THE CHEMIST

1

The endless forest was quiet, except for her footsteps echoing in the distance. Every now and then she caught a glimpse of a dark and menacing entity following her, but anytime she turned to get a better look, it would hide within the shadows of the trees, as if following her stealthily. No matter how fast she ran, it seemed as if she could not escape this mysterious and threatening presence. Just when Somin thought she was alone in the forest, she could feel the presence creep into her dreams again, closer now than before. The dark entity's footsteps echoed nearby, as if it was slowly approaching her from the shadows.

The dark figure followed her through the woods. It was hard to see in the dim light, but Somin could swear that the figure was wearing white gloves. It followed her stealthily, as if it wanted her to think she was alone. Just when Somin thought she was safe in this lonely forest, the figure's footsteps drew near again. The entity's footsteps grew louder and louder, closer and closer, until she felt herself get pulled into a deep sleep. As Somin felt herself drifting off, and the dream faded away, she heard the figure speak with a dark and sinister tone.

"Now it's too late."

A loud scream was heard through the dark, which made the nocturnal creatures bounce all of a sudden. It was the indication of her awakening. She woke up in a cold sweat, slightly gasping. She could still feel the effects of her dream, rather her nightmare. She turned on the lamp upon her nightstand and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was past midnight.

"It was so close this time." She murmured.

She had been having this recurrent dream for a while. The same forest, the same creature, the same fear... And, all the figure did was to chase her. But why? Why did she keep having the same dream? And why did she...why did she feel that the figure was getting much closer to her in each one..?

She knew it was still night time. She had to go back to sleep but she was afraid. She was afraid that the figure would catch her this time. She wouldn't have let it happen. No, she wouldn't sleep...

She stayed up all night with the fear of falling asleep. "Why is this happening to me? Why me?" Her rebellious thoughts surrounded her. She had no idea about how she would cope with this problem. But now she had to get ready for the college.

With sleepy eyes, she did her morning routine and covered her coon eyes by make-up. No one should know about that. She was afraid that her friends would call her "haunted" etc. So she never told of that to anyone.

She was living with her brother, Eunwoo, who usually spends the nights at his friend's place. So she was all alone at nights. She could've talked about it to him but she never did. What could he possibly do for that after all?

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Later in the lab, she and her classmates were testing their project that they had been working on for a while now. She was a chemistry student and she was really interested in doing experiments.

But the thing is that her mind was somewhere else this morning. She was thinking about her monster. It couldn't be just a coincidence. There must've been a reason. Why was she having the same dream almost every night?

"SOMIN!!!!" The professor's voice echoed in the whole lab. All the students turned their heads toward her in worry. The professor came and took the tube from her hand. And she realized that she was about to pour the perfume into nitric acid...

"WHERE'S YOUR MIND?!?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!?! DO YOU WANT TO POLISH OFF US?" He shouted angrily.

"Somin, do you know what you were about to do? Do you know our lives could end because of you? I don't know what you were thinking about, but whatever it is, there can't be any explanation for what you were about cause!" It was her best friend, Maggie. And suddenly she noticed that everyone was looking at her angrily.