Chapter 3: The Devil

Seulgi yawned loudly as the bell rang, and placed her head on her desk.

“Didn’t sleep much?” Irene asked, gathering her things.

“No…I stayed up watching a drama…” Seulgi yawned again.

“Seriously, you need to stop thinking that things in dramas are real, Seulgi-ah,” Irene shook her head and clipped her backpack shut.

“It is real!! And one day I’ll find the prince that will save me from this dull life,” Seulgi slammed her hands down on her desk and shot up, startling a girl that had fallen asleep on the desk next to Irene’s.

Wendy pulled her head up and stared blankly forward, her face red on one side. Irene and Seulgi giggled as they watched their new friend’s confused look.

“Is it over?” Wendy blindly tried to find her backpack, and Irene picked it up for her.

“Haha, yes, school is over. Why are you so tired?” she helped Wendy clean her things.

“I was busy all night,” Wendy yawned and bowed again slowly, thanking Irene.

“With what?” Seulgi opened the classroom door, and the three of them head down the hallway together.

“Just some personal things…” Wendy quickly slapped herself awake.

It had been about a week now, since Irene and Seulgi befriended Wendy. Since that moment in front of their classroom, they hadn’t had an incident like it since. Irene was much more relaxed now, after getting to know Wendy.

“Where do you live Wendy? Want us to walk you home?” Seulgi asked, glaring at the boys staring at them.

Wendy didn’t respond as she also stared intently towards a familiar boy, Jung-Min. He was leaning against the wall with his friends, occasionally looking over at them.

“Wendy?” Seulgi waved her hand in front of her face, waking her from a trance.

“Hmm? Oh, uh, it’s okay, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Wendy said, running off in the opposite direction. “I guess she lives away from us,” Seulgi shrugged and walked down the street with Irene.

Irene decided to stay over at Seulgi’s for a while that night to study. It was a nice, warm home, filled with family pictures and smells of delicious food. Irene excitedly went up the stairs as she heard a homecooked meal being prepared in the kitchen. She went into Seulgi’s room and dropped her backpack down on the bed.

“You room looks clean for once,” Irene said, looking around the room. Seulgi was a messy person by nature, but her room looked tidy, as rows of stuffed animals lined across her bed.

“The great advantages of having a mother!” Seulgi immediately slapped shut for her slip up. 

She looked at Irene, who was silent.

“I-I didn’t mean…that…” Seulgi was almost on the verge of crying as Irene quickly hugged her.

“It’s okay Seul-ah, I know what you mean,” Irene pulled away and flicked Seulgi’s nose, causing her to twitch.

Seulgi sighed in relief as they went back downstairs.

A glorious meal was already set on the dining table, awaiting their arrival. Irene drooled at all the delicious food while Seulgi sat down and grabbed her chopsticks, ready to dig in.

“No!” Seulgi’s mother slapped her hand, “Irene gets to eat first.”

Seulgi rubbed her pink hand as Irene laughed, sitting down. 

It always felt like a second home to Irene whenever she was over. Seulgi’s mother always took great care of her, and went out of her way to prepare delicious meals anytime she could. They both knew about Irene’s situation, and adopted her in like she was already part of their family. 

“It’s so good, Mrs. Kang!!” Irene squealed in joy as she took a bite of the beef.

“You need to come over for dinner more often Irene. My mom never makes meat for me like this,” Seulgi said with full as her mother slapped her on the back.

“That’s because you never appreciate it!” She quickly smiled lovingly towards Irene, who was snickering.

“Ah Umma! I almost choked!” Seulgi coughed.

Her mother ignored her as she sat down at the end of the table, next to Seulgi, handing Irene some more food.

After dinner, the two of them went back upstairs to study.

 “Uuugghhhh…I don’t get iiiiittt~,” Seulgi whined as she her laptop, ready to binge watch dramas again. Irene slammed it shut.

“Seulgi! You promised!” Irene said, diligently reading the material.

“I’m sorry Irene. I must leave you behind.” Seulgi said dramatically, hugging her teddy bear.

Irene groaned, “Seriously, this is why you are failing.”

“I’m an artist! I create things out of nothing,” she waved her arms in the air.

“How about you learn about the things that already exist,” Irene mocked, opening her book up again.

Seulgi said in defeat as she flipped through the pages.

“I should study with Wendy instead,” Seulgi commented, glaring at the back of Irene’s head.

“Go ahead. No one’s stopping you,” Irene ignored her.

“I wonder if Wendy’s into dramas also…” Seulgi imagined the shy Wendy fan-girling over a hot guy on TV.

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“Maybe I should, but I doubt she’ll answer me. Did you notice how she doesn’t really talk about herself that much?” Seulgi tapped Irene’s shoulder.

“It’s because you talk about yourself so much that everyone else can’t compare.”

Seulgi threw the teddy bear at Irene’s head and laughed as she was chased around her room.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thank you so much for taking care of me Mrs. Kang,” Irene bowed deeply.

“You know you can come over anytime, right Irene?” Mrs. Kang hugged Irene.

“Yes Mrs. Kang, I know.” Irene smiled.

“Just call me Umma,” Mrs. Kang said, getting a whiny response from Seulgi.

“Umma~!” Seulgi shook her mother’s arm as Irene waved at them, locking the gate behind her.

It was already 10 ‘o clock at night as Irene walked through the dark streets. She didn’t like walking alone that late, especially since their neighborhood almost looked abandoned at night. She lived nearby, which just made her more anxious as she rushed through the tiny streets leading home.

It wasn’t until she got to her street, that she noticed someone standing by her front gate. She stopped and hid at the corner, peeking out. Irene had no other friends or family here and there definitely was never anyone waiting for her outside her house that late at night. She dug through her pockets, only then realizing that she left her phone at Seulgi’s.

Dang it!

Irene decided not to risk it, and turned back the other way, heading towards Seulgi’s house. It didn’t take long for her to hear footsteps following her from behind. She turned around swiftly, staring down an empty street. Irene started to panic as she started faster down the street, feeling someone was watching her. She knew the feeling.

She turned around again, this time walking slowly backwards. She bumped into something and gasped, turning around to see a telephone pole staring back at her.

Irene sighed as she continued down the street, this time hearing nothing behind her. She saw Seulgi’s house and ran down the street, ignoring the ominous feeling she had.

Her finger was just about to reach the doorbell, until a hand wrapped around her, covering with a piece of wet cloth.

“MMPH!” Irene kicked and screamed as she tried so hard to get away from the culprit, who had his hand pressed firmly against her nose and mouth. Her voice was muffled as she was being dragged away from the door, her feet still kicking hard in front of her.  Slowly, Irene felt her strength being drained away as she out.

Irene’s eyes were heavy as she awoke, her hands and legs bound as she was being carried by a masked figure. She was too weak to even make a sound, as she noticed two more masked men following behind.

“She thinks she can humiliate me…even if I leave her alone…that other girl…” she could hear fading voices from the masked face as she was set down against the side of a wall in a dark alleyway. It stunk of garbage and dirt.  Irene peered down the alleyway, seeing a van parked inside, its rear doors open.

“Help me get her in,” the voice was clearer this time as Irene blinked rapidly, trying to find her composure. He dropped her, roughly on the muddied floor.

“Are you sure about this?” The other voices sounded nervous as their leader shoved them around.

“You ! Get her in the van before I knock you out too!” It was a young man’s voice, and it sounded familiar to Irene, though she still couldn’t think clearly.

The other two grabbed Irene and lifted her up, into the van, hitting her head hard against the metal. She groaned accidentally, scaring the duo.

“She’s awake! What are we gonna do?” One of the masked men asked, nervously.

“Damn it, you idiots…” the familiar voice walked over, grabbing a crowbar sitting near her. 

“What are you doing!? You’ll kill her!” The other masked man held onto the leader’s arm.

“Shut up! This deserves it. I won’t kill her…I’ll just hurt her…” he pushed the other two away and stood above Irene, her eyes now tearing up as she shut them tightly, ready to take the blow.

“Ah! !” the ringing of the crowbar echoed in the alley as he dropped it, clutching his wrist, which now had a small amount of blood on it.

“What the hell was that!?” He grabbed one of the masked men by the shirt and pushed him against the wall.

“I-it wasn’t me man! I swear!” He cried as the other masked man suddenly fainted in front of the other two.

“What the …?” The leader picked up the crowbar and looked around the dark alleyway, nervously gripping the metal handle. His friend stood nearby, finding the source of the attack.

“Who’s there!?” He called out, ready to attack. 

Irene slowly opened her eyes, witnessing the violent scene in front of her. A dark figure dropped down behind the two, knocking out the scared one first, with a single hit in the back of his head. He landed hard on the wet floor, as the leader turned around, staring into what looked like a pitch black shadow. His jaw clenched as he looked at the two unconscious bodies next to him.

“ YOU!” He swung the crowbar down at the dark figure, missing as it dashed swiftly to the side and swiped at his feet, knocking him down. He tried to get up, but the shadow kicked his head over, forcing him against the stone wall. The figure kicked the crowbar away and stepped on his chest, choking him.

“Who…the hell…are you..?” He coughed out as the figure moved closer to him. It pressed its hands hard against his face.

“The devil…” the figure whispered as it stepped hard on his face, knocking him out while blood leaked out of his broken nose. The figure pushed him over and picked up the crowbar.

Irene shook in fear as the figure turned towards her. She tried to scream as it got closer. Its hand reached in, and Irene froze, ready for what was about to come.

The crowbar landed with a loud clank next to her, and the dark figure placed its hands on her face, and took off the duct tape covering .

Irene gasped for air as the figure untied her and sat her up. The figure kept its face out of the dull light in the van while doing so. Irene still couldn’t control her body as it continued to shake uncontrollably.

“W-who…are you…?” Irene managed to mumble as the figure looked up towards her. All she could see were a pair of dark eyes, which stared intensely at her.

The figure remained silent as it finally undid the last knot of the rope around her ankles, and pulled her out of the van. Irene tried to look through the black outfit that concealed the figure’s face, but the figure quickly looked away.

“Thank you…” Irene didn’t know what else to say as she looked down at the motionless bodies on the floor. 

By the time she looked up, the dark figure was gone.