21 AWAKEN

In his arms, I lay. The warmness. The delicate touch. The incomprehensible quiver inside my chest. The elation brought to my senses. I felt secure. I kept my eyes closed until my mind drifted into a trance. Another place. Another me. Another nightmare from someone unknown that touched me.

Am I dead?

I opened my eyes to a forest of tall gloaming trees. Alone, standing under the grey clouds that block the sun and its bright memories. I started to move my fragile legs. Each stride sends me closer to a place. And was confronted by high steep stairs. The notches are narrow. There were a hundred steps. I could slip down easily with the wrong stir of my feet. I surpassed the ordeal and reach the top to see a shrine burned down to the ground. The lumbers were darkened into coal. The ashes were blown by the gust of wind, silently howling the devastation of its once glorious structures that stood magnificently.

"E-Eunhee…" I softly called the woman's name clad in majestic silk hanbok with her long golden hair reaching her hips and swaying through the whiff of air.

"H-He told me to wait here…" The woman's voice trembles from the quivering lips of despair.

I step towards the woman standing beside the well. The woman wails with her crimson eyes and bloody tears. Her skin was as pale as snow, her beauty was as defined as a flower. The woman leaned down to the water to see her eerie reflection.

Faceless.

The woman turned to me and fiercely glared. "How dare you!!!" And pushed me down into the well.

I dropped in a loud splash and gasped for air. Waddling my feet to keep me afloat and scratched the brick wall to save myself. I felt desperate and screamed.

"EUNHEE!!!"

And a flash of light drowns my surrounding.

.

.

.

.

Soojin's eyes were rounded by the sudden awakening. The white ceiling and the cold oxygen on her nose welcomed her senses. She took off her clear plastic mask and scanned the room. Noticing a man sitting on the chair in the corner with his legs crossed, holding a newspaper that covers his face. Her heart rapidly trembles guessing who it is.

'Dad???' Soojin asked in her mind.

The hospital must have called her father after the incident with Supervisor Mok. She doesn't want to bother his life anymore but she still listed his name in her emergency contact.

"You're finally awake." Detective Sungmin set the newspaper down on his lap. The crossword puzzle in the newspaper was almost done.

She felt relieved to see the investigator in her room. Soojin scanned the rest of the area to find someone she hoped will be standing there with Detective Sungmin but all that was there was cold air of empty existence,

"Are you expecting he'll be here???" Sungmin smiled.

"N-No…" She answered, hiding her blushed cheeks.

She lifted her arm and touched her neck, searching for the wound that Supervisor Mok did but her skin was smooth. No stitches. No scar. She's healed.

"The stab wound???" She turned to the investigator.

"Don't worry about things that aren't there anymore." Detective Sungmin stood up from his seat and laid the newspaper beside the bed. "Take care of yourself, Ms. Han."

"Tell me what happened???" She pleaded.

"It's a long story." Detective Sungmin quickly swiveled around to leave.

"Do you want me to go to "his" house and tell him you told me where he lives?" She curved her lips.

The investigator sighed. "What the hell is going on between you two?!?"

He sluggishly stepped towards the chair and carried it close to the bed. Slouching his back to the same position when he was answering the puzzle.

"Before I tell you about what happened, can you tell me first about this… "superpowers" you have???" Detective Sungmin pointed at her hands.

Soojin giggled. She didn't consider herself having "superpowers" and it's not only his hands that can detect memories. Her whole skin can but she won't tell that to the detective.

"I consider it as an ability, a perception. Like a sensor." She carefully lifted her body to sit.

"It would come in handy with your line of work." Detective Sungmin scratched his white beard.

"Yes, it does." She smiled.

"If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to assist us with the investigations. Not just this case. The next case and many more." The detective offered. His face expressed eagerness to ask the therapist to join his team.

"Detective, are you asking me to work for you or Ghost???" Soojin wanted it to be clear. She doesn't mind working with the investigator but with Ghost, the thought made her heart tremble.

"For me, Ghost doesn't like working with anyone," Detective Sungmin sighed, "He barely follows my orders now."

"Why don't you call Eunhee???" Soojin teased, "It seems to get his attention."

The investigator suddenly straightened his back and leaned towards her with a gloomy face and pointed with his finger, "Never say that name again."

The quick change of mood scared Soojin. Nodding her head fast to tell the investigator that she agreed not to open the conversation about the woman again.

Soojin remembered her dream.

 

'Eunhee. Who are you? How are you related to Ghost?' Soojin wondered in her mind.

"Where is he???" She asked.

"To the next person that died with a hateful heart," Detective Sungmin answered, resting his back on the cushioned chair, "Shall I tell you now what happened after I went back inside the electrical room or you can hold my hand and see my memory of it???" 

"I'm all ears." She answered. Though she heard every detail clearly, the thought of Ghost and the woman named EunHee still lingers in her mind and occupied her attention all day.

From the outside of the window, a white Ferrari car hummed its engine to a stop and parked in front of the hospital. A tall man wearing a blue double-breasted suit comes out with a charming smile on his face. He brushed his soft silky hair with his hand and walked towards the admitting desk.

"Is Ms. Han Soojin is still staying at this hospital???" The man winked at the female nurse.

The woman giggled and answered, "Yes, sir."

"When will she go out???" He asked.

"Are you her brother, sir???" The nurse was hopeful.

"Sorry, I'm her boyfriend." He replied, "Can you tell me when I can take her home?"

"She can go home today, sir. I think she was already cleared out today." The woman replied formally.

"Thank you, miss." The man bit his lips and winked.

"May I know your name, sir???"

"Gil Youngjae."

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