green foliage. Stone lanterns were set between equal distances along the meandering steps to be lit at night to guide the way up the stairs.

“It’s at the top. It’s pretty well hidden in the forest but at the top of the stairs it clears and opens up again and you have this wonderful view, the best view, of the city and the surrounding landscape,” Hyoyeon smiled slightly as she pointed up the stairs. She began walking forward being the first to step up, Seohyun and Yoona following right behind her.

The rise on the stairs was quite high making them steep to climb and they didn’t go straight up as they slightly wounded up the hill like a snake, built into the landscape according to the soil condition. The treads were not too wide either leaving you little space to put your foot on so you had to be careful as you stepped.

“How many steps are there?” Yoona asked as she peeked past Hyoyeon at the winding climb in front of them, seeing a small sliver of light where the forest green was broken and opened up to the sky.

“Three-hundred and nine.”

“That many?!” Yoona whined earning a small laugh from Seohyun.

“It will do good for you.”

“You always say that but all it does is give me aching muscles.”

“Those aching muscles mean you’ve done something right. Now stop complaining.”

Seohyun smiled as Yoona trudged along the path. She suddenly realized that they had argued like she normally would with Yoona. A perfect carbon copy of their usual conversations and banter. Were Yoona and Hyoyeon actually telling her the truth? Was Yoona really her?

With sweat dripping from their foreheads and each of them heaving air through their raspy dry throats into their lungs that were crying for more oxygen, they arrived at the top of the stairs. The forest was clear and opened up at this spot and a short walk away slightly up the hill there was a flat gravel landing and on it the shrine.

They dragged their feet forward finally arriving at the small landing and Hyoyeon turned around to look at the two behind her and beyond them at the scenery that opened up.

“Isn’t it breathtaking?”

The two stopped walking and turned around to look at the sight. Their eyes lit with wonder.

The little gravel landing was the only spot that broke the perfect blanket of green that spread evenly across the whole of the mountain, wrapped in its embrace. The afternoon sun now lower and at an angle, colouring the surroundings in charming reddish green, the white clouds now painted in orange and softening the sunlight that no longer harshly battered them with its glare. Birds sang as they flew and dived above them, together looping and playing in the air, down along the hill and treetops. The girls’ eyes followed the birds’ movements until finally they could see in the distance, like a button on a green fleece the city; the mass of dark gray and concrete softened by the touch of the falling sun.

“So you’re here.”

All three turned around towards the shrine. Standing at the front porch in a long, lust red slightly pleated skirt tied with a red bow and a pure white haori, was a woman that radiated in the afternoon sunlight. Her flawless skin and small cute lips made her seem like an angel had descended and her fox like eyes pierced through each of them. Her hair was long, brown, loosely curled with blonde -ish highlights and it rested on her shoulder and from there flowed down freely across her chest. The makeup-less face accentuated the pure maiden aura that she was emanating.

Yoona stumbled, Seohyun’s mouth opened and Hyoyeon stuttered.

“Ye-yeah.”

“Come inside then.”

With that the woman walked back inside the shrine. Hyoyeon began walking across the courtyard towards the shrine and the other two followed her from a distance.

“Was that…”

“I think she was.”

“She is pretty…” Yoona let out. Seohyun looked at her with amusement causing Yoona to blush slightly at the statement.

They took off their shoes before stepping up onto the porch and made their way into the shrine itself. The first room they entered was the lounge with a small table at the centre and cushions set around the mat for sitting. It seemed that a few rooms to their left was the main shrine room itself. Walking straight forward from the entrance was another room. The opal windows that framed the slide doors and outside walls were now red and orange from the afternoon sun and it made the room glow in a spectacular light, like that of an orange tulip.

Hyoyeon stood slightly to the side from the entrance to let Yoona and Seohyun in and she closed the front door after them. The two looked forward at the shrine maiden standing in front of them with her hands held lightly in front of her.

“Yoona, Seohyun, this is Jessica. Jessica, Yoona and Seohyun.”

The two bowed after being introduced, Jessica doing the same before her eyes looked over at Yoona. The so far gentle fox eyes with their pure look seemed to harden, and when Yoona stared into them she felt the room shift and suddenly felt all alone. Her tiny body flinched but she couldn’t look away from Jessica’s eyes. The longer their stare continued the closer she seemed to be to her and finally Yoona felt like Jessica was standing right in front of her, an inch away. And then the room returned to normal, Jessica was once again in the same spot she had been when they had entered the room.

“So it isn’t Sunny in there,” Jessica finally said. She began walking to one of the cushions, one that looked very worn out. What used to have been bright red was now a darker, dirtier colour with signs of tear and wear, the centre of the cushion extremely dark from all the sitting over the years.

“I told you didn’t I?” Hyoyeon began walking towards the seats, motioning Seohyun and Yoona to follow her. They all sat down and Jessica motioned to the centre of the table where there was water and a couple of glasses set out.

“Please.” Jessica motioned towards the drinks and Hyoyeon poured water for all three of them after the exhausting walk up the stairs.

“What can you do?” Hyoyeon went straight to the point. She was feeling very nervous, her fingers clenching at the hem of her shirt. She tried not to show how seeing Jessica, how speaking to her affected her feelings, but failed miserably. Hyoyeon cursed at this fact and even more how Jessica was able to keep her cool, not show a single sign of emotion. Pure professionalism. Too cold. Too distant.

“Tell me what happened first.”

Yoona told Jessica about what had happened on that first morning and then continued from there, Seohyun also joining in as she realized just how accurately Yoona was explaining all they had done in detail. The more she talked and the more she joined in on the conversation the more she realized how much this cute little girl next to her acted like Yoona.

They finally ended their explanation. Seohyun looked at Yoona for a moment, the latter staring back at her and eventually blushing. The unfamiliar expressions of Sunny distracted Seohyun, but she could now feel and understand it. It really was Yoona in there.

“Hi, Yoona.”

“Seo-Seohyun!”

Yoona lunged herself at Seohyun, hugging her and almost forcing the two to fall over on top of Hyoyeon. She managed to support Seohyun from the back and so Seohyun and Yoona embraced each other, a small smile creeping onto Hyoyeon’s face.

“I’m so happy you finally believe…” Yoona tightened her grip around Seohyun, tears of joy letting themselves fall down her cheeks.

“I know, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you earlier.”

“No don’t be, how could you have?” Yoona shook her head which was buried into Seohyun’s shoulder, the latter Yoona’s hair. It still felt weird having Sunny’s body interact with her like this, but knowing Yoona was inside there she could overcome all the awkwardness she felt.

From the corner of her eyes Hyoyeon could see Jessica smiling warmly, a stunning heart jolting smile, one that she had missed and longed for. But the moment she turned to look directly at Jessica it disappeared in an instant, a cool exterior replacing it.

“So, how are you?”

Jessica looked at Hyoyeon without expression, without emotion. But it was hard for her to do so. She wanted to smile at Hyoyeon but she wasn’t ready yet. She just couldn’t forget how…

“Should we save the pleasantries for later and get this solved?”

Hyoyeon nodded in embarrassment and the conversation caught the attention of the two huggers who turned to look at the ensuing conversation. Jessica quickly recovered her smile and looked at the two with the greatest sincerity. They released their grip from each other, Seohyun still the hair of Yoona as they focused once again on Jessica.

“Since we don’t know where your body is for sure, and we don’t know where Sunny is we can’t return you back to your body now. First we have to find Sunny, if she still is to be found.”

“She is,” Hyoyeon interrupted, staring at Jessica. She was slightly taken aback by the ferocity of Hyoyeon’s retort but continued.

“What we can do is look for her, or ask Sooyoung to help you look for her.”

Hyoyeon’s eyes immediately lit up at the mention of her friend. She had been holding back and hadn’t asked anything about her until now and had let Yoona and Seohyun explain the situation. But now she needed to know what had happened to Sooyoung.

“Where is she? How is she? What happened?”

Jessica looked at her and for the first time that evening her cool exterior broke, and her eyes showed the sadness that filled her.

“She… went into one of her comas again.”

“What?! When?!”

“About a month ago.”

Hyoyeon slammed her hands on the table startling all of the people present. Especially Jessica. All of the emotions she had kept inside of her, all the worry towards Sooyoung burst forth.

“Why the hell did you not call me?! She is my friend just as well as yours! She is a sister to me too!”

Seohyun and Yoona leaned back slightly and looked at the scene that was erupting. It seemed like something had happened, something volatile, something that they had tried to hide and without contacting each other had kept it at bay. Or so they had thought. In truth the tension seemed to have escalated and their meeting was the final trigger.

“Because you left us! You left me and Sooyoung alone!”

“I had to!”

“No! We could have done something but you… you went off with… with… her!”

“I didn’t go off with her! I only moved out of here to the city yet you took it as if it was a personal insult towards you! You shut me out!”

“YOU ABANDONED ME!”

Hyoyeon’s mouth could no longer produce any sound as she watched Jessica crumble in front of her. Tears were now open streams down her cheeks dripping onto her red skirt. She covered her eyes with her hands, sank her head into the table and cried. Seohyun pulled on Yoona’s sleeve and the two quietly left the room out to the porch closing the door behind them, leaving Jessica and Hyoyeon alone in the now dim room as the sun had almost already set.

“You… you abandoned… me…”

The day that Hyoyeon had left Jessica felt a part of her tear away. She felt betrayed, like Hyoyeon no longer cared for her and since she had recently become close to Sunny at the time, Jessica thought that Hyoyeon…

“All I can say is I’m sorry. I never abandoned you; I only thought it best…” Hyoyeon’s low voice almost a whisper, she reached out with her hand and gently Jessica’s hair. “I… we need to find Sunny for now. Can we talk about this afterwards?”

Jessica lifted her head and looked at Hyoyeon with her now swollen red eyes. She sniffed and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears before straightening herself up.

“Yes sure. Sorry. Afterwards… whatever…”

“I mean it.”

Hyoyeon looked firmly at Jessica who understood. They needed to talk and Hyoyeon wasn’t running away, she never had. She nodded once more at her and Hyoyeon stood up going out to the porch to call the other two back inside. As Yoona and Seohyun entered eyes with concern and uncertainty, carefully stepping into the room as if on thin ice, Jessica smiled at them and showed the two to go into the room to their left.

“I’m sorry about that, if you would go sit there with Hyoyeon I will be along shortly.”

The three made their way to the room that had a small shrine set up and sat down on the cushions that were laid out on the floor while Jessica went into the room behind the main lounge. It had a dining table and to the right of it was the kitchen. She continued forward, opening a slide door that took her to the private sleeping quarters.

Behind a final door was a room with a huge bed, one that could have fit four adults on it at once. A person was asleep in bed unmoving, carefully tucked in and perfectly content, at peace. Jessica moved over to the figure kneeling down next to it and leaned over close to the ear.

“Sooyoung-ah, Hyoyeon is coming. Be there to take care of her okay?” She Sooyoung’s hair a couple of times before getting up and going to where the other three had gathered.

The room was dark and Hyoyeon, who already knew what was supposed to happen, had sat Seohyun and Yoona in their respective places, all three of them sat around a single round table. Jessica walked in and past the three, picking up a group of incense sticks and lighting them up. They were placed in a golden bowl and she hung the two different bowls on the opposite sides of the room.

Seohyun and Yoona both observed Jessica perform all the necessary actions. The warm room, the scents, the nervousness all was piling up. There was pain in Yoona’s throat as she attempted to swallow, as if sand was poured into , grinding and breaking . Neither the sweat trickling down her forehead or the trembling of her hands could be seen in the dim light of the room. But Seohyun seemed to know as she grabbed hold of Yoona’s hand. Yoona looked over at her friend who nodded to her with a confident smile, making Yoona feel slightly safer in the hands of her friend.

The two looked back in front of them as Jessica brought one single red candle to the middle of the small table. She lit the candle and then sat down a few metres away on a cushion situated behind the circled trio.

“All of you please slowly breathe in the scent, let it fill your lungs, your whole being,” Jessica started talking in a low and soft manner; her voice gently carried itself to each of the listeners. Yoona could feel her body ease as she breathed in the incense and as Jessica’s voice sunk in, slowly, like lying down on a cloud.

“Now as you do this, as you feel your body relax and calm, all your muscles loosen up and all your worries disappear, look at the candle on the table. Concentrate only on the candle and ignore everything else.”

Seohyun was listening to Jessica’s soothing voice and she quickly glanced over at Hyoyeon and Yoona who both were staring at the candle and seemed very relaxed. She felt the pressure of Yoona’s grip relax in the hand she was holding. Seohyun tried her best to relax but didn’t feel much different.

“Just focus on the candle. Watch how the fire elegantly dances, quivering and burning with life…”

Yoona could now barely hear Jessica’s voice. It was somewhere in the background, in the distance where she could barely make it out. She felt the touch of Seohyun’s hand only slightly and as time passed the sensation steadily faded away. The fire and the candle seemed to be her only focus in the world, a world which was being shut out from around her, the candle and the fire drawing her in, coming closer to her. Soon it was the only thing she saw right in front of her eyes. The burning hot fire, her whole world was in it. Before it all vanished.

Yoona blinked a couple of times and opened her eyes. In front of her stood Hyoyeon her back turned towards her and they were staring at a dark and bleak looking gray concrete building that soared up in front of them, probably five or six stories high. The tree that had once been at the front of the building was void of any leaves. It looked dead. Hyoyeon turned around to look at her. Her eyes seemed very different. Her attention was refocused to their left where a woman was standing, also staring at the building. Hyoyeon’s face lit up with a smile and she lifted her hand in greeting.

“Hey Sooyoung, it’s been a while!”