𝕭𝕿𝕾 𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

Jin - The Monster

This is inspired from lyrics in Billie Eilish's Bury A Friend.

Jin gripped the steering wheel of his car as he guided it down a tree lined road. He had a lot of emotions swirling inside him now. Nervousness, uncertainty and excitement to name a few. He was going back to his old home town after years. He couldn't really believe he was doing this. He wasn't even sure if it, or rather she, was still there.

Although he could assume she was because the area still had the same feeling as before. The nervous energy of the townsfolk afraid of and avoiding the surrounding forest. The aura of warning parents give their children to never go past the tree line. All because of her.

He rode past the familiar store fronts and houses remembering where he used to play as a kid as he got closer to his old house. He left this place after high school. He couldn't stand the suffocating feeling of caution anymore. He hasn't been back until now.

He parked in front of the old building and got out of the car staring at his childhood home. His parents are both gone and so now it's his. He only came back for one reason. To see if she is actually real. The monster in the forest.

He turned and headed towards the tree line. He stopped about 30 feet away from it. He watched the branches sway in the breeze as he thought about the first time he saw her.

He was six years old then and he was playing with a ball. Somehow that ball bounced and rolled it's way past the tree line. He knew he wasn't supposed to but he followed the ball. It went pretty far but he found it. Problem was he didn't know how to get out. He couldn't remember which way he came from so he started to wander, hoping he would find the right way.

The trees only seemed to get denser the more he walked and he realized he was desperately lost. He started to cry as any lost child would do. Then suddenly there was a woman with him. She kneeled in front of him and he slightly shied away.

"Don't be afraid." She said. "Are you lost?" He nodded wiping his eyes and clutching his ball. She gave him a small smile. "It's okay. I can get you out of here."

She stood and held a hand out to him. He wrapped his tiny fingers around hers and she led him through the trees. He looked at her as they walked and he thought she was very pretty. She had (your length and color) hair and pretty (your color) eyes.

She noticed him staring and smiled at him. He looked away shy but was soon happy because he could see home. He let go of her hand and he ran back to the familiar yard. His mom saw him coming from the trees and she slightly scolded him telling him he should never ever go in there.

"But why?" He asked.

"Because a monster lives out there in the forest. A woman with black eyes and fangs. She'll steal your soul and leave you dead. Never go into the forest Jin."

He was confused though. The forest didn't seem so bad. Especially the woman who helped him. She didn't have black eyes.

This experience followed him years later when he was in high school. He was spending the night with some friends and they were all telling ghost stories. One of them told a story about the woman in the forest.

"A long time ago a peasant woman was seeing an elite man in secret. She believed she loved the man and that he loved her. She became furious when the man left her for another elite woman. She tried to do a spell that would turn the man into a monster but it backfired and turned her into a monster instead. She roams the forest now, looking for revenge on the man who scorned her, forever."

Jin's friend Suho watched everyone's faces as he told his tale. Everyone was a bit spooked except Jin.

"That's not scary." Jin said. Hearing Jin's confidence, the other two boys also said they weren't afraid.