smell had become muted. The same with her vision, her speed, her strength. It took some getting used to.
She didn’t feel fully human, but she didn’t feel the hunger for energy she once did either.
Miyoung was caught in some kind of limbo, not quite gumiho and not quite human. And though she hadn’t told anyone yet, she knew that she was weak even for a human. Recovery had been slower than she’d hoped, but it wasn’t something to burden anyone with. Especially because there was no precedent for her situation.
“Ya! You’re not pedaling right!”
Miyoung glanced over, holding in her smile at the sight of Somin chastising Changwan as they tried, and failed, to ride a tandem bike.
“Your legs are shorter than mine,” Changwan complained as his limbs dragged over the ground to stop them.
“You have to watch my lead,” Somin instructed from her front seat.
Junu leaned against the railing. “Isn’t the boy supposed to sit in the front?” Behind him the Han River flowed peacefully, the smell of water saturating the wind that blew over Miyoung’s cheeks.
“The better rider sits in front,” Somin corrected, sending him a glare patented just for the dokkaebi.
A strange truce had formed between Miyoung and Junu. The dokkaebi hadn’t disappeared after Yena’s death like Miyoung had expected. And surprisingly, it had been Jihoon who’d told her to give Junu another chance.
“It seems like he’s sticking around because he needs to make amends,” Jihoon had said. “I think we can both understand how that feels.”
So Miyoung had begrudgingly accepted the dokkaebi whenever he randomly showed up. Like today, as he arrived with the tandem bike and Changwan.
“Miyoung-ah! Come save me from these boys!” Somin called to her.
She chuckled. “No thanks.”
Somin sighed, then gestured to Junu. “Come and take a turn, then.”
He sauntered over, a knowing grin on his face.
“You want me to take a turn, sweetheart?” Junu asked.
Changwan was starting to climb off when Somin stopped him.
“No, I think you guys will make a much better pair.” Somin grinned, climbing off the bike.
Junu raised a brow, then shrugged and climbed into her seat. “Okay, Changwan, let’s show them how it’s done.”
He took off a bit too fast, Changwan’s shout of alarm trailing behind them.
Somin chuckled with Miyoung.
The girls had formed what could only be called a friendship over the past weeks. Somin had a lot of questions, some of which Miyoung hadn’t answered yet, partly because she couldn’t. Somin wanted to know the weirdest things, like how come gumiho eat food when they only need gi to survive. Or why gumiho are solitary creatures when they’d be so much stronger in a pack.
Once, Miyoung had caught Somin staring at her.
“What?” Miyoung asked.
“I think you’ll age well,” Somin mused. “You have the bone structure for it. I guess we’ll get to find out now.”
It had caused the girls to break out into laughter.
Oddly enough, Miyoung liked Somin’s blunt curiosity. In a way, it made her think of her gumiho state differently. Not as a monster, but as another being trying to figure out how to exist in the world.
“You look tired,” Somin said.
“Gee, thanks.” Miyoung laughed, but she worried about So-min’s sharp eyes. “I’m fine, just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
Somin nodded and let it go. She knew Miyoung still had bad dreams about the night her mother died.
“Do you really not want a turn on the bike? It’s kind of fun.” Somin grinned and it pulled an answering smile from Miyoung.
“Maybe when Jihoon gets here.”
Somin rolled her eyes. “Good luck, that boy is worse than Changwan with hand-eye coordination.”
“Heads up!” Junu called as they rode by Somin, a bit too close for comfort.
“Ya!” she shouted, taking off after them.
Miyoung was laughing at the sight when someone clamped their hands over her eyes. “Guess who.”
She grabbed Jihoon’s wrists and pulled until he was hugging her from behind.
“What are you doing?” Jihoon whispered in her ear.
“Nothing,” Miyoung replied, releasing him so he could walk around the bench. “Talking to the sun.”
“What does it say?” He sat and swung an arm around her shoulders.
“Nothing much. Just hello.”
“Not very talkative, huh?”
“It doesn’t need to be,” Miyoung said. “The sun and I have a good relationship.” She set her head against his shoulder. Her own personal sun, plucked out of the sky.
“You finally got to come to the Han River. Is it everything you thought it would be?” he asked. “Full of magic and unicorns?”
Miyoung snorted out a laugh. “Unicorns don’t exist.”