The breeze carried the smell of the rain. The sky had been gloomy like an apocalypse was about to break down. The road ahead of you was empty, only the trees beside the road could be seen. The drive from Seoul took almost 3 hours. After passing through all the tall buildings to small towns, it seemed like there was nothing else to see but the trees. Jiwon was driving without any disturbance. You have asked him how much time it was going to take to reach yet. "We are here just a little bit more," he would say smiling.

The whole journey you were looking outside of the window, feeling the cold air against your face. You could not sleep last night properly. Every time you tried to close your eyes the sharp eyes of those strange crows stared at you. You still had no idea what had happened in those few minutes while you just stood there waiting for Jiwon. It was as if you were pulled into another complete dimension by some strange force. And what was the feeling of that presence? All these thoughts had made you sleepless yesterday. You just wished that you looked good enough to impress Jiwon's family.

"Are you sure you are taking the right road?" You asked him when you could not spot anything other than trees around the area. It was hard to believe there would be people living there. Was it some kind of farmhouse? But Jiwon had said it was their ancestral home which had been there for years and this was where all of his extended family gathered every now and then for important occasions and his marriage was one of them of course. Even though it would have been good if you had just gotten married in a random church in Seoul but his family did not agree.

"Of course I know the road honey" he replied without taking his eyes off the road "I have been here a few times before and yeah i understand why you are frustrated but we will reach there soon. It's just they had to build it away from any local town because of safety reasons". Probably right. Rich people preferred to live far away from normal people. But the closer you get the more anxious you become. A strange fear was settling inside your heart. Was it nervousness? It must have been that.

You tried to calm yourself down. And you had no reason to be scared since Jiwon was here with you. You stared at him before slipping your hand into his, intertwining your fingers. Jiwon looked down for a moment and let out a chuckle, lifting your hand to press a kiss. It made you feel good and you relaxed a little bit. You could not wait to get married to him and live your days together as a married couple. Just thirteen days more. You should try your best to get to know his family in these upcoming days. And hopefully they would too.

"SHIT" Jiwon cursed loudly as the car suddenly screeched making you jerk forward but he quickly placed his hand against your chest, protecting you from any collision. You blinked your eyes in shock. What just happened?

"Are you okay?" Jiwon asked you, looking concerned.

You nodded your head "Yeah, I am fine but what was it?"

Jiwon runs his fingers through his hair. "I don't know either, it was just that-that something was there. Let me check". He quickly pulled away his seat belt and stepped down from the car.

You were trying to see what was going on but you could not so you decided to step down from the car too. The first thing you saw on the ground was a black feather. You frowned but walked towards Jiwon. The black feathers scattered on the road made you anxious and you were not ready for the next scenario that waited for you.

There, on the ground lay a crow in a pool of blood. It was barely moving but you knew it was alive. Strangely enough its eyes were staring directly at you. A gasp left from your lips and you staggered back a few steps.

An unknown dread filled your entire body. You could not move nor could you say anything. You felt like someone was gripping your lungs, making you unable to breathe. The crows' unmoving eyes stayed on you until life went away from its body little by little.

Cold fear wrapped around you. It was the same feeling as yesterday. You could not understand what was going on. A gentle breeze passed through your ear like a soft kiss making you flinch.

"Y/N".

An unknown whisper against your ear.

A warm body against yours.

A gentle caress.

A presence.

You turned your head around but there was nothing but the presence was still there. Your whole body was covered in fear but from what you did not know.

"Y/N".

You flinched at Jiwon's voice who stared at you with concern. "Are you okay?"

You were breathing heavily and you did not know how to tell him about this eerie feeling of yours. You felt like you were losing your mind. Yesterday's incident felt like a bad dream but you had no explanation regarding what just happened now. You felt it again.

Something was wrong.

•••

Jiwon did not ask anything after he made sure you were fine. He just thought you were just shocked by the incident. He himself did not know how that crow suddenly appeared in front of his car. But the possibility of having birds or animals in this area was common. His family owned the whole forest and sometimes they used it to hunt. So a crow colliding to his car was not something strange at all but he was rather concerned about you. You had your eyes closed the rest of the way as if afraid to witness something else.

Jiwon knew you were nervous to meet his family so he made sure to cheer you up. He wanted to do as you wished but he could not deny his grandfather's request and had to come here for the wedding. He just wanted to get married quickly and live far away from here. "We are here" he whispered gently as soon as he saw the familiar giant gate in front of him. He had to drive five minutes more after crossing the gate but he wanted you to mentally prepare yourself to meet everyone. And you were thankful for that.

All the strange incidents had made you feel anxious. You did not know what was true and what was real. Either everything was a coincidence or you had totally lost your mind in broad daylight. Your head throbbed when you tried to remember everything. Maybe Jiwon was right. You were just tired and were imagining things. All the travel had made you tired and you needed proper rest. And you would be able to rest now that you have already reached his ancestral home.

You run your fingers through your hair to make them look perfect. You looked down at your dress if there were any creases, smoothening them over and over again.

"Relax, don't be so nervous," Jiwon calmly said as he slowed down the car.

The house or more accurately the mansion stood tall among the trees. It was more like a palace. The yard alone was big enough to fit a shopping mall. Well, you kind of expected this. In front of the mansion, a few people, waiting for your arrival.

You held your breath.

When the car stopped, Jiwon got out first and like the gentleman he was he opened the door for you.

You heard some excited giggles as he did so.

Jiwon took your hand and walked towards the family.

Among all the unknown faces you only recognised his parents who silently nodded at you.

"You are finally here, you have been waiting since morning" a woman, probably older than both of you said to Jiwon as he also smiled and hugged her. Jiwon was an only child so this had to be one of his cousins judging by her reaction. "I missed you too, I am sorry I could not keep in touch" he said to a man standing beside the woman.

"Keep your excuses to yourself, we are more interested in meeting the bride" another girl chimed excitedly, she looked younger.

Jiwon had told you that only a few people managed to come early and the rest would be here before the wedding which was good for you since you possibly could not befriend so many people at the same time.

"Meet Y/N, my soon to be wife" Jiwon proudly introduced and you could not help but blush at his remark. "and Y/N, this is my family".

"She must be tired, let's save the introduction for dinner" Jiwon's father said everyone agreed. Honestly you were grateful to his father for not making you do this now. After everything you just wanted to take a hot shower and sleep until dinner time.

"We could do that too. It's easier to introduce everyone together" someone excitedly said.

"We are happy to have you here".

You were happy too.

•••

The room you were provided was like a luxurious VIP suite. It felt too big for a single person. According to their traditions the groom and the bride were not supposed to be together before the wedding so you had to sleep separately.

You were organising your luggage when you heard a knock on the door. You were not expecting anyone so you were a little surprised.

"Come in," you said loudly.

"I am sorry for the disturbance" a familiar voice said while walking inside the room. The woman had long straight hair, everything about her screamed perfectionist as if she was a Victoria's secret model. It was the same woman who had hugged Jiwon first.

"I could not wait till the dinner time since it's very urgent for me" she said while standing in front of you. "I am Sana and I am Jiwon's cousin" she did one of those awkward hugs but you did not mind it.

"Please sit" you offered but she denied.

"I just need a second and I will go, please give me your hand".

Hand?

Huh?

Before you could ask why she herself answered. "I decided to give you a ring made from a very expensive ruby. Everything is done, I just need the size of your finger".

Oh.

You smiled awkwardly and lifted your hand for measurement. She pulled out different sizes of silver rings and tried on your finger.

"Oh this one is perfect, I got it. Thank you, see you at dinner" she said and was out of the door.

"But this ring?" Your empty words echoed inside the room as you stared down the strange black ring around your finger.

You shrugged your shoulders and decided to take it off but as if this ring was stuck, it was not coming out. Strangely, it went smoothly but now it would not come out. You tried again, putting a little bit more force but failed miserably.

Now you had only one option.

You went inside the washroom, opened the tab and put your finger under the water before trying to pull it again. It did not come out yet again.

You sighed in frustration but did not give up. Roaming your eyes on the shelf you took a random shower gel and poured it on your hand, lathering the foam.

This had to work out.

You tried pulling the ring again and again but the result was the same.

It wouldn't come out at all.

You were sure your finger had turned red and now it was throbbing with pain.

The ring was stuck.

And coincidentally it had to be your ring finger.

Fuck!