Beauteous [ˈbyü-tē-əs] adj. - Beautiful, especially to the sight

A small smile graced itself onto Mihyun’s face as she stared at the swaying tree branches through her car window. The slight breeze blew cherry blossom petals away from their mother branches as they took the first steps to an unknown destination. The tall stems of grass waved to Mihyun as she drove by, and she would have waved back if she didn’t want to be ridiculed by the other occupant of the car. The world truly had so much to offer.

The world was a beautiful place.

The car turned an abrupt corner, and Mihyun’s brief smile quickly disappeared as the sights of nature vanished to be replaced by a series of large gray buildings.

It was the people living on it that were ugly.

Mihyun tore her eyes away from the window to instead stare at her hands that were resting on her lap. She didn’t want to see what the world had to offer any longer, because those things, were anything but beautiful.

“Are you excited?”

Mihyun’s gaze lifted itself from her lap to transfix on her father who was sitting across from her.

“Are you excited?” he repeated, assuming that Mihyun hadn’t caught his earlier words.

Not at all. “Very,” Mihyun’s soft voice answered. Her father seemed pleased with her short reply, and turned his happy gaze out the window. Unlike Mihyun, he appreciated the sights that he saw; after his 40 years of living, he had already become immune to the indecencies life had to offer.

The corners of Mihyun’s lips twitched downwards as she stared at her father with disappointment. He would always treat Mihyun with great care and generosity, and she truly loved him for it. She just wished that he would treat everybody the same way he treated his precious daughter; it was a wish she knew that would never be granted. Her father was relatively young in age, but the gray in his hair and the wrinkles on his face had intensified from all the stress that had built up over the past years. He was a successful business owner, and with success came worries and problems. Despite the aged features of the man’s face, he could still pass off as relatively handsome.

In Mihyun’s eyes, however, he was ugly.

Today was Mihyun’s 16^th birthday, and as a reward for being the best daughter anybody could ever wish for, Mihyun’s father decided that she was finally old enough to follow the customs of the upper class.

She was finally mature enough to receive a Noye – a slave.

“We’ll be arriving in a few minutes, and you’ll finally get to pick one out,” her father spoke again. He smiled fondly at his beautiful daughter. “You can bring him to school and brag to all your classmates since they probably won’t get one for a couple of more years.”

Mihyun nodded, and her father’s smile broadened. Mihyun wasn’t one to speak much, and it was one of her qualities that her father loved so much. Mihyun was generally pretty perfect. She was polite, quiet, respected her elders, a highly intellectual student – the dream child that any parent would want.

It was customary for children to receive a Noye from their parents on their 21^st birthday as a gift for their maturity, but Mihyun’s father decided that it wouldn’t hurt to give Mihyun her’s a few years earlier. After all, she deserved it.

The car came to a stop, and so did Mihyun’s heart. She hadn’t prepared herself for the horrifying sights she would soon see. Her father, on the other hand, laughed merrily as the car door opened for him to step out. “Come now, daughter.”

With her fists clenched tightly at her sides, Mihyun slowly stepped out of the car behind her father. Before she could even get a glimpse of the ugly people around her, she quickly trained her gaze on the ground.

“Ah, you’ve arrived! We’ve been waiting for you all day! This is the birthday girl, I presume? She’s beautiful!”

Mihyun took a quick glance at the person who had praised her before averting her gaze. Hideous.

“Thank you, Woosung,” Mihyun’s father laughed as he clapped the man merrily on the shoulder. “Let’s give the birthday girl her present as soon, as possible, alright? Please us to the hallways.”

Mihyun cringed at the word. The hallways. Mihyun had never gone through the hallways herself, but she knew what was done there. It was there that Noyes would be lined up to be chosen, each of them attempting to be on their very best behavior due to the fear of not receiving dinner if they weren’t.

“Come, Mihyun,” her father called out. He then followed his words with a light scold, “Don’t just stare down at your feet. You have to be polite and greet the others.”

Mihyun hid her small fists behind her back and smiled up at him, nodding her head in response. She turned to what she assumed was the owner of the Noye house and bowed. “I apologize for my rude behavior.”

Woosung seemed momentarily surprised at her mannerism and laughed merrily. “You’ve raised your daughter perfectly, Chando!”

Mihyun’s father beamed proudly, and he placed a hand on the shoulder of his daughter. “I must have saved Korea in my past life to have received a daughter this perfect.”

The group of three soon arrived in front of a set of grand, wooden doors, and Mihyun quickly inhaled a deep breath.

“Here we are! Choose carefully, Mihyun,” Woosung showed off his yellowing teeth as he pushed a bright red button to open the doors.

It was horrible.

It was absolutely horrible to see all those faces staring back at her. They weren’t ugly faces, not at all, but they weren’t beautiful either. Mihyun suspected that once upon a time each one of those faces radiated valiant beauty, but after being tainted by the ugly aspects of humankind, they lost their shine. They were now blank canvases with tinges of hope and anguish painted across their features.

Mihyun stood frozen in front of the row of Noyes, and her chest constricted in pain once she got a glimpse of just how long that hallway was. It all got even worse when she was suddenly met with a chorus of broken voices.

“Welcome, Master Mihyun.”

“Well, Mihyun, go on. Make sure you choose carefully,” Mihyun’s father stated as he gave her a gentle push.

Mihyun stumbled a few steps forward, and her tight fists flew to her chest as a way to put up with the pain. The hopeful faces that stared at her engraved themselves into her mind, and she blinked several times to get rid of the tears that flew to her eyes. I wish I could take all of you. I wish I could take all of you and let you all free. I’m so sorry.

Mihyun hadn’t gotten any farther than midway through the hallway until the sudden sound of a slap caused her to jerk her head upwards. She stared straight ahead to see a worker of the Noye House standing in front of one of the Noyes with an angered expression on his face. The worker had silky blond hair that sat perfectly on his scalp. His eyebrows had been perfectly plucked, and his doubled eye lids accompanied his large eyes nicely. His moist, bow shaped lips contrasted to his defined jaw line. To others he would have been considered as handsome, prince-like, almost.

To Mihyun he was hideous.

“Jaemin!” Woosung barked angrily, embarrassed that his valued customer and his daughter had witnessed such a sight.

Jaemin’s head shot up, and he opened his mouth to shout angrily at the person who dared to spout his name in such a scornful tone, but stopped once he saw Woosung. “Father!” he called back with a smile.

Mihyun mentally scoffed. Of course, like father like son.

“Did I not tell you earlier that we would be having valuable guests today?” Woosung scolded as he gestured to Mihyun and her father.

Jaemin’s eyes turned to Mihyun’s father before resting themselves on Mihyun. She quickly became uncomfortable with the man’s intense gaze, and shifted her gaze to look at the Noye Jaemin had just attacked.

He had a childish face and possessed doe eyes that were too large for his small features. There was a large red imprint on the side of his face, and Mihyun wanted nothing more than to permanently tattoo a similar feature onto Jaemin’s cheek.

“I apologize, father,” Jaemin stated, not sounding very sorry at all. “Sehun was mouthing out again, and seeing as how he doesn’t seem to care about blows to himself, anymore, I decided that he might shut his mouth if his precious hyung was the one to pay the punishment.”

Jaemin seemed to be proud of his words, and he glanced over at Mihyun to gauge her reaction. He was briefly stunned when the awed expression he was expecting was actually one of scorn and disdain.

Mihyun turned her gaze to the boy that was sitting next to the red faced one. His eyebrows were furrowed in, his jaw was angrily clenched, and his hands were clasped into tight fists at his sides. This must have been Sehun.

Sehun’s angry eyes drifted from Jaemin and onto her own, and to her surprise and amusement, his orbs seemed to turn an ever darker shade of anger. She didn’t blame him for his hard expression, however, because she understood what the other must have been thinking. To him, she must have been just another petty high class civilian looking for a toy to use during her free time.

“I see, although I do agree that that is a clever method, son, you have to restrain yourself until our guests have left. It is rude to do such a thing in their presence,” Woosung stated as he patted his son on the shoulder. He turned to Chando with an apologetic smile. “I apologize for my son’s careless actions, Chando.”

“There’s no need,” Chando responded as he held up at hand. “Do whatever needs to be done. Noyes need to know their place anyways.”

Sehun noticed how Mihyun quickly hid her tightened fists, and his eyebrow arch momentarily in surprise.

Jaemin smiled at the words of approval by the valued customer, and raised his hand once more to strike the boy’s face. Sehun’s jaw clenched and he darted forward to stop the man from attacking his hyung, but froze when somebody reacted quicker than he.

“Please stop,” Mihyun’s quiet voice sounded, contrasting against the strong grip she held on Jaemin’s wrist.

As quick as it had come forward, Mihyun retracted her hand. Sehun could have sworn that he imagined the whole thing if he didn’t see the red imprint of her fingers around Jaemin’s wrist.

An awkward tension quickly captured the room, and many faces were gaping at Mihyun with mixed expressions of fear and admiration.

“W-Well, shall we continue browsing the selection?” Woosung coughed as he gestured towards the end of the hallway.

“There’s no need,” Mihyun replied calmly as she brushed a few strands of stray hair from her face. “I’ve already made my decision.”

Brief expressions of surprise captured the faces of the three men, before a pleasant smile spread across Chando’s face. “That’s wonderful, daughter. Which one have you chosen?”

There was a beat of silence before Mihyun finally announced her decision.

“The boy named Sehun,” Mihyun answered as she stared at the said boy.

“A-Are you sure?” Woosung gaped as he stared at the trouble making Noye. Nobody ever wanted to choose the boy because of his rash tone and rude actions.

“Perhaps you should continue to look around, Mihyun?” Chando suggested lightly, gently nudging his daughter’s shoulder to get her to continue down the hallway.

“No. I’ve made my decision,” Mihyun responded firmly, her eyes trained on the Noye in question. “I would like Sehun.”

Sehun’s eyes immediately furrowed and he opened his mouth to shout something close to “Over my dead body!” but decided against it because he didn’t want his hyung to be injured. He instead forced a stoic expression to take over his face and stared at the girl before him with a set of cold orbs.

“Why me?” Sehun asked blankly, attempting to subdue the anger that was pulsing through his veins.

“Because,” Mihyun responded slowly as her eyes raked the other’s face. “You’re still beautiful.”

A blanket of silence engulfed the room, and no other words were said; all eyes were simply trained on small, mysterious girl and the filthy Noye she had just claimed as her own.

Beautiful?

Sehun could have laughed. How could he be beautiful? He, with his rough hair and harsh eyes and calloused hands? How could he be beautiful with his hyung sitting right next to him? His hyung, with his precious doe eyes, soft skin, and delicate fingers?

“Sorry,” Sehun stated slowly as the corners of his mouth twisted upwards into a crude smirk. “I’m not for sale.” He didn’t even flinch when a hand roughly struck the side of his face.

“It seems like you haven’t realized the fact that you belong to us!” Jaemin growled as he slammed his hand against the boy’s face once more. “You have no say in this, filthy trash!”

“Excuse me,” Mihyun’s sharp voice cut across the air. She still spoke in a soft tone, but it was now anything other than gentle. “What do you think you’re doing to someone that doesn’t belong to you?”

Jaemin’s eyebrows furrowed, offended that this tiny girl had the audacity to actually reprimand him. He opened his mouth to retort angrily despite his father’s warning glances, but was cut off by Sehun.

“I won’t leave Luhan Hyung,” Sehun stated stubbornly as he reached over to envelope his hyung’s hand into his own.

To the surprise of everybody in the room, Mihyun let out a soft chuckle; it stunned every one that the girl was capable of making such a sound that contrasted her stoic expression. Never had Chando ever heard such a noise come from the lips of his only daughter.

“I was right,” Mihyun stated softly as her eyes gently caressed Sehun’s face. “You certainly are beautiful.”

For some unknown reason, Sehun felt blood immediately rush to his cheeks at the stranger’s words.

“Father,” Mihyun stated softly as she turned to look up at Chando. “I know it might be too much of me to ask, but may I have two?”

“Two?” Chando was taken aback by his daughter’s question, and his instinct was to immediately say no, but he held his tongue. His daughter had never asked for anything during her entire 16 years of living, and obeyed everything he ever told her to do. She never disappointed him and only brought appraisal and pride to the family name. Who was he to deny her of her wishes?

Never had he ever known an individual who possessed two Noyes, even more an individual who had just turned 16 in age. Nevertheless, he knew that it wasn’t impossible, although complicated, to grant his daughter her birthday wish for two Noyes. He mentally winced at the additional costs an extra Noye would cost. One Noye was already enough to give up a fortune, but two? Still, it was his daughter requesting for another Noye, not a stranger or simple relative, it was his perfect daughter. If anybody deserved to have two Noyes at such a young age, it would be her.

“It will take a month’s time,” Chando responded slowly. “But I will be able to get additional papers to file for another Noye. Is this what you wish for, Mihyun?”

Mihyun curtly nodded her head.

“Please file a reservation for both Luhan and Sehun under the Han family name, Jaemin,” Woosung ordered.

“But—” Jaemin protested with outrage.

“You will do as I say,” Woosung growled as he sent his son a look of warning. He turned to Chando and clapped his old friend on the shoulder. “What do you say we go grab a cup of coffee like old times?”

Chando was hesitant to agree, but a small smile from Mihyun let him know that the girl was okay with being left alone. He nodded his head, and the two men left the hallway to converse in another room.

“You’re making a bad decision,” Jaemin growled as he stared at Mihyun with disdain. “You’re going to regret this.”

Something told Mihyun that he wasn’t just talking about choosing Luhan and Sehun as her Noyes, but the fact that she had dared to speak back to him.

“If so, then I shall wallow in my regret and self pity at a later time,” Mihyun responded simply. She turned her back to him as a way of saying that the conversation was over. Jaemin let out a small growl and left the hallway with pounding footsteps.

Mihyun watched the other’s figure until he disappeared from sight, and turned to face Luhan and Sehun with an unemotional expression.

“Why did you do that?” Sehun growled with narrowed eyes. “We don’t need your pity.”

“You have a bad temper,” Mihyun responded simply as she observed the boy with her intelligent eyes. “You’re very easy to anger, aren’t you?” When Sehun opened his mouth to retort angrily, she continued to speak. “But I can tell that you care greatly for those that you love. Perhaps that’s what makes you so beautiful.”

“Stop calling me that,” Sehun spat as he glared at her. “I’m not beautiful. What part of this face makes you think that I’m beautiful?” These words made Mihyun silent, and Sehun smirked victoriously – until she spoke once again.

“I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s the scars that litter your face – the scars that represent the beatings you’ve taken to shield your hyung. Or maybe it’s the way your bones protrude out of your shirt from all the meals you have skipped so the others would have enough to eat. It’s also possibly the dark circles under your eyes that symbolize the sleepless nights you’ve suffered through to watch over your Hyung,” Mihyun answered slowly as her eyes scanned the other's body.

Sehun was left speechless at the girl’s words and felt utterly vulnerable underneath the intense gaze of the stranger. Had she been following him? Had she been watching him for quite some time? How else would she have known the things she had just said?

“I can see that you don’t trust me, but it’s quite alright. I don’t expect your trust so easily, and would be quite disappointed if you did give it to me so quickly,” Mihyun stated as she rummaged through her bag. She pulled a small tin canister out of her bag and turned her attention to Luhan.

He whimpered under her sudden gaze, and her eyes softened at the vulnerable boy.

“You’ve been exposed to so much cruelty, yet you still possess innocence in your eyes,” Mihyun murmured as she glanced down at the tin canister. She turned and handed the small container to Sehun. “This is ointment, please apply it to both Luhan and your wounds.”

“Why won’t you do it yourself? Are we too dirty for you to touch?” Sehun spat out, his chest refueling itself with the previous emotion of anger.

Mihyun shook her head and calmly responded, “I assumed that you would not want a stranger to touch you. Especially Luhan.” She stated nothing more, but somehow Sehun felt as if she knew everything that had happened to Luhan with the way she gazed at him.

A sudden ringing cut across the air, and Mihyun slipped her hand inside her dress to pull out her cell phone. She slid her finger against the screen to answer the call and promptly brought the technology up to her ear. She listened for a few seconds before answering with a soft “I’m coming”.

“One month,” Mihyun stated as she slid her phone back into her pocket. She stared at Sehun and Luhan and repeated herself once again. “One month. I’ll get you to trust me in one month.”

Sehun’s eyes narrowed at the girl’s confidence and he scoffed. “What makes you so sure?”

“Because I think you’re like me,” Mihyun answered with a shrug. “I think you’re capable of looking at people and deciphering their true intentions.”

Sehun was at a lack of words once again.

“Well, I have to go now, but I will be back tomorrow,” Mihyun stated as she turned to leave. She stilled for a few seconds, and turned back to stare at Sehun with hesitance present in her eyes, as if she was debating on whether or not her next action would be appropriate.

“Thank you,” Mihyun released a small smile as she brushed the tip of her finger against a faded scar on Sehun’s face.

Sehun held his breath at the sight of the girl’s smile. The curve of her lips were so slight that it was debatable on whether or not it was really there, but Sehun still saw it. He was less awestruck with the curve of her lips than he was with the softness in her eyes. Her eyes expressed so many words, so many emotions that Sehun wasn’t capable of understanding. How could eyes of such young age look as if they held centuries’ worth of intellect?

 “For what?” Sehun finally asked, mentally scolding himself for looking like a mute idiot.

“For allowing me to see the beauty in people again.”