“Ahh! I need to go home, and study for my test tomorrow!” I jumped up quickly, and rushed over to the door. I was about to run out before she spoke up again.

 

“Test?” I looked at her, and she looked a bit confused.

 

“Yeah. I have a test tomorrow at school. It's a very important exam.”

 

“You go to school...?” It was an odd question. I figured it was normal for everyone my age to attend school.

 

“Of course. Don't you?”

 

“No...”

 

“Why?”

 

“I've been plagued with sickness since I was born. I've been home schooled, but I had to stop that too. I got so sick that I couldn't get out of bed, so I just read a lot of books to learn about everything.”

 

“I wish I could do that. Well, I'll be going. I'll come back tomorrow with cookies for you like I promised.”

 

“Hmph. You're still paying your debt I hope you know.”

 

“...I know.” I sighed knowing that she wasn't going to let this go very easily, and nodded.

 

“Well, leave already.” Her face was expressionless, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

 

I nodded, and bowed to her before leaving the room. I yawned, and made my way down the long flights of stairs. A large grandfather clock dinged loudly to indicate that it was already midnight. If I was still at work I would of just gotten off of work if I didn't have to 'quit' so abruptly. I looked over to the large doors to see Amber again. She said nothing, and opened the front door for me. I saw outside that a limo was already waiting for me. I smiled happily at her, but she only scowled. Is that how she shows kindness maybe? I shuffled out quickly to avoid getting yelled at, and hopped inside the limo.

 

The limo ride was so smooth that I started nodding off, and started to have a dream. A dream where Soojung was fit snugly in my arms, and we slow danced in an empty ball room. It seemed so real. She passionately pressed her lips on mine, and I couldn't hold back from returning it. I was woken up from my dream from the sound of the door opening. A butler looking man looked really surprised when he saw me kissing a throw pillow. I quickly turned red, and leaped out of the limo before he could respond.

 

I ran all the way back to the apartment, I was so embarrassed. I don't understand why I had that kind of dream about someone I just met. I sat down at the tiny desk in my room, and sighed heavily. Did I like her? She was really attractive, and small enough to fit in my arms perfectly. I wouldn't mind kissing her either. Wait no! Bad Sulli! She'd slap you for sure! I gotta stop thinking about her.

 

I pulled out my school work, and attempted to study. I couldn't think clearly, the only thing that came to mind was the dream. I banged my head on the desk trying to get it out of my head, but it was permanently stuck. Damn, I think I like her. How am I gonna be able to survive seeing her again tomorrow? I'll just sleep. I crawled into bed, and fell straight into a deep slumber after my head hit the pillow.

 

My loud alarm clock woke me up hours later. I struggled to get out of bed, I was still really tired. I shut off the alarm, and lazily put on my school's uniform. I grabbed my school bag, and an apple for breakfast. I walked slowly to the school while munching on the apple, and yawned. The only thing still going through my mind was that dream. I definitely wasn't going to pass that exam today, not a chance nope. I entered my class to see everyone chatting away without a care in the world. My best friend Jiyoung waved at me, and I sat down beside her in my desk.

 

“What's wrong? You look dead Jinri-yah.” Jiyoung titled her head to the side, and examined me closely.

 

“How do you impress someone you like?” I blurted out suddenly with no regrets.

 

“Well, that was sudden. Who is it?” She seem really curious, since I never really pursued romance. I had crushes before, but I never tried to impress them or try to get with them.

 

“My boss.”

 

“I knew your ideal type was strange, but a chubby old man? You can do better.” Her face twisted in disgust, and I twitched a little. Why the heck would I like him?

 

“Not him!”

 

“Then who?”

 

“Just tell me..”

 

“You're acting so weird. You can easily impress a guy by dressing y.”

 

Would Soojung like something like that? A short dress? Some tight clothing? Why am I seriously thinking about this? Why would she even care what I wore, she wouldn't even notice. I buried my face into my desk, and thought about what to do. If I brought her flowers then Amber would yell at me for sure. Arggh! I really want to see her badly right about now. I stayed quiet while thinking about Jiyoung's advice. She decided to talk to some guys in the class instead of me. I didn't really care today.

 

Class began, and our teacher handed out the exam soon after. I just went through the test quickly, and circled whatever seemed to be the correct answer. I didn't know any of the answers,and for once I didn't care. I turned in the test, and rushed out the door. I wasn't going to stay at school all day, I had somewhere else I wanted to be more. This kind of thing was really unusual for me. I rushed to the grocery store, and picked up the ingredients to make the cookies.

 

I placed the ingredients on the conveyer belt, and the cashier eyed me oddly while scanning my ingredients. She didn't say anything, but the woman behind me sure did.

 

“A kid in her school uniform buying cookies at this time of day? Shouldn't you be in school?” Why did she care so much about what I did? How rude. Shouldn't she be studying at her university too? Hmph.

 

“I already finished school today!” I shouted back at her which made the cashier look at me even weirder than before.

 

“What school ends at 9:30 AM?” She smirked at me knowing that I probably couldn't answer that question. It was true nobody ever got out of school that early.

 

“...”

 

“Skipping school to make cookies that will get you really far in life kid.” She laughed at me tauntingly, and  I started to really get pissed off.

 

“Hmph! I promised to make cookies for my friend.” I tried to retain my composure, and not show how mad I really was.

 

“What friend is so special to skip school for huh?” What a nosy lady! Why does she need to know so bad anyways?

 

“Soojung-ah!”

 

“Oh! You know Soojungie-chan huh? If you're going to see her today then please do inform her that Yoona will be coming to visit.” She knows Soojung!?

 

“You're her friend too?”

 

“Of course. We go way back.” She gave me a smile that seemed a bit off. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but I just ignored it.

 

“Wow! I'll tell her as soon as I get there.”

 

“Heh, why thank you.”

 

I paid for my items, and waved goodbye to this friend of Soojung's. She must know a lot of people huh? Wait, then I might have a lot of competition around me. Soojung-ah! I'll be sure to steal your heart away before anyone else can. I rushed home to an empty apartment, and started baking as many batches of cookies as I could. They looked delicious, and she'd surely love them. I poured the batches into a nice plastic bag, and wrapped it tightly with a red ribbon.

 

I left the apartment, and rushed back over to my work place. I was happy to see that the limo was already there waiting for me. I opened the door to see Amber inside, and sat beside her. She glared at me, and I held up the cookies I made for Soojung. The limo drove off towards the direction of the large mansion.

 

“Those look pretty good.”

 

“I made them for Soojung.”

 

“Hey! Who said you could call the princess by that name?”

 

“She did.”

 

“Hmph.”

 

“Amber! I met Yoona at the store, she said she was going to come visit today.” Amber's face turned into a complete panic, and she grabbed by the collar of my shirt. She was squeezing so hard I thought she might choke me next. She looked really scary.

 

“You idiot! Do you even know what you've done!?” She shook me by the collar, and then threw me down roughly on the seat.

 

“What? She said she was Soojung's friend!”

 

“FOOL! She controls the princess's curse! She can easily kill her off, and if she dies it's all YOUR fault!”

 

“What are you talking about? I don't understand at all!”

 

“Listen kid, and listen good. Yoona's family placed a curse upon the Jung family many centuries ago. The two families were once in a peaceful alliance, but the Im family wanted more power. They placed a curse over the Jung's, and have controlled them basically since then. The princess's parents passed away, and Jessica left. In other words the princess is the heir to the Jung family now. Whenever her parents were still around we were able to keep Yoona away, but now that it's only the princess we're in trouble. She's going to take our princess's life if we don't meet her demands.”

 

“What does she want from the Jung's? What do they have that she doesn't.”

 

“The family's sacred item. If she gets it then it's all over.”

 

“What's so great about it?”

 

“It seals the Im families magical powers. Yoona has a little power since the Im family is born with immense magical ability, but if she gets her powers unsealed she could easily rule the world.”

 

“What are we going to do!?”

 

“It's not we who will do anything it's the princess who will.”

 

“She's too sick to do anything!”

 

“Hmph. She'll have to negotiate with Yoona.”

 

I still wanted more information, but we had already arrived at the mansion. Amber rushed out of the limo, and pulled me inside. She was about to yell to inform everyone of Yoona's arrival, but she was sitting on the stairs already waiting for us. She smiled so innocently at us like she hadn't done anything wrong in her whole life. It was so creepy, it gave me chills up my spine. She snapped her fingers, and Amber fell onto the floor completely passed out. I looked around to the west hallway to see it filled with other people who were passed out too. I swallowed hard, and backed up against the front door.

 

“My magic didn't work on you, that's really interesting. What's your name?”

 

“Why should I tell you!?”

 

“Please. Pretty please.”

 

“Choi Sulli. Now leave!”

 

“I don't think so. Since you're the only one awake why don't you me to Soojungie-chan?”

 

“I'll never do that.”

 

“I'll kill everyone in this house if you don't.”

 

“...Fine. Follow me.” I said powerlessly. I can't believe this was all my fault. If I had stayed in school like I was supposed to then I'd never of run into this girl. I took her all the way up the flights of stairs as slow as I could to delay time. I thought maybe that someone would wake up soon, and try to help me. I stopped in-front of Soojung's door, and Yoona motioned me to open the door. I was scared of what was going to happen once we got inside. I opened the door, and peered inside to see her sitting up in bed with an angry scowl on her face. She must of known about everything already. Yoona pushed me aside, and walked over to the bed cockily. I got up, and ran in front of Soojung's bed to attempt to block her.

 

“Soojungie-chan you're still confined to this bed? I thought you would of recovered by now with Jessica gone.”

 

“What do you want?” Soojung looked even more pissed off than she did whenever I split the coke on her suit. She really looked like she wanted to hurt Yoona.

 

“Always getting straight to the point. I talked to Jessica recently. I thought you'd be interested in hearing about your sister.” Yoona smirked, and Soojung's expression didn't change at all.

 

“Hmph. I don't care about her anymore.” She sounded convincing enough, but even so it seemed like she was lying.

 

“You're a bad liar as always. She's still so angry about you killing your parents. She really knows how to hold a grudge. It's really unappealing. It's all her fault they died she says over, and over. Is it really your fault? I do wonder.” What!? How could she of killed her parents? What kind of sister was this Jessica to blame Soojung for such a horrible crime.

 

“Shut up, and get to the point.”

 

“Why are you always in such a bad mood?”

 

“Yoona! Tell me already.”

 

“Fine, fine. You know what I want. Hand it over, and I'll spare your servants. No, wait. Let's add Jessica to this too. If you don't care about her then it'll be fine if I kill her too right?”

 

“....”

 

“Leave Soojung alone!”

 

“This girl she sure is brave to interrupt us don't you think?”

 

“Leave her out of this she's just an idiot!”

 

“Hand over the stone, Soojungie-chan, or else you'll suffer too. I own you, and your life. You're in no position to refuse me now that Jessica, and your parents can't protect you anymore. ” She twisted her hand into a fist, and Soojung started to cough up a lot of blood. I was scared, so scared that I couldn't even move. I didn't know what else to do so I did the only that came to mind, and pushed Yoona away from the bed side. The room fell quiet, and Yoona only laughed at my feeble attempt to hold her off.

 

“I guess since you're offering your life so willingly, I'll kill you now.” I closed my eyes eyes shut, and heard a loud thud hit the ground. I opened my eyes to see Soojung holding up a glowing stone, and Yoona wreathing in pain. It must have been the sacred item that was used to seal her power that Amber had told me about.

 

“Yoona! Get the hell out of here, and don't you dare show your face in front of me again.” Yoona clenched her chest in pain, and vanished into thin air. She can't kill Soojung as long as she has that stone maybe? I ran over to the bed, and wrapped my arms tightly around her holding her close. She struggled to break free, and growled at me.

 

“Get off of me you idiot!!” I let go, and smiled at her knowing that she was ok. I sat down on the bed, and handed her the bag of cookies I had prepared earlier.

 

“For you.” I said simply, and gave her my biggest smile. She gave me a mean look, and looked at the bag in disgust. I felt crushed, that she didn't like them. I stayed quiet, and got up from the bed. I wasn't sure what to feel right now.

 

“These are my favorite kind of cookies. Thank you.” My face lit up, and threw my arms around her again, holding her close to my heart. I was so happy that she had accepted my gift. She elbowed me off of her, but I noticed she was blushing this time.

 

---Meanwhile

 

Jiyoung was walking home from school getting ready to go to a friend's house She was about to turn the corner to walk down her street until she was stopped by a stranger than she had never seen before. Yoona smirked down at the younger girl, and spoke first.

 

“You're friends with Choi Sulli aren't you.”

 

“She's my best friend. Why do you ask?”

 

“Listen to my orders, and I'll grant you any wish that you want. The riches of the world, power, the throne of a queen. Anything.”

 

“....So what do I have to do?”