The Day We Dread

It was a breezy night. A lone girl stood in the living room with her back to him. She looked ethereal. Her pearly skin was giving a soft glow in the dark, as if the moon descended on earth. He looked at her with love filled eyes but conflict in his heart. Slowly, he approached her.

"I'm home," he said softly. She turned to look at him with sorrowful eyes. She looked so unearthly yet in pain.

"Welcome back," she smiled sadly.

"Your eyes do not match your smile," he commented. "Something is troubling you."

"Everything troubles me," she said in melancholy. She held his hand. "Are we doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"We...we should not be together," she said. "We belong to different worlds. Our lives should not be intertwined. Yet, here we are, married to each other. We shouldn't be together."

He felt his heartstrings being pulled. Seeing her in pain made him feel as if someone was tearing him apart. He hugged her tightly.

"I won't let you go!" he declared, with tears in his eyes. "We will be together. In this life or next. We are meant to be together. Nothing can tear us apart! Nothing!"

The girl hugged him back. She wanted to be with him but it was impossible. It was her time to go. She must tell him.

"Joon, I-"

Suddenly everything froze.

"What will happen to our lovers now?" a dramatic voice echoed through the screen. "Will Haeri be able to confess about her secret to Joonhyung? Will he let her go? Find out next episode!"

"What the hell?" Chaerin cursed at the screen. "Why in the world would they end it in a cliffhanger?"

She was glued to the couch all day, watching her dramas. This one was her favorite one for the season about a rich boy and a poor girl who fall in love despite the differences in their social statuses. Chaerin was eagerly waiting all week for the female lead to confess her pregnancy to the male lead. Now that the episode ended on a cliffhanger, she will have to wait another week!

"I'm gonna haunt the drama's producers in their dreams!" Chaerin vowed, punching in the air. "Not gonna let them sleep all night!"

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't dramas be ten hours long?" she complained. Suddenly, she heard the door open.

Looking up, she saw Joonjae entering the house. She frowned. He was wearing a white shirt when he left for work and now he was wearing a blue shirt. Chaerin narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"You changed your clothes?" she questioned as he took off his shoes.

"Yeah," he replied. There was something odd about his tone. Chaerin caught a hint of uneasiness mixed with a little...regret?

"Did something happen?" she frowned. Joonjae did not reply but sat next to her. Chaerin felt that something was troubling him but she knew he would not say it. She will have to look for another way to find out.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, catching a strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

"No, I bullied the Undertaker into giving me an offering," she replied. "It's the least he could do after making me chase him across half the country. Aren't you hungry?"

"No," he said. His appetite died after the events of the day.

Chaerin frowned at his expression. What could have happened? She wondered.

"Are you okay?" she nudged him. "You seem…"

She fumbled to find the word. "Lost?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Lost."

Suddenly her eyes were on alert.

"Did you get a lead?" she demanded. "On Park Haewon?"

Joonjae sighed. She would not give up her questions until her curiosity was satisfied.

"No," he admitted. "I couldn't get any lead. But I encountered a demon today. It was the demon of Lim Shin, a top actor of his day."

"Lim Shin?" Chaerin gasped. "THE Lim Shin? Shin oppa?"

Joonjae felt a pang of annoyance. He pulled her cheek.

"Who the hell are you calling oppa?" he teased.

"Ow ow ow!" Chaerin exclaimed. "Shin oppa was my first love."

He pulled even harder. "He's a demon now," Joonjae informed her, letting go of her cheek.

"Really?" Chaerin asked in astonishment, rubbing her cheek. "He was a virgin ghost turned demon?"

"Yes," Joonjae said in a grim tone. "He was haunting the woman he once loved. Possessed her and murdered her husband. Made the woman go through hell before finally killing her for good."

He skimmed over all the gruesome parts to spare Chaerin from the details. When she was alive, she could not stand any gory descriptions and scenes. Even as a ghost, she avoided such details.

Chaerin's mouth fell in surprise. "That's so sad!" she mumbled. "Shin oppa was such a nice guy. He loved his girlfriend a lot. Too bad he died so early. They could have been happy together."

Joonjae wanted to break her bubble that he Shin 'oppa' was a monster from the very beginning. But she looked so sad over her idol's fate that he decided to spare her the truth.

"Was it a horrifying scene?" she asked almost in a whisper. Joonjae hesitated before nodding. Chaerin did not probe further. Even though Joonjae had been seeing bloodshed since his childhood, she did not like it when he had to encounter such scenes.

"You should rest," she said, touching his face lightly. "It was a long day. We'll talk tomorrow."

Joonjae's face was unreadable. Suddenly he stood and scooped her in his arms, princess style.

"Hey!" she exclaimed but her protests were interrupted with a deep kiss. She was flushed with embarrassment. When he pulled back, she could see the longing he had for her.

"Let's go to sleep," he said against her lips.

"I can't sleep though," she said softly. "I'm dead, remember?"

"Doesn't matter," he insisted. "You're here. That's what matters."

An unspoken truth lay before them. What will happen when the time for farewell will arrive?

They stared into each other's eyes, the memories of their short time together flashing by their minds.

"Let's go," she finally said, leaning on his shoulder. She wanted to cry but the tears would not form in her eyes anymore. Her heart no longer pumped blood but it still beats for the person she had cherished since childhood.

Joonjae carried her all the way to the bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. He then settled in beside her, holding her firmly in his arms. Chaerin snuggled in, hugging his waist.

"Joonjae…"

"Hm?"

"You have a long life before you," she said.

"So?" he asked gently.

"I'll have to leave someday. But you...you will have to live. Just consummate our marriage and let me free. Then you can move on. Think of your future, Joonjae."

Joonjae did not reply.

"Joonjae?" she probed.

"I don't know about the future," he said. "But I won't heed to this request until the last day of our contract arrives."

"Why?" she questioned him, burying her face into his chest. Let me go, she silently pleaded. For your own sake, let me go.

"Because even if I can't spend all my life with you," he began. "I want to be by your side until we finish what we started."

The words of the demon echoed in his head. "We know your weakness," it had said. The demons knew about Chaerin and would go to lengths to harm her in order to get to him. Freeing her would keep her safe but Joonjae dreaded losing her again.

"I'm afraid," he admitted.

"Afraid of what?" she asked.

He stroked her hair and raised her chin to meet his eyes. He kissed the nape of her neck and replied, "I'm afraid that one day, you will leave. One day, I'll wake up and not find you next to me. I'm afraid of that day…"

"What will happen when that day will arrive?" Chaerin whispered.

Joonjae hugged her tightly, as if he will never let her go. "When that day comes, all hell will break loose," he promised.