Luhan wasn’t sure why Hangeng had said that it was impossible to miss Angora Manor, because Luhan had absolutely no clue where he was after at least ten minutes of walking. He had gone up the street and found himself in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

               He disregarded the fact that basically everything in the city was unfamiliar to him.

               He felt like he looked stupid, walking around the city’s streets with a wagon full of dumplings in tow. The cobbled streets became more evenly paved as he wandered further and further from the shop. At least he knew he wasn’t headed towards the entertainment district.

               He stopped, knowing that he definitely was no longer in the food district by the looks of it. He turned a corner and suddenly, Luhan was fairly sure his eyes were deceiving him. The woman standing down the street, facing away from Luhan looked awfully familiar…

               It couldn’t be Jina standing there, because she lived in the entertainment district. She didn’t know where to find him. Even if she did find him there was nothing she could do to get him back.

               Right?

               No, that was definitely her. There was no denying it. Her colorful attire was unmistakable, and it sent a horrible shiver of panic down Luhan’s spine.

               He didn’t even think twice before running in the opposite direction. He hoped and prayed to every higher power in existence that she hadn’t seen him. His wagon full of dumplings clattered behind him, and he willed for it to quiet down for fear that she’d hear the noise and come after him.

               It would be an understatement to say that he was terrified. How a woman like her could instill such fear in the heart of a man like Luhan was absolutely beyond him, but he wasn’t about to take any chances.

               And his wagon was making such a racket.

               Come on, he told it, come on, be quiet for me, please. And to his surprise (although it really shouldn’t have been surprising him at that point), the wagon lifted itself up so that it was being dragged along in the air, just high enough so that it wouldn’t clatter on the road. He sighed happily, relaxing finally. Nobody could hear him now, so he didn’t have to worry about being found. He just had to worry about being lost.

               And lost he was. After running from Jina, he had even less of an idea as to where he was. The buildings were big and fancy and he felt slightly intimidated by the grandeur of the residences. He looked around, feeling uneasy, when suddenly the wagon decided to fall.

               It didn’t just drop to the ground. No, it fell with a bang, launching the packages of dumplings all over the empty street.

               “No!” Luhan cried in frustration. “Ugh, no, why?” He set about picking the dumpling packages up, attempting to use his gift to help collect some others. He put some packages back in the wagon only to discover that one wheel had completely disconnected itself from the rest of the contraption.

               Luhan felt like crying. Why did bad things always happen to him? It was as if he couldn’t do anything alone.

               “Excuse me!” he heard a girl’s voice say. He looked up to see a pretty girl running towards him. “Do you need help?”

               “Uh, no,” he replied, looking at her. She was short and had soft facial features, but she was skinny and her smile was friendly. “No, I’m fine.”

               “Your wagon is broken,” she pointed out. “I can fix it, if you want. It’ll only take about half an hour.”

               Luhan looked at his watch, the one Tao had given him. He had approximately an hour to get to Angora Manor before six.

               “Are you sure?” he asked. “It would be great, but I’m in a hurry. You think you could do it in half an hour?”

               “You doubt my skills!” she laughed. “I’m better with repairs than I look, mister. Come on inside.” She pointed to a large, grand townhome on the corner of the intersection, with a pretty boxwood garden next to it. She beckoned him as she approached it, but Luhan stayed put. “What’s wrong?”

               “Before I go in, I need to know your name.”

               “Why?” she asked, looking extremely amused.

               “I’d feel better if I knew your name,” he told her stubbornly, and she laughed.

               “Okay, my name is Jieun. I’m fifteen years old—almost sixteen—and I live here,” she said, pointing to the townhouse again. “And I’m good at fixing things.”

               “Okay,” Luhan said. “I feel b—”

               “But you have to tell me who you are, now,” Jieun interrupted. Luhan looked up at her, taken aback at her boldness. She was headstrong, for a tiny fifteen-year old.

               “Uh, right, well, I’m Luhan,” he began. “I’m from Diria but I live here now. I work at Galata Dumpling Shop and I’m eighteen years old. Almost nineteen,” he added, and she smiled.

               “Okay, Luhan,” she said jauntily. “Bring your wagon into the garden and we can chat while we have some tea. Do you like tea? I have excellent Earl Grey if you’d like some.”

                “Oh, no thank you,” Luhan rushed to say. “I don’t know if I have time for tea. I have to get back to work,” Luhan said, trying to sound sad. He didn’t think Hangeng would mind too much if he was gone for a little longer than expected, but Luhan didn’t exactly feel like hanging out with another random person. Minseok was enough.

                “At least stay until the wagon is fixed. Really. The tea here is absolutely amazing.”

                “Well…” Luhan sighed. She really was persistent. “Fine.” She smiled and led him into the garden, where tea cups and a teapot had already been set out, and there was a plate of shortbread underneath a glass cover.

                “Great!” she said. “I was going to have some tea anyway and I heard a crash. I’m sort of glad your wagon broke, actually, even though I know that’s bad to say. It gets lonely out here sometimes.”

                “Too bad,” he muttered.

                “So. Luhan, right?” Jieun said, sitting down in the chair opposite Luhan. The garden really was quite nice. All the patio furniture had rounded edges; nothing in the garden seemed sharp. Even the thorns of the pink roses had been carefully removed. Luhan felt strangely out of place.

                “Luhan,” he nodded. “That’s right.”

                “Jieun,” she repeated, smiling at him. “So you’re Hangeng’s new employee, right?”

                “Yes,” Luhan replied, really not sure why he was there. “I started working yesterday.”

                “I’m impressed,” Jieun replied. “It’s not every day Galata gets a new employee. They’re pretty famous, not just here, but all over Acelan. I hear they really like Galata dumplings in Cigon too, on account of the crown prince.”

                “Oh,” Luhan said dumbly. He hadn’t realized that Galata was so popular.

She poured the tea calmly, looking up at Luhan. “Do you take milk and sugar in your tea?”

                “Uh,” he said slowly, “just milk. I like it a little bitter.”

                “You must be healing,” she said as if it was an extremely obvious and extremely normal observation.

                “What?”

                “I think that people who like their tea with nothing are harsh people. People who like just sugar are naïve. People who like just milk are healing from something. And people who like both are happy.”

                “I don’t think so,” Luhan said disdainfully. Jieun shrugged.

                “Then you’re hurting. But you’ll learn to heal.”

                “You don’t know that,” he said. Why was he letting a child tell him about his life? It was his life. “I’m in a hurry, remember?”

                “And I’m doing you a favor,” she smiled. “I’m giving you delicious tea and I’m fixing your wagon in exchange for your company.”

                “You’re not fixing my wagon yet,” Luhan pointed out and Jieun laughed.

                “It’s because I haven’t finished giving you the delicious tea,” she said. “I like you.”

                “Everyone seems to, whether I want them to or not,” Luhan muttered, bitterly reminded of Minseok.

                “Shortbread?” she asked, uncovering the plate and offering it to Luhan. He took a piece tentatively and looked up at her.

                “Does this mean something too, if I take a piece?” he asked, and she nodded with a grin.

                “It means you’re not entirely cold-hearted.”

                “Who said I was cold-hearted?”

                “The tea. And the way you asked for my name.”

                “Are you saying I’m mean?” he asked, and she shook her head.

                “I’m saying you’re a slightly cold-hearted person who’s hurting but wants to heal,” she said. “It’s different from mean. I don’t think you’re mean.”

                “I will be if you don’t start fixing my wagon,” he snarled, and she laughed, putting up her hands as she feigned surrender.

                “Okay, okay!” she chuckled. “I’ll fix it!” She walked over to the shed in the corner of the garden, returning with a toolbox. “It really should only take a few minutes.” She got to work, and Luhan watched her as he bit into the shortbread. It was buttery and delicious, and Luhan was vividly reminded of his childhood, where his parents made the most delicious shortbread. This wasn’t quite the same, but it came as close as any other shortbread had ever come.

                “Does all food speak to you?” he asked a little sarcastically, and Jieun laughed as she pulled a wrench from the toolbox.

                “I like to consider it my gift,” she said. “Speaking of gifts, though, yours is pretty impressive.”

                “What?” he cried, nearly spitting out the shortbread. “You saw—?”

                “Yup,” she nodded. “I was amazed! I’d always heard stories of the kids with powers but my parents used to tell me that it was just a myth. But you’re not a myth! You’re a real, living, breathing, telekinetic boy from Diria.” She reattached the wheel of the wagon and set to securing it.

                “Don’t envy me,” he said quietly, and she looked up from her work.

                “I don’t,” she said seriously. “I’m happy being myself. But I think you should be happy to be yourself, too.”

                “You don’t understand how difficult it is to live like I do,” he said sharply. “It’s not that easy to be happy to be myself.”

               “Maybe not,” she replied, turning back to the wagon wheel. “But like the tea and shortbread say, you’ll find your place soon enough.”

               Those words reverberated tauntingly in Luhan’s head. Find your place. He’d always been told that he’d find his place and control his gift, but if he could do that, he wouldn’t have been sitting there with a broken wagon listening to a little girl lecture him about his life.

               “I can’t believe you’re telling me about my life because you get signs from tea,” he snapped. She didn’t turn around, but he could tell she was smiling. She always smiled. So like Minseok and his perpetually annoying grin.

               “Well,” she said. “Like I said, I consider it my gift. And I really don’t mean that in a way that I’m making fun of you. I’m not. I respect you. But I think you’ll see that I’m right.”

               “You’re fifteen,” he deadpanned.

               “And you’re eighteen,” she replied, equally dryly.

               “You’re a little young to be a wise-woman, don’t you think?” he clarified, and she shook her head.

               “I’ve had my fair share of experiences. I’m a mystery, right?” she said. “What do you know about me, besides what I’ve told you?”

               “That you’re annoying,” Luhan said right away, and she laughed.

               “Touché,” she said. “I like you. And I think that does it.” She spun the wheel, and it worked like new. “Have you finished your tea?”

               “Yes,” Luhan replied, slightly surprised that he’d finished the cup without realizing it.

               “So I guess you’ll be going then?” she wondered. “Hey, Luhan, will you visit me sometime? I know you think I’m annoying, but I think we could both use some company.”

                She was right, and he knew it.

                “Fine,” he said, giving an exaggerated sigh as if coming to visit her was a chore. “I’ll visit someday.”

                “Someday soon?” she asked, her eyes pleading. He finally cracked a smile.

                “So you are a kid after all,” he said. “I’ll come visit you someday. I’m not making any more promises.”

                “Fine,” she replied with a sly smile. “Take your wagon and go.” He piled the dumplings back in the wagon, thinking for a moment.

                “Is something wrong?” she asked, looking from him to the wagon and back at him. “Is it bad?”

                “Do you know where Angora Manor is?” he asked, and she smiled amusedly.

                “It’s next door.” 

A/N: Whooooooo it sure has been a long time since I've updated this. Way too long. But I have regained my steam and I anticipate posting much more often. As in possibly as often as twice a week. Thanks for sticking with the story and reminding me that I need to write it!

Also Jieun is Lee Jieun as in IU, not Secret's Song Jieun. No no.

♥ Exie