Hyunjoong

''Who's this?'' Mr. Kang asks in a strict tone. I reach out to shake his hand;

''Hi, sorry for intruding. I'm Kim Hyunjoong,'' I say politely and lower my hand as he doesn't shake it.

''Yah! Who told you to invite boys over here, eh?!'' Mr. Kang shouts at Hyomi and makes a gesture to hit her. He immediately stops as he sees Seunghyun's glare. Mr. Kang looks apologetically to Seunghyun as he motions them to get inside the house. Hyomi glowers at him for a quick moment but leaves willingly with her father. Seunghyun turns to look at me;

''Sorry for that. Mr. Kang is really not the person to befriend with,'' he says and half-smiles.

''It's okay,'' I assure and dig my hands into my pockets.

''Hyomi is a pretty girl, isn't she?'' he asks. I stutter as I get caught off guard;

''W-what?''

Seunghyun chuckles.

''So...'' he begins. I look quizzically at him.

''What made you come to Hyomi's house?'' he asks.

''Oh, I just wanted to ask her a few questions, that's all,'' I admit. He looks at me in a way to show that I should proceed. I act as I don't take the hint.

''I see,'' he says with an emotionless tone. I nod and look around. Silence.

''Don't believe in anything Hyomi says,'' Seunghyun reveals after a while. My eyes avert to him of the sudden statement.

''Wae?'' I ask. Seunghyun folds his arms while clearing his throat;

''Hyomi has a mental disorder and she has to take a lot of medications for it,'' he says.

''It doesn't seem like she has a mental disorder,'' I challenge.

''Well, she has,'' he says in an annoyed tone. I turn to leave but he stops me;

''Hey, I'm sorry. I.. just have a lot of things going on right now,'' he admits. I put my hand on his shoulder to show that I understand. He gives me a warm smile and goes inside Hyomi's house, I leave when he closes the door. Thoughts and unasked questions are clouding my mind.

I don't know what to believe in right now.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seunghyun

I walk away from the window as soon as I see Hyunjoong leave. Hyomi sits far away across the living room, distancing herself from her father and me.

''Hyomi, we forgive you this time. I know you didn't invite Hyunjoong over deliberately,'' I say. She shuffles and looks down on the floor, avoiding my eyes.

''Yah! Do you listen to what Seunghyun is saying?!'' her fathers yells and bites his tongue, a common habit he has when getting angry. Hyomi nods.

''What did Hyunjoong tell you, Hyomi?'' I say in a serious tone. Hyomi bites her trembling lips.

''Nothing,'' she mumbles. Her father gets up from the sofa and points at her;

''If you don't tell us the truth, I will make sure to lock you up and you'll never see a glimpse of daylight ever again!'' he threatens. I get annoyed with his behavior and motions him to go inside the bedroom. After a moment of mumbling and cursing, he closes the bedroom door. I turn to look at Hyomi who seems a bit relieved now.

''It's okay, tell me,'' I assure. She finally gives in;

''Hyunjoong knows that I got abused yesterday. He was the one who called the police yesterday,'' she half-whispers.

''You see, this wouldn't have happened if you were obedient,'' I say.

''What you, my father and the villagers are doing is bad, Seunghyun. Can't you see that?!'' she hisses. It pains me that she doesn't call me oppa anymore. I smirk and walk towards her. She averts her eyes to the wall as I twirl a loose strand of her hair.

''You won't see it as a bad thing if you just follow. Accept Xian and you don't have to deal with abuses or threats anymore,'' I entreat. She pushes my hand aside and sits on the sofa;

''I won't,'' she says. I sigh and pace around the room.

''You keep rejecting but sooner or later, he will come,'' I warn.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hyomi

It's 11 p.m and I'm lying in bed, unable to sleep. Seunghyun left at 6 p.m as he had to run some errands. I've been thinking about going to Hyunjoong's house. I feel like I have to talk to someone about what's going on. After a while of thinking, I get out of bed and dress myself. I put on black sweatpants and a black hoodie so I won't be noticeable. The door creaks a little as I open my bedroom door. I tiptoe out to the hallway and freeze immediately when I hear my father snoring loudly. After taking a deep breath, I put my shoes on and close the front door quietly, only hearing a small ''click''.

The cool night breeze blows my hair slightly. I put my hood on and set out to look for Hyunjoong's house. How do I know which house number he has? A sudden thought strucks me; the empty house that was for sale. I fasten my pace and hurry towards that house. Seeing the lights still on relieves me as I know he's awake.

I walk up the doorsteps and knock on the frontdoor. The door opens widely and a fully awake Hyunjoong wearing reading glasses eyes me. Before I can explain, he invites me inside and closes the door.

''I can only stay here for a short time,'' I say.

''Is everything alright?'' he asks worriedly.

''Yes. I mean no,'' I stutter and rub my wrist. Hyunjoong offers me to sit down and have a glass of water. I accept and after a while, I finally open up;

''I feel like I need to tell someone about this, I can't hold it in any longer. You think I might be crazy if I tell you this'' I say.

''Go on,'' he says warmly.

''I think you've already seen the posters around the village,'' I half-whisper. He nods to confirm it.

''Well... there's more to it. The villagers here follow the Hwal Hyoen Gye Kuk. They all gather outside at night when there's a half moon and they walk up the hill to an old monastery. A Xian priest holds a sermon for the villagers and talks about the Xian leader's development.

Apparently the leader had a fraternal twin brother who didn't survive a fire incident. The twin that got saved from the fire will be raised to become a leader. The weird thing is, no one found the deceased twin's remains. Some villagers believe that he's still alive and will make a return, others think the opposite.

The twin that got saved was raised by the same Xian priest who abused him severely. The whole abuse thing is a part of getting raised to become a leader and be independent.

When the twin matured, a few young women started to go missing and got sent off to the monastery to work there. The police knew about the disappearances but they never found the monastery. The twin will soon have a ritual and will be crowned as leader when the moon shines extra brightly. During the ritual, there will be a sacrifice of a woman. The leader can either choose her to be his wife, or kill her. If, the deceased twin is alive, he can stop the ritual, because he is the oldest one and has more power.

''So there's a good twin and a bad twin?'' he asks curiously. I nod.

''Who's becoming the leader?'' Hyunjoong asks. My digital watch beeps and signals me to go home.

''I can explain this to you another time. I really have to go now. My father might wake up soon,'' I say in a hurry. Hyunjoong nods firmly and pats my hand;

''Thank you. By the way, you're not crazy,'' he whispers. I smile and head out the door.

Luckily, my father is still asleep so I sneak into my room and lay on my bed.

Telling Hyunjoong was the right thing to do. I feel so much better.