YouxHandong [Female] Part 1 of 2 

The sky, blue. The air, humid. The weather, how can I say it..? Hot.

I look up at the blue canvas of clouds and observe the ways they move along the skyline.

Oh, how I wish for it to be spring again. The warm weather and clear air. The only weather that I was exposed to as a child. My parents, well my adoptive parents, never let me out to play with the children outside. Never even let me watch them play.

"Just keep playing the piano," they said as they turned their backs to me, expecting me to play on. So I did. I played and played. Played from morning to the evening and maybe until sunrise sometimes. To my heart's content. Or... so I think I did.

It wasn't until one day when I was seven and had just finished with music practice. I only wanted to peer outside for just a second.

Who knew that one second of me peering out of the window would lead to me finding the most beautiful girl ever? Running and jumping with the boys in her dress too long for her to be running in. Her dark hair glistened in the sun, contrasting to the light fabric of her dress.

My heart thumped fast and I didn't know why. I held my hand up to my chest and felt the strong pulsing under my fingertips, asking my 7 year-old self, "What is this?" I turned away from the window and returned to my spot by my piano. "Maybe playing will make this aching in my chest go away." So I continued playing and focused so much on my music that I forgot about that girl.

5 Years Later...

"JAEHEE!" My mother called for me from her room, her loud voice booming down the hall to my practice room.

I hurriedly cleaned up, pushing in the chair I sat on and covering my piano with a sheet. I spun on my heel and ran off to my mother, holding up my dress that always flowed down to my ankles so I didn't step on it as I quickly moved my feet. I ran passed the paintings of me, my father and mother, all of us so happily painted. I stared a bit then continued running.

When I reached Mother's room, I bowed to her politely, shifting one foot behind the other.

"Good morning." Mother greeted me formally, her black hair in a neat bun and her red hanfu with silk threading glistened in the sunlight that poured in through the doorway.

"Good morning, mother," I said cheerfully with a smile on my face that probably reached both of my ears.

"I have news for you, little one." She stood from her seat by her full-body mirror and turned her head slightly to look at me. "Royalty has written to me and... he wants me to marry him."

"M-marry him?" My 12 year-old heart felt a slight tug as my chest started to ache. I clenched my fists and brought up a topic that wasn't spoken about frequently, "What about Father?"

"Your father has passed, darling." Mother stepped toward me and pulled me into a hug, resulting in a stream of tears to erupt from me. "Knowing that your father was the man he was, he would want us to move on and be happy. Don't you want your mother to be happy?"

"I... Of course, Mother." I pulled away from the hug and wiped the intruding wet droplets away.

"I'm leaving at dawn," she said, slowly turning her body away from me, walking back to her wardrobe. "I want you to continue living here and I want you to grow up where your father and I did, so you'll be living with the Hans next door. There won't be time for a farewell but that I love you deeply, my daughter. Now... Go on. Pack your things and get some rest."

"Yes, mother." I bowed down and said my goodbye.

...

I was practicing a few notes late at night when I heard some rustling outside of my window.

"Hmm?" I looked outside and didn't see anything, so I just brushed away the thought, assuming it was just a wild animal. I hummed along with the song and played the keys one after another, the sweet music softly caressed my ears.

"What song is that?" I heard from the edge of my room.

I quickly turned my head toward the the intruding voice but I didn't see anything out of place nor someone other than me in the room. Oh, please don't be a ghost.

"Hello?" I called out to vast darkness overtaking the music room, my heart thumping loudly in my chest.

"Yes?" I felt a breeze pass my ear, cupping it tightly.

My tongue was stuck in my throat and I couldn't breathe. My heart skipped multiple beats and I couldn't stop it. My chest felt like it was going to explode. PLEASE DON'T BE A GHOST.

Looking at no one particular, I asked, "Who are you?"

"Me?" I heard next to my other ear, causing my eyes to widen and dart back and forth throughout the room.

I flung my arms all around me, trying to protect myself from whatever spirit was there with me. There was a presence... but not a physical one...

"Hey. Stop touching me." The girlish voice said to me before giggling shortly afterwards.

"I-I... I'm sorry!" I became flustered and fanned my burning face with my sheet music. "Um... I-"

"Look behind you." And this is where I die.

I took a deep breath before spinning around in my seat, eyes shut tight, anticipating what would happen next.

"Open your eyes, silly." The voice laughed at me again, slightly intimidating me even more than I already was.

"I'm scared..." I brought my hands up to my eyes and covered them in terror. "Please don't eat me." I sounded like a child at this point.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you," the voice whispered to me, getting closer to me than before, sending electricity throughout my body. "If you don't want to look right at me, you can pick up that mirror and peer into it."

I still hadn't opened my eyes but I knew which mirror she was talking about as I had only one hand mirror in the room. I kept one hand over my eyes and used my other to searched for the mirror blindly.

"Now look into the mirror."

"O-okay..." I removed my hand and slowly opened my eyes, staring into the mirror and seeing the reflection of a pretty girl who smiled at me. Still nervous, I set the mirror down and breathed deeply before turning my head to look at the girl.

"I'm Han Dong." Her voice made its way to my head, the softness of it comforting me in a way. With a small grin, she stuck a hand out for me to shake, which I then took politely. "What's yours?"

"I-I'm Jaehee." I choked out, letting her cold hand go, my fear still deep in my gut almost caused me to explode but I managed to hold it back.

"What a pretty name." Han Dong's whisper sent chills to the nape of my neck as I felt the hairs raise and goosebumps form. "It's different."

"Ah... Thank you. My parents gave it to me," I awkwardly laughed and put a hand on the back of my neck, rubbing it harshly to get rid of the goosebumps. Wait... "Han Dong?" I raised an eyebrow at the odd girl who only smiled back at me.

"Yes, yes, that is me." The girl chuckled and gave me an eye-smile as her gaze softened. Her well-kept, black hair looked like it could even shine in the dim moonlight, really contrasting with her pale-white complexion. She put her hand on my shoulder and leaned down to whisper into my ear, "So..." She sent even more chills down my spine. "I heard you work for me now."

I... I probably didn't hear her right.

"Psh... You're kidding me, right..?" I gave a small laugh and patted her hand that was resting on my shoulder. "I- Ahem. I don't work for anyone, sweetie. You might have mistaken me for someone else." My usual, cool facade made its way back.

"No, no. You're Jaehee. With given name Park. Adopted by the Liu family." Han Dong spit out word after word information about me that even I hadn't remembered or kept close to me. I was taken by surprise when she pulled me into a tight hug. "Your mother wanted you to stay here and grow where she and your father had, so she left you to us. But the only way that my parents would let you stay with us is if you'd come to work for us. So it looks like you're going to be mine now."

"HUH?!"