Waking up

Voices could be heard from Kim Eun-Jung's position. The echos grew louder with each passing minute. This made the girl who was closing her eyes uncomfortable. She wanted to scream at them to be quiet. As the voices grew, her consciousness kept slipping away.  

"We can't draw any more blood out of her. If we do so she'll die, she's already in a terrible state to say," one male voice tried to reason.

"I don't care, she's in this state because she deserves it. She's hurt my Kim Ju-Won, she should pay with her life," the adamant voice bellowed back, detest in his voice.

What were they talking about? 

Kim Eun-Jung's mind filtered the noise from her ears, creating a ringing in them. She felt tired and drained. Her body ached all-over. She could feel herself losing consciousness.

Time had passed before she could feel herself gain a sense of her surroundings. Her eyes felt too heavy to open, her head was throbbing. She tried against her will to open her eyes and grasp her surroundings, but her will was set resolute to not do so. 

The girl's struggles dimmed as she heard footsteps closing in on her. She stopped concentrating on the figure close to her. This time a female voice spoke.

"Eun-Jung, you foolish and pathetic creature. You thought you could steal Yoon Min-Hyuk from me," she paused to let out a menacing chuckle, then continued, "you were so wrong, Min-Hyuk is mine and only mine."

Kim Eun-Jung lying on the hospital bed was even more clueless. What was this person talking about? Min-Hyuk? This name sounds familiar. 

"I almost feel sad for your stupidity," she let out another cynical laugh, and then she got closer to the bed. "But it's fine. You are dead now and I killed you."

Killed her? What did she mean? Was she supposedly dead? 

Kim Eun-Jung felt her head begin to throb again, this time with more pain than the last. She wanted to cry out for help. However, her vocal codes were constrained, and no sound could come out from her. She felt herself slipping out of reality as darkness engulfed her.

Wandering back and forth out of the dark void that seemed to consume her, Kim Eun-Jung felt a light that gave her sense. The girl could feel herself gaining life, her eyes flung open and in an instant rays of light assaulted her eyes, making her squint them. She was lying on a cold metallic surface and from her feet to head she was covered in a white sheet. 

She was naked. Kim Eun-Jung removed the cloth that restrained her body and sight. The first thing she felt was the cold air hitting her skin, causing her body to form goosebumps. The pungent smell of formaldehyde, commonly known as formalin caught her nose. Her eyes surveyed her surroundings. Next to her, more metallic beds were on view with more sheets that covered what she could only guess were bodies laid. 

A morgue. She was in a morgue. 

How was she in a morgue? Did they think she was dead? Kim Eun-Jung dragged her feet from the trolley, hanging them in the air as she made contact with the cold floor. She stumbled, almost falling to the ground, but caught herself, balancing her weight on the metallic structure. 

Taking her time to adjust her weight on her feet, the girl pulled the white cover and wrapped it around her body. She slowly moved her legs, her eyes fixed on the exit. She was confused. She felt alive and well. Why did she end up in a place of the dead? Which hospital was she in? They can't be this neglectful.

Trapped in her mind, Kim Eun-Jung hadn't noticed the two figures walking her way. Seeing her, one of the two let out a loud ear-splitting scream. The other fear definite in his eyes. They were embalmers. They looked like they had seen a ghost. Did they really think she was dead?

"Calm down, I'm not dead," she took a step forward, approaching. Her voice was low but firm. She tried to reason. However, their reaction was not as she presumed. More fear rose in them, making one drop down unconscious. The female, seeing her partner defenseless against what she thought of as an evil spirit, pushed the girl in front, making Kim Eun-Jung stumble. This time, she was not strong enough to balance herself and fell, hitting her head on the wall. Instantly she lost realty. 

In the H-City hospital, doctors stood examining the girl that was lying on the hospital bed. Her face was white, her skin delicate, she seemed like a feeble flower. She looked carefree and peaceful. As if she hadn't just been dead and somehow miraculously woken up.

A few hours ago, when the nurse frantically came to them screaming for help, claiming that there was a ghost in the morgue. No one had taken her seriously. Some few doctors even disregarded her words, saying that she had been exhausted and, due to it, she had started to experience hallucinations.

It wasn't after she cried out, making a scene and scaring some patients did they decide to hear her out. Her frantics, led them to the two bodies sprawled on the floor. One, they could tell, was a fellow staff member of the hospital. Howbeit, the other body caught their attention in an instant. One of the doctors who had been involved in her case came forward, getting closer to her form. He bent to take her pulse.

Unlike before when her body was cold, her hands felt warm and what most surprised him was the strength of her pulse. They throbbed with such vigor that indicated longevity. But how was this so? He clearly remembered her body going cold.

The doctor examining Kim Eun-Jung affirmed to the other doctors, making them exclaim in wonder. Never had such an occurrence happened where the dead rose. This must have been a scientific discovery. Some kind of breakthrough.

Immediately they took her, and did some more tests on her. Each one of them was positive. Her heart rate was steady, her bones, none of them were as before. With this, the professionals found themselves grouping in her ward conversing amongst themselves. 

"Should we let her family know?" One of the doctors asked the head dean.

The dean glanced at the poor girl lying on the bed. Unlike the others, he had an idea of the kind of life Kim Eun-Jung had been going through. Seeing her about to awake, he shook his head, no and spoke, "It can wait."

Once again, she found herself grabbing the thin line of consciousness. This time the throbbing in her head was slightly less painful than before. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the lighting of her surroundings. The air was rich, no smell of formalin. She was out of the morgue. That was a relief. 

Turning her head, Kim Eun-Jung met the group of doctors who eyed her like some kind of crazy specimen. They watched her in anticipation, a glint of something she could not read in their eyes. She was in a hospital room.

Confused by their gathering, she managed to ask, "Where am I?"

"Miss Kim Eun-Jung, you are at the H-City hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

H-City hospital? Wasn't this the hospital in her novel? Kim Eun-Jung knew she was in a car accident. She was about to speak when memories bombarded her brain. Memories she knew didn't belong to her.

In them, she could see herself on top of a building together with another girl. She was beautiful. Nevertheless, she knew better than to trust appearances. Her eyes, her eyes were sinister. A fake smile plastered on her face. 

Kim Eun-Jung had been scared. She looked down to see a young man standing below them with fear in his eyes.

Angrily he shouted, "Kim Eun-Jung, you better not harm my Ju-Won or I will not spare you!"

Kim Eun-Jung could feel his detest for her in every word he said. Except before she could justify herself, she was pushed and they both fell, her together with the one that instigated the whole crime.

Kim Ju-Won.

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