“Me?” Namjoo repeated shocked by the accusation.

“Yes! You! Who else?” Hee Sun boldly stated.

Namjoo snorted and asked, “Where’s your proof?”

“You were the only one out here,” Hee Sun continued.

Namjoo stared back at her with hardened eyes and Hee Sun returned the hard stare, refusing to fall back.

“Did you?” Xiumin asked Namjoo.

Namjoo turned to look at Xiumin falling speechless. Pressing her lips together to repress her expression of anger she turned to glance at Hee Sun before turning to walk away.

Xiumin turned to glance at her before swiveling around to follow his assistant.

This was it. Namjoo didn’t deserve anyone’s trust, just like how she’d never gotten anyone’s trust while growing up.

“Come on,” Luhan turned her around, “I’ll walk you back.”

“Can’t you do something about her?” Hee Sun asked along the way.

“What do you want me to do?” Luhan questioned light heartedly, his hand still on her shoulder as he guided her along.

“Get her fired; remove her or have another news station come,” Hee Sun suggested.

Luhan chuckled and annoyance filled her up. Why was he so amused?

“Why are you laughing?”

“It was only a small matter,” Luhan answered.

“Small matter!?” Hee Sun repeated, hurt and annoyed that Luhan hadn’t taken her seriously at all.

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Namjoo,” Luhan told.

“How would you know that?!!” Slightly pulling out from him she turned to stare up at him.

Allowing his hand to fall to his side he said, “Why would she want to hurt you for such a thing as this morning? And you don’t really know it was her.”

“I know it was her!” Hee Sun raised her voice, growing with an urge to stomp her feet. “I grew up going to school with her! She was always weird and alone and crazy! She’s jealous because I’m different from her. It only makes sense if it was her! If it wasn’t, who else would try to hurt me?!”

The smile grew off Luhan’s face and he glanced at her observantly before continuing to wheel her along, “This palace is old, there could be ghosts around. It could’ve been one of them.”

Not in the mood for his jokes she pulled out from him again, accusing, “Why are you defending her!?”

“I’m not,” he replied. “I’m being logical. It’s late, lets get some sleep. If you’re being stubborn I won’t walk you back then.”

Hee Sun watched Luhan step away from her and bit her lower lip angrily. She definitely wouldn’t forget what happened tonight.

+++

Quickening her steps she continued striding through the dark without awareness of where she was headed. All Namjoo knew that deep within her resided a pitch black hole of growing resentment toward everyone. She feared that if it grew, she might really want to hurt someone.

All she had sensed from Xiumin in that moment was doubt. For some sane reason it pissed her off. He was her boss, he should at least take her side, but no; he’d rather listen to Hee Sun.

In that mere moment she wanted to pack up and leave.

Damn Hee Sun, damn everyone.

“Namjoo!” Xiumin’s voice erupted in her ears again. “Where are you going? Namjoo!”

When she felt his hand try to grapple for her shoulder she threw her arm up to shove him back, spinning around to glare at him.

“What’s wrong with you?” He questioned.

The growing rage inside her roared. He had the guts to ask?

“Back off,” Namjoo hissed. “Don’t follow me.”

She turned around to continue striding off into the distance, but increasing his pace he stepped in front of her forcing her to a stop. Turning away from his eyes she stepped to the side to escape, but he was quick to follow.

“I didn’t say you did it,” Xiumin clarified, “if that’s what you’re angry about. You should at least explain yourself in front of someone who’s accused you of wrongdoing. Why walk off?”

Namjoo peered into his eyes skeptical of his method of truce. “Ah…you’re right. Because I’m a strange one I can be in two places at once. That’s the explanation.”

Finishing with a glare she waved her arm out to push him aside. Strutting off into the quiet darkness she bit her lip, every step filled with a form of penetrating anger.  

There was no clue with how long she walked back and forth outside under the moonlight. When her heavy feet tired of and she finally felt her lids start to droop she traveled back to the Queen’s Quarters where she stayed alone for sleep. And it hit her immediately when her eyes closed.

There was a hand around , her back against some cold floor. Air was being cut off from her lungs to weaken her strength before she felt lips nip at . The sobs came through in waves again.

“Please stop,” a voice sobbed, “someone help me!”

Namjoo twisted her neck and clamped her hand into a fist. Her eyes swiveled back and forth within her closed lids as she lay tucked underneath the silk covers.

The hand was back around the throat and tightened with further strength this time. Her eyes or maybe it wasn’t her, the eyes widened and a cough struggled through. Suddenly her sight went pitch black.

Namjoo couldn’t see anything for a long time then suddenly she heard the movement of little grains of dirt landing against something. And whether this person was still her or not, Namjoo felt heartbreak shattering inside her chest. It was so painful she thought a mirror had broken inside of her; its sharp glass piercing against her skin, tearing every tissue apart. It felt like her veins had burst and blood was pouring in painful waves through her.

The hoarse sobbing of a voice echoed into her ears; the kind of terrible sobbing one heard when a family member died. And suddenly the blackness lifted. In front of her was a deep hole and two people working to throw the soil back into place. Their outfits were unordinary, but somewhat matched with the fan dancers she’d seen earlier in her other vision – and how Namjoo realized she was thinking this didn’t make sense.

Was this really a dream? Was she seeing herself or was it someone else?

Her eyes widened when she spotted someone lying underneath the splashing soil; her eyes were still wide open, but there was no movement.

“Can you hear me?” The voice was familiar…

Namjoo shot up from her sleep to the bright glow of her room breathing heavily. It was daylight now, but she couldn’t forget those eyes underneath the soil. Pressing a hand up to her forehead she tossed the covers aside and got up.

The sun was barely at its and Namjoo couldn’t hear the dancers doing their morning routines, which probably meant everyone was still in bed.

Good, she thought, that was very good.

Strutting back to the Queen’s Quarters she stared down at her bag of luggage. The late night resentment was still fresh inside her mind. She could have left on impulse any time in the night, but she hadn’t. Instead she’d walked around to clear her mind, but that only ended up tiring herself out.

Namjoo suddenly pondered over the reason why she was still there. Was it because Xiumin didn’t allow her to suddenly call quits? Or was it that he’d claimed responsibility for whatever happened? Did her reason for not leaving have anything to do at all with her boss?

None of the options she thought of sounded relevant.

Swiping her hand out she grabbed her wallet and headed out. She missed the city. She’d do whatever she wanted for as long as she could outside before returning. When she slid the front door open though, she came face to face with Xiumin. At the back of her head a voice laughed at the fact that he’d even bothered to come check on her. He was probably curious about whether she’d left in the middle of the night or not.

Noticing the wallet in her hand he asked, “You going somewhere?”

Namjoo wanted to ask spitefully if he wanted to follow her, but held back.

“Out.” Was all she said before walking past him.

As she quickened her steps toward the large dome doors she felt the wind brush past her so harshly that the dirt on the concrete seemed to fly up into her face. Shrieking from the sudden surprise she turned her head to the side clamping her eyes shut. It was when she held her hand up to block her eyes that she heard it.

“Don’t go.”

Immediately dropping her hand she looked around, her heart thumping loudly and slowly. She was shocked for a long second caught off guard by the loud voice in her ears.

What the hell…was that?

The courtyard remained empty and Xiumin had decided not to follow her. Now she sort of wished he would have.

Chills climbed up her spine and Namjoo didn’t feel very good. Actually, she was kind of scared and nervous. Namjoo suddenly found herself sweating and when the wind picked up again she started at a run for the entrance.

The loud city cars outside drummed into her ears as she walked along the streets, but she couldn’t forget the lasting chill she’d just received. So deeply urged to forget everything she turned into a coffee shop and bought herself the coffee she’d missed on yesterday. The warmth of it relaxed even her bones.

She missed the outside air. Being cooped up in the palace felt like she lived there and she had felt suffocated. However, Namjoo quickly realized that roaming around the streets like this made her insecure for some strange reason. It felt like she’d left something…a part of her behind and she had to go fetch it, but this conscious part of her didn’t want to go back.

Uneasy Namjoo walked into a 7-Eleven and walked around before coming upon a sale of magazines. Grabbing one about astrology that caught her eyes she flipped through the pages before coming upon a page titled “What Your Dreams Mean.”

Namjoo paused on the page and hesitated about going further. Pressing her lips together she gulped and flipped the page over, scanning the letters for keywords about her dreams. Coming across the word fear made the chills come back. Suddenly thinking about the dreams she’d been having brought the chills back down her skin.

When she died or when she watched that girl died, fear an intense emotion indescribable to her. Holding tightly onto the page she scanned the paragraph.

Fear: To dream that you feel fear indicates that your achievements will not be as successful as you had anticipated. You are experiencing anxieties in various aspects of your life. The key to overcoming your fear is to discuss them and deal with them openly.

To dream that you worse fears are coming true signifies your resistance to change. You are afraid to confront the unknown aspects of yourself.

Namjoo narrowed her eyes upon the paragraph, unsure about whether this was what she had been anticipating. Flipping the page over she stopped upon a relating paragraph.

Scared: To dream that you are scared indicates that you are experiencing feelings of self-doubt, incompetence, and lack of control in your waking life. Perhaps you are having second thoughts about a decision you have made. Anger often masquerades as fear, so also consider issues about which you are angry about in your waking life. 

Was this right? Namjoo couldn’t quite agree. She searched the pages for death, but couldn’t find the keyword anywhere. Giving up she tossed the magazine back onto the shelf and laughed at herself.

“It’s just telling me I have bad luck,” Namjoo mumbled hurt.

Turning on her heels she walked out.

She knew certain aspects of her childhood hadn’t been the best. Namjoo was also clear that she wasn’t very happy with this ability she possessed, but it never meant she’d never confronted it. She’d tried…until she was called names and shunned from society before disclosing that part of her. And the magazine was suggesting her to talk about her problems openly?

What a joke, Namjoo thought. To talk about her ability without waiting for her listener to report her to the mental institute? Namjoo would never go there.

And she lacked control in her life? No, Namjoo was in complete control. She knew what was going on. She was definitely in utmost control of her life and no one would throw her off her feet. Whether it was these weird dreams, Hee Sun, or Xiumin; she wouldn’t fall off her feet.

She was in complete control of her life and these weird factors wouldn’t get in the way.

Slowly pivoting in her halted steps, she stared up at Gyeonbok Palace with determination wavering over her. For such a long time she’d fought to maintain a normal life and Namjoo would keep it that way.

Gripping her hand into a tight fist she waited for the guard out front to open the door for her. As the dome door opened a flash of strong wind greeted her, pushing the hair on her shoulder back.

And nothing, Namjoo repeated to herself, would ruin her normal life.

Stepping inside she started forward, her senses listening to the door close behind her; its heavy frame grinding against the concrete. Namjoo could hear loud practice music made up of traditional instruments coming from some kind of boom box. When the very sound of a drum hit the air she felt all senses die off and turned to her left.

Something about it felt unwelcomingly familiar. A group of men in sweats were currently at practice and Namjoo stared, unable to tell her feet to continue walking forward.

“Ah…hello!” Someone bowed and called out in greeting. “You’re the reporter staying with us, right?”

Namjoo ran her eyes over his slim, but bulging frame and nodded. To keep drumming and performing he must have worked out to keep fit. He didn’t look much older than her.

“Do you want to try this out?” He called out.

Namjoo watched him slip the drum off from around him before walking over to her. Her eyes swam down to the brown instrument, tingles overtaking her body. It was well kept in shape, perhaps cleaned every night so it maintained its shine. In anyway, it still looked as ancient as the ones she’d seen in museums. Something didn’t feel right, but Namjoo couldn’t just say no now that he’d walked over.

She let him put it around her and handed her the thin drumsticks with a broad smile.

“It’s easy, just follow my movements,” he instructed.

As if empty minded and not in control of herself Namjoo followed his movements, hitting the sticks against the drum. The low sound of it echoed deep into her ears and she swung her arms out in copy of his movements and hit the drum again. Tingles continued shivering over her skin, but she couldn’t stop.

“Oh, you’re pretty good,” he complimented upon turning to look at her. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

“No,” she shook her head.

Feeling cramped she tried to take the drum off from around her shoulders. The longer she had it around her, the more uncomfortable she was becoming.

“Here, let me help you,” he offered before nearing to take the strings.

It wasn’t like her heart was racing in an exhilarating manner. Instead it was drumming very slowly, but hard against her chest in a manner of warning.

Namjoo’s body stilled as she watched him come close. When he lifted his eyes up to meet with hers he smiled kindly, yet something there – not her emotions – but something there told her to run. In the moment of confusion Namjoo just stared at him, her feet unable to transmit signals to her brain to make her walk away.

Run!

But she didn’t even know him…

His fingers touched her shoulder as he lifted the string connected to the drum and started to lift the instrument off her. Inside her ears started a ringing; slowly and calmly before its pitch became higher. Someone started screaming deliberately; emotions of anger, fear, and hatred coming through in ultimate expressions until it deafened her senses. Her heart started thudding louder.

Instead of waiting in her sleep, the vision of that hand around flashed before her eyes.

“Let me kill him!” A voice shrieked into her ears and unable to see what had flown at her Namjoo shot three steps back before landing onto the ground unconscious. 

***Chorong's past is catching up to Namjoo's present and it's triggering her vengeful emotions. That drummer that approached Namjoo was also someone who existed in Chorong's lifetime. This marks her first attempt of entering Namjoo's body, but as you see Namjoo is a bit determined for normal - her strong will will deflect Chorong's determination.