"I like your new house, JR," I said. "It's bigger and has a lake, hills, and flower field nearby." 

"The only bad part is that you moved half an hour away." Aron glared at JR. 

"It wasn't my idea; it was my parents' decision. Besides, summer just started! We'll hang out a lot." JR grinned and put his arms around Aron. "Don't be sad!" 

"I'm not sad," lied Aron.

"Let's go back to the house," Baekho said, fixing his brown hair. "It's hot." 

We started walking back, and along the way, Minhyun and I were passing a bouncy ball back and forth. It flew across the path to the other side and into a dark tunnel. 

I frowned. "Should I go get it?" 

Minhyun bit his lip. "Oh...Yeah, go and bring it back. JR will get mad if we lose it." 

I hurried to the tunnel and searched for it on the ground. I didn't see it, so I crossed through the tunnel and came out on the other end. I hadn't seen this area yet. There was an old, withering statue of a lion a few feet away, with huge, cold eyes that almost felt real somehow. I went up to it, staring at the wide mouth and sharp fangs. Maybe the people who had lived here before built it or something...

Stepping closer, I realized the bouncy ball was lying in the lion's mouth, between its two front fangs. I reached down, my fingers curling around the ball. "Found it!" I yelled to Minhyun. Before I could even do anything else, my head got dizzy, and my legs felt weak and wobbly all of a sudden. Black spots dotted my vision. I collapsed to the ground, the ball falling from my hands, and shut my eyes. There was a sharp pain in my side, and then there was a black out, as I felt myself disappear into the darkness. 

My eyes slowly fluttered open and lifted my head off the ground. "Where am I?" I mumbled, looking around in a daze. I was in a field full of white roses. The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen- not a single cloud lingered up there, just the vast aqua sky. Even the air seemed fresher and cleaner here. It was so wonderful, and yet I couldn't stop the rising panic that was building up inside of me. Where was I? The tunnel or the lion statue was nowhere to be seen. But in the near distance, I spotted green hills and a sparkling blue lake. There was a huge iron gate and stone wall located high up in the hills that seemed to be a village. I stood up and started going walking towards the hills, confused and lost, until I tripped over a root and fell on my face. Then I remembered that my phone should be in my pocket- or at least, it had been there before I'd woken up in this place. Now it wasn't there anymore. Had it fallen somewhere in the field? 

"Minhyun!" I shouted. "Where are you?! JR! Aron! Baekho!" 

I kept walking and hoped that the village in the hills was where JR's house was. But it didn't look the exact same as where he lived, although it seemed very similar. After some time had passed, I started getting thirsty and tired of walking, but I was close to the village now. I trudged up the path that winded through the hills, my legs aching and sweat beading on my forehead. I tucked a strand of my blond hair behind my ears.

"Excuse me," said a voice from behind me. "Are you lost?" 

I turned around in surprise, to face a girl with long brown hair, pale skin, and thick, red lips. She was wearing a white dress and white sandals, reminding me a little of an angel. "Y-yes," I managed to get out. "I don't know where I am, can you help me please?" 

"You're a human!" she gasped, her eyes widening. She grabbed my wrist and led me towards the gate quickly. "Why is a human here? Why have you come to this place?" 

"Uh, I don't know! I just woke up in the field over there-" I tried turning around and pointing at the flower field down below, but the girl kept dragging me along with her. 

"We need you to find you a job. And fast. This isn't a place for humans." 

I tried breaking away from her tight grasp. "What do you mean? Aren't you a human too? I'm so confused!" 

"Yes. But this is the Spirit World, the land of lost souls. It is not a place for living human people to stay, like you and me, but I found my way here a long time ago on accident. I think you got here by accident too, right?"

"Wait, are you crazy?! The Spirit World? Are you a ghost? Am I dead or something?" I glanced down at myself in horror. I couldn't be dead yet- I was still so young and had to live my whole life! 

She glanced back at me, too pretty to be a ghost. "My name is Sulli. And you are not a ghost. I'm not a ghost either. We're both still human beings."

 "Sulli? Where are you taking me?" 

"To cross the gates of the Spirit World. We have to get you a job right now. Before you get caught," she explained, her gaze focused ahead. "Your human scent is strong to the actual spirits here, and you smell tasty to them, so they'll try to eat you if you don't get rid of your scent quickly. By having a job, your human scent will go away and you will blend in with the spirits. I have a job too, and the other few humans who have ended up here also have a job. Those who didn't find one were eaten by the spirits." 

A chill slithered down my spine. "I'm freaked out now," I said. 

Don't worry, I'll find you a job. That's my duty. We humans are supposed to make trips beyond the gates regularly to find spirits who appear in the flower field. Humans are rare, but you're the second I've found." Sulli sounded proud.

"Okay. But...How can I go home?" 

She looked over at me again. "I'll talk to you later about that. What's your name?" 

"Choi Minki," I answered. "The last thing I remember is the lion statue. I lost a bouncy ball in a dark tunnel near my friend's house. So I went to go find it and saw it in the mouth of a lion statue. It was right outside the tunnel." I narrowed my eyes. "This must be a dream. I'll wake up soon." 

Sulli shook her head, her grip growing tighter around my wrist. "No. I'm serious. You activated something. It was probably that lion statue. And now you're in the Spirit World. It's not a dream, Choi Minki. Oh yeah, you need to eat something too! Or you'll get sick." 

"But-" 

"Shh! We're almost at the gates. Keep silent, and when I tell you to, hold your breath." She let go of my wrist, and bent down to pluck a few berries from a plant. "Here. Eat." 

I ate them quickly, a ripe taste in my mouth. Sulli opened the gates. "Now! Hold your breath!" she whispered to me.

I inhaled deeply, as she took my wrist and shut the gates behind us once we passed through. We were now standing on a long red bridge that connected to the main village. The place looked huge, with many shops and streets. There weren't any cars or buses or taxis. We finally crossed over the red bridge and stepped into the village, and started hurrying down the streets that were packed with spirits all of kinds- most of them looked like unharmful, peaceful creatures. 

Yeah, this had to be a dream. There was no way it was real. 

We stopped at the steps of a gigantic palace made of entirely gold and was the shiniest building in the village. 

"Breathe out," Sulli told me. "You don't have to hold your breath anymore." 

I exhaled with relief, trying to catch my breath. "The Spirit World is traditional?" I asked in surprise. 

She nodded. "Yeah. It's mainly Korean traditional with some Western influence, like on some of the clothing and other fashion styles."

"It's like the Joseon dynasty," I noted. "Kind of. And what is this palace?"

"It's called the Palace of Lights. It's where I work for Headmaster Leeteuk, as part of his staff. We cook, clean, and run errands for him." 

Inside the palace, it was even more impressive. There was a grand double staircase with iron railings and gold vases holding colorful flowers. Paintings that looked like they must have cost a million dollars hung up on the cream colored walls. The marble floors were gleaming, and glass windows were decorated with heavy red velvet drapes and gold valences.

We passed by a few female staff members, dressed in light blue skirts and white shirts, stockings, and flats. They waved at us with warm smiles and greeted us. We stopped walking at the end of a long hallway, in front of a room with double doors. Sulli pushed them open, which led us to a massive room that was almost entirely empty- except for the gold throne that sat at the top of an elevated stage made of red carpet, and a desk cluttered with papers and folders. Sitting on the throne was Headmaster Leeteuk, who looked more like a king instead of a headmaster. He was dressed in traditional Gonryongpo imperial robes and held a fancy teacup in one hand. Sulli and I bowed to him respectfully.

“Sulli, you had today off, didn’t you?” he asked.

“I found another human. Please let him join the Staff.”

Headmaster Leeteuk studied me carefully. “What’s your name, human?”

I blinked. “Um, my name is Choi Minki…”

“Your new name is Ren. Sulli will show you around and be your mentor.”

I frowned. “Why-”  

He cut me off sharply. “Your first day of work starts tomorrow, and you will wake up before dawn. Prove yourself worthy of being my Staff member. If you fail to show any redeeming qualities you may have, I will fire you and you will be put out on the streets. Do I make myself clear, Ren?” Headmaster smiled coldly down at me.

“Y-yes, Headmaster,” I stammered. “I understand.”

“Good. Now go eat and rest. Oh, and welcome my world. Nothing is as it seems here. You’ve been warned now; don’t say I didn’t tell you.” Then he tossed a key to Sulli. “Here’s the key. Go find his bedroom.” He waved his hand at us in dismissal.

We bowed again and left the room to go up the round, grand staircase to the fourth floor, where the living quarters were. The second and third stories were for Headmaster’s personal use.

“Why does he call himself a Headmaster if he lives in a palace and acts like a king?” I wondered.

Sulli explained, “This isn’t an actual kingdom. He’s not human- he was forced by angels to rule over the Spirit World when too many spirits started coming here and creating chaos because there weren’t any rules to be followed. Once he arrived and started his rule, there was order and peace in the Spirit World for the first time, and the spirits were kept happy. But Headmaster Leeteuk isn’t satisfied- he wanted to be a king, but the angels refused to let him become a king due to the evil deeds he had committed as a human. He had murdered people and was a thief who’d been captured by the army and hanged to death. So he became an angry ghost seeking revenge. Nobody knows what happened to the army officials who gave the orders for him to die- they went missing and were never found. He probably killed them and burned their bodies alive or something.” Sulli sighed heavily. “Anyway, now he’s always grumpy and strict. He needs everything to be perfect, which is why he has a Staff to do all his work for him. Headmaster Leeteuk is very lazy and corrupted. All the spirits like him because they don’t know what he’s really like, but we Staff workers see his bad side every day.”

 I raised my eyebrows. “This is a lot for me to take in. And I still think this is all just a dream. No, not a dream, but a nightmare from which I’m not able to wake up.” I pinched my cheeks, trying to wake myself up.

“It’s not a dream, Ren,” she reminded me again, and stopped walking in front of room 435. “Congratulations, you’re our 15^th member!” Sulli turned the key and unlocked the door, and I followed her inside to my new room.

It was just as fancy as the rest of the palace, with elegant dresser, ottoman, and a red and gold canopy bed. There was another door leading outside to the balcony. It had a nice view of the green hills, sparkling blue lake, and the rest of the Spirit World. A flock of white doves soared in the vast blue sky, and the sweet scent of flowers drifted in the crisp air.

“I’ll go get your work uniform. Stay here,” she said, and left. She returned a little while later with my clothes- light blue trousers, and a white shirt, stocks, and white sneakers.

“Thanks, Sulli.” I set the clothes on the ottoman. “You’ve really saved my life. How can I repay you?”

She snickered. “No need. We’ll talk about what to do next tomorrow, after you sleep. You must be tired. Rest now and when you wake up, shower and then come find me downstairs on the first floor. I’ll show you around the Spirit World.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll talk about this all when I wake up, and you can answer all my questions then too.”

She closed the door on her way out, and alone now, I went to bed and shut my eyes. I prayed that when I’d wake up, I’d be Choi Minki again.