The sound slipped through the air. It was crisp and sweet, so sweet. Hyeong-Jun would happily follow it to death.

He reared back. Death? 

A flute.

A shriek.

The boy, no, that wasn’t a boy － the thing, shrieked.  The sound was that of wind and not human lungs. A wind that almost drowned out the flute.

Undead hands covered ears.

The thing stepped closer and closer even as it continued to shriek in pain.

The noise constricted Hyeong-Jun’s heart.

A soft voice joined in the melody, layering the sound of the flute.

Like snow on burnt skin. Momentary release.

The thing stumbled.

But the closer it came, the more Hyeong-Jun could see. He wanted to look away.

Something was wrong with the thing’s mouth; as if it had been so hungry that it had chewed off its own lips so only muscle and teeth remained.

Bile pushed up Hyeong-Jun’s throat. Bile that his stomach refused to release.

Had its eyes been eaten too?

A cold hand clamped onto his own.

…a small hand－

Oh…

Eun-Ji.

Air rushed back into his lungs. Cold beaded on his skin.

He had to get her to safety.

The music carried through the night, harmonizing in an otherworldly way.

That had to be it. Otherworldly.

A ghost? No. Impossible.

The singing continued but the music from the instrument had stopped.

Something brushed past his shoulder. A shadow moved in front of him, carrying with it a coolness that settled his nerves. A barrier between him and the thing.

No, not a shadow, a person, wearing black from head to toe like some kind of criminal straight out of a drama.

So why do I feel so calm?

Another screech ripped Hyeong-Jun from his mind.

His free hand came up in a useless attempt to protect his ears.

He squinted through the pain, trying to see past the person who was bringing a round pot to his lips.

Alcohol?

A short stick stuck out from the bottom of the round pot.

The music start up again. . The sound had been so thick and layered Hyeong-Jun hadn’t recognized it.

A flute. What was going on?

No, he couldn’t worry about that now.

The sound cut off for a second.

“Stay behind me.” The voice that instructed him was soft, almost soundless.

The person’s pale fingers flitted across the flute. They were so pale they almost seemed to glow.

Their movements were smooth. The music resumed.

Hyeong-Jun stumbled back as instructed, all too willing to surrender the care of this strange situation to someone else.

Past the person, Hyeong-Jun could see the corpse-like body writhing around like it was gripped by a massive invisible hand.

His senses muffled, music and shrieking mixing together into unnatural white noise.

His vision darkened around the edges.

A panic attack?

He shook his head reflexively but it slammed dizziness onto the already nauseating pile of over stimulants.

Calm down. You still need to get Eun-Ji to safety.

Hyeong-Jun looked down, focusing on the small hand so desperately clutching his own. Scrapes covered the back of her hand, crusted with dirt, or was that blood?

Slowly the black spots stopped pressing in on his vision.

“It’s going to be okay.” Was he saying it to himself or to her? Did it matter? He forced a smile.

“Take her and get as far away as possible.” The voice from before interrupted.

Hyeong-Jun sucked a breath in through his teeth.

“Can I pick you up?” If he started running, he doubted she’d be able to keep up.

Eun-Ji seemed to hesitate for a split second and scared eyes went to where the thing was still screeching.

Hyeong-Jun didn’t know what she saw there. He refused to look.

She nodded.

“Go.” The stranger's voice remained calm but the urgency was clear.

Hyeong-Jun didn’t need to be told again.

He scooped Eun-Ji up, and ran.

The slap of his trainers against the gravel pounded in his ears. Hyeong-Jun wished it would stop.

The road was wide open. Cold air lashed hair into his face.

The place was too dark, no porch lights to guide the way.

Houses on either side.

No alleys.

Nowhere to hide.

His ears strained desperately to listen for anything. Any indication that they were being followed.

There was a grating noise of a body skidding across tar. Hyeong-Jun didn’t dared to look back.

His legs burned. Faster.

Eun-Ji’s whimper of fear by Hyeong-Jun’s ear frosted his nerves.

Somewhere, someone or something, grunted.

There was a sound like millions of tiny feet running towards them. Then there was air where Eun-Ji had been.

Hyeong-Jun whipped around, barely registering Eun-Ji lying on the ground, crying.

A half-formed grey hand grasped her ankle.

Hyeong-Jun lurched forward.

“LET GO!” His scream was useless, desperate.

But, miraculously, for a moment, it let go.

That was all Hyeong-Jun needed.

He pulled Eun-Ji free, eyes involuntarily glancing up.

Whatever had grabbed her was not the almost-human boy that had approached them at first.

Horror expanded in his chest.

Hyeong-Jun’s legs lost their strength.

It looked like someone had boiled human skin.

Hyeong-Jun’s stomach rolled. Fear clamped his throat.

The grotesque creature reached its half-formed hand out again, nails long.

Would his eyes be ripped out?

Hyeong-Jun recoiled at the thought but he couldn’t move － it would leave Eun-Ji defenseless.

“Stay away,” the words fell numbly from his lips and for a moment, Hyeong-Jun could almost convince himself that the thing stopped, that it hesitated.

But it didn’t.

The mass moved, continuing to solidify, growing new features as it did.

Flesh bulged and soon Hyeong-Jun was making eye contact with four- five – six eyes. They popped into existence across the creatures body like monstrous pimples.

 He couldn’t look away.

A humming started up.

A light tapping against metal.

The shadow moved in front of Hyeong-Jun again. Sleek like a predator.

The voice was different from the first, lighter. And a different language. Hyeong-Jun knew he should recognize it, but he couldn’t.

Everything was muffled as if he was listening from under water.

Hyeong-Jun had to be dreaming because as he watched, the thing stopped.

It let out another fierce cry before it started to retreat.

The figure in front of Hyeong-Jun lifted its left hand and the singing got louder.

Hyeong-Jun was at once disconnected and excruciatingly aware of every terrified cell in his body. A painful shiver burst across his skin － as if he’d also had his skin boiled.

The figure pulled out a gun and before Hyeong-Jun could react, fired a shot that was both too quiet and too loud to feel real.

The singing never stopped.

The thing staggered back.

And then it dissolved, ink in water.

The shadow turned and for a moment, again, it wasn’t a shadow, but a person.

Black clothes, black hair, a mask that covered the lower half of their face and a thin chain that glinted against the small expanse of the skin visible at the person’s neck.

Dark eyes watched him.

Hyeong-Jun blinked.

Sound rushed back into existence.

Hyeong-Jun blinked.

The shadow retreated and was gone.

All of it, as if it had never happened.

But a glance down confirmed: he was still sitting on the cold asphalt, left palm starting to sting. It was bleeding. When had that happened?

Eun-Ji was next to him, a fellow witness to what Hyeong-Jun was already starting to doubt had been a real event.