EPISODE 3

Kim Ha Joon

That's when I saw the old lady smirk in confidence and lifted her head with pride. Then she said something in whispers. I did get some words like "I shall quench your thirst with answers" and I said "yes" without hesitation. Well, she sounded as if she knew everything about that girl, but turns out that she was just another swindler. That old Halmeoni (*Halmeoni means grandma in Korean) talked about you-know-who, Park Jin Ae. I mean, was she stalking me to find information and swindle my money? that was the first thing which came to my mind. Without anymore hesitation I stood up and started to leave the place. I couldn't watch her expression, obviously because she was facing my back. Even though I couldn't see her, I can feel that she was grinning rather than having a drooping face.

As I walked out of the hut I noticed that the sky is still gloomy as if it's about to rain and the ground...WAIT A MINUTE! the ground is totally dry. It just rained a few minutes ago. "Oi! Ha Joon" someone called me from the back and then took me by the neck while squeezing it tightly. I was taken by surprise. "Oi! Ha Joon, shall we hangout and have some karaoke night?"I opened my eyes as the voice sounded so awfully familiar that I can say that it was my childhood buddy and my classmate Lee Sung ho. "Sung Ho what are you doing here. Didn't I say that I am going to study as I promised my mom?". Puzzled by my answer Sung Ho released his arms around my neck and faced me and said "Ha Joon are you crazy? When did you say that to me? You are using your mom's name for excuses these days. Are you dating someone? is it Park Jin Ae?". It felt more like Deja Vu and I started notice my environment. I was standing inside my school campus and the gate is just a few meters away. The sky is  cloudy as if it's going to rain and the date was today's date, but the time was few hours ago. What on earth is happening to me, am I having a delusion or was I dreaming this few hours or did I really time travelled a few hours back? Then what about the Witch, I mean, old Halmeoni. I started running toward's the old Halmeoni's hut. "OI! Ha Joon, where the hell are you running to...don't even try to escape..." Lee Sung Ho shouted as I began running.

At last I came down the street where the hut was located and the timing was right\, the rain was already pouring. "What the ****" It was me cursing. There was no Hut and no old Halmeoni. It was a barren land with a "Land for Sale" sign board. Just then something shined on the floor\, I kneeled down and picked that shinning thing. It was a silver necklace\, A necklace with a stone dollar shaped in like the mugunghwa flower also known as the rose of Sharon. Which is the national flower of Korea. A pricking pain in my head and I started to see some flashing images of the old Halmeoni. Yes\, She was wearing it\, So that means everything happened a few hours ago was real. "UGH!" I cried in pain. "Joon ah! are you alright" a sweet voice asked me with concern. My eyes filled with tears\, I turned my head as in kneeling position to see who it was. Everything looked blurry\, but I can figure out that it was a girl wearing a Hanbok like clothes (*traditional Korean dress) with a Jiwusan (*Korean traditional umbrella) and was reaching out her right hand towards me to get up. I saw something shinning around her neck."Ha Joon ah! take my hand"...I turned my back towards her again and closed my eyes in pain\, squeezing out the tears. Suddenly a pair of hands rested on my shoulders\, at first I thought it was her...the girl. But\, "Ha Joon ah! Nuh Micheossuh?" (*Nuh Micheossuh means are you crazy in Korean) and started to shake me totally hard grabbing my shoulder. Suddenly after looking at the necklace in my hand\, I from no where had the impression that I saw this same necklace around the girl's necklace just a while ago. Getting on my feet\, I staggered as it was cold and numb from all the kneeling down position. Now I faced the person behind me\, expecting to see the girl.

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