Under The Curse With You ('Dread' Series Book 2)

Back In The Moon

(Shuhua's POV)

"Bring me to the moon." In an instant, my world blackened. There was nothing. I could still think, but there was nothing but pitch black. For I second I wondered if I had passed out, or there was no such thing as going to the moon again. But after 10 seconds of impatiently waiting for something  to happen, there was a thud and I hit a hard surface. I slowly opened my eyes and first scanned the location and where I had hit the ground. Nothing seemed damaged on my body, but there definitely was pain. I slowly got up and my brain started functioning again. I looked at where I was. Again, it was the white snow I was last time, but I feel so hard that even the snow hurt to land on. Minnie was right next to me, but she looked like she had trouble getting up. I pulled her arm to help her up, but she just stumbled right after I did. I couldn't help but laugh. Minnie looked like she was drunk; she didn't have balance and she acted super clumsy.

"Unnie! What the heck!" She also started laughing. It was like the good old days when neither of us her depressed or stressed about Miyeon. 

"Where are we?" Minnie asked.

"Oh. This is where I was last time. It was all white." I explained.

"Last time I was at a place where it was all black. But don't we have to get to the weird golden palace?" I nodded. The Golden Palace. That sounds really nice. 

'No, Shuhua. Don't get distracted.'  Clearly, this was already an old issue for me. The two of us decided to keep walking until we found the palace, but the moon is so big, it was almost impossible to find it. We searched for a good several hours, but we made no progress.

"Shuhua, we can't keep doing this. What about we try screaming Miyeon unnie's name?" For some reason, I thought this was absolutely hilarious. Of course, I wasn't going to reject though. I had no better solution, so we just shouted Miyeon's name. 

"There's no way she can hear us," I said hopelessly. Minnie sighed and said, "Then what should we do?" How would I know? Just when I thought we might have come here for nothing, there was a loud whistle. It was quite similar to the one in 'Hann', except the tone was still different and it was more soothing and brought a refreshing vibe. While that was playing, there was a purple glow surrounding us, and we were suddenly teleported to the golden palace. Just when there was the purple glow, I already knew it was Miyeon. Before Miyeon was the queen, she got a purple crystal, and that became her represented color. Purple inside the moon? It was for sure Miyeon.

We were in the palace that was golden now. Wow. Shouting for Miyeon actually worked. I hurriedly searched for Miyeon, but she was right there, sitting on her throne in a gorgeous long red dress. Her hairstyle was rather similar to her one on Earth, but her makeup made her look mature and dark in an attractive way. She even wore leather black gloves and all kinds of shiny jewelry.  It scared me when she stood there expressionless. I thought she didn't love or care about us anymore. Perhaps we weren't welcomed here. But I quickly relaxed as she displayed a familiar bright smile.

"U-unnie." She got off her throne and ran towards me. At once, she threw her arms at me. I was a little startled at this action at first, but then I reminded myself this was Miyeon. This was my Miyeon. For a moment, I wasn't in the moon. I wasn't even in the universe. There was no one but Miyeon and me. I fully immersed myself in Miyeon's hug. Soon though, Miyeon pulled away and wiped her tears elegantly with her handkerchief. It was sad because I could already see Miyeon's change, even if I've only been with her for less than a minute. Her actions, visuals, and even personality changed so much. She seemed too much like...a queen rather than her old self. Of course, she now was a queen. But I thought she would still keep most of her silly, pure self. Now I started to doubt myself for coming all the way here.

"Shushu!" It's good that she still calls me that. Maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe she still has that spark of the Cho Miyeon I know in her. 

Miyeon then moved on the Minnie, who was standing on the side like a third wheel. She hugged her too and wiped her tears again. Minnie grinned too this time, but it didn't seem forced at all.

"Why are you guys here?" Miyeon asked after we all sat on a long black velvet couch. I didn't see it the first time I was here, so it must have been added for Miyeon. Minnie precisely explained everything that happened and why we were here. By the end of it, Miyeon was so touched by us that she starting tearing up again. 

"You shouldn't have come here. Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi-they need you." Her words echoed in my ear. So we really weren't welcomed. Just as I thought at first. Minnie and I didn't say a word. What could we even say? Sorry? Miyeon broke the silence by saying, "I can send you back with my powers." 

"No! I forgot to tell Minnie this, but when the bracelet was connected with me, it said I could only come here once. If you send us back, we won't be able to come back." I said in a rush.

"It's okay. You don't need to be here." 

"Why?" I was scared to hear the answer. Would she say she didn't love us anymore? Or we were useless to her? Can't bring her happiness? At the moment, I could think of a million different responses. But all the thought stopped when Miyeon talked.

"You know why. You'll be under the curse. Just like me."

"We know. We're here just for that reason. To be under the curse with you."