Chapter 2: Episode 1 - Open Eyes (2)

Looking up at the brightened being above her, she felt the heaviness of her heart seep away in an instant. A girl knelt down on the roof of the building Ji-Ho had hung from, staring down at her with an interesting expression upon her face.

The girl was gorgeous underneath the moonlight. She had long and pure cloud white hair that would flow like a waterfall against her shoulders.

She was cloaked in white, a long fabric draped around her shoulders to keep her warm, and her eyes were magnified by the circle-framed glasses she wore atop her cheeks.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Ji-Ho spoke through gritted teeth as she struggled to hold her grip.

The girl offered her hand to Ji-Ho.

"Help." She repeated. "I asked if you needed help."

Surprised, Ji-Ho took her hand, able to sink her feet into the wall of the building while relying on her strength pulling her up. Using her other arm, she pushed upwards upon the edge, sharing the work of her weight.

As soon as she had been pulled up, the girl tripped backwards, falling flat on her back, and taking Ji-Ho with her. Propped up above her, Ji-Ho stared into her eyes, feeling the girl's breath hot on her own neck.

Gazing upon her face closer underneath the moonlight, Ji-Ho could see that she was about her own age, and heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

"Ah... thank you..." Ji-Ho spoke nervously, still suspended above the girl.

She grabbed Ji-Ho by the collar, pulling her close with an angered expression upon her face.

"Why, for even a minute, would you have thought that to be a good idea?" She spoke harshly. "Don't you know what lies below us?"

"You're quite beautiful." Ji-Ho replied casually.

"I could say the same about you." Suddenly, unaware of when she had pulled out a knife, a blade had been pressed up against Ji-Ho's throat. "Still, beautiful women can be dangerous."

Ji-Ho grinned. "Do I look particularly dangerous?" Despite the knife pressed up against her neck, she didn't display a semblance of fear, as if being scared was below her.

The woman didn't respond to her question, instead asking her own, illustrating the continued presence of her knife by pressing it harshly against Ji-Ho's neck.

"Why attempt such a thing?" The woman asked.

"I managed to get stuck on the top of that building." Ji-Ho sighed, finally answering the woman's first inquiry. "With that sea of shadow settling underneath me, I decided that I would rather risk falling to my death than risk dying to the shadows by going further down the building's interior."

"It is a terrifying death to face, after all. I understand your thought process." The woman agreed with her sentiment. "Still…"

Her face lit up bright red, and her once-angered gaze softened as she put a hand against Ji-Ho's chest, pushing her away, realising her proximity.

"Oh really..." She sighed. "What would I have done if you had fallen? Witnessing that, don't you think I would have been left with guilt, not being able to save you?"

"You're right. It was quite selfish of me to be saved. I should have died far away from your gaze." Ji-Ho joked. "Well, have you decided I'm not a dangerous person?"

"It's a strange situation to joke around in. Of course, I haven't concluded that you're a safe person to be around. I just got tired of threatening your life." The girl replied curtly. "So, what will you do now that you've been saved? Will you kill and rob me? I can assure you I have nothing worth taking, but maybe that's just an empty promise between strangers."

"I would never rob such a beautiful woman of anything but her heart."

"You seem to have too much wit for your own good, wanderer. It's like you've already forgotten you almost died just a moment ago."

"This life is filled with moments like those. Even now, there's a calamity writhing underneath us. That's why you're here on these upper floors, isn't it? You're trying to avoid… it."

The girl nodded her head. "If that calamity wasn't here, I would probably be scouring the ground floor. I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to save you if that was the case."

"Maybe the thing that was supposed to bring my death actually gave me the opportunity to live, then."

"That's a strange way to think about it. But then again, I suppose it makes sense." The girl laughed in response.

"You laugh now, but had I not done so, I wouldn't have been able to meet the gorgeous woman who now stands before me." Ji-Ho spoke, a laugh hanging at the edge of her words, as if her sarcasm wasn't blatant enough.

"Now who's the one joking?" The girl smiled. "Now, while I'm interested in chatting idly the entire night, I suppose I should remind you that below us lies a calamity hellbent on our deaths."

"Ah, I suppose you're right." Ji-Ho sighed. "How could we be allowed to have fun in the face of danger?"

Ji-Ho stood up, helping the girl up as she met her gaze. The girl's face was still flushed.

"What is your name?" Ji-Ho spoke suddenly.

The girl seemed to stare off in the distance, starlight glimmer within her eyes as her face held a faint smile.

"It's Meihua." She spoke softly. "Zhou Meihua."

The two found themselves walking beside each other, navigating through the broken buildings that littered the cityscape. Broken pipes fallen from the ceiling served a great obstacle, and too did the floors that seemed to sink inwards from years of incessant rainfall.

While they walked along the aftereffects of a world razed by chaos, Ji-Ho thought about the wandering, shadowy force that would bring along with it supernatural tragedy near-scarier than mankind.

She wondered if it was because they were both wanderers that the Decay would follow her so simply. She may have thought it somewhat cute were it not the force that brought her world to ruin.

Ji-Ho had become so lost within her own thoughts as they walked that she had not even noticed the incessant rumbling of her stomach, a feeling so tiring that it nearly brought her to her knees.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Meihua asked her, turning to face Ji-Ho.

"Eh?" Ji-Ho wondered as they stopped, exchanging gazes, before the rumbling continued, prompting her to notice her crippling disposition.

Kneeling down on the ground, she was forced to reconsider her position within the razed world, having chosen to operate day-by-day as if she were a machine that did not require fuel to continue her labour.

Meihua reached into the pocket of the clouded coat she carried upon her back, pulling out an object concealed carefully within a fabric cloth. She tossed it over to Ji-Ho, who caught it apprehensively.

Tucked within the cloth was a piece of bread. It was coarse, and coated in raw flour, cooked by someone who in their entirety had no obvious skill.

Yet, it was that piece of bread which excited Ji-Ho so wholeheartedly.

Glancing down towards her own dirtied hands, her own image became intensely laughable to her.

She had been covered in mud and dirt, and soaked by constant rainfall, excited the prospect of bread over the monotony of foraging for but a single meal.

'Had she become a fraction of herself?' She wondered many times frequently. Over and over again had she sat with the realisation that the dull fragmenting of her personage had, within herself, allowed her to feel far greater emotions of euphoria within her travels.

Perhaps she had needed to break down all that she was, so that she could live in comfort within her own designed peace.

They continued walking as Ji-Ho ate reservedly, as if she had a mind to savour every bite of the stale piece.

"We're here." Meihua spoke quietly. "Remember to dry your shoes off before stepping inside, Ji-Ho."

Ji-Ho felt her face redden slightly, rustling her hand through her own hair as she held a confused smile upon her face.

"Ah, of course..." She replied. "But... how do you know my name? I was purposefully withholding that information…"

She pointed towards the tag that sat atop Ji-Ho's breast pocket.

"It's written so blatantly." Meihua laughed. "You must have been really into roleplay, to be playing the militant personage so hard."

"Yeah, roleplay is surely what I would call it..." Ji-Ho's gaze fell towards the ground, contemplative.

Ji-Ho stopped at the foothold of where Meihua had led them. A literal hole in the wall, it sat bandaged by curved sheets of metal that would slide with an ear-piercing shriek, surely not silent enough within a world where tragedy would hunt you down to the edge of the world.

Looking down, Ji-Ho found herself to be standing atop a mat, by which she used to scrape off the mud that had caked itself onto her boots so incredibly.

Climbing through the hole headfirst, her entirety was bathed with a multitude of bright, waving colours in an instant.

Candlelight seemed to fill every crevice of the room she now stood within, large glass floats hung from the sinking ceiling carrying the feelings of the light throughout the room like a tearful letter.

Meihua had obviously been living here for a while. Blankets were scattered about, the room covered in dust and dirt. Candles were lit on beams that held up the ceiling.

Empty cans and bottles were piled up in the corner. Beads of rain would drip from the ceiling periodically, leaving a calming ambient splash everytime they would hit the ground.

Yet, despite its glaring flaws, Ji-Ho felt a lingering feeling within her heart that would not cease; a euphoria unparalleled when faced with the warmth of one's home.

"It's very cozy down here. How do you keep it so warm?" Ji-Ho asked.

"A good magician never reveals her secrets." Meihua replied, beckoning towards the blazing fireplace that Ji-Ho had overlooked.

It did not look as if it was up to any safety standard, but its not really as if that truly mattered anymore.

Ji-Ho was too busy gazing at Meihua to hear any of her words. Her nose was like a button, her cheeks blushing from the heat of the fire. She wanted nothing more than to stroke Meihua's silky hair as if she were a dog, but she fought to hold back the urge.

Meihua had a ring on her left hand. It was a golden band with a piece of pink quartz that went gorgeously with her fine white nails.

She also had what seemed to be a limitless amount of bracelets on her right wrist, consisting of endless coloured glass beads that shimmered by the light of the fire.

"It's always nice to make it back home. Every expedition seems like a perfect opportunity to die… all I can think to do now is relax." Meihua smiled.

"I would find myself in that mindset too. As someone who enjoys the natural colour of this quiet world, I am unable to focus on our conversation when I notice my eyes mesmerised by the gorgeous colours that wander around this room. It's quite peaceful in here."

"The idea came to me in a dream, and I set it up as you see now as soon as I awoke." Meihua smiled. "It's a wonderous thing to be able to forage such treasures within a ruined world, isn't it?."

Meihua sat down beside the crackling fire, her cloak enveloping her entirety as she smiled softly.

"In any case, you seem rugged from experience and hardship. Have you ever tried resting beside a fireplace?" Meihua asked, leading Ji-Ho by the hand towards a pile of differently coloured feather pillows she had set out amongst the mantle of wood and crackling ash.

They sat down in front of the fireplace, watching the flames dance in front of them, a beautiful performance much appreciated by both.

Meihua wrapped her arm around Ji-Ho, pulling her in close. Ji-Ho's face flushed, confused.

"Have you finally convinced yourself I'm a safe person?"

Meihua shook her head. "Even if you aren't, it's been far too long since I've been able to converse with someone like this. I'll just consider this a perfect opportunity to die."

In that moment, as she stared upwards at the mysterious woman, Ji-Ho wondered when she had grown to trust her. Was it when she had been saved? Was it a product of the loneliness of her journey? Was it fear that her next tomorrow would be her last day alive? She had no clue.

Still, she couldn't help but feel within her heart that she had known Meihua for an eternity. Glancing up at the woman, she felt a sense of relief; an escape from the anxiety of her heart that pervaded when she stood amidst the calamity.

The fire crackled and sang as Ji-Ho rested her head on Meihua's, falling fast into a deep and peaceful slumber.