Gayoon's Story (5)
Gayoon's Story (5)
I must get out of here! She thought in panic but she was kept rooted to that spot. Her feet were moving but not progressing, keeping her in an endless loop.
"Help!" Gayoon shouted. "Someone help me! Ahjusshi! Granny!"
But there was no one there with her. They could not hear her screams and she was trapped in that limbo.
Suddenly, she heard the noise of something crawling very fast towards her. Panicked, she turned back and screamed. A large black shadow like substance was quickly pacing towards her. It devoured the entire hallway, reaching for her with a possessive sinisterism. Gayoon tried to run but the mysterious corridor kept her at its place, letting the black moss reach her.
"Gayoonieee…"
The whisper of a single person reached her ears, shocking her to the very core. She wanted to escape but how? How could she escape this unending nightmare?
"Gayoonieee…"
She turned around to see the black moss had taken a form. It was the form of a human. Someone she was very familiar with.
"Park Seungjo," she gasped. He stood there with a strange smile etched on his face as he crept closer to her.
"You can't escape this place, Gayoonie," he said, his smile toying with her. "You will live here with me. Forever."
"NOOOO!"
Gayoon woke up, startled by what she had seen. Her whole body was sweating and she gasped for breath as Shujin came running to her room.
"Gayoon!" she cried out as she hugged the scared teenager. Gayoon grabbed on to her grandmother in fright, surprising the latter with her desperation. "What happened?" Shujin asked. "Why are you screaming? Is it a ghost again?"
Shujin could no longer see the spirits anymore nor sense them so she had no idea what scared Gayoon so much. On the other hand, she was also worried about Gayoon's abilities in particular. Unlike the rest of the family, Gayoon's powers were much stronger and to some extent, dangerous even.
She did not simply see spirits but attracted them like a magnet. While the rest of the women in their family saw passing spirits and still managed to go on with their lives, spirits came to Gayoon from far and wide, sometimes haunting her if she refused their offer. They could sense that she was able to communicate with them and a lot of the ghosts took advantage of her powers, scaring her until she did their bidding.
"Did you see another ghost?" Shujin repeated. Gayoon shook her head but refused to answer. Shujin kissed her head and comforted her which soothed Gayoon a little.
"Get dressed," Shujin told her in a gentle tone. "It's a weekend! You should go out and have fun. Not stay home and sulk!"
"I don't wanna go out," Gayoon murmured but her grandmother would not listen to her excuses.
"You can't deny, Jeon Gayoon!" she snapped. "You're at the age where you should go out and have fun. Make a boyfriend and be one of those cringey lovey dovey kids in love! Not sulk around in the house!"
Gayoon pouted. She did not have any friends other than Jaewan but she was not even that open with him. After all, who would be friends with her? Everyone thought she was cursed including her own father. The thought of her father made her feel sad.
"Granny," she began. "Is my dad going to come for my eighteenth birthday?"
Shujin's heart broke at the grief in her granddaughter's voice. Every year, Gayoon hoped that her father would turn up on her birthday and was disappointed all the time. The man had no shame and he labeled his own daughter as a curse, abandoning her shortly before her birth. Gayoon's mother died shortly after giving birth to her and she was left to Shujin.
Luckily, Gayoon's ahjusshi was also there to take care of her and even though they were not related by blood, he raised her like his own daughter. He had a little daughter of his own but was forced to stay far away from his family so when he first saw Gayoon at the hospital as a newborn, he felt a connection to her and was determined to raise her. Despite knowing about her abilities, he tried his best to give her a normal life, something both Gayoon and Shujin were thankful to him for.
"Where's ahjusshi?" she asked.
"He's off to find that spirit," Shujin sighed. Gayoon understood what her grandmother meant by 'that' spirit. For years, her ahjusshi had been searching for a spirit which had destroyed his life and killed his wife. But no matter how many times he tried to find it, the spirit kept on escaping. No one knew what the spirit wanted and where it was. Ahjusshi, however, was determined to find it.
"I hope he'll be alright," Gayoon voiced out. "He keeps on venturing into dangerous areas in search of this thing."
"He'll be fine," Shujin assured her. "The man has the nerves of steel. The more the spirits beat him down, the faster he rises back. Especially on days when stores give a discount!"
Gayoon snickered at her grandmother's joke and sprang off the bed to freshen up.
"I think I'll go to the mall and check out some stuff there," Gayoon stated as she stretched her muscles. "Will take my mind off things."
Her grandmother smiled and nodded as Gayoon went towards the bathroom.
"I've cooked chicken porridge for breakfast!" Shujin exclaimed.
"Alright!" Gayoon said happily from the bathroom.
.....
After an hour, Gayoon came out of the house. She was wearing a light pink t-shirt and jeans. Her wallet was tucked away in her pocket and she took out her bike to ride towards the mall. Humming under her breath, she was about to ride off when something caught her eye.
Standing behind a bush, was the same person she had seen in her dreams, staring at her.
Park Seungjo.