The Demon In You

Hyunjae stared at the still girl in front of him. It looked as if she was sleeping. Her face was peaceful, an expression Hyunjae had not seen on her for a long time. He reflected back to the time he first met her.

....

"The design sucks!"

The model threw away the dress. "Halos around the waist? Really? You expect me to wear this garbage?" she shouted at him.

Hyunjae was an up and coming designer back then. He was barely establishing his name. The model he offered the dress to was the top showstopper. If she wore his dress, then he would be able to strengthen his position.

But after seeing her apparent disgust, he did not want an arrogant woman like her to wear his designs.

He kept his calm and simply picked up the dress from the floor.

"You'll beg for my dress one day," he calmly promised her.

"As if I'll wear that garbage!"

"You'll not wear it," he said. "You'll beg to wear it. But you won't be able to get your hands on any of my dresses. I'll make sure of that."

The model snorted. In truth, she wanted to work with the famous Armiola but the agency signed up this new guy. She wanted the best designers not some unknown fly.

Hyunjae slightly bowed to her and exited the room. He heaved a sigh. This was his hundredth rejection for this dress.

He was about to turn around when someone bumped into him.

"What the-"

Two hands grabbed him, turned him around and hid behind him. It was a girl.

"Please hide me," the girl begged. "Those guys are after me!"

Hyunjae narrowed his eyes and craned his neck to the direction she pointed at. A man and a woman wearing black suit were scurrying around, looking for something.

"Please let me hide, big bro," the girl begged.

"Who the hell are you calling big bro?" Hyunjae scowled. "We just met."

"Well now we're brother and sister by name," she declared. "Help me big bro."

She was small enough to hide behind his big frame. The man and the woman approached him.

"Excuse me sir," the woman said. "Have you seen a teenage girl running by here?"

"Nope," he lied. "Haven't seen anyone."

The woman scanned him carefully and was about to say something when the man said, "Shin, she might be at the guardhouse again. Let's search there."

The woman did not argue any further and followed the man.

Once they were out of sight, the girl came out.

"Phew! Thanks big bro!" she said cheerfully. "You saved me from those darn managers. They wanted to feed me carrot juice! I hate carrots!"

She turned around and Hyunjae saw her face properly. It was Choi So Min, the country's top teen idol.

"Yeah yeah," Hyunjae shrugged as he turned to walk away, but So Min decided to tag along.

"So big bro, what do you do?" she asked.

"I'm a designer," he replied.

"Ohhhh so are you famous?"

"No."

"So you got rejected by the models?"

Hyunjae felt as if someone smashed him against a wall.

"I didn't get rejected," a nerve twitched in his head. "I rejected them. And why are you following me?"

"That's what every rejected person says," So Min laughed. "And I'm following you coz I'm bored."

This kid is annoying, Hyunjae gritted inwardly. So Min reached over to grab the dress from his hands.

"Wooooah!" she wowed in astonishment. "This dress is so pretty! Older brother, I wanna wear this!"

"Stop joking around!" Hyunjae scolded her. "This dress isn't for minors."

"Why not?"

"It's off-shoulder!"

"Then amend it. But I want this dress."

The girl stomped her foot on the ground and began to w.h.i.n.e.

"I want this dress!" she insisted, crying like a child. Hyunjae panicked and looked around. He felt embarrassed. "I want this dress!" she kept on repeating.

"Fine!" he bellowed. "I'll give you the dress."

He finally conceded to her demands.

"Yahoo!" the girl raised her hands in the air. "Now you'll see big bro! I'm gonna make this dress into a trendsetter. People will beg for your designs. I can recognize diamond from coal. And this dress is platinum level!"

Hyunjae smiled, in spite of himself. The girl in front of him was full of life.

So Min kept her word. After throwing tantrums with her managers, she finally managed to make them agree to her demands.

When she wore the dress in her next music video, it became a trendsetter. People around the country went crazy for the dress. They wanted more from the designer who made this masterpiece. By the following year, celebrities lined up in front of Hyunjae's stores, begging for his designs. One of them, included the model who rejected his dress.

It gave Hyunjae great satisfaction to ban her from his stores. She felt humiliated but was helpless against Hyunjae's prowess.

In truth, Hyunjae already had a massive amount of power and fortune even before he became a designer. But he wanted to start from scratch to pursue his fashion. Along the way, he found some true friends who put up with his antics but appreciated him for his talent not for his money. So Min was one such friend.

From then on, Hyunjae became a brother to the young girl, watched her grow into a strong woman. He was glad to be her friend.

....

And now the girl was lying there, beautiful even in death.

"You were persistent till your last breath," he gently c.a.r.e.s.sed her cheek and bent down to kiss her forehead.

They were at the cremation house. Hyunjae wanted to bury her but it was So Min's last wish to be cremated.

So Min was lying in a beautiful peach colored dress with colorful halos around the waist. The same dress she wore all those years ago.

Hyunjae did her make up himself. He wanted her to look her best. She did not need it but he did it for his sister anyway.

Now, seeing her lying inside the coffin, he could not help but shed a tear. She hated to see people cry, which is why he held it in. But now, they would not stop.

He closed the casket. It was placed on a convener belt, which started to roll the casket towards a burning furnace.

As the coffin immersed into the flames, Hyunjae threw a peach petal into it.

"Goodbye Peach," he said softly.

The flames engulfed the casket, taking with it the beautiful girl in it.

Hyunjae felt something cold writhing into his palm. Startled, he looked down, to see a small, teenager girl emitting a pearly glow, smiling at him.

"Thank you big bro," she said as a tear dropped from her eye. "Farewell."

Hyunjae smiled at the apparition as it began to fade.

....

Jo Sun was waiting for Hyunjae outside the funeral home. He saw his boss, striding out of the parlor.

"Will it rain today?" Hyunjae asked, looking up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, promising a hot summer day.

"No sir," Jo Sun replied. "It'll be sunny today."

"No," Hyunjae insisted. "It'll rain."

Jo Sun understood the hidden meaning behind his words. Without a word, they got in the car and drove away.

That evening, the city faced a sudden shower of rain.