I scowl. He has no idea how mentioning my lineage disturbs me. “I can put on a party if I need to. But since you’re here, you can go find some humans to hang these ridiculous lanterns.”
He laughs, shakes his head, and with a salute, marches off. The moment he leaves, I text Michelle and Lily, asking them where they are. Next I call the maintenance office about the tables and dump the first box of flowers onto the gym floor. By the time I have flowers stretched out in long roped lines across the gym floor, Kang-dae saunters through the gym doors, a parade of soccer players following in his wake.
“Will these suffice for the humans you were asking for?” Kang-dae asks.
I’ve no idea how he managed to wrangle the soccer team to help hang decorations, but who am I to complain? I show them the ladders and hand them fishing line. Meanwhile, a group of ajusshi come in with the tables. After I direct where to set them up, I drag the ropes of flowers to the tables and start taping them to their fronts.
“Care for help?” Kang-dae asks.
I glance at my watch. Four o’clock. I have three hours to finish decorating and somehow slip into my dress. I’d call Marc, but he’s at his training until 7:00 p.m. He won’t even be at the party on time.
I hand Kang-dae a rope end. “Hold this,” I say, and stalk to the other side of the table, where I tape down my portion of the rope.
“Quite the operation you’ve undertaken,” Kang-dae says, lazily watching as I wrestle with the rest of the string before we move onto the next table. “Do you think this whole clandestine endeavor will work?”
“I hope so.” I stand back to assess my work. The flower strand is skewed and two of the loops are off-center. “Let’s hope it works better than my decorating.”
“Agreed. But if it were me, I’d just lie my way into North Korea. Why mess around with all of this nonsense?”
“Because it has to look believable. We can’t just go traipsing into North Korea without a reason. There is no way the government would allow a bunch of teens into the country. Plus, what would our parents say? You know it would be all over the news.”
“If you say so.” He sprawls out on a bleacher, crossing his arms. “So how long have you and Marc been dating?”
It feels like we’ve been together forever, but as I think about it, I realize it’s only been about four months. Then I blush as I remember our first kiss. It was right after he’d saved me when Haemosu pulled me into the Spirit World through my locker.
“Not long,” I say, trying to fluff a flower I’d accidentally stepped on. “He’s been really supportive through all of this. I don’t know if I could’ve made it without him.”
“Oh, I’m sure you could. You’re tougher than you think. You should give yourself more credit.”
I focus on the flower, not sure what to think about Kang-dae’s look or why he’s complimenting me. We work for the next few minutes in silence, putting the final touches on the flowers and then piling the flower arrangements onto the tables. The soccer team hauls in ladders and yells directions to each other.
Kang-dae and I are tacking the photos onto the easels when Michelle and Lily rush in, each holding a long white cake box.
“Girl,” Michelle says, out of breath. “I’m over-the-world sorry. The vendor called and we had issues. Lily and I had to taxi it to the other side of eternity to find another bakery that had fresh kongtteok.”
“Those rice cakes better taste good.” I peek inside the box, discovering round cakes of steamed rice sprinkled with beans and smelling of honey. My stomach growls at the sight. “Don’t worry, though, I saved plenty of work for you.”
“So.” Michelle scoots closer to Kang-dae. “Who’s your friend?”
“Kang-dae, meet Michelle and Lily,” I say. “He’s a friend from Yonsei University. While the two of you were touring Seoul, he came to my rescue.”
Michelle is all smiles and she bats her eyelashes. Even Lily looks a little overwhelmed by Kang-dae’s striking looks as she sets the boxes on the table.
“You could drag that background against the wall and set it up behind the donation table,” I tell him.
“Your wish is my command,” Kang-dae says. He flashes my friends a smile and then heads across the gym.
“My, my,” Michelle says. “Where did you pick that specimen up?”
“Does Marc know about him?” Lily asks.
“He’s actually a friend of Marc’s.” I smile over this, because Marc actually hates Kang-dae.
“Does he have a girlfriend?” Michelle asks as she uncovers the cakes.
“He’s a college boy,” Lily says. “I’d stay clear.”
Michelle grins. “I know.”
“I really don’t know much about him,” I say. “But I do know we’ve got a party to get on.”
Astonishingly, by seven o’clock, the room is set up. Techno music plays over the system, and the air smells a mix of sweet from the rice cakes and savory from the sesame-seed sauce for the kimbap. A table in the corner is stacked with lanterns that people can buy later and write their wishes on. At dark, we’ll light the lanterns and release them into the air. I already know what will be on mine.
We’ve strung the pillars in the lobby with tiny white lights to greet partyers as they come in, as well as looped lights along the bleachers. A disco ball, which the soccer team somehow managed to hang along with the colored lanterns, spins from the ceiling. It spits sparkles across the walls, making me feel a little light-headed. The background is set up behind the lantern table, asking for medical funds, while the easels are strategically placed about the gym.
I stop and stare at one of the pictures on the easel in front of me. It’s a girl, her hands clasped together. Streaks of dirt are smeared over her cheeks and forehead. Wisps of black hair have been pulled out of her ponytail. But it’s her eyes that make my breath catch. They stare at me, empty and hungry. I’m not sure if it’s hunger for food or a hunger for life, and that thought twists at my heart.
Even though the forefront of this mission is to find the White Tiger orb, my heart warms knowing that even if we fail at that task, we’re still providing relief and hope to many North Koreans.
“Jae Hwa,” Lily says, traveling up to me in her blue gown. Her top is tight, with spaghetti straps, while the chiffon skirt swings freely around her knees. She’s curled her long blond hair into perfect ringlets. “You haven’t changed yet? People are arriving. You’d better hurry.”
“You look gorgeous,” I tell her. “Kumar is going to have a heart attack when he sees you.”
“I sure hope so.” She smiles slyly. “He’s supposed to be here by now. He was going to give Marc a ride.”
My heart sinks, knowing he’s being dragged into this insane world I’m a part of. I almost spit out everything, but I bite my tongue instead. Now isn’t the time.
“Marc said they’d be here around seven thirty, so you’ll have to wait a bit.”
“At least Michelle is having a good time.”
I follow Lily’s gaze. Michelle is standing by the punch bowl with Kang-dae, lightly touching the sleeve of his navy button-down shirt. She whispers something into his ear. He laughs, throwing back his head as if what she said was the funniest thing ever. Which it could possibly be. Michelle’s not only smart and gorgeous, but she can put the charm on when she wants to.
Still, a stab cuts through me. Which is ridiculous. I shouldn’t feel jealous that he’d rather talk to her than me. I should be thrilled. My best friend finally found somebody to help her recover from her jerk of an ex-boyfriend back in Ohio.
“I’ll be back in two seconds and help you cut those cakes,” I promise Lily.
Snatching up my backpack and dress, I dart down the steps into the basement of the gym. I don’t want to be caught changing in the main bathroom when everyone is arriving, so I head to the girls’ locker room in
stead. After swinging the door open, I grope along the wall until my hand scrapes across the light switch.
The bulbs blink, a skittering noise, as if resisting the electricity. The light settles over the lockers and worn benches in an uneven, yellowish glow. I toss my pack onto the first bench. I strip down to my bra and panties, eyeing the shower and wishing I could rinse off. But there isn’t time, so I resort to slipping on my black dress. It hugs my body, and I have to stretch to zip up the back. The one strap over my right shoulder is all twisted. I am trying to adjust it when the faucet squeaks in the adjoining bathroom. Then a rush of running water echoes over the tiles.
My skin chills. Did someone else come into the changing rooms after me? I peer around the corner to where the sinks are, but no one’s there. Before Haemosu messed with my brain, I would’ve shrugged the noises off. But those days are over.
My heart speeds up as I pad barefoot to the sink area. A row of five sinks with identical mirrors stretches before me. The bathroom stalls are all propped open, empty. The sound of rushing water has vanished, replaced with a steady plink, plink, plink. Water drips from the sink directly in front of me. I clamp my hand over the cold, clammy handle to turn off the faucet. It doesn’t budge. It’s as if it’s been welded into place.
The plinking sound rises around me, reverberating until it’s deafening. Instinctively, I push my hands over my ears.
My gaze slides up to the mirror. A face that’s not mine stares back at me. I scream and stagger backward, desperate to escape, but my eyes are paralyzed by the face that floats out of the mirror and becomes a whole body, wispy as a ghost.
It’s a gwishin. My temples pound. She’s wearing a floor-length white hanbok, and her long black hair blows as if she’s trapped in a wind tunnel. Her lips move, but all I can hear is the pounding of the water. She reaches out to me, her gnarly fingers grasping, almost clawing.
My back presses against the concrete wall. I should run or yell or something, but I’m immobilized. A small part of my brain reminds me how I promised myself I’d never let fear immobilize me again.
The faucet squeaks and water gushes from all the spigots, full blast.
“Danger surrounds you”—the gwishin’s voice finally breaks through the madness.
Water spills out of the sinks, tumbling in waterfalls onto the floor.
“Trust no one,” she continues.
I’m standing ankle deep in water. “Leave,” I say. “Now.”
“Death wants you.” She’s reaching out both hands. “Come with me instead. Join us.”
Terror spears through my chest. It empowers me enough to wrench myself away from whatever power she holds over me. I swipe my arm at her face, but swing only through chilled air. She cackles and vanishes.
The noise plummets into silence.
Somehow I’m standing by the sink again, hands hugging my sides, my chest heaving. The sink is dry. Not a drop of water on the floor. I chance to look back into the mirror and see Kang-dae strolling through the bathroom door. I jump and scream.
“Whoa!” he says. “I came to check on you. Heard some screaming. Everything all right?”
“God,” I yell, running shaking hands over my face. “You scared the life out of me. What are you doing in here? I could’ve been naked!”
He holds his hands into the air. “Calm it down. You know the Council wouldn’t be too pleased if I let anything unpleasant happen to their most prized girl.”
“Like you could do something about it.” I let out a long breath, feeling idiotic for acting like a fool in front of him. I push my hair back and press it into place.
“Come here.” He wraps me in his arms. “You’re still shaking.”
It’s true. That gwishin freaked me out, but it was more than that. I always had some kind of supernatural power when I fought Haemosu in the Spirit World. But here I felt useless. It brought back all the memories of being at Komo’s house when Haemosu kidnapped her, and I was powerless, bolted to the wall by my bracelet.
A twinge of guilt sweeps over me as Kang-dae rests his chin on my head. He smells of cologne, spicy. Suddenly the comforting hug feels more intimate than friendly. I pull back, untangling myself from him. What would Marc think if he saw Kang-dae holding me like that?
I draw in a deep breath to pull myself together. It was only a hug, I tell myself, and I’d been attacked by a gwishin. It’s nothing more than that.
“There,” he says. His hands linger on my arms and his eyes on my lips. “Better?”
“You should leave,” I say, adjusting my crooked dress. “I’ll be fine. I think I was attacked by a gwishin.”
He frowns and looks about the bathroom. “The fact you were attacked by a gwishin means I will definitely be staying. You’re decent enough, and you’re going to tell me exactly what happened.”
I knead my forehead, trying to ease the piercing headache I now have. Maybe he’s right. Keeping secrets has never helped me before. But I’ve always shared this kind of stuff just with Marc and Grandfather, and I find myself hesitant to talk to anyone else.
Back in the locker room area, I shrug into my heels and stuff my jeans and tee into my backpack. I explain what I saw as I brush out my hair, leaving it to hang long and straight. Every once in a while, I glance over at Kang-dae, but his face is unreadable.
“Sounds like a classic gwishin sighting,” he says dryly.
“You make it sound like it’s not such a big deal.” I swipe on lipstick, avoiding the way my hands still shake or how close the mirrors are to me in the adjoining bathroom.
“Oh, it is rather a big deal,” he says as he follows me out of the bathroom, his hand on the small of my back protectively. Before we head back into the lobby, he holds me back and glances around. “We’re good.”
“So what would you do if a ghost or creature jumped out at us?” I ask skeptically.
“I can’t see them like your boyfriend.” I don’t like the way he talks about Marc, but I continue to walk alongside him. “I have power over them, though. They obey my commands.”
“Really? Why?”
“Why can Marc see beings from the Spirit World?” He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
I press my lips together, deciding not to spill Marc’s secret. That when he rescued me from Haemosu, he was touched and forever changed. It’s my fault Marc is bound to the Spirit World.
A whispering sound slips through the hallway. We both pause, bodies tense. Kang-dae’s perfect features contort in a frown, and he grips the railing of the stairs so tightly, the veins in his hand bulge.
“I’d rather not seek trouble,” I say, and hook his arm in mine, dragging him along until we’re back upstairs in the gym surrounded by my schoolmates. Usually, being in thick crowds comforts me, but after the incident with Kud’s assassin, I don’t put anything past him.
“After I help Lily cut the cakes, I’m in charge of selling lanterns,” I tell Kang-dae. “Do you mind helping me, or do you have to be somewhere?”
“Tonight you have my devoted service. Especially in that dress.” He grins, and I hit him on the shoulder.
“I wore it for Marc,” I say. Then, to prove my point, I pull out my phone and call him. There’s no answer. I start to panic until I check my texts and find one from Marc that tells me he’s running later than he thought he would. I watch couples dance under the disco ball and sigh, wishing he was here.
“Why don’t you find Michelle?” I say. “She seemed to like hanging out with you earlier. Plus, she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
“You reject a guy so delicately,” he says.
The rest of the evening moves by in a blur. Kang-dae actually proves useful, and by the time it gets dark, we’ve sold all the lanterns. When there’s a pause in the line, we talk about the trip and places we might find the orb.
“Interesting. So Palk also thinks there is a
n orb in the Diamond Mountains?” Kang-dae rubs the stubble of hair on his chin. “You know there are rumors that nine dragons guard Kuryong Falls. There’s no way we could get inside.”
“How do you know that?”
He shrugs. “I make it my business to know.”
“Palk seemed to think the dragons would help me.”
“Really?” Kang-dae’s eyes light up. He lightly touches my arm. “What would we do without you? The Council is lucky to have you working with them.”
“I’m not someone to be used.” I grab the last lantern and a marker. I set it aside for later. “And don’t forget I’m not on the Council or one of the Guardians. I don’t have to abide by their rules.”
“Of course. And you shouldn’t have to.”
Michelle and Lily’s cakes have vanished, and everyone’s had their fill of dancing by the time Michelle announces it’s time to take our lanterns outside to light them. I text Marc again, asking where he is. Finally, my phone dings. Marc.
Sorry. Ran into some trouble. Will be later than I thought.
My chest squeezes with worry. Trouble? Do u need me 2 come?
No. Everything is ok now. Kumar 2.
I let out a long breath, shaking my head. I always seem to think the worst of everything these days. I decide not to mention the gwishin showing up. He’ll find out eventually, but right now he’s got enough to worry about with helping plan this whole North Korean trip.
“What are you going to wish for?” Kang-dae asks as he strolls up to me.
I tap my marker on the lantern. At the beginning of the night, it seemed so simple. Find the orb. But after watching Lily’s slideshow depicting the North Koreans in need, I realize there is so much to wish for.
To keep my family safe, to protect Marc, to heal Komo, and now to help those in need. Before, I’d always wanted to be normal, but tonight I don’t want to be normal. I want to be powerful enough to stop all this pain and suffering. My thoughts turn to the Spirit World and the feeling of power I had there with every step I took.
Silvern (The Gilded Series) Page 11
