After Midnight | VerKwan ✓

Chapter 9

I turned around. Everyone suddenly looked normal. The boy was still behind me. He followed me everywhere. I sighed and turned to him. "What do you still want?"

"Please... You have to leave this place."

"No." I turned back and kept walking.

"You know nothing!" he shouted at me. His behavior made me turn at him. I raised my eyebrow and looked at him. I sighed.

"You know nothing, Hansol... The village is cursed."

"What?"

"I told you, the whole kingdom is cursed. The main source is the capital city. That's where it all started."

"Why should I trust you?" I frowned. Something was wrong.

"I live here," he answered and looked around. "Someone's here," he whispered after a moment.

"Stop, please! I really wanna trust you, but you are weird! You're talking nonsense. And... I don't even know your name!"

"He's here! He wants to kill you! You must run! NOW!" He looked dead serious. "Too late," he whispered.

Then everything around me turned dark.

***

I got up quickly from my bed and almost knocked down Jisoo. I was breathing fast. I was all sweaty. I sat down heavily on the bed.

Jisoo looked scared. He quickly sat down next to me and hugged me gently. "It's okay, Hansol. It's okay," he was whispering in my ear.

"I'm not dead, am I?" I whispered.

"No... You're here with me, Hansolie," he spoke and looked at the book lying on the floor in front of us. "I came here after you disappeared into the book. I've been here all this time," he explained. "I'm not mad at you for what you did. You had no choice and I know it was hard for you. And I also know that you have a long and difficult journey ahead of you."

"T-Thank you for being here for me, Jisoo. I really appreciate it a lot. I don't know, what to do. I don't want to go back there. Never."

He ruffled my hair. "I know, but you have no choice," he spoke after a few minutes. "You're my best friend, Hansol. I will never leave you. I promise."

***

Jisoo spent the whole day with me in my room. I sighed when I noticed that the hands showed midnight on the clock. I really didn't want to go back into the book, but it was my destiny, I guess. After a while, the book opened and I appeared in the fantasy world again.

Where was I? I sat up hardly and looked around. Suddenly I felt weak. My body was weak. I heard footsteps approaching. I pressed against the wall and waited.

Someone unlocked the bars and entered. I didn't see his face cause he was dressed in a coat. I was looking at him and tried to find out what happened and who he was.

"Welcome back, Hansol," the person grinned. "You should have listened to your little friend, who was warning you. But you, Hansol... you didn't listen to him at all."

"Who are you?" I asked him, still sitting by the wall.

He smiled and took off his hood. I could finally see his face. "Who are you?" I asked him once again. I turned around. I was in the cell. 

The boy in front of me smiled and came closer to me. "My name is Jeon Wonwoo."

I stared at him for a while. "What am I doing here?"

"I could I ask you the same thing," he answered simply. "The boy outside warned you, but you didn't listen to him, why?"

"Because I have a task here."

The boy frowned a little. "You sure? Don't you think you failed?" When I said nothing, he continued. "Look around you, Hansol. You're in the cell. What do you want to do more?"

I groaned quietly. "I had a task here," I whispered. My whole body hurt.