it was get into her head. “I might just be human. But when you put my friends’ lives in danger, it becomes my business.”
The doorbell rang, and they both froze.
“Somin-ah!” Junu yelled from outside.
She reached for the handle, but not-Jihoon grabbed her wrist and spun her around. “Don’t.”
Somin pulled back, but not-Jihoon held tight, surprising her. She was usually stronger than Jihoon. She swung out with the umbrella, but he caught it easily and yanked it out of her hands.
“You don’t seem to realize how dangerous I can be.” With a jerk of his arm, not-Jihoon pulled Somin toward him and encircled her neck with his hand. “Perhaps I should show you just how wrong you are to underestimate me.”
Somin was slammed against the door so the knob dug into her back. She clawed at his hands, realizing for the first time how big they were as they cut off her air. Somin could count on her fingers the amount of times she’d felt true fear. And in this moment, seeing the face of her best friend contorted into rage as his hands tried to choke the life out of her, she was terrified.
The ringing doorbell continued, becoming insistent.
“Somin-ah!” Junu shouted.
She tried to choke out a word but could barely breathe, let alone speak. No matter how she struggled, whatever was in Jihoon wasn’t letting go. So she let her hands fall, running them over the door behind her.
“Maybe if he finds your body, he’ll know that I’m not playing around here,” not-Jihoon mused.
White dots began dancing in Somin’s vision. She worried she was on the edge of passing out. Then her fingers found the knob and she used the last of her strength to twist it.
The door unlocked with a series of chirps.
It swung open with such force that Somin went flying forward, her body tangling with not-Jihoon’s. His grip finally loosened, and she gasped desperately. As her wheezing turned to coughs, she shifted and bumped into something—her mother. Reaching out, she thought to pull her mother to her, to find some comfort in the unconscious arms, but Junu rushed to her side. He pulled her up so she was lying half in his lap.
She let out a hiss of pain at the jarring movement.
“Somin-ah, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she croaked.
Miyoung leapt on top of not-Jihoon to hold him down. His arms came up in defense or, perhaps, in surrender.
“This body doesn’t belong to you.” A spark flared in Miyoung’s eyes as she shook not-Jihoon.
“I guess a gumiho without her yeowu guseul can still have some fire, huh?” the thing with Jihoon’s face said with a chuckle, and turned to spit blood from his mouth. A bruise was forming on his jaw from the fall.
“I’m going to give you ten seconds to get out of that body, or else you’re going to see how much fire I have left in me,” Miyoung snarled.
Somin would have been pleased to see Miyoung look almost like her normal self if her vision wasn’t wavering from a splitting headache.
“Oh, I’d love to see it,” not-Jihoon said, his face straining forward so it was mere centimeters from Miyoung’s. Then he slammed his forehead into hers.
Miyoung went flying back.
Not-Jihoon leapt up and stalked toward her.
“Sinhye,” Junu shouted, and not-Jihoon froze, turning to Junu with a vicious grin. “Let her go. Your fight is with me.”
“Are you going to stop me?” not-Jihoon asked, lifting an arm as if to strike Miyoung. But at that moment, an avenging ball of fur came racing down the hall. With a growl that Somin had never heard come from Dubu before, the little dog launched herself at not-Jihoon’s leg, biting him on the thigh. He let out a howl and pulled at the dog, but her teeth were dug in. With a hard yank, he finally wrenched her free, flinging her aside.
Somin screamed.
Before anyone could stop him, not-Jihoon jumped up and sprinted away, out the front door.
39
STILL TOO DIZZY to stand, Somin crawled to Dubu. The dog stood, snarling at the closing door. Jihoon’s blood stained her mouth, and Somin tried to wipe it away, but it was too matted.
She scooped Dubu into her arms. The dog’s growls made her body vibrate, but Somin didn’t care. She hugged Dubu close and knelt beside her mother, whose chest rose and fell evenly, a bruise blooming at her temple.
“Somin-ah,” Junu said, kneeling beside her.
“We have to call 1-1-9, get my mom to the hospital,” Somin said, trying to stand, but found it