“Us?”
“The best hot chocolate team in South Korea.”
I smile. “We should start training.”
“Olympics?”
I nod and sip my hot chocolate. We stroll pass a group of kids playing cards on the floor to the giant window in the corner of the room. He leans against the window and sets his cup on the ledge.
“I did a little research on archery,” he says.
I stare at him. “You did?”
“After watching you the other day, I thought how cool of a sport it was, but I didn’t know anything about it. Did you know that an arrow shot from the Korean horn bow can travel the farthest of any other arrow shot from a bow?”
I lift my eyebrows. “Yes, 145 meters, actually.”
“And during the Three Kingdom period the Hwarang warriors developed their archery skills to unify the land.”
I crawl up on the window ledge across from him, crossing my legs. “No, I didn’t. I guess I never paid much attention to the horn bow’s history.”
We continue chatting about the Hwarang warriors and then he finishes his spiel on the history of Korean archery, but all I can think about is how weird it is that I’m actually enjoying hanging out with him. He’s the most normal thing in my life. And I need normal right now.
Outside, the snow falls heavy and thick, piling up on the trees and on the snow runs, glittering under the spotlights. It’s magical and perfect, and I never want it to end.
I glance over at Marc and realize he’s staring at me with those gorgeous eyes. I wish I hadn’t worn a sweater, because my cheeks are burning. I’m so hot.
He studies me intently and then lowers his voice. “Do we have a chance?”
My whole body screams to wrap my arms around him and say YES! but Komo’s words about Haemosu’s vengeance stop me. What if Haemosu sees me talking to Marc and hurts him next? Could I live with that?
And even if Haemosu wasn’t in the picture, Dad would totally flip.
“I don’t think we do,” I finally choke out.
He looks away. “Could you at least tell me why?”
“I should go,” I say abruptly.
“Jae.” He grabs my arm, pulling me closer to him. The way he says my name melts my insides. “Don’t go. Stay.”
His eyes study my lips, and all I can think about is how close we are. How his presence pulls at me. He reaches out his hand and runs his fingers through my hair.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispers.
Our faces are breaths away. I grab the front of his sweater for support because the world is swirling like the snow outside. Beneath my palms, his heartbeat thumps, alive and wild. His hands find mine and swallow them up. The gold ring on his finger cools my hot skin. He slowly rubs his thumb across my palm. My heart races.
His lips touch my forehead, and his hands slide up to my wrist. Then he shouts and jerks back, holding his hand.
“What’s wrong?” I say.
“That bracelet.” His face is pained. “It burned me.”
I stare at his hand, and sure enough, his fingers are red. I fumble with my sweater, pulling up the sleeve to study the bracelet, touching it lightly. It’s warm but not that hot. Then I notice one of the eyes of the five dragons has become as red as fire.
“That wasn’t red before, was it?” he asks.
No. It wasn’t.
A shiver hurtles down my spine. The iridescent ruby eye is strangely lifelike, and it is staring at me. Watching.
CHAPTER 16
“Jae Hwa!”
“Jae Hwa!”
“Jae Hwa!”
“Jae Hwa!”
“Jae Hwa!”
I spin round and round, the voices calling to me in the darkness. Where am I? I reach out my hands and grope the void, swiping empty air through my fingertips.
A breeze catches my hair. “Help me,” it whispers.
I blink and search for light, but it’s as dark as the deepest night.
“Help!”
“Help!”
“Help!”
“Help!”
The voices gain in volume, pressing around me, crying over and over. I clamp my hands against my ears. “Shut up!” I yell. But the voices strengthen until I find myself huddled into a ball on the rough stone floor.
Where am I?
I already know the answer. I’m locked in a tomb with the tormented cries of my ancestors’ trapped souls. I want to help them. I do. But I’m no different than they are. I failed the first test with Haemosu just as they did. I let him touch me.
My motivation to fight has flown with the wind.
“Jae! Jae Hwa!”
Someone is shaking me. My head is tucked into my knees; I lift it and shade my face against the light. I’m scrunched into a ball in the corner of the ski resort room. How did I get here?
“You okay?” Michelle asks me as Lily wraps a blanket over my shoulders. “You were screaming and woke us up.”
“I—I’m sorry. Bad dream.” My teeth chatter even though the ondol heating system under the floor seeps warmth through my flannels. Lily tucks the blanket tighter around me.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lily says. “We don’t mind. Let’s pull our yos together for moral support.”
“Yeah,” I say, my voice cracking. “I’d like that.”
So we drag the three yos next to one another and snuggle back under the covers while the snowstorm rages outside. I tuck the blanket up under my chin, willing my body to stop shaking. Lily passes out crackers, and we munch on them, listening to the howl of the wind.
“That wind,” I say, then stop. They can’t understand how it reminds me of my ancestors’ moans. I’m alone in my misery.
“Did you and Marc kiss?” Michelle asks. I suspect she’s trying to distract me from my dream.
I sigh. “I wish.”
My fingers find the bracelet on my wrist. I don’t tell her what it is or why we were distracted from our first kiss.
“I’m thinking of kissing Kumar,” Lily blurts. “Do you think I should?”
“Well, you spent enough of the day with him,” Michelle says. “I was totally the third wheel.”
“You should absolutely kiss him,” I whisper. “Because you never know if a kiss will be your last.”
In the moonlight, I catch Lily looking at me oddly, but then she says, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“And Michelle, you were right about Marc. I shouldn’t have given you a hard time about trying to hook us up.”
She smiles sagely. “That’s what friends are for.”
I fall asleep, this time dreaming of Marc’s lips on mine, his body pressed close. But every time we touch, the red dragon eyes envelope us in their crimson light. We run, but there’s nowhere to hide.
When we arrive back in Seoul, I take the subway to Komo’s house rather than going straight home since Dad won’t fly in from his Jeju trip until later tonight. I decide to text him and let him know where I’ll be. Instead of ignoring my text or responding with an okay, he texts back.
Missed you. Do you want to eat out when I get back?
Surprised, I text: Missed u 2. How about shabu shabu 2night?
I should be home by 6.
I sigh, knowing there’s no way Dad will make it home by then. He works too hard. But I’m glad we’ll finally have some time together. I text back, a smile on my face: Sounds like fun.
I’m dying to text Marc. We swapped numbers after we got off the bus, but what do I say? “Hey, we almost kissed last night except that annoying bracelet of mine messed stuff up. Want to try again?”
No. That would be weird and awkward.
Komo’s door flings open just as I’m about to text Michelle asking for advice. Komo whisks me inside, the door slamming behind me.