“I heard the mother of that child rejected her with every fiber of her being, even more so when she turned out to be cursed.” The care takers said amongst themselves. They hadn't a clue that the very child they were speaking about was hiding behind a pillar nearby them, listening to everything that was said.

“What do you expect? Who could love a child with the curse?” One of the care takers laughed, and the others did too.

“Mommy why can't I go play outside with everyone else?” The child pulled on her mother's dress, and pointed outside to where her older sister was. The game they were playing looked like so much fun.

“Nobody wants to see you. Stay inside where you belong.” The mother's eyes were cold, and her face was filled with disgust. She left the room, and leaving the child by herself.

“It's obvious she's ashamed of that child.” A nearby maid whispered. A whisper loud enough that the child could still hear.

“I pity you having to bear the responsibility of the family's curse at a young age.” The father said to the child without even looking at her face.

“They say the cursed ones are shunned for a good reason.” He said after, and retreated upstairs.

“My biggest regret is ever having that thing come out of my body.” The younger mother sobbed while looking directly at the small child. The child didn't understand it at all. She just didn't want to see her mother crying anymore. It hurt her to see it.

“If you pretend something doesn't exist then eventually it will go away won't it?” She heard her mother say while laughing happily. The child knew that her mother was referring to her. She wanted to make her mother happy, and disappear.

I watched Soojung shoot up from the bed with beads of sweat on her forehead. She look mortified. I cupped her cheek, and gave her my warmest smile. She still looked terrified, but surprisingly didn't pull away from me.

“Are you alright? You look like you were having a nightmare.” I brushed the sweat away with one of my sleeves, and she exhaled in relief. I couldn't bear to see how uncomfortable she was, so I gave her a chaste kiss. I saw her smile a little, and I knew that was what she had needed.

“Just bad memories...” Her arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders. I wasn't expecting it at all. She must finally be warming up to me after all. The thought of that alone is enough to make me feel happy.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I squeezed her palms, and rubbed them gently. I was a bit saddened when I felt her pull her arms away. I saw that she was now squeezing the bed blanket between her fingers. It was obvious to me she was having an inner struggle.

“I don't want to think about it ever again..” I pulled her into another kiss to calm her, but she didn't kiss back. She just wasn't in the mood for it. I was slightly disappointed, but I could understand why. My cell phone started to buzz loudly in my pocket, and I whipped it out to see my father was calling. He informed me that my mother had come home from work early today because she had gotten a terrible cold, and he needed me home. I put the phone away, and got up from Soojung's bed.

“Who was that?”

“My father. I have to go now. My mom has fallen ill, and I need to take care of her.”

“..I'll miss you.” She sounded sad, and it made me feel almost guilty.

“I'll miss you too. I'll return tomorrow. I promise. Bye now.”

“...Bye.” I could hear the loneliness in her voice as I left her room. It was bad timing. I really didn't want to leave her like that, especially after she seemed so upset. I went down the stairs, and reached for the door knob, but then a hand pulled me back. I turned to see a beautiful blonde woman standing before me. I had never seen her here before.

“The two of us need to talk.”

“Who are you?”

“Jessica Jung.”

“If you're here then don't talk to me go see your sister! She misses you so much!” I pulled on her, and ushered her towards the bottom of the staircase. She wouldn't budge, and shoved my arms away with a frighteningly cold look on her face. She resembled her little sister so much. I could somehow tell that she wasn't really like this. Behind the cold facade I somehow felt traces of the warm sister that Soojung had described to me. Yes, she was still very much that person.

“You misunderstand my intentions. I'm not here to see her. I'm here to see you.” She retreated towards the doors of the entrance to the mansion. She seemed very apprehensive. Her eyes told me that she wanted badly to go up those stairs, but her body seemed fearful.

“I don't care what your intentions are! Go see her!” I pointed to the top floor even though I knew that she of all people would surely know where her little sister would reside. I badly wanted to see the smile that only Jessica could bring to Soojung's face. I just wanted more than anything for her to finally ease the aching heart of my beloved.

“I can't! If I see her then I'll die!” Die? Sure, she looked a little sickly, but how could she? I didn't have to think about it too long, she started to cough violently. It was the exact same as Soojung's. I saw blood staining her palm whenever she pulled it away from . How could she of gotten in such a condition? Soojung said you couldn't catch it, didn't she?

“Why are you like that? Soojung is supposed to be the only one who is cursed..” My eyes widened whenever she coughed up an even larger amount of blood. It was so much that it was dripping on to the floor. I feared that perhaps my girlfriend would become like this someday day too. It really scared me.

“That's because anyone who gets too closed to the cursed one will suffer horrible after effects on their body. The closer the bond, the more the two suffer. Eventually, you both die. I see you're still healthy as can be. You should leave her side while you still can. You can still live.” I wasn't sure if I believed her, but it made perfect sense. The truth is maybe I knew she was right, but I didn't want to believe such a thing would happen to me. The mere thought of it made my legs shake, it's not like I could just run away though. She didn't deserve it.

“I won't leave her. Not like you did.” I said firmly. I meant what I said,but for some reason a part of me was doubting my words. Why would I stay with someone who was going to end my life? No, that's not how I feel. I love her. I do. Don't I? So, then why am I questioning myself like this all of a sudden?

“I'm not going to allow you to be responsible for my sister's death. I'll give you a few days to change your mind. If you still insist on staying then, I won't hesitate to attack you.” I didn't have a chance to respond. She quickly left the mansion after in an obvious hurry. Should I change my mind, and leave while I still can? A person like that who passes their curse on to people just so they can suffer together, should be alone forever. No! That's not how I feel at all! What's wrong with me?

I left that mansion, and returned to my own home. I spent the rest of the day helping out my mother, and cooking for my family. My mind was completely cleared of all those horrible thoughts from earlier. I chose to forget everything, and figured that Jessica was lying to scare me. I truly believed this until, I too started to cough. I coughed, and coughed, so much that I couldn't get myself to stop. When my coughing finally ceased, I saw specks of blood covering the kitchen floor.

--{Im Estate}

Jessica weakly limped into the meeting room, and collapsed on the couch. She was breathing heavily, and had become quite sweaty. Tiffany, and Jiyoung rushed to her side concerned. Yoona just thought she was being over dramatic to get attention. She also returned without what she had promised to obtain. Yoona was disappointed that she had failed such an easy conquest.

“Huhuhu wheres the stone?” Yoona spoke in a calm tone, despite being somewhat furious inside. She was more than ready to have full use of magic. Even more ready to use it for death, and destruction like she'd always wanted to.

“I can't get near it yet..” Jessica clenched her chest in pain, and gasped for air. The Im's knew very well if she even got within a certain range of Soojung, her pain would increase two fold. Yoona loved that this happened, and often pressured Jessica to visit her little sister just so it would quicken her imminent death.

“It's because of that troublesome girl named Jinri. Jiyoung, take of it.” Tiffany ordered to the younger girl. Jiyoung didn't understand why it was former her best friend's fault that the older Jung couldn't get the stone. To her it sounded like a weak excuse. Even if things between them had changed drastically, she still thought Jinri was harmless.

“How can I?” Jiyoung looked to Tiffany for an answer. She watched Tiffany rub her palm, and then suddenly it began to glow momentarily before returning to normal. Her hand felt different, it felt lighter.

“With this bit of magic. You'll know how, and when to use it.” So this was magic? She was promised by the Im sisters that she would be taught to use magic too after the stone was returned. Jiyoung was already fascinated by this simple amount of magic in her palm, and was already desiring more. Jessica couldn't help but notice the look of greed on Jiyoung's face, and turned the other direction.

“Huhuhu. Magic doesn't work on her, remember?” Yoona patted her elder sister on the head, and recalled her experience with the angel in the Jung estate. She had of course figured out now why the magic hadn't worked before. The players on the board were all present now, and soon the ceremony would begin. A new age would be born. An age where magic flourished. An age where the Im family would regain their position as the strongest family in the world.

“Idiot. This is magic to speed up the progression of the curse that has already started to invade her body. She acts loyal, and strong now, but once she sees that she is really dying she'll run away crying like a coward.” Tiffany laughed haughtily at the thought of Jinri suffering, and dying. Jessica felt disgusted that her best friend had become such a monster. Sure, she had threatened to attack Jinri earlier, but it was because she wanted her to live. Jessica heard from Amber that her little sister had fallen in love with this girl. For that reason alone, Jinri had to live on for Soojung's sake.

“How are you so sure about this?” Jiyoung sounded doubtful of the Im's intentions. She wanted power, but she didn't wish death upon her closest friend. She mentally hoped that they weren't going to kill her, but she also knew the Im's were hiding more information from her.

“That's because she's no different from her previous ancestors. This cycle repeats it's self over, and over. I've memorized all the actors, and their parts so well that I can already predict the outcome.” Tiffany sounded so cocky, and diabolical. All the contents of this conversation just made Jessica feel sicker. Still, she felt that she had the advantage. The Im family had made the mistake of trusting her. The thing that mattered most to Jessica was still the Jung family. She feigned loyalty to the Im family, and regained Tiffany's trust. They had been supplying her with more than enough information now, and she had been secretly relaying it to other sources. When it was time for the ceremony to begin, she planned to assassinate the remaining Im family.

“Huhuhu. She'll start to hate herself, and regret ever falling for Soojungie-chan. She'll beg to us on her knees to remove that curse from her. “ Yoona seemed to be really enjoying what ever twisted image was playing through her mind. She laughed again happily, and Tiffany did too.

“..Why would she be like that?” Jiyoung looked upset now. Yoona found it interesting that she still cared for someone like that. Then again she didn't believe in friendship at all. She thought the world should revolve around nothing but hate. To her that was what a beautiful world was.

“The curse affects more than your body you know. It corrupts, and damages your mind. Hahaha! Your parents suffered the same fate, didn't they Jessica?” Tiffany smirked, and Jessica shuttered at the thought. She never agreed with the way her parents had treated her little sister. It was cruel, and disgusting.

“Let's not talk about them.” Jessica said in a quiet tone, and started to cough again. Her parents had often pretended that Soojung didn't exist. After they had met their demise, she also practiced the same ritual. People who couldn't love their child were never parents in her eyes.

“Huhuhu. Do you resent Soojungie-chan too? Don't lie.” Yoona smiled crookedly at the elder Jung. She saw Jessica twitch at the question, and struggle to answer it. It was so interesting to Yoona that Jessica who devoted her life to trying to save her sister, might secretly hate her.

“Your body says no, but your mind says yes. It's ok to hate her Jessica. You know it must have been hard forcing yourself to live with fake emotions, and pretending to love someone like that. Tiffany ran her hands through Jessica's silky long hair. Jessica was trying to suppress all the negative, and hateful thoughts running through her mind about her little sister. It reminded her when years ago she had told her sister that she hated her. These were not her thoughts, but the curses effect on her mind. When she had realized what she had said to Soojung, she felt miserable. Through the help of Amber, and the family doctor Victoria, she was able to learn to control the curse to a manageable level.

“No it's not...” Jessica muttered lowly suddenly feeling unable to push back all the horrible thoughts deluding her mind.

“Huhuhuhu. Such strong will to fight against the hatred inside you for so long.” Yoona desired to make Jessica hate Soojung, and for them to kill each other. That would be the beautifully tragic end to the nuisance that was the Jung family.

“I'll go to Jinri. I'll make her change her mind once, and for all.” Jiyoung stood up, and walked out the exit. She was ready to obtain power even if it meant bringing Jinri down with her.