The Velvet Masters

Chapter 5

The Mind Kingdom

Every morning Sooyoung would take Minyoung to school, go to the bakery and then help her father at home. That day started no different. 

She kissed Minyoung's forehead goodbye as Soyeon, her friend, also left her brother. "They grow up so fast don't they?" She smiled at Sooyoung and she nodded back, smiling kindly at her. 

The bakery was as full as always but the old Ahjussi still had some bread for her to take. They made small talk while she paid and got something for her father, the chocolate cake that he loved.

She ran back home to help her father feed the animals and wash their dog, Fozzy. They got all wet because he couldn't stay still. Even if they looked messy, they still laughed and smiled. They were happy.

Sooyoung took a bath after that. She thought that it had stopped raining for a few days and that it would be nice to go horse riding through the fields. She grinned at the thought. It had been a while since she had done that.

She hoped on her horse and guided him to go to the river. She loved enjoying the view so she asked him to go as slow as he could. Sometimes she could swear that he smiled at her.

The Mind Kingdom is known for its valleys, you could go miles and miles and only see green grass and flowers. Sooyoung loved to run through the fields while riding her horse, Spirit. She felt more free than ever. The wind passing through her hair, her smile wide. She stopped near a river and appreciated the view. Then took an apple out of her bag to give to Spirit and let herself fall on the grass.

"This is the life." She thought.

She let herself shut her eyes, just trying to fly away to her thoughts and forgetting the world around her. She could hear the birds singing and the water in the river flowing. She thought about the times she would come to the river with her parents. Happy times. They would bring swimsuits and would make a picnic by the water. Her smile only grew at the thought. 

She wanted that to her sister. She wanted to give her the world. She wanted to show her sister that life can be full of wonderful things. She wanted to protect her from harm. She needed to protect her from harm. 

Then, all animal sounds stopped. Sooyoung opened her eyes and abruptly got up. She saw her horse in a rather anxious state and tried to call me him down but there was no use. She then read his thoughts.

'Danger. Danger. The Kingdom's in danger.'

Sooyoung's eyes widened and she didn't waste time hoping on Spirit. They started running to the center of the Kingdom and could see a dark cloud that would grow bigger as they were getting closer. It was smoke and she knew it must've meant one thing: they were being attacked.

As they arrived they saw houses on fire, people running and crying, trying to save themselves. Her sister and her dad were all that she could think about. She told Spirit to run towards the school and he did as told.

When she walked past the school she saw nothing but a building turning into ashes. She saw someone she could recognize as a teacher and tried to approach him.

"The children. Where are the children?" She asked, his state was frantic but still managed to look at her.

"They were taken away, to a safe place underground. We must hide. Quickly!"

Sooyoung wanted to go check on her sister but she felt the need to fight back for her Kingdom's sake. She wanted to help the guards. Whatever this was every help was needed.

"You go ahead and hide. I'll try to help put out the fires." She started to turn around but still heard him yell. 

"It's no use. It's a suicide mission."

"We must try." She yelled back not shifting her gaze.

She asked Spirit to go as fast as he could and he obliged. The air was filled with darkness and a rotten smell. She was afraid but she wanted to try and help. Sooyoung could hear every single thought, it was so intense she had to shut them off. She then heard a loud cry for help coming from a burning house and wasted no time getting off Spirit and running to the house.

She couldn't see a thing, only smoke and flames. She went through the door that had already burned down and was met with a woman lying on the floor. Her pregnant belly was noticeable and Sooyoung immediately tried to pick her up even though she couldn't. All she could do was drag her out. The lady was coughing hard and trying to keep her eyes open.

"It's going to be okay. I got you." Sooyoung reassured her.

"My baby...My baby boy..."

"He'll be fine. You both will. I'll make sure of that." She gave her a smile and helped her sit down next to the road. "We must leave the streets and get you to the safe place." She looked around trying to find someone to help.

"Sooyoung!" Her name was heard from a distance. She turned around and saw her friend Soyeon running towards her. Her breathing was loud and her clothes were all messy and burned. She looked stressed as she was coming up to her friend. "Your house." She tried to stable herself and control her heart beat. "Your house is being attacked." 

Sooyoung's eyes watered as she realized what was going on. She hadn't thought about it and the moment it came to her mind her world fell apart. She started to run like never before towards her home. The poisoned wind went to her face while her legs tried to pick up the fastest pace possible. She felt tears falling down her face and her emotions were all over the place. She tried to avoid thinking about the worse. 

While running she passed through the park. The once beautiful park turned into darkness and ashes. Sooyoung stopped running and looked at the burned memories. She recalled when she would go there with her mother and father while they were expecting Minyoung. That's the place where she learned how to ride a bycicle and ended up falling and bruising her knee. She recalled the image of her mother kissing her bruise and telling her everything would be okay. She thought about her father, how he would pick her up and put her on his shoulders. They were all smiles at the time and when Minyoung was born the happiness only grew. But everything changed. When her mother was diagnosed she prayed and prayed to the Goddess and she believed she could get better. That never happened. Her mother died at the gentle age of 35, when Sooyoung was only 18 and Minyoung 5. Her father was devastated. All he could think about night and day was her and how his daughters resembled her so much.

The thought of her father made her start running again. She wanted to be sure he was fine, that he was safe. She wanted to believe that.

When she arrived at her house's street the smoke was even darker and even more unbearable to breathe. As she approached her house she knew something was wrong. She could see her father's car still parked in front of it. She swallowed a cry and entered bravely through the door. She called her dad but there was no answer. Sooyoung searched throug the living room and the kitchen. She then started going up the stairs, her room was a mess, her bed was upside down and her drawers were all opened.

"Goddess." She thought out loud looking at all her things destroyed.

She shook her head and tried to forget about her stuff destroyed. She needed to find her father. Sooyoung turned around and ran through her father's study, where he always was. 

Before she could open the door she heard a male voice inside that didn't belong to her father.

"Tell me Sejoo."

Hearing her father's name only made her get closer to the door. She tried to listen to whoever was on the other side's thoughts but she could only hear her father's, there was some sort of force not letting her hear what the other person was thinking which confused her.

"I won't ask again. Where is the jewl?"

"You must be a fool if you think I'll ever tell you that." Her dad's voice was rough and almost breathless.

"I'm not a very patient man." The person threatened.

"Do what you want. Kill me if you must." 

"You really are exceeding my limit Sejoo." The man yelled. "You know it doesn't take much to make you stop breathing." Sooyoung then heard her father gagging on air and she covered so she wouldn't let out a cry. She wanted to go in there so badly to save her dad but she couldn't, she was so afraid and her feet wouldn't move. "I'll find it without your help." Then she heard a loud noise and she could no longer hear her father's thoughts. She could hear the man opening the office window and climbing out of their house. When she knew he was no longer there she slowly opened the door expecting the worse. Her face was redder and wetter than ever. Her heart was racing fast and she thought it would leave her body at any minute.

When she finally entered and looked down she fell on her knees seeing her father lying lifeless on the floor. 

She could let her voice only say one thing in the most silent whisper.

"Dad."

…

AN: Hey everyone! I hope you liked this! 
I won't be posting tomorrow since I already posted 5 times this week soooo, see ya on monday 💕
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