Death Wish

Act II - Uncanny Dream

It’s been two months, the heartless murderer of Lee Yoo Chan’s brother is still wandering free at the face of the earth. The culprit has never been identified. The investigators are trying to crack down some evidence but they have never found anything. The suspect was meticulous in his every move, the scene was wiped clean, leaving no evidence left behind.

The investigators said that the culprit might have been the infamous serial killer that had been at large for days. The ‘Hollow Killer’ is the name of this cold-blooded murderer. His motive was removing the eyes of its victims and taking the other eye as his trophy. No one really knows how he chooses his victims and why he plucked the eyes of his victims. All they know is that the Hollow Killer is a ruthless monster.

Lee Yoo Chan has stuck himself in his home, staring at the dirty ceiling. The traumatic memory still aches his heart. He became a doll with no soul, no will to do anything. He is starving himself and unable to take care of himself. He blamed himself for everything that happened that day, it is a memory that made a mark on his head. The stain of misery will stick on him forever.

After staring for hours in nothingness, he stood up to get some water to drink. He finally realized that his dry throat was itching for water. He opened the fridge and the inside was full of moldy substances that have never been cleaned for days. The smell of the spoiled dishes has been lingering inside the fridge, yet Lee Yoo Chan didn’t even bother. There was no water inside the fridge. He took an unwashed dirty glass on the moldy sink and fills it with tap water. Lee Yoo Chan drank the contaminated water with no hesitation. He went back to his room and coped there for hours again.

He enters his untidy room. As he was about to turn off the lights, he saw a refined letter on the cabinet beside the picture of his late brother. He checked the letter out and inspected it. The letter was stamped with a wax, marked with a star and an ‘X’ mark on it. He turned it and saw his name engraved at the back of the letter. He was wondering how the letter got in his room when he didn’t even remember getting this unique letter from someone. He opened the letter and a coin fell off. He picked it up and noticed that the symbol on the coin and the stamps is the same. He flipped the coin back to back and moved on to read the letter.

At first, he couldn't understand what was written, he looked closely and was agitated when he saw that the written letters were moving. He shakes his head and flickers his eyes. His eyes widened when the letter started glowing. Lee Yoo Chan dropped the letter and backed off a little bit. The letter suddenly caught fire and made a blinding flash.

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Noh Jin Suk was standing in front of his late mother’s grave holding carefully wrapped flowers. He put the flower inside and placed it beside his mother’s urn. He lit up the essence and prayed. Noh Jin Suk never misses her mother’s birthday and it’s the only day where he can visit his mother every year. He always does this because he wants to keep the memory of his mother alive. Photographs and things don't make his mother's spirit alive but the memory that is stored by a loved one. He doesn’t want to forget her.

Unfortunately, as he aged, his mother’s face in his old memories are starting to fade. All he can remember was her gentle smile. He feels so ungrateful and cognitive, for forgetting his mother’s face. He wasn’t able to forgive himself. The only memory he wants to remember forever disappears away.

He turned back and lit up a cigarette. He closed his eyes as the cold winds passed through him. It's already winter and the climate has become chilly. He sips a smoke to warm himself up. “Sir, you can’t smoke here”, said the manager of the columbarium. Noh Jin Suk immediately crushed the cigarette and apologized. He threw the cigarette in a trash can and went.

Noh Jin Suk went back to his mother’s grave and found a letter sticking on the urn of his mother. He took the letter out and flipped it, he found his name engraved at the back of the letter. He looked around to see if anybody had left it, he saw the manager cleaning at the side of the building and decided to ask him, “Do you know the person who left this' ', he showed the letter to the manager. “I don’t, I never saw anyone except for you”, the manager replied and left to continue mopping the floor.

He went outside and sat on a bench. It was a sunny day where the sunshine spread but the weather made the heat at a low temperature. Clouds formed as he breathed and fades away immediately. He opened the letter. Before he reads the letter, he looks around to search for anything suspicious, he was being wary. No one was around, he read the letter. His eyebrows fold, unable to read the letter. “What the hell is this?”, he murmured.

He tries to tilt the letter another way around to see if he can read it at different sides. He found no answers. He sighed and put aside the letter. He spread his legs and he put both his hands on the top bench’s backrest. He looked up and saw the grey sky.

He tilts his head to the side, unable to think of anything. A sudden glowing flare caught his attention, he looked to the side and the letter was glowing, then it caught fire. He stood up startled to find that the letter was burning, he was bewildered, not knowing how the letter caught fire. The fire became bigger and a sudden white flash met his eyes off guard.

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Lee Yoon Ho is getting married to a woman he never met before. He was lying on his bed as if he was lifeless, staring at the blank white ceiling. He had so many thoughts running from his mind, he was disconsolate. The darkroom is making the atmosphere gloomy, you can feel its melancholic energy enough to drain a joyful man. The sorrow inside him was contagious.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

Lee Yoon Ho heard a knock from his door, “What is it?”, he asked. “I'm coming in”, said, by the servant. The servant opened the door and entered, she keeps his distance from him and bowed her head, “Sir, the chairman wanted to know how you were doing, he was wondering why you wouldn’t pick up his calls”, the servant said. Lee Yoon Ho got up and took his phone lying on the coffee table. “Aah, phone battery died”, he shakes his phone as he looks at the servant. “Don’t worry, I will call him”, he added and punched in a charger. “Understood, Sir”, the servant bowed her head and left. Lee Yoon Ho rubs his forehead as he closes his eyes. He held a deep breath and looked at the charging phone then gulped. He flicked his eyes and turn the phone on.

He called his father, “Hello, father? Wha-”, his father immediately cut him off. “Why are you not picking up your phone!!!”, his father yelled loudly and Lee Yoo Chan immediately removes the phone away from his ear. “I am sorry, father. My phone died”, he reasoned. “Don’t you ever do this again! It's making me stressed!”, he can tell from his father’s tone that he was upset. “I wanted to check on you, hoping you won’t bail on the wedding tomorrow”, his father said. Lee Yoon Ho grunts, in his mind, he was already sick and tired of everything about his father, “You can rest assured, father. I will certainly attend the wedding tomorrow”, but the words coming out of his mouth were different. He can’t let out the real feelings he wanted to show.

Lee Yoo Chan stood up and wore the rub still listening to his father’s runts, “Just make sure, because I don’t want a son who isn’t committed!”, his father said. He went to the balcony and he inserted one of his hands in his pocket. “Yes, father. I won’t do anything that will disappoint you”, he replied as he stared blankly on a dark night. All the things he said to his father were a shallow lie, it's like someone is controlling him and telling him what to say out of his own accord, his soul was lost from somewhere, leaving his body empty and lonely. “Don’t do any mistakes tomorrow or I will disown you”, said by his detested father. “Yes, fa-”, before he could even reply, his father hung up the call.

He looked away at the far distance, unable to recollect his thoughts, he stared into the vast dark sky as the moonlight hid behind the thick clouds. All he could feel was emptiness. A puppet who was forgotten, a rusted tool beginning to fall apart, the definition that has lost its meaning. A life with no purpose is describing the current situation that Lee Yoon Ho sees.

He held onto the railing and tries to lift his body but something was stopping to do so. He released a deep sigh and went back inside. He drops himself onto his bed and covered his eyes with his arm. After some time, he fell asleep.

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Lee Yoon Ho heard ringing bells and the swishing sound of the water. He opened his eyes and bright lights met his eyes. He got up and found himself inside a weird place. He looked around and all he could see was the vast blank white space. He can’t see any end of the place. He stood up, still trying to wake himself up. He rubs his eyes and continues to look around. “Hello, is someone there? Where am I?”, he called, looking for someone to respond. He received no response. He decided to look around hoping to find something.

After walking around for a few minutes, he found something in the middle of the vast place. He went there to find out what it was. He found a glowing large fountain with a rainbow at the top. He observed the fountain carefully and found out that it was a wishing fountain as he found numerous coins underneath the water.

A minute later, the floor rumbled making Lee Yoon Ho back off. An empty space in front of the fountain opened up and a pillar was lifted up from below. Lee Yoon Ho checked the pillar and saw a coin at the center of it. He picked up the coin and inspected it. He noticed the carvings written on the pillar.

‘Throw a coin to make a wish’, he reads the written text on the pillar. He went to the side and didn't hesitate to throw the coin in the fountain without wishing for anything.

The fountain threw a huge splash from above leaving Lee Yoon Ho startled. "Greeting, Wisher Lee Yoon Ho", a transcendent voice of a woman came out from nowhere, making Lee Yoon Ho agitated. "Who's there? Who are you?", he doesn't know where the voice is coming from, "You have made a request to make a wish", the voice said. Lee Yoon Ho looked around hoping to find where the voice was coming from.

A holographic text appeared in front of him that caught Lee Yoon Ho in surprise. He read the text that was written.

{Do you wish to join the wishing game?}

Lee Yoon Ho immediately catches up on what was going on, he finally realizes that he is being invited to play the wishing game.

The infamous wishing game where the wish of the winner will come true has selected him. He was invited to play the sadistic game. Lee Yoon Ho's mind was full of confusing thoughts that he doesn't know what to do. He was baffled and he couldn't control the movement of his eyes. He wants to reject the invitation but his other side is telling him the other way around. Lee Yoon Ho was battling himself to make the right choice. He was hearing his own voice.

Then a single thought finally wiped his mind clean. A desire too powerful was injected into his mind that all of his contemplations and hesitations were gone in an instant. He finally made a decision.

'Ungrateful child, you should obey your father'

'You are just a tool for your father, hahaha'

'I heard he is a robot made the chairman because he doesn't refuse any of of his order, what a creep'

'I will disown you if you make any mistakes

'Your will has already been written and you can't do anything about it’

These are the voices Lee Yoon Ho was hearing. These voices have pushed him to the edge of what he truly wanted. A wish he desired for a really long time. The desire to be the owner of his own life.

Lee Yoon Ho was blinded by his own desires, putting aside the risk of playing the deadly game. He accepted the invitation.

{Registration Complete}

The vast white space immediately blackened out. Lee Yoon Ho woke up from the uncanny dream he doesn't remember. He got up and something falls off his chest. It was a letter.

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[End of Act II - Uncanny Dream]

[Next - Trapped]