I went inside the Lovelyz Café where I was supposed to meet Sarah today after sending Yujae to preschool.

"Yujin-ah!", I heard my name being called. I looked around to find the owner of the voice and saw Sarah waving her hand to catch my attention.

I formed a wide smile seeing her, I rushed towards her. I haven't seen her for a very long time ever since we've been separated due to our different jobs.

"Sarah!"

We gave each other a hug for the first time in a while. I grinned, knowing she grew up, taller than me now.

"It's been a long time", she said, and we took our seats near the window watching people go by their days. Well, it certainly gives me a sense of calmness just by observing people and seeing everyone go through their daily routines and Sarah just makes it better because she'd always welcome me with a hug considering she's always been such an affectionate woman.

"How's work going on for you? I didn't know you came to Busan in such a short time", I initiated the conversation after we ordered our drinks.

"It's not much. I've got to deal with some modeling agency for my new work for the upcoming magazine. Unexpectedly, the meetings are done in Busan.", she replied.

"Wow! What a coincidence. I'm so happy to see you after such a long time~!", I exclaimed excitedly.

"Me too! How's work for you?"

When she asked that, I felt a little disheartened. I don't know why, maybe it was because I realised the consequences I had when being workaholic.

I paused for a moment before putting on a tight-lipped smile, "Work is.. fine. It's just that I'm taking a break for a short while for some reasons."

She looked quite shocked by what I said. "What? Why?"

Should I tell her? After all, she's the only friend I'm comfortable enough with to tell my problems to, ever since our teenage days.

"I think I've been selfish and focused too much on myself, my job and what's ahead of me that I slowly forget about the people around me. Unknowingly, I abandoned the one who needed my attention the most, and he left.", I clenched my fist together and just in time, our drinks had arrived. I quickly took a gulp to swallow down the lump in my throat.

"Are you talking about senior Seok Jin?", she asked. I slowly nodded my head and she sighed.

"It's not wrong if you do love your job that much. I know you like writing stories and that kind of stuff but it's not your fault either that you lost him. Maybe he just can't keep up with you in that relationship. Indeed, if I was him I'd also feel distant from you since you made more time for your work rather than me. So, if you can, please spare some time to be with the one around you, then maybe you won't have to face this again. Alright? You're not wrong. Don't blame yourself.", she finished with a pat on my shoulder which warmed my heart.

"Thank you.", I said and smile at her.

It felt good to finally open up to someone rather than bottling it up until you're choked on your own thoughts which will only cause you to be more distant with others.

Having someone who listens to every problems you face is a blessing. We continued to talk for awhile about our old days when suddenly, Sarah's phone rang. She excused herself for a bit and I let her. I sighed.

I shouldn't think of anything now. I should just relax today since my friend is here.

"Yesterday night at 3 AM, two men who were reported missing since two weeks ago, one on them are found dead in the deep woods inside the Forest Hill by a local, Wong Xu who happened to be near the area of the deceased to look for timber and found a dead body deep in the Forest Hill and it was confirmed by the police to be the body of one of the missing men.

Other than that, the police also found a corpse of a female. It turns out the two teenage men tried burying the female last night but got killed before they can do so. According to the people around, the female is identified to be the sister of one of the teenage male named Jung Yoo. Here's a picture of them"

I sighed heavily watching the news. More missing teenagers, worse comes to worst, one of them is dead. What happened on Earth really? Yikes, his wound doesn't seem like he got hit by someone. It almost looked like.. he did it himself.

Wait, his eyes! It's that color again. The previous dead body who drowned in the river also happened to have the same eye color as this one. Did the monster did this too?

"The Chief of the Police Force has given a statement, "Listen up kids, here's the thing you need to be wary of. Don't get out at night, and listen to your parents. Because the world isn't what it used to be. So be cautious and be careful. We don't want to be busy for the whole year again.
We apologize on the fact that we were unable to find the body of the other teenager who dissappeared without a trace. We will try our best to find him though we got dozens of teenagers to find too.."

Why does these cases always end up this way? No traces or clues to be found. Not even witnesses. The only thing that remained consistent was the change of deceased's eye colors. Could this be related to the videotape the anonymous person had given me? I should check it myself!

"Yujin, sorry for the wait. My boss called me to prepare for the meeting later. I have to go now..", she said guiltily.

"It's okay. I have something to take care of at home too", I replied and I noticed she felt somewhat relieved.

"But I'm sorry we can't spend the whole day together. Let's hang out some other time again, okay?", she winked and we went on our own way after bidding a goodbye to each other.

I hopped into my car and sped up to my house. I didn't notice it was already noon. I thought it was still 11 am.

I stopped at the traffic light as it turned red. I happened to saw a white-haired woman with a white cane walking across the zebra crossing. Maybe she's blind.

She walks so slow that the light turned green. I couldn't stand it when she started panicking when the cars started to move. It's dangerous!

I went out of my car and led her away  from the zebra crossing before she got hit by a truck. What a disaster. Can't they see an old lady trying to walk through? How ignorant!

"Are you okay, granny?", I asked.

Her breathing was unstable due to the shock. But she managed to thank me. "Thank you, lady"

"No problem granny, be careful next time. Okay?", I said in concern. She nodded. When she lifted her chin up to look at me, I saw her white eyes. It looked so pretty, but yet.. so scary. What's wrong with me? I must've been thinking too much.

"Then I'll be leaving now. Bye!", I waved for the last time and went back inside my car.

I saw a long line waiting for me to drive. Some were even honking. I scoffed, serves them right. Stupid jackasses.

The light is still green but I didn't drive off since I wanted to play a little with these jerks. I waited until it turned red, and then I drove off. I heard a few honks behind me but I didn't care. They deserved it.

When I arrived home, I didn't see my aunt. Maybe she was out to fetch Yujae with uncle. Great, I'll have my alone time.

I went to my room and played the videotape on the TV. Well.. let's see what does this tape actually contain. I insert the videotape inside the DVD player and it started to play on the screen.

The screen went black for a moment. And it seemed like it was broken. I gave a slight tap on the top of the television hoping it would worked. But it didn't. What's wrong with this? Is it a prank?

Forget it. I was about to take the videotape out when suddenly there's a sound coming out from the television. I shrieked in fear due the sudden sound. It was the voice of a person. A female voice.

"You know something, don't you?"

I was taken aback by the question. Was she talking to me ? Why did it sound as if she was talking to me? I waited for a while in silence when suddenly, another voice chirped in. It was a male voice this time.

"Please, have mercy on me. Victoria is my only favorite person in the universe. I would never hurt her."

So this tape was about Victoria Din Daniel?

"Tell me everything you know and everything you saw when she died."

There was a long silence. I thought my television was broken but it wasn't the case. Maybe he needed time to accept everything? Or maybe he's nervous.

"I..I don't know where to start. But I admit that I did stalked her. Following wherever she went, whoever she met.
That night, on October 28th, I finally had my chance to talk to her. And I took her out for dinner. But the arrangement fell off. She didn't come. I felt quite upset and heartbroken. So I left the restaurant knowing she wouldn't come. On my way home, I heard a scream in an alley nearby. I was curious. And so, I 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖾𝖽 to trace where 𝗍𝗁𝖾 sound came from. Soon, I realised I was far too deep inside the forest. It's as if I'd lost my mind and wasn't aware of where I was going. Things felt different. And suddenly, I felt trapped. I wanted to leave but there'd seemed to be no escape in the dark forest. Then, I heard a growl along with voices of people chattering somewhere. I looked to my left and I saw Victoria laying down on the grass in front of two men, one in a royal blue cape. For sure, they are no ordinary men since I saw horns on one of the man's head. So I continued to watch. I couldn't hear what they were saying but the man in front of the person wearing the  royal blue cape seems to be a creature that has the appearance of a human. The only difference was his eyes were silver-coin colored and it's glowing in the darkness. His fangs were visible when he smiled. They both looked like a human but I knew they weren't actually one. When I looked at Victoria.. she was no longer breathing. Her eyes are wide open and her eyes had the same color as the man who had fangs. I was shocked so I ran away before I got caught by the two of them. It was a nightmare to me. I can't bear to watch her.. at that moment.."

So this guy witnessed everything that happened to Victoria? But, why didn't he report it to the police? I feel so sorry for Victoria's death.

"Did she told you anything before the night you spent your time together?"

"She just told me that.. what I think of her, isn't what she really is. That's what she told me and until now I can't seem to know what she meant by that"

Uh? This is too much mysteries at once. My mind is messed up. Why did I get this videotape and from who?

So, the event happen in the year of 1885? I'm amazed by myself for having the tenacity to look up the information of her death. How amusing.

The video then ended just like that. I placed the videotape back on its place and sat on my bed with my thoughts still hooked on the video.

"She isn't the one who you think she is.. what the heck is that suppose to mean?"

Knock knock.

Oh. It must've been Yujae and my aunt. I stood up and went up to the door. When the door was open, I saw my aunt and uncle who was busy carrying Yujae.

"Wow! what a surprise", I said. He placed Yujae down on the floor and I told them to come in.

"I haven't seen you for a while, uncle", I said from the kitchen while I was busy organising the grocerie into the refrigerator and my aunt made a coffee for his husband.

"Your uncle has something to do in his hometown, Yujin. That'swhy he rarely comes to visit us in here", my aunt replied instead.

I made an 'O' shaped mouth.

"Yujin. Where is the bathroom?", my uncle finally spoke up. He and I had always been so awkward around each other. But I guess due to some reasons, we began to get closer to each other considering he was my uncle.

"Yujae will show it to you. Yujae, go show uncle where the bathroom is, I'm busy", I said and he nodded.

I heaved a sigh and made my own drink. It's almost dark outside and the night will fall in just a blink of an eye.

"Yujin.. can I have a word with you? For a moment? Alone.", my uncle suddenly said when he got back from the bathroom. I don't know what took him so long.

"S-sure", I said and followed him to the backyard which is a safe place to have a private talks.

"What is it, uncle?", I asked in curiosity. He had never been so serious towards me before even though we were awkward with each other.

"Are you still searching about.. you know, the death of Victoria?", he asked in concern.

"Yeah..why?"

"There's something you should know about her before you investigate her death and I don't want the same thing to happen to you"

I looked confused for a moment. Was there a warning that I shouldn't have search for the information of Victoria Din Daniel?

What could it be?

-
Edited by hai24k♡



covers by Jinniejelly ♥