On The Other Side

“I still can’t believe that dang dog broke the mirror!” Mi-Ok exclaimed, letting out an exasperated sigh. 'At least I was able to get this new one. It’s lucky that I came across that guy’s shop, this mirror was half the price of what it would’ve been at the furniture store…' she thought to herself. After she had positioned the mirror how she wanted it, she decided to get something to eat. As she was walking back to her room, she tripped over the dog and fell into the mirror! “Ah!” Mi-Ok exclaimed. She squeezed her eyes shut, but, to her surprise, she didn’t hit the ground nor the mirror. When she opened her eyes, she realized that, instead of being on the ground in her room, she was in what looked like the city park. When she looked around, she noticed that, instead of seeing the clear blue sky, she saw gray clouds covering the sun, making it considerably darker than it had been just moments before she had fallen. As she looked closer, she noticed that, instead of seeing the bustling streets of Seoul, filled with hundreds of people, she saw broken down roads, and, instead of people, there were demonic-looking beasts, although there didn’t seem to be many of them. She supposed that they hadn’t noticed her, as they didn’t pay her any mind. As she stood up, she heard a deafening shriek and all the monsters immediately turned towards her. They all began running towards her, and she realized that, despite their size, they were incredibly fast. “Wha-” Mi-Ok was cut off as another shriek filled the air. She quickly turned and began running in the opposite direction. There was no time to think. She had to run from these monsters, whatever they were! 'I just… have to… outrun them…' Mi-Ok thought to herself. She was already out of breath because of how fast she was running, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up for, but she had to keep going. She didn’t want to die here. No, she couldn’t die here. She had too much to live for. Then, she found herself so full of joy and relief that she could hardly contain herself. There in front of her was a large boulder with a hole just large enough for her to fit into but too small for those monsters. She quickly crawled inside of the small crevice, trying to keep as quiet as possible so that the monsters would, hopefully, be unable to find her and leave. She peered through the hole to see where the monsters were. At first they were nowhere to be seen, but she soon spotted them coming in the direction of the boulder. They soon reached it and, instead of walking past it, they began banging on the boulder. They were trying to break it open. Tears began running down Mi-Ok’s face. She was going to die here. She would never see her family again… She would never see her friends again… She was going to die here, in this strange world, by these strange monsters, and no one would ever know. Her family and friends would never know what caused her sudden disappearance from earth. Perhaps they would think she had committed suicide. Or maybe they’d assume she was kidn*pped, as there wouldn’t be a body found if she died in this world instead of her own.                  A little while later, the banging stopped. She peered outside the hole once more and saw that the monsters were no longer focusing on her,  but instead, were looking in the opposite direction. As she followed their gazes, she realized that they were looking at something, and it was looking back at them. As she looked closer, she realized it was a person, and it wasn’t staring at the monsters, but instead, staring at her. “Run!” the person yelled, as he ran closer to the monsters but to the left of her. The monsters shrieked and charged at the man. The man ran, and she realized he was luring the monsters away from her. The monsters followed the man without hesitation, leaving the boulder unguarded. Not wanting to miss this chance, as it may be her only one, she ran out of the crevice. The monsters were out of sight now, but so was the man. She couldn’t shake the thought that the man might die, simply because he sacrificed himself for her. It didn’t seem right, and she couldn’t seem to wrap her head around why he would do such a thing, for a complete stranger, at that. But, she didn’t have time to think about that now. She didn’t want to let his sacrifice go to waste, so she had to focus on getting away from here for now. As Mi-Ok looked around, she realized that this looked like the area near her apartment, so she decided that the best thing to do right now was to get to her apartment, as it would be easiest to avoid the monsters if she was in an area that she was familiar with. She began running as fast as she could towards the apartment complex she lived in.                   When she finally got closer to the apartment, she realized that there were more monsters here, as well. She froze, petrified. Although there were fewer of them here than at the park, she was still greatly outnumbered. Plus, she didn’t know anything about them, other than the fact that they were extremely fast and could find you, even if they couldn’t see you. They didn’t seem to have any weaknesses other than their size, as far as she could tell. These things were worse than any child’s worst fear. As she watched them, still not daring to move a step, she realized that they were watching her, too. They weren’t shrieking or charging towards her, but instead, they were simply watching her, as if they were waiting for her to move before doing anything. Then it hit her. What if these monsters couldn’t see her unless she moved. But, if that were true, then the monsters from earlier shouldn’t have been able to track her while she was inside the boulder. Perhaps, once they’ve started chasing you, they can find you, even if you stop moving. If this theory were true, that would mean that she would have to start running the second that none of them were looking at her, and stop running if any of them looked at her. That would make things a lot harder, because if even just one of them were to see her running, they would all start chasing her. She couldn’t risk it, so she would have to be extra careful. 'I can’t afford to get caught this time. If I do, it’ll mean my death.' She thought. She couldn’t bear the thought of dying here.                   She tried to just stay still until the monsters turned away, but it had now been ten minutes and they were all still watching. She  wasn’t going to be able to avoid the monsters chasing her, but maybe, if she took enough turns and made sure not to go one way for too long, she could outrun them and escape. It was a risky plan, but it was a plan nonetheless, and it was the only thing she could do. 'My plan should work, but I have to play this out perfectly. One slip-up will surely cost me my life.' She still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but it was  the only thing she could do now. She started running in the opposite direction a moment later, she heard the monsters’ shrieks fill the air, one by one, the sound of their heavy footsteps thundered behind,  she knew that even just one simple glance would seal her fate, thus she didn’t dare look back. 'If I can just make it to my apartment, I should be safe…'  The footsteps were growing louder and louder, and Mi-Ok could tell that she wouldn’t be able to outrun them at this rate. After she had been running for about three minutes, Mi-Ok realized that the apartment was now within sight range. Just a bit farther, and I’ll be safe. That’s when she made a fatal mistake. While she was running, she looked behind her and, upon seeing how close they were, she began to panic. She could hardly breathe and her heart was beating dangerously fast. Her vision blurred and she could no longer see where she was going, but she just kept running, desperate to get away from the monsters.                  THUD! She fell to the ground as she ran into something. As she stood up, her vision began to clear and she realized that she was now backed against the wall of a building, in an alley, a fence on one side of her, monsters on the other, and no visible way of escape. 'I’m going to die. There’s no one here to save me this time. I’m going to die.' As the monsters realized that she couldn’t go anywhere, they stopped running and just stood there, watching her. They weren’t the only ones watching, though. She was watching them as well. Studying them, trying to find any visible weaknesses. But, no matter how hard she looked, there were none. She collapsed and fell to the ground, her knees buckling underneath her as a sudden thought struck her. “Why?! Why did I, of all people, have to get dragged into this place?! Is this my punishment? Are you watching me now, laughing at my misery and thinking ‘I bet you wish you had saved me now’?! Is that what this is?! Some scheme to get back at me for not saving you back then? Fine then, Oppa. I’ll accept my punishment.” Mi-Ok cried out. Perhaps this whole parallel world really was just a way for Hyun-Ki Oppa to get revenge on her. If that was the case, then she might as well just give up and die.