What Is Fear?

"Good Morning, Yeurong," Do Jiwoon said with a happy face. "Or is it evening now? It's hard to tell without the sun." He waved his hand as if nothing was wrong.

Il Chunghoo shoved her to the front. She fell, her knees to the floor, looking like a prisoner awaiting their execution. "Wait, what?" Ah Yeurong shook her head in confusion. "You, Sukin, right? It's you, right? What's going on?"

"Sukjin. Hmm, I guess that was the name I told you, huh?" He rubbed his cheek, seemingly in thought. "Sorry, I don't have a great memory."

"Are you joking? Is this some kind of sick joke," she asked him with a shaky voice. "If it isn't, then who are you!"

Jiwoon approached her. The people holding her down parted as if the Red Sea. It was borderline scary to witness, several people, their faces without any expression and body obscured by the shadow, standing still, waiting for their leader to react. Even though there were so many, Ah Yeurong felt she was alone with him. Even though she knew his face so well, he felt like a stranger.

The boy gently swept the hair out of her face. "Nice to meet you. My name is Do Jiwoon."

"I don't understand," she muttered. Now, not only her voice but her whole body shook. "I, I don't."

"Well, to explain, the Tae Sukjin, the man apparently from college, the man you spent your time with the last few weeks, the one you slept with—he doesn't exist." He laughed while making a 'poof' gesture the same way a magician would.

Ah Yeurong broke down, seeing his uncaring face. Tears came streaming down her cheeks, and she screamed out loud. "I don't get what you mean!"

Do Jiwoon turned around, not caring for her shouts. He gestured at the other young adults around him. "You guys go. I need some alone time."

The people whispered in great silence. Oh Sanbaek stepped forward. He asked with uncertainty, "Are you sure? Uhm, it's not like I don't trust you or anything—I really do!—but I'm worried that maybe she'll do something weird?" He glanced at Yeurong, who sobbed loudly. "You know, right? 'A rat that's cornered' and all that."

Jiwoon patted Sanbaek on the shoulder, whose whole body turned cold immediately. The fear was ingrained deep in his bones. The white-haired boy told him, "Thank you for your concern. But it's all part of the plan. No worries."

"I, I see," he replied. He turned around, nodding at the crowd. If Do Jiwoon said so, all they could do was obey. As they left one by one, letting a sliver of light through the door, Sanbaek made his way out too.

"Oh, if you peep, I'll murder you, got it," Do Jiwoon said with cheery laughter, bringing a great shudder upon Sanbaek. His knees almost gave up on him, and he used the wall to guide him the rest of the way.

"Haha, funny guy," Jiwoon muttered.

"..:" Ah Yeurong stared at Jiwoon. Her eyes red. She was waiting for him to talk.

"You know, I picked that guy up while he was looking for revenge. You should have seen the drive in his eyes. It's like someone had murdered his clan. Well, he walked into your father's gang, and got into a scuffle with the wrong kind of people." Jiwoon patted the girl's head as he told his story. "I wonder, if I hadn't picked him up, he might be swimming with the fishes." He gave her a quick glance. "Oh, that means he'd be dead."

Her eyes remained on him. After a long pause, she muttered, "My father's gang?"

"You really don't know anything at all, do you?" Jiwoon tilted his head. "How is it possible to be so oblivious to the world?"

Ah Yeurong was confused. She asked him, "Why?"

"Why I saved that coward Sanbaek? Well, we had the same enemy, so—"

"No!" She shook her head. "Why me? Why did you choose me?"

"Why not?" He asked her as if a matter of fact. His tone was cold enough to freeze hell. "It had to be someone, so why not you?"

The answer baffled her. She was rendered speechless. "Only for that? Only for that?"

Do Jiwoon shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, Yeurong, even if this may cause a small rift in our relationship, the emotions you have felt were real." He patted her head. "When we met in that club, when we talked for hours, when I confessed my feelings for you, and of course when we consummated our love. You wanted a magical partner who'd make you forget about this world's responsibilities. I granted you that wish, so why can't you grant mine?"

"You motherfu—" She jumped at him, hoping to get at least one punch in. He wasn't looking at her, so it was the best time.

However, out of the blue, the shadow underneath Jiwoon started to wriggle. And to Yeurongs astonishment, it released a gray smog, filling the entire warehouse. The smog caught her in the air, bringing her afloat. Do Jiwoon returned his attention to her. "Sorry, not today."

"What the f—!" Her words cut short. A chill washed over and an instinctive feeling of fear wrapped her into a ball. She felt like someone had her dropped into the cold endless ocean without a boat. Even though she trashed, the smoke held her tight. As she listened, she realized a faint wailing sound echoed through the warehouse. And upon closer inspection, she saw, on the smog, hundreds of humanlike faces, all painted with grotesque horror, screaming for a release of this agonizing pain.

"'Gate to Purgatory', that's what my ability is called. I think it's a fitting name; for a place that passes judgement to the living, this level of terror is apt," he explained calmly. "With this, I can call upon the souls of those who have passed and ask them to do my bidding. They are brittle individually but en masse pack quite a punch."

Smog kept escaping his shadow. Ah Yeurong was close to fainting, but Do Jiwoon held her sleep hostage. She screamed, "Let me go, let me go, you monster!"

"Don't be like this. You'll hurt my feelings." As he said so, a piece of the smog gathered around him, forming into a person. Surprisingly they looked incredibly similar to Jiwoon, only, a bit older. "You want to know the truth that badly? Fine. Soon, the world is going to end. No one but me knows this; not even people with Affinities like me. No, all they can do is bask in their blissful but temporary ignorance. Gangs? Territory? Society? School? They all mean nothing in the face of survival."

The smog approached Ah Yeurong. "Get away from me!" She shook her head, but no dice.

"I had no choice but to make a plan. I collected as many resources as I could. People told me I was crazy, and normally I'd agree. I do like to stay in the shadows. But I had no time, you understand?"

He paused, watching that one particular smog-piece.

"That soul there, approaching you. Do you know who that is? It's quite funny." He laughed. "That's me. But not me at the same time. He appeared together with my power, apparently another version of me. But older. And dead. I felt it, his history. He—just like us soon will—went through hell after The Mirage invaded our world. I saw it all. At first, I thought he was from the future. But no. I don't know how, but he had come from a parallel universe." He moved his hair out of his eyes. "And now, his soul has returned, rising from the dead through me."

Ah Yeurong wasn't listening anymore. She only begged, "Don't approach me, please-"

"It's no use. He can't talk. The only word he could say was, ironically a name." He smiled wryly. "The whole time, he called for a person—Lee Dojin." He laughed. "Hahaha, can you believe it? I don't even know a person with that name. But, whoever it was, left a horror ingrained into my other soul. Hilarious isn't it?" He clicked his tongue. "So when I met that Oh Sanbaek and heard that name 'Lee Dojin' again, I just had to pick him up."

"I don't get anything. You are crazy!" She stared at the soul. "What does anything of this have to do with me?"

"Say, you are pregnant, right?" A mischievous grin appeared on his face. He asked, "At what point do you think a fetus forms a soul?"

Her eyes widened, but before she could react, the soul entered through her mouth, sliding down her throat. In the end, a warm feeling appeared underneath her stomach. Promptly after, she fainted, the whites of her eyes showing.

The smog subsided, slowly releasing any tension, and returning into his shadow. Everything turned into a silent warehouse again.

"Sweet dreams." He gave her a quick prayer and covered her with a jacket. "Hopefully, when you wake up, you'll take good care of the child. It's me, after all."

He took a seat on the ground, closing his eyes. It was unknown what thoughts went through his mind.

However, breaking his focus, the outside suddenly turned noisy. Screams kept resounding outside. Loud crashes, with voices full of fear, enveloped this warehouse. And then it was silent again. After a while, the door opened slowly. Oh Sanbaek fell into the room.

"Didn't I say you're dead if you entered?"

"He, he's here!" the boy shouted, "You were wrong, he survived!" He crawled forward. "That Lee Dojin!"

A foot appeared above his head, trampling his face into the ground.

Stepping in came a young man with a beastly smile, his hair slicked back, and an oppressing aura emitting out his very being. "What's up, Jiwoon. It's been a minute," he said with a rough voice.

Do Jiwoon gave him a gentle smile. "I've never met you in my life."