rebloggin'

[1]

As Go Youngeun awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, she found herself transformed in her bed into a reptilian alien.

"…"

Her hands had morphed into claws, and her skin, glistening brown scales. But she wasn't any reptile that she had ever seen before -- what kind of lizard had opposable thumbs? Youngeun jolted upright in her bed, throwing her covers off, now feeling completely awake. What in the world had just happened?

It was no dream. Her room, a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small, lay quietly between the four well-known walls. Above the table, on which an unpacked collection of Darkness records was spread out, hung an antique mirror, one of the only items that Youngeun had decorated the room with. As Youngeun approached it, she saw a -- there was no other word for it -- beautiful lizard, scales gleaming under the light of dawn diffusing inside the room.

Youngeun's glance then turned to the window. The rosy sky and the dew collecting on the grass made her inexplicably morose. 'Why don't I keep sleeping for a little while longer and forget all this foolishness,' she thought. But this was entirely impractical, for she had to work. 'O God,' she thought, 'what a miserable job I've chosen!'

As she was thinking about all of the mistakes she had made in life to end up in this situation, there was a quiet knock on the door by the head of the bed.

[2]

"Yeongeun-ah!"

The shrill female voice outside the door belonged to her mother. Her mother—who startled at loud noises, who refused to watch anything remotely frightening, who once made Yeongeun throw away an entirely harmless ceramic figurine because it looked like it might be cursed—would not be handling this well.

And by this, Yeongeun meant the fact that she was currently a reptile.

More importantly, her mother would not understand it. Which meant there would be panic. Possibly crying. Definitely phone calls. And, in the worst case scenario, a thorough and immediate disposal of everything Yeongeun owned under the assumption that it had something to do with—

Well.

Everything.

Yeongeun had a lot of things. Her horror films, for one. Not just the easily available ones, but the obscure editions—the B-sides with commentary tracks she had watched more than once. Tarot cards with intricate designs she'd backed on Kickstarter at three in the morning, fully convinced she needed them at the time.

Some of them were expensive. Many of them were difficult to replace.

“Yeongeun-ah?”

She moved without thinking, ducking under the bed. It was not a graceful movement. She had not yet adjusted to the changes in her current body, and something—her back? her tail?—knocked against the bedframe on the way down.

A giant clump of dust fell on her face.

She held her breath and tried to hold her sneeze in.

The door slid open. From where she was pressed against the floor, she could see only a narrow strip of the room… and a pair of feet, in boots.

Her mother did not wear shoes indoors.

“Yeongeun-ah…?” The voice came again, but thinner and rougher this time. Like it had to force its way out. "Where are you hiding?”

She closed her eyes.

[3]

"Yeongeun-ah, please …. are you here?"

Something in her gut screamed.

She remained under the bed, watching.

The boots thudded around her room, the sound illogically growing fainter and fainter the closer they approached. With that, the faint stench of rotting fish assaulted her nose.

Go Yeongeun did everything in her power to remain silent.

The thing masquerading as her mother stopped in front of the bed.

Directly in front of her.

"Yeongeun-ah…"

The voice was nothing more than a thin whisper, barely clinging onto the sound of her mother.

"Yeongeun-ah… My daughter…"

Creeaaak!

The uncanny shifting of bones reached her ears.

"I can see you."

Shit!

Go Yeongeun immediately kicked into survival mode. There was no point in hiding now that she had been discovered. Cornered under the bed, the only way for her to live through what was rapidly becoming a supernatural encounter was to push forward.

And push forward she did.

She burst out of her hiding place -- tail slamming harshly against the frame of her bed -- and swiped at the entity with her newly gained claws.

An inhuman shriek filled the air as four oozing gashes were slashed down the body of the ghost.

Go Yeongeun was startled when the ghost wearing her mother's face started to ooze an inky black liquid from her gashes.

The rotting stench grew stronger, suffocating all of her senses and causing her eyes to water. Her senses, seemingly dialed up to a hundred, were hit headfirst with the worst chemical warfare known to man.

[4]

Go Yeongeun was struck by the enormity of what she had done.

She had just killed a ghost(?) who was wearing the skin of her mother. Where was her real mother? Did it have anything to do with why she had turned into a lizard?

Her head hurt. Not just because of the situation - the smell alone was killing her.

Go Yeongeun desperately needed fresh air. She stumbled outside her room - and then, outside the front door.

---

The streets were in chaos. There seemed to be ghosts attacking people everywhere.

What was this? Did she get cursed for watching too many horror movies? Why was she alone a lizard?

Go Yeongeun belatedly turned on her phone, but the internet was off. She phoned her dad, but he didnt' answer.

"My, you're a beautiful lizard."

Go Yeongeun turned around. A short-haired woman holding a cigarette was speaking to her.

"I," said Go Yeongeun. "Just - just so you know, I'm a human. I woke up like this."

"Oh? Did it happen today?" said the woman, taking out a memopad. "Mind if I ask a few questions?"

"What? What are you?"

"A reporter."

"Wait, do you know anything about what's going on?" asked Go Yeongeun desperately. "I don't know why I woke up like this! What's going on with the ghosts? Why is the supernatural suddenly real?!"

"Hey, now, I asked you for an interview first," said the reporter. She gave her a considering look. "I was about to head to a source. You can tag along if you want, and let me ask a few questions along the way. Ever ridden on the back of a motorcycle?"

---

When they arrived at their destination, Go Yeongeun was taken aback to find it was a familiar place.

"'The Alien Movie Shop?'"

"Owner said they knew things, before the internet went down," explained the reporter - Eun Haje, she now knew. They entered the shop.

The owner - a handsome man with white hair, to whom Go Yeongeun had said 'Thanks, have a good day' just about a hundred times - looked up and met their eyes.

"Go Yeongeun-ssi."

"Wha - you can tell who I am?" said Go Yeongeun, shocked.

"Yes," said the man simply.

They both waited for the man to elaborate.

"…How?" Go Yeongeun asked a beat later.

"Your current body was sent by 'us'."

"Wait, wait, let me write this down," said Eun Haje, taking out a pen.

"What?!" said Go Yeongeun. A suspicion dawned. "Are you saying you know lizard creatures in real life?!"

"Yes," said the man.

"Since when?!"

"From birth."

"I-"

"Ok, look," intervened Eun Haje. "Why don't you explain in six Ws - you know, who, what, when, where, why, how?"

Eventually they got out from the owner that he was part of an alien coalition who was the true force behind The Alien Movie Shop, and that many of their exclusive B-grade horror films had been in fact filmed from real life.

They also found out that the ghosts attacking humans were in fact body-copying aliens - not body snatchers, thank god, her mother's body was safe somewhere - who were trying to take over this unregistered planet.

Sensing the emergency, they had sent the sturdy alien body to Go Yeongeun, and teleported her own body somewhere safe.

"But why?" said Go Yeongeun. "Why me?"

"You're our VIP customer."

"What? Really?" Go Yeongeun was taken aback. "I can't have spent that much on horror movies…"

"You have."

"No way…"

"Well, people don't buy a lot of DVDs these days," Eun Haje cut in. "So the lizard body is safe from these aliens? Does that mean others are all in danger?"

"Yes. You are also in danger. I recommend not leaving the shop until 'we' arrive."

"When's that?"

"Unsure."

"What?!"

Apparently the issue was that the store owner had lost his connection with the alien coalition shortly after providing Go Yeongeun with her body. It had been blocked along with the internet. This was an issue because because the coalition depended on the connection to guide their way - it acted like a navigation app, so to speak.

"Can't we do anything?"

"The satelite dish on the Cheerful Research Institute," said Eun Haje. "It was made to contact aliens, right? Couldn't we use that somehow?"

The store owner thought for a moment. "It may help strengthen the signal."

---

They headed towards the CRI.

The institute was completely empty - scarily so. There were many sturdy doors, all of which crumbled like tofu at the fist of the store owner.

Eun Haje had some experience navigating the institute, so they were able to quickly arrive at the control center.

"Right, so now what?"

"I will input the signal," said the store owner, sitting down in front of the monitor. "Go Yeongeun-ssi, secure the entrance. Once I strengthen the signal, the beings you call 'ghosts' will know I am here."

Her?

But she was just a -

Well, she had this lizard body now. And Eun Haje didn't.

Go Yeongeun nervously stepped closer to the entrance which was wide open since they had smashed the door to enter.

A few minutes passed in silence. Then Eun Haje spoke up.

"Do you hear some-"

"They're here."

It was time to fight.

---

They all just looked like normal people - at least, up until Go Yeongeun punched them. Once damaged, the inky black liquid poured out of their bodies.

Go Yeongeun wished she had thought to bring toothpaste - she wanted to put some below her nostrils, like they did in horror movies, to block out the smell.

It was an endless battle. She punched one person after another.

'This wouldn't make a very good climax,' a part of her mind thought. 'It's too repetitive.'

Nonetheless, she stuck to what worked. Bodies piled up on the floor.

Until -

---

"'We' are here."

A bright white light filled the room.

---

"Yeongeun-ah!"

Go Yeongeun opened her eyes.

She was lying in her bed. Her mother was calling her.

What was going on?

"Yeongeun-ah, it's time for breakfast! Won't you come out?"

Go Yeongeun looked down at her arms. They were human. She touched her face - they were human too.

Of course, it had all been a dream. A mishmash of B-grade SF/Horror movie tropes born from her unconcious mind.

'Maybe mom is right, I do watch too many of these things…'

Then she noticed a garish piece of paper that lay on her bedside table.

---

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