Mina is limp in the arms of the man. Her eyes are half open and half crying. She tries holds it in. They continue down an illuminated road through a dark, endless tunnel, with no exchange of words. Along the way, her elbow scrapes against a white hot star. She lets out a cry and grips her elbow in pain. Her hand covers her mouth, muffling her cries. The man glances at her, before looking away.

After a while, the burning sensation in her elbow subsides. Just as she begins to close her eyes, giving into her fatigue, she feels the air grow warmer. Her eyes startle open, and her hair slashes into the pinks of her cheeks. She blinks. All she could see is white. The air is dry and itches her eyes. Green; she sees green. The man lands with a soft thump, and soon her feet touch the ground as well. He lets his hand fall from her elbow. She stands rigidly, paralyzed.

She expected hell.

But the grass is welcoming to her bare toes. Warm; the grass is warm, and she almost sighs. The wind flutters underneath her tattered dress, dancing around her legs. They’re on a meadow - a very, very green meadow. Sun soaks into her cold skin. She sees a small house a few distances ahead of them, along with a blue river and a tiny pond by the side. Everything is unfamiliar yet welcoming. It bothers her.

The man beside her stretches his arms, yawning.

“This is the Soul Chamber,” he starts slowly, seemingly tired from the trip. “You’re going ta’ stay here for a little while. There’s still some work that needs ta’ be done. A little bit a’ tests here and there but after that, it should go by smoothly.”

“What tests?” Her voice shakes.

“Ah…” He scratches his head. “Just some paperwork and stuff, ya’ know?”

She doesn’t know whether he’s lying or not, but her mind’s too occupied on other things to care.

“My mom,” she starts. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” he says gruffly, clearing his throat.

“Really?”

“Ya’.”

“How can I-“

He sighs loudly, waving her off before cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out into the sky. “Yah! Dongwoon!”

“Junhyung? Hyung! What’s the matter? Did something go wrong with the girl? I do-“

“No, no,” he groans. “She just wants ta’ know how her mom is, okay? Can ya’ get Jiseul ta’ page through ta’ earth and get some proofs?”

“Oh. Ah, hyung, I told you to be more aggressive! That way they won’t-“

“Okay, okay! Just go and get the proofs, okay?”

“Okay hyung!”

Junhyung waits with his eyes trained on the sky, his red hair gleaming in the sunlight. He looks just about ready to collapse. She rubs her hand against her elbow, where she can still feel a slight bump from the burn.

“Look,” he says, using his staff to point at the sky. “I told ya’ she’s fine.”

Mina looks up to see a boy holding up a screen that seems to have her mother in it. She’s in bed with her aunt by her side. Her face is pale and she has dark eye bags that frame her eyes. Her aunt’s trying hard to feed her some soup, and after great difficulty, her mother finally drinks. She looks drained and weary but at least she’s okay.

She breathes out shakily, nodding. “You won’t go near her again, will you?”

“There’s no need ta’,” he replies, bringing the staff back to the ground and dismissing Dongwoon with the wave of his hand.

“Good.” That’s all she can manage to say.

“You’re taking this well,” he notes.

“My mom will live. She has my auntie,” she murmurs, looking down at her hands, nodding.

He hums in agreement.

“Who do you… who do you work for, though?” she asks, cautiously. “Who… why do you guys go and – and take people away?”

“Ya’know, that’s a good question,” he muses. “And I’m assuming that there’s a perfectly good answer ta’ it as well but, hey, I don’t know. Now ya’ got anymore questions?”

She hesitates before asking, “Don’t you feel guilty? Taking people away from their families?”

“I would.”

“You would?”

“If I had a heart.” And then he laughs.

---

“Yang Yoseob!” Junhyung bangs his fist on the wooden door twice. She peers into the dusty window, seeing nothing but darkness. No one seems to be in the house, but Junhyung thinks otherwise. He raises his staff and furiously bangs it on the door again. The hinges begin to move.

“YANG! YOSEOB!” he bellows, his throaty voice loud and demanding. He breaths in, aggravated. “This little-

“Hyung? Did you call?” Dongwoon asks from above.

“No, what – yah! Dongwoon, go find Hyunseung and tell him ta’ get Yoseob on the line. The little fucker isn’t opening the goddamn door-“

Just then, the door creaks open slowly. Junhyung turns around and drops his staff to his side. He clenches his jaw and his eyes are menacing as he glares at the figure by the door. A boy with blonde hair comes out of the house. “Calm down, yeah? I was busy.”

Junhyung rolls his eyes. “Too busy ta’ do ya’ job? All ya’ had ta’ do was open the door.”

Yoseob scoffs. “Someone’s a little cranky.”

“I had ta’ go on a twenty-four hour trip that I wasn’t even supposed ta’ go on. I was due for another weeks worth a’ rest until Minhyuk disappeared this morning.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” he says in an almost childish manner. He’s wearing a pale yellow and purple plaid shirt, rolled up to his elbows with the front buttons unused. He looks younger – much younger than Junhyung. “He’s your partner, not mine.”

“Oh fuck ya’,” Junhyung spits. “Ya’ know damn well that I didn’t choose him.”

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

“Whatever,” Junhyung sniffs. He walks forward and tugs Mina’s wrist along with him. “This is her.”

Yoseob looks at her; traveling from her eyes to her lips and then down to her bare, pale legs. It’s intimidating to her. His gaze travels back up to her face slowly, and he grins at the small frown on her lips. As if to anger her, he offers her his hand to shake and says with a sly smile playing on his lips, “Nice to meet you.”

Her frown deepens and she bites her tongue to stop herself from saying anything to anger the two of them. Junhyung rolls his eyes and smacks his hand away.

“Now don’t fuck this one up,” Junhyung says sternly, causing Yoseob to look away from her. “Do what you’re told ta’ do, and don’t screw all of us over again, okay? The only reason you’re being given another assignment is because another idiot down in Pyeongsan tainted his assignment’s soul, and you’ve had enough time by ya’self.”

Yoseob laughs, and Junhyung’s glare makes Mina’s blood go cold.

“What’s so funny?”

“Y’know,” Yoseob says. He takes her wrist and pulls her towards him. His hand is cold and he smells like coffee and wild flowers and trouble trouble trouble. “Just the way you worded it. It sounded like you were rewarding me, or something.”

Junhyung narrowed his eyes. “I’m being serious. Her soul better be as clean as-“

“Okay okay okay,” Yoseob says, waving his hand in the air. “I’ll take good care of her; I’ll follow the rules and stay out of trouble, yeah?”

“Good,” he says. A throaty cough leaves him. “I’m warning ya’, master isn’t happy about what happened last time. It took a long fucking time for me ta’ persuade him, ya’know? He’s willing ta’ give ya’ this chance, instead of punishing ya’. So consider yourself lucky, and do it right this time.”

“Right,” Yoseob says, and his hand tightens its hold on her wrist.

She panics for a moment, and her eyes flicker towards the meadows in front of her. Her palms are sweaty and she digs her fingernails into them, leaving half moon imprints. Swallowing, she looks in between Yoseob and Junhyung, who are currently bantering back and forth, with Yoseob saying how he’ll be a ‘good little timekeeper’. Her heart’s beating faster, and her feet hesitate to move. She knows that it’s her only chance left.

“-yeah well why don’t you tell your dearest master to shove it up his-“

“YAH!”

Mina’s heart jumps as she rips her arm away from Yoseob’s hand. She shoves past the two men, running towards the green meadow. Pumping her legs as fast as she can, she dives into the tall grass and breathes heavily through her nose. She hears a loud yell from Junhyung. Her mind’s jumbled and dizzy and her lungs are on fire but she doesn’t care because she’s going to get out of here – she has to.

But then a loud, thundering sound rings through her ears and her eyes grow wide. Her body freezes and the same, blood red colour flashes through the sky. She feels herself losing balance and before she knows it, her body is crumpled in the grass and dirt is speckled all over her pale skin.

The last thing she’s aware of is the smell of coffee.

Someone laughs.

Notes

feedback would be loved c: