Chapter 33
Grace burst through the water’s surface and grasped the edge of the pool. She coughed up water so violently that even when it was cleared from her lungs she still dry heaved.
Something felt wrong. Where was Haechi? And why was she in her pool? Hadn’t she fallen into the river?
A shadow fell on her and she looked up at a gorgeous older man standing over her.
His beauty rivaled Hae’s with his full lips, thick brows and square jaw.
He was just as tall as Hae but broader. More muscular.
There was something oddly familiar about him, but unlike with Hae, she was sure it wasn’t because of her webcomic.
She’d never drawn a man who looked like this.
With another strangled gasp, she realized where she knew him from. He looked just like Won Bin, the very attractive older actor her halmeoni used to love in her K-dramas.
“How did I get here?”
He held out a hand for her, but she didn’t take it, distrust flooding her just like the river water had. “What’s going on?”
He sighed and snapped his fingers instead. She found herself now sitting on one of the pool chairs, completely dry. “Holy shirts, Won Bin is a god? Or am I just hallucinating as I drown?”
“This is not a hallucination,” Won Bin said. “Think of it more like a dream state.”
“You’re not the actor, are you?” Grace eyed him suspiciously.
“No, I am not. But I must say I wouldn’t mind a body like this.”
“Habaek,” Grace breathed out. “You’re the water god.” She closed her eyes, telling herself not to be scared. Hae would find her. She’d be okay.
“Am I dying?” she asked.
“Aren’t all humans dying?”
Grace gritted her teeth at the infuriating nonanswer. “I mean, am I going to die while I’m in this dream state?”
“No. What feels like minutes or hours to you here is mere seconds in the waking world. Our conversation will be done before you could blink, or drown, as it were.”
The answer didn’t comfort Grace like it should have. She wondered if all gods were like Hae and despised lying, or if some were more willing than others to do it.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“To warn you to be careful where you let your loyalties lie.”
“What are you talking about?”
Habaek sneered at her like she was a bug on the bottom of his shoe. “Mortals are so predictable, lured in by a pretty face. But once the sun god tires of you, he’ll just discard you.”
“Haemosu isn’t like that,” Grace said. “And I trust him more than you. He’s not the one who released those monsters.”
“Ah, the sonnimne,” Habaek mused, like he was just now remembering naughty pets who’d gotten off leash. “To be honest, I didn’t expect them to come back so…warped. I called them when I was still half mad myself, unformed and confused. Perhaps that is why they are such abominations.”
Grace gaped at his casual musings. “Is that all you have to say? They’re hurting people! They attacked my classmates.”
Habaek didn’t even bat an eye. “Collateral damage.”
The way he spoke, like a scientist whose first experiment had gone awry. Like he was disappointed but nothing more.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing more for now. You’ve been warned.” Habaek leaned down so his face was level with hers. The same as Hae did, but it felt so different. It felt like a threat. “Stop helping the sun god, or there will be consequences.”
She opened her mouth to spit out an angry retort, but instead of air, it filled with water.
And she found herself suddenly submerged again.
She screamed from the shock, and more water rushed into her mouth, icy and choking. Grace paddled frantically, trying to find the surface. But the turbulent current yanked and twisted her body so violently that she couldn’t tell which direction was up or down.
Her lungs felt like they were about to burst.
She couldn’t see anything through the churning water. She couldn’t pull her body forward any longer.
She thought fleetingly of her dad. What he would do if she went missing. How he’d survive yet another death.
It gave her a last spurt of energy. She strained, trying her best not to give that fate onto her father.
She felt something brushing against her side. Her fingers tangled with fur.
Haechi.
She clutched onto him, her arms so weak, she was afraid she’d lose her grip. But she held on long enough to feel him tug at her shirt before she lost consciousness.
Sun God
Main Character Sheet
Name: Habaek
Age: Appears About 50 Years Old (Actual Age Unknown)
Occupation: Water god
Height: 6’ 1” (184 cm)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Family: Yuhwa, Wuihwa, and Hweonhwa (daughters)
Powers: Control of water and storms
Known for:
Losing a battle against Haemosu
Has control over the rains, which once dictated the fertilitof the land
If he was not pleased, young girls would be thrown into the sea as a sacrifice.
He once loved a human woman named Shimcheong, who was sacrificed to the sea.