Gilded (16 page)

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.

“Well,” Komo says with a frown. “I heard you went skiing even after I advised against it. Still alive, I see.”

I don’t bother telling her Dad thought it would be a good idea. Help me get my mind off stuff. Instead I show her the bracelet.

She scowls, her eyebrows knitting close together. “I told you not to let him touch you.”

It’s as if I’d been slapped. Of all people in the whole entire planet, I thought she’d understand. Now she’s treating
me
as if I’d done something wrong. “How did you know?”

“My sister had the same bracelet.” Komo starts down the hall and sits on the floor at a small table.

I want to kick myself. Haemosu made me feel as if I was special, different. How wrong I was. I fell for the same bracelet trick he’s been using for a thousand years.

“That piece of information might have been helpful,” I say.

After I slip off my boots, I settle onto one of the cushions as she pours me green tea. I scrunch up my nose at its sharp flavor and search for sugar.

“It is good for your health,” she says. “Drink it.”

I cup my hands around the green teacup. “I know I shouldn’t
have touched him. It’s just—” I don’t even know where to begin with all the questions I have. “I need to understand what is happening to me.”

“You are being gilded in preparation for the marriage ceremony.” She calmly sips her tea as if we’re just chatting about the weather. “Remember how Haemosu visited Princess Yuhwa five times and still she rejected him?” I nod. “It is my theory that he is reliving that rejection with each girl but hoping this time for acceptance. Those dragons’ eyes on your bracelet reflect each encounter with Haemosu. Think of it as a dating ritual; but in this case he takes a little part of your soul every time you meet until all five eyes burn red and you are his forever.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?”

“I was hoping it might never come to this. You had enough to worry about without knowing about the bracelet.”

I wrap my arms around myself. “So he takes a little part of me each time? What does that mean?”

“I only know what Sun told me.” Komo stares into her teacup, and her voice softens. “As time progressed, she felt a greater connection with the Spirit World. It was like she was half in our world and half in that world. She started seeing more otherworldly creatures. Portals between the Spirit World and our world opened up to her.”

“Did that help her fight Haemosu?”

“She was distant by that point. She never talked about it much. She used to write down her thoughts in her journal, but I never found it.” Komo focuses on me as if she had forgotten I was even in the room. “This is why you need to practice your Tae Kwon Do. With those skills you will have the
power to defeat him. Tell me everything. Tell me how it happened to you.”

So I tell her, even about my ski stunt on the slopes, the stars, and the weird deer part. She doesn’t interrupt. And once I start, there’s no stopping.

Afterward she’s quiet. The room lies silent except for my fingers tapping the table as I wait for her to tell me what to do. I need her to have the answers. I sure don’t.

The room has grown dark, and the house seems to creak under the strain of the wind. I search for a light switch to drown out the gloom settling in.

“There were girls inside a palace,” I tell her. “They were trying to escape. Last night I dreamed about them, and it was so real. Maybe it was real like that connection thing you were talking about. They kept begging me to help them. I think that’s what the dokkaebi was talking about. I think Haemosu’s not only been taking the girls, but imprisoning them, too. I just haven’t figured out why he would do that.”

Komo’s eyes widen. She stands, knocking over her teacup in the process, and crosses the room to stare out the window. Her hand covers her mouth, and I see she’s shaking. When she doesn’t say anything, I go to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

“That would be something Haemosu would do,” she finally says. A tear trickles down her cheek. “Not just take them, but torture them. Never let their spirits reach heaven.”

That’s when I realize both of us have lost someone who meant the world to us. I think about Michelle and her thoughts about everyone having a purpose. Is this my purpose? Is that what Palk is hoping for and what Haemosu is so worried about?
That I could be the one to save them? An insane idea, but if I don’t act soon, I’ll join those girls.

I pull Komo into a hug because I can’t help but think this is exactly what Mom would do at this exact moment.

“My sister is in there,” Komo whispers. “I am sure of it. We must free her. We must.” Then she wipes her face and clears her throat. “There is no time for looking back. Only time for what lies ahead.”

“Is it even possible to stop Haemosu?” I ask as we begin to clear the table. “I felt so powerless against him.”

“It would have helped if you had stayed out of the sunlight. Or fought him in our world.” Komo is all brisk-like again. “If you had not let him touch you and pull you into his lands. If you had listened to me.”

“Komo, I can’t just live in some hole for the rest of my life.”

“True enough.”

I wander to the far wall and study the sword hanging on it. “The Spirit World has magical powers, doesn’t it? Like him turning me into a deer.”

“Yes, that is one component. It is called metamorphosis. The transformation of one being into another.” She pulls the sword off the wall and hands it to me. “But he did not turn you. He gave you the idea, but you had to have the power within you to change. Even in his own lands, he does not have the power over you. Ultimately, it is your choice. Did he force you to run?”

I bite my inner lip. “No.”

“Did he make you take his hand?”

“No. But I didn’t really understand at first. It was like a
dream. And then when I realized he was touching me, I pulled away.”

“Precisely. So there is your way to destroy him.” She takes the sword from me and sets it back on the wall.

“I’m lost.”

She smiles, which is really annoying. “When you said no, you took some of his power away.”

“He let me go. I’m like his toy.”

She lowers herself onto the cushion and glares at me. “Are you here to learn or to teach? Stop pacing the room like some caged animal.”

I move to the window. Komo is right. I do feel like some caged animal, just waiting to be snatched up. And I hate it. “How am I supposed to fight an immortal—a demigod—with Tae Kwon Do? It’s not like I have special powers or anything.”

“It was through your own strength that you escaped. Perhaps you have a chance to defeat him in his world after all. You were able to shape-shift; you have the talent. Like Princess Yuhwa.”

I think of how quick I’d been when I ran across that field and how I had turned into the deer. “I did seem to have some kind of power, but I don’t think that will be enough.”

“Disbelief is the root of the impossible.”

That sounds like something Mom would say.

Can I do what Komo is asking me to do: confront Haemosu and put a stop to all this? Komo makes it sound simple. But Haemosu isn’t a typical target where I aim for the bull’s-eye.

My heart tells me he’s far smarter and more complicated.

As I ride up the elevator to my apartment, leaning against the cold silver wall, I wonder at Komo’s explanation about the bracelet. I hold up my arm so the eyes gleam in the florescent light, and her words echo through my head:
He takes a little part of your soul every time you meet until all five eyes burn red and you are his forever.

I drop my hand.

Forever. So final. So definite.

I spin the bracelet until I’m looking at only the four dragons whose eyes are still gold, unchanged. Somehow it makes me feel better. As if I still have a fighting chance.

Then the elevator doors slide open and I practically choke.

Haechi is standing there, his horns nearly touching the hallway ceiling. He’s as still as stone. I clutch my suitcase tighter, waiting for the elevator doors to close. They don’t. It’s as if they’re frozen, too. Sure, he’s supposed to be my protector, but there’s no denying he’s beyond scary. And he couldn’t stop Haemosu from gilding me.

“I see you have met Haemosu,” Haechi says, eying my bracelet. “If only I had the honor of assisting you in your time of need. I have no power in his land unless I am invited.”

A new idea hits me. “He’s imprisoned my ancestors, hasn’t he? Can you help me get them out?”

“Impulsive and brave.” Haechi shakes his head. “No. That task is for you and only you. But I do have a message from Palk, the great one of light and goodness.”

I clutch my suitcase tighter.

“Never doubt. Never shy from who you are meant to be.”

“How is that supposed to help me save them?”

The air shimmers around us like it does on a hot summer’s day, and Haechi’s body starts to fade. “To save them,” he says, “you must open the tomb.”

Then he disappears, leaving behind the faint scent of ginseng. The hallway looks empty without his massive bulk overcrowding it. Somehow I manage to unlock my knees and head down the hall to our apartment, trailing my suitcase behind me. My steps are slow as I grow closer to the door. Dad won’t be home from his trip from Jeju until six. And that’s if he gets back in time. Now that Haechi is gone, I wish he’d stayed.

Never shy from who you are meant to be.
What had he meant?

I punch in the code and enter. The click of the door shutting behind me sounds loud against the stillness of the apartment. Beams of sunlight trickle through the windows, dust captured in its path like falling snow, and I can make out the low hum of the kimchi refrigerator as I slide off my boots and coat.

The sunlight reminds me of when I’d first stepped into Haemosu’s world and it was perfect and unblemished, and suddenly
I long for that feeling. I move into the sun’s path, close my eyes, and drink in its warmth. Memories of running through the forest as a deer, the wind against my face, and the power I had consume me.

A cloud passes over the rays, and the warmth vanishes. My eyes pop open, and I jump back. Is Haemosu trying to lure me back into his world? I press my body against the wall and wait, as still as stone, for him to appear.

But nothing happens. I’m flipping out over nothing. Perfect.

I rub my hands on my jeans. This isn’t good. I’m dying to return to a place that I know will only bring me harm. What is wrong with me?

I’ve only been gone for one night and yet it feels like a lifetime. I stare at my bracelet. My whole world has changed now that I’ve been gilded.

I head to my desk, where I have all my notes on my translation of Mom’s
Samguk Yusa
. Now that I have entered Haemosu’s world, I’m hoping the myth will hold more meaning for me.

Grandfather told me about the time when Habaek, Princess Yuhwa’s father, tried to stop his daughter from being captured by Haemosu. But is there more to the story? Have I overlooked something?

I skim through my chicken scratch handwriting until I get to the part where Habaek challenged Haemosu to a fight.

Haemosu descended to Habaek’s palace, where they tested each other’s skill. Being deities, they tested each other in the power of
_________

What is this word, I wonder, tapping my pencil on the paper. Could this be what Komo was talking about? Metamorphosis? Like when I turned into the deer. I keep reading.

Habaek first changed himself into a carp, but Haemosu changed himself into an otter and caught Habaek. Then Habaek changed into a deer, whereupon Haemosu changed into a wolf and chased him.

I stop and realize this is the same creature I chose, too. Or maybe Haemosu influenced me to choose. Interesting. The rest of the page is unfinished. I settle myself in my chair and begin to work, using my computer and sometimes texting Michelle for help. An hour later I’ve finished my rough translation.