final.

Final

A rose.

That was the first thing Kai saw when she first appeared before him.

Before that though, he was in a blissful relationship with his college sweet heart Choi Junhee but, she preferred being called Juniel. They loved each other and everyone was convinced that when they finally finished their studies, they would get married.

Kai would have never even thought about leaving Juniel’s side, and Juniel couldn’t even think about life without Kai. The two were irrevocably in love, truly, deeply, in love with each other. They challenged life fearlessly together, there was no other in their eyes, just the two of them.

That all changed when Kai saw her.

He was taking a stroll in the park, strangely without Juniel. She was off at a summer co-op program, but leaving that day proved to be a fatal mistake. That was the day he first saw her, dressed in white with a small smile dancing on her pink lips. Kai couldn’t keep his eyes off her, her pale, clear skin, her black hair dancing through the summer breeze.

And in her pale, white, slender fingers, she held a single rose but, this wasn’t any rose. This was a rose that was a hue of pure black.

Kai’s eyes were all on her, only her. She walked over to Kai with a smile that was warm and loving to Kai, but deathly icy to the rest of the world. Many gave funny looks to the two, Kai didn’t notice. He could only hear her light, melodic voice ringing through his ears.

“Hello there.”

“Hi.”

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“Kim Jongin, call me Kai though.”

“I’m Jung Soojung, don’t call me that though.”

“What should I call you?”

“Krystal.”

Then they agreed to meet up the next day.

Juniel woke with a start that night. She had a terrifying dream of Kai and a girl she couldn’t recognize. Shuddering, she grabbed her phone of her nightstand and scrolled through her gallery before a picture of Kai and her flashed before her eyes. A small smile appeared and she held the phone close to her as her eyelids fluttered close.

But the nightmares wouldn’t stop.

Kai met up with Krystal the next day. They sat a bench and talked about life together. Her smiles lit the world up for him, he liked Krystal very much, too much, so much that he forgot about his relationship with Juniel, his love for the innocent, sweet girl disappeared and his feelings now wanted Krystal.

He tucked Krystal’s hair behind her ear like he used to do for Juniel, whisper sweet things to her and wrap his arms lovingly around her frame, he did this all for Krystal.

As Krystal, while her smiles to him seemed kind and full of heartfelt emotion, in reality they displayed sinister feelings and a cold, stiff vibe. She had another black rose, this time on her ring on her pinky finger.

She would let her soft fingers touch Kai, making him want her more, and she lured him deeper into her dark eyes full of lies and deception.

He never noticed a thing.

The pair agreed to go out for coffee tomorrow.

Kai forgot about Juniel completely.

That evening Juniel had arrived back at her dorms after her co-op and called Kai. No one picked up.

She furrowed her brows in confusion because Kim Jongin doesn’t miss a call ever, especially if it was from her and the last two days he didn’t pick up as well.

Something wasn’t right but, she couldn’t figure it out.

As the sunset’s breeze blew past her, a weird feeling crept up into the pit of her being. She turned around, and there she saw a girl with dyed, red almost pink hair, and an evil smirk upon her porcelain face. Juniel gasped, and she stood there silently, with that smirk still on her face, Juniel recognized her from her nightmares. The girl raised her hand and a black rose was in her hand.

Juniel blinked, she was gone. Only leaving the withered petals of a red rose in the spot she was standing in.

She inched quietly to where the rose petals were and gasped at the words it had made.

“He’s mine.”

Kai watched as Krystal walked into the café, her long, flowing, black hair floating down her back. A smile instantly appeared on his face.

She sat and they drank coffee together, the whole store giving them looks.

Kai took it as the fact that the men were jealous that he was with a beautiful girl such as Krystal.

Was he thinking right?

They walked down the street hand in hand. Her head leaning on Kai’s shoulder, a smile on her face, a fake one. But of course, Kai didn’t notice.

He never notices.

They spend the whole day together and even when Kai gets back to his apartment, he’s still under her spell and doesn’t realize the thousands of texts and missed calls he has from his girlfriend who he hasn’t talked to for 3 days. Juniel is worried about him because she hasn’t seen him, and Kai is oblivious to her longing and promptly falls asleep with Krystal in his thoughts.

Juniel had another nightmare.

Now Juniel was quite worried, she hadn’t seen Kai on campus or around town. She had tried to call and text him but, he didn’t reply. She decided to wait outside his apartment door for him.

Kai came home and saw Juniel, guilt suddenly filled his entire being as Juniel rushed to him wrapping her arms around him. Juniel buried her head into his shoulder and he was paralyzed.

“I missed you.”

“Let’s break up.”

Kai was now dating Krystal and he felt so happy with her. People still gave him weird looks, and now he was slowly suspecting their looks.

They were one day sitting on Kai’s couch in his apartment watching a movie. Krystal was leaning on Kai’s shoulder when he spoke.

“You know, there’s something I can’t put my finger on about you.”

Krystal gulped but put a sweet smile on and looked at the man beside her.

“What do you mean babe?”

“You’re just too perfect to be real.”

And Krystal concealed the small smirk on her face with a gentle laugh.

Juniel was a shell now. She had everything on Kai, she loved him, needed him, she had no clue how to live without him. Her eyes were swollen because of all the tears she shed, dark eye circles because of work and the insomnia she had waiting for Kai to show up.

He never did.

Every day she would try to bump into him. Try to remind him of them, the meaning that he had to her but, she had bad luck, she couldn’t find him.

And even though her friends try to make her happy, she still had nightmares. The happy memories they used to share now appeared in her dreams as a wretched curse, the happiness that her friends surrounded her in still couldn’t protect her from the nightmares she had.

She always saw that girl in her dreams, touching, kissing, and loving Kai. But she had always had an evil smirk on her face.

Juniel was afraid now. She also hated Kai for giving into her.

Kai ended up in a mental institution during the winter break. No one knows how, or why, he just did. But, he sent a letter to Juniel.

Dear Juniel,

I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing. But this isn’t like other apology letters, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. I was cheating on you with a girl named Jung Soojung or Krystal. But, I’m not sure if she’s real anymore.

I say this because one day she was there and the next she wasn’t. They told me that Jung Soojung never existed because no one else has ever seen or heard of her. They have no records of her.

I’m scared Juniel.

This is the truth, included is a sketch of what she looked like.

Kai

Juniel gasped when she read the letter. She looked at the name carefully. Jung Soojung, she remember reading that name in a newspaper article.

She quickly headed to the library.

Juniel’s nimble fingers quickly typed over the keyboard looking desperately for the article. She finally stumbled across it.

“Legends of South Korea.”

“A girl named Jung Soojung likes playing with guys. She is said to be a seductress, getting men with girlfriends or wives to fall in love with her…”

“The men end up becoming crazy supposedly unless the girl comes back for him.”

Juniel stared at the page in disbelief. So, if what Kai said was true, then only she could save him but, would she actually do that for the man who made her like this, a crying mess?

Juniel turned and looked at the window and her eyes widened.

And there Krystal stood with a glint in her eye, smirk on her pale face. Mouthing 6 words only.

“Are you going to save him?”