When A Ghoul Falls In Love

Why isn’t he out yet?

I pick up another stone and aim for the window. The lights are on, but he’s not coming out.

This morning in my room, my mother found us in bed together.

We had to find our clothes and dress up while she used anything that she could get her hands on to beat us up. Even my stepfather couldn’t pacify her.

After Baek Joon-Woo was gone, she asked me if he used protection. Baek Joon-Woo is quite serious about these matters. I told her not to worry and that I didn’t plan to get pregnant before marriage like her. She started beating me again. Then, she made me clean the entire house. My phone was also taken away.

“What the f.u.c.k!” I am going to shoot this guy. Does he know what I had to do to get out of my house at night? “Argh!”

“Nell?”

I jump when I hear his voice behind me. Baek Joon-Woo is standing right behind me. I yell at him, “Where were you?”

“I was worried. You weren’t picking up calls. I went to your home and waited outside your window.” He frowns hard at me. “Nell, why are you here? It’s the middle of the night. You shouldn’t leave your house alone like this.”

“I came to see you, Idiot. Don’t scold me.” I scrutinizes his face. “Your cheeks are swollen.”

“You look worse than me.” He looks at me with distress his dark eyes. “Did she hurt you again?”

“She will come around.” At least, she’s not treating me silently. My stepfather is on my side. He will convince her. “Are you okay?”

“I have been better.” He takes my hand. “Your fingers are swollen.”

“She made me clean the entire house.” Though I understand why she’s angry, I feel that she went a little overboard. “I am sorry. You had to go through that.”

“We are in this together.” He smiles at me. “Nell, my life is yours and your life is mine. These little things don’t bother me.”

“Nothing seems to bother you.” I take a step closer to him. “I am bothered though. She shouldn’t have beaten up my fiance.”

He snorts. “I wonder how she will react if she hears that word.”

“She will try to kill me, but I will run away before she can do that.” I wrap my arms around him. “But I am sure that she will come around.”

“I know.” He strokes my back. Even if it hurts a little when he does that, I don’t ask him to stop. “You sure about not getting married before we head for college, Nell?”

“Aish!” I push him away and scowl at him. “There’s a right order to do things. I told you that I want to be the head of the house. We will finish university. Then, I will get a high-paying job. Then, we will get married. Who marries at eighteen?”

“I am worried that you might have a change of heart later. You are even sure that I am going to be a broke writer and you are going to be a successful career woman. What if you find another man who is a successful career man and leave me?” Baek Joon-Woo pouts.

“Are you crazy?” I cross my arms and glare at him. “What if you have a change of heart? Evie is still after you. I have tried everything, but she doesn’t stop. How can she look that way at someone else’s man?”

He sighs. “She needs some time, but she will get over it.”

I shake my head. “Sometimes, even a lifetime isn’t enough to get over someone.”

“It might take a lifetime for me to get over you if you leave me.” Baek Joon-Woo puts his finger on my chin and raises my head. “Have I told you that you shine under the moonlight?”

“I have lost count.” I glance at his lips. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

“Demanding.” He chuckles. “Where’s my girl who ran away when I kissed her for the first time?”

“Don’t remind me of that.” I press my face on his chest. “I thought that you wanted to take a bite of my ice cream, but you kissed my lips.”

“There was ice cream on your lips.” He laughs. “It was also my first kiss.”

“No way!” I step away from him. “You went out with Evie.”

He scratches the back of his head and looks away, embarrassed. “We were in middle school. She was the one who asked me out. I was a little clueless back then. Besides that, I never felt a strong urge to kiss anyone until I realized that I have feelings for you.”

“I don’t believe you.” I squint at him. “Evie is head over heels for you.”

“Maybe it’s my face?” He scratches his chin. “She was the one who broke up with me. I wasn’t upset. I understood her reasons, but I don’t understand why she transferred to my school. She’s even saying with her distant relative.”

“You are brave.” I take off my shoe. “Talking about your ex-girlfriend in front of me? Are you trying to show off that you are popular?”

Baek Joon-Woo raises his hand and steps backwards slowly. “Nell, my darling, calm down.”

Calm down? I have to go to school and endure that girl in the same classroom. She keeps ogling him every day. I even saw her touch herself once when she was watching Baek Joon-Woo in the library. Only this idiot hasn’t realized how obsessive that girl is. I run after him with a shoe in my hand. “If you want me to calm down, sit down and let me hit you.”

“If I do that, I won’t be able to get up tomorrow,” He shouts back at me. He’s just a little ahead of me. I know that he can run faster. I am tired after a minute. My body is aching. I squat down on the concrete. He comes back to me and squats down in front of me.

I look into his eyes. The silence feels natural. After a moment, we laugh together.

“Want to take a stroll?” He gives his hand to me. “It’s a full moon tonight.”

“Sure.” I grab his hand. The weather is a little cold. The spring is beginning. Being with him like this feels right. It’s good that my mother found out. I used to feel a little guilty whenever I lied to her. Now, I feel a little lighter.

“Wait.” I stop walking. I feel something wiggling in my palm. I let go of his hand. I glance at my hand. I feel something faint as a whisper and warm struggling to get out of the centre of my palm. I stare at the small butterfly made of faint light. It flaps the small wings like a newborn, trying to fly up. It begins to disappear when it is touched by the moonlight and disappears from sight.

What the hell did I just see? Baek Joon-Woo is staring at my palm with a half-opened mouth. I move my hand and then, curl and uncurl my fingers. Nothing happens. No butterflies made up of moonlight are coming out of my palm again. I ask Baek Joon-Woon, “Did you also see something strange a while ago?”

“I am not sure about strange.” He holds my hand and kisses the centre of my palm. “I am sure that I saw something magical.”

He has a way with words. I am sure that I should be freaking out right now, but he has managed to make me feel like this again. Whether I am angry or hateful, he always makes me feel beautiful. He’s one of the people who makes this world a better place. When I see things through his eyes, I can also recognize the little miracles in this cold world.

“Joon-Woo, it was strange though.” I furrow my brows. “I am sure that butterflies aren’t supposed to come out of hands like this.”

“It’s strange because you never saw this happening before.” He tells me with a light tone, “Just because we didn’t see it, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist in the world.”

I purse my lips. How could he still act this way though? “Joon-Woo, have you ever saw this happening before?”

Suddenly, his eyes turn golden. He grabs my arms and shakes me hard. “Nell!!!”

“Joon-Woo, what are you doing?” He seems quite anxious. I see people pointing at us. Where is this place? I realize that I am sitting inside a car.

“Nell?” He searches for something on my face. “Look into my eyes and say my name.”

Is he wearing contact lenses? I stare at him. He looks like he’s in his mid-twenties. How did Baek Joon-Woo grow up in a second? Baek Joon-Woo doesn’t look at me like this. This man is not him. Who is he? I blink my eyes. His golden eyes are so intense.

Eli Sanguine.

The name comes to me all of a sudden. I remember now. Baek Joon-Woo is already dead. This man is not him. I blink my eyes several times. I feel a little disappointed. Just a moment ago, I was with Baek Joon-Woo. Now, I am with this person. “Eli, I remember now. I was dreaming. That’s why I was confused.”

He exhales. “You scared me.”

I look at my swollen fingers. My palm feels cold, but I can still feel the lingering sensation that Baek Joon-Woo’s lips left on my palm. Eli exclaims when he sees my hands. “What happened to you?”

“I am fine.” I don’t want him to touch my hands that Baek Joon-Woo held a moment ago. I am afraid that I will forget Joon-Woo’s warmth. Eli glances at me with questions. “I am fine, Eli. I am fine.”

I know that I shouldn’t have the wounds that I got when my mother had beaten me up around nine years ago. I shouldn’t still feel the sensation of Baek Joon-Woo’s lips on my palm.

The person who caused this accident must be someone I forgot about. Baek Joon-Woo also knew that I had magic.

My memories are returning.