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⋮ SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

⋮ DECEMBER 2002
 

"Who are you?" Her surprisingly calm voice echoed throughout the dark alley, braided with the loud tapping of her shoes as she trailed along after the mysterious man a few feet ahead of her.

He didn’t bother to answer nor did he turn around.

"You're not going to kill me?"

The corner of his lips twitched. "Why would I?"

"Well, you just killed my father."

He flipped up his jacket’s collar and shoved his hands inside the pockets for more warmth, an amused smirk never stopped playing on his lips, finding himself surprisingly charmed by the composed self of a barely-ten-year-old girl. "We both know he deserved it."

She only hummed blankly as a response, fixing her gaze down and hoping through the broken pavement to follow his steps.

It was a chilly December night with the cold wind blowing roughly through their coats, but he showed no urge to increase his pace—his feet strutting the quiet street of Seongbuk excruciatingly slowly. And astonishingly she didn't seem to mind; she's busy trying to explore her bearings as well as minding her steps so she wouldn't fall anyway. 

He turned to the left a few steps past the old camera shop when they're out of the alley, the typical dim street lights of Seoul’s outskirt greeted them gloomily.

"Ahjusshi, what is this place?" She asked rather loudly, curiosity oozing from her voice. The whole lot looked like an abandoned ghost town with houses and stores covered in thick dust and the smell of dampness following her every step. The sound of dogs howling into the night didn't make it any better either.

"This," He finally decided it's time to speak up again, "is going to be where you live from now on."

She blinked at a ribbiting frog as she walked past it. "Yeah? And what makes you think I want to be in this kind of neighborhood, Ahjusshi?"

"Your eyes." He said lowly, and another silence appeared.

He stopped in front of what looked to be an abandoned mansion with the girl following suit; the tall, sturdy gates had long been rusted while a few of the window panes had shattered and left forgotten, covered by a few plank of woods as a quick fix at the time. A large garden sat in the massive yard—or at least that was what the girl gathered, judging from the amount of dead bushes and the moss-ridden fountain that stood in the center of it all. If it were managed properly, it could be a very beautiful garden, she was sure of it.

Unconsciously touching his mustache, he scoffed softly to himself before then turning to his side, searching for some fear hidden within the girl’s face but to his slight surprise, he found none.

She peered at the view in front of her with a vacant expression (and maybe a slight excitement).

"Scared?" He mused softly.

She looked up at him and blinked again. "Of what?"

He jerked his chin towards the mansion as a reply. 

The girl shrugged lightly before fixing her eyes on the mansion once again, her body rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet without thought. "It doesn’t look that bad."

"What about the possibility of me killing you once we're inside?"

"I don't see why you would take me this far only to kill me when you killed my father right after you saw him."

He laughed heartily at the earnest answer. Pretty good head for a young girl, he thought. And when he was done drowning in his own thoughts, she was already in front of the gate, observing the mansion curiously.

"Aren't you coming, Ahjusshi?"

"Stop calling me ahjusshi, the name's Seungwon." He muttered irritatingly under his breath, but closed the distance between him and the gate anyway. She threw him a playful "Okay, ahjusshi." and a cheeky grin and swung open the gate with a eery creak, dashing towards the front door impatiently. Seungwon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily as he gazed up at the large estate.

Kids.
 

AUTHOR'S NOTE•••A teaser, at last! It's the old one but I edited it a little because  I changed my character's background. I hope you guys like it orz orz I need to read a lot of dark story to make myself a better writer. But anyways, remember the deadline, please, July 7th. Looking forward the rest of the applications.  ♡

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