Your name is Cho Mina. As the devil.
—
The soft autumn breeze sent the pink petals floating down, covering the ascending path that was nicely covered with small cobblestones. The blossoms bloomed like tiny clouds of mist that hung above the trees. The scent was sweets and fruits; small yellow sprinkles of pollen settled on her cheeks, hinting nice bits of honey aroma. This beautiful scenario became the name of the high school at the hilltop, Sakura High School.
Sullyoon slumped her shoulders as her eyesight trailed along the hilly pathway. Students in small groups chatted on the way to school. Some were playing tag in the morning, while some had their headphones on, maybe listening to music, or just randomly scrolling through social media. Sullyoon looked around; she was the only one alone. Deep in her heart, she knew that this would be the norm for the following years, maybe days here.
Sullyoon was a transfer student. Her parents just moved from Korea to Japan. As the third child at home, Sullyoon was always left out and forgotten. As she stepped into the classroom, she could feel all eyes staring at her. Her nerdy look with thick glasses and tidy uniform certainly wouldn't be helping her with making any friends. Instead, they just pointed at her and made fun of her. She walked to the back row, hiding her face with her school bag. For the whole day, she hid in the corners of the school whenever there was free time.
Students and teachers hurry out of school once the school bell rings. School was off at 4 o'clock. Bearing in mind that her parents would probably be arguing over the tiniest issues on Earth, Sullyoon decided to check out the school. She strode through the empty hallways as the lights behind her began to dim; the only sound left was the echo of her heels clacking on the floor and a slightly hitched breathing. Little did she know that the echo wasn't hers. "Not even the janitors stayed after school," she thought. In the end, she decided to sit down in the library. The librarian was an old woman with silvery hair which was neatly tied up in a bun. The old woman just simply wiped the large clear window and left without a single word, not even locking the library door. Before she stepped out, she admonished, "Leave quickly."
Sullyoon shrugged, "Nothing crazy could happen in the library."
She walked in the large library, looking through all types of books. It was half past five when she passed by the large dusty window; smoke swirled inside it, mysterious and strange. She swallowed thickly as worrisome and curiosity grew together. "Weird, I thought the librarian just wiped the window." Sullyoon wondered. Then, she heard a sweet sounding voice singing some folk songs in a small voice. Filled with curiosity, she opened the window and leaned towards the outside. To her surprise, there was a cute small creature sitting by the window frame. It was a girl about 20cm tall, with long black hair with blue highlights at the end, big eyes and two blue horns on the top of her head. She was wearing a long black hoodie and black shorts.
Sullyoon picked the small girl up by her horns and put her up at eye level. The small creature panicked as she tried to fight her way out of Sullyoon's grip. "Ahhh, let go of me!" she screamed.
"I'm not going to eat you bud, I'm just curious: why are you here and who are you?" She asked, sitting down on a couch by the window and placing the small girl on the table.
"My name is Cho Mina, a devil in training. I failed my first test, so I came out to play around," the devil sighed. Feeling sorry for this poor devil, Sullyoon decided to spend some time with Mina. And Mina slowly gained Sullyoon's trust, not knowing that this would be the worst decision ever made in Sullyoon's life to trust a devil.
By the time they went back into the library it was quite late; in fact, late enough for the sun to set completely. Suddenly, Sullyoon felt a tight grip on her neck. To her horror, she saw Mina holding a hemp rope, which was attached around her own neck. "What!? Why!? I thought we were ..." she opened her mouth in surprise and stuttered intermittently, the word 'friends' not being able to be spoken. Just before Sullyoon last breath, Mina revealed the answer with an evil smirk, "I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you the test that I failed was about taking and capturing souls. Thanks for helping me finish it up." Mina's kind smile came to its limit; she showed her true self. Under her pale face all her secrets were hidden underneath.
The next morning, there was no sign of any student or devil. Nobody ever knew where Sullyoon went, or even remembered her.
On the large window, written with blood were a few lines, "I'm a wolf in sheep's clothes. Trade your life with me." Under these creepy words was a signature, the Devil By The Window.
Nighttime fell upon Sakura high school. Students left early and some even skipped school for a day due to the mystery of the bloody words. Her footsteps echoed as she walked through the aisles in the library, quick footsteps of a heartbroken girl. "H-h-hel-lo?" the voice stammered, "I'm Asa, anyone here?" She shivered as she felt a pair, maybe two pairs of eyes staring at her from the dark.
"Ahhh, I've been expecting you." A scary voice whispered from the window, "Come with me."
"Sullyoon with an S, Asa with an A. Five more souls are needed to finish the 'Sadness' collection, so that I can complete my first assignment." She murmured, pulling out the small dagger from Asa's chest with her might, eyes merciless, "I wonder who's next. Maybe another hopeless girl, maybe a heartbroken boy, maybe a desperate individual. Maybe it's you. "
