The only thing that ran through Min Jee’s mind at that moment was .

She was going to die here, with no one to hear her screams except for the person who was there with her at the moment because he would be the one doing the killing.

Maybe if she stayed still enough, he would think she was a statue.

“Miss, can you turn around?” The voice asked her.

Min Jee cringed and then sighed, she knew it wouldn’t work but oh how she hoped it did.

With a slow and steady turn, she faced the voice.

Min Jee widened her eyes, and was pleasantly surprised that the voice belonged to someone who was around her age. She found herself instantly comparing her height to his even though she was on the top step and he was at the bottom and determined she wasn’t that short compared to him (a habit she developed because she had a height complex of sorts). His hair was slicked back, maybe due to the heat; it was after all the reason why her hair was tied up in a bun and he was wearing a simple white button up with sleeves rolled off and black slacks; a bit fancy considering but who was she to judge. He looked friendly enough though, despite the fact he was currently holding a shovel. All in all she concluded that he was pretty handsome, but even so the boy in front of her still had the possibility of being a serial killer.

His eyes stared straight at her, a bit suspicious of her presence and she sheepishly smiled, trying to appease the situation.

“Hi,” She said, waving her hand tentatively.

“What are you doing on this property?” The boy asked her.

Min Jee paused, “I got lost?”

“And you just happened to stumble upon this place, while looking for the washroom I suppose.”

“Something like that,” Min Jee nervously giggled.

The boy narrowed his eyes, and scoffed, “As entertaining as your story is miss, this place is private property so I’m going to have to you off.”

“Whoa there! Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Min Jee didn’t walk all this way just to get kicked out, and quickly fumbled with her bag to take out the photo of her grandmother and the unknown man. “I’m looking for this man,” Min Jee said, “I was hoping he could provide me some answers with regards to my grandmother.”

The boy narrowed his eyes and took the photo from her hands.

“I know him sure,” The boy replied, not as tense as before and a bit approachable, “He’s my boss.”

“Can I talk to him then?” At the last second she realized how rude she sounded and added a “please” afterwards.

The boy stayed silent and looked at her for a while, at which Min Jee felt vaguely uncomfortable. At some point, she guessed he found whatever he was looking for and answered her, “He’s in China actually, but his grandson might be able to help.”

“That’s great!” Min Jee said cheerfully and took this opportunity to walk down the steps so she was on level with him. Grinning up at him, she held out her hand.

“I’m Min Jee.”

He hesitantly took her hand and shook it, “Kyungsoo, miss.”

*

*

*

“So what exactly do you do?” Min Jee asked making conversation as Kyungsoo was making tea. They were in the kitchen of the mansion and Min Jee couldn’t help appreciate the fact that it was obviously newly refurbished. Before when she looked around as Kyungsoo led her to the kitchen, she saw most of the mansion inside was actually fully restored with only a few rooms as well as the stairs that weren’t.

“I’m the gardener,” Kyungsoo answered and Min Jee had to admit, she felt a little better since the shovel was explained, however she quickly had another thought. She froze, her overactive imagination coming into play. Maybe he brought her in, lured her into thinking that he was a friendly gardener, but in actuality, he buried bodies in his backyard using corpses as his fertilizer. “I’m also a lot of other things,” Like a part time killer, Min Jee couldn’t help but think and then tried to control her hyperventilation, she really had to tone down on watching crime shows, “But at the moment I’m a personal assistant.”

When Min Jee heard that, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

He was harmless, of course he was.

She hoped anyways but just in case, she made note of the nearest exits.

“Personal assistant? Just what does that entail?”

“I get calls, run errands, arrange appointments; that sort of thing.”

“Sounds interesting?”

“Not really, considering the fact the males of the family are cheeky little s.”

Min Jee widened her eyes, “Are you allowed to say that about your employers?”

“Don’t worry,” Kyungsoo huffed with a roll of his eyes, “They know they are. A family trait I assume, and take pleasure in pissing me off.”

“And you still work for them?” Min Jee asked confused. It didn’t seem like the best job, but considering the state of the mansion, she assumed it was a well-paying one.

“The pains of being an old family friend and all,” Kyungsoo said and walked over, bringing over two cups of tea, “I hope Earl Grey is fine miss.”

After she chilled the tea and took a sip, she sighed happily, “It’s delightful, thank you.”

Kyungsoo, since the first time that she met him finally smiled and she had to admit it changed his entire persona, he looked cuter all of sudden, “You’re welcome.”

“That reminds me, do you have a washroom?”

“There’s only one working right now,” Kyungsoo said, “You go down the hall and it’s at the end on your left, would you like me to lead you the way?”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Min Jee said with a smile, “I think I can find it on my own.”

*

*

*

She was lost.

Min Jee swore she went down the right hallway. Granted Kyungsoo did neglect to mention that there was literally more than one hallway and the further she got confused on her directions, the further the love she had for mansions and their fairy-tale nature slowly dissipated.  

“He said left,” Min Jee muttered, and tried to open many of the doors, only to find them locked. As she continued to walk, she studied the artwork that was on display on the walls. Most were portraits, the previous owners she bet, going back years, but she only recognized one which was her grandmother’s lover. He was older of course, probably a recent portrait. His eyes were kind from what she could see, but there was a mischievous twinkle in them that made Min Jee certain about Kyungsoo’s account on his boss.

She trekked further down the hallway, trying to see if she could enter any room when one door knob turned. Glancing around her surroundings, she pushed the door open slowly and walked in with caution, turning on the light as she went in.

Well, that didn’t exactly look like the washroom.

It looked nothing like a washroom, in fact based on the books that lined the shelves and a desk that had a laptop and lamp placed on it, she knew it was a study room of some sort.

She ventured in further, her bladder momentarily forgetting that she needed to go, and eyed the books on the shelves. Most of them were old novels, novels she liked to pretend she actually read, but in reality, she was just a teenager who never touched a Jane Austen novel and instead went for something along the lines of new age fantasy. There was even a whole collection on old poets, and Min Jee cringed when she saw those; words that manifested together and had deeper meanings somehow were never her forte. She soon noticed something odd on the book shelf. Dust covered majority of the books, but there was one spot that was rec