EPISODE 14: "What Only She Sees"
928 Words
Morning came too early.
Sung Hung woke before the alarm, the weight in her chest already there. The room was quiet, familiar, but it didn’t help. Staying felt worse than moving, so she dressed quickly and stepped outside without a destination in mind.
She didn’t go toward college.
She walked wherever her feet took her — side streets, empty crossings, paths she’d never bothered to notice before. The city was still waking up, sounds muted, people sparse. It should have been calming. It wasn’t.
Her thoughts kept circling the same question.
Why do people believe what they never saw?
No proof. No certainty. Just whispers — and somehow, that was enough. She tightened her grip on her bag, pace slowing as another thought surfaced, unwanted.
The eyes in the dream…
They hadn’t looked away. They hadn’t hesitated. Direct. Unflinching. Almost invasive.
It’s not like I want to be seen like that, she thought. But at least that gaze didn’t pretend I wasn’t there.
She stopped walking.
The sensation came first — the same quiet pressure along her spine. Awareness without sound. Without movement.
Before she could turn, a voice spoke beside her.
“Is college in that direction?”
Her breath caught.
She recognized it instantly.
When she turned, he was already there — leaning casually against a wall to his left, one shoulder resting against the brick. Arms crossed. Legs relaxed. As if he’d been standing there for a while.
The beastly man.
In daylight, he didn’t look monstrous. Just… composed. Well-dressed. Unbothered. His dark brown eyes met hers easily, without urgency, without apology.
She didn’t answer.
He tilted his head slightly, gaze narrowing just enough to notice. “If you don’t feel like answering,” he said calmly, “then why did you stop?”
The question unsettled her more than his presence.
She took a step back, eyes flicking away as realization hit — she hadn’t heard everything he’d said. Her attention had slipped, caught somewhere between thought and fear.
“You—” she started, then stopped herself.
He straightened just a little and spoke again, single word, decisive.
“Bunk.”
Her head snapped up. “No. I didn’t— I came for something else. Here.”
The lie sounded thin even to her.
She exhaled sharply, irritation rising to cover the unease. “Who are you exactly?” she asked, keeping her voice low. “And why are you stalking me?”
He sighed, the sound controlled, almost restrained. “I’m not stalking you,” he replied. “But I can’t explain anything unless you try to communicate… and trust me.”
That only made it worse.
“How am I supposed to do that?” she shot back, anger slipping through her restraint. “You appear everywhere like this. You watch. You don’t explain.”
Before he could respond —
“Sung Hung?”
She turned.
Woo Jin stood a short distance away, slowing as he approached. His gaze moved between them, brows knitting slightly — curiosity, not alarm.
He waved lightly, offering a small smile. “Hey. Good morning.”
Relief didn’t come. Fear did.
She watched him stop beside her, casual, unaware. He turned to the man with easy confidence. “Hi. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.”
The beastly man’s expression didn’t change.
“Oh?” he replied.
Woo Jin nodded, eyebrow lifting. “Yeah. At college, I think. It was you… the lion figure on the back of your long coat.”
Sung Hung’s pulse spiked.
Lion?
The man glanced down briefly, then back up. “Is that so.”
Woo Jin studied him openly now. “What were you doing at college?”
The answer came flat, sharp. “None of your business, kid.”
The tone cut clean.
Woo Jin stiffened. Sung Hung felt it — the shift in the air, subtle but unmistakable.
Before either of them could respond, she reached out, fingers closing around Woo Jin’s wrist. “We’re late,” she said quickly. “We should go.”
She didn’t wait for agreement. She turned, pulling him with her toward the street.
Behind them, the man said nothing.
But his eyes followed the movement, calm, intent.
Try to escape, the thought lingered unspoken — not chased, not challenged.
Just noted.
---
They walked in silence for several minutes.
The college gates came into view before Sung Hung finally spoke. “Hey… Woo Jin.”
He glanced at her. “Hmm?”
She hesitated. The words didn’t want to form. “Didn’t you find his… appearance weird?”
He frowned slightly. “Weird? No. Why?”
She searched his face, hoping to find hesitation. Confusion. Something.
Nothing.
She sighed quietly. “Never mind.”
He tapped her shoulder gently. “He was just… well-dressed. Kind of handsome, actually. Just rude.”
She stopped walking.
“Handsome?” she repeated.
Woo Jin nodded, puzzled. “Yeah. Why?”
She shook her head, forcing herself forward again. “Nothing.”
But the question echoed louder than before.
Then what exactly am I seeing?
---
College felt heavier than the streets.
The campus buzzed with normalcy — laughter, conversations, footsteps echoing against stone. Sung Hung moved through it all like a quiet distortion.
People glanced at her. Looked away. Smiled too late. Whispered when they thought she wasn’t listening.
Nothing had changed.
Everything had.
She took her seat, posture straight, expression neutral. Around her, the world continued as if nothing was wrong.
And that was the worst part.
---
End of Episode 14 ☺
- Writer
