Empty

'Hana! Hana! It's Hana! Alice, she's back!' yelled Josh

You had found yourself back in the care home, visiting the children you had grown to love during your short stay there.

'My Hana! She's back! Have you come to stay with us?'

A young girl clutched onto your leg and you picked her up.

'Alice... I missed you so much. You're so pretty now, look at you!'

The girl began to cry and the boy named Josh began to clamber on top of you.

'Joshie, how's my man?' you asked him, trying to pick him up too but failing.

Your ex care-worker heard the commotion and came out of her office, gaping open in surprise.

'Hana! How comes you're back? I thought you were staying in Korea?'

You shook your head.

'Hi Susan...I erm, I just felt like coming back for a bit to see these guys'

You tried to lift up Josh again but couldn't manage it. Susan ran forwards to make sure you didn't drop Alice.

'Woah woah woah, be careful Hana! You don't look like you can carry Alice let alone the both of them. Come, take a seat and I'll get some tea. You look so tired...'

Susan left the room and you sat down with Josh and Alice by your side around the table. Alice reached up and your cheek.

'Hana... Why are you back?'

You stared at the 6 year old. Josh tugged on your sleeve from your other side.

'You look ill. Are you okay?'

You stared at the 6 year old girl and the 8 year old boy in shock. They could see straight through your smiles and warm embraces at the start and with the care worker out of the way, they were daring enough to ask you about it.

'I-I-I... I just missed you two, that's all. Hana's not ill, don't worry' you said

'But Hana still looks sad when she's with us...' Alice replied

'You're lying, Hana. You always said to tell the truth. Why are you telling lies?' said Josh

You stared at him.

'I-I...'

You didn't know what to say and luckily you didn't have to say anything. Susan came back with a pot of tea and some breakfast.

'So Hana, tell me how you've been.'

***

You had left the care home a few hours later just before midday and after saying your goodbyes, your heart still felt empty. You had hoped that by seeing the children, a part of you would have been comforted by the thought of family. You made your way back to the apartment and along the way, your feet led you to the outside of your old house. The doors and windows had been boarded up and the weeds in the front garden had grown into a rambling jungle. You kicked the cans that lay littered along the street and a boy approached you. He looked only a bit older than you and he carried a camera and a sketchbook with a pencil tucked behind his ear. You began to back away but he smiled warmly and produced a card.

'Sorry, I'm Gavin Wills. I'm an art student and well, I was wondering if I could interview you?'

'What about?...'

'About this house. I was just wondering who you think used to live here. I've been collecting an archive of people's opinions on the previous owners. I've made it into some sort of game. You can guess and then afterwards, I'll tell you who they really were'

You shuddered a little but decided there would be no harm in trying.

'I...I think that a wealthy family used to live here but they died and no one inherited the property.' you said. Technically it's true. I don't think they left this for me.

The boy shook his head as he wrote down what you had said.

'Not quite. I found out who it was though, want to know?'

You nodded.

'Well, after my research, apparently the house was owned by a very wealthy family but they became bankrupt, refused to leave and then were eventually kicked out. The house came under the council's ownership and nothing else has happened since then.'

You had to stop yourself from laughing. That's so completely off the ball.

'Anyway, thank you for your help. Do you mind telling me your name?'

'My name?'

'Yeah... You can give me a fake name if you don't want me to write your real name'

You shook your head.

'It's okay... My name is... My name is Hana. Spelt H-A-N-A not H-A-N-N-A-H.'

Gavin nodded and scribbled it down.

'Thanks Hana! See you around!'

He turned and ran off down the road to find his next interviewee. You continured walking down the street and hopped onto a bus to take you to your next destination. You were on a mission to see your family so you had gotten off at the stop near the local cemetery. It began to rain so you took shelter under a tree in the grounds. Remembering you had packed an umbrella knowing the menstrual weather in the UK, you whipped it out of your bag and continued to walk through the grounds in search of your parents. You stopped after seeing an elderly lady walking in the rain alone.

'Madam, would you like to share my umbrella?' you asked

The old lady smiled at you.

'Thank you dear. Your ancestors must be very proud of having such a polite and pretty young thing visiting them'

You gave a small and slight smile remembering who you were coming to see. The lady seemed to understand your expression.

'My dear... I understand if you don't want to with such awful company such as myself but...Would you like to walk with me? I can see that a young spirit like you isn't feeling quite herself. Let granny here talk to you'

You lowered your head and the hand holding the umbrella fell a little. The old lady reached for your hand and held onto it as tightly as she could.

'There, there now. Tell granny everything. I promise you that granny won't be angry or upset if it's bad. Just let out your heart'

Just a short lil filler chapter so you all know what Haneul's doing with her life at the mo... ;)

ALSO I RECENTLY PASSED 3000 SUBSCRIBERS. OH MY GOOD LORD. I don't know how to thank you guys enough. Just.. THANK YOU. ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Never did I think I'd have so many supporters and just, wow. Thank you all <3

Those who have won my love will be revealed in the next chapter. You are all free to keep guessing what's going to happen. I'm actually planning on messaging a few people because their ideas were seriously seriously amazing and I might base some things on it for the sequel but I don't want to be accused of plaguarizing :(

But anyway: to celebrate 3000 subbies, I HAVE A FANGIRL SECTION AGAIN!

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