Before today, Chwe Hansol, or Vernon as he prefers to be called, is a perfectly, happily normal individual. He leads a normal life: normal family, normal school, normal friends, normal everything. A normal person who's okay at sports and loves music, especially ancient instrumental music.

Perhaps it's because he's so normal, that Vernon has used up all of his "normality" in life.

I mean, one's life has got to be extraordinary, no matter how trivial that "extraordinariness" is, at one point, right?

Although I think this isn't quite the "extraordinariness" a normal person would wish for...

Anyone, my apologies for getting off track, here's how Fate granted Vernon a shot at being abnormal.

A lithe uniform-clad silhouette ran in the rain. Finally, after a seemingly endless dash, the form found an umbrella to hide under. Through the water curtain, one can make off dripping chesnut-coloured strands offsetting a gorgeous face. Smooth milky skin adorned with an adorable shade of red on the cheeks from running too quickly. Cherry lips slightly open to take in gulps of air. And the most expressive pair of mocha-brown eyes peeking out under long, thick lashes. Slender eyebrows furrowed, worriedly looking at the downpour. Still going strong.

"Freaking rain! Why does it have to be now?!!" Vernon cursed. My uniform is wet, my shoes are wet, my hair is wet...What a way to end a horrible day...I KNEW I shouldn't have obsessed over that gayageum, not when mom told me it was gonna rain...What is my life, seriously... And now I'm stuck here under this flimsy umbrella until God-knows-when. Aishh... I'm hungry, too, and cold...

Standing under an old umbrella, wet as a rat, Chwe Vernon made a perfectly miserable picture. The male absentmindedly played around with his lotus pendant that he bought from Macau during the vacation with his family. Vernon had no idea why he bought it either. It just called to him somehow. The necklace had been with him for 4 years and he had never taken it off, even when showering. Today, unnoticed by Vernon, the pendant seemed to glow eerily.

Aish...should I just brave it and go home? I mean, this rain is probably not going to stop, and I kinda want to get home already. Freaking gayageum, distracting me...

Just as Vernon was contemplating walking home through the downpour, he saw a blurry form accross the street, near the famous cliff of his town - the infamous destination for suicide.

Eyes wide open, the teen shouted: "Hey! Hey! Over there!"

No reply.

Getting more anxious, Hansol left his bag under the umbrella and ran over to the silhouette as he yelled out again: "Hey! Wait! What are you....please get away from that cliff, it is not safe! Hey!" 

The closer he got, the clearer Vernon could make out the individual. It was a female: long sweeping chesnut hair, some sort of peculiar clothing - that looks like Chinese drama costume, what the hell?! - and quiet, suppressed sobbing. He moved closer to her, and tentatively asked: "Uhm...excuse me..are you okay, Miss?"

The girl turned around, and Vernon was startled to see how similar they looked. Except for the gender, him and her were practically carbon copies! Focusing again and looking at the female, he heard her say: "Oh God, just go away, go away...leave me alone.."

"What happened..." seemed to be the only cue from Vernon the girl needed, and she sobbed heart-wrenchingly: "Oh God, I despise that disgusting, vile man...Oh God...Cheng, Cheng, I'm sorry, Cheng, I'm sorry..."

Just as Vernon was about to say "Please calm down", the female, sobbing hysterically, threw herself down the cliff. Out of reflex, the teen tried to make a grab for her hands. He succeeded. However, Vernon had underestimated how heavy the ornate robes are, and overestimated how strong he was, and so was then dragged down with her over the cliff. He tried to hold on to the edge, but rain had made the ground all muddy and soggy, and so Vernon had no leverage to hold on to. 

With terrified eyes, the teen looked at the surging grey sky, ominous and dark. Mom, Dad, Sister, I'm sorry, I should have listened to you and gone home as soon as classes were over. My bag is still under the umbrella. Will I be reported "Missing"? I'm sorry... Then a terrible, unbearable pain, then sweet darkness.

Lashes like petite fans fluttered slightly, a slight pained sound escaping from plum lips. Mocha-coloured eyes peeked open, disoriented at first: Ornate folding screen, silk curtains, wooden carved window panes, agarwood smell wafting in the air...WAIT A MINUTE! AGARWOOD??? All thoughts came to a screeching halt. Eyes wide open now, Vernon sat up and looked around, bewildered. The teen looked down on his clothes - normal uniform, thank GOD - then looked back up...

"Where in the Hell am I?!!"

Author's Note:

1. Inyun means "Fate" in Korean
2. Gayageum: traditional Korean zither-like musical instrument with 12 strings
3. Cheng (成) means "to succeed" in Chinese. To be faithful to my universe, all the character will have Chinese names. Any Chinese reader out there, please correct me if I'm wrong/misunderstanding any Chinese. 
4. Agarwood: A rare resin embedded wood used for incense and fragrances.
5. The cover picture is my imagination of how the pendant would look like.

So... How was it? Please leave any reviews and opinions. I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks for reading this :)