Genre: Art, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, School, Thriller, Psychological

Summary: Minjoo, a screenwriter, was commisioned to figure out the ending of an unfinished fantasy film manuscript about vampires and witches. The task proved to be harder than it seemed when she realised that the written events were all too familiar.

Word Count: 6444

Hashtag: #JinjooFiestaS3_LiesYouCanSee

Lies You Can See

“Your task is simple; I would like you to figure out how this story was supposed to end.”

Those words echoed in Minjoo’s head as she slowly lowered a cup of tea from her right hand and an unfinished film manuscript from her left. She leaned back then stared at the ceiling of her old room, sighed, and softly muttered

“Simple? In whose world is this task simple?”

*

‘Screenwriter’ or at least that is what’s written on Kim Minjoo’s Curriculum Vitae. In reality she was simply a graduate of Creative Writing who has been trying to make a name for herself in the industry or rather was trying. As it stands, Minjoo has not written a single thing for her portfolio the past 2 months.

“You’re lying down on the floor again?!” said Yuri, her childhood friend and neighbor after she abruptly opened the door.

“Its been so long since you broke up with Yujin yet here you are looking like a science lab frog waiting to get dissected by a bunch of kids who has never held a scalpel in their life. With the amount of time you spent dejected I would’ve finished an entire new series for my beloved readers.” the web novel author proudly exclaimed.

“Leave me be.” Minjoo replied as she tossed a pillow to the nosy neighbor who easily caught the weak throw.

“Besides, you ended your relationship anyway why are you the one sulking still. I heard Yujin already moved on and was partying like crazy that she ended up in the hospital after injuring her arm.”

This caught the attention of the girl on the floor but pretended not to care. “Why are you here anyway?” she asked to divert the topic.

“ahh Right! Right!” Yuri hurriedly sat on Minjoo’s bed and excitedly patted the space beside her signaling the other girl to move closer.

The unexpected enthusiasm made her curious enough to force herself to start moving. “So, what is it?” Minjoo reluctantly asked.

Yuri presented a business card to her then said “Remember the popular director who visited my company looking for a work she can make into a film?”

“Director Kwon? Yeah, I remember.”

“Right, so I printed out a copy of your old portfolio and handed it to her.”

Touched by the unexpected kindness Minjoo’s eyes opened wide filled with adoration for the red-haired girl.

“Don’t start crying now, listen. So, she asked me to give you this and she wants you to go to the address written in the back as soon as possible. Better get moving”

As if suddenly hit by lightning Minjoo got all her energy back and excitedly grabbed her towel to bathe. She started bolting for the showers but halted on the door to look back at the very red human tainting the otherwise purely white room of hers. “If this works out, I don’t know how I am ever going to repay you.”

“Nah you don’t have t- Choi Yena’s Phone Number.”

“…”

The two speechlessly stared at each other for about 5 seconds “She’s gonna kill me if I do that but sure. See you later!”

*

After exhaling all her nervousness away Minjoo slowly followed the secretary to the Director’s office. The office looked simpler than what she expected from a person as well renowned as her, but she chose not to think about it. What got her attention was the short haired blonde lady doing spins in the middle of the room.

Dressed as if she was about to do horseback riding, the woman suddenly stopped upon seeing her enter. The lady’s loud voice filled the space “Ah Ms. Kim Minjoo? Nice to finally meet you. I’m director Kwon. Not Eun “A”, not Eun “C”, Kwon Eunbi”

Trying not to get on her bad side right off the bat the writer let out a forced laugh accompanied by an awkward smile “ha…ha ha ha”

“Well to not waste your time, the reason I summoned you here is because I am actually facing a very big problem.” Said the older girl energetically.

‘Doesn’t seem like it’ Minjoo thought to herself.

After one deep breath the blonde lady got right into business and said in the fastest way possible

“You see I have this fantasy romance film I am very much ready to work on however, the writer accidentally injured herself and refuses to finish the story before she is on her ‘best state of mind’ or whatever. The investors are pressuring me to already start but what can I do? So, I asked the writer if I can make someone else finish the story instead and after a few days of begging and a fat cheque she allowed me to do what I want with it.” Eunbi stops and stares the girl in the eye

“With that being said I needed a skilled yet unknown writer, such as you on this. For budget reasons at least.”
 

“Hold on a second if I may? You want me to finish the story based on her draft?” inquired Minjoo for clarification which was met by Eunbi shaking her head side to side while forming a huge X on the air using her arms.

“If I just needed someone to rewrite it I would’ve done it myself. You see, there is no draft and the writer would not tell me the conclusion no matter what and said she wouldn’t do so unless I could wait for her to do it herself. Which I can’t, so basically- “

“Your task is simple; I would like you to figure out how this story was supposed to end.” Declared the director who for the first time spoke slowly and seriously “You have three days. I still need someone to convert that into a script after you finish.”

Seeing this as a great opportunity the rookie writer ignored the rather unreasonable deadline and took the offer without hesitation. She hurried home to read what she was tasked to finish.

*

To mark this as a very special event Kim Minjoo wanted to take time in consuming the unfinished work. She began by taking a more proper shower compared to the one she had a couple of hours prior, she then proceeded to arrange her beddings, something she has not done in a while, and lastly, she made flower tea. A stark contrast from the usual instant coffee she is forced to drink for late night writing sessions. Feeling ready she took a seat on the bean bag in her room next to her bed, took a sip of her drink and began reading with a thrilled grin.

Ten minutes later the grin turned into a smile.

Twenty minutes after that the smile turned into a poker face.

The expressionless face later on became a frown.

By the time she finished reading her eyes became devoid of light. She was staring at the ceiling as if she lost all of the emotions she had as a human.

Nothing moved in the room even after the sun had already set. Not until a familiar husky voice started yelling “MINJOO! MINJOO!” as she climbed up the stairs leading to the room. Jo Yuri once again abruptly opens the door without knocking.

Seeing the room completely consumed by darkness save the white blinking digital clock by the desk, Yuri softly asked herself “Is the frog not here yet?” As she began moving towards the neighboring room to ask the sister about Minjoo’s whereabouts she heard a faint “hmm” inside the dark four walls. This prompted her to open the lights and much to her surprise, see Minjoo on the exact same state she found her in this morning but this time with her eyes wide open like a fish out of water lacking any kind of feelings whatsoever.

“Ahh! What in the- Yah! Kim Minjoo! Are you alive?” Yuri queried the motionless body.

She then slapped Minjoo’s left cheek and followed by the right for good measures. “Hmm” grunted Minjoo which received a sigh of relief as a response. At least her friend isn’t dead yet.

“What happened to you? I came here to redeem my reward, but I find you in a worse state. Did the meeting fail? Don’t worry there are other opportunities-

“oh? What is that? You have something here, so it didn’t fail after all!”

Yuri grabs onto the loosely bounded papers Minjoo was holding with her left hand. The grip tightened and with a look of disbelief from Yuri “Oh? Look at this girl! LET. ME. READ.” Using all her strength she managed to pull the papers away from the hands of the other who was holding onto it with her dear life.

“Let’s see what turned my neighbor into a living corpse?”

With motivation to get an answer she began reading.

_________________________________________

“Which Lie was the Witches’?”

On modern day Korea there exists a hidden civilization of witches and vampires. The center of all their affairs is Haneul Daehakkyo. An educational institution specializing on the supernatural. Situated in Seoul, the university campus is a 100-floor skyscraper that no one but the affiliated can see. This was established as a part of the treaty between the two factions to end their century-long war.

One student of such prestigious organization is Min, a sophomore witch and president of the “Enchanted Photography Society” or rather she had no choice but to be the president for she was the only member left. Often called the EP club/soc, they specialize on taking photographs that move even after they are printed on paper.

With the orange tint of the setting sun filling the room, the lone member sighed as she looked at a piece of paper which reads:

To ‘Enchanted Photography Society’,

Notice of Disbandment.

If the abovementioned club fails to secure at least 1 more

member/s by the end of January 23, 20xx then the club is

dismissed indefinitely.

Sincerely,

Jjaeyeon Lee

Student Affairs President

“One day left huh. I guess this is it, no matter how hard I tried no one would join a club at the middle of the semester. Finding someone to join EP soc in this modern day and age is impossible in the first place.” Min said to herself as she grabbed a box from under the shelf. “That’s okay! More free time for myself I guess.”

She packed the few things in the club room that she owned herself: a vintage camera, a few books, a photo album, and a pillow that she uses when napping in the room. She executed this continuously and only stopped when she felt a hot sensation dripping on the back of her hand before closing the box. “Tears? Why are you crying?” she prompts herself for an answer.

“That’s okay! Being the final member of a century old club is nothing to be ashamed about! I can always do ordinary photography outside campus” Min proceeds to comfort herself yet the tears would not stop pouring. Not until someone suddenly knocked on the door.

*toc* *toc* “Knock knock. Is anybody inside?”

Taken aback by the cheerful voice Min hesitantly responded “Y-yes … come in” This was then followed by an immediate sliding of the door that enabled her to see the gorgeous blue haired girl standing behind it. Her fangs and aura were enough to tell Min that the lady was a vampire.
 

“Is this the clubroom for EP soc? Hi! Nice to meet you! My name is Jin but you can call me Jinnie. I am a freshman and will be the newest member.”

Enamored by the beauty of the girl who suddenly came, Min failed to catch what she was saying. After a few moments of silence, she managed to feel the awkward silence, panicked and then asked “Sorry? What did you say I didn’t hear it?”
 

“Oh uhh … Nice to meet you! I’m a new member, Jinnie”

Still out of it, Min responded “Bluejinnie, got it … wait what? Did you say new member?”

“Blue- Bluejinnie?” she lets out a light chuckle “Yes, I just submitted my application in the office- oh you’re packing up? I didn’t know. Should I take back my applicati-”

Min quickly ran to the door and grabbed the newcomer’s arm “NO! I mean please don’t. I was just cleaning up the room haha!”

After a brief pause, she continued. “Come in. How did you know I was looking for new members?”

Jinnie smiles “I found a poster by the hallway and decided I should do something on my free time.”

You managed to spot one? My posts kept getting taken down the day after I post it. You’re a life saver. I’m not going to lie; this club was already due to disband if nobody joined. Thank you so much” Said Min while clasping Jinnie’s hands nearly tearing up again.

“I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Min, the current president of this club. If you have any question just ask me”

“No biggie, I did this for myself. I’ll be under your care.” Replied Jinnie “Actually, if you don’t mind me asking, how come no one joined last recruitment week? I imagined this would be a popular hobby. Not that I know much about it.”
 

“Right?! I thought so too, sadly that did not seem to be the case. Nowadays everyone has a device or two where they can view videos and colored high-definition photos of what they want. In fact, no one joined the batch before me either.”
 

“How about the school paper then? Don’t you work with them?”

“Nobody really reads the paper anymore, so they moved to online publications.”

“Ahh you have a point, I only check our forum for campus news.”

“That aside, printing EPs and placing enchantments are both tedious and time consuming. I guess no one has the patience nor the time to bother.”

This caught the interest of Jinnie who excitedly said “Oh! That reminds me, I really wanted to know how the photos are developed.”

“Then you really came at the right time, I took some new photos yesterday, I’ll teach you.”

And with that Jinnie bore witness to the brightest smile Min ever made the entire semester.

***

A month has passed, and the two members were doing what they usually would while waiting for the photos, drink tea while chatting.

It did not take long for Jinnie to learn the ropes.

Min took a sip from her cup and as casually as she could, remarked “Bluejinnie, I’ve been meaning to tell you, but do you want me to give you the presidential position.”

Surprised, Jinnie responded “That came out of nowhere. Now why did that cross your mind?”

“Well, it’s about time isn’t it? You know? Since you’re a vampire and I’m just a witch.”

The thing is, the war might have been long over but something they could not put a stop to is the hierarchy between the st