#gswsieun

Corpse of birds in the snow. Red moon bright and eerie up in the sky. A young woman discovered dead in her apartment and people (including the mayor) mysteriously missing. A sane person might be terrified in their electricity-less home, shivering underneath the blankets in fear of the unknown.

Fortunately, Guan Yiming was not particularly sane. While he did not like the darkness, he was forced to get used to and even now finding comfort in it. 

He found a nice place to start a small, contained fire and set out to roast potatoes. Some he would salt and pepper, while others he would top with sweet persimmon jam. Yiming brought two different kinds of persimmon jam for this occasion, one he had purchased from a vendor during the Festival of Wishes, and the other he made himself from as few ingredients as possible. 

Li, his cat, took a liking to the one he made himself and was eagerly licking a drop from his hand. 

“I like you so much,” he admitted with a soft smile, because nobody else was around to hear this secret. This cat reminded him of himself, in a way. Curious but loyal. It followed him everywhere, refusing to stray even when he was out here in the cold. 

Li’s ears twitched. He heard the woman approaching even before Yiming did and leaped from where he sat on the blanket to greet her with a sniff. 

“Hey,” he called out a greeting to the one he had gone on one date with, dear Sieun. “What are you doing out here?” Shouldn’t normal people be hiding indoors? Perhaps she too, was touched by madness. “Potato?” He offered the one that he had just finished roasting and dug out from where it was buried beneath the hot coals. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, it was likely the best one he had made so far and a worthy gift to a friend. 

NOV. 9TH, 4:30PM — Hongsi Hill Lighthouse

The moon persists. Even in the light of day, the blood red sphere made itself known to the island. It hung in coexistence with the sun on the other side, diametrically opposed, one unable to exist without the other.

Hangyeol attempted to shake the sight from the night before from his vision. It appeared when he closed his eyes as easily as those large tentacles knocking him to his feet those months before. Fantastic, he thought to himself, an enemy eliminated and another is bound to take its place, no matter which protector makes itself known. The lighthouse keeper remained steadfast in his faith in whichever deity presented itself to restore peace. He wondered what place they had in fulfilling wishes, and what their motivations might be.

But he did not have time to ponder upon his swirling thoughts for too long. Footsteps tore Hangyeol's sentimental gaze from the window. He turned slowly, cautious in his movements.

The actions were far too swift for him to predict nor prevent; even with the amount of training he had. A force threw him to the ground and pinned him against the uneven floorboards. Sharpened nails pierced the exposed skin of his arms, striping them with blood that the assailant was all too happy to lay eyes upon. Teeth were soon to dig into him next. He exhaled a cry of pain, grimacing while he writhed violently until he managed to break himself free.

He left a sanguine trail as he inched away, and with distance between himself and the other he could finally ascertain his suspicions in clear view. Old Man Choi was on his hands and knees, tongue and fingers scraping against the ground to ingest every drop of the crimson gold he could. Hangyeol took advantage of the distraction, scrambling to his feet. His hand released its hold on his arm to grab for the sheathed tactile machete hanging on the wall.

The soft crunching of grass underneath his feet lasted for but a few steps out the door. Old Man Choi, now more animal than man, barreled toward him once more, hands grasping, mouth chomping like an angry dog. He used the encased weapon as a shield, shoving the flat edge into the sharp rows of teeth. This thing was no longer a human, now driven by some visceral desire to end another's life and feast on the red essence of life. The former lighthouse keeper became exactly what his young employee assumed him to be.

Would he, too, succumb to a similar fate?