[CONTENTID1] GREEN ROSE [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] 

 I was reluctant to write this story because I'm not sure how it will pan out so I'm freestyling it. LOL. Help me.
  [/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

While some people go on cruises with their family and others with their lovers, we – meaning I and my friend Hongbin – chose to go with each other. Let me reiterate before all the wrong meanings zoom through heads. I meant to go with his sister but got him instead. Now we’re stuck together. He’s been wanting to go out on a ‘boat’ for years. Guess I can’t really tell him he’s ruined my plans.

“All aboard the Green Rose!” Hongbin pumped his fists as excited as could be. I on the other hand cringed a little inwardly. The boy had been watching reruns of all his favorite things ‘pirate’ and well… you can guess how this would go.

Backtracking a little, it was a shock to land such a beautiful yet eerie ship. True to it’s name the Green Rose supported a deep green hull whilst the rest of it’s exterior was white it was said that the inside was most beautifully crafted. To sum it up, we’d bagged a luxury cruise. I guess I must have smiled because Hongbin’s grin grew wider and his dimples prominent. His joyful gestures gained lingering female attention. Then again, it had done so since we were in grade school. Some things never changed.

I rolled my eyes. I’d wanted his sister not this oaf but I was stuck with him. What bad luck! I chanted curses under my breath making him laugh. He widened his eyes purposefully knowing fully well how much his bulging eyeballs creeped me out. Then he tilted his head, possessed, and drew a large smile. Spine-chilling laughter exuded from his lungs passing tremors through his body. I shook my head and distanced myself recoiling. He was good at this, acting possessed. I kind of hated him for it and envied him all the same. He always got to play cool villains in high school plays. It came natural to him.

“I still can’t believe you got tickets!” Hongbin exclaimed regaining his human form. I couldn’t fathom it either.

“How did you even?” He wondered aloud speaking more to himself than to me because his attention had been warped by the stunning grandeur of the gleaming, polished deck.

“How did I even?” I repeated under my breath. I wasn’t sure exactly. What I’d wanted were two tickets to a short trip to Jeju on a humble liner, not that those came cheap, but I’d been saving my earnings. I remember being in the queue.  I recalled the large customer in front of me perspiring at the pits and burning my nostrils with his body odor. It had been hot that day, scorching. Still, I’d gone prepared for the heat but not the stink.

By the time it was my turn the attendant had openly told me that I was too late and the tickets were sold out. It was safe to say that I’d been disappointed. I’d felt silly standing there just gaping while my ears burnt crimson with the feeling of rejection. ‘What am I even doing?’ Was what I’d thought. Quickly my eyes had zoomed to and fro processing prices within my range. As luck would have it, there were none.

Disappointed, dehydrated, and disconcert, I’d carried myself out of there and back into the heat wave Seoul had been having. I’d scoffed at the idea of being romantic before and now it’d come to stub me in the toe. Other boyfriends were good at this, so why couldn’t I be? What was wrong with my luck? What was it about me that made Lady Luck, scrunch her nose and turn on her heel? Was it because I was handsome? Was she jealous? Whatever it was, I recall feeling like something pointing and laughing at me.

The tickets had come as a blessing because just as I was about to leave someone had stopped me. Icy fingers found my hands and gripped them like vines. They’d belonged to an elderly woman whose skin sunk back into her dry features. She was pale; unhealthy. Her wild, thick, wiry, black curls hedged around her small frame giving the illusion of fullness that her bony body couldn’t quite adhere to.

 The bluish veins under her eyes throbbed. She had a bad eye. I tried not to stare too long as it whizzed back and forth uncontrollably. Her cracked lips parted like an ancient tomb. As she spoke, her face inched towards me. I could smell the kimchi from her breath as her hooked nose pressed against mine.

I my breath wondering if this was a prank from which Hongbin would appear yelling, “You should have seen the look on your face!” But from the way my gut was twisting, I knew this was no joke. I tried to back away before the hag tried something. She snuck something between my hands, “Take these!” She heaved in a heavy tone so unlike her frail appearance. She shook my hands as if she’d made a bargain and gave a smile I’d see in all my nightmares to come. At that point I’d sunken my chin deep into my chest and had swallowed my lips as a precaution. If she’d noticed, she didn’t say anything. In fact, she’d left handing me something that I’d been longing. Tickets! However, like her, they were also extraordinary.

“So what makes you think the tickets were cheap?” Hongbin inquired for the umpteenth time. ‘Cheap’ was the story I’d fed him. ‘Why’ hadn’t occurred to me.

“I guess we got lucky,” I replied as we dragged out luggage through the cabins searching for our rooms. The place was pretty roomy. I don’t know why I was expecting a dim, narrow tunnel. This place was anything but. It gave the appearance of a hotel; soft carpeted flooring that I could feel though my sneakers, side tables supporting vases of white roses whose petals starkly contrasted their green leaves, rose shaped wall lamps that illuminated the whole cabin. Amid it I felt like an outcast in my t-shirt and shorts.

It took us a while to find our room, I reached for the handle. The light buzzed off and on making me pause. My eyes flickered to the faulty light, convinced that I’d seen someone standing there. I squinted at it and thought I heard snickering. It made my shoulders feel heavy with taunt.

 Something breathed down my neck and I inhaled sharply. I jumped when it spoke, reverberating the voice belonging to Hongbin, “The hell are you doing? Open the door already, man!” He shoved me out of the way and threw the heavy door open as I frowned, still staring at the spot I’d seen the outline of a face. It didn’t make sense and because it defied every aspect of logic I’d learnt. I stalked after Hongbin.

My friend stood rooted in his spot. He pointed to a dark, brooding figure wearing the scowl of scowls. For a second I w