A Forest flowing with Milk and Honey - Chapter 7.2

“Mi-jung.”

“I will become her. I have to…”

“Mi-jung, are you okay?”

Mi-jung lifted her blurred gaze and stared at Woo-rim.

Flap! A flock of black crows suddenly burst into the sky with a loud flapping of wings.
The moment Woo-rim glanced out the window, Mi-jung reached out and shoved her.

“Ouch!”

As she fell, a sharp piece of debris from the newly installed window frame cut into her palm. The pain was sharp, and blood quickly dripped from her hand. The blood fell ominously onto the spot where the stillborn child had lain.

“I want to be just like you…”

Mi-jung grabbed Woo-rim’s injured hand tightly. Her sharp nails dug into the wound, sending a chill through Woo-rim’s arm as if it had been pierced by ice. Woo-rim tried to push her away, clutching her throbbing hand with the other, but Mi-jung wouldn’t let go easily.

“What are you doing! Let go of the miss’s hand right now!”

Hae-yeon, the kitchen assistant, heard the commotion and came out to the living room, shouting in the distance. The bodyguards also ran into the living room. The bodyguards pulled Woo-rim away from Mi-jung.

It was then.

Poof! Mi-Jung’s lips were sliced open by a knife. Crimson blood splashed down Wu Lin’s cheeks.

Wu Lin followed the blood trail with dazed eyes, not fully understanding what had happened in front of him.

Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow!

Blood dripped from the knife that had torn and mangled human flesh.

It was all Mijung’s blood. The man who had stabbed Mi-jeong was Yoon-seok, who had come into the living room from the garden with his bodyguards. Each time he slashed at Mi-jeong’s stomach, a gush of red blood splashed onto the people standing nearby.

‘All bodyguards, gather in the living room of the main house! Mr Shin Yoon-seok has murdered Ms Kang Mi-jung. He’s holding a knife.’

Do-hoon, the head of the bodyguard team, quickly approached, wrapping his arms around Woo-rim and muttering rapidly into his walkie-talkie in-ear.

‘Chizik, chizik, chizik, chizik!

The crackling sound of a broken radio scratched his eardrums sharply.

‘Ugh…!’

Do-hoon yanked out his in-ear radio and looked around, bewildered. The atmosphere felt completely off.

Despite the chaos, Do-hoon was the only one actively protecting Woo-rim, while the rest of the guards were standing still, transfixed by Yoon-seok as if they were under a spell.

His eyes swept uneasily around the unsettlingly quiet living room. It wasn’t just the bodyguards; nearly everyone in the room appeared frozen in time. But the eerie calm broke when their bodies suddenly began to twitch, their bones cracking in an unnatural, spasmodic way.

‘Aaaaah!’

A bone-chilling scream erupted as they began lunging towards Woo-rim like a horde of zombies. Acting quickly, Do-hoon shoved Woo-rim towards the stairs.

‘Get upstairs!’

Woo-rim, out of breath and panicked, hurried up the staircase. As she ran, she caught a terrifying glimpse of Yoon-seok pouring oil over Mi-jung’s lifeless body before setting it ablaze. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Woo-rim through the flames, sending a jolt of terror through her.
Breathing heavily, her heart pounded like she had just witnessed a brutal murder.

‘Kick. Kick.’

Echoing in her mind, she heard the sinister laughter of Son Gak-shi as she rushed into the nearest room. Do-hoon and Hae-yeon were right behind her, barely making it inside before slamming the door shut.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The frenzied pounding at the door began almost immediately, as the people outside—now in a crazed state—tried to break in. The door rattled violently, as if it wouldn’t hold for long.

‘What’s happening? Why are they acting like this?’

Hae-yeon’s voice trembled as she took a few steps back, whispering fearfully. But there was no answer. The tension in the room was palpable.

‘Block the door! Quickly!’

Do-hoon ordered as he pushed chairs and furniture in front of the door to fortify it. Woo-rim and Hae-yeon scrambled to help, moving anything they could find to block the entry.

Once the door was somewhat barricaded, Woo-rim frantically fumbled for her phone.

On the screen, an unsettling message appeared:
[????]

‘Out of service…?’

Not even emergency calls would connect. When she told the others, both Do-hoon and Hae-yeon immediately checked their own phones in disbelief, confirming the same—no signal.
“What the…,” Do-hoon muttered under his breath, rushing to the second-floor window. Thankfully, all the locks were undone, but the windows had security bars in place since it was the second floor where Woo-rim stayed.

He cursed aloud—something Woo-rim realized she had never seen him do before—as he examined the security bars. They could be removed from the inside, but only with a screwdriver.

“Do you, by any chance, have a screwdriver?” Do-hoon asked Woo-rim with desperate eyes, hoping for a miracle. Woo-rim felt awkward for not being able to meet that expectation.

“I have a box cutter…” she offered.

“I have a hairpin, could that work?” Hae-yeon chimed in, thinking of scenes she’d seen in movies as she pulled out a tiny bobby pin.

The pounding on the door continued outside, but inside, the air grew heavy with a tense, ominous silence.

“What’s that sound?” Hae-yeon asked, breaking the stillness as the distant noise of running water grew louder.

“The sprinklers must have gone off downstairs because of the fire,” Do-hoon explained. “At least we don’t have to worry about burning alive.”

“Wait… are they really trying to kill us?” Hae-yeon’s voice trembled.

“Considering they’ve cut off all communication and surrounded us, I don’t think they’re playing house,” Do-hoon replied grimly, picturing a terror scenario. But Woo-rim knew better. She suspected this wasn’t an ordinary attack—it had to do with the supernatural forces at work. She vividly remembered the eerie blood splattering as Mi-jung died, an omen of something far worse.

Looking down at herself, Woo-rim noticed something: while Do-hoon and Hae-yeon’s clothes and faces were clean, hers were stained with Mi-jung’s blood, now dried into an unsettling black color.

She wondered why she hadn’t succumbed to the strange forces that had possessed the others. Could it have something to do with this cursed blood?

Suddenly, a loud crash shook the room. The door, barricaded by furniture, was being hacked at with an axe, splintering with each blow. A hole formed, and through it, they could see the crazed figures on the other side, shoving one another to be the first to storm through.

“The odds look like three against ten. You think you could handle that, Mr. Head of Security?” Woo-rim asked, her voice filled with nervous sarcasm.

“It’s more like one against ten. I appreciate your confidence in me, but even that’s a stretch.”

“Why, in the movies, they always…”

“That’s just the movies,” Do-hoon interrupted, his tone icy. Their brief exchange was cut short as the door, already weakened by axe blows, rattled violently.

“Fine then. Let’s give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen—death?”

Do-hoon grabbed a chair, exhaling in resignation. He motioned for Woo-rim and Hae-yeon to stick close, and they nodded in agreement.
“Arrrgh!”

“My voice is louder!” Do-hoon roared back as he charged forward. With tremendous strength, he swung the chair, knocking aside the approaching people as if it were a bat.
“…!”

As Woo-rim followed, something cold clamped onto her ankle. The unexpected contact sent chills down her spine, but she quickly shook it off. Despite the panic of being pursued, it wasn’t immediately dangerous since none of their pursuers were armed.

She flinched with every touch, but never let Do-hoon out of her sight.

“You’re like King Kong, sir!” Hae-yeon exclaimed, cheering him on. Do-hoon, drenched in sweat from the struggle, managed a slight smile as they descended the stairs.

However, as they entered the living room, they all came to a stunned halt.
Standing there was Mi-jung.

Her lips were slashed, her skin burned and peeling, her insides grotesquely slashed and charred. What was left of her intestines had melted into her abdomen, resembling a horribly disfigured pregnant belly.

She was positioned by the window, the bright sunlight casting an eerie glow over the ghastly scene.