Chapter 02

 

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Aigo Jieun-pabo, you’re letting some words get to you. IT’S JUST A BOOK FOR GOODNESS SAKE!?

 

The girl in question released an exhausted sigh, as she tried flipping over so that her back hit her soft mattress. No matter how many attempts she made to fall asleep, it seemed that all her efforts were futile as there was one main thing that dominated her mind.

 

That damned book.

 

She half-glared at the owl clock that ticked innocently beside her bed. It was only two o’clock in the morning and despite being tired from the previous day, her mind was full of unanswered questions swirling around and around, as if waiting to be answered by some unknown book she had found merely hours before.

 

“Aish, there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep now. Perhaps I can just get some cleaning done, and maybe then I’ll be sleepy enough to go to bed.” She nodded her head, as she threw her quilt covers from her body to walk into her bathroom to freshen up.

 

The messy-bed haired girl hissed as she switched the light on, causing her to be blinded for a few couple of seconds. But nevertheless, she waddled towards the sink as she splashed water on her warm face.

 

The summer heat must be getting to me; I should start saving up for a small fan. Jieun mused, as she brushed her teeth clean, watching with idle interest as the foam started to accumulate in before spitting it with a generous sip of water.

 

It had been a slight struggle for her to find a decent summer’s job with reasonable pay. At the start, all she received was rejection mail from all the applications she had made, which of course had rapidly lowered her self-esteem. This had left her feeling down, knowing that she was considered to be unemployable by all the places she had applied to work for. It didn’t help either her grandmother had insisted on paying her bills for her despite her protests.

 

But, luckily enough towards the end of the school term, she had managed to persuade her teacher into putting a good word for her to help out and volunteer at the ‘Children of Eden’ department at the hospital. No later than a few days had passed before she had a response from the nurses there, who informed her that they were more than happy to take her on after of course, going through the neccesary procedures of applying for checks and so forth.

 

A fond smile made its way onto her lips as she shook her head at the memory. For the better part of her childhood, she along with her parents stayed in her grandmother’s house due to the fact that during those times her mother and father could not afford to buy a house of their own.

 

...Plus, it gave her grandmother plenty of company and it brought them all together like a proper family.

 

Well, at least for a while it did, before her parent’s job obligations placed a wedge in-between their now slightly strained relationship.

 

Jieun watched from the mirror as her smile dropped for a second, until she managed to recover a few seconds later as she shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the negative thoughts.

 

It won’t help if I keep thinking about the past. I should be happy for my parents; they’re working so hard and giving it their all. As their daughter, I should be proud of them.

 

With that, she nodded her head firmly as she quickly finished up making sure there were no traces of toothpaste around before walking barefooted into the kitchen.

 

“A nice cup of coffee would wake me up,” She mumbled to herself as she opened the cupboard to grab a sachet of instant coffee. She frowned in disappointment when she realized that there was only one left, meaning that sometime today she would have to pop into her local supermarket to buy the bare necessities.

 

I suppose I’ve been meaning to go shopping for a while now, though I should be more careful about spending my money this time.

 

It was no secret that she could easily eat her own body weight in food, so the food supplies she had bought merely days ago had practically vanished—so did the money she had spent buying the food.

 

She busied herself around the kitchen as she prepared a small pre-breakfast snack out of what was left in her fridge, which was just a few slices of assorted fruits, not enough to make her full but just enough to keep her going.

 

And if that fails, I’ve still got my cup of coffee to fall back on to keep me up. She thought with the tiniest bit of hope.  

 

The brunette suppressed the urge to yawn as she poured the contents of the sachet into her mug while waiting for the water to boil.

 

Taking a bite out of the juicy watermelon, her eyes roamed around lazily, taking in the familiar scenery of her box sized kitchen until it landed on the tan coloured journal that was the cause of her sleep troubles.

 

Immediately, she glowered at the object as if that alone would help her situation. Stupid book, why did I have to pick you up? Grandma did always said I’m too curious for my own good.

 

Releasing a deep sigh, she lifted up the kettle to tip it into the mug, but as her attention was dispersed elsewhere she didn’t realize the steaming water was starting to drip past the mug and all over the counter.

 

“Aniyo, I should forget about it. Worrying won’t do me any good.” She shook her head as she turned her head towards her mug, expecting a warm cup of coffee filled to the brim, only to see a puddle of water surrounding her half-empty mug.

 

And to make matters worse, her sleep deprived brain didn’t seem to take into account that the water was hot, as she leaned against the counter to grab a kitchen towel.

 

“Damnit!” She cursed, recoiling instantly as she quickly blew on the red tinted, scalded fingers.      

 

That was a sure sign that today wasn’t going to turn out well.

 

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Aish, after all that time I spent cleaning the living room there’s still more to do. Jieun blew at her bangs in evident irritation as she placed her fists on her hips while observing the mess that still remained. Along the way, she couldn’t help but be distracted from finding things that she had lost, misplaced or had forgotten about.

 

There wouldn’t be any harm in reading it. I mean, it’s not like any of it is true anyway! She tried to reassure the paranoia that crept up in her mind as she carefully picked up the mahogany coloured journal while pushing back the worried whispers of her subconscious’ suspicion.

 

Flicking past the warning message that was inked on the second page, she couldn’t suppress the curiosity that threatened to bubble over.    

 

“Suho and Lay, huh?” She uttered, her eyes scanning over the mini bios that were listed under the two names with such scrutiny, her gaze could have been compared to that of a detective.

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Birth Name: Kim Joonmyun (but is also known as Suho)

Birth date: May 22--

Height: 172 cm

Specialties: Has the ability to manipulate water.

Description: He is calm, caring and the oldest out of the Exo-K group—making him the leader due to his abundance of kindness, patience and vast knowledge of the world. It’s never too much for him to help his fellow brethren; he is described as the ‘Protector’.

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Birth Name: Zhang Yixing (but is also known as Lay)

Birth date: October 7--

Height: 179 cm

Specialties: Gifted with the ability to heal all wounds.

Description: It is not uncommon for him to be lost in his thoughts, so he is quite forgetful. But that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most kind-hearted out of Exo-M.

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Specialties? She frowned in thought as she scratched the back of her head in confusion. Is this book trying to say that these people had ‘super powers’?

 

She scoffed at the mere idea as instantly her interest started to dwindle, though after a few moments of further deliberation she felt a slightly dreamy smile curl at the edges of her lips.

 

“Although, they both sound like they could be like ‘prince charming’ in the fairy tails grandma used to tell me.” Almost automatically, her mind was filled with the Disney films that her parents were adamant on her watching; where the male protagonist would always come in at the right time to save the damsel in distress.

 

Despite the tomboy image she had religiously kept up over the years and after many, many attempts of venomously refusing to wear any of the frilly, pink dresses that her grandmother had made for her, there was still that small part of her that subconsiously dreamed of finding that ‘prince charming’ who would swept her off her feet.

 

Jieun let out a sigh, as she leaned against the palm of her hand with a deep pout settled on her face. “Aigo, but that’s never going to happen, I’m not really all that pretty anyway.” A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

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We thank you profoundly for such praise, lovely maiden. But please do not belittle yourself; your beauty is comparable to no one we have seen before.  

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In a split second, her eyes grew in shock as she snapped her head around from side to side in search for the mysterious voices that invaded her mind so suddenly.

 

“W-Who’s there?” Jieun spoke, though it came out more of a whisper than anything else.

 

But much to her relief, there was no reply, no unwanted voices appearing in her mind. She could feel her shoulders slump down as her heartbeat slowly returned back to its original pace.

 

Thank goodness, I thought I was going crazy or something—

 

She froze as her stare zoned in on the red liquid that was starting to run down her index finger. H-How did I manage to do that?  Slowly, her gaze flicked up towards the sharp edge of the paper which had confirmed her suspicions.

 

That explains things; I must have cut myself when I thought I heard those strange voices.

 

“I guess I should get a band aid before the wound gets infected or something.” The brunette had completely forgotten about the book, which had a distinctive small blood stain that was slowly being absorbed into the thin paper.

 

The oblivious girl stepped around the various bits of books and other objects that were sprawled all over the floor towards the kitchen, where the first-aid box was kept, her thoughts clouded momentarily as she miscalculated her steps.

 

But by the time she realized what was happening, she stumbled forward, her eyes closing as she anticipated the fall. She felt her body being pulled as the forces of gravity tugged her towards the hard wooden floor; her vision was plunged into pure darkness as the lights flicked off suddenly, the faulty electricity in her apartment never failing to make an appearance.

 

Abruptly, she was engulfed in unfamiliar yet reassuring warmth as Jieun breathed in the strange smell that her pillow provided.

 

Why do my pillows smell so…weird? I’m sure they’re supposed to smell of lavender. She thought in bewilderment as she leaned forward slightly to take another long sniff.

 

Merely seconds later, clusters of lights invaded the room, indicating that the power was back on. The brunette pushed herself off the comfortable pillow as she glanced around, only to halt in her actions as she spotted two individuals.

 

She clarified in her mind that there were two males in her living room. One was standing innocently beside the window and the other was slumped on the floor with a slightly dazed expression etched on his handsome face.

 

It was only then it seemed to dawn on her that that pillow wasn’t just an ordinary pillow, but rather a fully grown male with hormones raging through his system.

 

“We don’t mean to frighten you, lovely maiden. If you would allow us to explain, you will be able to understand why we are here…” The male who was standing paused for a moment, before a breath-taking smile stretched across his face as he humbly inclined his head. “To be your servants,”

 

“…”

 

Jieun stared at him in agape, not particularly caring at the moment whether the gesture was rude or not as she was rendered speechless by his words.

 

Servants? What the heck is this guy talking about—?

 

Realization hit her firmly on the head as she remembered the warning that was written in the book that haunted her thoughts at that precise moment.

 

And please, for your sanity’s sake I would deeply advise you against dropping blood onto any page of the book, for the price for eternal servitude only requires a single drop of precious blood of an untouched maiden.

 

And at that moment, just by looking at the tender expression on the guy’s face, she knew she was screwed.

 

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Author's Corner                                                                                                                                               

Told you guys I would post this chapter afterwards ^^

SUHO AND LAY are the first to appear~  Further information on why these guys were specifically chosen to show up first are included in the next chapter ^^

I hope you've enjoyed these two chapters and I shall be back soon with more updates ^^ Oh! And feel free to put any suggestions on the pairs that show up~ I still haven't decided who are next, so you guys could pick if enough people vote for their favourites ^^