+++

Crying fiercely from overdue anger, Chorong shot at Namjoo’s unconscious body again only to be rejected once more.

“Why!?” She shrieked.

The gown she’d died in swayed with the wind when she turned upon rushed footsteps.

“What’s going on?” She watched Luhan hurry over.

“I don’t know. She just collapsed,” the drummer explained.

“Get me a towel and some water,” Luhan instructed. “We should move her somewhere cool.”

“Yes, sir.”

When the drummer ran past, Chorong’s eyes glazed over Luhan who was currently lifting Namjoo up. There were angry tears in her eyes, but her attention quickly strayed from the earlier momentum.

The way his face flexed to seriousness and his eyes turned sharp; everything about him was exactly like the person she once knew…

She watched observantly as Luhan stood back to his feet, Namjoo’s head drooping against his shoulder as her arm swung lifelessly. In the midst of the whole picture all she could see was this replica.

Why was it like this?

An ache became apparent deep in her chest and she was quick to come to a loss.

It hurt and it didn’t just simply upset her. It was unfair and she only felt angrier because everything had been taken from her, and it felt like everything was being taken away again.

“No…” Chorong cried out, shaking her head as she turned to follow Luhan. “No!”  

+++

Namjoo was on her own feet, but her surroundings were vague. Outside the rim of her eyes was a black fog disallowing her to see past what was right in front of her. It was strange and she was confused.

As she walked along what looked like the palace she felt that thin sheet of paper within her fingers; her thumb repeatedly skimming over its soft texture. She was excited, happy though she couldn’t understand why. It felt like she was about to go on a date, that kind of happy.

Then it slowly came into sight. A hexagonal pavilion with pillars painted in fresh red to support the precious building. Fresh luscious green grass circulated around the standing pavilion and fresh water calmly pushed back and forth against the artificial island. There was a bridge on the other side, but that wasn’t where she was headed.

A tall pretty passed by in the background and she stepped into the pavilion. It was lovely inside. A breeze of fresh air carrying the scent of blossoms wafted past her nose as she peered around. Inside her chest her heart was still drumming happily, full of expectations.

Then at last the sound of footsteps made her heart beat even wilder. Namjoo readied to call out his name as she spun around, but when she saw who stood there the smile dropped. She couldn’t make out his face. For some reason his face was blurred from her sight, but Namjoo felt a creeping fear crawl into her skin when he strutted straight at her.

Before she could let out any shout he immediately pressed his hand against , shoving her back into the pillar. Her heart was drumming pathetically in panic when he grabbed the knot of her robe to untie it. The sound of drums pulsated inside her ears so heavily that she could hear nothing else, but her fear screaming into her ears. She was so frightened that even her breathing became uncontrollable as she fought against him simultaneously while trying to call for help.

It was a total waste of her energy when he finally pulled the string free. Her hear started ing against her chest so loudly she could feel the movement against her rib cage and it hurt. Frightened to the core she reached out to gnaw her teeth against his hand, listening to him shriek in pain. Grabbing her chance she shoved him back making a run for it, but suddenly found her face slamming into the concrete just a second later.

The pain echoed so bad in her head that she immediately became dazed. Still conscious, but unable to move she felt him flip her over. She could hear his voice. It was rough and carried an expression of bewilderment, an apology, but also yearning. None of it told her what he was exactly saying.

That was when she heard herself sobbing and the tears scourging her face.

“Please stop,” she sobbed, running out of breath. “Please!”

Her long nails reached into his skin before suddenly slapping him. Then it suddenly got violent.

Nothing seemed clear to Namjoo, but half a second later she felt his hands pressed into her shoulders shaking her angrily. He sounded pissed off and then she realized he was swearing at her.

In her helpless state she couldn’t utter a word as the pain coursed through her head. And then she felt it, the back of her head was slamming continuously into the hard ground. Slightly conscious she could still hear herself pleading for him to stop her before he shot his hand out to slap her.

“You !” He screamed loudly into her face before she felt his hands at . “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!”

Namjoo felt her chest stretching further up in pain as coughs ransacked her body in painful shock. His weight was crushing her and she couldn’t move. Namjoo was frightened to death and her heart continued pounding at such an exhilarating speed that she couldn’t breathe.

When she watched him raise his hand up to hit her again Namjoo found herself screaming with all her energy before she jolted up, a wet towel dropping against her arm. She could barely breathe and her heart was still running inside her chest at an alarming rate. Her hand trembled before she grasped it into a fist to feel the cool ground underneath her.

Frightened, she jumped from fear that she might really be inside a pavilion and looked around.

No, she was somewhere else.

There was a dim light shining in from the opened doorway. It was a bit dark, but not pitch black dark.

“Namjoo?”

Jumping from surprise again she turned to see Luhan staring back at her with curious eyes. Confused, Namjoo stared at him dazed before she turned to look around.

What happened?

“Here,” he handed her a water bottle, “you should keep hydrated. You don’t remember what happened earlier?”

A wave of events rushed through her mind. She recalled meeting with Xiumin that morning before walking out angrily. Then she’d grabbed her coffee, stopped at 7-Eleven, and returned to see a drummer.

The drummer…

What happened next she couldn’t put into place.

The horrific dream threatened to overcome her mind once again and fearful of what she’d just experienced, she dizzily stood to her feet. She’d been scared, so scared and she could still hardly breathe. Namjoo thought she almost wanted to cry.

Discovering that her legs had become weak from the scare she turned to lean against the wall and clamped her eyes shut for calm. Namjoo intended to press her hand against the wall, but instead felt something prickle her fingertips. Tilting her head down she spotted a pair of the dancer’s fans propped against the wall.

Taking a step back to better look at the object, Namjoo saw that it had silk patterns embroidered into it. White feathers had been professionally and carefully sewn along the edges for an effect when used. For some reason her eyes never strayed from it.

“Are you interested in it?” Luhan questioned stepping past her to pick it up.

Luhan waved the fan at her creating a breeze which flew into her face.

“You must be hot,” he commented. “I couldn’t bring you to the residence hall because it’s too far, but the equipment room’s pretty cool, don’t you think?”

He waved the fan playfully into her face again, but Namjoo couldn’t pay attention to him. Her eyes sat on the fan the whole time.

“Want to learn the dance?” He asked.

Namjoo glanced at him to which he smiled.

“I learned something while at the school,” he told. “You look like you were having a bad dream earlier. You should do something to get it off your mind.”

Stepping toward her he placed the fans into her hands without waiting for her answer.

“I’ll give you a short lesson,” he offered.

Namjoo stared at the fans suddenly in her hands then up into his face before turning to follow him as he headed to stand behind her. Namjoo was confused, her mind a blank empty canvas before she felt his hands lightly wrap around hers.

“Move your hands like this and then up, 1, 2, 3…” he went on, their arms brushing.

Namjoo allowed her arms to follow his movements and slightly turned surprised and caught off guard by him. The back of her head brushed against the side of his face and when she glanced into his face. Upon catching her eyes he gave her a smile and Namjoo observed him a bit. His complexion was silkily clear and there was a lot of youth in his face. He looked very friendly as well.

Turning away she felt her mind run in imaginary laps. What was he doing?

They both paused when one of the standing drums suddenly tilted onto its side causing an echo throughout the room. When Luhan turned toward it she walked out from him and quickly set the fans down by the wall carefully.

“Thanks…for earlier,” Namjoo quickly told. “I’m going to go now.”

Awkwardly turning around she walked out the door. She was only a few steps from the building when she heard someone shout her name in an unfriendly manner.

+++

Luhan had disappeared earlier. After asking around Hee Sun finally found her way toward the equipment room, curious about why Luhan had gone there. Walking up to the doorway with a smile on her face ready to call for him, she found her steps slowly decreasing in speed as she approached the door.

The earlier excited shimmer in her eyes faded when she watched Luhan step behind Namjoo to lead her into one of the practice routines she’d often done at the school. Her eyes hardened and anger revolted inside her chest.

Darn Namjoo. Who did she think she was to try to lure Luhan like this?

Gripping her hand into a fist Hee Sun stared them down with a glare sparkling in her eyes.

“Namjoo!” She screamed after her when she walked out of the building.

Namjoo stopped in her steps.

That’s right, Hee Sun bitterly thought, you better listen to me.

When Namjoo turned around Hee Sun made sure to stop nose to nose in front of her.

“Who do you think you are?” Hee Sun poked her finger into Namjoo’s shoulder. “You think that’s the way to seduce someone? Well I can tell you, you aren’t the type of woman Luhan likes.”

Namjoo roamed her eyes over Hee Sun without much of an expression on her face, “I didn’t do anything.”

Snorting Hee Sun poked her finger into Namjoo’s shoulder harder this time and watched her grit her teeth together, “Are you belittling me? Let me warn you, Luhan’s mine. He likes me, not you, so get your head straight.”

Sneering at Namjoo one last time Hee Sun turned to walk away. Namjoo was so annoying she swore she’d find some way to get rid of that girl.

+++

Namjoo stared after Hee Sun wondering what exactly it was that girl wanted with her.

“Hey!” Someone called out.

Turning at the unfamiliar voice Namjoo spotted the drummer from earlier jogging toward her. Now that she was looking at him again it suddenly felt like she was seeing him in a clearer light.

How strange…

“Hi,” he greeted with a kind smile when he stopped in front of her. “I couldn’t get a chance to come check up on you earlier. Are you ok?”

“Oh yea, I’m fine.” Namjoo nodded.

“You shocked me back there, collapsing like that,” he commented. “Must’ve been the heat, huh?”

Namjoo was certain it wasn’t the heat, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t the heat either. In response she just smiled.

“I didn’t get your name earlier,” he said, “I’m Woonha.”

“Namjoo.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Namjoo,” he extended his hand out. “If you ever need help, feel free to come to me.”

Namjoo overlooked him once before smiling. He seemed friendly, unlike Hee Sun and the other girls.

“Then I’ll get going now,” he waved to her. “I’ll see you around.”

Namjoo watched him jog off. Heading toward the royal court for some cold water, but paused in her steps when she saw Xiumin walking around with his head turned here and there. Deciding that she wasn’t yet in the mood to bump into him she quickly turned to walk behind one of the servant’s dorms.

He would just nag at her again if they ran into each other and Namjoo knew she’d just get annoyed. What was the use in tiring herself with him when she could avoid him all day long?

+++

Luhan was no longer in the equipment building. Annoyed with how Namjoo had stolen time from her when she could have spent it with Luhan she stomped back outside only to spot her talking to someone else this time. Narrowing her eyes in watch Hee Sun kept watch until they separated.

“Woonha!” Hee Sun shouted from the stairs.

Upon hearing her he paused in his steps and making her way down the stairs started toward him.

“You were talking to her?” Hee Sun questioned.

“Yes,” he nodded looking upbeat, “why?”

“Don’t talk with her. She’s bad luck,” Hee Sun told. “Haven’t you heard my warning to the others? She’s the Devil’s child. If you’re around her, you’ll end up in some kind of weird trouble.”

Woonha stared at her still looking happy before laughing, “Oh come on, Hee Sun. What are you talking about? There’s no such thing. You’re just scaring the others.”

He started to walk by, but Hee Sun grabbed his arm to pull him back into his position.

“I’m telling the truth!” Hee Sun persisted.

Sighing, he nodded, “Ok, Hee Sun. I hear you.”

Hee Sun watched him walk by before following and then blocking his path.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked.

Hee Sun stared up into his face adamant on devaluing Namjoo.

“What’s so good about her anyway?” Hee Sun asked. “I grew up with her, did you know that? She was shunned from the whole school. No one wanted to go near her; don’t you think there’s a reason why she has no friends?”

“You guys were kids,” he reasoned. “Move aside. I have to get to practice.”

He tried to step to the side, but she quickly blocked him.

“Why?” She interrogated. “You’re defending her?” An expression of disbelief and disgust overfilled her face.

Woonha glanced at her before turning away tired of her persistence.

“You like her?” Hee Sun asked in further disbelief, her jaw dropping.