A Bite of the Apple

12 - Here

Siyeon and I appeared in my apartment in a flash of red light. There were still a few hours left before I had to go to work, but I needed to sleep too. My curtains were still open. The full moon blanketed my room with its soft glow. Siyeon was gazing at it, her brown eyes pensive. I wondered what she was thinking about. Her mind was so mysterious to me. So fascinating.

Siyeon waited as I went to the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. She was there as I closed my curtains and snuggled into bed. Sitting on the side of my bed, she held my hand and stroked my hair ever so softly until I fell asleep.

When I woke in the morning, she was gone. This time, however, the emptiness wasn't there. In fact, everything was beautiful, vibrant. The colors were fuller, like the cameraman had saturated his film. This time, I knew what Siyeon felt towards me was real. I knew she would come back for me when she could.

I went to my work at that law firm as per usual. My usual hours with my usual co-workers. We talked and laughed at lame jokes. There was also some gossiping that I'm ashamed to say I participated in. But hey, I'm only human, right?

Then work was done for the day, and it was time to get ready for Gahyeon's movie night. By 'get ready' I mean 'pack my pajamas' and 'bring the popcorn'. Caramel popcorn. Delicious. I also brought my giant plush elephant for good measure.

It was night by the time I finally took the bus to Gahyeon's apartment. I entered the building, went up the stairwell, and came out onto Gahyeon's floor. As I walked along the doors, I noticed the end of the hallway was shrouded in shadow. The lights were broken there. Gahyeon really should move somewhere better. If only money wasn't an issue.

At the end of the hallway, there was shadow. Waiting. I squinted harder. I couldn't tell if it was normal shadow or a Nightmare. Still, my pulse spiked, and beads of sweat dripped down the back of my neck. I walked faster to Gahyeon's door. This time there was definitely movement. That was no normal shadow.

I broke into a run. I reach Gahyeon's door and knocked frantically. "Gahyeon! Let me in! Please!"

The shadow moved closer, swallowing the hallway's lights. The world twisted around it. I remembered the Nightmare from my bathroom. Its threat. Its finger stabbing through my gut.

"Gahyeon, please!" I screamed, slamming her door with my hand. I didn't want to die.

The door opened, revealing a perplexed Gahyeon in pajamas. "Bora, what- "

I pushed past her and slammed the door, jamming all the locks into place. I leaned against the door. My chest was heaving. When had I started hyperventilating?

Minji was also there, in her own pajamas on Gahyeon's bed. She got up and raced to me. "Bora, are you okay? What happened? Come sit down."

With their arms around me, Minji and Gahyeon escorted me to the bed and sat beside me.

"Bora, are you okay?" Minji asked.

I nodded, still calming my breathing. "Yeah, I thought I saw...never mind."

"Was it to do with...what happened? With Siyeon and those muggers?" she prodded gently.

I nodded again.

"It was a flashback," said Gahyeon.

"Yeah," I said. "It must have been." I exhaled. "I'll be fine. We're gonna have fun tonight!" I beamed at them, and sprung to the bathroom to change into my pajamas too.

We watched a fairly unknown movie. It was straight-to-DVD, so it was honestly terrible. But in the good way. The way that my friends and I spent the night laughing at while munching on our favorite foods. It wasn't long before all my tension melted away. The Nightmares were nothing. My fear was nothing. Everything was okay. But there was one thing that lingered still.