“I had a great time tonight Jo Kwon,” I thanked him, my cheeks flushing to a bright red as the warmth of the room we had left minutes earlier remained on my skin. He was holding my hand within his, claiming that it was too cold out while his coat had became draped over my shoulders, trapping in the heat from my body and not allowing it to escape.

 

 

A brief giggle escaped from my lips as the events remained fresh within my mind. The way he acted so courageous, like a strong man was so unexpected from him, but I couldn't help but realise that I had always had this one perception of him, from the day that we had first met, that I hadn't managed to ever shake away. Ever since the first time we had met months earlier, bruised and bloodied as he had managed to get on the wrong side of some of the other boys in the town, I had always assumed him to be so weak, like a boy. The dance allowed me to shake that perception of him away and now, every time that I would think about him, he would merely be the strong man that I had danced and laughed with that night.  It was also one of the first times that I got to know him, the real him. 

 

 

His head tilted downwards, his eyes meeting mine through the stillness of the night, “It was my pleasure, Victoria.”

 

 

The night sky was studded with pulsing diamonds, the moon bestowing a dim light upon our path. It was so beautiful that night, as if the beauty of that ballroom had transferred to it's surroundings and enchanted the night. There were no sounds to be heard, and no light to be seen but that of the stars and moon above us, contrasting against the darkness of the night sky. Everything was so peaceful and serene, so quiet and beautiful that it was like nothing could have been able to disturb it. Nothing at all. 

 

 

Jo Kwon halted in his steps and nodded his head as we had reached my home. He slowly turned towards me and bid me an almost silent goodbye, his hand brushing against mine as he slowly pulled it away, the heat escaping into the surrounding aor. His body turned in the opposite direction almost reluctantly, the happiness washing away from his face as he retreated home, knowing that our evening together was over. My feet began to carry me along the path as I scurried towards the house, leaving him behind in apursuit of warmth as a cold breeze washed over me and the coldness up and down my spine.

 

 

Unconciously, my eyes directed upon him as he slowly shuffled his feet against the path, his shoulders dropped as though he was exhausted or disappointed in how the evening had gone. I found myself turning in his direction, rushing towards him until we were mere inches apart. My hand reached forward, my arm brushing against his as I thought carefully of my next actions. His next movement was halted as I suddenly grasped his arm, his body unconsciously turning towards me in confusion before my crimson lips brushed against his cheek. The words were frozen in his breath, the tips of his ears burning red as I finally left him behind. I walked towards the house happily, glancing at him once more as a smile lingered upon my lips, greeting the maids and servants  as I passed them on my entrance into the place I called my home.

 

 

I poked my head through the door, twisting my head from side to side in search of my parents who may have been roaming the hallways. They were isolated, empty as I stepped across the marbled flooring, my heels clicking against the ground. There was a  faint sound of whispers were audible within the darkness as if someone was there, waiting for me, but I dismissed it. I lifted my head as the clock on the wall solemnly ticked on, the time reading 11:24 behind the smooth glass. It was past my curfew, my foot rested on the first step of the stairs leading to my bedroom before someone realized that I was late. It wasn't as though they would have been waiting for me.

 

 

“Victoria, will you please come here?” a voice asked as I began in my pursuit for my bedroom. I froze in my steps, turning towards the source of the voice as exhaustion overcome me. The energy had been drained from my body and if Ebisu sensei was to be faced the next day, well-needed sleep was required.

 

 

Drowsily blinking my eyes, I rotated 130 degrees, a faint gasp escaping from my lips as I met my father's eyes. Mother stood by his side, tightly gripping his arm as her eyes rested on my figure. It was strange to see him there. He was hardly ever home and for him to have returned home without any prior word was strange. Father’s job in the army always meant that he was never at home for long periods of time. Although I never asked, I assumed what he was doing was important, but why would he be here so suddenly? Why would he have been standing there before me, with my mother by his side, watching me as if he had never left and nothing had changed?

 

 

“Oh, of course," I answered almost immediately, knowing that it was rude to not respond. "Why are the both of you up? It’s quite late,” I asked, not knowing how else to respond as I retraced my steps back down to the ground floors.

 

 

They didn't reply, keeping their lips sealed as they led me past family portraits and precious heirlooms and into the parlour. Mother forced me through the room as if I was in some sort of trouble, resting her hands on my shoulders and forcing me down to sit on the couch as father paced himself across the room. It was strange behaviour, to say the least. I normally had a strict curfew and I had a strict daily regimen that I had to follow, exact schedules for when I had to be up in the room and when I should have been in bed. My mother most certainly knew this, she was the one who had wrote the schedule in the first place, yet she was acting like there was nothing strange with me still being up at that time of night. And they still hadn't answered my question but by this point, I knew that whatever the answer would be, it was vital that I had to know - there was something wrong.

 

 

 The room had dropped into complete silence as Mother rested herself on the couch by my side. It was also strange behaviour that we were in the parlour, a room that my mother had kept in complete perfection for years, with not a single object out of place. We were never allowed into the parlour, only whenever we had formal visitors and even then, she had strict rules about what we could do, what we could eat, what we could touch whenever we were sat in there. She made sure that everything was dusted regularly to ensure that everything looked as beautiful as she wanted it to be. It was beautiful, everything that my mother did was beautiful, but it didn't seemed like part of our home - it was a display that we were both part of.

 

 

Worry and confusion could be read from her face as she reached over to me and held my hand comfortingly. I glanced at her in confusion and surprise as her eyes directed themselves away from mine and followed my father‘s endless movements back and forth across the room.  There was something wrong with the two of them. I could feel it in the air around us, thick and heavy in tension, surrounded by a silence that seemed impenetrable. Their strange behaviour made me feel uncomfortable and intimidated in my own home.

 


 

He heaved a deep sigh, interrupting the silence that had stilled the air around us, clearing his throat as his lips parted, “War has broken through in Korea. Being the allies of North Korea, the Chinese army has to join them against South  Korea."

 

 

“What has that go to do with me? With us?” I asked almost immediately.

 

 

The immediate quality of my response threw my father back a few moments and he glanced over at me with his surprise and confusion evident in my eyes before meeting the eyes of my mother who sat even closer than she had before. I wasn't supposed to talk to people like that, it wasn't lady like and even I was sure that I had been trained well enough, by my mother and the maids that surrounded me, to have the correct etiquette when speaking to people, including my father. It wasn't what was expected of a woman, to answer in the way that I had, and I could tell that this had almost infuriated my father, though he should have understood my curiosity. However, there was something to his words that told me that there was something definately wrong with our situation. He was going to do something to us, something because of the army. And I immediately knew that this wasn't something that I could agree with, even though I would never be asked if I agreed or not.

 

 

“I’m of high status in the China army which means it's necessary for me to go to North Korea. And I’m taking you and your mother with me,” Father answered.

 

 

My eyes widened at the sound of his words, jaw dropping in shock as they replayed continually in my mind. That was it. That was the of the situation and I was right to think that I wouldn't agree. Who could ever agree to leaving their home? He couldn’t do that to us, could he? I’d lived in China my whole life. I was born there and expected to die there also. I was to be adamant that his plan couldn't work, even if it wasn't polite of me, even if I wasn't allowed to. I suppose my mother hadn't trained me as well as she thought she had.

 

 

“Well Victoria, what do you think?” Mother asked curiously, squeezing my hand as she lifted her head, our eyes meeting. I attempted to suppress the feelings within me, holding them back with strength because of the amount of trouble I would be in if I said anything they didn't want me to, but the words urged out of my mouth before I could stop them. They had been waiting to leave me lips for some time. 

 

 

“What do you want me to think? That it’s going to be a great experience and I’m going to love it?” my voice rose, echoing in the air as I shot out of my chair and watched them with infuriated eyes, “What about my friends and the great life I have here? Do you want me to just leave that all behind?”

 

 

I had been brought to the point of screaming and my parents could only watch their perfectly polite little princess shed her skin and evolve into a monster. My life was perfectly fine; it didn't need to be adapted. Fei and Jia were suitable companions. No. They were more than that - they were my best friends. From the day we met, we were inseparable. My violin playing was slightly improving. To suddenly let it go would be a waste beyond measurable, especially if my mother wanted me to go off and travel the world with that orchestra. I couldn't suddenly leave my life behind and move on just because they wanted me to.

 

 

Father was hardly at home. I’d grown accustomed to knowing that he would never be there when I woke up in the morning. He had built us a wealthy lifestyle in the midst of the Chinese plains and mountains, to let us live in the world of comfort that he had always wanted when he grew up in poverty. Why the sudden movement of the family to North Korea? He said it himself there was a war. Did he want us killed?

 

 

“I wouldn’t want you to leave it all behind if it wasn’t important sweetheart. It’s just that I feel it would be safer if I moved you and your mother to North Korea where we can be closer,” he spoke in a softer, gentle tone, his hands firmly grasping my shoulders. I avoided his eyes, watching as seconds ticked by, lost and never to be returned. Perhaps that would happen to us. What would he have done if something bad had happened to us? Then he would wish that we had stayed in China.

 

 

“I’m not moving! You can‘t make me!” I screamed, struggling from his grasp as I escaped the room, searching for the easiest possible route to my own bedroom. My eyes darted back and forth, resting on the staircase as I rushed towards it, my parents mere inches behind. The bottom layer of my kimono caught on my foot as I tripped, falling forward as my head knocked off the side railings of the room. Wincing in pain, I avoided the thought of the bruising and blood, continuing in my escape. 

The door was locked before anyone else could enter. I heaved a sigh, struggling to push the large armchair in the path of those who dared tried to enter, placing the heaviest books from my collection on top. No one would be able to get in that way. No one should be able to mess with the wrath of Victoria Song. 

The sounds of banging and screaming were audible from the opposite end of the door mere seconds later, room shaking due to the extent of their worried cries. “Victoria? Victoria, dear, are you okay?” the soft voice of my mother asked faintly as I threw myself onto the large king size bed at the head of my room, burying my face in the pillow as tears threatened to spill from the corners of my eyes.
 

“Darling, please don’t lock yourself in there. It won’t be that bad. You’re father said he bought us a beautiful new house in the countryside,” she reassured me as I continued to not respond. She could try all she wanted but I could never be convinced to leave as my firm choice remained. 

 

 

Her mumbles became harder to make out as the loud, deafening voice of Father reappeared, increasing in volume with a continuous attempt to draw me out. I placed my hands over my ears, blocking any sound from reaching them. I knew from experience he wasn’t going to give up without a fight but he refrained himself from causing unnecessary trouble in Mother's presence. He would have torn the door down if she wasn’t there.

 

 

“Do what you want but we’re still leaving tomorrow morning whether you like it or not,” his voice faded away until he was no longer in close proximity. 

 

 

My head rose at the sound of his words, the crisp pillows beneath me stained with the warm liquid which bled from my eyes. I rested both hands by my side as I lifted myself from the bed, feet contacting the ground as I slowly walked towards the door, ensuring my father was no longer there before pushing the heavy chair out of the way. The keys jingled in my hands as the door unlocked, my mother visible before me as she rushed forward to cradle me in her arms, the tears streaming from my eyes.

 

 

“It’s going to be okay sweetheart. Nothing bad will happen to us,” Mother spoke softly. “We’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning, your father’s orders. You better get yourself some sleep. You must have had an exciting evening at the dance,” her warm presence brought me to a state of serenity, her fingers brushing the strands from my face as I lay my head on her lap. Our eyes met as I glanced upwards, a reassuring smile curving at her lips

 

 

“Thanks," I mumbled. "Goodnight mother,” I replied drowsily.

 

 

 She tucked me into the bed, planting a soft kiss on my forehead just like she did when I was younger. Wishing me a good night's sleep, the flame of the candle no longer burned, smoke drifting into the surrounding air. My eyes squeezed shut, leaving thoughts of anxiety and confusion behind as I drifted into deep sleep and the night passed us by in no time at all.

 

 

****

 

 

Dawn had hardly risen as we left the house the next morning. It was eerily silent, not even the chirping of surrounding birds as the world around us lay fast asleep. A shiver ran up the length of my spine as a cool breeze washed over us, shuddering in my coat and huddling closer to mother for warmth. 

 

 

With only the suitcase in my hands, the clothes that would barely keep me warm and the pearl necklace decorated with a gold heart hung on my neck, I bid farewell to the place that had given me so many nice, joy-filled memories and the friends that had stuck by me for so long without even a proper chance to say goodbye. I wiped the tears from my eyes with the cuffs of my sleeves, clutching my mother's hand as the tips of my fingers numbed from the cold.

 

 

“Goodbye China,” I thought, waving to our surroundings as we passed.