4MEN & Mi - Here I am           

            Tick tock. Tick tock.

            Byulhee laid down on her side with her cheek against the tiled floor staring at the objects before her from a bottom view with a blank mind. Red puffy eyes scanned the corridor hoping for the day to be passed already.

            Tick tock. Tick tock.

            The sound of the wall clock echoed throughout the apartment. She didn’t hate the sound, rather welcomed it in the silence that was empty of any emotion.

            Tick tock. Tick tock. Ring!

            Slowly lifting her eyes, she met with the clock dials resting on the time 3 PM. Savoring the chime that came every hour, she tried to drift off into sleep as she began to mouth the sounds of the wall clock.

            Tick tock. Tick to--.

            Byulhee began to scrunch her eyebrows as she listened hard for the sound of the wall clock to begin. But nothing happened. Nothing was heard. Silence visited her once again.

            Bothered by the still, she opened her eyes to gaze up at the wall clock to see it had completely stood still. Just a minute or two passed the saving hour; she couldn’t tell very clearly.

            *Is it out of battery already?* she asked herself. Moments passed on by and by without any signs of life coming from the inanimate object. With a sigh she began to slowly rise from her position as the ends of her one-piece dress slowly caressed the tiled floors.

            Walking with a slow pace, she took a stool and raised her hands towards the wall clock. “I don’t want to change you though,” she whispered to herself. But just as her hands grazed the edges of the frame, the wind whispered in her ear juts like the times Jonghyun would use to whenever the wall clock would run out of breath.

            “Then don’t. You can always do it later.”

            She turned to find the source of the voice. Was she going crazy after all? *Or was it the wind?*

            And in return the curtains flew by a gentle breeze that tugged it. “Yep, just the wind,” she recalled as she tried again to grasp the frames.

            “Am I just the wind?”

            Shock and fear overtook her entire body. Was she really conjuring up such ridiculous pieces of imagination? Was she that lonely? Or could it possibly be real?

            With silence, she swallowed down her fear and stepped down from the stool. She walked around her apartment with timid footsteps holding onto nearby objects for support. With a lump in she called out once more hoping nothing would beckon her call, “Hello?”

            She was ensured with the silence that visited her again as she began to relax her tensed muscles. But what would a day be without a little horror to add to that saddened sundae?

            “Come find me, Byulhee. Walk to me.”

            “H-hello? Is anyone there?” she began to stutter as she looked to the hallway mirrors for any shadows. With nothing out of the ordinary, she slowly walked towards her room. “H-hello?”

            “Hello, my dear little bunny.”

            She suddenly came to halt once more upon hearing the nickname only Jonghyun would say to her. No, it couldn’t possibly. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. Maybe it was because of the lack of nutrition within her body. When was her last meal she wondered?

            “Last week. When he left you, bunny.”

            It was definitely the lack of nutrition. Shaking her head of worry she walked out of the hallway and back into the room she was in before; where the wall clock brought in silence into the apartment. Staring at it for a while longer, she passed by it to walk into the kitchen and took out a small pot and began to fill it with water.

            Eyeing the finished bowl of porridge before her, she reached for the glass of water and drained its contents to the bottom of her stomach. Hearing the clanks of the bowl and spoon, she placed them back into the sink and began to wash them. When the warmth of the water kissed her hands, she fell a bit more at ease and at peace. *I should probably take a shower too.*

            Waiting for the water to reach its right temperature, Byulhee looked at herself in the mirror only to find a wreck. She had bags under her puffy eyes with chapped plump red lips to match as her messy locks cascaded down her head pass her pale shoulders to reach her now full stomach. *If it wasn’t for that bowl of porridge I’d be considered one of the walking dead* she thought as a small smirk tugged her lips.

            Stepping in into the shower, she was intrigued by the satisfaction the warm waters gave her as they trickled down her crème body. Closing her eyes she took in the warmth that they offered and oblivious to the shadow that walked pass the mirrors and into the kitchen room.

            Refreshed and glowing, she stared at herself in the mirror as she began to dry her once messy locks to brush them to a fine silky road. *What wonders a shower can do* she gleamed as she tugged the edges of her face to find her face refined.

            Sitting down she began to hum to a light tune as she applied lotion to her face. “Soften the pores and--”

            “Redefine the feature.”

            She stared wide-eyed at the mirror before her in horror. *Impossible.*

            Byulhee searched the mirror for any signs of shadows that could lead her to an assaulter within her apartment. With a shaky hand she began to reach for her cell phone to dial for help but stopped short when she noticed that her phone was out on battery. *This day keeps getting better and better.*

            Rummaging her room to find the charger she groaned in discomfort when she realized that it was outside in the living room, right next to the kitchen. “Oh, my life,” she whispered so low it was barely audible to herself.

            “Do you really despise your life so much right now, bunny?”

            Ready to face fear, she balled up her fists and made her way hesitantly down the hallway. Maybe luck was on her side when she spotted Jonghyun’s jeolkwondo bamboo sword. Though it seemed light looks could be a bit deceiving.

            Holding it close to her, she made her way towards the living room ready to pounce on anything. And as her fear turned to boldness it slowly began to fade back into fear as she met with a tall boy leaning against the counter waiting for her.

            Fear wasn’t the right word; rather she felt it but somehow it eased to comfort by his presence. This boy with crème features lighter than her own who possessed hair light as the starlight that was basked in the sun for warmth gave her comfort?

            Was it really fear when her hands began light as the bamboo sword turn heavy as lead within her grasp? Was it her imagination? Why was he there? Those were of the few silent asked questions that rang about in her mind before she was interrupted by his voice. His actual voice.

            “How have you been, Byulhee?”

            How did he know her name? Was he really someone who broke in into her home? Or was he—

            “Junhong.”

            “. . . .what?” she asked in disbelief.

            “Choi Junhong.”

            Right as she was about to answer him and his weird statement, she heard something that made the situation even more unbelievable.

            Tick tock. Tick tock.