Daesung’s birthday passed.

Yuri said something about Jung Min forgetting his own birthday too, but since he didn’t really know when it was, they never actually celebrated. So we threw him a surprise party one evening. Jung Min was touched, I could sense it, but he chose not to make a fuss out of it and quietly enjoy his carrot cake. Yuri spent an entire day chopping and mixing funnily looking ingredients, including a bat wing. She almost burnt the kitchen and that was when I had to take over and bake Jung Min’s gift. We also tied his hair in ribbons and played around some more like the idiots we were. Even Yuri joined us this one time. We all got on the sofa and took a photo with the camera Daesung recently purchased from the city. He’d still have to develop them later, but we kept delaying that. Between helping the villagers, searching for medicinal herbs and crossing dates for the supposed beginning of my adventures, time went by faster than expected.

Later that summer, I waited until Daesung left early in the morning after firewood to wake up. I crawled at the desk, turned the lamp on and searched for blank paper. Opening the drawer and looking through it, I found a few pens and started tapping the paper with one while munching on the cap. I had to write down everything I wanted to do, so I could pack the same day and check the train schedules.

No faults were admitted at that point, absolutely none!

Firstly, I had to return to my hometown. There still were a few things I had to buy from that shop down the yellow brick road. I also couldn’t wait to taste a soft croissant and some delicious tea from the pâtisserie. I’ll have to avoid the owner since I couldn’t forget the way she purred around Daesung. I almost snapped the pen in two just thinking about it.

Inhaling, I went back to the list.

I remember that when I travelled with Yuri, we reached the vast Black Ocean. Instead of taking a boat and going further, we had to return east and I was really disappointed about it. As an adult, the first thing I had in mind was to go again to the Black Ocean and see what else the world had to offer. Jung Min convinced me it was better to stay a little longer on our continent, so, again, I returned east.

Not that time.

My last visit should be again at the Black Ocean. If I remembered correctly, the port was still pretty active and boats left daily. I had to grab one that could get us to the closest city across the Ocean or somewhere on a deserted island where who knows what other mysterious happenings awaited us.

Before that, I had to check on the northern ruins. Heard some ghosts were throwing illegal parties every month and if there’s something I’m good at, is partying with the spirits until they get sick of me and want to leave of their own accord.

I giggled. It could be the funniest thing ever.

But, whatever the case, my path shall be again towards west. Every time I tried to go far east, I got a seriously dire sensation which wouldn’t leave me until I changed direction. Guess that place is so haunted, I couldn’t do a thing about it. Also, the last thing I wanted was for ghosts to feed on my instable energy. Not good, really not good... that hotel proved how dangerous it could be.

I bit my thumb and thought that maybe some had came into contact with me these days because I felt rather weak.

Nah, I trained too much. And it was pretty hot in the mountains. The blazing sun directly chewed at my body every time I stepped out of the cottage. At least, when it was dark, the same cold breeze from the top went tumbling down on us. With that in mind, I had to make sure to pack every single type of clothing. But I couldn’t carry too much with me, so maybe more money would be excellent.

I was pretty sure Jung Min would follow me around as long as I had the medallion with me. It tempted the little devil inside of my head to leave the medallion behind, but I couldn’t. If something happened, Jung Min should be the one to alert Yuri and hide her before things would go from bad to worse. So, it was alright. I could use him as my pigeon and send or receive money through his feathery .

Having a father of a reaper had its advantages.

Satisfied, I shoved the papers inside a book I had been reading for the past couple of months, then placed my head on top of that book. Closing my eyes and thinking of all the wonderful sceneries I could see, all the food I could eat, all the lovely people I could meet... I fell back asleep.

---

My back hurt so freaking much. Who let me fall asleep? Ugh.

When I passed by the mirror in our bedroom, I saw a huge red mark crested on my face.

Great! Just great!

I slapped my cheeks and tried to fix my skin. I should have really gone to bed first before relaxing on that book. After I looked pretty decent, I had the urge to check and recheck my eye color. There was no blue in it, so I was fine as a well-cooked duck.

Snort.

Where the heck did that come from?

My stomach rumbled.

Oh yeah, too hungry to think.

I happily went to see what was for breakfast, hoping somebody fixed the toaster. I craved for some with a soft egg on top and some tomatoes. Well, it was a weird menu, but if my stomach asked for it, I shall offer it on a silver tray. Then, some chocolate cookies with red berries also worked fantastically well to the side.

I swallowed hard.

Foooooooood!

I beamed at the happy gang who were already tangled around the table.

They all turned to say hi, when Daesung dropped his fork. Jung Min’s eyes widened and his jaw fell. Ruby eyes replaced his usual calm orbs. Yuri’s face twisted into something that only meant there was a horrible thing behind me. I checked and there was nothing. Facing them again, their expressions hadn’t changed.

“What?” I rubbed my cheek. I was sure I got rid of that red mark. “Is there something on my face?”

“YOU LITTLE !” Jung Min burst and threatened to take Daesung’s eyeball out with his carrot. Daesung fell backwards off his chair and crawled away from the angry reaper. Yuri leaped over the table and stopped Jung Min from mauling the poor kid.

“I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY!” Daesung yelled and ran behind me. He grabbed on my back and trembled there in fear. I stared at them, unsure of what the heck was going on.

“Oi, Jung Min!” he eyed me. “Calm down...” the reaper growled as his eyes lost their unusual shade. Jung Min lowered the carrot and Yuri slowly let go of him. “What’s the deal?”

“Sooyoung dear...” oh-oh, she called me dear... it’s bad, really bad. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?” Jung Min’s eyes turned bloody again and as he was about to fly and butcher Daesung, I stepped in front of him and poked his chest. “You tell me.”

He growled and I smacked him. He looked hurt before finally calming down for good. I could still feel the menace in his voice as he spoke.

“You’re pregnant.”

I heard and read of women with such weak hearts, they fainted from everything. Sometimes, even men had that problem. It was different from person to person. I know I -out a couple of times because of the sheer exhaustion I had been put through or some things that shocked me so much, my brain automatically shut itself down.

I turned around when a loud bang confirmed my theory.

Daesung fainted behind me. I guess somebody had to make sure he hadn’t seen things and Jung Min's simple sentence finished him.

My fingers pressed bellow my stomach.

“Can you do me a favor?” Jung Min nodded. “Catch me,” I closed my eyes and joined Daesung in slumber.