“I-I’m me again…” She touched her face in wonder and the reflection in the mirror copied her.  Then, she saw the knife lying on top of the dresser in front of her, reminding her that everything that she would have never imagined to happen did happened.  She spun around, looked at the devil that was sitting at her bedside and asked, “What happened to Oh Sehun?”

            He smirked and hopped off the bed.  “Follow me.”

            Though she was still wary of this sunbae, who she used to think she knew so much about, she decided to follow him.

            As they headed for the door, Jaerim suddenly stopped at the lamp light stand and a book of some sort popped out from his hand.  With a solemn expression, he placed the book near the lamp light.  “This,” He pointed to the book as he turned to face her, “Do not touch.”

            She would have rolled her eyes at his warning if she didn’t think he could easily remove her in one of the most tortuous ways possible.  Sure, she had already died once, but it didn’t mean she was okay to die a second time.

            “Alrighty,” He clapped his hands, “Let’s go!”

            Many thoughts ran through her mind as they walked down the endless hallway with Jaerim leading in front.  She used to wonder often what it would be liked to stroll along with him, silently admiring his broad, confident shoulders and back.  She imagined that he would suddenly look behind him, towards her, giving her his loveliest and gentlest smile.  Then, he would hold out his hand for her.

            She thought she saw silvery gray wings spread from his back just moments before she hit the ground from the fall.  She wondered if her eyes had played a trick on her that time.  However, most importantly, she wondered why did he hold out his hand for her?

            “Why did you save me?” She finally asked.  However, as soon as the words slipped from , she regretted it.  She was not sure what kind of answer she was looking for, nor did she feel she would be prepared for his response.

            He stopped, his arms dangled languidly at his sides.

            Even now, she wondered what she was hoping for.  There should be no reason left for any hope.

            He shrugged.  “Just feel like it.”

            Her brows furrowed in anger.  “Just because...you feel like it?  Just because you feel like it?!  Just because you feel like it, you changed my face and identity so that I can never call my parents ‘mother’ and ‘father’.  Just because you feel like it, you gave me more than I could ever ask for, and then you tore my honour into pieces, effectively taking my life away.” She scoffed.  “All just because you feel like it?”

            Amusement tugged on his lips and he resumed leading her down the dark abyss.  “You are truly an embodiment of pride.”

            “What?” She frowned.

            He put a hand up to signal for her silence.  His smile widened.  “We’re here just in time.”  He motioned her to come inside one of the many identical doors in the hallway.  Unexpectedly, it was just a wide balcony on the other side of the door.   

            Confused, she hurried past him and stopped until she was in front of the balcony rail.  With a racing heart, she looked beneath to the lower floor.

           Her eyes widened at the sheer terror of the place; inferno flames engulfed the land like a hungry bloodhound.  Anything that moved would turn instantly into black ashes when a flicker contacted it.  She was not sure if the people moving below were human or human-like monsters like Yoon Jinyi and Song Jaerim.  Their skin was dark caramel, probably due to the eternal heat of the place – even she was starting to feel dizzy from the hotness of the air.  They were all preoccupied with pulling, pushing, and carrying sets of stones that weighted far mightier than they were.  Behind each dozen or so of them was a slave-driver, with a tall golden hat over his feathery head.  No doubt, the whole place was a re-enactment of the slaves of ancient Egypt, building grand pyramids for their benevolent pharaohs.  Just when her eyes could register no more of the cruelty, she saw Oh Sehun, and his wrists and ankles were all chained up with iron chains.

            “Se—” She stopped midway to his name.  What was the use to call out his name now?  There was nothing left to speak about between them anymore, not after what happened.  Then something important triggered her mind.  She turned around.  “Why is he here?  Didn’t you say that only one of us has to die?  I chose to die, didn’t I?  Whatever happened afterwards was beyond my control – you’re the one that saved me, even though I didn’t need any saving.”  She mustered her courage and took a brave step forward, closer to him.  She stared firmly into the devil’s eyes.  “You are a liar and a sore loser.”

           “Tsk, tsk.” He crossed his arms and shook his head.  “My dear hoobae, you’ve got to become a better listener; I said that one of you has to die, but I never said only nor did I claim to have any control over the free will of mankind.” He pointed up towards to the burned ceiling.  “Even He could not interfere with free will, so how could I, an insignificant me?”

            “No way, no way…” She shook her head as she mumbled.  Despairs filled her large pupils.  “Sehun is not the kind to end his own life…It’s you, isn’t it?  It has to be you!  You plan—”

            “Planned to humiliate you?  Shred your pride and dignity into pieces?” He finished the sentence for her.  He smirked.  “Did this sunbae not give you any hint with regards to the choices?”

            “Hint?  What?  Letting him die…?” Her voice trailed off and all the colours drained from her face.

            “Bingo!” He snapped his fingers in the air.  “If you had chosen him to take the fall, then no one else had to die and you would continue your enviable life as Lee. Bo. Young.”

            Coldness ran through her veins despite the burning heat.  She thought that he must be playing some mind games with her right now.  He was lying and manipulating to her into thinking that there was a choice when there really wasn’t in the first place.  He was toying with her with a false choice purely for his twisted enjoyment.  “I don’t believe you.” She said, the words were more to herself than to him.  Her eyes shifted towards the chained up Oh Sehun again.  Something caught in when she recognized a face that she had become so familiar with during the past couple of weeks – Lee Boyoung.  She covered and gasped.  “Wh-what’s she doing here as well?!” She noticed that Lee Boyoung’s eyes seemed to be sending daggers at Sehun’s back.

            “Because this is where she belongs.” His eyes strangely darkened, and his face became voided of all emotions.

            She gave him a confused look.  Her eyes urged him for an acceptable explanation, even though she knew it might be too much to expect out of this cold-blooded, twisted creature.

            Yet surprisingly, he sighed.  As if it was out of reluctance or tough consideration for her – even though she highly doubted it by now – he decided to tell her the chronicle of events, where she had left it.  “The moment you jumped, Lee Boyoung-sshi’s consciousness took over again, effectively kicked your soul back to where it originated.” At this, he smiled.  “Aren’t you glad?  Come on, cheer up!  You’re not dead yet.”

            There was nothing to cheer about.  She resisted the urge to cross her arms because she didn’t want to look defensive in front of him.  Instead, she smiled trustingly, just as he told her to cheer up, for she did not want to give him the satisfaction that he won and the only way to rebel against him was to smile wholeheartedly – for she was confident that he did not want her smiles; he wanted to break her.

            He smiled and nodded in approval.

            She frowned.

            She did not understand this man one bit after all.  “So?  What happened afterwards?” She gave in, tired of his mind games.

           “Ah…Where was I?” He rubbed his chin.  “Oh yes, Lee Boyoung-sshi died.  However, she couldn’t accept it.  After all, she had already sacrificed her beautiful youth on a man thrice her age.  Then, just when she thought she was finally freed from that grandpa’s grip, her young lover was tempted enough by greed to want to cut her life short.  Oh yes, you wouldn’t be able to capture all these details in such a short time as Lee Boyoung-sshi.  Anyways, before Death could make it in time, she became a vengeful spirit and choked her pretty lover’s throat out.  I have to admit that even as a vengeful spirit, Lee Boyoung-sshi is still a very attractive woman with her long, raven hair and blood-stained dress.”

            “You didn’t stop her?” She asked, her voice was quiet but even.  Though, it was a waste of words.  Of course, she knew by now.

            “Hey, not my job.” He shrugged.

            She was speechless.  There was nothing left to be said.

            Then he clapped once. “Alright, field trip time is over.  I believe we all have learned a lot today.  I trust that you know your way back…Now, if you excused me, I have other—”

            “I hate you.”  The words escaped in a heat of moment.  She avoided his eyes; she was not afraid of him anymore, but she didn’t want to associate all these despicable deeds she had witnessed with his face.

             There was a brief moment of silence to let those quiet words echoed before he suddenly gave a hearty chuckle to break it.

            She couldn’t help but glared at him, wondering just what was so funny now.

            “How convincing.” He commented sarcastically.

            Her face heated up in anger.  “You—”

            “Damien!” A high-pitched, girly voice called out.

            Both of them gave their full attention to the source of the voice.

            He smiled brightly.  “My dear Hyuna, taking your morning stroll?”

            Hyuna nodded happily, but her smile faded a bit when she saw Soeun.  “Did I interrupt something here, my Prince?”

            “No, I’m just about to leave.” Then, he ran his fingers gently through some strands of Hyuna’s soft, copper hair.  He leaned close and whispered into her ear.  “Green, though cute, is not such a flattering colour on you.”

            Hyuna giggled.  “My dear Prince, you know that Hyuna is not a petty person.”

            “Of course, my dear Hyuna is one of the loveliest and most generous ladies I know.” He threw Soeun a side glance.

            Soeun tried to ignore him.  There was nothing to be jealous about, she tried to convince herself.  This was not time, nor the place…And nor the person.

            “Well then, good day ladies.” He gave them a gentleman bow and left the balcony.

            Soon after he was gone, Soeun decided to leave as well.

            “Not so fast, you liar.” Hyuna grabbed Soeun’s arm, stopping the latter from leaving.

            “Excuse me?” Soeun flung away Hyuna’s hand.

            “You pretended to be mute.” Hyuna elucidated.  “If I didn’t happen to stop by today, I would have never guessed that you would have such a clear and strong voice like a bull, you bad person!”

            ‘This is ridiculous.’ Soeun thought. She glanced at the time stone, relieved that it was still red, which indicated it was still safe period for candidates to roam about the mansion freely.  She walked past Hyuna to the door.

            Seeing that the raven hair girl decided to ignore her presence, Hyuna became desperate.  “Wait!” She called out.  “I have a proposal for you.”

            She stopped and laughed sarcastically.  “Let me guess, you need a partner to escape here.”

            “Huh?  Why are you saying such a funny thing?” Hyuna got confused by Soeun’s words.  “I don’t want to leave here.  This is a paradise.”

            This got Soeun to turn around just to take a good look at the copper hair girl.  To her surprise, Hyuna seemed very sincere about her sentiment of this place.  Still suspicious, she asked, “Okay, what do you want?”

            Hyuna’s face brightened up.  “This is not the place to talk.  Follow me.”

            “Wait, just hold on a sec.” Soeun put up her hand before Hyuna could grab it.  Recalling the times when she got deceived by Yoon Jinyi and then, got manipulated by Song Jaerim, she said, “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, then shame on me.  If I fall for this kind of nonsense again, then what would that make me?”

            Hyuna was scratching her head at this.  It seemed that she was actually struggling to figure out the answer.  “Er…then shame on both you and me?” She then grinned brightly as if a smile could cover up any flaw in the world.

            Soeun shook her head.  “Good day!” She imitated, on purpose, the cheery tone that Jaerim had used earlier.

            “Hey!  It’s not like we, candidates, could hurt each other.” Hyuna pouted.

            It was true.  Soeun recalled that Isabelle, in an attempt to comfort her after Lily’s death, had told her that any physical harm by a candidate intended for other candidates before the selection process would become self-inflicted.  Though, Isabelle never elaborated further on the selection process.  “All the more to not waste any of my precious time here with you.” She concluded.

            Hyuna stomped on the ground in frustration.  She pointed childishly at Soeun.  “I’m telling on you!”

            Soeun rolled her eyes.

            “Maybe I can’t harm you, but Jinyi eonni certainly can!”

            She stopped.  That night, the encounter with the wolf girl, was still fresh in her mind.

            Suddenly feeling proud, Hyuna crossed her arms.  “That’s right, Jinyi eonni likes me the best, so she would definitely not hesitate if I ask her to remove you from the competition.”

            ‘She could be lying…However, I can’t take that risk…’ She weighted her options.  It would take some time before she could get back to her chamber.  Even though the time stone indicated safe period, she wondered just how much she could trust it?  Finally, she decided to yield to this strange girl just this one time.  “Alright, where do you want to go?”

            “Follow me!” Hyuna hopped excitedly out the door.

            They walked for about a few minutes, taking left and right turns at almost every time a side path existed on the corridor until they reached what looked like a reading room with stacks of books filled the shelves that were mounted on all four sides of the wall.

            “Wait.” Hyuna pulled Soeun back when the latter was about to enter the room.  “I want this conversation just between you and me…So we should do ‘the ritual’ in case someone eavesdrops on us.”

            “Okay…So, what kind of ritual?”

            Hyuna took a small X-Acto blade.  “This is one magic spell I’ve learned from my servant, Cathy.”

            “You have an aptitude for magic?” Soeun was taken aback slightly and there was an unspeakable envy when the copper hair girl nodded happily.

            “It’s called the ‘Blood Bond’.” She explained.  “We need to spill a little of our blood to lace the entrance.”

            “I-isn’t this a bit too extreme?  What if one person has no aptitude for magic?”

          Hyuna’s eyes widened in shock at her.  “You don’t have any aptitude at all?  You mean nada, zero…zippo?!”

            “No!” Soeun responded defensively.  She didn’t want to announce this fact to put herself at a disadvantage.  “I was just saying what if…”

            Hyuna’s shoulders relaxed.  “Well, as long as the person with aptitude recites the spell, then it would work.”

            “Alright…” She hesitated.

            “Okay, let’s do this.” As soon as Hyuna said it, she made a light slice across her thumb.  Tiny droplets of blood dripped onto the ground.  She passed Soeun the blade.

            “Is there a cleaner method?”

            “Come on, it’s just like a paper cut.  Don’t be such a coward!” Hyuna stuffed the blade in Soeun’s hand.

            “Do I have to?” Suddenly, she felt that she was whining like a child.

            “Come on, we don’t have all day.  Should I call Jinyi eonni to help you?” She tilted her head to one side innocently.

            Soeun took a deep breath and pressed the blade lightly against her finger.  “Ow!” She quickly passed the blade back to its owner when fresh blood seeped through her fingertip.  It felt longer than it really was as she waited for the blood to fall from her finger to hit the ground.  She thought there was a gleam of excitement in the copper hair girl’s eyes as the latter focused on the blood.  Wary, she quickly covered the bloody cut.

            “Good.” Hyuna smiled and then closed her eyes.  She held both hands together and recited some foreign words that Soeun could not understand.  Once she was done, she walked inside.

            Soeun followed.

            Hyuna started as soon as she hopped down onto a comfy couch.  “Luxuria, gula, avaritia, acedia, ira, invidia, et superbia…Do you know what they mean?”

            “Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride – the seven deadly sins.” Soeun translated without hesitation.  She had taken a useless elective course on Latin one summer to boost up her GPA since she heard that it was an easy course.  She never thought that she would ever get quizzed on this language after that summer.  After all, Latin was a dead language.

            Hyuna pouted and muttered.  “As expected of a learned person…But, who gives a sh*t if you’ve went to college?  You’re only book-smart!  Here in this place, one has to be street-smart to survive.”

            “How did you know—”

            “That’s easy!  Cathy tells me everything!  Doesn’t your servant tell—” She gasped upon the memory.  “Oh right, you got a mute…”

            Isabelle’s petty revenge, she remembered.  She made note to try and get on the Head Housekeeper’s good side next time.  Even though Cinnamon was dutiful, the crow’s below par status and inability to speak would put Soeun at a great disadvantage as time went on.

            “You must be really just book-smart.” Now Hyuna sounded as if she pitied the raven hair girl.

            “Can we move on?” She decided to keep her composure and not let this bimbo get to her.

            “Since you got a mute crow, this eonni will tell you everything.”

            Soeun secretly clenched up a tight fist underneath the wooden table that separated them.

            “The seven deadly sins…Each candidate here have committed at least one or more of these sins…Perhaps with the exception of one.” Recalling that one exception, Hyuna rolled her eyes in annoyance.

            Soeun could not say if she was curious about that exception since she had no idea what to make of Hyuna’s blabbering thus far.

          “There are twelve of us right now.  However, once the thirteenth one appears, then the Battle Royale begins!” At this, she clapped her hands in excitement.

            Soeun was starting to wonder if there was anyone sane left in this place. 

            Suddenly, Hyuna slammed both hands on the table, making Soeun jumped.  She looked straight into Soeun’s eyes and said, “Let’s form an alliance.”

            Fool me once, shame on you.

            Fool me twice, shame on me.

            Fool me thrice…

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note:  In case nobody else noticed it, I just recently put up "Romance" under as one of this story's genres.  Hm...I didn't really think that many readers would ask if there would be any romance in this story because despite everything, the summary (description) of this story already kinda implied it.  I supposed you all just want a firm confirmation since besides the description, I've been kept throwing you guys off (lol sorry for the trolling =P ).

Until next time on Kim Soeun's Pokemon adventure!  Okay, just joking...NOT! 

Okay, seriously, just joking. XD