Chapter 9
Ever since losing her Halmeoni, Grace had taken to spending her evenings in the pool house apartment.
A month after Grace’s mom had died, her father had suddenly renovated the old unused pool house.
Grace’s aunt had said it was his way of coping with grief, a big project to distract himself.
But Grace knew it had been a kind of bribe to get Halmeoni to stay, by giving her a place of her own.
And now it had become Grace’s studio to work on her web-toon.
Partly because Grace knew her dad never came in here.
And partly because the space was tucked away, like a secret.
In here she could shut out the real world, giving her a slight reprieve from all the responsibilities and expectations that existed out there.
Tonight, she didn’t come here to work. She came here to ruminate over that boy claiming to be Haemosu. Flipping through old episodes of Sun God, Grace wondered what his deal was.
Was he messing with her because he recognized similarities to his own face in her webtoon?
How did he even know she was the writer of Sun God?
He couldn’t really sue her or anything, could he?
But now that she was thinking back, he hadn’t seemed angry earlier so much as frustrated.
Maybe he was just curious. Maybe he even liked seeing himself depicted as a god.
She considered his arrogant manners and thought that was a definite possibility.
Of course, there was another completely wild possibility. That he was telling the truth and he really was Haemosu.
“No, don’t let your imagination run away with you. Leave the fantasy for Sun God.”
I taught you better than that, Halmeoni’s voice said in her head.
“You taught me to respect the old myths, not to believe they were real.”
Belief is a tricky thing.
“So, did you believe in the gods?” she wondered aloud.
Love and belief, they are intertwined. You should have taken more care before you made them love the gods again. Halmeoni’s voice sounded almost angry now.
“What? Who?” Grace knew her fake conversations with Halmeoni were all in her head. A coping mechanism, but she’d never had a conversation that even she couldn’t follow. Maybe the stress of the day was getting to her.
Her tablet beeped, and she glanced down. She’d been pressing the scroll button so hard that she’d come to the last frame: Yuhwa and Haemosu treading water as the river flowed around them.
Grace stared at the fear she’d drawn across Haemosu’s face. The dread, the terror. And internally cringed at the idea that a real person had anything to do with this fictional character.
When she started to turn off the tablet, water dripped onto her palm.
Strange, she thought, wiping it absently on her pants before picking up the tablet again. As soon as she touched the screen, a spray of water hit her.
What the hell?
She turned the tablet, staring at the smooth black back. There were no cracks, no water dripping. She turned back to the screen, the scene of the churning water, and just for a second, she almost thought she glimpsed the angry waves move.
No, that was impossible.
As impossible as a boy showing up with the exact same face as your main character? Halmeoni’s voice asked her.
“That’s just a coincidence,” Grace said aloud to stop herself from spiraling. She had no clue how to handle this boy, and it vexed her, that’s all. She hated not knowing what to do next.
She reached for the tablet’s power button again, and it was like turning on a faucet: Water poured out, soaking her.
Grace screamed, dropping the tablet under the desk.
Water bubbled out, filling the room so fast it reached her knees before she could move. The water carried her tablet across the room into the small kitchenette, where it still shot out water like a thundering firehose.
She needed to stop it. She had to turn it off. But just as she waded across the apartment, the pounding flow of water pushed her back with a furious undercurrent.
Riptide warnings that every Florida kid was familiar with echoed through her head as Grace felt the current pulling at her legs. She’d already lost her footing trying to lunge for the tablet, and the water happily took advantage.
She’d always been a decent swimmer, but the water fought her.
A serpent pulling her under so forcefully, she couldn’t find the surface.
The battle drained her energy in seconds, her muscles screaming even as her lungs burned.
But when she finally figured out which direction was up, her hands slammed into the ceiling. There was nowhere to take a breath.
What are you fighting for? Halmeoni’s voice echoed in her head.
Her body gave in to the inevitable.
The current pulled her down.
Water filled her lungs.
Her brain spiraled toward darkness. Halmeoni, help me!
This is why you should not mess with things you do not understand, Halmeoni’s furious voice said.
Just as Grace felt like her lungs would explode, she jerked up in bed, gasping for air.
Something held her legs down, and she kicked at it in terror, thinking it was the grip of the water still trying to pull her under. But as she fought, she realized it was her blanket, wrapped around her from fitful tossing and turning.
She was damp, but it was from her own sweat and tears.
She was safe in her bed. It had just been a dream. Though her lungs still burned as if she’d truly been drowning.
A crack of thunder outside made her jump. Rain pounded against her window. She pulled the shades down and straightened her blankets, yanking them over her head as another layer of protection.
Then she tried to will herself to sleep again. To forget the nightmare.
Instead, she lay awake, listening to the drum of the rain that beat a menacing staccato.