Part 2: My head is spinning like a Merry-Go-Around
Part 2 — If not read part 1, read it here
For the rest of the day, Ji-Hae felt rather dizzy, like his head was filled with clouds. He texted his friends and told him that he wouldn’t make it to the study group. They understood.
The apartment was quiet and empty as he entered it. No shoes were at the door, which was a bit odd. His sister would be home at this hour, but alas, she probably got stuck in school for something. The academies seemed to catch her attention.
He dumped his bag in his room and walked back out to the living room, dumping himself on the sofa. He placed a hand on his band-aid, feeling the pain sting. He let his hand fall down, giving away a sigh. It was all so strange, everything seemed blurry after the crash with the bus. He blinked hard a few times, trying to get some clarity in his mind. Perhaps it was because of trauma to the head, or maybe he was in need of his reading glasses. He couldn’t tell.
Suddenly his phone rang. He dug it up from his pocket. It was his mom, So-Ra. He closed his eyes as he answered.
”Ji-Hae? Oh, how I’m happy to hear from you! The hospital called and said you were in an accident.”
Ji-Hae mumbled to answer as he pinched his nose bridge. “Yeah, but I’m ok.”
”Are you? I will make sure to get home–”
“No no, it’s just a small bleeding. I’m ok. Stay at work.”
There was silence on the other side of the line.
”If you say so. Is Joon-Hee home?”
Ji-Hae paused for a moment, looking out over the empty apartment.
“No.”
”Alright then, I just wanted to check. Make sure to take care of yourself, and call me if you get any worse.”
Ji-Hae mumbled a “yes” and a “bye” before he ended the call. This headache was only getting worse and worse, and it only made him sleepier and sleepier.
Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep on the sofa.
• • •
The distinctive chatter and sudden wave of pain right between his eyebrows made Ji-Hae’s eyes fly up in an instant, and his eyes landed on his sister, leaning over him.
“Hey, you were in an accident?” Joon-Hee asked, looking down on her brother with a grin.
Ji-Hae looked confused at her, as he rubbed away the pain between his eyebrows. “Did you smack me-”
“Joon-Hee, help me with dinner.”
It was the voice of his other mother, Soon-Ja. She was facing her back to her two children —who were not that much of children anymore— wearing her usual office attire, white shirt and black slackers.
Joon-Hee turned in a rather dramatic way and joined her mother in the kitchen. Ji-Hae sat up on the sofa, trying to blink away the sleep in his eyes. He reached for his phone, seeing that the time was 7.30 pm.
“When did you guys get home?” he asked in a sleepy manner. “Where’s mom?”
“Your other mom got stuck at work, she will be home soon.”
Ji-Hae let out a sigh as he threw himself back onto the sofa. The headache came back, stupid of him. He slowly started to rub his temples.
“Joon-Hee, can you get me a pain reliever?” he asked out into the kitchen.
“You can get it yourself,” Joon-Hee answered back, but she got a push from her mother, making her pull herself over to the bathroom.
“How was school?” Soon-Ja asked.
“Hmm, it's school,” Ji-Hae said back.
Joon-Hee appeared by the sofa. She stopped and threw a pill to Ji-Hae, who managed to catch it. He sat up and moved himself over to the kitchen table, grabbing the cup and can of water that was standing on the table, and swallowed the pill in one go with a clunk of water. He sat down on the chair, looking at his mother and sister operating in the kitchen. Silence fell, as the only sound came from the pan frying and the sound of vegetables being chopped. No one was talking, until Joon-Hee spitted out,
“So it was a bus?”
“Yeah, it crashed into the park,” Ji-Hae answered back.
“Wiiiiiild… Was it scary? What caused it?”
“No I was not scared and it…” It had been clear as day what had caused the bus crash, but when it came to explaining it, it vanished like footprints in the sand. His mom operated quietly, which he took as she already knew.
“It what?” Joon-Hee eventually asked, turning around to look at her older brother.
“It… it was a cat,” Ji-hae said hesitantly, “The bus driver had to move out of the way for a cat on the street.”
“Hah, what an excuse.”
Joon-Hee’s comment lingered in Ji-Hae’s mind for a while, as he tapped his fingers against the table. What had caused the accident?
His thoughts were interrupted as the door made its usual ping sound and So-Ra appeared, having rosy cheeks from the cold outside. She got her shoes off before stepping into the apartment.
“I’m home!” she announced while she dumped her bag by the opening to the kitchen. Seeing the sight of the rest of the family gathered in the kitchen made a smile appear on her face. She walked up to the stove, showing affection to her wife.
Ji-Hae’s eyes had locked themselves on the floor, as he slowly sank into his own thoughts. He replayed the memories he had in his head, but it all seemed to be in a mess, fractions of pieces floating around.
“Are you ok?” So-Ra had appeared in front of him, looking up at him from her squatting position on the floor.
“Yeah. I’m ok,” Ji-Hae said back, getting pulled out from his own head.
So-Ra reached out to the band-aid on his forehead. “Let’s have a look at your wound, I don’t want you to get a scar there.”
With a new patch on his forehead and lying on his back, Ji-Hae stared up at the dark ceiling, scratching his brain until it was red and itchy. It bothered him so bad that he couldn't remember how he had gone from the bus crash, up to the Seoul Tower, and then home. It was so odd that it scared him. Yet he forced him to sleep. Maybe he would remember everything when he woke up.
***
“You are the girl right?”
“What girl and what bus?”
“That bus.”
“Hey, you can’t just accuse me of that. Besides, you don’t know if it was me.”
“You are a foreigner, you all look the same.”
...
“So what if I am?”
“What was that? Why are we at the Seoul Tower?”
“Can I at least have my phone back?”
“I’m gonna call the police, and then I want an explanation as to why we are at the Seoul Tower and not in the alley.”
Riiiiiing!
***
Ji-Hae twitched, his eyes wide open. He was sweating from head to toe, and his hands were slightly shaking. He slowly sat up in bed, looking down on them, before grabbing his thighs, trying to make them stop. He breathed heavily, trying to take some deep breaths. His alarm still ringing, he reached out and passively turned it off. He rubbed his face, looking out at the window beside his bed.
What a dream.
He sighed.
It’s just a dream. A dream.
There was a moment of reflection and calming himself down before he swinged his legs over the bed, grabbing his phone again. A notification appeared on the screen, reminding him,
Intern at the vet.
• • •
His thoughts and turbulent morning was shaken away along with the cold as he stepped in through the staff door at the vet clinic. His mind has been torn all the way to the clinic, but now he had decided; it was all just a weird dream. Let’s leave it all behind.
After changing clothes he met the other intern, Eun-Chae in the corridor.
“Good morning Ji-Hae,” she said as she passed him.
“‘Morning.”
“Have you heard, about the cat?”
Ji-hae stopped, turned around and looked at her with a frown. “What cat?”
“The cat,” Eun-Chae said back.
“I just came, what cat?” Ji-Hae asked back.
Eun-Chae took a step closer, lowering her voice.
“There was a cat that came in last night, apparently there is…” she tried to form her words right, “I don’t know. There's something special about it. Doctor Min said we will have a look at it later.”
She started to walk away. Ji-Hae shouted after her,
“What do you mean by special?”
When Eun-Chae didn’t answer, Ji-Hae rushed up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around.
“What do you mean by special?”
Eun-Chae’s cheeks flushed up, as she looked past his shoulder. “There are rumours. Some nurses… they talk.”
Ji-Hae watched her face turn even redder and redder, so he let go of her arm. She rubbed her arm and stood quietly beside him, looking down at the floor for a moment before she mumbled, “See you later”, and disappeared down the hall. Ji-Hae lingered for a while, watching her disappear. He sighed.
“That they have to have a crush on everyone” he mumbled to himself.
“Ok, gather along.”
Ji-Hae felt the cold sensation of hand sanitizer fade while he adjusted his mask. He looked over at the nurse standing beside, as Dr. Min was standing by the examination table, looking down at what would be, by Eun-Chae’s words, “The cat”.
“My gosh…” Dr. Min mumbled, before saying, “Come over and look at this Ji-Hae.”
Ji-Hae walked slowly forward, as he gave the nurse a glance, before looking down at the cat, who was lying restless on the table, under the gigantic lamp. It was quite big, and had a nice grey fur. It looked really peaceful, sleeping on the table. But as Dr. Min turned it on its back, showing its stomach, Ji-Hae suddenly felt like he had to grab onto the table real tight to be able to stand up. Someone had marked the cat, but not just the usual vandalism that Ji-Hae had seen on animals before. These were strategic marks, as they contained circles, lines, looking like some sort of runes; all embedded, creating a sort of pattern, or a picture… It was hard to see as the wounds were still fresh.
“You see this?” Dr. Min asked, “This is cruelty on a new level.” He pulled out cotton balls and sanitizer, trying to clean the wounds. “I don’t understand people who do this.” His voice was harsh and had sadness in it. “It looks like some ritual markings, probably from some cult who have used this cat in unthinkable ways.”
Ji-Hae nodded while he handed Dr. Min the cotton balls. He couldn’t take his eyes from the mess. It was just so…
Suddenly a memory flashed by, like when lightning hits the ground. A stick, a wand, decorated with similar runes. A girl, a foreigner, pink hair.
Ji-Hae took a step back, as the headache suddenly came back. He squeezed his eyes together, feeling how he got extremely dizzy. Both Dr. Min and the nurse noticed.
“Are you ok?” asked Dr. Min.
Ji-hae nodded. “Yeah, I only… I got a sudden headache…” he said low.
He blinked a few more times, trying to focus on the task at hand.
“Didn’t you end up in an accident yesterday?” the nurse asked. “Are you sure you have recovered from that?”
Ji-Hae nodded. “Yes, I’m more than fine, I didn’t hurt myself that bad, so I’m more than good. It’s probably… just…” He stepped away as he bowed towards Dr. Min. “I’m sorry, I think I have to get something for my headache.”
Today Dr. Min was soft at heart. “Sure, go ahead, but bring in Eun-Chae, and make sure you are fit ‘til after lunch.”
Ji-Hae gave a nod, as he then left, giving Eun-Chae, who was just passing outside, a poke and a nod into the room.
Ji-hae felt how his head and chest got heavy as he spent most of his time in the dressing room trying to control his headache, but it didn’t really work after two pills of pain relief. All that could fill his brain was this pink haired girl and the markings on the cat. The same girl he had dreamt about. He was getting scared over his own mind, was he hallucinating? Did his head injury make this up or was some of it real? He felt anger build up, over the cat and its injuries. Was this foreign girl connected to it? Did she do it?
With some determination, and almost made up his mind, Ji-hae grabbed his jacket and exited the back door. He had to find her.
• • •
After hours at the police station, with a sprinkle of magic and a handful of lies, Mare had gotten herself out of there, back to her small basement apartment. She had slept for a few hours, before she had gotten disturbed by someone knocking on her small kitchen window.
With sleep in her eyes, she got up and opened it. A slim and petite girl slipped through the narrow window, landing on the kitchen floor. By the looks of her plump lips, cotton-like hair and hanbok top, she was definitely a witch from the Sae-Boek tribe. Mare leaned and tried to see, but now transportation was visible outside the window.
“Hello!” the girl said enthusiastically, “My name is Chi-Un, delivery witch for the Sae-Boek tribe!”
Mare nodded tiredly. “Yes… I can see that you are.”
“Are you Miss Mare La Russi?”
Mare rubbed her eye. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Then this is for you.”
The witch, Chi-Un, pulled forward her big leather bag that looked like a big egg, being almost bigger than the girl herself. Chi-Un pulled out a fabric-wrapped package, as she handed it over to Mare. It was not heavy, but it was the size of a toaster. She then handed over a roll of paper, tied together with a nice blue ribbon. When she had filled Mare’s hands, she pulled out a small notebook.
“Any updates on the searching for Witch Scientist Mangjol Su-Min?”
Mare placed down the packages she had been given on the small kitchen counter, before she turned to the witch.
“I have been following a lead for the last week, but it turned out to be nothing.” She gave a slight sigh, as the witch dictated. “I’m starting to wonder if she even is Seoul, if I have to go to Incheon or Busan or…” She scratched her head, as Chi-Un dictated for all she was worth. She stopped, as she looked up at Mare with big eyes.
“Something is wrong, as if she has just vanished… or gone underworld.” Mare smacked her lips, as she glanced over at the wall that would be her living room, that had turned into a gigantic map over Seoul with strings, notes, scribbles all over it. It looked like an elaborate art piece.
“I’m fearing I have to start over, or go under, underworld, because wherever she is,” Mare said, “she’s not here.”
She turned her head to the witch. “That's all for now. I will send a message once I have any updates.”
Chi-Un nodded, as she closed her book.
“Be careful,” Mare wished for her.
The face of the joyful witch suddenly became rather serious. “You too.”
She suddenly raised her right hand, as she then smacked it to her left elbow, having her underarm raised up parallelly with her shoulder. She bowed, as Mare did the same movement, bowing back to Chi-Un. And with that the witch took a leap up on Mare’s kitchen sink, and just as she smoothly came in, got herself out through the window. Mare leaned over, saw how the girl moved her hands, having a gust of wind blow through the alleyway. The girl took off and was gone in an instant. A wind witch, she thought, before she closed the window and looked down at her mail. What a way to start her morning.
• • •
Ji-Hae had no idea where to start, but his gut feeling said that he had to go back to where it started. Where it seemed like his memories conflicted with themselves.
He walked down the sidewalk of the park that the bus had crashed into. They were still repairing the fence and some of the sidewalk and had off that part of the sidewalk for any pedestrians. He stopped on the other side, looking over at the construction, and then on the cars passing by. It became a restless mind game, just watching as the cars swooshed, maybe following one or two with his eyes. He looked up at the people on the other side, trying to get around the construction and entering the park. He looked away when a truck passed, bringing along the cold autumn wind. Ji-Hae looked back at the entrance to the park and suddenly, she was there. The foreigner girl with pink hair.
Ji-Hae thought he was dreaming. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes, keeping his eyes on the girl. But she was really there, if not his mind was playing tricks on him. She was just like in his dream; the pink hair with brown roots, grey coat with a colourful sweater under. It felt like the world slowed down as she turned, looking towards the construction, before she entered the park. When she was out of sight it felt like Ji-Hae could move again. He was numb for a moment, before he felt the adrenaline and panic kick in. He jumped down beside the sidewalk, jogging past the pedistrans, and managed, just in time, to get over the crosswalk before the cars got a green light. He rushed past the entrance, stopping, his eyes moving over the park, looking for something pink. Having his heart beat fast, he thought he had lost her, or perhaps only imagined her. But then, past some trees, he saw the grey coat. With all he had, he rushed after her. He couldn’t lose her, again.
Mare thought as well that if she returned to her last steps she could find something, but it was not as giving as for Ji-Hae. She followed one of the gravel roads, and soon she found herself on the other side of the park. She was just about to pass the public bathrooms when she felt a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her violently, spinning her around. Nothing but fear passed through her mind. She got big eyes, staring up at the person who had grabbed her. It took a moment to register, before she became even more panicked, seeing who it was. She thought she would never see the boy again, yet here he was. She realised now that she hadn’t done a good job, the memory erasing nor the part of trying to stay low. This was bad on a new level.
“죄송합니다 (I’m sorry),” the boy said. He dared to look her in the eye, breathing at the top of his lungs. Mare was too frightened to even pull out a language spell, but she understood what he meant. Still holding her by her shoulders, Ji-Hae exhaled, catching his breath for a moment, before weighing if he should try to communicate in his very broken English, or just go for it in Korean. Mare had managed to wake up and get a hold of herself, as she flicked her wrist, managing to cast a spell before Ji-Hae said,
“I don't know who you are, but I need your help.” This was really weird, and he hated it. “You…” he started, “You saved a cat.” He felt how the headache was coming back. “I… you… ran past houses.” The headache was getting stronger, as he took a harder grip around Mare’s shoulders. Mare didn’t dare to move, but was making a painful expression as she tried to twist herself out of his grip.
“The alley… and–” Ji-Hae squeezed his eyes together, as he made a painful moan. The world was spinning and it felt like he was gonna puke. “Seoul… Tower.”
His knees folded under him, and Mare catched him.
“Ok ok… come on buddy,” she said as she pulled him over to the public restrooms, getting him down on the ground behind it. She knew how painful it was to remember things that had been replaced with other memories. It was like opening a present, but the wrapping gave you constant paper cuts. She felt extremely sorry for him.
“I’m sorry, I’m the one to be sorry,” she said as she looked around her, trying to see if they had gathered some unwanted attention. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like they had.
“Here.” Mare pulled out a small purse, being the size of a wallet. She opened it up and pulled out a small, bluelike object, looking like a piece of chewing gum. She looked down at Ji-Hae, who could barely keep his eyes open. “Eat this, you will feel much better.”
She sort of force fed him, and Ji-Hae slowly chewed on it. It didn’t taste much, and it certainly didn’t have the consistency of a chewing gum. He hesitantly swallowed it. Slowly and surely his headache disappeared, as his nauseousness did as well. He exhaled, looking up at Mare. She looked down at him, giving away a sigh. For a moment they looked at each other in silence, before Mare decided to get up, but Ji-Hae grabbed her arm.
“I promise,” he said, “I won’t tell anyone. But I need your help.” He jammed his nails into his palm. “It’s a cat. It…” He pointed towards her coat. “It has the same… signs as your stick.”
Stick? Mare was confused, but then she understood what he meant; her wand. He had remembered even more than what she had anticipated. He had a sharp eye for details.
She moved closer to him, and she discreetly pulled her wand forward, showing him the handle. Ji-Hae’s eyes got big, as he pointed at them.
“Yes, they look like that.”
Mare was a bit confused over this cat and how “it had the same signs” as her wand. But she didn’t ask any further questions.
“Where is this cat?”
• • •
Ji-Hae got back into his vet clothes while Mare was standing on the other side of the dressing room, kind of hiding, in case anyone would come in. Ji-Hae got his coat on, turned and nodded to Mare. He got up to the door and peeked out. The hall was empty. He nodded towards her, as they sneaked out together, closing the door quietly behind them and then started to walk quickly down the hall. They passed doors, a nurse, before Ji-Hae turned and they entered the patient room for cats. A nurse was already in there, and she bowed to Ji-Hae and Mare as they came in.
“You are already back Ji-Hae? Do you feel better?”
“Yes, I do, thank you,” Ji-Hae answered back.
“So, who are you visiting today?” the nurse asked Mare.
Mare got stiff for a moment, as she looked up at Ji-Hae. He cleared his throat.
“She is the owner of the cat that came in last night,” he said. “The one with severe markings on its stomach.”
“Oh…” said the nurse, realising which one it was. “Yes, she’s over here.”
The nurse led them over to a container that had a big glass window, lit up with small lights. Inside was the grey cat lying on its side, having a big bandage on her stomach. When Mare saw the cat, she felt a tingly sensation within her, as if she was the cat, and the cat was her. She placed a hand on the glass, piercing her eyes on the cat. Her heart almost skipped a beat.
“I’m terribly sorry,” the nurse said. Mare looked up at her with sad eyes. Ji-Hae looked down on the cat as well, understanding that it must have been, and was still in huge amounts of pain. It made his heart ache.
Mare tried to play along. “I have been so worried, she just disappeared and then I didn’t know…” Her voice died out. “I’m so happy she is here now.”
The nurse nodded. “I understand. We will take good care of her.”
She left Mare’s side, walking over the room to take a look at the other cats. Mare leaned over to Ji-Hae.
“We need to get her out,” she whispered.
“Out?” Ji-Hae whispered back with confusion written on his face.
“Yes.”
Ji-Hae looked at the cat and then the nurse.
“Who?”
Mare gave him a side eye.
“Both!”
She glanced over her shoulder while she tapped quietly on the glass.
“Do you think you can cause a distraction?”
“Like what?” Ji-Hae asked back.
“I don’t know, what sort of unexpected distractions happens at a vet clinic?” she asked back.
But at that moment, the nurse left the room, leaving Ji-Hae and Mare alone.
“Quick, the door!” Mare said.
Ji-Hae did as he was told, as he quickly walked up and closed the door.
“Lock it too,” Mare said while she rolled up her sleeves. She inhaled shortly, as she then moved her hands in the air, mumbling some words. The glass seemed to disappear, as if it had melted away like ice. Ji-Hae looked back, getting even more confused when he saw Mare lifting out the cat. She did it in her most caring way, and placed it down on the nearest table. Ji-Hae got up beside her, as he said,
“What’s happening?”
Mare looked up at him. “Well, helping you. Offering my help.” She looked rather confused. “You asked for it.”
She gently removed the bandage, and she froze on the spot when she saw the pattern-like runes on the cat’s stomach. It looked horrifying, even if she had seen it before. She had to inhale deeply, as she pulled out and raised her wand in the air.
“Well, can you tell me what this is?” Ji-Hae asked.
“This,” Mare said, while she used both her hand and wand to trace off the markings, as they floated up in front of them in a pink-like shimmer. Ji-hae inhaled loudly, looking with big eyes on the magic in front of him. It almost looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Mare moved her hand, as she saved a magical copy of the markings. “This is ritual markings, used in…” her mind was racing like a formula one car, her speech couldn’t keep up. “In… in not so…” she didn’t know how to explain it, as her thoughts went to her sister, Hope. “They are used in necromancy.”
Ji-Hae swallowed loudly. “Necromancy?”
“Yes,” Mare said, and picked up the cat and placed it down on the floor. “Necromancy, like… controlling the dead, sacrificing souls to…” The more she talked, the more serious she realised that it was. “To transfer… souls.”
Ji-Hae was so overwhelmed by all these new things that had happened to him that his mind just froze for a moment. He almost wanted to laugh. Transferring souls? Did he hear her right?
Mare got down beside the cat, as she kept on holding her wand high. She inhaled, and closed her eyes for a moment.
“Ok, Mangjol, I know you are in there.”
She glanced up at Ji-Hae. “You… might want to take a step back.”
Ji-Hae did as told, having his eyes move back and forth between the cat and Mare.
Mare held out her hands, stretched her neck, tilting it back and forth, before she started mumbling words Ji-Hae didn’t understand. It sounded like a chant, those things religious people on the street sometimes did. Out of Mare’s hand and wand came waves of pink smoke. It seemed alive, like waves in the ocean, changing colours from pink to dark red, over to orange, yellow, and back to purple. Ji-Hae stared with his mouth half open. He had never seen anything like this in his life. All he could compare it to was in movies and animes where people had supernatural powers. It felt like the air was pulsating as the pink-red waves spread out over the cat. Mare’s eyes were focused on the cat, looking like she was conducting the waves. Go here, go there. Move up, move down. Suddenly, the cat started to grow, as it shaped within seconds into a human. Ji-Hae got so frightened that he tripped over himself and fell to the floor, lying half down as he looked at the younger lady that was now lying on the floor. She looked like anyone he could have met on the street. Almond eyes, dark brown hair that had purple highlights in them. It looked like she was wearing some sort of modern hanbok, long dark, wide pants with an overlapping top that had see-through textile. All over her arms, face and neck were the markings, still looking fresh cut into the skin.
Mare sighed as she sank down on her knees, looking at the girl.
“Su-Min ssi?*” she said, as she shook the girl’s shoulders. No response, but she did breathe. Mare grabbed her face lightly, turning and looking on its both sides, examining it. She continued down her neck, carefully lifting to see if she had anything in the back. She pulled up her sleeves, turning her arms and hands. Ji-Hae slowly got up, as he looked at the girl, and then at Mare, who seemed to be very calm in this situation. He eventually said,
“It’s a girl.”
“Yes. Though I think she would prefer ‘young lady’,” Mare said back. At this point she had no time to help this boy understand the diverse universe of witchcraft, she had to get Su-Min to safety and make sure she survived. If Su-Min had arrived at the vet clinic yesterday, then enemies would be looking for her extensively.
“We have to get her to safety,” Mare stated.
Ji-Hae swallowed, as he repeated, “Safety?”
“Yes.” Mare looked around, seeing her only escape, the smaller window on the opposite wall. “I need your help.” She made quick movements with her hand, and the witch turned back into the grey cat. “Please help me find something we can wrap her in.”
Ji-Hae nodded, following his gut feeling. He looked around and found fresh blankets for the animals, along with a small cage to carry sick cats. He grabbed them both, getting down on the floor with Mare.
“Will these do?”
Mare looked at him. “Well, you tell me.”
She wrapped the cat in the blanket, and then placed it carefully inside the cage. She closed it, and got up, gently lifting the cage with the handle. She was about to turn, when she heard someone pull the handle to the door. Both Mare and Ji-Hae froze for a moment before Mare said,
“Quick, the window.”
She used her magic to open it while she approached it. Two confident steps up on the bench and she was halfway out. Ji-hae had not moved. He was looking with fright at the door. He could hear muffled voices outside, and keys being pulled out from a pocket.
Mare turned, looking down at the boy.
“Hey!” she said in a loud whispery voice. “Come on, we have to go.”
Did they though? Everything had passed so fast that Ji-Hae was not in control of himself. He was frozen on the spot, trying to decide if he was gonna go through with this or not. As he heard the key go into the lock, he decided with a mind that was sure of one thing; he had to save the cat.
He turned, giving the door a last look, before getting up on the bench. Mare hopped down on the other side, lifting down the cage that was above her head. Ji-Hae was visible at the window, and he jumped down just as the keys turned and the door opened. Mare used her powers and quickly closed the window behind them. Ji-Hae landed on the grass outside, falling to the side as his knees failed him. He slowly got up with a small moan while Mare sat shock-still on the ground with the cage in her arms, looking up at the window. For a moment she got big eyes, before she grabbed the cage by its handle and got up on her feet, bending over so she wouldn't be seen through the window, just in case someone decided to look out. She grabbed on to Ji-Hae, and pulled him up from the ground.
They walked quickly around the clinic, having the ground declining in front of them. They managed to hide behind a bigger bush; Mare holding the cat in one hand, and Ji-Hae’s arm in her other. Ji-Hae somehow wasn’t bothered, except when she just pulled him along unexpectedly. She could at least tell him something. They passed the small parking lot, before getting up on the sidewalk beside the big road, walking down a house or two, before Mare pulled them into a small alley between two houses. She let go of Ji-Hae’s arm, as they both got down on the ground, squatting with the cage between them. Mare exhaled, looking up at the buildings that rose over them.
“Where are we going?” Ji-Hae asked while he took off his vet rock, but quickly realised how cold it was to only be in a t-shirt, so he quickly put it on again.
Mare pulled a hand through her hair. She thought for a moment, and came to the only realistic conclusion.
“My apartment.” She turned her head down, tilting so she could see the cat inside the cage, being just as unconscious as before.
*Ssi = Korean: 씨 — Mr., Mrs. , Miss : a title used to address people you know but are not close friends with (acquaintances, distant friends etc.).
© Written by Sparkle
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