"Yui… what's happening now", Haein asked me nervously as we were walking among the crowd on this Halloween night in Itaewon.
"Well, shit. I don't know"
"You just-"
"Shhhh, be quiet. These things can happen", I had to shush her and stop her from screaming. Things didn't go according to plan but it didn't mean I wanted to be arrested if I could avoid it.
"That 'Beast' you always talk about is NOT appearing! Which means what you've done… was for nothing!"
"It's gonna be alright", I answered as calmly as possible while a few heads turned in our direction after Haein's short outburst.
"Listen, it can still turn up any time. If it doesn't, at least we found out that me doing something like this does not spawn it"
"So what's the plan now? Not that I trust in your 'plan' anymore after this"
"Just lay low and wait till November 9th"
"Just like that? You've gone crazy. You are talking as if killing someone means nothing to you!"
Now that the bad word had come out of her mouth, a few heads that turned to us before were checked out again but this time with more suspicious looks.
"Stop saying that. You are gonna get us in trouble"
"We are in BIG trouble now already. God… I should have never listened to you"
"Don't worry. You've done nothing wrong. It was all my doing"
"But I helped… I…:sob:"
I put my arm around her shoulders as we walked side by side and the shocked girl started to cry in her guilt.
"It's going to be OK. We probably shouldn't see each other until the next October 1st. I'm sorry I ruined your night out on Halloween. We'll do something fun next time"
"How can you say such things at a time like this…"
"Just go home for today. Don't stay with me anymore. If the police does catch up with me over the next week or so, I don't want you to get mixed up in it"
"OK…"
"I'm sorry"
Haein said nothing more, swiftly turned, and walked off toward the subway station.
I roamed around on my own afterward, feeling pretty terrible about what I had done, but at the same time scared of getting caught by the police. I knew there would be no consequence for me, but the feeling of doing something wrong and getting caught for me was bringing a sort of unsettling sensation that I hadn't felt before.
Then I started to hear police sirens and a few police cars turned up hoking nonstop trying to get through the crowd, followed by an ambulance. They were heading toward the direction where the poor dude's body lay.
How… how am I supposed to spawn the Hell Beast?
To quench my figurative thirst for understanding, I went into a nearby 8-12 convenience store to grab a soft drink. I needed something fizzy, sweet, and very cold.
I reached out and grabbed a can of cola from the fridge but my clumsiness reared its ugly head in this unfortunate moment and it slipped off my hand, dropping straight to the floor.
And then, It was as if my body moved on its own. I saw the can drop and quickly reached out to catch it mid-air, which I surprisingly managed to do, but as I grabbed it the can of cola literally exploded in my hand.
What the fuck…
As I was drenched in the sticky drink, the shop clerk noticed and quickly ran over to me.
"What did you do?!!"
"Er… I'm really sorry"
"Wow, you crushed that in your hand?!"
A young clerk, probably a part-timer around Haein's age pointed at my hand in shock.
"Huh?"
I looked at my hand and he was right to be shocked. The poor can was completely crushed in my hand to the extent that you could almost say that it was flattened.
I was so engrossed in my curiosity, I brainlessly grabbed another can from the fridge and squeezed it in my hand.
:POP!:
The can got crushed effortlessly again and the drink splashed everywhere.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!"
The poor sod who had to clean all this up was understandably mad.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"What do you mean you didn't mean to?! I'm not gonna clean this shit - you did this deliberately"
The young man squared up to me, looking intimidating and standing too close for my comfort.
"I'm sorry. I will pay and leave"
I tried to walk toward the counter but the staff grabbed me by the shoulder. I turned and grabbed his wrist to take his filthy paw off me.
:Crack:
"ARRRRGGHHH!"
SHIT.
Did I just break his wrist?!!
"I'm really sorry. Are you okay?"
The boy was scared now, holding his wrist with his good hand and backing off, then stumbled to the ground.
"Just… what are you?"
"I'm just a normal girl who wanted to grab a cola…"
"Please… just leave… please don't hurt me"
While I was still standing confused and dumbfounded I heard the ring by the door and saw two police officers walking in.
"HELP!! This girl attacked me!"
The terrified dude yelled out and the police immediately rushed to the scene where he was writhing in pain on the floor in the pool of soft drinks.
Fuck. I can't afford to get caught by the police here. They wouldn't know for now that I was related to the murder just before, but getting interrogated could lead to trouble.
Although I knew in theory I shouldn't run from the police when I was already looking suspicious, I made a dash toward the door and one of them quickly moved to block my path, but somehow I flung him away with a slight shoulder bump.
What the hell is happening to me… suddenly I've become strong like Hulk?
I ran out of the shop and the other police chased after me to the street and started blowing the whistle and yelling, and a few more officers turned up as there were already many of them around the street looking for the murderer.
But my footsteps felt so light as I started to sprint, running faster than I'd ever done in my entire life. I was almost literally blazing past everything and before I knew it, I was already out of Itaewon and there were no more police in sight.
I've gone through countless Halloweens in my life, but this certainly was the oddest one.