Chapter One

“Oh my goodness! Look at you, you’re all wet!”

Wearily, I opened my eyes, only to be met by a gentlemen looking down at me. He was quite small in stature and lacked a commanding disposition, with soft facial features and gentle curls of night-coloured hair. Yet, even with his delicate frame, he still carried with him an air of dignity and respect.

“Joonmyun, hurry up and get this poor boy a change of clothes!” The gentleman shouted, his eyes wide with concern.

“Coming!” Another voice shouted back.

The gentlemen continued to look at me with eyes of concern, which I found soothing. People rarely showed me any concern, so the fact that this stranger did warmed my heart.

He titled his head to one side as he studied me, wordlessly, then twisted his mouth slightly to reveal a curious yet kindly smile. “Are you from the countryside, my boy?”

I shook my head. “No, sir.”

“Oh.” He clicked his tongue, brows furrowing just a little. “Then you must come from the outskirts of town. You certainly do not look like you belong here, in our very respectable city. Look at the state of your clothes!”

I looked at him, brows furrowed. “I don’t understand. This place… isn’t it just a shack?”

He raised a hand to his heart and gasped, those eyes widening, if at all possible. Letting out a little huff, he proceeded to give me a stern berating. “A shack? Why, I ought to rinse out your eyes with soap and let you sit there, shivering by your lonesome! This respectable manor is most certainly not a shack!”

“It… isn’t?”

He snorted derisively. “And I suppose you will now concur that I am a lowly peasant?”

“But I swear…”

I took a good look around. The gentleman was right. This place was anything but a shack, but it wasn’t exactly a mansion either. Its size looked pretty impressive, and most everything was built with wood, except for a few glass windows. The doors were of a sliding variety and also wooden, and there were bamboo mats and low tables at the entertaining areas. I was sitting on one myself!

“Here you are,” Another gentleman spoke, handing me a dry towel as he placed a set of freshly laundered clothes in front of me. “I hope you didn’t say anything rash. Kyungsoo is a rather proud man, even if he means well.”

He laughed lightly as the indignant Kyungsoo slapped his arm.

I was too busy wiping myself dry with the towel to notice the two bickering, grateful that I had some dry clothes, even if they were just a little too small. However, it was not what I expected. Instead of a shirt and sweatpants, I had a hanbok. And not the special ones either, which you wear for the New Year or anything like that. This one was plain and tawny, with a simple design.

Well, that was odd.

“There is a chamber down the corridor to your right.” The man who handed me the clothes pointed towards the sliding doors. “You may change there. Oh, and if you would be so kind, please leave your wet clothes on the drawer beside the mattress, so that Baekhyun can wash them.”

I bowed, then went into the room to change.

“So what brings you here?”

I bit my lip, feeling my face flush a hot red. A cup of jasmine tea had been placed down in front of me by a taller boy, his age closer to mine than the other two. He quickly bowed, then retreated towards the corridor, gently sliding the door behind him.

“I’m not sure if I should say.”

The two gentlemen nodded, exchanging glances. “Well, at least can you give me your name?”

I bowed. “Oh Sehun imnida.”

“I’m Kim Joonmyun,” The kindly man pointed to himself, then gestured towards the other man. “And this is Do Kyungsoo.”

I nodded, muttering a little, “I know.”

Kyungsoo looked at me, then turned his head back towards Joonmyun. “Now that his clothes are clean, can we send him on his way?” He sniffed, raising his tea cup. He took a delicate sip and swirled the tea around in his mouth for a while, seemingly checking for its flavour. When he was satisfied of its quality, he swallowed. “He seems quite rude.”

Joonmyun laughed good-naturedly. “Come now! You know how those country folk are like, I’m sure he didn’t mean for it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Gee thanks…”

After more laughing at my expense, the kinder of the two poured me more tea. He was a little taller than Kyungsoo from what I gathered, and had an easy going attitude. His black hair was neatly combed to one side and gelled, accenting his strong facial features. I wanted to ask him if that was his natural face, but with the look Kyungsoo was giving me, I dared not.

Joonmyun then took out a newspaper from the cabinet near the doors, and pulled out his eyeglasses. He flipped through the pages, sighing so every often, before laying the papers down on the table. With a small shake of his head, he pointed at the front page. “I hear that things are not going so well for us now.” He motioned towards me. “Even if you do come from the countryside, you must be careful. They will not take too lightly with misbehaviour.”

I looked up curiously at him.

“I know that you may think that this is a period of freedom, but I don’t buy this for a second. It’s only going to get worse as time goes on, so please be mindful of what you say or do from now on, Oh Sehun.”

I rolled my eyes. This sounded so awfully similar to what my parents often said. “Right, because of the gossip.”

Joonmyum nodded, his face grim. “Well, yes.”

“I knew it.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder and said with concern, “I’m not sure you do.” He reached for the newspaper and showed it to me. “Gossip can be lethal.”

I gasped.

It was dated 1922.  

Author's notes: Gahh horrible chapter! I won't get rid of the [hiatus] from the title just yet, because I don't know how frequently I am going to update this. Until I find a fixed schedule for updating, that will stay.

On a much brighter note, thanks for sticking with me, and for my new subscribers, thank you for giving this a chance! :)