The dancers from the school slowly started to filter in from the South Entrance. Heaps of bags and colorful costumes seemed to take over the bland environment of Gyeonbok Palace. As a news caster from the News Station, Namjoo snapped picture after another pausing after every shot to make sure the picture was clear cut. If they ended up unclear and blurry who knew what kind of lecture Xiumin would decide to give her. She tired of listening to him.  

There seemed to be about a hundred dancers preparing for the upcoming celebration. Exactly how big the celebration was Namjoo didn’t know. She was standing by the inner court just watching them file in one after another. The dancers, so far as she knew, would be staying here with them as they prepared for their performances. In a way it was like an outing for them.

“How fun,” Namjoo sputtered underneath her breath and crouched slightly to take one more picture.

“Namjoo, enough, lets go meet with the dancers,” Xiumin stepped out of the building.

“Yes,” Namjoo replied loudly with a half-sigh full of annoyance.

Pulling the camera strap over her shoulder she followed him down the stairs and across the large gray yard. Around her she could hear the wind whooshing back and forth loudly. Instinctively she almost tried to listen for a voice before she felt her bones shiver. Quickly forgetting the thought she quickly caught up to Xiumin before he would yell at her again.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the dancers who had just placed their luggage inside the rooms organized for them. There were so many of them Namjoo could hear chatter around her, yelling added to it. It felt like she was at a national conference where the ones in charge were screaming back and forth for everyone to get in order.

Suddenly everything blanked and turned black and white. Women with their hair curled in buns at the back of their head were walking around, men in large baggy pants carried clothes folded into large traditional blankets serving as a substitute for suitcases. Their clothes were not that of the present day. Namjoo didn’t know what era this was…perhaps right after World War II?

Her head particularly turned when a young girl with long hair tied into a tight ponytail crossed the path in front of her. Namjoo couldn’t catch her face before she felt someone tug her arm hard.

“What are you doing!?” Xiumin questioned loudly.

Her eyes enlarged when color skimmed back into her eyes. Confused she felt thoughtless transmissions carry themselves through her brain.

“S…sorry,” she stutted.

Xiumin frowned at her and she thought he slightly glared before turning away to lead her toward the pack of dancers. Taking a step forward brought chills of curiosity down her spine. Pausing in step she turned to look around the courtyard wondering what it was that appeared in her head. Biting down on her teeth she shook her head before continuing after Xiumin.

They first came across a group of girls who responded friendlily to them. After a few successful pictures they quickly moved on to some drum dancers before heading on. By the time they came across another group of girls Namjoo felt the sun’s beam attacking her back viciously. She was sweating horrendously and wanted to sit down for five minutes.

When they finally arrived at the next residence, Namjoo quickly sat down on the doorstep as Xiumin’s voice from five steps away resonated into her ears. She knew he was determined to get their story published in the magazines, but at this rate Namjoo didn’t care. It was only the beginning and there was no point in rushing for information.

Namjoo let out a shout when she fell forward onto the ground, something clattering beside her. The girl that had tripped over her caught herself on her clumsy feet far to her right.

“What the heck!?” Namjoo heard a girl shout.

When she turned her eyes landed on the item beside her. It was an oversized fan, its edges embroidered with purple feathers and designs woven into its shape. She felt a bell ring inside her head, which she didn’t know why before the girl that had tripped over her picked it up. Tilting her head up Namjoo stared at the girl with thick eyeliner and shot up to her feet.

“Who are you?” The girl interrogated. “Not just anyone should be sitting around here. You know the palace is closed off, how did you get in? I could have broken my ankle! Where’s the security? Security!”

Flustered, Namjoo felt herself blink before trying to catch herself. In no time she heard footsteps hurrying toward her.

“What’s going on?” She felt someone grab her shoulder.

The girl stared at Xiumin before turning to stare at her then back to him, “Who is she? She blocked my way. I could have injured myself! Who would perform in my place?”

Namjoo turned when Xiumin glanced at her with what she translated as warning eyes.

“Sorry,” Xiumin apologized. “I’ll make sure she’s careful next time.”

And what Namjoo hated second most was being frowned upon like a child. Shrugging her shoulder out of his hand she ly to pause in step when her eyes caught who was behind her. Pressing her lips together Namjoo tightened her grip on the camera and felt her heart pulsate a little faster. Darting her eyes toward the ground Namjoo bit her teeth together while the girl in front of her smirked.

The girl that had tripped over her squealed before rushing toward Cho Hee Sun, the girl that had singled Namjoo out throughout her school career from elementary to high school. They had lived in the same apartment building and gone to school together. Life had been a nightmare with her. The taunts Hee Sun had created against her still echoed in her head. Like the adults, Hee Sun told everyone to stay away from her. Namjoo would jinx them to death, Hee Sun had told everyone, like her next door neighbor’s dog. She was bad luck and bad things would happen to anyone who befriended her.

Namjoo thought she had escaped her clutches after separating after high school, but it seemed like her nightmare was just starting again. Cho Hee Sun, Namjoo had heard, had gone to a very famous dance school. Not once had Namjoo ever foreseen that they’d meet again.

“Why are you so late?” The girl questioned. Probably up to Hee Sun, Namjoo felt.

“Ah…sorry. I was waiting to be picked up,” Hee Sun explained. “How is unpacking going? Did we get our rooms?”

“It was going good until she tripped me,” the girl turned to look directly at Namjoo, who immediately tightened her jaw.

Namjoo saw the ridicules coming at her again. She didn’t need to feel it, she knew it.

“Ah…Namjoo.”

“You know her?”

“Of course, we went to school together,” Hee Sun spoke loudly, but still leaning toward the girl as if whispering to her. “She’s bad luck, she carries death with her. If she wants to, she’ll jinx your death. Don’t go near her. She’s like the devil’s child. No one in my school ever talked to her. Even the teachers feared her.”

“Stop gossiping,” a voice cut in. “There are ghosts around here, you don’t want to bring them out.”

Soft footsteps touched the ground and Namjoo lifted her eyes up from the ground when a tall shadow cast itself over her. When her eyes dwelled into the man’s twinkling eyes Namjoo felt her mind fall blank. It felt like Xiumin had placed his hand on her shoulder again, but this time this hand was cold to the touch. Namjoo couldn’t turn to confirm whether it was Xiumin or not.

Something warped through her and it felt like her heart was disconnecting itself from her arteries. She’d never seen this man before, but it suddenly felt like she was finally face to face with the being closest to her heart. It felt so strange.

Her consciousness told her she didn’t know him. She had no feelings for him, yet part of her was hanging onto him.

“Hi,” he greeted, “you must be the reporters I’ve heard about.”

And insanely Namjoo heard his name pass through her head.

Luhan…

“I’m Luhan,” he introduced himself.

But instead of shaking his hand in return Namjoo just stared into his eyes searching for some recognition.

No, she didn’t know him, but she knew his name…

Goosebumps rose on her skin.

“I’m Xiumin,” his hand slightly brushed past her arm to shake Luhan’s hand. “This is my assistant, Namjoo, photographer and recorder.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you just going to stand out here?” Hee Sun interrupted.

“You’re still here?” Luhan asked before gesturing his head toward the residence hall. “Go in and unpack.”

Hee Sun shot Namjoo a quick glance and turned to Luhan, “So you’re going to stay out here?”

“We should get to know each other a bit. We’re going to be seeing each other every day for the next two months.” Luhan explained in a friendly manner regardless whether he knew she was being a brat or not.

“Go on,” he urged.

Hee Sun made a face before the girl that had tripped into Namjoo pulled her along.

“Should we go sit somewhere?” Xiumin suggested.

“I’m not tired. We could walk around, I haven’t been here before,” Luhan told.

They turned to look at her for her opinion, but Namjoo only felt irritated now. She was still upset at how Hee Sun had jeered at her. For some small reason she felt like Xiumin should have said something to stop them since he knew her best out of everyone here, but he hadn’t said anything.

“I feel like I don’t have enough pictures. I’m going to go around the residence halls once more,” Namjoo said before excusing herself.

These two months here were going to be so much bitterer than she’d imagined it to be. She really couldn’t wait to get out of here.   

+++

“Sorry,” Luhan apologized as they turned to walk toward the library. “Cho Hee Sun, the dancer with me, gets a little out of hand sometimes.”

“Depends how Namjoo sees it,” Xiumin perceived. “She gets dazed a lot, but she’s pretty attentive to her surroundings.”

Luhan nodded, “Are you going to be recording rehearsals? How do you plan to do interviews?”

“I’m planning to do a recording of the fan dance rehearsal after the first week here and the rest of the performances following that,” Xiumin explained. “Your dancers should be pretty routinized.”

“Yes, most of them have done this before. They’ll know what’s going on, but it’s the first time we’re having onlookers. That’ll be new to them.”

“Namjoo will take care of that,” Xiumin assured. “She’ll take care of interviews as well. I plan them to be all on the spot, without script. I want interviews to feel natural.”

“Just the two of you are here then?”

“There would have been more, but another team has been dispatched to Italy.”

“Italy?” Luhan repeated surprised. “That’s pretty far. Why’d you stay here?”

Xiumin glazed his eye over the busy dancers terrorizing each other with jokes. As they passed by their voices turned distant, quickly fading behind them.

“I’m not sure,” Xiumin responded, “but if there’s one thing I know, Namjoo’s often disconnected from everything around her. It feels like this will be a good experience for her.”

After almost two hours of a long walk around the whole palace Xiumin could feel his feet aching by the time he returned to where they first started off. Food was being passed around, which meant lunch was served. He was hungry and wanted to eat, but didn’t want to if Namjoo didn’t get a fair share.

With a quick look around he realized that Namjoo wasn’t there. Wondering if she was upset due to the girls’ earlier chides he started toward the Queen’s Quarters in search of Namjoo.

The noise from the dancers died out when he opened the door to the Queen’s Quarters and stepped in.

“Namjoo?” He called out.

No one replied.

Xiumin glanced around the short narrow hallway before walking in. Sliding the doors open along the way showed him that the rooms were empty until he reached the end of the hallway where two large doors were.

“Namjoo?” He called out again as he opened the door and found Namjoo lying on her side on her futon with the camera still clutched in her hand.

“Tsh…sleeping again,” Xiumin muttered before walking over to wake her, but when he neared Namjoo twisted her head and a frown quickly pulled her brows down.

He paused to watch wondering what she was dreaming about.

Namjoo’s fingers tightened around the camera and he watched her feet arch before her arms and legs started moving as if to ward something off. During the whole time she made no particular noise, but when her head started turning from side to side repeatedly he grabbed her arm to shake her awake.

“Namjoo, wake up, wake up,” he slightly raised his voice bit by bit. “Namjoo!”

Alarmed with her silent fits he shook her even harder before her body became superbly stiff. The camera cluttered against the ground and a loud gasp escaped her before she sat up abruptly for some air.

Twisting the covers into her hand she turned to look around as if to search for someone.

“You ok?” Xiumin asked.

When she turned to look at him he noticed sweat glistening in her hair.

“,” he heard her mutter. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

As she stood he let go of her arm and watched her pick the camera up.

“They’re serving lunch,” Xiumin told.

“Finally, I thought I was going to starve,” she commented before brushing past him.

Xiumin turned to watch her walk away before turning to stare at the futon she’d been laying on. Was she unaware of what just happened?

Namjoo, to him, was a very absent-minded person. One minute she would be paying attention and the next she would be staring off at something else. Xiumin didn’t quite get her. How she had entered his field where attention to every little thing meant everything puzzled him.

Maybe he didn’t know her well, but he knew she word hard regardless of the fact that her attention span was short. Often times she was too quiet as if too deep in thought that she’d forget her surroundings. He didn’t think he’d ever hear her talk anything about herself, so the only things he gathered about who she was from how he knew her; and it wasn’t much.

Namjoo wasn’t around the Queen’s Quarters when he walked out. After a bit of a search he finally caught her walking around with the camera still in hand. Taking a sigh he started toward her and grabbed the camera from her hand.

“I said lets eat,” he repeated.

Namjoo stared at him quietly before following him down the courtyard. When Namjoo finally grabbed lunch he later caught her sitting on the stairs nibbling away at the fried chicken wings prepared for them. Starting toward her he set the camera down between them and placed a bottle of water beside her. Finally sitting down he turned to face the empty yard in front of the main palace to watch the dancers arrange themselves into formation.

It was interesting, he thought, how they worked so hard for such a short performance to be enjoyed by the public.

“Are you ok?” He started.

“What ok?” Namjoo bluntly asked.

He turned to look at her, “Were you having a nightmare, earlier?”

The water bottle she lifted to her lips stopped midway before she continued to take a gulp of it, “It’s not worth mentioning. A dream is just a dream.”

“It didn’t look so simple to me,” Xiumin commented.

“Yes, if you say so,” Namjoo nodded her head with irritancy to push him off the topic.

When she did something like this it meant she’d up to him and not hear what he had to say anymore, like a child promising her mom she’d clean her room after a television show.

Keeping his sigh in he explained, “You’re going to be in charge of recording the dance rehearsals, interviewing dancers, and the program coordinator, Luhan.” 

***Cho Hee Sun is the dancer who rivaled Chorong in her past life (get it?) and she also went to school with Namjoo, but they're not on good terms (see what I've done?) 

***Xiumin's a nice guy. He's just looking out for Namjoo, but she sees him as arrogant and mean and someone who only cares about work. Looks like they'll get to know each other better throughout these two months. Plus, with Luhan in the picture things are certainly bound to happen now. Chorong knows he's there.