You looked down as your little niece’s hand tightened around your own.  “Are you sure that you want to do this, Eunjiya?  You don’t have to, you know.  We can just go get hot chocolate, or something.”

“No, I want to, imo,” she said, her voice soft.  

Unni was originally going to take Eunji to the haunted house, but something had come up at work at the last minute, so she had called you.  Personally, you thought that Eunji was too young to go, but unni and hyungbu were really into scary movies, books, and video games, and insisted that Eunji had been weaned on horror and milk.  Internally, you shuddered.  You loved scary things, as well, but you couldn’t imagine watching zombie movies when you were six.  

You looked up at the looming dark brick edifice of the house of the brothers of Epsilon Chi Omicron.  They were the first fraternity established in South Korea and, seemingly unlike their American counterparts, seemed more concerned with academics, extracurriculars, and service, than parties.  So far, there were only twelve brothers, but it was still the first year. 

Coming to a decision, you crouched in front of Eunji, wrapping your hands around her waist and giving her a playful little shake.  “Eunjiya.  What if imo is scared?  Could we go get hot chocolate, then?”

She shook her head solemnly.  “Oemma says that you should always face your fears, imo.”

You nodded, as if taking your unni’s advice to heart.  “Oh, really?  Alright.  We’ll go.”

Eunji slipped her hand back  into yours.  “You don’t have to worry, imo.  I’ll protect you.”

Your heart swelled, and you bent down to pick her up and set her on your hip.  “You will?!  I feel safer, already!  Let’s go-go!”

The brothers had set up this haunted house as a fundraiser for charity, and you had heard that it was particularly good.  After flashing the downloaded tickets on your phone to the doorkeeper, you bowed your head to clear the spiderwebs strung across the top of the doorway, and stepped inside…