Soul and Stone.

The Roger's Art Centre, at the heart of New York, now looked deserted as darkness slowly wrapped the arena. Members of the technical team could be seen  moving their equipment off the dimly lit stage. Some fans could still be seen loitering around, possibly reminiscing about the concert. Eternity V, a popular Kpop band, had just given a  performance for the ages. The rest of the arena looked messy as if a battle had been fought there with plastic cups and confetti as weapons. Volunteers could be seen bravely cleaning the place up. 

Jessica broke away from her volunteer group. She had had enough of the Kpop debates and wanted to be alone. She hadn't even attended the concert. She wasn't a fan of the genre and had spent the last few hours at a coffee shop waiting for the concert to end. She was at the arena only because her school's disciplinary board had seen it fit to have her cleaning the arena up as part of her community service. "A few hours to go," she thought  as she picked up the annoying trash. She lit  the  area just in front of her to get a better view of the trash ahead. That's when she saw it. 

Just ahead of her, stood a life sized white stone sculpture of a teenage girl. Something about it felt eerie. Jessica hesitantly approached it and heard murmurs coming from it. "What was in that coffee?" she wondered as she quickly walked away from it. She then blew her emergency whistle to alert the others. Within a minute, some members of the technical team had rushed in to help her. Upon seeing the sculpture, they all laughed and told Jessica that the band planted these sculptures as part of their tradition and used them for good fortune at their concerts. Not fully convinced, she told them that she had heard murmurs. At this point they now couldn't contain their laughter. She felt stupid. They signed her community service sheet and advised her to go home, cool off and rest. They jokingly  suggested that the heat might have gotten to her head. They picked up the sculpture and disappeared into the darkness. Spooked and confused, she left the arena and took a taxi home. As soon as she got home, she did a quick search online for sculpture  sightings at the band's past events. "Those guys were right," she said as she flipped through images of the eerie sculptures taken before. She laughed at herself. She had made a fool out of herself. As she went to bed, she posted, 'Talking sculptures.lol #EternityV' on her social media page. She slowly drifted to sleep hoping to put this strange ordeal behind her. 

New York was different from Busan, a fact that Chi Hae hated to agree with every day as he painfully adjusted to the American lifestyle. He had been up early that morning as they were opening a new exhibition at the museum. The taxi was taking ages to get to the museum as traffic was dense that morning. He lazily scrolled through the social media news and gossip on his phone. Eternity V highlights and comments flooded the social media platforms. He knew that his workmates were going to be on his case for not attending the concert. There was a rumour going on at work that he hated his culture and countrymates. A rumour that he had often refuted. He continued to peruse  through the countless posts about the band from his hometown; ...handsome, ...electric performance,  …encore, ...forever young, ...marry me Redwood, …talking sculpture, …hiatus, ...five years. "Talking sculpture!" his eyes widened as he slowly read the post. Suddenly, it felt like he was back in  Busan. The ghost from his past had grimly caught up with him. 

Chi Hae grew up in Busan and had planned to never leave it. He had studied Latin, Art and Culture in university and gotten a job as an Art and Culture specialist at Busan Art Museum. He was in his second year working at the museum when Eternity V returned from a 5 year hiatus. They were going to release an album and do a concert in Busan before taking another 5 year hiatus. The band was made up of 5 young men, Redwood, Phoenix, Sphinx, Dragon and Centaur. In addition to being talented, this dynamic quintet curiously seemed ageless despite having been in the music industry for a while. Most fans agreed that this was due to the band's strict lifestyle while a handful of them reckoned that the band was a testament of  plastic surgery done right. 

The band had their concert in Busan. Their performance as usual had exceeded expectations. Chi Hae hadn't attended it as he was stuck at work restoring old paintings he had received from a noble Korean family. A day after the concert as he was in his office, his assistant notified him that there was a man who wanted to inquire about white sculptures in Korea. A moment later, the man walked into his office. He looked troubled. Chi Hae didn't think much of it as he asked him about his inquiry. The man told him about his strange ordeal. He had attended the Eternity V concert and noticed a life-sized white sculpture of a man. Nothing seemed strange to Chi Hae until the man mentioned that he heard murmurs from that sculpture. "He must have been drunk or high on something," he thought to himself as the man concluded his bizarre story. He asked for his details and promised to email him his findings. He reassured him that there was nothing to worry about.

As soon as the man walked out of his office, he sent an email to the band stating that he was an art specialist and was interested in examining the white sculpture they had used at their concert. As expected, he didn't get a response. It was only after a week that he received a call. The call was from an anonymous caller. "If you want to know about the sculpture, meet me at the coffee shop next to your museum," the caller said and hung up. He dashed to the coffee shop and as he entered, a woman dressed in black waved at him. He made his way to her. She had already ordered jasmine tea for him. She passed him his tea as he took his seat. After taking a sip from her cup, she handed him some documents and asked him to take a quick glance at them. He perused through the documents for a few minutes and with a confused look he asked what all this meant. She hesitated and then with a lowered voice she told him her story. 

She had just turned twenty when she started working for a small talent recruitment agency. The agency was in a fierce competition with other agencies to create the best music group in Korean history. The agency struggled to keep up as it was underfunded. Their fortunes turned when they managed to recruit six orphaned teenagers they had found on the streets of Busan. The boys were gifted. They could dance, sing and play instruments well. They had picked up these skills while on the streets. The agency was sure that with the right training and grooming, the boys were going to be stars. Just before their big debut, they went on a trip to the jungles north of Busan. They were told that this was to help them bond. Five boys returned from that trip. She paused and looked around to make sure that no extra pair of ears was listening. She resumed. The official statement with regard to the sixth boy had been that he had simply quit the band. She, like the rest of the employees, believed it. Then one day, Centaur pulled her aside and with tears in his eyes told her what had happened to their friend. He told her that their friend had suddenly turned to stone  while they were in that jungle. The agency's president had made them swear not to tell anyone about what had happened. He told them that their friend's sacrifice was to pivot them to success and that through his death, he had become a foundation for their success. She stopped at this part. "I am turning forty five this year so do the math. Please be careful and don't trust anyone," she said as she left him to digest what she had just served him. 

He decided to work from home for the rest of that week. He was terrified. From the woman's documents, he learned that at every concert the band did after 5 years, a sculpture would be found. The poor victims were drifters who no one would miss. He found out that these were sacrifices being made to fortify the original sacrifice made in that jungle. Those who had reported hearing murmurs from these sculptures suddenly vanished or were found dead. That man who had visited his office had heard murmurs. He had to warn him. He called him and was relieved to hear his voice. They agreed to meet at the man's apartment the next day. In the morning, Chi Hae cautiously made his way to the man's apartment.  He froze for a moment as he saw ambulances and policemen surrounding the man's apartment. He could tell that something horrible had happened. He slowly made his way to a small crowd that had gathered next to the ambulances.  His heart sank as he saw the first responders close a body bag with that man's badly bruised body. "His mistress' lover probably did this," suggested one of the onlookers. "His mistress?" Chi Hae could see a woman lying on a stretcher. The paramedics were frantically doing CPR on her. She wasn't responding to the intervention. He got a glimpse of her face. It was that woman from the coffee shop. The informant. The one who had told him to be careful. Her body looked heavily mangled too. As he helplessly looked at the bodies, the harsh reality of what was coming dawned on him. He had to disappear before he became a victim of the weighty secret he carried. He gave one final look then scurried home. 

A distant fire truck siren brought him back to the present. To New York, his refuge for the past 5 years. His taxi had hardly made any progress. "Clearly this Jessica is in deep trouble," he thought as he finished recalling what had happened in Busan. He called his British counterpart, Charles, and excused himself from the exhibition's morning session. He assured him that he would lead both the afternoon and evening sessions. He immediately texted Jessica and told her that he was an art specialist at the New York Art Museum and urgently wanted to meet her at a coffee shop. He wanted more information about the sculpture she had mentioned in her post. Jessica made her way to the coffee shop. She agreed that the creepy sculpture was worth being examined and was willing to help the specialist. As she entered the coffee shop, a Korean man with a cap on waved at her and she made her way to him. " I am not ready for another Kpop debate," she joked as she sat next to the him. The man just smiled. She could tell that it was a forced smile as the man looked worried. She just assumed that he was nervous about the meeting. Chi Hae looked at her and with a serious tone asked her what the sculpture had said to her that night

Jessica didn't know how to respond. The man obviously wasn't joking. Dumbfounded, she just stared at him.  "Did you catch any word?" Chi Hae asked her. Jessica shifted on her chair uncomfortably. She had tried to convince herself that she hadn't heard anything yet this man  was confident that she had heard something. "Who cares about the actual words? What matters is that it spoke," she finally answered him. "Those words can be the key to undoing this whole nightmare!" he snapped at her. "What nightmare?" she asked, a chill running down her spine. Chi Hae could tell that he had frightened her with his words but  she had to know what was coming for her. He owed her an explanation. He told her about the documents and what had happened in Busan. Jessica didn't want to believe what he was saying. It had to be some sick joke or something. She now looked pale as the man concluded his story. "This can't be true. It can't," she thought to herself. "This is why I avoid you Kpop fans," she burst at him, "Your theories belong to Reddit. Next time you have a stupid theory don't bother me with it." Chi Hae felt sorry for her. Denial was clearly blinding her from the truth.  "Call the band and ask them what their sculptures say. If it makes you happy I only heard anima or something like that. Total gibberish. Don't call me again. Goodbye!" She snatched her jacket and stormed out. Chi Hae felt hamstrung as he helplessly watched the young woman leave. He couldn't help her. She didn't want his help or listen to any of his 'conspiracy' theories. "Anima?" he repeated the word in his mind, "that's Latin for soul." 

It was just after six in the evening when Jessica got home. As she entered her apartment, she felt a force push her down to the floor. Someone had been waiting for her. She heard the door kicked shut and suddenly  felt a pair of gloved meaty hands squeeze her neck. She couldn't scream. The attacker was making it hard for her to reach for his mask. She was going to die without catching a glimpse of her killer's face. As she slowly slipped out of consciousness, he released his grip and stuffed her mouth with a towel. He then took a knife and started stabbing her ruthlessly, over and over again. Convinced she wasn't going to survive this, the man simply walked out of the apartment, leaving Jessica lying in a pool of blood. Jessica could feel her life slipping away. She had bled a lot. She couldn't call anyone for help. As she slipped out of consciousness again, she found herself back at Roger's Art Centre. The sculpture stood before her again. This time however, she could clearly hear what it was saying. It kept repeating four foreign words to her. As she slowly regained consciousness, she knew what she had to do. Although she had little time left, she wanted to leave a message for Chi Hae. He had to avenge her. 

Chi Hae's had a watertight alibi. He had been at the museum leading the evening session of the exhibition when the crime was committed. The detective and Chi Hae sat in the interrogation room in complete silence. The detective had placed crime scene photos on the table. The scene was bloodcurling to say the least. Chi Hae was furious. Furious at the cult for claiming another innocent victim and furious at himself for not protecting the young woman. The guilt was beginning to strangle him. As he glanced at the gruesome photos, something caught his attention. There was a photo of some scribblings written in red. The scribblings had been found next to Jessica's body written in her own blood. Her finger tips were stained with blood. She had left the message. A message for her avenger. Her dying words. Though badly written, Chi Hae could make out the words; Anima datur, vita renovatur. The police had already translated the message and were now working on deciphering it. This was their only clue for now. "A cryptic message? As if the crime isn't complex enough," the detective said as Chi Hae handed him back the photo. After his alibi had been confirmed by the museum's security team, the detective released him and promised to get in touch if they got any leads. 

"Soul given, life renewed," he translated Jessica's dying words while waiting for his friend, Charles, to pick him up. He had asked him to pass by his apartment and get some of his clothes and passport. He wasn't going back home that night. Since he now had the key, thanks to Jessica, he knew that he wasn't safe. The Busan documents had stated that in order to break the spell, one had to repeat the words while smashing the original sculpture to pieces. The foundation had to be destroyed. He had to go into that jungle, find the sculpture and put an end to this. Charles honked at him from across the street. He quickly made his way to the car and soon, they were off. He was safe for now. As he turned to face the driver and tell him about the investigation, he became petrified. Charles was pointing a gun at him. He held the loaded gun firmly in his hand and slowly inserted the barrel into Chi Hae's mouth. "Some secrets are meant to stay as secrets, mate," he said with a smirk on his face. 

The  band's beautiful mansion stood at the outskirts of Busan and along the banks of a lake. It was a quiet morning and the unrelenting summer heat was picking up. Redwood stood in front of his mirror. He could see wrinkles on his face and a number of gray hairs on his head. This seemed to  lift his spirits a little. Suddenly, he felt an all too familiar sensation. The wrinkles he had just admired started clearing up and his gray hairs blackened. In a flash, his youthful features had been restored. Tears quickly formed in his eyes. "No!" he screamed while punching his mirror.