Mr. J

By the time Jinhyun was done with his photoshoot, it was already late at night. Despite his rocky encounter with the 'shaman', he had still hoped to run into her. There were many questions he wanted to ask her and yet, for some reason he becomes speechless whenever she comes in front of him.

Sekjong noticed his wariness when he entered the trailer.

"You've worked hard today," he said, patting Jinhyun on the back.

"Yeah, I'm quite tired," Jinhyun yawned. "Haven't been able to sleep properly ever since I returned to Korea."

"Must be the time difference," Sekjong said. "After all, you were used to England's timing and now the sudden shift to Korean time must have messed up your sleep pattern. You'll be fine in a few days."

Jinhyun smiled but did not tell him the real reason he could not sleep. Every night, he was plagued by strange dreams. The lavish palace which appeared in them… The lonely Emperor and his search for the red lady. And his blood stained hands. He kept on seeing that recurring nightmare. No matter how many times he washed his hands, it felt as if the blood did not leave his hands.

But what haunted him the most were her eyes. The eyes which only held hatred for him. Every time he saw those eyes, he felt as if his heart was being ripped apart and torn into pieces. He wanted to hold her, embrace her in his arms and never let her go. And yet…yet she saw him as a monster.

His mind was full of questions. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find any answer.

"Jinhyun!"

He broke out of his reverie only to realize that Sekjong was looking at him with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Jinhyun reassured him. "I should go home."

Before Sekjong could say something, Jinhyun quickly got up and left the trailer. He put on his mask and got into his car. Revving up the engine, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove off towards the main road.

He was about to take a turn when he noticed the apothecary shop up ahead. It was still open. On an impulse, he stopped the car a few meters away from it. A tall figure came out of the shop but she was not alone. There was a little girl with her.

Cherry was feeling a little irritated. She wanted to go home and dreamt of gobbling up the tiramisu and pudding cups she had in her fridge. But the last minute request soured her mood.

"Kid, you better have an emergency," she warned. "If it turns out to be a bust, I'll curse you to a thousand years of hell!"

"I'm telling the truth!" the girl insisted. She was hardly ten years old but too skinny and small for her age. Her name was Jung Jena and she came to Cherry with a very disturbing issue.

She followed the girl to the latter's house. It was not far from the shop and took only five minutes on foot. The girl led her to a two storey mansion. It was quite fancy and posh with a large garden. The gate was padded with heavy automatic locks.

The girl left it unlocked when she slipped out. Cherry followed her in and did not bother to lock it behind them. The girl indicated her to keep quiet. She tiptoed towards the front door with Cherry in tow. They quietly entered the house.

Inside, it was a mess. Furniture was overturned and things were broken or scattered around the floor. It looked as if a storm had passed by. What was more shocking were the blood stains on the floor.

"What happened here?" Cherry asked quietly.

"S-she…" Jena tried to say but her voice was stuck. She was too scared to talk. But Cherry did not have to wait for her words. The very next second, a loud crash came from the upper floor.

Cherry narrowed her eyes and ran up the stairs. A woman's voice was coming from the room ahead. She was screeching incoherent words followed by loud beatings. Cherry kicked the door open.

In front of her stood a large woman in her forties and a little boy of hardly three years old. The boy was cowering on the floor, his head bleeding while the woman held a thick whip in her hand. When Cherry baged in, the woman froze in her movement. The whip was held high in her hand as if she was about to beat the helpless boy.

"Who are you?" the woman screamed. "What are you doing in my house?"

The boy was bleeding badly on the floor. He could hardly move. Cherry ignored the mother and moved towards the child. Jena came in behind her.

"Dohyun!" she cried, moving towards her brother.

"Let's get him to a hospital," Cherry stated, trying to carry the child but the mother stopped her.

"My son is alright!" she claimed. "Let him go you thief!"

She tried to wring the boy out of Cherry's arms but the latter pushed her. Holding the boy with one hand, Cherry pointed her cane at the woman. The little girl only requested her to help her brother but did not request for a curse. Hence, Cherry could not use her powers on the woman.

But she can threaten her.

"Take one step and I'll not go easy on you," she warned.

"This is my house!" the woman scoffed. "You're the one who barged in and tried to steal my children! I can just call the police and have you arrested!"

The woman did not fear her nor believed her threats. But Cherry stood her ground. Time was running out and she must get this boy to the hospital.

"Jena, make the request," she ordered. "Otherwise your brother will die!"

But Jena was scared. Her mother's demonic gaze rendered her speechless.

"Jena!" Cherry exclaimed. "Your brother will die at this rate!"

But Jena shook her head. She was too scared of her mother. The woman let out a maniacal laughter.

"She won't say anything!" the woman laughed. "She's my daughter after all."

Cherry wanted to rip the woman apart. Her madness was giving her a headache but until someone made a request to put a curse on her, Cherry was helpless.

"Someone needs to clean this place."

Cherry turned around so fast that she almost snapped her neck. Standing at the door was…

"You?" she questioned as Jinhyun stepped into the room. He had heard everything. Moreover, he guessed what had happened inside the room.

"This place is filthy," he commented, giving the woman a look of pure disgust. "Someone should clean it up."

Cherry wanted to snap at him but the boy in her arms stirred. They were running out of time.

"He needs to go to the hospital," she gritted.

Jinhyun took the child from her arms.

"That's my son!" the woman lunged at them but Jinhyun stepped aside, letting her fall face down on the floor.

"I'd like to make a request," Jinhyun said to Cherry. She stared at him in surprise. He leaned in to whisper in her ears.

"I know your secret," he revealed. "Make her pay with her blood."

Cherry drew a sharp breath. He knows!

"Clean up well," he said.

Jinhyun pulled back and walked away with the child. Jena followed him.

"Come back!" the woman screeched madly, trying to run behind them but Cherry closed the door before she could step out.

"You're a disgusting creature," she said, raising her cane. Now that a request was made, she can do whatever she wanted with this woman. And she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

….

Jinhyun was sitting at the hospital's waiting room with the little girl, Jena. The doctors took the boy in for surgery. Police had arrived to question him.

"Why were you there?" an officer asked Jinhyun.

"I was called in by an acquaintance of mine," he lied. "She knows this little girl and she was the one who went to rescue the child. The mother was beating him up badly."

"Where is she now?" the officer asked.

"She -" he broke off. Cherry had just walked in, approaching them. "There she is."

The officer turned to face her. "Did you find the child?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied coolly.

"And you called Mr. Shin for help?"

She raised an eyebrow and shot a quick glance at Jinhyun before replying, "Yes, I did. I knew he was nearby so I called him for help."

"Where is the woman now?"

"She ran away," Cherry lied smoothly. "Distracted me and ran away. I chased her but I lost her in the darkness."

"We'll check the CCTV cameras to see where she went," the officer stated. "We might call you in for more questioning. Please write down your contact numbers and address here."

He gave both of them papers to write. When he saw their address, he frowned a little but did not make any comments.

They waited until the officer was gone. Cherry turned to Jena.

"The doctor just told me your brother is fine," she said. "Why don't you go and see if he's awake?"

Jena nodded and headed for her brother's room. Jinhyun and Cherry watched her leave.

"Now," Cherry started. "Tell me. Were you the one who saw me using my powers that day?"

She looked at him with an arrogant look on her face. Jinhyun let out an ironic laugh.

"Well, this is awkward," he sighed.

Cherry gave him a quizzical look as he took out a paper from his pocket. Frowning, she took it and unfolded the paper. Her mouth gaped in shock.

It was a picture of them, face to face. She was in her shaman garb and he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing during the afternoon when he visited the shop.

"H-how," she stammered. But Jinhyun held out his hand.

"Hi, Ms. Cherry," he said cheerfully. "I'm Shin Jinhyun but you know me as J or Yogi. Are we still up for that cup of coffee?"