Gilded (30 page)

“I’m glad you’ve found your thing.” I know I sound bitter, but I can’t help myself.

Marc says, “Being a Guardian is like studying archaeology and myths. But instead of digging through dust and crumbling worlds, I’m digging up something real, alive. My work could make a difference in people’s lives. I could help save
your
life.”

I look into his eyes. I want to trust him because of everything he’s done for me. All those moments together. Every touch. It’s all meant more to me than I should’ve allowed myself to feel. I let my guard down, and now I’m paying the price.

But this isn’t the time to get emotional. “So what does all this orb stuff have to do with Haemosu?” I say, and look him hard in the eyes.

“Haemosu’s power has grown. The Guardians suspect Haemosu might have gotten an orb, which would grant him this additional power to materialize in our world so often. Or maybe he’s in league with another immortal. Or worse: both.”

We sit in silence, and I listen to the hum of the train flying over the tracks. Marc picks up the stack of cards and flips them through his hands. “Dad is away a lot for late-night meetings at the university. He says the spirit forces have divided Korea in half, and until things are made right, the country will only continue to fall apart.”

“He thinks North and South Korea are divided because of things in the Spirit World?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he says. “But I get the feeling that Haemosu is one part of it. If we can solve this, maybe we can deal with the bigger picture later.”

I close my eyes. I can’t deal with the big picture right now. Everything seems out of place, and here I am making every bad decision in the book. Maybe there aren’t any good decisions.

I decide to check my phone, and see that Dad called. So he’s discovered I’m gone. Good. I turn off my phone and lean my head against the green vinyl seat, wishing I could shut out all my problems just like turning off my phone.

“What if leaving Korea is a bad idea?” I say. “How can I stop Haemosu if I just run away? What if there was a good choice, and I never saw it? Or what if there isn’t a good choice, and I can only choose the bad?”

He sets down his card and takes my hand. “It’s there. You just haven’t found it yet.”

“I don’t know how to defeat him.” I pull away my hand and squeeze the armrests of the chair.

“I brought my notes. Do you want to go over them again?”

“I suppose that would be better than breaking your seat apart.”

I roll my eyes and snatch the papers from him. We study his notes and review the legend for the next three hours as the train whizzes through rice fields and past jagged mountains. Out here in the countryside, snow covers the ground and lies heavy on the pines, reflecting brightly in the moonlight. We fly by a small town bordered by a low stone wall. The fluted-roof house lights wink at us as we speed by.

“I want my family to be safe and for this to be the answer,” I say as we put away the books and turn off the reading lights. “But I have this awful feeling that I’m missing something.”

Marc wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. I stiffen. I’m doing it again. Letting my guard down. I shouldn’t allow him so close to my heart.

“I’m here for you, Jae,” he says, his chin resting on my head. “You have to know that by now.”

His words melt my resolve. He’s right. He risked his life twice for me, once at the locker and once in the museum. How can I throw away that kind of devotion? I lean my head back, my lips brushing over his neck, drinking in his delicious smell. His body burns warm against mine, and my muscles relax in his arms. Assignments and myths fly away as my lips trail up his neck and over the light stubble on his jawline until our lips meet. His breathing quickens. I run my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. We kiss, hungrily this time. Needing to be closer.

Because this might be our last night.

Our last kiss.

“Wake up,” Marc says.

I blink away the sleep from my eyes and reluctantly leave Marc’s arms. Everyone in our car is standing, grabbing bags, and shrugging into their coats.

The air is warmer here. Salty. My watch reads midnight. No wonder my muscles ache. I take a deep breath and step out of the train. The sky looms dark above, but the white floors and chrome pillars on the platform are lit up bright. I truck myself up the concrete steps and into the lobby. The outer walls of the station are all glass, and I imagine it must be beautiful here in daylight. I scan the area for Grandfather and wave when I spot him. He frowns. Figures.

“Jae Hwa. Good to see you. Well done, young man,” Grandfather says to Marc as we walk up.

“Haraboji.” I lower my chin, giving him a solid glare. “I don’t
need
an escort. I’m perfectly capable of traveling on my own.”

Grandfather lifts his eyebrows. “Indeed.”

“I’m glad to help,” Marc says, a twinkle in his eyes. “Can I come with you to the ferry?”

Grandfather frowns deeper but nods. “Only to the ferry. Your parents will be worried otherwise.”

Grandfather cocks his head, an indication for us to follow him, and marches outside to the taxi stand. In a clipped voice he tells the driver to head to the port and jumps in front while Marc and I scramble into the back.

“The boat leaves at six a.m.,” Grandfather explains as we pull away. “I’ve arranged for us to stay for the next four hours in a resting house next to the ferry terminal until we head to customs.”

“Dad has been leaving me five million messages,” I say. “I think it’s going to work. He says he’s taking the first bullet train in the morning. I told him to meet us in the Fukuoka terminal. That way he can’t talk us out of leaving Korea.”

Marc and Grandfather chat in Korean for the rest of the taxi ride. Marc is more fluent than I am, and I tune them out, wondering if I can pull this off. Will Dad take my bait and show up? Can I get him out of the country in time? I wonder if Haemosu will show up unexpectedly. I hope Haechi took care of him.

The closer we get to the port, the faster I twirl the golden bracelet around my wrist.

I have only slept for three hours in the tiny rented room Grandfather found before he wakes me and Marc. I munch on dried squid as we hike the two blocks to the ferry terminal in the misty, purplish glow of dawn.

The roadside is lined with tarp-stretched shacks where
fishermen are already slapping the wooden tables with this morning’s catch. I sigh. An orange juice and bagel would be perfect about now. I try to focus on the ocean and the fishing boats bobbing near the shore. Beyond them the big sea tankers drift, outlining a skyline now soaked in indigo and dark, rain-puffed clouds. A storm is approaching.

We enter the parking lot of a giant building, and I immediately notice the signs in its aqua-colored windows displaying the
Beetle
. The boat in the picture is unremarkable, white with a black hull, but Grandfather says this boat flies over the water as if it has wings.

When we enter the terminal, I grip my dragon bow’s case tighter, hoping this plan will work.

Grandfather already bought our tickets and left one on reserve for Dad. We’re hoping he will arrive in time to catch the next boat. I peek through the glass windows that look out to sea at my escape boat bobbing in the water. My heart lightens as I realize that if Haemosu wanted to show up, he’d have done so by now. He wouldn’t make a scene in such a crowd.

“I guess this is good-bye.” Marc stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Skype me, Fighter Girl.”

Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t care. For the past six weeks, all I’ve wanted to do is leave Korea, but now I feel as if it’s a part of me. It’s brought me friends, a great school, my relatives, and now Marc.

I throw myself into his arms.

He stumbles back, surprised, I think; but he wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tightly as if he knows how I’m feeling.

“We’ll meet up again,” he says into my hair. “You’ll see.”

My head pounds as he releases me. What if I’m making the wrong decision?

“Come,” Grandfather says, motioning to the turnstiles. “It is time.”

I don’t have any words for Marc so I just kiss him. Right there in the lobby in front of my grandfather. He pulls me to him tight and cups my face in his hands and kisses me again, softly this time.

“
Saranghae
,” he whispers.

An announcement blares over the speakers, but I don’t move as I stare into his green eyes. He just said “I love you.”

He loves me?

Loves
me
?

I stumble after Grandfather to the gate. As I hand over my passport to the attendant, I glance back at Marc.

His hair is wild and sticking up everywhere, and he looks so alone that I want to run back to him and tell him I’m going to stay. Suddenly Marc’s eyes change. He’s looking at something behind me. He reaches out his hand and yells, “NO!”

I whip my head around, and I realize I’m holding out my passport to Haemosu, in a black button-down shirt with dark slacks, his hair slicked back.

Haemosu grins. His skin flickers like a thousand stars under the fluorescent lights. “You thought I would forget about my princess?”

All the air has left my body. I drop my passport and stumble backward. I glance around at the people chatting, talking on their cell phones, totally obvious to the Korean demigod
standing in their midst. Of course. No one can see the immortals unless they allow it.

No one but Marc.

“Haraboji!” I shout, but Grandfather has already gone through the turnstile and can’t hear me over the crowd.

Haemosu lunges for me. I lurch away, his fingers brushing my arm, and Marc barrels through the crowd, shoving people out of the way. He dives and crashes his body into Haemosu. The two tumble to the floor. Those in line circle Marc, yelling and pointing at him.

One lady cries out, “Seizure! The boy is having a seizure!”

I push my way to Marc, but a security guard catches my arm and drags me back. “Marc!” I scream.

“Run, Jae!” Marc yells.

I kick and squirm in the guard’s arms until I wrestle my way free with a back elbow punch, turn, and knee to the groin. This guard messed with the wrong girl. I race into the empty circle where I last saw Marc. Neither Haemosu nor Marc is there.

“Marc!” I shriek, spinning around, distantly aware that I must look as insane as a banshee. “Marc!”

My screaming is pointless. Haemosu has taken him.

I stand on the gangplank, indecision pulling me in both directions. Get on the boat with Grandfather or back to land to find Haemosu and Marc? The wind cuts against my face, salt water spraying my legs. All I can think about is how Marc is gone. Can I save him? Is he still alive?

“Jae Hwa,” Grandfather says, “get on the boat!”

“But Marc,” I say, and my heart squeezes. Grandfather drags me onto the boat deck, and I don’t have the energy to fight him. My feet weigh a thousand pounds as the gate lowers and the plank rises. I’ve never felt so weak and helpless in my entire life.

It’s all my fault.

I shove Grandfather’s hand off me and run to the edge of the boat. Should I jump? I’d have to jump just right so as not to hit the deck or the propeller. A guard pushes me backward, but all I can think about is how Marc saved me and I did nothing. There must have been
something
I could’ve done.

My vision blurs as Grandfather guides me into the boat’s
cafeteria. My insides feel numb. The door slams shut behind us. The boat engines rev up.

“No!”
I say. “We can’t leave Marc. Haemosu took him. I have to help him.”

Everyone is sitting at tables to watch the departure, but my shouting has obviously gotten their attention. I suppose that’s because I sound like a raving lunatic.

“You are safe. That is all that matters right now,” Grandfather says, leading me to a table with padded chairs that look out to the water. “There is nothing that you could have done to stop what happened. He saved you. We will be in international waters soon. Haemosu has no power over you there. This is what Marc wanted.”

I stare blankly ahead while Grandfather’s hand grips the side of the table, knuckles white. He’s visibly upset, his lips tight and hair tussled. Even now he’s so confident that we’re doing the right thing. What has happened to me? What kind of person am I to stand by and watch as Haemosu takes all the people I love?