A Little Monster Under The Bed

*I literally wrote this whole thing and it deleted :D so I'm writing it again with a new plot..*

_________________________________________________________________________________

EmmaUnnie

It all began..when I started middle school.

My parents and I had moved into this creepy mansion that my grandparents gave us in the middle of the woods. My dad found a better-paying job near wherever the heck we were, and so I was forced to switch schools. Normally, you would think that after the first few months I'd start getting used to it and come to like the mansion. Wrong. Well, the mansion was creepily beautiful, but...this story isn't very normal.

On the very first night of staying there, I had to walk up a ridiculously long flight of stairs, past a ridiculously long dark hallway, and through a ridiculously long door and into a huge bedroom full of creepy paintings. In the center of the room, fortunately, there was a big bed with black sheets. If you know me, you know I love to sleep. The fear having left me, I decided to jump on the bed several times before plopping down. Before the second jump, I heard an high-pitched "Ooow" come from under the bed. All the fear returned, happy to be back. I bolted off the bed and ran towards the door. 

"Wait! You really hurt me."

I slowly turn around, expecting some crazy murderer with a chainsaw and a ski mask, or a ghost, or even a blood- vampire. But it was none of those things.

It was just a girl. A bit older than me. She was wearing a white dress and she had long, almost shimmery black hair.

My heart was still beating fast as I recollected myself. But I could only stare at her in disbelief. An angel..?

"Hello? Hell to stranger. Well, actually, Earth to stranger. Hello? Are you ok?" The girl waved a hand in front of me.

"Oh! Sorry. That I um. Hurt you..."

"Irene. Or you can call me Joohyun. It's ok. Did I...scare you? I'm sorry about that," the girl said. "You must be related to Eun-ha. I can sense it."

"M-my grandma?"

"Yep."

"Are you real?"

"I'm pretty sure."

I felt the urge to pinch myself, but refrained from doing so. "Seulgi-ah! Are you going to bed?" Mom said, calling me from downstairs. 

"Yes! Goodnight!" I yelled, still frozen in place.

"Goodnight!"

I glanced back at the girl, who looked annoyingly amused.

"What?" I asked.

"Seulgi is a really cute name..."

I blushed, embarrassed. There was an awkward silence before I finally came to my senses. "Ok, so...who or what are you? How were you under my bed?"

She shifted her feet, looking cutely shy. "Um, my name is Bae Joohyun, I'm a demon, and I was under your bed because...uh, I actually have no idea why I was under your bed." A demon wearing a white dress who looks way too pure.

I stared at her. A demon? "You expect me to believe that? Prove it." A part of me hopes that she's just a girl, and a part of me wants to hope in the supernatural. It'd be kind of cool, actually, if she's telling the truth.

Irene, or Joohyun, moved closer to me, so I instinctively backed up towards the door. My back hit the wood and I jumped. She simply made an annoyed face at me and tilted her head down. There were two horns.

Two, incredibly adorable tiny horns.

I forced myself not to uwu, trying to keep a serious face.

“Wow, that’s...really convincing.” I said.

“They’re real, I swear.”

I touched them, and they felt real enough. Just to be sure, I pulled on them to see if it was a headband and she squealed, holding her head. So cute.

“Yah! Seulgi-ah...watch it...” Seulgi-ah.

“I'm really sorry...I just wanted to be sure you weren't lying. And we should keep it down. My parents are still awake.”

I thought about this situation for a moment. “What am I going do with you?”

“Well, I can go back under at any time. There are many ways for me to get around. Sometimes I would come out and talk with Eun-ha, or eat her pastries...but after she passed, I...”

“Yeah.” Another silence.

I broke the quietness with a hesitant whisper. “Look...I you can stay here and hang out with me, just like you did with Eun-ha.” Irene jumped joyfully and hugged me. I hugged her back on impulse, then quickly shoved her off. We hopped on the bed a few times then laid down.

“Hey, what did you mean by ‘there are many ways for me to get around’?”

“I can turn into a bat, or appear under another bed, I guess. Other demons have different ways of appearing to the one’s they are connected to and...I suppose I’m connected to you. Most likely until the day you die.”

I took some time to process this for a moment. Until the day I die.“I guess we are connected since my grandma lived in this room. I was really close with her too. My mom would call us twins.” 

Joohyun yawned and curled up next to me. We talked for a few hours, and she told me more about the house and grandma.

Later, I just let her fall asleep with me. She seemed...emotionally drained. So soon I did as well.

When I woke up, she was gone.

__________________________________________________________

Many years later, (along with many adventures), the two of us moved into an apartment near Chugye University for the Arts. I was going there for college next week, and I had enough money from selling my art and getting a job. The demon Joohyun was unknown to people that I didn’t trust, but my family and my friends eventually came to know about it when I couldn’t keep her a secret any longer. They love her, and think of her as a part of our family. Although..I’m still not sure about her family. She’s never opened up about that.

A few months later and we had settled in. It was a modern apartment, with two beds and one bathroom. So no one would get suspicious of why we lived together all these years, I say that she's my sister, and sometimes I say she's my friend (I don't think we even look like sisters). I'm really bad at lying, but somehow, we've gotten away with no one (or any other demons) questioning her relation to me.

Irene (the human Joohyun) had to constantly retract her horns so no one would see and question her when we go out to eat together or watch a movie. I hate when she does that, though; I feel like she's hiding something incredible about her. Sometimes she didn't feel like it, so she just wore a hat. Over the years, she's really grown to be beautiful and mature, and my blunt friends are always asking her if she's my hot girlfriend, which is seriously embarrassing. 

Today, when I came home from school, I smelled something delicious. I hung my long winter coat up, and put my slippers on. As I walked in, I heard a voice that I haven't heard for a long time.

"Seulgi-unnie!"

It was Seungwan. She ran up to me and we hugged, happy to see each other since we haven't since high school.

"It's been so long, unnie. Irene told me that you go to Chugye."

"Yeah, I do. Where do you go?"

"Actually, I'm not going to college. I'm a music producer at SM Entertainment."

"Oh my gosh, really? That's amazing, Wan." We talked some more, then moved towards the kitchen.

"Where's Irene-unnie?" I asked. Suddenly I felt small arms wrap around my waist and hot breath on my neck. "Seulgi-ah, I made tteokkbokki~" I quickly turned around and punched Irene's arm. "You surprised me," I said, blushing.

"You two are like wives already," Seungwan said.

"...Already?" I asked.

"Well you guys are dating, aren't you? You're hilarious," Wan said, rolling her eyes. I just stood there, most likely failing at covering my shock. Irene just chuckled and brought the food over to the table. My heart was beating fast as I helped her, thinking about her arms around me. Why does she have to be so.. "I-Irene, can I talk to you for a sec?" She nodded. I grabbed her hand and we walked into my bedroom and I closed the door.

"Unnie, what the heck?"

She cutely tilted her head and smiled innocently.

"Don't..don't be like that you know what I'm talking about." How can a demon smile so innocently.

" Seulgi-ah...I'm sorry...she's my new friend that I met at a coffee shop, and she told me that you two are close friends and she would know we're clearly not related, and you would've told her if I was adopted. So I just kinda panicked when she asked me why I lived with you...so I.." She sighed. She's finally made another friend.

"I-it's ok, unnie. I'm glad you two are friends, though. It was in the spur of the moment, and you just came up with something. I get it." I squeezed her hand. Her hand. 

I quickly let go, flustered. Why am I acting like this? 

"Yeah why are you acting like this?"

I stared at her. "You can read minds? This whole time..?"

"Only when they are related to me. Most of the time I just block it out...but I was interested in what you had to say. I care about how you feel, Seul." She wrapped her arms around my waist again and her horns tickled my chin. "U-unnie...your horns..." They immediately retracted and she looked at me-- no, more like gazed. She was staring at my lips. All of a sudden I felt the air in the room grow hotter. I should stop this. 

"Joohyun-ah...I mean, un-"

"I like that better. Joohyun-ah. Don't call me unnie." She looked serious, but there was a faint trace of red on her cheeks.

"Ok u-..I mean, Joohyun-ah. Look.." I found myself unable to finish the sentence when her hand brushed my hair away from my face, her's mere centimeters from mine; so close I can see the deep, intense brown in her eyes. 

I forced myself out of the trance and backed away. "We should get back. Seungwan is probably starving."

She looked slightly surprised but nodded anyway. We walked back, awkwardly silent. 

"Hey guys. Everything ok?" Wan asked. We said yes in unison, gaining another awkward silence between us. Seungwan gave me the look, clearly knowing that something was up. 

She didn't talk to me about it. We ate rice, kimchi, and the tteokbokki that Irene made. It was delicious.

"Un- Irene-ah..that was really delicious. I'm impressed." Seungwan agreed.

She blushed--blushed--and said a quiet thank you. 

The three of us then cleaned up. Wan helped Irene with washing the dishes, and I put the leftovers in containers. When we were finished, Irene said, "Thanks, Seungwan. You really didn't have to help."

"It's ok. I like to help others." She said. Same old Seungwan. She smiled a Irene for what seemed like a long time, and I felt a little bit like a third wheel. Hating this feeling, I decided that we should watch a movie. We ended up watching a really good k-drama.

I had apparently fallen asleep, because I woke up when the movie ended. The two others were asleep too. My hands clenched when I saw that Wan was laying on Irene's lap. Feeling annoyed, I flicked her ear and she woke up. "Yah! Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Now leave."

"Somebody's a jealous girlfriend. Fine, I have work tomorrow morning anyway. Have fun tonight with you-"

I flicked her again and she ran out the door like a scared hamster. That girl.

I turned my attention towards the sleeping demon. I picked her up in my arms and carried her towards our bed. There are two beds but, we usually share one when she doesn't go back to...wherever she goes back to under the bed. 

She stirred in my arms, and told me to set her down, saying she needs to talk to me. I set her on top of the bed and crossed my legs in front of her.

She sighed. "I should probably tell you about my past..."

I quickly grabbed her hands on impulse. "Joohyun-ah, you don't have to do that if you're not ready."

"No..I am." She released my hands and started speaking.

She told me everything. From little demon school to where we are now. She had a family, but they had passed away when angels attacked them for reasons she still doesn't know. No other demon had wanted her. She was then just trying to survive. That's why she had come to find her connection with my grandma, and she decided to take care of her, and taught her everything she knows. That's why her tteokkbokki is so good.

She told me that she wouldn't have wanted to live anymore if it wasn't for my grandma and..me.

She was crying after she finished and I held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. "I'll never leave you. I promise." I said, tears starting to form in my eyes. Her arms held me tighter as her body shook with sobs. I can't bear seeing her like this. I kept saying that over and over again until she stopped crying. 

"T-thank you..Seulgi-ah..." She smiled, and my heart melted.

I hugged her again, just to feel her warmth. I blushed as her eyes trailed down towards my lips again. "..I really do love you, Joohyun-ah.." I said, feeling relieved to have confessed my feelings.

"And I love you." Tears started forming in our eyes again, threatening to be released.

Without thinking, at the same time we leaned into each other and our lips intertwined. It felt amazing; and it wouldn't have felt this way with anyone else.

My hands had a mind of their own as they ran through her hair and down her back as I kissed her, wanting her to know that I love her. I'd do anything for her.

We separated, breathing a bit heavily. I probably looked like a blushing mess.

"You kind of do.." 

I punched her for the second time that night, laughing all the same. 

We talked for hours, and after deciding on trying out a new coffee shop in Seoul, we fell asleep. But she wasn't gone in the morning this time, going to the demon realm...

She was in my arms.