by Daju Lee
Jinho tried to open the door but it would not budge, its handle stuck firmly.
"Dear guests, the tea has been prepared. I'll open the door for you, once you have finished the refreshments." The voice of the waiter could be heard from behind.
Where he politely guided them was a table with teacups laid out neatly. The cups were made of light ceramics with golden, disorderly patterns. The waiter poured red tea for them and stepped back, respectfully.
"You mean, drink this tea only?"
Heaving his shoulders, Hyun tasted the tea. It tasted bitter compared to its savoury fragrance. They felt like spitting it out again but could not help but endure it. It was so bitter that they felt the pungent taste all the way up to near the ears. As they finished it and tried to stand up, the waiter approached:
"There's still some left."
To his word, they looked at the cups. The tea was filled up again to the same amount as when they had first sat down with the waiter.
"I swear I had definitely finished it."
Juna could not resist frowning and grumbling to the thought of having to drink it all over again. Jinho, too, felt a little bit suspicious but then thought it was not a difficult thing to just drink it again. He drank a gulp, with his eyes closed. It tasted even more bitter than the first time, so much that it was tough to swallow.
"What on earth is this tea called? Is it poison?" Jinho asked, frowning.
"It is called 'empty soul'."
The waiter politely answered.
"Empty soul?"
"Yes, a shadow of solitude, in other word."
"The tea doesn't disappear, even if we keep drinking it?" Jinho asked, looking at the cup, filled to the brim again, finding it bizarre.
"Usually, it doesn't." The waiter brazenly replied.
"We shouldn't have believed him." Flabbergasted, Juna stood up from the chair and walked to the door. She twisted the door knob and pushed the door with her shoulder. Although Jinho joined her, the door was strong and stood closed, like an alligator firmly holding onto prey.
The Strong powers might easily open it.
But no particular power came to Jinho's mind.
"Is there another door or any other way to open this door?" Jinho asked to the waiter, upon returning to the table.
"This door is the only way out and there is no other way through than by drinking the tea completely." The waiter said, pulling out the chairs for them to sit down again.
Returned to their seats, the three people racked their brains. Aside from its bitterness, it was of no use to drink it again. Jinho called upon the Strong powers but they did not come to him.
Judging by the situation, there must be a solution, but what is it? My empty soul? The shadow of solitude? How can we get rid of it?
Despite the long deliberation, a fairly good idea did not come to his mind. The party unavoidably drank that bitter tea once again only to find it was in vain. The bitterness of the tea became more severe as they drank each cup. They felt pain caused by more than just the bitterness. They had a feeling of being left alone. It was a feeling of being shunned and lonely, which saddened their hearts.
The three all glared at their cups, to find them completely filled up again. They lost their desire to do anything more and the time passed quietly.
Thinking, Jinho was reminded of a playground in his hometown when he was younger. It was one Thanksgiving Day and he was left all alone. His parents had left in a hurry for the hospital to see his grandfather who was in an emergency condition. There were no children on that day in the playground. The ever lively and pleasant place had, today, a different atmosphere. Out of nowhere, the face of futile loneliness spoke to him:
Why are you alone?
Jinho forced himself to sing a song in a loud voice. It was a children's song that his father taught him.
"The leaf boat that I played with in the daytime, left. I still think of it, even when I lie down beside mum."
At the part when he thought of the words: 'even when I lie down beside mum', Jinho choked up. It was a foreign feeling that he felt for the first time. It was solitude. Although the solitude in his childhood stopped when Juna visited the playground, the memory was embedded deep inside his brain.
Oh yes! Then Juna gave me an ice cream. It was melon flavour, which I normally hate but it was very delicious this time.
Only then did Jinho look at Juna. She was gazing at the cup with a sad look, sitting and resting her chin on her hand.
What kind of solitude has Juna suffered?
He felt sympathetic to her appearance.
"Should I drink yours instead?" Jinho put her cup in front of him. He wanted to alleviate her 'empty soul'. Juna seemed not to have expected it from him but willingly accepted his offer.
Jinho started to drink it slowly. Surprisingly, her empty soul tea was sweet unlike before. It was lovely and smooth, with its soft texture.
He put down the cup, smacking his lips unconsciously. The tea completely disappeared unlike before. He rather felt disappointed to see that the teacup didn't fill up again.
The waiter started to look mortified to see what unfolded before him. As her tea became empty, Juna looked much brighter. Juna drank Hyun's tea as Jinho did, and Hyun in turn, drank Jinho's tea. After finishing the tea in this way, the party stood up from the table and walked toward the arched door, which was already open.
Getting out from the second door, Jinho felt appalled to find himself still in the corridor.
"They must be trying to make a fool of us."
Coming back to the beginning again, they felt a heavy heart, a feeling like being in an endless exam. The attacks from the bats worsened and the corridor seemed to extend even longer, enough to make them exhausted. It was incredible that there was such an infinite space in the tiny hut.
"But where on Earth is the real Berr?" Jinho said, swatting away the bats that were pulling his hair.
"Things will definitely get easier if we find him," said Hyun, running away from the bats that were attacking him with their claws. Whilst running, Hyun tangled his legs and fell down because of the bats, following after him persistently.
"Ouch." Hyun had found something strange on the wall of the aisle, while he was recovering from his fall. "Jinho, look at this."
What he pointed out was a palm-sized door. Moreover, there were actually two doors side by side. Jinho and Juna lay face down at Hyun's level and took a closer look at the toy-like thing that Hyun mentioned.
"Here reads: 'the place you are searching for', doesn't it?" Jinho carefully read the little letters on the signpost, hanging on the door.
"I guess so. But how do we enter this tiny door?"
"How about opening the door first? We might find a way then."
Jinho considered both doors for a while then carefully opened the left door, trying not to break it. As it opened, the three of them had to put their hands over their ears all at the same time because of the intensely loud music, penetrating their ears. The sound was so loud that it made them dizzy and black out.
~
No one knew how much time had passed. They slowly opened their eyes to find themselves on the inside of the door. The room was not as small as the door. They were not sure whether they became small or the room became bigger. The deafening sound from before could still heard but this time it was bearable. Judging from its fast tempo, it sounded like some sort of tango. What was more inspiring than the unpredictable music was a dancer. Berr, dressed up as a woman, was dancing, in a ruby-red dress in a room painted crimson.
The red lipstick on his drab, old skin looked quite peculiar.
"He isn't real, is he?"
That was not the real Berr for all to see. The skirt of the dancer's dress was so long that it became spread out to the whole room, each time he spun around. The dancer spun, and the edge of the red skirt approached them, almost touching them.
Soaked with sweat, the dancer kept moving his body with mournful eyes.
> "Excuse me?"
Even though Jinho called him loudly, the dancer was preoccupied expressing pain and agony through his dance. Looking around quickly, they could see a door with a signpost. It was across from the dancer and it was slightly open.
The group walked into the corner, trying not to interrupt his dance. The dancer started to make quick turns, stretching out his shrunken body, and roared. The skirt of the dress touched Jinho's leg, who was walking up ahead. Jinho then let out a short shriek. Hyun and Juna's scream was heard shortly afterwards.
There were thistle needles wrapped deeply within the materials of the dress. They looked shiny and splendid like decoration, but it was actually like a weapon that pierces the skin at a touch.
Blood streamed down through their trousers. Stepping backwards, the group hesitated to move forward. Each time they moved, the dancer spun faster, spreading his dress even wider.
With an upset look on his face, he passionately danced in front of the party. Jinho watched for a chance again and tried to go to the side only to come back with bigger cuts.
"Don't move, it's dangerous." Juna grabbed Jinho, unable to progress. Jinho started to feel worried, with many parts of his body bleeding. The dancer was approaching the party step by step.
The music became more intense and the dancer began twirling faster with all his might. Jinho could feel that Juna's arms were shaking.
The thistle needles were now pointed straight outwards by the centrifugal force.
"H- how…?" Juna grabbed Jinho's arm, shutting her eyes tight.
Calling the Strong powers repeatedly, Jinho was finally reminded of something. The power was clear and appeared to him at the perfect moment.
The Strong power, the 'power of the spinning wheel made of poetry'!
The first time he read it, it moved his heart deeply. He was extremely touched by the beauty of it that he could not help but express it with words.
"The winter tree. The stub depicts pain like a picture. A dream broken by the closed season. Loose love always just pecks sparrows. Last night's moonlight is the only thing left. I cried as the moonlight was cold. The tears froze right way. And they hang on the top of the branch. Painful but sweet fruits."
The poem quietly spread throughout the room. The poem fully filled up the space and then on the tip of Jinho's finger it concentrated and turned into a cloth. The moonlight-coloured cloth wrapped the dancer's body and covered the stickers.
The dress was changed into a new dress made from the moonlight cloth, from red it was now a fresh, blue colour. The dancer in the changed clothing hesitated for a while and then started again to dance. Jinho slowly walked towards the dancer. The dress touched Jinho's hand and face. It was cold, but soft. It felt like he was walking at night under the moon alone.
The group were all able to safely pass by the dancer and then stood by the door.
As they went out through the door, leaving the dancer behind, they were standing in the corridor where they met the small door before. What they found at least lucky was that the palm-sized doors became bigger, to the size of normal doors.
Coming back from the left door, Jinho opened the right side of the door without hesitation.
A putrid smell assailed their nose as they opened it. Inside the room it was dark with no light and bleak winds were blowing. The wall of the room was made of piled up stones that made them feel as though they had fallen into a deep basement.
"I can't see well." Juna got Goosebumps against the damp and chilly air.
"Jinho, there's something in front of us." Hyun discovered something that could be seen vaguely. Jinho walked forward to see what it was, then stepped back, suddenly terrified. There was a human lying down on a stone, wrapped up in a white cloth.
"It's, it's a mummy."
Jinho felt horrified to see a mummy for the first time. Whilst finding it difficult to approach it, he became suspicious about a few things:
A mummy is usually a human that died long ago, which means the cloth would be faded or decayed. But strangely this mummy's wrap is clean. Then the person here died not long ago.
Suppressing nervousness, Jinho laid his chin onto the mummy's face just to be sure. He felt a
minute flow of air. It was surely a human's breath.
"It's still alive."
To Jinho's word, Hyun quickly raised the cloth from the mummy's face. His fingers were trembling out of an uncertain anticipation. The revealed face was Berr as Hyun had feared. It was not another person with a similar appearance to Berr, but the real Berr. They knew just from Hyun's pale complexion.
"What- What are we gonna do? Berr is dying. We must find Yura quickly." Seeing Berr unconscious and lying lifelessly, Hyun then said in an urgent voice: "Only Yura can wake him up." Touching the dark wall, Hyun began to search for an arched moon.
"Here it is."
It was Juna who found it first. Fortunately, the door with a signpost was at a short distance.
"Here's another!" Hyun shouted subsequently.
Unexpectedly, the door he found was an 'exit'. Judging from the added sign 'Emergency Exit', it seemed like a door, through which they could escape the hut later. Instead they stood in front of the door which read: 'what you are searching for' without discussion.
The door was not locked and opened automatically. As they entered, it opened as though it had been waiting for them to arrive, and there appeared a typical jail enclosed with steel bars. They felt relieved to know the 'place you are searching for' was a jail, after all the unusual things they encountered so far. In the jail, which opened without a key, there were several prisoners sitting apart from each other. Jinho searched for his father among them.
"Sailor Yura!" Hyun first found Yura and happily ran to her. Jinho and Juna followed the sound. Hyun had found Yura, a young woman with short hair. Not hearing Hyun's voice, she was staring into the space, with her eyes losing focus.
"Stand up, Yura. We need to get out of here quickly!"
Hyun grabbed Yura's arm. However, she did not seem to move at all, drooping.
"We've got no time to do this."
Jinho helped Hyun stand her up, but her weight was not as light as it seemed. As though she were stuck deeply to the ground, her legs did not even budge an inch. Everyone tried hard together without luck.
"Yura, can you hear me?" Hyun spoke to her feeling impatient, but she did not reply.
"Berr is dying!"
Strangely, Yura did not show any reaction even to Hyun's shouting. Only her shoulders were shaken powerlessly by Hyun.
"Your friend, Berr. Berr!"
As Hyun eventually became close to cry, Yura's eyes moved gradually.
"Berr?" Slightly moving her lips, Yura said in a tiny voice.
"Yes! Berr, he's in danger now." Agitated by her reaction, Hyun raised his voice.
Yura slowly started to gaze at Hyun. "Is he in danger?"
She was slowly coming back to consciousness.
Yura recalled every past memory with the help of Hyun's explanation. She did not recognise that she was a sailor of the Mari and this place was a jail. She nodded her head, hearing Hyun's story.
"Oh yes, now I remember." Yura said to Hyun, looking him straight in the eye. "By the way." Coming back to full consciousness, Yura soon made a depressed look. "I can't get out of here."
"How come?" Jinho asked, choking a little in surprise.
"I've tried so much to get out of here so far."
"We will help you this time. So try and stand up."
Hyun and Jinho tried to wake her up but she did not move. Yura strongly tugged her hand from Hyun's.
"It is impossible for you to help me. Since you are gonna become like me now, too. How come you woke me up? You should've just left me alone. Do you have any idea how distressing it was until I came to feel nothing at all?"
No sooner had Yura stopped sobbing than Jinho felt awfully that his legs were sinking into the ground. After that feeling, a strong energy powerfully gra
bbed his two legs, and the same force took hold of Juna and Hyun. The two could only wriggle their arms, as though they had fallen deeply into a swamp. Agonised by the scene, Yura turned her face.
As their legs became tied, hollow, cold winds started to blow into their heart. A humiliating heavy and painful feeling filled their hearts. Jinho asked Yura, trying to force himself to ignore that feeling.
"Is it possible that you know a person called Changook Kim, he must have been castaway with you. Have you seen him in this island?"
"Changook Kim? I don't know such a person. I heard that most people died, failing to pass the test, before coming to this place. Well, although those who luckily survived wished they rather had died back then."
"Most people died?" Jinho's face became distorted in anguish. Jinho wrapped his shoulders, looking sad.
"Let's not think he was one of them. He must be definitely alive somewhere else." Juna said quietly and confidently.
"This is the last island. Even if my dad is in a different place, The Mari will just stop searching for the sailors. There's no hope left."
"That's really not like you."
"What is like me? If dad is already dead, then I…"
His heart collapsed to Yura's word, as though the trees whose trunk was cut and fell down. Even Hyun who was always jolly became about to cry.
"Yura, please do something. You are a Strong Sailor."