Dongwoo's ear itched like crazy as he scratched away. Howon, who was seated at the dining table, watched him like he was watching a puppy scratch itself. The two of them had ran away from the apartment as soon as Howon mentioned the Chaser to Dongwoo.
Even Dongwoo had been avoiding this 'Chaser'. There was no other reason than to kill him. Howon rested his chin on his hand and closed his eyes. He transported himself into the dream world where he would then help out another citizen trapped in this dark hole of a dream.
Again, the only person to appear was Myungsoo. Indeed, he seemed to have this dream one time too many. Howon walked over to where Myungsoo stood and grabbed his shoulder.
"What am I doing here again?" Myungsoo asked. "Everytime I shut my eyes, my mind brings me to this cursed place."
Howon shrugged his shoulders and looked at Myungsoo's empty hands. "Did you lose the key?"
"Yeah. This 'Chaser' guy flipped my car and stole the key. Now I'm staying at someone's house." Myungsoo scoffed and looked at the mirrored building. "That mirror is probably telling me to reflect on my stupid actions."
"Or the meaning could be deeper." Howon looked at himself in the mirror. As he stared straight at his reflection, it smirked at him. This mirror held a split personality from everyone. "Look, just don't do anything too idiotic. Rest up and save your energy for something more important. There will be a bloodbath soon."
"Bloodbath? When?" Myungsoo looked over to see that Howon had already disappeared from sight. He rolled his eyes and then looked back at the mirror. His own reflection was staring back at him. In fact, his reflection reached out toward him. Myungsoo wasn't sure if he should put his hand up or to just leave it alone. "No. I've seen this in movies. I'm not the dumb guy who touches the mirror and gets in. See ya."
Howon awoke to Dongwoo poking his head. He seemed to be a curious soul. At times he could be childish, but there were also times when he could be deadly serious.
"Umm.... Are you awake?" As Dongwoo continued his poking, Howon opened his eyes, scaring him to his wits. "AH! Oh... You're awake?"
"I don't know. How many times did you poke me?" Howon asked sarcastically. Immediately, Dongwoo began to count on his fingers how many times he had poked Howon in the face. "I wasn't being serious. You don't have to really count..."
"Oh. Okay." He said with a smile. "Did you have a good dream?"
"Somewhat. Anyway, why were you poking me?"
Dongwoo scratched the side of his head with his finger then chuckled. "I forgot?"
"Aish..." A sudden knock at the door distracted both of them from talking to each other. Quickly, Howon got up and opened the door.
Sungjong waved and entered the small home while bowing apologetically. "Sorry for being late, guys. I stayed at someone else's house for a while. How've you guys been faring?"
"Hungry!" Dongwoo exclaimed. "I'm kind of hungry..."
A smile grew across Sungjong's face as he looked at Dongwoo. He was like a puppy. In fact, he seemed a lot more like a little kid. He was always hungry, no matter what he ate. Sungjong looked around and grabbed a back-pack sitting on the counter.
"Here's some money, Dongwoo. Go buy yourself something to eat. Hyung and I will be here if you need us, alright?" Sungjong handed Dongwoo a $10 bill and watched as he giggled happily.
"OKAY." Dongwoo said in English. As he walked out the door, he spoke to himself. "I can't wait to eat something delicious!"
When the door closed, Sungjong looked at Howon with a serious face. There was almost no other time when they could talk. Sungjong's mouth opened and then closed. He was unsure of what to say at first, but began with a statement. "There's something that I need to know. But it's just between us."
No words could come out of Howon's mouth, it seemed, until a question was asked of him. The quiet between them made the air feel even more serious. Howon lifted his chin and listened up to the words that Sungjong would say.
"Well, I assume you already know the Chaser?" Howon nodded his head in response to the question. Sungjong sighed and continued on. "We need to get away from him. He's looking to kill us all."
"How would you know that?" The words that came out made Sungjong sound like he was wrong. "Even I wouldn't know what he's up to."
"Look, I've been having these weird dreams, okay? I feel like it's a warning for me to get away as soon as possible. Even if they're all lies, I can't be too sure what would happen in the future." Sungjong's shoulders fell. "And I don't even understand my dreams."
"What are your dreams about?"
"The first one I had was about a ghost town. I don't think it was my own dream though. In fact, I looked into a mirror and realized that it wasn't me. It was another person. Someone I don't know, but I must have accidentally fell into his dream."
"You're correct. That dream isn't your own. In fact, it's a predicament." Howon's eyes flashed as kept on talking. "It's what will happen in the future."
"In the future? If that's it, then it must connect to my other dream." Sungjong's shoulders lifted again. "The second dream I had was about a box. A small one with a keyhole. If I'm right, then that must be that Pandora's Box that I've been hearing about."
"Some people say that it will make the world corrupt." Howon lifted his hand to his mouth and pinched his lip. "There are all kinds of things that the box can hold. In fact, back in ancient times, it was said that Zeus locked away all the pain and sadness of the world inside of a jar, which was given to a woman named Pandora. Pandora was created by Zeus' brother Hephaestus, the God of craftsmanship."
Sungjong looked at Howon with serious eyes, paying attention to each detail. He nodded his head and lowered his brows. The Greek mythology that pertained to this situation seemed to be a hint to how he would find the box. Howon continued.
"Pandora was created out of earth and water." The two elements he had just mentioned seemed to pertain to Woohyun's power. Earth consisted of water, which would be held within the depths of the surface. "Zeus had given Pandora to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus, to punish him for stealing fire from the Heavens."
Sungjong bit his lip. That sounded a lot like Dongwoo. He had gained his power from accidentally stealing an experiment jar filled with atomic toxins. The toxins had contained some sort of DNA virus that infected Dongwoo's body with the fire power that he had to this day.
"Zeus had also given Pandora the jar, filled with the horrible things in the world. She was given instructions to never open the jar. Unfortunately, Hephaestus didn't seem to give her a brain, and she opened it up. Zeus had knowingly given her the jar, predicting that she would open it. She had tried to close the jar, but it would not shut until one last thing was left." Howon lifted his hand as a tiny figure slowly puffed out. "This is the Spirit of Hope named Elpis. She is what the Greek call 'The extension of suffering'. Elpis is engraved into my backside, which brings the thought of why I have her. I am a clue to this entire puzzle of the search for the box."
Sungjong lifted his hand to feel the small being. She was still and quiet, holding a cornucopia basket in her left arm. It was filled with precious fruits and vegetables. As his finger touched her hair, she dissipated into thin air. Immediately, Sungjong blinked out of a trance he had been set into.
Howon closed his hand and looked at Sungjong with serious eyes. "All we have to do is find this 'Pandora'. Because without her, we wouldn't be able to open the box. Yes, we have the key, but Pandora is the real key to opening it."
Sungjong lifted his chin and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah... The only problem is that we don't know who or where this Pandora girl is. Does she even exist?"
"If the box exists, then so does she." Howon pointed out. "I can't get any information of where she is, but all I know is that the box should be nearby her."
Howon thought to himself for a moment. Each and every player in this game seemed to have some sort of special power or connection to it, but how? What was the real story behind the whole search? Sungjong rested his head on his hand and sighed heavily as many thoughts ran through his head.