18 April 2013

Pledis Studio

After practice, I bumped into Joshua in the hallway. My deck fell out of my oversized hoody and he picked it up. As his back was bent forward, I noticed the backpack. I waited for him to stand upright before asking, "Oppa, are you leaving the company?" He forgot that the little wooden box was in his hand and ran the smooth cuboid through his hair.

"I'll be returning in a month or so," the American realised his mistake and held the wooden casket in his upturned palm. "My high school admin contacted me to remind me that I didn't write the GED. I can't graduate without it so I'll come back once it's over. I also need to diet," his soft way of speaking was attention-grabbing.

"GED? I thought high school students in America wrote the SAT."

"Regular high school students, yes. I attended a magnet high school so the qualifications are a little different," he finally noticed the cube in his hand and held it out to me.

"Good luck," I took the deck and shook his hand. "I don't think you should change the way you eat. Look at Sungyeon, Yehana, and Kyla; they're not skinny but they are great at dancing." He nodded and we continued walking out of the one-storey building; I to the Pledis Girlz dorm and he to the airport.

I was lucky enough to find an empty seat at the back of the bus and I sat down quietly, pouring every ounce of concentration I had onto my deck. The casket was made of the same bark that the tarot was printed on, being a conduit for clairvoyant energies. As I withdrew Joshua's most recent energies from the pine wood, I fell into a trance.

This must have been a week ago, I surmised from the outfits I remembered the boy trainees wearing last week. Junhui was sitting across from the American boy, at a table. I knew that Jisoo was helping him learn Korean but the Chinese boy's command of English was seriously good. "You've met my parents before, haven't you?" the LA boy showed him a photograph on his cell phone.

"I can't believe they kept that photo," the boy across the table laughed as he pulled out the physical copy: it was him and the other 3 people I saw in the American portion of his life. There was a Korean couple, who I assumed were the Hong's. They were in their late 20's to early 30's, possibly before their son was born.

"I'm on Team Jacob but this seems more fantastic than the Twilight books," Joshua was a little nervous and I saw rabbit ears pop out of his head. Rubbing my eyes or pinching myself would have no effect so I continued watching this illusion play before my eyes. The Californian wasn't a threat so I placed this information at the back of my mind.

"I was reborn in 1996 so the profile they're keeping of me is true," the martial artist and actor continued. "This will be my last life and my guardian deity said that the woman who will turn me human is also a trainee here. I'm sure you noticed me keeping an eye on all the couples dancing that day."

"Who do you think it is?" his partner gushed. I admired Jisoo for ignoring the predator, considering that he seemed like prey. Maybe there was a code of conduct between supernatural creatures. My hunch that Junhui was a vampire had been correct and I seriously needed to get started on the research that I had been procrastinating.

"Park Junghyun," my name sounded like a death knell in my ears. I wanted to date a normal human man, not a bloodthirsty monster. I started zoning out in order to leave the trance, thinking about the literary homework that was due. With a few deep breaths in and out, I felt myself returning to the bus my body was riding in.

I got off the bus, the tiresome practice and the weight of my dilemma having thoroughly flattened me out.

"Junghyunnie!" I heard a masculine voice call and was about to swing when I saw a familiar face.

"Aron," I smiled. I hadn't seen him ever since Nu'est debuted and I let him match my pace.

"You've grown up quite a bit," he nodded. "How's the trainee life?"

"It's manageable," I monitored the tone of my words. If I sounded too happy, that would remind him of the time he spent as a trainee. At that time, all the members had to exercise strenuously before taking a cold shower as Pledis couldn't afford a high electric bill. My struggles seemed small in light of the fact that I could take a hot shower at the end of the day.

"We should hang out soon: you, me, and Raina. Just like the old days," he smiled.

"Are you and sunbae dating?" I grinned at the gossip that I was allowed to hear, while the paparazzi couldn't.

"She and I just started," I was happy for them. No one deserved it more and they'd look good together. "We'll see you on Saturday."

I had told Mio eonnie, our manager, of my plans, and she had chosen a wardrobe for me. I had to look as good as my seniors at the company as we would take photos, and no doubt, other people would. We had arrived at the café when it was quiet, ensuring some privacy. Aron and Raina seonbaenim were equal parts adoring and doling out advice.

Once we had finished our iced beverages and pastries, more customers poured in so we left. The couple walked me home and since some of the other trainees were out, they got to know the future girl group a little better. I bowed, thanking them for their time, and joined the girls I was training with. My dorm-mates envied the glamorous couple I was out with, as did I.

"A jiangshi is created by either the supernatural reanimation of a corpse or the failure of a corpse to decompose, despite being buried for a long time," I started paying attention when The Shadow Book of Ji Yun mentioned this important fact I hadn't found elsewhere. A spirit could also possess a dead body, or a corpse absorbs sufficient yang energy to return to life."

"Conversely, if the bad governor of the body, the po, could take control of the body once the hun, the good governor, left. If the body was not buried after the funeral, and it was struck by a bolt of lightning, or a black cat leaped over the coffin; that would also result in the creation of a jiangshi. A soul refused to leave the body (death by misadventure, suicide, or revenge) has the same result."

"As time passed, the jiangshi's appearance would change from unremarkable to zombie-like. Rigor mortis would step in and that was where the name came from. The corpse became so stiff that the limbs could not bend so they had to hop around. A fungus growing on the corpse gave the skin a greenish-white hue. Jiangshi fed on qi energy, not blood."

I thought about Wen Junhui: you have the complexion of coffee with milk and you dance with the precise movements of a scythe. What exactly are you? I shook my head a little and read about warding-off mechanisms, this being exactly what I was looking for. I ignored the concoctions involving the blood of animals and ancient artifacts.

The jiangshi was said to be terrified of mirrors but he loved looking at mirrors; I would too, if I were that handsome. Items made from the wood of a peach tree would be difficult to get, but not impossible. I could download the audio of a rooster's call and explain it as sound effects for a video. I didn't know acupuncture so I ignored the recommendation of jujube seeds.

Carrying a lighter would serve the purpose of creating the sound of crackling flames, with which to chase a jiangshi away. Unfortunately, netizens hated the thought of idols smoking, and the backlash was worse if you were female. Glutinous rice and a handbell would only create chaos in my backpack so I turned the page.

A broom, as well as an axe, would be a handy tool to look for in any building so I made a note of that. Holding your breath was a surprising suggestion and I beamed when I saw the next two recommendations. Taoist talismans could be easily obtained- these immobilised jiangshi. Dropping a bag of rice or coins was an excellent way to distract them in order to retreat.

The reason for the transformation into the undead creature was quite tragic: if a family could not afford the transportation of a relative for burial, they asked the priest in that area to reanimate the corpse so it could hop to the final resting place. They traveled only at night and wore bells to notify people in the vicinity of their appearance (it was bad luck to see one).

Conventional wisdom of feng shui was that a piece of wood 15cm high would be installed along the width of the door at the bottom to prevent a jiangshi from entering the household. Despite being called "the princess of Pledis", I don't think either Mio eonnie or my roommates would approve.

I photocopied the relevant pages and went back to the desk. The methods that were impossible to implement were highlighted in pink; the difficult ones were in yellow ink; and lastly, the easy ones were coloured green. Whatever I couldn't find in the nearby market, I would ask eomma to send to me, along with an explanatory letter.

I looked up and noticed that the library was slowly emptying. Looking at my watch, I saw that evening was about to descend and I had to get home ASAP. Walking out of the library, I ignored the gross offers of university students and working men who wanted to "escort" a high school girl home. SOPA students were also at risk of being photographed in a compromising situation.

"Junghyunnie!" I smiled as only one person called me that.

"Oppa, you kept me waiting so long," I laid it on thick. I could sense the resentment as if it had become corporeal.

"What kept you so late?" Aron signalled that I hand over my backpack to him.

"Nothing special," I lied, forgetting the spiral notebook in my hand, which had chosen this moment to fall.

He had picked it up before I could even protest and out of all the pages bound at the spine, his eyes landed on the plan I had made tonight. Without a word, he handed it back to me and said something I hadn't expected. "Uri Junhui is a good vampire," I pinched myself to ensure that I wasn't even dreaming, even if it meant returning to the stalkers alone.

"You know that I'm Catholic, right?" I nodded and he continued. "There are teams trained to hunting down monsters and I'm one such member. They call us Hunters and Huntrixes. It's weird- they won't allow women to preach but the Vatican will let them lose their lives to a demon. Anyway, we have an interesting partnership."

"Define that," I frowned.

"When vampires go rogue in Seoul, we end them," the Nu'est member said in a tone as if he were talking about a romance story he was writing. "Don't worry about him; befriend him if YOU want to."

I respected Jun but I respected myself too. No matter which supernatural being or event had caused this situation, I wanted to determine my fate, not them. I would rely on my ever-dependable cards when making my decision, and not place my life in hands that were unfamiliar to me. My resolution was not to be those teenage girls preyed upon by Hollywood vampires; I would be like Buffy.