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Jo Shin leaned back against the sofa as Hwang Sun Ho left the room in a hurry. He poured himself a shot and took it in one big gulp. Resting his head against the back of the sofa, he let his mind wander what punishment would fit the bastard.
"Are you gonna let him threaten you like that?" Her voice echoes in the darkroom.
Jo Shin tried his best to ignore it.
"Jo Shin-ah, why didn’t you do anything?" She continues. "Don’t you remember this is why they got me? Because you’re too weak?"
Shin poured himself another glass of alcohol, trying to drown out the sound of her voice. One of his employees knocked on the room's door letting Shin know that they were ready for tonight's ritual.
"I offer you the soul of this sinner, please grant me an eternal life." As soon as Jo Shin closed his front door, her voice repeated his own words.
"Jo Shin-ah, even with eternal life do you really think you'd be able to repay your mistakes to me?" She continued on as he shed his blood-stained clothes.
"Jagiya," She called as she leaned back on the sofa in his living room.
Jo Shin froze as he heard the familiar title. She used to call him that.
"That's what you want to hear right? Jagiya? As I welcome you to my arms, my bed, my life. Do you think you still deserve that after what you've done to me?"
For Jo Shin, a night never passes without her haunting his night. People might call it a blessing to see their loved ones every time they fall asleep. But to him, it was torture.
Before he was this... Jo Shin was just another young upcoming businessman with an aspiring future. He didn't come from money, he worked his ass off to be where he was then. He was happy, his rising fortune gave him a comfortable life. But most importantly he was hers.
As always the dreams would show him what he truly yearned for. Her sweet sweet smile as she danced around him. Her delicate hands wrapped around his. Her soft hair that he often ran his fingers through. Her tinkling laugh as he chased her around the house. Her beautiful sounds as he worshipped her body. And her terrified smile as she told him they were going to be parents.
"Is she the reason you never visit me anymore, Jo Shin-ah?"
Jo Shin signal the bartender to pour him another glass.
"I'm lonely," She said as she leaned on her palm. "Out there, alone, buried under the cold, hard, ground."
Sometimes, Jo Shin wishes his dreams would skip over the first part and go straight to his own personal hell. The memory of the worst night of his life.
The night when Jo Shin ran through the rain to get to her. When he found her bleeding all over the chair in the remote clinic. When her frail hand fell down to her side while the brawny men hired by her parents dragged his screaming self away from her. When he wept from afar as they lowered her casket to the ground. When a snake slithered up his body as he mourned over her tombstone.
"He was just a child." Her stern voice echoed in his living room. "How could you do that?"
Shin could hear her weeping. "How can you be so cold-hearted?"
She showed him the bloody thumping mass in her palms. "Would you have done the same to our child?"
This was it, Jo Shin's years of effort will go to waste. All the souls he has devoured, manipulated, sacrificed under the command of the secret serpent were for nothing. Long gone was his master's promise to bring her back. And yet here he was, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Jo Shin was sure he was going to hell after all he's done. Although he knew nothing could be worse than his life after her death. As he felt the hands from the underworld dragging him away, all he could think about was... Myeong Yeon Hee.
Jo Yeong jolted awake startling Seung-ah who was sleeping beside him.
She ran her hand up and down his back, trying to help him calm his racing heart. "Are you okay?"
Wordlessly he turned to her and pulled her body towards him. He wrapped his arms around her body and buried his face in her neck, inhaling her familiar scent. Reminding himself that he was Jo Yeong, not Jo Shin, and the woman he was holding tight is Myeong Seung-ah, not Myeong Yeon Hee.
Seung-ah waited as Yeong calm himself down. She was more than happy to wrapped her own hands around him and run her hands through his back. She could feel the beat of his thundering heart slowed as time passes.
Once he was calm, Seung-ah tapped on his back. "You okay?"
She felt as Yeong nodded his head against her neck.
"Was it a nightmare, Jagiya?" Seung-ah felt Yeong cringed at the term.
Yeong exhaled loudly, his breath tickling Seung-ah's neck.
"I'm fine, just had a.. bad dream," Yeong said as he pulled away. He glanced at the clock, Saturday 01:23 AM.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Seung-ah asked.
Yeong chuckled darkly. "It's bizarre. I was... worshiping some sort of snake-like demon."
"Oh?"
"I made a deal with it... him. I would do his bidding so he'd bring you back to life." Yeong said. "You- no, that woman, she died after the procedure her parents force her to go on went wrong. It was brutal, she was bleeding all over the table. I- he was dragged away as she took her last breath."
"Yeah, it was horrible."
Yeong shuddered, "In the end he died too, defeated by some holy priest. I think he was dragged to hell then. I woke up as he was pulled by a literal army of hands."
"Ah. So that's what happened to Jo Shin." Seung-ah said.
"Yeah," Yeong said. A moment passed before he realized what Seung-ah had said. "How did you-"
"We are around the time Pyeha and Mama would open a door, so you could be having one of the 'dreams' I sometimes have." She interrupted Yeong. "I've had that 'dream' before. The one where we were Jo Shin and Myeong Yeon Hee."
"Oh."
"I thought it was going to be a normal star-crossed love story. You know, the classic rags-to-riches guy fell in love with old money girl? Yeah, they started out that way." Seung-ah said with a bitter smile.
"What happened to them?"
"Her family was very religious, very well-known. All they care about was money and reputation. She was a timid girl, the youngest child of the family, and the one who was never good enough for her parents. Meeting Shin was the best thing that happened to Yeon Hee. He helped her come out of her shell and discover her talent for art." Seung-ah said.
She shifted her position so she could lean her head on Yeong's shoulder.
"Naturally, her family didn't approve of Shin since he came from nothing. They thought he was a bad influence for Yeon Hee. When they discovered she was pregnant with his child, out of wedlock too, they took her from her and Shin's home and force her to do it in some shady clinic. Well, you know what happened next."
"That's horrible."
"Yeah."
"Seung-ah..." Yeong said. He shifted their position so they were facing each other. "Does this mean not all of your 'dreams' are good?"
Seung-ah shook her head sadly. "Yes and No."
Yeong frowned. "What do you mean?"
"In all the 'dreams', we are always together, one way or another. Sure, some end badly like Jo Shin and Myeong Yeon Hee. But at least they had found each other and for a time they were the happiest together."
"Why haven't you told me about the ones that end badly?"
Seung-ah smiled. "Honestly, I just didn't want to focus on them. There aren't many that end this way anyway."
Yeong sighed. He pulled Seung-ah into a hug. "I wish you would've told me about them. I don't want you to keep these horrible things to yourself."
"Arraseo, I will tell you everything. But enough scare for tonight, let me tell you a good one instead." Seung-ah said. She adjusted their position so they were lying down facing each other. "This is the story of Jo Shi-Hyun and Myeong Yu-Ri, two star-crossed chaebols."