Two Moons: The Eclipse

Chapter 2 - Curious

Ji Hye's POV

"I left early this morning, Jihye-ah. I didn't want to wake you guys up. I hope Minah decides to go with you. That'll give me some peace of mind. I'll be back Monday morning. See you then. Be safe.

-Eunbi

Forever & always

I set the paper down on my dresser proceeding to head out of my room and towards the stairs of our ever so homey house. I say that out of pure sarcasm. Our house was in the most secluded parts of Busan. It was a mile away from the garment factory which was also three miles away from school. Distance was heavily required. A wooden bridge that was covered with shrubs and branches separated us from civilization. No one dared to cross the bridge that was well on its way of breaking down.

The girls and I however knew that the river it was over had been stricken with severe drought for about forty years now. All that was left was cracked soil and the remnants of human's plastic wastes. That was what we used to cross over.

The first time I saw the state of the river, my heart fell. Not as much as Eunbi unnie's did, but I was close. We made peace with the fact that we needed the state of things to hide us. We wanted to save our natural habitats, but maybe when all was right.

"Why are you just standing there?" I jumped hearing Minah's voice behind me. "Were you going to knock?" I blinked realizing that I was already standing in front of her door. She eyed me weirdly as she was holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Not anymore, now that you're here." I chuckled awkwardly. "You're up early." I gave her a small smile to which she just shrugged at.

"I couldn't sleep." She muttered making her way towards the door and into her room.

I sighed, "Nightmares?" I asked just as she settled on her bed. I took my shoes off and proceeded to make my way inside her room. She was a clean freak and having anything foreign on her floor was a safety hazard.

I felt like I was warped into another dimension walking in. It was a stark contrast to what the whole house was like.

Our house from the outside was seen as a tiny shack that was weaved through numerous tree shrubs and branches that you could barely even see the house as it is. I placed a protective enchantment around the whole lot. No one would be able to wander around our house, nor would they be able to see the renovations we've done around it. Just the three of us.

On the inside, it was like someone had opened a collaged chapter of a fairytale book. The house was only made up of a hallway and five rooms. The first room was Eunbi unnie's. Her door was made up of bamboo shoots and was lined with a bunch of corals on the edges. Inside was a huge pond she and I had made. I dug a hug pot hole on the ground and lined it with rocks. She filled in the rest. The water, the corals, the algae, and even the fishes. She had spent three months scourging all the pet stores in Busan to find salt water fishes. It was a pond made just for her and her little friends. And the only pond that was saltwater.

Across Eunbi unnie's room was our kitchen. It was the only place all three of us would be seen together. The kitchen was as state of the art as anyone's would have been. We were still getting used to the whole human dietary menu in school, so we decided to make peace with it here. Especially since, Eunbi unnie's diet mainly consists of fish and fruits... she didn't want to fall into her predatory instincts and eat the friends she had inside her room. That wouldn't end well. To her psyche at least.

Minah uses the kitchen the most. She was the only one who was born to survive on the standard human diet of processed and junk food. I lived off of berries and anything that grew on trees. I seldom ate meat. Mostly in school and it would even take me half an hour to finish a normal sized burger. I would have to fake a reason for not being able to finish my meal. Ugh. Such a waste of precious livestock.