Chapter 4.

Eunbi came to the school a bit earlier than other students, she wandered down the hallway toward school library. The walls here were the color of a gray-ish and the whole place was strangely quiet, save for the dull hum of the yellow fluorescent lamps hanging and the sunlight coming from the windows.

Eunbi came to a stop in front of the only blank door of restroom. She caught of herself in the full-length mirror with saddest-looking thing in the behind the door. She quickly looked away, knowing all too well what she’d find in the reflection. Her face looking pinched and tired. Her hazel eyes flecked with stress. Her hair like hysterical toy poodle’s fur after a rainstorm. Her yesterday classes had been no better than the morning’s, due mainly to the fact on what happened to the cafeteria yesterday. She shrugged, pulled her door shut, and started walking.

Looking down the empty hallway, Eunbi wondered about following the cryptic arrow. But standing there in the hallway, Eunbi was ever more uncertain how to process the day’s events. A quiet panic filled her when it finally registered that she was alone, at school.

Behind her, a door cracked open. A sliver of white light opened up on the floor beneath her feet. Eunbi heard music being played inside a room.

“What are you doing?” It was Yujin standing in on doorway with her full uniform.

“Well, I was just on my way to the library” Eunbi quickly answered, turning back the way she’d come. “There’s a book I need to check out.” Eunbi continue.

“Kwon Eunbi” Yujin called

Eunbi turned around. They hadn’t officially met yet, and she hadn’t expected Yujin to know her name. Yujin’s eyes flashed a smile at her and she used her right finger to point in the opposite direction. “Library’s that way” Yujin said. Yujin crossed her arms over her chest. “Ahhh I have a good advice for you be sure to check out the special collections in the east wing. They’re really something” Yujin smiled at Eunbi.

“Thank you” Eunbi said, feeling truly grateful as she changed course. Yujin seemed so real right then, waving her right hand as she left. Maybe Yujin only made Eunbi nervous earlier because she thought of Yujin as Hyewon’s friend. For all she knew, Yujin could be a really nice person. Her mood lifted as she walked down the hallway. First she’d had a non-awkward encounter with Ahn Yujin; plus she really did want to check out the library.

Near the end of the hall, Eunbi didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until she pushed through the wood-grained library doors and exhaled. A warm feeling came over Eunbi as she looked around the library. She’d always loved the faintly sweet musty way that only a roomful of books smelled. She took comfort in the soft occasional sound of turning pages. The library at her previous school in Jeju had always been her escape, and Eunbi felt almost overwhelmed with relief as she realized that this one might offer her the same sense of sanctuary.

The walls were a deep mahogany and the ceilings were high. There were long wooden tables lit by old fashioned green lamps, and aisles of books that went on farther than she could see. Eunbi get surprised when there are few students were studying, none that Eunbi knew by name, but there are students who are with their heads bent over books.

Eunbi decide to walk into the main circulation desk, the books were piled so high that Eunbi almost didn’t see the librarian seated behind them. The librarian was rooting through some paperwork and her head popped up as Eunbi approached.

“Hello!” The woman smiled at Eunbi. Her hair was not gray. Her face looked old and young at the same time. She had pale skin, bright black eyes, and a tiny, pointed nose. “Can I help you find something?” the librarian asked in a happy whisper.

Eunbi felt instantly at ease with this woman, and glanced down at the nameplate on her desk. Kwon Bo-ah (Boa). Then Eunbi remembered what Ahn Yujin had said.

“I’m new here” Eunbi explained. “My name is Kwon Eunbi. Could you tell me where the east wing is?”

The woman gave Eunbi a you-look-like-the-reading-sort smile that Eubi had been getting from librarians all her life. “Right that way” Boa said, pointing toward a row of tall windows on the other side of the room. “I’m Miss Boa, and if I’m correct, I’m your teacher in your religion class. Oh, we’re going to have some fun!” Boa exclaimed, “In the meantime, if you need anything else, I’m here. A pleasure to meet you, Eunbi”.

Eunbi smiled her thanks, told Boa happily that she’d see her tomorrow in class, and started toward the windows. It was only after she’d left the librarian that she wondered about the strange, intimate way the woman had called her by her name.

Eunbi just cleared the main study area and was passing through the tall, elegant book stacks when something dark and macabre passed over her head. She glanced up and then her eyes fell on Hyewon. Hyewon who was facing the window, her hair glowed under the lights. Eunbi shook it from her head and stood on tiptoe to get a better look at Hyewon. From here, Eunbi couldn’t be certain, but Hyewon looked like she was drawing something.

As Eunbi watched the slight movement of Hyewon’s body as she sketched. She couldn’t figure out why, against all reason, she had this wild feeling that Hyewon was drawing her. ‘I shouldn’t go to her’ Eunbi thought. After all, she didn’t even know Hyewon, had never actually spoken to her. Yet for some reason, it felt very important to her that she find out what was on that sketchpad.

The briefest flash of it came back to Eunbi all of a sudden. In the dream, it had been late at night and she’d been dressed in something long and flowing. She leaned up against a curtained window in an unfamiliar room. The only other person there was a woman ... or a female- Eunbi never got to see her face. That person was sketching her likeness on a thick pad of paper. Her hair. Her neck. The precise outline of Eunbi’s profile.

Eunbi jerked forward as she felt something pinch the back of her shoulder, then float over her head. The shadow had resurfaced. It was black and as thick as a clouds. The pounding of Eunbi’s heart grew so loud that it filled her ears, blocking out the dark rustle of the shadow, blocking out the sound of her footsteps.

Hyewon focus settled calmly outside the window. As quietly as Eunbi could, Eunbi tried to peer over Hyewon’s shoulder at her sketchpad. For jus