4. A witch she says.

. ~Habeak~.

Every day I have crazy and thrilling things happen to me but today is an exception, what happened to me was insane and it still is as I couldn't believe I bought a woman to my house and a stranger at that.

As I sit in the kitchen, staring at the spiral staircase; waiting for the woman i saved, the woman who has a strong essence of familiarity around her, the woman that has stirred me up and a mythical being at that.

What I saw earlier replayed in my mind, her restoring the bottle of perfume with her glowing antique hairpin that is stuck in her hair is quite unbelievable but at the same time it's quite plausible.

So, I want to ignore the denying phase and just believe she is different because it's not normal to see a woman come out from the river wearing a worn hanbok and looking lost. I just know she isn't one of us.

But the one thing I can't deny is the feeling of familiarity that keeps on growing in me through each passing moment, the excitement I feel, the nervousness and ecstasy I feel ever since I met her Is beginning to make me go crazy because its normal for me or for anyone out there.

But why…? Is an unanswered question that I have asked myself countless of times over and over again?

So, I wonder, did I do the right thing by asking her to stay or should I have stuck to Hyung's warning and let her be on her way after feeding her? This is what has conflicted my thoughts.

I stand up and go upstairs to check on her then ask her the questions I have building me in.

As soon as I alight from the last stairs, I meet Hyung coming out from his room a can of beer in hand. "Jimin is taking longer than usual." I couldn't help but to look at the can in his hand in sheer ridicule since I knew the reason why he is drinking and it's because of me.

As he walks towards me while I stop in front of the room she is in he directs his gaze at what I was looking at he shrugs and shakes the can in mid-air "I can't be sober knowing that you bought a stranger into our home." He says gulping the last of the can content.

I throw my head back and laughed at his comment. "don't worry…nothing will happen." He looks at me and the corners of my lips tugged up "at least for now." I add with downturned lips.

He hits me on the shoulder before going downstairs, telling me to be armed in case she is waiting behind the door with a fork and stabs me with it.

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

With him gone, I stand in front of her room wondering what I am to do next, am I supposed to walk in or am I supposed to knock? Just as am thinking of what to do the door swings open and she comes out, standing in front of me.

The moment my eyes land on her a wide grin fills my lips as I stare at her, all the questions I had disappeared like I never had them to begin with instead I take my time to look at the refined her.

Just like I predicted, the dirt was what made her look shabby earlier but now that she has cleaned herself up, she looks Pretty and somewhat cute.

Her skin which seemed tanned earlier is milky bright, her ash iris black pupils shone brightly in her big, pretty doe eyes, her little puff up cheeks are flushed and so is her plum flushed lips which are in a pout. I grin again.

She tilts her head and smiles at me, a hearty grin that seems so familiar and yet I do not know why.

Then I catch a glimpse of the emerald hairpin which she had swung earlier to restore the bottle that she smashed, holding her hair tight in a bun then it takes me back to earlier in the room.

'she isn't like us.' My subconscious reminds me as I look at her ash eyes and rimmed pupils that held such a lovely expression that made my words involuntarily slip out in a whisper. "what are you?" I ask her.

Her eyes flicker with surprise but she quickly recovers and doesn't allow me to see her emotions.

She stands upright, her back straight and hands placed on her stomach, she doesn't have an expression as she stares at me with her eyes and arched brow, examining my face, assessing the expression I have on it carefully, her plum lips are set straight.

She doesn't answer my question.

Quite frustrated I clutch my hair in my fingers, trying to calm myself down, I can't get angry or annoyed at this moment.

Taking a slow pace will make everything unravel on its own. She will unravel but before then I don't want her going anywhere.

A mocking laugh resonates from behind me jolting me out of my reasonable conclusion.

Making me irritated at him who is laughing, at her who is refusing to answer my question and annoyed at the weird feeling I have been getting ever since I met her.

He pats my back and mumbles annoying words behind me without having her hear all he is saying to me. "have you forgotten she is your Ariel? Chill..." He says, I whip my head to glare at him but I see him with a big goofy smile on his face that says 'I told you so.'

He is enjoying this… he wants me to regret my decision but I know that I will not regret it.

I push him away and snap my head back at her, I frown. Am I really not going to regret it? I wonder as I look at him and back at her.

Slowly. "if you won't answer the first question tell me who you are or make a sign that you can speak." She blinks, I spot her long lashes and I hate myself for being so immersed with her...

"it seems like she is really mute dude." Hyung murmur's, tugging the sleeve of my shirt. she averts her ash iris towards him, making him to hide behind me.

Apprehensively, he peeped his head to take a look at her. "she seems…really…scary." He quivers, then subtly takes long stride to his room lying that he has to choose a jacket to wear. He needed an excuse to run away from the stranger who seems to dislike him.

Her gaze is on mine, silence fills the corridor.

I rub my right thumb across my lower lips and sighed, a deep one. "is he normally like that?"

It's a female voice.

It's Sageuk, historical, Archaic.

Is it hers?

Did her lips part?

Did she just speak to me?!

I look around the corridor, the all the inanimate objects and finally my eyes lands on her who doesn't seem to have said a word to me.

I put my left hand on my waist, slumped on the left side of my body, brushing my hair back. "Are you guys ready? I couldn't find my key that's why I couldn't come earlier." Jimin calls from downstairs, his striding steps are approaching.

As he stops on the first stairs, he looks at me and slowly back at her. "Who is she?" he asks pointing at her.

I do not move my eyes from hers and answer with a chafe voice "A woman."

He walks towards us. "It's obvious she's a woman, A pretty one." He says with a lugging smile as he looks at her deeply, I could catch he colour of her face changing and I am suddenly getting really pissed off.

is it because i am hearing things, is it because I am desperate for her to speak to me or Is it because of her reaction to him?

"So, what?!" I mumble angrily Jimin glares at me and hits me on the shoulder telling me it was just a question and that I should mellow down.

He then pulls me to the side and asks me how I know her.

Hyung comes out in time to hear him ask me the question, he doesn't waste time to rattle it out to him and Jimin pulls back from our little circle in a huge hysterical laughter while looking at her and back at me.

"A woman—a stranger—you helped her—I don't think you are ookay, let's get a session with my father." I raise my hand to hit him but he swivels over to her.

"what is your name?" He gushes eyes wide and hands moving in gestures.

She smiles at him, the calmest expression on her face with a little bow of her head her lips parts and she speak. "am Hani." She says the same sageuk voice i heard earlier.

Stunned and surprise, Hyung shakes me roughly around the shoulder while Jimin looks at me with raised brows and wides eyes that clearly said: I thought you said she is mute.

I give him a half shrug as am just as surprised they are, it's the same voice from earlier.

Did she really speak to me?

Hyung walks up to her, "Ariel, you could speak? nothing was wrong with your vocals and you didn't say a word for over an hour and a half since I met you or are you putting up a show to stay with him?" He asks looking at me, her eyes follow his but they held indifference.

She doesn't know who I am and that is a fact we all can't change.

She takes a step back and throws a glare at him. "I did speak to him and I was studying your dialect which is new to me that was why I couldn't speak." She answers in the same historical accent, Chin jutted towards him.

He coughs and looks at me his eyes filled with question "I don't think she is okay." He leans his head towards me and whisper's in my ears.

I jolt back and hit my ear while pushing him with my free hand. I hate it when he whisper's in my ear. So annoying…

Jimin just stares at her, mouth agape.

She asks him if she was that strange and he gives her an honest answer, she chuckles quietly with her hand in her lips. Her gracefulness and poise are just so enchanting.

Then she looks at me "do you still want to know who I am?" She asks me. I nod I have to know in other to know who I am staying with.

"It might be abnormal coming from me." she raises her brows in caution as if reluctant to revel what she is, that set the corridor in tension but Jimin hits her playfully on the arm. "aye, come on there is no normal thing in this world anymore.

Anything you say I will believe it without questioning it." He assures with a snicker.

"I am a witch." The place goes silent, the three of us do not speak. Hyung and Jimin have amused expression on their faces but not I since I believe what I just heard. I believe in the sincerity I heard in her voice and the sincerity I saw in her eyes as she looks at us all.

All of a sudden, they burst out laughing at what she said to us.

Abruptly the calm expression is replaced with a bleak expression, her face is scrunched in a frown and lips curled up her eyes darting with anger.

Jimin reclines on the door to bathroom as he tries hard not to laugh. "Ariel, are you by any chance insane." He looks at me. "are you sure she didn't hit her head anywhere?" he asks me. I shake my head and give him a half shrug.

Hyung snickers as he claps his hands "A witch unbelievable."

Is it that hard to believe? I wonder looking at her hairpin that is holding her hair in a bun, the tip glows and I stagger back Hyung grabs my arm and tells me to send her away before she spews more gibberish.

Says the man who still strongly believes in fortune cookies.

She takes a step towards them both and I quickly move back as she unleashed her anger on them "you dare laugh at me because of my truthful words. How dare you lie and say you will believe me?!" she grints, trying hard to not scream at them.

She forces a smile as their back hit the wall.

Her eyes flashes as she folds her arms across her chest.

Jimin and Hyung quite down and look at her. "I only told you the truth, the truth that I am not like you because you assured me that everyone is not normal. I might not have been in this world for quite some time but I believe men should keep to their words." She glares at Jimin whose lips are tightly pressed.

He grins.

She mumbles words but I heard her say 'kill', my phone rings and I see jin's caller ID on my screen, when I raise my head di meet her eyes looking at me.

"it's time to go…" I try breaking out whatever is about to begin. Hyung quickly dashes away from the wall and her.

I hit Jimin on the shoulder and he glare at me pulling me away from the woman who is flushed with anger. "did you expect me to believe that? Dude she isn't sane she should get an appointment with my father." He suggests in a whisper yell tone.

I brush my hair back not quite agreeing to the fact that she isn't sane. "i…" I begin and Hyung widens his eyes "don't tell me you believe her." I do not answer him.

"We are late. Let's get going." I say. Pushing them ahead of me.

They reluctantly go ahead. Both turning to look at me who is trying to think of a way to calm her down.

I try taking her hand in mine like earlier but she retaliates by yanking her hands out from mine.

Oh great! She is angry and my emotions come crashing down like a water fall, jumbling up and making me confuse.

I suddenly feel bleak…