Namjoo barely choked on her water, “What?!”

He almost had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at her exaggerated reaction. “I’ll take care of what you can’t, but those are your main duties.”

“That’s too much!” Namjoo complained.

“Start with the program coordinator tomorrow.” Xiumin insisted. “Move onto the dancers the day after. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

+++

“It shouldn’t be that hard,” Namjoo repeated scornfully as she entered her room that night. “Of course, cause you’re not even doing much.”

Plopping down onto the futon Namjoo shook her head before hanging it back to stare at the ceiling. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep earlier, but for some reason she did. Those images had repeated themselves again inside her head. She wasn’t sure whether she was actually seeing herself or if it was someone else, but it felt so surreal, like she was really the one getting attacked.

Namjoo could feel the fear, the scare crawling up her spine, the fast pacing of her heart as he lunged at her, and the shock from it all just stupefied her. It wasn’t hard to realize that this situation was uncalled for and that she was in danger; that she couldn’t fight him off. Whoever it was had been really strong and she could sense his intentions; they were evil and bad.

Or was this an event to happen? Namjoo was confused, but she didn’t like thinking about it. Of course, this was a palace after all; a palace that had stood for thousands of years. Plenty of incidents may have happened here and she could just be seeing a mix of events in one. It definitely couldn’t be anything more than that.

“It’s not my business,” Namjoo lied down and continued staring up at the ceiling before eventually closing her eyes.

+++

Chorong hated how she couldn’t touch the psychic. She despised how Namjoo wouldn’t turn an ear her way. Wherever she went, wherever she followed her Namjoo seemed to close her off every time. Then the unexpected just happened.

Was it real?

Was it really them?

No…

Her fiancé and her killer were dead by now.

They were dead. It couldn’t be them…

Yet they were there, right in front of the psychic in broad daylight as solid figures. And it burned her inside.

Luhan…

Hye Su…Hee Sun was right by his side…liked it had been when she’d died…

The hate, the rage, the anger couldn’t be described. It made Chorong menacingly upset, but she had no power. She knew she couldn’t do anything, not like this. She was powerless.  

The boiling rage inside her couldn’t be tamed, but right now she could still contain herself. Carrying hatred within herself rotted what was left of her soul even more. This wasn’t her fiancé…it definitely wasn’t him and she was still sane even as death lingered around her. She was still holding onto that desperation to start anew. Chorong just wanted to forget everything and move on.

It was ok… Chorong just wanted to leave this palace. She no longer wanted to continue haunting this place ever so silently.

“Don’t sleep, just a few words, just a few words,” Chorong tried. Yet, Namjoo didn’t open her eyes.

As Chorong stared down at the girl she felt her insides twist up. She was desperate. She was willing to do anything for her to listen.

Drawing her fingers into her palms she leaned forward so that she was almost face to face with Namjoo.

“Please listen to me!” And unexpectedly, a wind surged into Namjoo’s face.

To Chorong’s bidding the psychic’s eyes flared open and she sat up surprised. Apologetic, Chorong immediately stood to apologize. Of course she hadn’t meant to scare her. She’d just wanted her attention.

To her disappointment, after pacing around the room for a few seconds Namjoo walked out.

+++

“Ah….” Namjoo groaned, burying her face into her hands after sitting on the steps outside.

That sudden wind had frightened her. Wherever it had come from she didn’t want to know.

Now that it was like this should she just sleep outside?

Opening her eyes she raised her head up to look up at the night sky and peered around before seriously laying down on her back.

“This ,” Namjoo mumbled to herself.

At least outside would be better than being with whatever was inside. For the first time in her life she actually slept in front of the doors on hard concrete.

Waking up was a pain however. When the sun first hit the sky it was suddenly too bright for her to keep her eyes closed any longer. Irritated, Namjoo got up anyway. After washing up a bit she dragged herself around with heavy feet looking forward to when she would be able to sleep again. She regretted sleeping outside. It made her miss the soft futon and the silky covers that kept her warm even in summer’s heated air. Namjoo preferred the blanket than no blanket at all, no matter what season it was.

Heaving a deep set of sighs she brushed her hand up the long grown bangs drooping by the side of her face before suddenly stopping in her steps.

“Namjoo!” A voice finally entered her ears.

Turning, Namjoo spotted the program coordinator whose name slipped from her mind for a slight second.

Luhan was leaning against the stone railing of the King’s Quarters watching her with a smitten smile. She watched him walk toward the stairs before stopping in front of her.

“I finally caught your attention,” he greeted. “You really are absent-minded.”

Namjoo peered up into his face wondering what it was he wanted.

“You know you’ve been circling this building for the past 10 minutes,” Luhan seemed to spin his finger around in a circle.

Suddenly turning Namjoo glanced around before turning toward the Queen’s Quarters just behind and felt an invisible block fall on her. Yes, what had she been doing?

“Ah…I didn’t notice,” Namjoo awkwardly smiled to ward off her embarrassment from realizing that he’d been silently watching her do so.

He pointed to the bag underneath his eye, “Didn’t sleep well?”

And she finally realized she probably looked scrubby. She’d only taken to splashing her face with cool water to wake herself up and brushed her teeth before exiting the bathroom. Namjoo suddenly felt like sinking into the ground. Xiumin would never excuse this kind of fashion, if it could be fashion at all. She could hear him lecturing her again.

“It’s ok, I don’t sleep well in places I’m not familiar with either.”

Sure, if that was the same case for her. She smugly wondered how he’d react if something blew at his face in the middle of the night when the windows couldn’t even be opened whatsoever. But why was she being so mean to him?

Peering past him Namjoo noted that early-riser Xiumin wasn’t yet awake. Now that was something surprising.

“You beat my boss to waking early,” Namjoo commented. “You should win a medal.”

He narrowed an eye at her before laughing amused.

“So what’s the plan for today?” He asked. “I heard there’s supposed to be an interview. Am I right?”

Interview…

Namjoo suddenly felt like slamming her head against the hard wall. No matter where she was there would be an assignment due for Xiumin.

“Oh…well…I haven’t thought of anything yet,” Namjoo told and he was supposed to be her first subject.

“Lets improvise,” he suggested taking a step ahead.

Namjoo watched him blankly at first. When he half spun around to wait for her she had no choice, but to follow

“Anything you’re curious about?” He started.

Namjoo glanced up at him before turning her view to the empty courtyard ahead, “I’ve never been to a celebration with dance ceremonies like this. Why don’t you start telling me about the Performance Arts School?”

“Sure,” he sounded enthusiastic, “you don’t carry a pen or notepad with you?”

Namjoo only realized then that she was empty handed. Quickly catching on she pointed to her head.

“It goes up here,” she said, “I’ll definitely remember what you say and if I don’t…well I can improvise.”

He shot her a smile before linking his hands behind his back. As the residence hall came into sight she noticed that few of the dancers were starting to linger outside. It was nearly time everyone started to wake. She hoped with all her heart that she wouldn’t run into Hee Sun.

“Competition.”

“Excuse me?” She turned to him confused.

“If I had to describe the school with one word, it would be competition.” He turned to look at her. “Sure, it’s a good school that recruits talented individuals to train, but there’s also a vicious cycle. That’s competition.”

“How so?”

Suddenly pausing in step Luhan turned to focus on the dancers scurrying back and forth in their sweats, some of them were stretching; others making the movement of their dance routines for exercise while chatting back and forth. They had expressions of determination and hard work etched onto their faces. 

“Presumably all dancers here are best of the class,” Luhan explained. “You have to audition to get through. That means a lot of sweat and hard work. Exclude this part from the interview; inside the school you’ll hear tales of bullying and backstabbing, but rarely see it eye to eye. It makes me curious too, about whether these things really happen.”

Pressings his lips together really quickly he continued, “These kinds of performances allow you to shine different from a regular stage; you can showcase your skills. Everyone’s assigned a role in the dance and it lets you stand in different light, there’s competition on that part too. If you’re a better dancer, you get the center. Where you stand isn’t just based on luck. Officials and professionals from abroad come to watch these kinds of celebrations, so it puts pressure on the dancers too. If you’re lucky, chances are you’ll be recruited abroad and stand on a real stage. That’s what everyone hopes for; the real stage.”

Namjoo ran her eyes over the dancers who looked to work so much harder in her eyes now. It was definitely different.

“That’s pretty scary,” she commented. “Does it really take backhanded methods to get here?”

She didn’t know whether he was being playful or not, but he held his finger up to his lips as if to shush her. Looking mischievous he turned to walk away and Namjoo didn’t stare after him curiously, but rather he felt mysterious. Namjoo didn’t know how to feel about that.

Someone from afar screamed out his name and when Namjoo recognized it as Hee Sun who was hurrying toward him with her arm strung up into the air like a noodle, she was ready to turn away.

“No, Namjoo…” a distinct voice breezed into her ear surprising her.

Abruptly turning Namjoo searched the empty courtyard behind her. For a long minute her eyes scanned the canvas even when she was positive no one was there.

Who’d called her name?

“Namjoo,” a hand grabbed her shoulder to twist her around.

Her heart lurched against her chest in surprise, but she saw that it was only Xiumin.

Heaving a deep breath of relief she shrugged his hand off her shoulder mumbling, “Aish…”

Looking taken aback Xiumin frowned at her, “What?” Leaning to the side he glanced around the courtyard behind her, “What were you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Namjoo stated before starting to walk away.

A step forward brought her to a quick halt when a cup of warm coffee hovered in front of her eyes. He somewhat pressed lips together as if to withhold a kind smile from showing and lowered his arm when she turned.

“Here,” he offered.

When she took the cup of coffee she realized there was a surprise with it; some patches for sore muscles. Namjoo deepened her brow wondering if this was some kind of joke from her petty boss who didn’t make jokes.

“I saw that you slept outside this morning,” Xiumin told. “Pretty hot in your room or something?”

Namjoo barely snorted, but kept it inside .

“Thanks for the coffee,” she sputtered stiffly.

When she turned to walk away she was brought to a stop upon his voice.

“No one’s staying with you in the Queen’s Quarters?”

Namjoo glanced back at him without turning her head before settling her eyes in front of her.

“You’re not going to get anyone to stay with you?” He went on.

Turning around she stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes wondering what it was he wanted her to say. She was pretty damn sure he’d heard what Hee Sun said about her yesterday.

“Why are you asking me that?” She questioned. “You think one of the girls want to stay in there with me?”

When he didn’t answer she finished herself, “I’m not easily frightened. I don’t think it matters.”

“Then why did you sleep outside?”

Namjoo felt something strike her at the back of her head as if he’d pinched one of her nerves.

“So what if I slept outside. It could’ve been pretty hot in my room last night. I can’t be hot?” Namjoo got worked up for some particular reason.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Xiumin asked rather calmly, unaffected by her.

Namjoo felt her stiff expression fall back before she bit her teeth together.

“If something’s bothering you…”

“Nothing’s bothering me,” Namjoo cut him off before turning around to walk off.

The last thing she needed was her boss prying into her life. As she’d grown up no one had worried about the things she saw as if they wanted to disregard her along with her visions. Namjoo wasn’t used to anyone being concerned toward her.

It honestly felt foreign and she wasn’t used to it.

Gripping the coffee Xiumin bought her Namjoo hurried along without any destination in mind. She saw the lone buildings around her pass by in blurs before a voice brought her to a halt.

“Hear me…”

As if the TV was growing static Namjoo’s vision immediately switched to black and white, her view constricting in blinds before clearing then blurring again. In front of her passed women in hanboks, large fans in their hands, faces donned in sharp pretty makeup. They were all smiles, waving their fans around gracefully.

“Namjoo…”

“Please listen to me,” a crisp voice buzzed through her ears and Namjoo felt her surroundings spin around her, tuning from black to white to color and black to white again. The static constricted non-stop and she felt her eyes grow wide.

Dropping the coffee and patches to the ground unknowingly she lifted her hands up to block her ears.

“Namjoo-ah…”

“Listen to me.”

“Namjoo-ah…”

“I have something to tell you…just a bit…time…”

“Namjoo-ah…”

The fan dancers continued circling around her, their broad smiles and white teeth looked almost robotic, their arms stretched out prettily as the dark red lipsticks painted onto their lips spit fire around her.

“…want to be free…”

All of a sudden the fan dancer’s eyes her and they flew in on her in unison.

“Namjoo!” A voice seemed to blast itself into her ears and when she opened her eyes everything silenced around her. The quietness was so heavy it almost felt like death.

That was when she realized everyone was staring at her. To her left she spotted Hee Sun snickering among the girls. To her right the men were staring at her appalled.

When she lifted her head, Xiumin was staring at her; his eyes wide, but over his shoulder she spotted Luhan glancing over curiously. 

***Ok, so I want you to know that was both Xiumin and Chorong calling for Namjoo at the end of this chapter. Namjoo's tapping into Chorong's memories because they're still as strong as ever, and you can see that she's still being singled out. Namjoo's sensitive about her psychic powers and as we know she hates herself for them.

***Here, you can see Chorong becoming a bit stronger since she was able to create that gust of wind. Seeing Luhan & Hee Sun (Hye Su's her past name) has triggered her emotions and she'll only be triggered even more now that Luhan is around. This will definitely lead her to become stronger and yearn even more to be with the reincarnated Luhan, but of course Hee Sun will play a very important role in all this triggering + harm to our main Namjoo; Chorong will react toward that in small ways too. 

***And of course that little bit about the Performance Arts School Luhan talked about is important too. It relays to jealousy and hatred, which all but led to Chorong's death.