Part Seven

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Hyun never once have thought this year he would be sleeping and waking up together two days in a row next to a girl. Junhee stayed, she really stayed even when she knew the fate he is in. He had told her he is cursed. He had told her how this curse is draining him from the inside. He knew his life will end but she still is here at his side.

The more the years past, the more his hopes have dimmed. The moment he fell for her, he knew he had no choice but to give up. But Junhee have none of those. She had strictly voiced out her thoughts. She believes there is a way; that he won't die and Hyun absolutely doubt it with all his heart. 

To Hyun, Junhee is a bundle of joy. Although she has her quirks and some annoying traits, Hyun thinks its adorable. The longer he spends time with her, the more he wants to be with her. 

It is another morning and another day of them together. They are currently outside of the cave, basking in the sun. They ran out of food so Hyun wanted to go out to hunt and fish for food alone but Junhee won't let go of this opportunity to go out with him. Offering herself to join him and help him with the work. It is also not that hard to see the excitement in her eyes to walk around the forest and spend time with the man. 

They are walking side by side with their hands locked. Hyun is once again in his big black cloak (a new one) while Junhee wears her red cloak. Hyun is also carrying a big empty satchel over his shoulder. Normally he would fly away to his destination in his usual dust of smoke to get the work done quicker but he passed that for today. For the sake of walking with Junhee.

Despite being with the once broody man and clueless of where they are, Junhee is beaming in excitement and curiousity. Her eyes constantly glance around at anything that caught her eyes. They are still deep inside the forest, that all she knew, she had never been to this parts. The trees are thicker and so many. It is also quite humid but occasionally windy. They also had seen quite a few animals, including a wild white fox, a snake and a mama boar with its piglets.  

"Oh my god! Is that an arrow?" She gasps in awe when they had stopped walking in the middle of the forest and Hyun had walked towards a tree and thick bush where he then pulls out a bow and arrows that were hidden. "You do archery too?! What can't you do?"  

Hyun just smirks 

"You're powerful, you can cook, you can read latin, you know fishing and now you can shoot, seriously what can't you do Hyun..." She wonders out loud as she watches him assemble an arrow on the bow. "I'm jealous" 

He chuckles and raises the bow and arrow to test them out before shooting. "Living alone all these years just makes me know how to do things" he said while he focuses his eyes on the surrounding. He has the bow on his shoulder level. "I rarely go to town because I hate being seen so I often hunt or fish to get food"

"I met you in town" She starts as she watches him getting ready with the arrow, so focus on searching a target. She spots a bird on a branch. The animal is oblivious to the man who is pointing the arrow at it. "We met at the bakery, do you remember?" She said as he finally let go of the arrow. The arrow shoots through the air and successfully hits the target.

He lowers down the arrow and goes towards the fallen bird. The girl follows him. "How can I forgot" He said, answering her question. "You were angry at me for taking that puff" He laughs and Junhee makes a face. 

"Of course I was. I really wanted that strawberry puff that day and you stole it" she crossed her arms with her words. Hyun laughs amusingly and bends down to pick up the dead bird. "You're going to cook the bird?" She asked curiously, watching him pulled out the arrow and tied the bird first before he puts it inside the satchel he brought. 

He casually nods, "As much as I love fish, I do love to have meat too. Chickens are rare to find in the forest so I learn to eat most meats I can get here without needing to go into town and buy them" 

"Do you eat wild boars too? We saw that mama boar earlier" 

He smirks, amused. "Yeah I do actually but I'll let that boar for now. It has its babies, I don't want to hunt the mama" 

Junhee really smiles at that. "Aww you actually a good person Hyun. I don't understand why people called you the forest's monster" 

The man went silent after those words. His eyes stay on the ground before he sighs and nods his head. "Because I am the forest's monster Junhee-ah" he said, raising his eyes again to Junhee. "I've killed people" 

Now Junhee goes quiet

"Have you seen those missing people posters plastered in town?" He asked though he doesn't let her answer when he continues. "I killed them" Junhee keeps looking at him, trying to read and see if he is lying. Hyun also didn't shy away and look straight into her eyes. "I am not a good person Junhee" 

"Why did you kill them?" She asked softly, almost reluctantly but she is curious to know why.

She heard of him, Rina had told her, about the mysterious creature that lurked in the forest. The older town's people had tied the missing people with the creature. When she met Hyun, she realized he may be that creature they were talking about but the longer she spent her time with him, the more difficult it was for her to believe. But here Hyun himself admitted that he killed those missing people. She still have a hard time to believe he's done it. If he did, it must had a reason. "There must be a reason you killed them Hyun. You sound like you don't want to kill them" 

He shakes his head. He looks very in pain when he said that. "I never wanted to kill anybody" 

She purses her lips and walks closer to him. She takes the satchel from him and place it down gently on the ground. "Then why did you? What happened?" 

He looks down and a second later he opens the cloak and his shirt underneath to let her see his bare torso. Junhee looks confuse and surprise at the unexpected, her eyes going up and down from his eyes and his chest. 

Although she had seen him topless before, she was not prepared to see him topless again. "W-Why are you--" 

"Touch my chest" 

Her eyes bulge out, "W-What?" 

He smiles a little, "Just touch me Junhee. Why are you surprise, you've seen me without a shirt before" 

She purses her lips at his words while staring at his body. The cloak and shirt are opened enough for her to see his chest and a bit of his stomach. His skin is starting to lose its apparency but very slowly because of the little sunlight pouring in the area they are in. "Y-You have a nice body" Is what she said and Hyun forgot what he wanted to show her because of how amuse he is. Her hand then slowly but surely raise to his chest. A bit hesitantly she finally place her palm on his chest and feel the sturdy of his muscles. 

"You're blushing" 

She heard his comment and she doesn't even want to deny because her face is just red. "Stop teasing me" she tries to glare but her pink cheeks ruin her image. Hyun couldn't stop smiling. "I'm touching you so now what?" She goes back to the topic. Her palm is getting so nervous yet comfortable on his chest. She is very confuse on why she has to touch him, especially why his chest. 

Hyun instantly turns back serious when he remembers why he wants her hand on him. "You remember what I've told you about the pearl? That the pearl is inside me" 

She blinks, "Yes" 

"Think of it. Think that you really want to find and get the pearl so badly" 

"What?" 

"Just think of it Junhee and then you'll see" 

She purses her lips before she stares at his chest. She pushes her shy thoughts away and tries to think of the pearl. She doesn't know what the pearl looks like but she imagines it like a normal pearl with a black body. Think of you really badly wanting it. Hyun's words echo inside her head and she follows his words. Getting her mind to think that way; to get the pearl and use it. It is easier than she had expected because she already have her wish stored inside her conscious.

Her eyes start getting big when she sees a glow underneath her palm. Her eyes stare at the glow which is inside his body. She can see through it because of his skin. It doesn't look like a pearl, only a mere grey coloured glow circle inside his chest, where his heart is. She tilts her head in awe and she finds herself getting pulled towards it even closer. She rubs his chest a little, as if she wants to get it. "Is that....is that the pearl?" She asks excitedly, without looking up at his face.  

He hums, not even voicing out a yes. 

Then suddenly black smoke comes out of him and she gets push back, flying up in the air. Junhee couldn't even manage out a scream because it happened so fast. She almost crash into a tree if not for Hyun saving her at the last minute. Her eyes gotten big and her heartbeat rose. Hyun had moved so fast to capture her. His heart is also racing, his eyes panicking and in worry. 

"What was that about?" Junhee snaps out, staring in shock at him with her arms around him. 

Hyun is breathing hard, as if it took a toll on him to get to her. "You were thinking of getting the pearl, the pearl reacts to that" 

"So was it tried to attack me?" 

He nods and placed her down. Junhee still holds onto his hand for support. "The pearl is a weird thing, Junhee. It lures people to get it. People with desires and wishes. But when people finally gets close to it, it attacks" he explains with his hand brushing her hair back. "You were thinking too strongly though, that's why it attack you. I had to push it back down to let me save you" 

"Oh" Is what Junhee said, nodding in understanding. She still finds her heart beating fast and she remembers the feeling when she sees the pearl. She glances down his chest but he has covered his body with the shirt and cloak back. She breathes in and out, trying to calm down and distract herself from it. She looks at his face instead. Hyun already is watching her every move. 

"What were you thinking anyway? You were wishing for something, didn't you" 

She hums, nodding. "I did" 

"What did you wish for?" 

"Your freedom" 

Her answer made Hyun stunned before a moment later he sighs and pulls her into his arms. "Oh Junhee..." He wraps his arms around her. She hugs him back and nuzzling her face on his chest. 

"I want to break you free from the curse" 

"The pearl is my curse, it can't grant that Junhee" 

"Well at least I tried" 

"It's not that simple" He sighs again. She can feel his lips moves on her head as he speaks. His voice is soft and full of despair. "You have to kill me if you want the pearl"

She doesn't answer

"The pearl can only have one host at a time. If someone else wants it, wants to use it, they have to kill the current host to get it" He told her and her back gently. "But it is not that easy. I have to fight them. The pearl's magic is controlling me to fight and kill them until there is only one left"

She opens and closes it back, speechless of what she heard. She hears the sound of Hyun breathing above her head, he sounded in pain while he was explaining earlier. "Is that why....you killed the missing people? Did they come for the pearl?" 

He nods against her head. "They did....all of them did" he sighs before he loosen the hug to look down at her. Junhee raises her head to look at him. "They found out about me and the pearl. They seek for it, wanted to get the pearl for themselves" he said and purse his lips. "I had to fight them. The pearl made me do it but...I did what I did because I didn't want to die"

Junhee merely looks at him. Sensing the forlorn and sadness radiating off of him. 

"I am a bad man Junhee. The kind of man you are not supposed to associate with. I've killed people, I'm a murderer" He said and voices out the last words under his breath, Junhee barely heard them. 

"It's in the past Hyun and you had no choice" She said and gives a smile to him, to lighten up and assure him that he shouldn't blame all to himself. 

He starts to frown at her, feeling despair at her. "No matter what I said, you're still going to stay, aren't you? Are you not mad at me? Disappointed? Disgusted at me? Hate me for what I've done?" 

Junhee shakes her head. "I wouldn't judge you for the things happened in the past, Hyun" She raises her hands to cup the sides of his face. "Who am I to judge if the person already know the wrongs they had done and remorsed" she said and Hyun feels the fast beats of his heart at her words. "People make mistakes Hyun. We are not Gods, we are not perfect. People can change" She continues and occasionally her thumb caresses his cheek.

"You know what you've done and you regretted it. You're aware that you made mistakes. I respect you for that, Hyun. I don't need to remind the wrongs you've done, it's not my place. I'm not going to put you down and blindly hate you for it. What's done is done, we cannot change it no matter how much we want it to"

He stares and really listens

The more she talks, the more his heart feels the pang and before he knew it he is tearing up. Junhee sighs softly and wipes the tears away with a small smile on her. Not once commenting on the weakness he is showing.

Hyun wonders if this is a reward or a punishment for him. Meeting with Junhee is a wonderful dream to him, a dream that he yearned for years. But he also question if this is a punishment sent to him for all the sins he had done. To finally have her, for him to finally experience this but in the end, it will all be taken away from him when he is gone.

He shakes his head, pushing those thoughts away and holds onto her hand tightly. He gives a kiss on her knuckle, on her palm before he cups her face to kiss her on the lips. He pours in all the gratitude he has for her, how thankful he is for her presence and all of her into the kiss. Junhee sighs as she closes her eyes and kisses him back.

He feel like a lucky guy, to be able to kiss her and she reciprocates. He feels content, he is happy. He doesn't want to think anymore, he only wants to bask in this happiness even if it won't last long for him. Forget about his time ticking, forget about how his inner conscious is warning him, he wants to just live his life...for now. 

🍁🍁🍁

Yesterday

Kyungsoo looks around the courtyard of the academy. At the few distance away, he watches people moving in and out of the library, carrying books, shelves and other things that got burned and destroyed due to the fight last night.

News about the fight have spread like wildfire across campus, people are buzzing about it and the mysterious powerful cloak man. The latest news had completedly replaced the students' attention from the incoming ball in more than a week time. People are talking, wondering who the mysterious man is, what he is, where he came from, why he came and all those questions that Kyungsoo himself doesn't know.

His classmates that weren't there at the library last night were nosy and asked him and his friends about it. They are too nosy for his comfort so he fled to another place, leaving his poor friends to attend to those people. He picked a spot, sitting on a bench with grass around him. The spot is near to the library, only a very short walking distance and he sees the people who are helping to clean and restore the library. 

He also heard and easedropped on a few conversations. He couldn't help himself because he heard the topic about his best friend that he still couldn't comprehend.

"....what? There's a girl?" He heard a guy asked back curiously to his friend. They were carrying a big broken side piece of a once beautiful wooden shelf.

His friend nods and they slowly put down the piece on the ground, together with the other waste pile. "Yeah, there's a girl. I think she's a senior though, never seen her before in our hall. Quite short girl with black hair and a red cloak"  

Kyungsoo purses his lips while his mind answered with the name Junhee at the man's description. He stays silent in his seat, looking boredly at them while he continues to listen to them. 

"Why would she went with the cape man?" Her friend questions, looking quite confused.

"No clue" his friend shrugs. 

"You said the cape man is evil" 

"I did. He bloody threw me to a shelf!"

"So why she went with him?" 

His friend sighs, probably got annoyed. "Stop asking me that Kun, I don't know! I don't know her, I don't know what's up with her and the cape man" 

"Is she a ghost too? Sehyun said the cape man is like a ghost. He saw the man's skin is pale and his eyes are scary" 

"She's human, idiot. She's a student here, her friends were there too. I saw her with them" 

"Ok so she's a human but she went with a powerful evil ghost man" 

His friend sighs again and pinching his nose bridge this time. "Suits yourself Kun, imagine it all you what. I just want to finish this so that we can go eat. I'm starving man"

That curious friend shrugs his shoulder and agrees to those words. "I'm starving too. Let's just finish helping Mr.Goo and then we can go" The two guys went back to the direction of the library. Kyungsoo sees them standing in front of his and Junhee's previous tutor back 2 semesters ago. He sighs and glances up at the sun. He couldn't help but to view the sun as Junhee's light. 

"What are you doing now idiot? Are you doing ok?" He asked the sky. His mind still ponders over the fact that his friend had went with the cloak man rather than be safe in the premise inside the academy. 

Kyungsoo continues to stare at the sky and thinks back to last night. He remembers how he was able to jolt awake after sensing Junhee. It always like that. Besides, he was so worried about her that he barely slept deeply in the past several days since she was gone so when her power came through in the air for him to sense, he immediately knew. 

He had waken up his friends as well because he sensed that she wasn't alone. It was too good to be true for her to just came back here unarmed and alone. And he was right. When he got inside the library, he felt Junhee but she didn't answer his calls at all. It was clearly a sign she was being hostage by someone. 

"The cloak man..." Kyungsoo let it out slowly as he tries to remember how the weird mysterious man looked like. Everybody was busy talking about him, spreading about he is the dangerous monster from the forest. The one that killed the missing people the town had since more than a decade ago.

The boy remembers how the man's body was drowned in a big and thick black cloak, his eyes are weirdly coloured almost between a light brown and grey. His hair is so messy that it had irked Kyungsoo a bit and the man possibly seemed to be in similar height as him. 

He can't believe Junhee had willingly ran back to the man, even to the extend of throwing her body to him with the man captured her so casually. He could've swear he saw a smile on the man's face when she threw herself at him. But Kyungsoo couldn't see more afterwards because of the sudden white barrier blocking them.