A tall silhouette of a man, standing by the fountain all alone. His back faced her, and out of all, he was not taking shade from the rain while his white clothes remained dry and intact. She was further curious by the strange man that her eyes were glued to him. Why did he look so familiar to her?
Suddenly, he moved, turning around as if he felt her intense stares. Isuel took a step back, hesitant by this sudden turn of events. Her whole body was petrified, as the umbrella in her hand fell. Her eyes widened, seeing the face of the man standing before her. It was not possible, how can it be?
"Nuwa" The same voice called again, causing inner turmoil inside her. The nauseating feeling building up. She wants to run; run faster than ever. This was a dream. Yes, dream nothing else. This means nothing.
"Isa?" Alice called out from behind, waking her up from her dream. She looked back at the water fountain, there was no one standing. Just people passing through it, all unfamiliar faces. Iseul took a breath of relief yet the sense of terror crawled behind her.
"Huh?" Iseul glanced towards her friend, her eyes blinking like the headlight of a car.
"You forgot your notebook." Alice handed over her notebook. Iseul absentmindedly thanked her, taking it from her hand.
Iseul sighed, picked up the umbrella that had fallen from her hands earlier, and walked straight home. Her brain was still muzzled from thoughts earlier. Everything is messed up. Seeing her main character in the real world. That's crazy.
Maybe it was because she was not getting enough sleep lately. To write her novel, she stayed up until dawn. That must be the case. Her body needs rest, nothing else. This was all just a sign of overwork and exhaustion. Iseul determined in her head that today was going to be a cheat day. She will get full rest and return to life.
"Iseul? Are you even listening to me?" Alice shook her arm, annoyed that her friend was not at all paying attention to her.
Iseul didn't even notice that her friend was walking by her side with her. She should pay attention before Alice gets mad at her and kills her.
"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" Iseul shook her head out of those weird thoughts and focused on her friend.
"Let's go out this weekend," Alice suggested to her, face glistening with excitement.
Iseul looked at her, with a straight face trying her best not to laugh out loud, "You know right, we have exams to prepare for. You know on Monday, your beloved maths sir takes a test and what happens if we can't answer it?" Iseul patted her shoulder, seeing Alice's face turn sour remembering how hell of a nightmare she was having. What was a school created for?
The talk went silent, as a strong gust of wind passed through them, with Alice's father's car stopping before them.
"Looks like my dad came to pick me up. Do you want us to give you a ride home?" Alice asked, seeing her father's car.
" Nah, it's fine. I have to pick up some stuff on the way." Iseul politely refused Alice's offer and bid her farewell, while walking towards the bus station alone. The bus arrived within a minute.
After getting off the bus, Isuel looked up at the sky once again. It was already dusk but the weather was still the same. She swears if there was a Ryong* in the sky, she would murder him. (Ryong- a Korean mythological dragon which is associated with rain and water.)
"Just stop raining already!" Iseul frustratedly yelled looking up at the sky. She hates this place, the only thing it ever gets is snow or rain. Why can't she have a peaceful summer morning, the sun glowing brightly and her being relaxed and writing her work peacefully?
"Nuwa." The same voice called out for her once again, freezing her to the place. Iseul had enough of this, first, this rain giving her a hard time, and now this stupid voice. She turned back to see if someone was there or if it was just another of her illusions.
Iseul's eyes glued to the silhouette standing a few metres away from her. As her eyes went up and made eye contact with those blue orbs, her heart stopped beating for a moment.
In sheer disbelief, Iseul took a step back with the umbrella falling from her hand. The heavy rain soaked her from top to bottom.
Iseul nervously chuckled, there was no way this was true. How can it be? There was no way, she must be dreaming.
Iseul hurriedly turns around, not having the courage to look back. She just dashed towards her house at lightning speed. How can it be true?
The main character of her book, stands before her, making eye contact with her. She was going crazy. Maybe she needs to check herself in the mental hospital.
Iseul opened the door of her house and entered, slamming the door with a bolt. Her lungs were burning from all the running and her legs gave up. Leaning on the back of the door, she plopped down trying to catch her breath.
Choi Yeong, who heard the slamming of the door, walked out of the kitchen with the ladle in her hand, "Iseul, is that you?" Her mother went over to beat her up for closing the door like that. Does she think money grows on trees?
Choi Yeong saw her on the ground, breathless and completely drenched by the rain. Her face looked like she saw a ghost or something.
"Iseul? Did something happen on your way back home? Are you okay? " Her mother's brows furrowed, puzzled by her daughter's weird acting.
Iseul heard nothing of her mother's question, her brain was still shaken by what she saw. It must have been a dream.
"It must have been a dream. It was in no way possible. How can it be true?" Iseul started to talk to herself, looking out of the peephole to make sure it didn't follow her.
Her mother was worried seeing her acting like that, she tried to get close to Iseul and shake her out of whatever was going on in her mind.
"Iseul? Iseul?" Choi Yeong tried to wake her up. Iseul shuddered at the touch, flinching back in horror, thinking it was him but noticing it was just her mother. She calmed down a bit and got up off the floor.
"Did something happen? And where is your umbrella? Are you even listening to me?" Choi Yeong inquired, annoyed that Iseul was preoccupied with her world, walking away.
"Iseul?" Choi Yeong had enough of her eccentric behaviour, grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around.
Iseul breaks free of her clasp, screaming in fury. "Why can't you leave me alone? I don't want to talk! Can't you just leave me alone for once!" Iseul yelled out, pouring out all her feelings.
Choi Yeong remained quiet, slapping her hard on the cheeks. "Did you just raise your voice just now?" Choi Yeong calmly questioned glaring down at her daughter's rebellious phase.
Iseul bites her lips, holding herself from saying any further. She stood up, holding her tears and walked away without saying anything.
"Iseul, where do you think you are going? Come right back here!" Choi Yeong shouted from behind only to be ignored and Iseul closed her room's door loudly.
Choi Yeong didn't argue further and sighed in defeat. She is just twelve years old and already such a rebel, she can't tell what will happen once she is fully a teenager.
"What with her?" Her mother mumbled to herself," Fine! I will ask nothing!" Her mother yelled walking back to the kitchen.
"You work for your children!….and this is how they treat you!" Iseul heard her mother complaining from downstairs but it was not new or a thing to care about right now.
Iseul shut the door of her room, leaning her back on it. She still can't believe it. "Maybe it was a different person?" Iseul muttered to herself, going crazy just by the thought.
But if it was that, she heard him saying…
A few minutes ago…
Iseul looked at the man's blue orbs, which stared back at her. His lips moved slowly calling out the name that no one knew of. That is further speaking impossible.
A character created by her suddenly comes to life and calls out to her. As if it came for her. Is she going crazy?
Iseul shook her head, getting up from the ground and paced to her desk, where everything related to her book was kept.
Obtaining For Heaven Once Again.
The story tells about a dragon, named Ryong, the strongest of all. But under some circumstances, he lost his jewel, Yeouiju, which resulted in him being banished from heaven back to earth. (Yeouiju- a crystal containing a dragon's power.)
As punishment, he was turned back to Imoogi, with only a thousand years in hand to get his jewel back or turned into Imoogi, (lesser dragon) forever. Ryong goes on a journey in search of his Yeouiju, on earth.
Iseul planned the story from the stories her mother told her from a young age. The legends about Korean dragons caused her to create one.
Iseul felt like banging her head right into the wall from the frustration. How can she dream in the middle of the day? She skimmed through the page to see if there was something she wrote that caused her those illusions.
Iseul gilded over other characters' profiles until she reached the empty pages. And out of nowhere, the page next to the last written opened before her.
Words started to appear out of nowhere and if it was not worse, it was her handwriting. Iseul yelped back, scared by the words.