black swan || hyunjin

three

My headphones are blasting 'Moonlight' by XXXTENTACION. My playlist consists mostly of his songs.

It's probably unhealthy, but I practically never take my headphones off. I never go anywhere without them, they are pretty much a part of me.

Walking alone in Seoul at night is a dangerous game to play. A few months ago, a girl around my age got chased down by a man with a knife, which is why I am really regretting my choices of turning Hyunjin down to walk me home right now.

As I walk, I look around cautiously, checking my surroundings frequently. My anxiety seeps in, slowly starting to rise, and the same goes for my heartbeat.

After a few minutes of walking, I hear a noise from down an alleyway I am going past. It's a sort of clanking noise, like something was playing with a bunch of metal.

I stop in my tracks, absolutely terrified, and whip my head over to where the sound is coming from.

A tall, dark figure that I can't quite see apart from its slim, lengthy silhouette and bright, narrow eyes about 10 metres away from me, is rummaging around in the bins down the alleyway.

It's grabbing whatever it can find from the bins and stuffing it in its mouth, it must be ravenous.

I stand there for a second, frightened. So frightened that I've frozen, and can't move my body. My eyes are wide open, staring at the creature. As this is happening, my headphones are playing 'Floor 555' by XXXTENTACION. 

All of a sudden, the unnerving being turns its head slowly to lock eyes with mine.

I pause for a second, before I start sprinting as fast as I can, my bags weighing me down as I move. I don't dare to look behind me, but I can hear footsteps running in my direction.

I run for about 2 minutes until I decide to swiftly turn right into a neighbourhood with a few small convenience stores.

I dash into the first one I could see, the shop bell jingling as I push through the swinging glass doors, drop my bags and watch as the thing backs off briskly.

Panting, my eyes blurry from the amount of running and my hands rested on my knees, I force myself to take a deep breath and stand up straight.

"Fancy seeing you here again, Aer," says a voice. The same voice I had been talking to just a while ago.

I turn to look at him. "Oh Hyunjin..It's been so long," I say sarcastically.

He chuckles a little, then replies, "I thought you were going home, hm?"

I take another deep breath before answering, "I just got chased down by this creepy thing, I don't even know if it was human. I'm scared to go back out."

Hyunjin raises his eyebrows, and starts hysterically laughing. I don't know what's funny about being chased by a supposedly inhumane being.

My eyes narrow as I watch him mock me for a few seconds. "I bet you wish you'd let me walk you home now, don't you?" He giggles proudly as I hit his arm. He's not wrong.

I push past him over to the confectionary aisle, and pick up a few boxes of Pepero, before walking up to the front desk to pay.

Whilst paying, I think about how I'm going to get home. I can't go out alone after what just happened. I guess I am going to have to let Hyunjin walk me home.

After paying, I turn to look at the man, who has moved over to the shop window. He is leaning against it serenely, biting his lips whilst looking down at the floor. I pause for a second, thinking, before asking shyly, "Is the offer still up...?"

As I ask him, he looks up, his attention moving to my face, studying my features. A smug smirk then begins to form on his lips. "Of course.. c'mon, let's go."