Le Rêve

Seunghyun loves this place, whenever he felt like having a getaway he would go to this place. A cottage in a village area of Andong. He loved the peacefulness, something he rarely found in his hectic life.

A life filled with schedules and plans so full that he felt so empty, moving place to place so fast he didn’t feel like moving at all, being so rich that money, gold and diamonds lost their price, a life so famous where everyone knows him and he lost his own identity. Everything had fallen into the black hole of paradox, and then he realized he lost his purpose of even breathing.

He existed, and that was all, and that realization made him nauseous.

He was only 27, and he got the world on his fingers, but even the world held no meaning for him anymore. So he ran away, telling Jiyong-his manager-to cancel all events he was planned to do he escaped to this place.

He first found the cottage when he was 18, some stupid summer school program were held in Hahoe folk village, he was forced to join so he did. But he got bored of the program and ran away from the village, he was strolling aimlessly when he found the lake behind this cottage, as simple as that, he fell in love. He spent that summer at the cottage, Le rêve cottage.

He loved spending his time on the balcony, looking out to the small lake behind the cottage. The cottage itself was small, but comfy and homey and warm, something Seunghyun desperately missed and needed right now.

A slow wind blew on his handsome face, the face millions of girls out there dying to touch, the face even five year old knew and loved, the face that brought him to the top of the world, that and his own skill, of course. A small smile appeared there, something people could rarely see, they saw him smiled fake smiles, not one like this, not one simple curve that appeared because he knew he finally had his own time.

The wind was teasing him, softly touching his face, kissed him slowly, whispering sweet nothings. It was cold, for it was winter after all, but he loved it. Never had he been so happy to be kissed by something so vague like a wind, never had he heard a song sang more beautifully than the wind did.

There he was, the world’s most famous star, having his silent conversation with the cold winter wind with his eyes closed on the balcony facing the frozen lake. A view so perfect and serene any painter would love to draw about, a picture so beautiful any photographer would love to have a snap on.

***

She was a photographer, the colors of the world fascinated her. That was until all light and colors were taken away from her life. She was only a young 18 year old girl, but she was sure she had a bright and colorful life ahead of her, how fate proved her wrong scarred her for life.

Now, four years of living in the darkness, she was still not getting used to it. She vowed herself she wouldn’t. She feared of forgetting the red color of cherry, or the orange of autumn in Jeju island. She feared of never seeing them again even in her escapade dreams, the colors she loved so much. So she promised herself never to deal with the darkness surrounded her. Not now, not ever.

She was bitter, it felt like someone so dear lied to her, saying they would give her the lollipop she wanted but never did. It hurt even more that she couldn’t find anyone to blame, could she blame God? Should she blame fate? It felt like she lost everything she had. She loved her cameras so much, now when she lost her sight, she couldn’t even touch them anymore. Of course she could still take pictures, but what was the point if she herself couldn’t know what picture she took?

She spent her first two years of darkness away from home, away from people she knew. She was too hurt to deal with everything, too angry to live with her family, too devastated to be around her friends. Even in the darkness she could imagine seeing her relatives stares at her with a look of pity, whispering sad talk behind her, thinking she couldn’t hear them, as if she lost her hearing along with her sight.

It was only last week she finally heeded to her parents’ request to live with them, or at least within their reach. Still she couldn’t let herself live in a same place with them so they let her stay in their cottage in a quiet area in Andong. Le rêve cottage.

She heard, earlier that day, that a guest will be coming to the cottage, only a week after she moved there. Should she move out? Should she just stay there? She was the owner after all. In the end she decided to stay on the first floor, because moving out wasn’t really an easy task, let alone for a blind girl like her.

She was sleeping when the guest came, he had dealt with her parents regarding the place so he had his own key and he knew her existence around the house, at least he had been notified about that. Her parents had said he didn’t mind as long as he had the whole second floor for himself and he promised not to disturb her business.

It would be best for her to greet him and introduce herself, for they will live under one roof. Her parents didn’t even inform her how long would he stayed, not that she cared. It had been too long since she socialized herself, starting the day she lost her sight she stopped herself from being friendly, because people would only pity her, a young blind girl. So she had planned her best to avoid the guest as well, she had been avoiding people for four years, so it wouldn’t be too hard, right?
 

***

Le Rêve was built when Chaerin was five upon her grandmother’s last request, she had a little piece of land in Andong, in a village quiet and a little far from the city, she wished Chaerin could have a place to learn peacefully, away from the harshness of technology and its rapid growth.

Little Chaerin loved playing there, running around the lake behind the cottage and enjoyed the scenery from the balcony. But at the age of seven she moved to Seoul to study, and spent her junior high year in Canada before coming back to Seoul on the second year of high school, once she was graduated she began travelling around the world as she discovered her love for photography.

The cottage was named upon her idea, she was reading a french dictionary for kids and found an illustration she really loved, it was of a girl sleeping with cloud above her, in that cloud were millions of colors, so colorful, so lively. So she told her father to give the new house a name, re-phe, she pronounced, to which her father laughed and told her how to spell it correctly and told her that rêve means 'dream'.

Not once had she visited the cottage until last week, not once had she imagined the cottage would change her life forever.

Not once had she ever thought her grandmother wish for her would be come true.

***

author's note:

y'all have to thank doodlenotes who blackmailed me for this update! Hahaha... she said she won't update my favorite 32 hours if I don't update this, hahaha...

So there... the first chapter! I hope you like it, I know... it was kinda short and filled with explanation, but I hope you get the background ;)