Yu-ri was on her way to her dorm, when she caught a glimpse of something at the far end of the wall. A shadow, tall and unnervingly still, clung to the wall. It was not moving naturally, it was stiff, rigid, as if carved from darkness itself.
Her breath hitched slightly. The air around it felt colder, heavier, like the warmth of the room had been sucked away. Every instinct screamed at her that this was not humans or any type of shadows, that it wasn't something ordinary.
The shadow didn't shift when she moved, didn't blink, didn't even breathe. Its presence was oppressive, silent, and impossible to ignore. Yu-ri's pulse throbbed in her ears, but she didn't stare at it deeply; she knows if she did it will haunt her. Although, she could deal with it but only with a loss.
A chill crawled up her spine. Something about it was familiar, yet foreign. She knew, deep down, that this was a warning, or worse… an omen. Slowly, carefully, she stepped backward, eyes never looking at the shadows deeply the rigid silhouette, feeling the weight of its stillness pressing against her, trying to find out if she can see it. Yu-ri is a dragon but can conceal her origin to every being and creature, she's human and smells human too. The shadows came even closer to her. She was sure it was a death shadow but the question is why is it here, this is not a human death shadow it was for supernatural beings. 'What exactly is happening?'
***
Days passed faster than one could imagine. The semester is already two weeks away. Class going on, students trying their best to understand what was thought. Some have fun with their university life with their daily quotes 'live your life'. Yu-ri became a little closer to Sylvia and can currently be considered as… friends and what brought them close was peer mentoring. Both of them were studying Engineering, and Yu-ri was assigned to mentor five students for the next 4 weeks (one month).
!Ring ring!
«Hey, what's up?» Yu-ri said to Se-ra. They had been a little distance for a while because of studies and mainly different majors of study. «So, I'll be staying out for a while and six days. I'm going for a week intern»
«oh really? When?»
«Tomorrow»
«Oh okay. Take care,eat well. We'll talk more at home» then the call was off. Yu-ri just felt empty in her heart. Not for anything but for them drifting apart silently and slowly. She didn't even get to tell about what she saw and the cause. She took her books from the desk and left the class she was in. On her way, she saw Min-ji. The girl waved happily at her, but she could only smile weakly, she's tired.
"Sunbae, how are you doing?"
"Good"
"Oh well, that's great. I was actually hoping to get a senior project with you but unfortunately I got it with some other senior. But still I have this topic I was a little confused with. I failed it in the make- up test I did, could you explain it to me?. I promise this is not a way of bringing out my feelings" Min-ji said. Yu-ri sigh internally, age knew what this was all about she looked up to the girl and said: "alright" and then walked away. She knew the 'alright' was like an achievement to the girl and she knew the girl's motive but it was going to end finally in a way Min-ji won't expect. "Tomorrow… 5pm" Min-ji shouted so that Yu-ri heard. She would have heard even if she didn't shout, dragon problem.
***
"wow, you stayed longer than I expected" Se-ra said. As she packed clothes and food into her bad for tomorrow's journey. "I went to library" Yu-ri replied briefly. Se-ra stopped what she's doing and looked at Yu-ri. "Okay, enough of this. What is wrong with you? Yes, I know you're going through something that not aware. I asked what was going on and then you either cover up the question or just shun me. What exactly is wrong with you? C'mon I hate how stiff you've been towards me. And then you hang out with that girl more than me. Whatever her stupid name is. I hate it, is it because of something I did?!" Se-ra blurts every word with a mixture of anger, sadness and a little disappointment.
Yu-ri stared at her, shocked by how fast things went. Oh, so it was her fault things were turning off? "So I didn't tell you what was going on, like you did? You went on like nothing is wrong with you and now it's my fault and what has Sylvia got to do with this. Everything is not ALWAYS. ABOUT. YOU. SE-RA!" Yu-ri said she started off calm as she talked but then her emotions gave in and she let it out on Se-ra.
"Wow, wow… okay I'm not going to get mad yet… plus I know it's not 'always about me' but I'm fine" she paused as she knew she was nothing close to fine, in fact she was the opposite of 'fine'. "Please, I am not in the mood for all this. You're the one who is suddenly going out for an internship and I just know about, today, remember how you forget about our project together for whatever it is, or when you didn't come home for about 3 days and I don't know where you were and now I am at fault. Please keep that shit from me" Yu- ri lashed, she set herself on the bed and turned to the wall side as she closed her eyes in anger. She knew Se-ra was about to say something but then why bother. It was not about Se-ra, it's about her. And she is not ready to talk about it now or … never. She remembers the look on her mothers face and the death shadow and what was coming in the future…