“Yes, yes, yes! I give you clue. You give me orb.”
I’ve no idea what he’s talking about, but I attempt a smile as I prepare to duck around him. “Sounds fair.”
“The heart of the moon. Shoot your arrow into it. There your ancestors are. You can free them from their tomb.”
I stop. “What do you mean by freeing my ancestors?”
“Souls of the princesses cry, cry, cry,” he says. “Do you not hear?”
My head is spinning. Grandfather never mentioned anything about this. Is this a trick or for real?
The stories always say never trust a dokkaebi.
He bangs his club onto the concrete. A myriad of colors spark into the air. “Then, then, then! Get me the orb.”
“Heart of the moon? Orb?” I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” With each yes, he pounds his club. “You get. I get.”
The only thing I want right now is to be far, far away.
He lifts his club to twirl it again. I take that moment to duck around him and then sprint up the rest of the stairs. When I reach the main level of the subway station, I’m back in the rush of people scurrying from place to place. I skirt around a group of giggling schoolgirls and glance over my shoulder, hoping the crowds have scared him off. The dokkaebi isn’t following me.
Everything is normal.
Then I stop in my tracks. Because Haechi stands just two feet in front of me. People rush along, talking on their cell phones, totally oblivious to the lionlike creature standing on four legs.
“Trouble?” he asks in a growl.
“How—how,” I swallow hard, “did you know?”
“This is my city. But dokkaebis rarely roam these parts. I did not sense the danger as quickly as I should have. A rift between Kud and Palk in the Spirit World has created recent havoc.”
I lick my lips, completely confused. Why is every creature so determined to talk in riddles? “What do you want?”
“Remember. Palk has commissioned me to protect you. Call my name if you should need my assistance.”
I nod, getting the sense that disagreeing with a creature as fierce and strong as he would not be in my best interests. He vanishes before I have a chance to ask him why Palk even cares about a lowly mortal like me.
Although I have to admit it’s a little comforting to know he’s on my side.
By the time I enter the Coffee Bean, I’m out of breath, and my nerves are fried squid. The paper lanterns dangling from the thick-beamed ceiling and olive-green wallpaper give the coffee shop a cozy atmosphere. The aroma of roasted coffee and cinnamon fills the air. The room’s warmth soaks into me, and I realize how cold I am. Good Enough isn’t playing, but their instruments are laid out on the stage, so they must be on their break.
I stand still and take it all in. It’s all so normal. So safe. I cling to that feeling, pretending for a moment that Grandfather’s story is just some awful fairy tale. That immortals, Haechi, and dokkaebis are mythical.
If only.
“Jae!”
That’s Michelle’s voice. I catch sight of her waving with both hands from a table at the far end, near a mock-traditional Korean-style oven. She’s wearing a pale-pink cashmere sweater rimmed with pearls, and her hair is pulled back into a sleek-styled ponytail.
Next to her is Lily, with her curly blond hair, beaming a lip gloss smile at me as if this is the best night ever. Lily tends to get overdramatic, but then I see why. Kumar is sitting at their table. She’s been crushing on him since day one of school, and apparently she’s finally gotten his attention. He’s easy to spot, being the only Indian in the room. But it’s Marc, also with them, who stops my steps. He looks totally hot in a dark-blue fleece pullover. What’s he doing here?
His eyes leave the TV where the soccer game is playing to find mine. For a moment our eyes lock. He raises his eyebrows as if he’s surprised I’m here, and then his mouth curves into a slow smile. My heart flips. Twice.
I order a latte and head over to them. Lily pats a stool next to her for me to sit on.
“You’re back early,” Michelle says.
Kumar glances up from his mini tablet to nod a hello. “Escaped the relatives, huh?”
“Hey, Fighter Girl,” Marc says. “Your trip go well?”
How did he know I went on a trip? As if sensing my question, Michelle whispered into my ear, “Don’t hate me forever. He was asking about you, so I told him you’d be here.”
Still too cold to take off my jacket, I cup my drink between my hands and watch the steam curl up from the mug. I feel my face flush. “Yeah.” I hesitate and then say, “Dad had to come back early for work.” I hate lying, but the truth is too bizarre.
“Perfect!” Michelle says, totally oblivious. “Now we can get back on board with our weekend plans to shop for the ski trip next week.”
“I wouldn’t mind checking out the shops after the next set of songs,” Lily adds.
Ugh. Shopping. Just the thought of it sounds exhausting. Besides, I haven’t had much luck lately in going places, with dokkaebis and Haechis and everything else freak-worthy popping up. I shiver at that thought. “No offense, but I’ll skip the shopping.”
“You hardly hang out with us anymore.” Michelle flattens her napkin nice and neat, looking annoyed. “And now you want to quit NHS. What’s going on?”
Great. All I want is to fit in and be normal. Why does it have to be so hard? I glance over at the guys, both oblivious to our conversation as they discuss something on Kumar’s tablet.
“Nothing is going on,” I lie. “Everything is fine. And I’ve decided not to quit NHS.”
“Really?” Michelle asks. She looks so relieved, I only regret my impulsive decision a little. “Excellent.”
“You should tell her,” Lily says to Michelle.
“Tell me what?” I ask.
Michelle folds the napkin into fourths. “Charlie broke up with me this morning.” She presses her lips together, and I see tears edging the corners of her eyes. “By e-mail.”
“E-mail?” I ask. “What a loser. And a coward. He could’ve at least called you.”
“I guess I’m feeling a little needy lately.”
“I’m so sorry.” I grab her hand. “He’s a moron not to want to be with you.”
“That’s what I told her,” Lily says. “That’s why I suggested shopping. We’ll get her mind off it all.”
“Let’s not talk about Charlie anymore,” Michelle says. “Tell us about your trip to your grandfather’s house. Was it as bad as you thought it would be?”
“Worse.” I give a shaky laugh. If they only knew. “Actually, my grandfather gave me a gift. It’s pretty cool.”
I pull out my cell phone, find the picture I took, and show it to the group.
Kumar sets aside his mini tablet. “Very cool,” he says.
Marc puts on his glasses. “My guess is it’s at least four hundred years old.”
“Wow.” I study Marc, who is staring at the picture. “How do you know that?”
“My parents are archaeologists on their off time. They cart me along for kicks.” He shrugs and takes a swig of his Coke as if it’s no big. So why do I get the feeling he’s not telling me something?
“Kumar was just practicing for his big speech at the college fair tomorrow,” Lily says, as proud as a mother hen.
“Right,” I say, still grappling with the fact that my friends think researching physics is one version of fun. “That’s the one where the Harvard guy is coming to hear you talk about the brain thing?”
Kumar nods, scrolling through his notes. Michelle and Lily slip away for coffee refills while I half listen to Kumar and Marc talk about how humans access different brain parts and half watch the door for strange creatures. My mind keeps flashing back to when I grabbed Yuhwa’s hand and was pulled into the mural. How was that possible? A parallel universe or something?