CH 1

‘I can’t sleep……!’

I was afraid of having nightmares again. Eventually, after tossing and turning for a long time, I opened the door and left the dormitory corridor.

At dusk, the corridor was desolate and empty.

When I walked a few steps, a large warm hand was placed over my right hand. I can tell without turning my face. It’s Arang who’s holding my hand.

The god of the Geumgang River, who saved me like a temptation. A man who is more elegant and beautiful than the expression of being nice and handsome. A perfect statue that can never be owed by the hand of God!

The moment I held his hand, the background changed.

The night sky, black as an abyss, was densely packed with immeasurably large numbers of stars.

‘……?’

When I turned my head, a beautiful smile that would blind me came like a dream.

Thump!

My heart beat like crazy. I want to hug him…,

Whoo! Are you crazy? He might be someone else’s man!’

My conscience pricked and my face was burning with ambivalent feelings.

“You can’t sleep again today?”

‘Today again?!’

Warm! Did he put honey on his voice? A sweet and mellow voice like a magical elixir calms the heart gently.

‘No matter how godly you are, if you have a great voice… Whoo, there is no way out…!’

At his words, I quietly nodded.

“Come on, sit down.”

As I sat on the soft sunbed, the lights went out one after the other.

A beautiful and enchanting world, densely glowing stars….

“It’s so beautiful…”

I don’t know if I’m saying this looking at the stars or to that man, I don’t know myself!

“You don’t look well these days. Is there anything you’re worried about?”

I turned my head and looked at him. My heart shook again when I saw a face full of genuine concern.

‘Since when have you been observing me?’

His eyes were deep as if they were sucking in the soul, as if they were bearing countless starlight.

“Come whenever you want. I’ll come to you when you think about me.”

Now my heart is pounding so fast that I can’t even see what’s coming. Phew, as he, who is more beautiful than the starlight, speaks that in a sweeter voice than the starlight, my mind becomes distant and hazy.

‘It must be a dream… ?’

‘……?!’

‘But if I think about you, you’ll come to see me?!’

Whoo, in hindsight, my heart and whole body shook violently with a strange excitement. I think my heart is broken.

“How?”

Once again, the words came out sharply. Because I shouldn’t get my mind caught. That man just feels sorry for me as an omnipotent God…

“Just. I feel it. When you want me.”

‘Whoo! When I want to?’

When it comes to words, it is nothing compared to what you say to a passionate lover!  Stupid! Even though I knew the true meaning of those words, my heart was fluttering everywhere, and my face turned red like a ripe sweet potato.

* * * * * * *

My name is Ji Eunsol. A high school freshman in Korea who is at the forefront of the entrance examination hell.

Another name for me is Ghost. No matter where I go at home or at school, I have less presence than a cockroach that is not loved.

It was only two weeks ago that I met Arang, a man who was more beautiful than a masterpiece, who bore all the misfortunes of the ordinary.

On a day when cherry blossoms were particularly beautifully scattered, I left early because I was sick and went to the mountain right behind my house. On that day, my heart was especially stuffy and my mind was disturbed. Sitting down was also a pain. Studying didn’t go my way that day, and I just hated everyone. Everyone, including myself, seemed to despise and loathe me.

The mountain behind was a secluded place that was relatively unvisited by many people, unlike the well-polished promenade nearby. I came here to avoid the crowds on purpose. Climbing the mountain quietly will make me feel better.

“Hello.”

It was the uncle next door who greeted me as I went. He was sitting on a bench at the beginning of a narrow walkway, fiddling with his guitar.

“Hello.”

Is it because there are no people? Somehow I felt uneasy. I’m going back,

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Yes?”

“I think I forgot my guitar parts on my way down the mountain. Can you find it with me?”

“……?!”

I had a bad feeling about it. I, I was hesitant so I stepped back.

“Haha. I think I made an unreasonable request. I’m sorry. I’ll look for it alone.”

At that moment, I felt sorry for the man who smiled nicely.

“Yeah, he’s not a bad guy. What’s the big deal?”

Unavoidably, I went to the road with him. As we were walking around the ground in search of his lost parts, he said.

“There, is that it?”

Around the darkened surroundings, the uncle who had suddenly approached me took my hand and pointed to the tent inside the forest.

“I think I left it over there earlier while playing the guitar. I’m sure of it!”

‘……?!’

The man, who put strength in his grip, smiled deftly. Somehow the laugh was so unpleasant and repulsive. However, it was not easy to escape the harsh grip of his.

“Shall we take a break?”

‘……?!’

It wasn’t the usual tone of his voice. A sly, sticky voice seemed to crawl like a bug in my ear!

“Why, why are you doing this!”

However, the more you shake off the monster’s arm, the stronger the force becomes.

“Why this! What’s wrong with all the grownup kids? Didn’t you follow me knowingly?”

The corners of the monster’s mouth twitched insidiously.

Terrible!

“Wha, what!”

“Are you being naive or what? It’s just a minute.”

“This, don’t do this!”

The monster’s strong grip almost made my arm fall. Suddenly he stopped walking and spat roughly on the floor.

“Can you not say that?”

At the moment, the monster’s fist turned harshly towards me.

“Ack!”

I closed my eyes without realizing it, and in that instant,

“Stop!”

It was the voice of a stranger. A low-pitched tone with no highs and lows in contrast to the tense situation. But, there was no pain! Apparently the monster swung his fist at me, and nothing happened!

‘What…?!’

When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw someone blocking the monster’s fist with one hand, like a light of salvation. The man who saved me appeared in seconds, and a mysterious golden light was rising like a wave.

“What is this?!”

An angry fist struck a vicious blow at the man. at the moment, I thought… What if he went this way, but fortunately he kept in his place.

“Me? The guy who handles a guy like you.”

Instead, he mercilessly attacked the monster’s neck with his relaxed expression and speech. His voice was still mellow and gentle, contrary to the urgent situation, and his actions were very calm and elegant.

With a single shot of his hand, the monster with a lot of strength on his face fell to the floor without a sound.

After that, he who saved me smiled and held my hand, and the background changed in an instant.

It was under a cherry tree in full bloom at the end of the mountain overlooking the winding river. Unlike a while ago, the sun was as warm as day.

He held my hand tightly and wrapped it in a cozy embrace to help me relax. But I had to stand for a while until my heart, which had been thumping in shock, came back into place, not knowing that he was wrapping his hands around me.

As time passed and my mind fully returned, his body temperature was transmitted to my fingertips.

As time passed and my mind fully returned, his body temperature was transmitted to my fingertips.

It’s the first time I  held a man’s hand. I didn’t hate his hand that gave me some sense of stability and warmth, so I didn’t let go of his hand and looked at him silently. His face shone golden, perhaps because of the sunlight, and small cherry blossom leaves swirled softly around him.

“I’m Arang.”

The man who said his name said he was the guardian deity of the Geumgang River, a long river that continues endlessly, down where we stand now. Only then did his appearance begin to be properly imprinted on my eyes.

A man with deep, dark eyes, a tall nose, and an inexpressibly beautiful face as if he was torn from a cartoon, standing with the falling cherry blossoms. It was a visual that didn’t feel real.

Unlike a while ago, when I faced a monster, this time my head was dazed with another shock. However, the man said, seemingly bored to death by such a reaction, as if he was already used to it.

『At the moment of crisis, the extreme fear I had has been completely conveyed to him, and when I put all my heart into that feeling, he came to where I am.』

He said words that would only make sense in a novel. That said…, this situation doesn’t seem real right now.

As I stared blankly at him as if I was caught up in his speech, I immediately came to my senses  and asked.

“Do you… know me…?”

“No.”

It was a harsh answer, cutting pumpkins with a single knife that was more dry than the desert. Only then did I wake up from my dream like I was hit by cold water.

‘What did you expect? Don’t you know?!’

But, that’s a perfectly natural answer, why are you upset?! Tears sprang to my eyes with useless grief. What were you expecting?! The moment I vowed not to forgive myself for having had a foolish imagination for a moment, he recites words that are soft and close to lamentation.

“I sometimes feel the extreme fear of women in danger like you….”

‘……?!’

His face, out of nowhere, came in front of me. They seem to be checking to see if the other person is okay… My heart stopped at the sudden attack on my face and my whole body stiffened. The eyes I saw on that day were deeper and more beautiful than the Pacific Ocean, and the eyes filled with melancholy were mysterious as if they were sucking me in.

“I don’t know why…. Anyway, that’s a relief! I can save you….”

And then he laughed softly. My heart, which had stopped at the sight, started beating like crazy this time.

‘… No, I don’t think the word “happy” is appropriate right now… .’

If I stayed with him longer, my heart might explode. One, he laughed for a long time, perhaps not noticing that he was now a very dangerous being. His expression and smile were as deep and warm as the spirit of spring. But, is it just me? That smile is so sentimental as if it’s looking at a loved one..

‘……?!’

At the moment, I can imagine disturbing things. Well, that can’t be! Whatever the situation in my head, his bright smile split in the sunlight was as beautiful and sublime as the unchanging truth.

‘Nonsense…! There’s no man in the world who is so beautiful…?’

For a moment, his brain and body stopped, and he stared at him in awe until his smile disappeared. It was a fleeting moment, but it was eternal.

* * * * * * *

Two weeks after I met him, I transferred. To Wildflower High School, a dormitory-type alternative school at the end of Namsan Mountain.

It was a small school with about 250 students, but it was as well-equipped as a luxury hotel. Fortunately, the school accepted some children from poor family conditions or who could not adapt to the previous school without paying a penny, and I was one of them.

That’s because three days after the incident, in an empty construction site near my house, my father and the monster next door who tried to attack me were found dead side by side.

I don’t know why they went there, but they were dead side by side with a very painful look, with their neck severely twisted, as if they had jumped from a building that still had only steel bars at the same time.