The Monster
The night sky is as dark as coal.
Jisung is sitting on the couch the living room holding a red hairbrush in his hand.
He found the hairbrush lying on the ground at the park this morning.
He wonders who it belongs to.
Minho walks into the room and takes a seat next to him.
He grabs the remote controller and turns the television on.
A documentary about the North Pole starts showing on the screen.
"Where did you get that hairbrush?" Minho asks.
"I found it on the ground when I went to the park."
"Why did you pick it up? You could have let it stay there."
"Because it looks so pretty." Jisung responds and caresses the brush.
"It probably has germs on it." he says disgusted.
"No, because I cleaned it."
"Do you know who it belongs to?" he asks.
"No, but I might find the owner soon."
Then Minho stares at the screen that is showing an Arctic fox eating fish.
Suddenly the television turns off and there is only a black picture of the screen.
"Did you turn it off?" Minho asks.
"No, I didn't."
Then the lamp in the living room turns off too.
Minho sighs and asks: "Did you forget to pay the electric bills again?"
"No, I'm pretty sure that I paid it this time."
Minho gets up and walks out of the living room.
Jisung gets up too, while holding the hairbrush and feeling the shape of it with his fingertips, then he gets out too.
"Do you know where I can find a flashlight?" Minho asks.
"Maybe there is one in the closet of my bedroom."
Jisung looks outside the window.
It's so dark outside.
He decides to walk to the hallway and puts the hairbrush on the table next to the front door.
He puts on his sneakers that are as white as an Arctic fox.
Then he opens the front door and walks outside.
A cool wind starts blowing towards him, making him wonder if he should have put on a jacket.
But at least he is just going to be outside for a little while, and it's not as if he is on the North Pole.
He looks up at the sky, hoping to see some stars.
He remembers when he was younger wanting to become an astronaut.
He starts noticing one star that is sparkling on the star.
The wind starts getting colder, making him feel goosebumps on his arms.
He stops looking at the sky and notices a dark violet shadow in front of him.
The shadow walks towards him.
Minho is in Jisung's bedroom and opens the closet door.
He starts to search for the flashlight with his hand.
He feels something cylinder shaped and takes it out.
It has a button on it.
He presses the button and light starts shining from it, making his eyes hurt.
Suddenly he hears Jisung scream.
Minho opens the front door of the house and sees a purple fluffy monster with eyes that seem dead and a mouth that wide open and shows it's cat-like teeth.
The monster grabs Jisung arms and pulls him towards it.
Jisung is shivers in fear, feeling the cold touch from the monster.
"Mi... Minho, help me." he yells.
Minho stands still, while thinking of how he can help his friend.
"Leave him alone." Minho says.
But the monster doesn't listen and then gives Jisung a tight hug.
The hug makes him freeze and his skin slowly turn paler.
His heart is racing as if it might end up being the last day that his heart beats.
Minho then runs to the hallway taking the red hairbrush from the table.
He runs outside again and throws the brush, wanting to hit the monster with it, but the brush hits on the ground.
The monster turns its head towards the brush.
Suddenly the monster lets go of him and walks towards the hairbrush and picks it up.
The monster smiles.
Then the monster walks away from both of them and starts looking like a dark shadow again.
Jisung is sitting on the ground, pale and shivering from what he just experienced.
Minho runs towards him.
"Jisung, are you okay?" he asks.
He looks at him with a shocked expression. "I don't know." he responds. "I guess, I might be."
"Let's go inside again." he says and takes his hand, picking him up. "I don't want you to catch a cold."
"By the way, I think that monster feels lonely."
"What are you talking about?" he asks confused.
"I know how it is like to be lonely."
"Huh?" he asks. "But you have me."
"Yes, I know." he answers. "But when I was a kid, I was very lonely, and the other kids refused to play with me because they thought I had lice." He looks at the night sky. "I don't know who told them that I had lice, but every time I asked them if they wanted to play with me, they all screamed and ran away." He feels tears well up in his eyes. "Sometimes they called me 'lice monster' and that name made me cry every time I heard it."
Minho gives him a hug that feels warmer than the monster's.
"I feel sorry that you have felt that way." he says.
A smile appears on Jisung's lips.
"It's okay." he says. "Like you said earlier, I have you."
Minho starts smiling too and hugs him tighter.
The full moon starts showing up on the dark night sky.
Minho's eyes turn red like the hairbrush and his teeth turn sharper.
And all of a sudden, he feels thirsty.
