dimensions • yang jeongin

t h i r t e e n

Fog filled up the entire dark alley restricting her vision to see what was waiting for her. Unpleasant smell that reeked of metal mixed with possible blood scent greeted her nose. Her hand immediately went up to cover her nose as she scrunched her face while looking around.

"Hello?"

Her voice echoed. Chills ran down her spine. The foreign girl could not move her feet even an inch when she heard faint footsteps approaching.

She remembered this. She was here a few hours ago. The girl looked around as she searched for someone.

Jeongin, where is Jeongin? He was with me earlier how did I end up here again?

A sudden strong wind gushed her, making her frozen. She slowly looked back to the front. Her hands trembled, her legs wobbled, tears already falling. This place was way more creepy than the alley Seungmin and Felix always go to.

And the presence in front of her made it worse.

"W-who?" she couldn't believe she managed to speak at the moment.

An icy breath hit her skin. Aeri slightly leaned back and closed her eyes when feeling the head was nearing her.

"You don't belong here."

The hoarse voice. She was sure whatever in front of her right now was not a human. Was he the one who glued her feet on the pavement? What did he want from her?

When there was a few seconds of silence, she opened her eyes and in front of her was a male in blonde with green eyes. She couldn't make out his features due to the fog but noticed the emerald earrings on both sides. He wore a black cloak with the collar covering the back of his neck.

"Hyunjin."

She gasped, slamming her hand over her mouth. Was that her who said that? Her eyes widened as the guy's lips curled up into a smirk.

"Aeri," he breathed out with a low chuckle. "You don't belong here."

"I– I know–" suddenly, her mouth was zipped shut. She couldn't move to open it. The guy had his long, slender fingers moved in one line that seemingly controlled the invisible seal on her mouth.

He examined his fingers with a sinister smile on his face. "You must return or perish."

"HAH–"

The body abruptly sat up from the bed. Sweats trickled down her neck with heart beating fast. It felt hot in the room as if she bathed in a sauna.

Was that a dream?

"Aeri!!"

Knock knock knock

Her head snapped toward the door. She scrambled off the bed and fixed her hair before opening it. To her surprise, it was Jeongin with a worried expression, holding up the radio that was giving news for the day.

That's when she realised it was already morning.

"W-what's wrong?"

Instead of answering, the guy sat on the floor and leaned his back on the door's frame of his room. Aeri dumbfoundedly followed. Jeongin turned on the volume before hugging his legs close to his chest.

"Breaking news. Another dead body without traces of murder was found in an alley at Amaryllis road. Police suspected this could be chained with previous incident at Orchid road. People are advised to not walk alone and go outside only when needed."

Both teenagers sat in silence. Aeri hugged her legs tighter as she remembered how the corpse looked like. Oh god, she wished she did not see it in the first place because now it was haunting her until no end.