And so the lamp became the beast

A rose for a Aphrodite

Yeji sat on the bench in the garage. She wished she had more room to spread out her tools. Though, if she was honest, clearing Beomgyu's Jeep out of the garage had left her with much more room than she would have had otherwise. She stood up and took a walk around her project car. Yeji had dropped 8,000 dollars on what turned out to essentially be a shell of a car. She was simply thankful to have something to work on. She ran a finger over the car as she walked around it, tapping on a few spots where it was rusted. The car had been delivered three hours after the wolves left, and Yeji was thankful for the distraction. The house was far too full for her to be happy in it.

Yeji thought about the man who had delivered it. She met him at the driveway. He had looked her up and done, a long lingering gaze that still made her skin crawl. She reminded herself she could rip him limb from limb if she wanted to. "Hey sweetie, is there an Y. Hwang home?"

She had given him her best condescending look. "Why yes sweetie, there is."

"Okay," he said, unsure. "Where is he?"

"Spoilers, sweetie." She reached for his clipboard. He looked stunned and handed it to her. She signed the line with a flowing script that was easily recognized as 'Yeji Hwang,' hoping the man would get his mistake. He did. Unfortunately, he didn't seem deterred.

"This is your car? You know this car needs thousands of dollars and probably months of work before it will run again?"

"Why yes, I do. You can unload it on the driveway."

He didn't miss a beat. "You know, if you need a man to help you with this, I could show you a thing or two." He wiggled his eyebrows, and it took everything in her not to rip him to pieces.

The door to the house opened. "Hey honey," Beomgyu called. "Your project car is here!"

She kept glaring at the man as she called back, "It is! I can't wait to get working on it."

The man looked relieved, almost like he finally understood what was happening: The car was really for the man of the house. Before Yeji could snap his neck, Beomgyu called, "Will you finally teach me how to work on a car? I'm sick and tired of having you do all the work on the family vehicles!"

"I'll think about it!"

Beomgyu shut the door, knowing his work was done when real understanding crossed the man's idiotic face. His jaw dropped. "I'm so sorry. Ma'am. I didn't-I didn't think."

"You can leave it on the driveway. I assume you have the keys?"

"Yes, ma'am." He pulled them from the front pocket of his coveralls. She took them, careful not to touch his hands. "I'll unload it right away."

"See that you don't damage it," she had said to him. She walked away before she could do anything worse.

Damn Beomgyu. He had such a good heart. He also had impeccably good timing. Yeji turned her attention back to the car, taking stock of it. Her new '67 Chevy Impala was in what could be called poor shape. In fact, most of the car was unsalvageable. It would have to be overhauled. Yeji had only got this car because it had a solid frame. The car had never been in an accident, and it showed. It was solidly built, a dinosaur from a different era of craftsmanship. The car appeared to have been blue once, but that was no problem for her. Once the rest of the work was done, she would be painting it black. She had been thinking of doing this for a while but moving back to Forks told her she needed a project. She just hoped none of her family would call her out on the car.

Yeji wasn't one for too much television, but she had a guilty pleasure, as all people do: Supernatural. She loved the story of the Winchesters traveling the country and fighting beasts that most people didn't even believe in. Much of it was pure hogwash, but the idea that two grown men would wholeheartedly accept that monsters existed drew her in. What kept her watching (even as they murdered these monsters, one by one) was the way that bad things happened but the boys carried on. They lost everything and everyone, but they kept fighting for each other. Yeji knew the importance of family in keeping one grounded, and she had decided that the car would be a way for her to stay connected to the show, for as long as she could keep the car running. And she could keep a car running for a long time.