The Boy of Cheongan (靑霧)

Episode 1: Shards of Heavy Metal

The acoustic guitar strings hummed softly, filling the cozy venue with a warm, gentle rhythm. It was a bright, cheerful, even polite-sounding melody. But it had nothing at all to do with the heavy, anxious heartbeat pounding violently in my chest. This calm, quiet music gathering was certainly not bad, but it just wasn’t my taste.

I looked down at my reflection in the dark glass near the stage. I was dressed to the nines in my favorite gothic outfits. A black lace shirt made of sheer fabric, an intricately fitted corset cinched tight around my ribs, and long stockings disappearing beneath a dark, billowing skirt. As I stepped into the darkness, the heavy platform boots I wore struck the wooden floorboards with a deep, crisp click.

"Your turn."

Someone handed me the microphone and whispered softly.

I walked to the center of the stage. The audience fell silent in an instant, anticipation showing on their faces. They probably assumed I’d be singing another gentle acoustic ballad. I slowly, deeply inhaled and fixed my gaze firmly on the front row. Jiseok was sitting right there. The moment Jiseok met my eyes, he gave me a bright, affectionate smile as if to cheer me on. He really had no idea about the storm I was about to unleash in this place.

I lightly tapped the play button on the player.

The instant the opening notes of Motionless In White burst harshly through the venue’s sound system, the calm atmosphere from just moments before shattered and vanished completely. The track was heavy, relentless, and had an utterly unexpected allure. I kept my eyes locked on Jiseok. As the deep bass vibrations traveled fiercely through the soles of my platform boots, I took in every change in his face as he looked completely stunned.

A taut tension swelled through the air as if a spring drawn to the limit might snap at any moment. As the music charged straight toward its breaking point, the audience collectively held their breath.

There’s nowhere to run now, it’s your time—

Right at that moment, when the harsh screaming vocals slammed down perfectly, I poured everything I had into it and plunged mercilessly into the lyrics as if typing them out on a keyboard. Raw, intense energy burst from my throat as if tearing it apart, filling the entire room.

Get away!

At that moment, the air inside the venue seemed to freeze instantly.

Before my voice had even fully settled from the speakers, a thick, suffocating grave of black smoke erupted violently through the gaps in the stage floorboards. Like a desperate vine that was somehow alive, it coiled fearfully around my waist, then began harshly pressing against the fabric of my corset and tightening without mercy.

I didn’t stop singing. Even as some sudden, terrifying force dragged me violently backward, the momentum of the lyrics kept surging out from within me without stopping. Then the mic cable snapped with a sharp pop, and my platform boots were yanked cleanly up off the stage, torn helplessly into the air.

Beyond the rising haze, the venue plunged in an instant into vast chaos. Jiseok shot to his feet. Leaping over the speaker in the front row, he desperately reached into the black smoke to grab me, the kind smile already gone from his face. Only pure fear remained.