Sheet 19

 Spell

 

          “Who are you?”

 

          “Ya, Lee Soo Jung!”

 

          His Narra has a blank look on her face. He didn’t expect this to happen. The moment Jang Dong Woo opened the door, the Anta was welcomed with a small smile. Kim Sung Gyu on the other hand was ignored. He already noticed the difference in her demeanour. The expressionless look on her face as she goes back and sits at her table, the way she’s arranging her parchments and writing things meticulously. It’s not his Narra.

 

          The Lee Soo Jung he knows won’t be relegated to just sitting at a desk, she would prefer to be somewhere comfortable, somewhere she’d be able to think freely. This person he’s looking at right now, sitting so stiffly by her desk, is a robot.

 

          “Soo Jung-ah, we need to go...”

 

          “Who are you...” she repeats in a monotone.

 

          “Kim Sung Gyu. Don’t tell me you can’t remember... I’m someone you can’t easily forget.” He teased. The teasing is normal to them, it’s a memory.

 

          She stares at him for a long time, her face still void of emotion. She’s most likely getting back memories of him, Sung Gyu is sure of it. She’ll turn back to normal any minute now. Then they could leave and fix whatever it is that needs fixing.

 

          Any minute now, Kim Sung Gyu waits patiently.

 

          “Kim Sung Gyu-ssi, I think it would be best if you step away from her for now...” Dong Woo grabs Sung Gyu’s hand leading him to the direction of the door. His Narra’s room is situated far from the main house, on a mock tower that has a view of a posh neighbourhood. She was right; she’s stuck at a corner, waiting to be rescued.

 

          “Why? I think she’s starting to remember... Right, Soo Jung-ah... You’ll write only for me, you said before...”

 

          Lee Soo Jung’s eyes widen, Sung Gyu is relieved. She remembers him now. What he doesn’t expect is the piercing scream that comes next.

 

          “What’s wrong with her?!”

 

          “You triggered the wrong memory. We need to leave now, another scream from her will alarm the entire house. He’ll know we’re here...”

 

          “I... I don’t get... What do you mean wrong memory?!”

 

          “It’s just... Wrong... It’s a bad memory for her...” Dong Woo looks at the girl who’s currently looking distraught, face scrunched up like she’s tasted something unpleasant.

 

          “That’s not possible... Soo Jung-ah! It’s me, Sung Gyu... we were writing this story together.  You even insulted my writing... Do you remember? You’ve been helping me...” He tries to reason with her again.

 

          “Stop talking, will you? You’re making it worst...” Dong Woo reprimands the Protos. He glances at the girl again and panics. “I’ll explain everything on the way out. We really need to leave, if he finds us here, you’ll never escape...”

 

          The second scream is louder; the Narra falls off her chair, clutching her chest. Like she’s having a hard time breathing. When she looks back up at Sung Gyu, he can only see hatred in her eyes. 

 

          “You...” she hissed.

 

          “We need to go, it’s not working... I knew it’s never going to work...”

 

          “I’m not leaving her here; I’m bringing her back kicking and screaming if I have to. My grandmother would be able to cure her...”

 

          The door opens; someone Sung Gyu is now familiar with though he hasn’t met the person before, entered.

 

          “What did you do to her?!” he launches at the stranger.

 

          “Me? Why are you blaming me? It’s you she hates. I just made her realize it.” The Anta looks toward Dong Woo, disappointment evident on his face. “How is it that an Anta is helping a Protos? You’ve never been much of anything; I’ve figured that out a while ago. But really, this is too low even for you...”

 

          “You have forgotten what our purpose is; this isn’t what we are...” Dong Woo had the courage to retaliate for the first time. What he saw done to this Narra is unforgiveable.

 

          “I actually don’t have time to listen to you prattle... You’re a traitor, that’s what you are...” He approaches Soo Jung, who’s still seething with anger. “Hush now, sit down and write. I’ll have these people locked up seeing how they’re making you upset...”

 

          The Anta waves his hand and a glass cage encases both Sung Gyu and Dong Woo.

 

          “I’ll let you both stay here; Soo Jung writes tragedy better when she’s mad. It’s almost the of the story and I can’t wait to see how she’d destroy what both of you wrote. You can even talk to her... It does seem to make her angrier.”

 

          The Anta named L left the room. Kim Sung Gyu feels defeated.

 

~0~

 

          Lee Soo Jung wakes up to a splitting headache. She looks at the direction where the prisoners are, why her Anta decided to leave them here, she doesn’t have a clue. But the more she sees the man named Kim Sung Gyu the more her head throbs.

 

          She knows she can’t write in her current condition, her hands won’t cooperate with her when she’s angry. It’s something she’s been pondering about for a while now. When she writes, she’s always been sad though she doesn’t feel a particular emotion when she wrote about the knight named Seong Yeol making the entire ballroom explode.

 

          The prince and his parents were still able to escape. She’ll write about Seong Yeol coming back for them next, about the princess being trapped here forever.

 

          Trapped. Her hands tremble every time she writes that word. Something must really be wrong with her. Lady Ji Ae is nowhere to be found just when she needs someone to talk to. She used to have conversations with Dong Woo but now that he’s branded a traitor, she’s not sure if it’s still advisable to talk to the former hand.

 

          She decided to sleep through the headache, knowing she won’t be of any use in her current state.

 

~0~

          It was the middle of the night when she woke up to someone singing. The room is covered in darkness except for the moonlight that’s streaming through the window. She figured it could be Dong Woo since the latter is prone to bursting into random singing once in a while.

 

          What she didn’t expect is for it to be Kim Sung Gyu. She sits up in bed, looking at the person whose gaze is fixated at the moon as if he’s serenading it.

 

II’ll deal with all the hurting myself

So just promise me this

Just promise me one thing

Your spot will always stay the same

So if you miss it

Don’t worry about it and come back to me

 

Come back. Day by day

I’m spending with endless tears

Come back to me, who waits for you

Come back

The waiting is endless inside of me

The only one who can stop it is you

          She listens as he sings about asking for someone to come back. Who it is, she might have an idea. How they became acquainted she doesn’t recall and every time she tries to think of what he said earlier, it still gives her pain.

 

          The sad tune seeps into your soul and gives you a certain feeling of melancholy. Regardless of the headache, she decided she wants this to be sorted out. Hopefully, she’d also have an idea for the reasons for the headaches.

 

          Approaching him as quietly as she can so as not to startle him and interrupt his singing. She sits by his cage and waits until he finishes the song.

 

          “Who are you?” she asked again.

 

          He doesn’t speak, just releasing a tired sigh.

 

          “It pains me to try and remember you, which I figured is because we were acquainted before.”

 

          “Forget it, it’s not important...” It feels like he’s dismissing her. There’s a throbbing in her head that reminds her that as long as he’s there it would never go away and Soo Jung is more determined to find out the cause.

 

          “It isn’t?” she scoffs. “I’m not leaving her here; I’m bringing her back kicking and screaming if I have to.” She echoes his words from earlier.

 

          He keeps silent.

 

          So she insists. “Why are you here? Dong Woo wouldn’t help you if you were not trustworthy... I might not know you well, but I trust Dong Woo...”

 

          He looks up at the moon again, releasing another sigh.

 

          Soo Jung expects there to be silence when he started to speak in a very low tone, she barely hears what he’s saying.

 

          “I must’ve been working you hard... I didn’t know. Was I too harsh on you? Maybe the teasing has gone overboard. There are a million reasons I can think of now. It probably is second nature to me that’s why I didn’t realize it.

 

          That time, at my attic. When we finally figured out everything, I decided I wanted to show you something of mine that I wasn’t able to share with anyone.”

 

          Soo Jung stares at the moon, ignoring the throbbing she feels in her head and decided to concentrate on the memories he’s sharing with her.

 

          “It’s always been a heavy secret, going through all those adventures and having to talk to no one about it. Then someone annoying came, someone who’s probably better at doing what I do than I would admit. It made me feel weirdly relieved. I’m not alone, it reminded me.

 

          The trip to visit the faeries probably wasn’t very impressive to you seeing that it never made that much of an impact...”

 

          She smiles, he’s trying to make a joke. A flash of memories makes its way to her subconscious. Closing her eyes, she attempts to remember.

 

          The smell of books and ink is the first thing that came to mind. A vision of a room with books, there are a thousand of them, shelves upon shelves of novels she’s itching to read and an eerie but somewhat comforting music.

 

          “When you told me that you’re into adventure books, it made me re-think that it might’ve made a better impression if I brought you to Baker St. instead. But there’s a special occasion at the Faerie Kingdom, and most girls like all those fairytale stuff. So yeah...”

 

          The faerie lights are blinding, she never told him that. But her eyes adjust fairly quickly. The dancing was surreal; she’s never seen anything so magical like this up close. She never even thought she’d witness anything like that in her entire lifetime. But she was able to, all because this particular stranger was generous enough to show her and trust her with a secret she believes he was never comfortable telling anyone.

 

          “The whole thing probably didn’t make a big impression...” He let out a frustrated laugh. “I’m not even sure if I’m making sense to you.”

 

          She’s aware of his frustration and the first thought that came to her was...

 

          “You haven’t really introduced me to the faeries...”

 

          “What?” He rounded on her, eyes bigger than usual.

 

          “You promised you would but you haven’t... And why do you have that irritating habit of patronising me? You always do that thing where you squint like you’re doing an inside joke or pulling my leg. It was amusing at first but when you started doing normal conversations and turning it to an annoying teasing fest, I feel like I want to do the project alone...” She trailed off. It was nice putting that out in the open.

 

          “Lee Soo Jung?”

 

          Soo Jung shakes her head. The usual light-headedness she feels when she’s awake is no longer there. The room seems to smell normal too, the same way it did when she first got here.

 

          “What are you doing here?” The last thing she remembers was a pounding headache and a faint memory of cotton candies. “You’re supposed to be at the palace, helping the prince. Didn’t you get my notes, weren’t they of any use? It was the first time I’m using the book of deception. Don’t tell me it didn’t work...”

 

          “I... I was—“ Kim Sung Gyu was speechless, did everything just went back to normal?

 

          “So it didn’t work? But if it didn’t, how did you—“

 

          “You’re awake!” Dong Woo interjected, sitting up from his previous uneasy position of lying slumped on the glass cage, sleeping. “I mean, you’re out of the spell. You’re eyes no longer has that glassy look to them.” He sounds hyper, even though he’s been asleep for over twelve hours. “Am I interrupting a moment?” His smile is so wide, they can see a full set of teeth.

 

          “No!” They chorused.

 

          “Of course I am. I’ll leave you kids with your issues and be at the corner. Please don’t mind me.” He teased.

 

          “Hey, you need to explain this. How come... She’s normal all of a sudden.” Sung Gyu demands; ignoring the fact that heat’s rising up his face. They’re not having a moment. This Dong Woo-guy is just being weird.

 

          “You triggered a happy memory...” The Hand says with nonchalance.

 

          “What happy memory?”

 

          “I don’t know, ask her. You two are the one’s having an ‘intimate’ conversation...”

 

          “Hey, you two focus. I need an update. You’re not supposed to be locked in here as well...”

 

          “I was trying to rescue you...”

 

          “Rescue me? I’m not a damsel...”

 

          As Sung Gyu watch Lee Soo Jung enumerate the reasons why she’s not a damsel and argue with Dong Woo about how he and the Protos got themselves locked up, he thinks she’s unknowingly casting a spell of her own. One Kim Sung Gyu doesn’t mind being the victim of.

 

AN: Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a fruitful New Year (and hopefully more updates from yours truly, no promises but crossing fingers is allowed)