Chaewon travelled alone, with only one small bag weighing her down. The house she'd been directed to go to was in the middle of the woods, in a part she'd never been. But at last she was here, standing anxiously in front of the ancient wooden house that housed her new employees. She glanced about her. The house was in a large clearing. It was massive, bigger then anything in Chaewon's modest village, nearly of a height with the trees that arched overhead. Chaewon was intimidated.

 

She walked forwards timidly and knocked on the door. It creaked open, revealing a woman standing behind it. She had auburn hair and a friendly smile, putting Chaewon slightly more at ease.

 

"You must be the new girl? I'm Haseul. Please, come in."

 

Chaewon felt a strange feeling as she stepped over the threshold. Her whole body thrummed, as if the air had hardened around her body. She shivered involuntarily.

 

"Yves!" the woman called.

 

Another girl came into the room. Chaewon bowed to her, realising with embarrassment that she had forgotten to do so with Haseul.

 

The girl, Yves, walked confidently across the room. "So, this is Olivia's replacement?"

 

She grasped Chaewon's chin in her hand, forcing her to look at her. "Not bad. I can work with this."

 

"Yes, well. I hope you can handle the responsibility." Haseul said.

 

"I'll be able to. She doesn't have that rebellious streak that Olivia had."

 

Chaewon was sick of being talked about as if she was a piece of meat. "Excuse me. What exactly will my duties be while I'm here?"

 

They both looked at her as if they were surprised she could speak. Then Haseul started laughing. "You spoke too soon!" she said to Yves.

 

Yves shrugged, a ghost of a smile playing over her lips. "That remains to be seen. Follow me."

 

Chaewon trailed behind Yves as she went through the house, pointing things out to her. The place was massive. Chaewon had no idea how all the rooms they were going through now could even fit in the place she'd seen outside.

 

Finally, when they were deep in the pit of the house, Yves stopped and turned to face Chaewon.

 

"I'm the leader of the servants in this house. My name is Sooyoung, but you should call me Yves. You'll be referred to as Go Won from now on, too. Only the family gets their real names. You'll meet the other servant, Chuu, and the rest of the family at dinner tonight. For now, this is your room. Please make your own way to the kitchen when the sun sets."

 

Before Chaewon could ask any questions, Yves was already walking away.

 

She went into the room Yves had indicated. It was small, containing only a bed, a cupboard, a light and a high window. At least she'd be able to tell when the sun had set.

 

"Go Won," she said, trying it out in . She didn't like it. She didn't understand why she even needed a new name, but she knew if she wanted to keep working here she didn't have a choice. Yves and Haseul may be two of the weirdest people Chaewon had ever met, but they were better then going back to poverty in her village. At least they looked rich.

 

Chaewon left her room before the sun set, determined to seek out the dining room. Unfortunately, with the enormous house she quickly ended up completely lost. Worse, she could see how dark it was getting out of the windows she occasionally passed.

 

She was about to give up when she bumped into a pink-haired girl. Literally- the girl was standing so still she walked right into her without seeing her.

 

Chaewon let out a gasp of surprise, to which the other did not respond. "Hi! Sorry. Do you know the way to the dining room?"

 

The girl regarded her with slight puzzlement. "Who are you?"

 

"I'm the new worker there? I'm Chae- Go Won."

 

The girl shook her head violently. "Where's Olivia?"

 

"I don't know. Who are you?"

 

Rather then answering, the girl stepped forwards and shoved Chaewon hard in the chest. She fell over. "Hey!"

 

Before she could do anything else the girl's arm was grabbed by someone behind her. "Vivi! Update yourself. This is Go Won, the new servant. There's only three of us, just as there's always been."

 

The girl's eyes literally rolled back up in her head for a moment, leaving Chaewon gasping on the floor. Once her eyes had returned to normal she stepped peacefully back.

 

"Sorry, Go Won. I forgot that Olivia's already left." After saying that she stared straight at the wall, not waiting for an answer from Chaewon

 

The other girl helped Chaewon up. "Are you ok? Sorry about that. Vivi gets a bit nervous with new people. Or Yves."

 

"I think I'm a bit nervous about Yves," Chaewon admitted.

 

The girl laughed. "You'll get used to her! Come on, are you looking for the dining room? I'm Chuu, by the way."

 

Chaewon glanced back as Chuu pulled her down the hallway. Was Vivi mentally damaged or something? What was up with her?

 

Yves was waiting for them in the elaborate dining room. Chuu flew straight to her side, her fingers twisting through Yves's. Yves shot her a fond smile.

 

"The food's already ready, all we have to do is lay it out for them."

"Will there be four places?" Chuu asked.

 

"When is there not? She's always around."

 

"Who?" Chaewon asked.

 

"You'll find out soon enough," Yves told her.

 

The other two were faster then her, but Chuu was very friendly and taught her how to do everything. Chaewon and Yves were both quiet as Chuu talked a mile a minute, easily filling the spaces around the other girls. Chaewon found herself smiling at her stupid jokes and cringy aegyo.

 

However, by the time the family arrived the atmosphere got more quiet. Haseul entered first, taking her seat at the head of the table. Behind her came three other, younger, girls. Two had their heads together and were in some kind of intense conversation, while the youngest trailed behind looking bored.

 

She perked up when she saw Chaewon. "Who's that?"

 

"That's our new servant, Go Won," Haseul explained.

 

Chaewon raised her hand in an awkward greeting. The kid walked up to her, smiling brightly.

 

"Hi! I'm Yeojin. How old are you?"

 

"I'm seventeen," Go Won told her.

 

"Good! I'm fifteen. I'll always be the maknae of this house." She gave Chaewon a searching look. "You're older then Olivia."

 

"Yeojin. Sit down," Haseul said sharply.

 

Yeojin shot Chaewon a last despairing look before sitting in her chair and beginning to eat her food.

 

"Who are the other two?" Chaewon whispered to Chuu.

 

"Heejin and Hyunjin. Heejin is Yeojin's older sister and Hyunjin is her best friend."

 

Chaewon watched the strange group eating. Heejin seemed deep in thought, merely picking at her food. Haseul watched her worriedly.

 

"Heejin. You need to eat more," she said in a low voice.

 

"Who's Haseul?" Chaewon asked Chuu. She didn't look older enough to be Heejin's mother, but maybe she'd just aged really well.

 

"Haseul is their caretaker."

 

"What about their parents?"

 

Chuu stared at the floor. "I don't know about that. I don't know what happened to them."

 

"No guesses?"

 

Chuu flashed her a quick smile. "My guess is they died and left their kids a pile of money and a house in the middle of nowhere."

 

Yves put a finger to her lips, warning them to be silent.

 

There didn't seem to be much point to Chaewon and Chuu being there. Yves filled the drinks, on the rare occasions they needed to be filled. The family didn't talk, except Heejin and Hyunjin who whispered to each other throughout the dinner. Yeojin swung her feet, even though they could rest on the ground.

 

"Yves, come here," Heejin instructed.

 

Yves silently came over and filled her glass. After a while, Heejin put out a hand to stop her.

 

"That's enough, I think. Any more and it might spill over."

 

Her eyes were sparkling with laughter as she looked at Yves. The older girl, in contrast, had something close to hatred in her expression.

 

That was weird. From Chaewon's point of view, Heejin hadn't asked her to do anything particularly humiliating. Chuu was cringing next to her.

 

"What was that?" Chaewon whispered to her.

 

"Oh, they don't get on," Chuu said.

 

When the dinner was over, the family left without talking to each other or the servants. Yves, Chaewon and Chuu cleaned up after them, which seemed to mean stacking the plates and allowing Yves to take them into the kitchen.

 

"Well, that's it!" Yves declared cheerfully when she got back. "Good work today, Go Won. See you tomorrow."

 

Over the next week Chaewon started to get used to her new life here. It was strange. She couldn't really work out why she had been hired, since they didn't really need her to do anything. She spent most of her time when she wasn't at dinner wandering around the house, trying to find her way around the place. She half-hoped she'd see Vivi again, but she never did.

 

Life was repetitive. Heejin was barely ever home, since she seemed to always be out with Hyunjin. Hyunjin had her own home, apparently, but Chaewon had yet to see her spend a night anywhere other then the house.

 

Haseul was pleasant but distant to everyone except Heejin and Yves. Even Yeojin had trouble getting anything more then a sentence out of her. She spent her time in the garden mostly, tending for the plants and the small birds that lived out there.

 

Yves and Chuu were nice enough, and Chaewon felt closer to Chuu then anyone else here, but they were clearly enamoured with each other. Chaewon felt like a third wheel when she was around them, and they were rarely apart.

 

Yeojin just struck her as bored.

 

One day, she asked Yeojin about Heejin's mysterious disappearances. They were in the living room, where Yeojin had been reading. When she saw Chaewon come in she stopped and waved to her enthusiastically.

 

"Hi Go Won! What are you doing?"

 

Chaewon sat down on one of the couches, sinking into it. The family's cat mewled and rubbed itself against her hand when she held it out.

 

Yeojin looked impressed. "Wow, she doesn't like many people."

 

"The cat? What's her name?"

 

Yeojin shrugged. "I don't think she has one. She's not ours, you know. She just hangs around here, and Haseul lets her in."

 

Chaewon slumped back. "What are you doing?"

 

"Haseul gave me this book, but it's super boring," Yeojin held it up for Chaewon to see.

 

"Isn't it a school day? Do you even go to school?"

 

"No," Yeojin admitted. "We're too far away. Haseul's supposed to teach us as our guardian, but she only teaches me."

 

"Where does Heejin go all day?"

 

"I don't know!" Yeojin complained. "She says she doesn’t like the house and has work to do. She's always off with Hyunjin, but she won't tell me where they go. She says I'm annoying!"

 

"You’re not annoying!" Chaewon was quick to reassure her. She felt protective over Yeojin.

 

"Thanks, Go Won," Yeojin muttered.

 

"Hey! Go Won! Come over here," Yves shouted.

 

When Chaewon went over to her she smacked her head lightly. "Don't talk to the family, ok?"

 

"Not even Yeojin? She's lonely!"

 

"Do you think she is?" Yves asked. There was surprisingly genuine concern in her face.

 

"Yeah, of course. The only person she talks to all day is Haseul."

 

Yves frowned. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll ask Haseul to invite one of her friends over."

 

They walked away together. Yves was normally cold, but she put her arm casually over Chaewon's shoulders.

 

"You should meet Yeojin's friend too. It's not really healthy for you just be around me and Chuu all the time."

 

"I'm only a year younger then Chuu," Chaewon pointed out. "Also, you just banned me from talking to Yeojin."

 

"From talking to the family. Not their friends. Anyway, we'll see about getting you to meet her."

 

She took Chaewon to the dining room, where Chuu was sitting on the table.

 

"Hey guys! Thank god you're here, I was getting so bored."

 

Yves sat on the table next to her, curling her arm around Chuu's shoulders in much the same way she had just been acting with Chaewon. Chuu pushed her head into Yves's neck. There were so many heart eyes coming from both of them that Chaewon felt like an intruder. She left.

 

A few days later, they had a visitor. It was the first time in ages that she'd seen anyone other then the family, Hyunjin and the other servants. Yves, Chuu and Chaewon were lined up in the hallway, bowing to their guest while Haseul greeted her. Heejin, Hyunjin and Yeojin waited in the living room.

 

"So good to see you, Jungeun! Please, come in," Haseul greeted the woman warmly.

 

Jungeun was, according to Yves, someone Heejin knew. She had an exotic look, with pure blonde hair that Chaewon envied. She wore an extravagant red dress.

 

She barely paid any attention to the servants as Haseul escorted her into the living room. As soon as she was gone, Yves and Chuu turned to each other.

 

"So, is Jinsoul here?" Chuu asked.

 

"She probably came with Jungeun," Yves replied. "Let's go. Come on, Go Won."

 

Chuu grabbed Chaewon's hand and pulled her after her as the three of them raced through the house. They stopped in a small storage room, where Yves pulled aside a hatch in the floor.

 

"Thank god," the girl outside said. "I thought you would never get away."

 

"She made us wait by the door," Yves explained, giving her a hand into the room.

 

The girl was tall and blonde, with long curly hair. She wore a simple blue dress and didn't look as dressed up as Jungeun. She surveyed the room with a sense of cheerful confidence.

 

"Oh! Who's this?" she asked when her eyes alighted on Chaewon.

 

"This is our newest servant, Go Won. Go Won, Jinsoul. Jungeun's servant," Chuu introduced them.

 

Chaewon bowed. "Good to meet you."

 

"You too. Welcome to the family!"

 

"Ok, quick, let's get out of here," Yves said.

 

The four of them went to the dining room. Yves and Chuu walked in front holding hands, while Jinsoul and Chaewon followed her. Chaewon couldn't help sneaking glances at the taller, older girl. She was so cool, like something out of a storybook.

 

"Is this safe?" Jinsoul asked when they got to the dining room. "I'm not supposed to be in the house, you know."

 

"It'll be fine," Yves assured her. "They don’t like to eat when someone's over."

 

They had a good time for the few hours that Jungeun was over. Yves got some food and they shared it around, talking about the weather and whether Jinsoul was having any luck growing vegetables. Chaewon hadn't even known that they grew vegetables.

 

Jinsoul was funny and Chaewon found herself relaxing in her presence. She dragged Chaewon off to help her spy on the living room, the two of them pressed against the door and laughing at everything, even thought the only conversation they heard was meaningless to Chaewon.

 

They slipped Jinsoul out of the house just before Jungeun left. She kissed them all on the cheeks, giving Chaewon a blinding smile, and dropped through the hole into the garden.

 

That night at dinner the family was more talkative then normal. Chuu served drinks and was thanked by everyone at the table, not just Yeojin. For the first time they seemed like a normal family to Chaewon.

 

Other then wishing Jungeun and Jinsoul would come back, Chaewon wouldn't have thought anything of their visit if it wasn't for an argument she overheard.

 

She had wandered into a room with a bunch of abandoned pieces of furniture in it. It was a warm day, and Chaewon was tired as she sat down on an old, dusty, soft couch. She decided to just lay her head down for a moment, and before she knew it she was asleep.

 

When she woke up she had a pounding headache and felt like sandpaper. Exhausted, she was trying to make herself get up when she heard loud voices coming through the wall.

 

Immediately, she stopped moving. It was Hyunjin and Chuu, two people Chaewon had never even see interact, and they were clearly arguing.

 

"So you did bring a demon into the house!" Hyujin was saying. "How could you let that filthy creature in here?"

 

"If you’re allowed to have your  creature in here, so are we," Chuu said.

 

"Kim Lip is not a devil, idiot. She doesn't corrupt this sacred place, unlike your lot."

 

"You're the idiot! How are we supposed to win the game if we're faced with so many disadvantages?"

"It's your punishment for losing the game." Hyunjin sounded smug. "And if I were you and I wanted to win the game I'd get my little human to work a lot faster. You're wasting her right now. This had better go better for you then when Olivia was in charge."

 

"Don't talk about Olivia!" Chuu shouted. "Anyway, it doesn’t matter what you say. Jinsoul was in here and she'll be in here again, and there's nothing you can do about it."

 

"Fine!" Hyunjin barked.

 

"Fine!"

 

Chaewon lay there in silence and listened to them walk away, trying to decipher what she'd heard. The most interesting thing was this about a game. What were they talking about?

 

Eventually she fell asleep again. By the time she woke up the sun had nearly set and she was late to dinner. She put it out of her head as much as she could as she rushed downstairs, and by the time the day was over she wasn't completely sure she hadn't dreamt the whole conversation.

 

The next day, she asked Chuu about the conversation during lunch. The three servants were eating in the dining room, since Yeojin and Haseul were going to eat while studying. Heejin and Hyujin were wherever they went.

 

"Who's Kim Lip?" she asked as casually as possible when Yves was cleaning up in the kitchen.

 

"Kim Lip? It's another name for Jungeun," Chuu said distractedly, picked at a stray thread coming from her sleeve. "Where did you hear that?"

 

"Yeojin said it," Chaewon lied.

 

Chuu gave her a puzzled look. "Ok."

 

She didn't seem that suspicious so Chaewon decided to push it. "Who was Olivia?"

 

"What is this, twenty questions?" Chuu laughed. "You already know. She was a servant here before you."

 

"Did she do my job?" Chaewon asked.

 

"No. She did Yves's job. Yves got promoted when she… left."

 

"Really? But Yeojin said she was younger then me!"

 

Chuu shrugged. "Yeah, well. She was very accomplished for her age. You should stop talking to Yeojin."

 

Chaewon traced out patterns on the table. "Yeah, maybe."

 

"Definitely. Yves will be mad if she finds out."

 

"Hey, are you and Hyunjin playing some sort of game?"

 

Chuu suddenly slammed her hands down on the table with a loud bang. She nearly jumped out of her chair.

 

"Where did you hear that? Did Yeojin tell you that?"

 

Chaewon rose her hands in a surrender position. "No! I overheard Hyunjin talking about it."

 

"Forget about it," Chuu warned her sternly. "No. We're not playing anything. I don't even talk to Hyunjin. I don't know why she's lying, but you shouldn't spread rumours. Don't let Yves hear you talking about this, either. Do you want to end up like Olivia?"

 

"What happened to Olivia?"

 

"She got fired, obviously."

 

Chuu's panicked reaction to the idea of the game was, to Chaewon, telling. There was clearly something weird going on. And Chuu didn't want Yves to know about it. Or she didn't want Yves knowing that Chaewon knew? And Jungeun was involved?

 

Honestly, it raised as many questions as it answered. The only thing that was clear to Chaewon was that something about this house wasn't right.

 

The next day Yves took her to one side and Chaewon nearly blabbed it all. She was too nervous around Yves, convinced she already knew everything that Chaewon knew.

 

Fortunately, she didn’t. "Yeojin's friend is coming over tomorrow," she told her. "You get on with Yeojin, right? I thought it would be good for you to meet her friend."

 

"Thank you," Chaewon forced out.

 

Yves smiled. "No problem. I'll always look out for you. You know that, right?"

 

"Yes." Chaewon was far from convinced.

 

"Good."

 

That night, Chaewon found it hard to sleep. She kept thinking about Hyunjin's words.

 

"If I were you, I'd get my human to work a lot faster."

 

Chaewon had been thinking about it a lot, and she couldn't work out who Chuu's human was supposed to be, unless it was her. And now this strange turn around on whether she was allowed to talk to Yeojin or not… it was weird. She didn't understand what was going on here, and she was very, very uncomfortable.

 

Despite her nervousness, she did manage to get to sleep. When she woke up, it was because someone was shaking her should violently.

 

She jerked awake, pulling away from them.

 

"Who are you?" She hissed into the dark.

 

The girl stepped away from her, pink hair reflecting the light of the moon.

 

"Vivi?" Chaewon asked, even though she already knew it was.

 

"Hi. I'm sorry about last time." Vivi sat down on the edge of her bed.

 

Chaewon rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, struggling to become fully awake. "No, it's alright. Where have you been?"

 

"Avoiding you. Yves told me not to talk to you."

 

"Why? Who are you?"

 

Vivi shook her head. "I can't explain. Yves would kill me if she knew I was here. Please, just do what I ask."

 

"What do you want?" Chaewon asked cautiously.

 

"It's Olivia. Please find her"

 

"She was fired, Vivi. She's not here anymore." Chaewon tried to be gentle, thinking that maybe her assumption that Vivi wasn't all there had been correct after all.

 

"She's still here. They never let anyone leave. Nobody can leave until the game is over, and it's never over."

 

Chaewon went cold. "The game? The one Chuu and Hyunjin are playing?"

 

Vivi let out a little laugh at that. "Chuu and Hyunjin? No, not them. Olivia was playing, but I think she's lost or been betrayed. She's somewhere in the house, I know it. I've been trying to find her, but I can’t. Please help me."

 

"I don't understand. Why couldn't she just have left?"

 

"You can't leave, I've told you so already. Have you been outside since you got here?"

 

Now that she thought about it, Chaewon hadn't. "That doesn't mean anything. It's just a coincidence."

 

Vivi smiled, a bit sadly. "I wish it was. I can't leave either, but if you rescue Olivia life will get better here."

 

"Just walk out the door!" Chaewon insisted.

 

In response Vivi opened the curtains in Chaewon's window. She looked up, but rather then seeing the night sky she saw only a black void outside. It hurt her eyes to look at, but Vivi looked unflinchingly.

 

"What is that?" Chaewon whispered, stunned.

 

"Just help me find Olivia! I promise, she's the only way out of here for us."

 

On impulse, Chaewon nodded. "I will."

 

"Good."

 

Vivi left as silently as she'd come in, slipping away into the night. When Chaewon looked back up at her window, it revealed a perfectly normal moon.

 

So now she had two missions. One from Yves, to befriend Yeojin's friend and thus improve her social life. And one from Vivi, to find Olivia if she was even still here.

 

The one from Vivi was far more interesting, so she was itching to get away and start combing the house. Standing in the hallway with Haseul waiting to meet her new playmate was torturous.

 

To her surprise, Jungeun was behind the door when Haseul sent her to answer it. Her hand was resting on the shoulder of a young girl with dark hair and a pleasant, round face.

 

Chaewon quickly bowed to Jungeun, then stepped out of the way to let Haseul say hello to her. She thought that Chuu and Yves were probably letting Jinsoul in right now, and she was bitter about it. She'd so much rather be there.

 

"Jungeun, come with me. Choerry, Yeojin is waiting in the living room."

 

Jungeun and Haseul disappeared into a nearby room. Chaewon could see Heejin and Hyunjin inside it as well before the door closed and she was left alone with the girl.

 

The girl was watching her with shy nervousness.

 

"Hi," Chaewon started awkwardly. "I'm C- Go Won. I'm the new servant here."

 

"I'm Yerim," the girl said, holding out a hand.

 

"Jungeun called you Choerry?" Chaewon blurted out her confusion before she could stop herself.

 

"Oh, I hate those fake names. Just call me Yerim."

 

"Thank god," Chaewon took her hand with relief. "I'm Chaewon then."

 

"Good to meet you, Chaewon."

 

"You too, Yerim."

 

They stood there smiling at each other for a moment before Chaewon remembered Yeojin.

"Oh! I'll show you to the living room."

 

"Alright."

 

Yerim walked slightly behind her to the living room. Yeojin was sitting on the floor, poking at the dying fire with a pole. She looked up eagerly when she saw Chaewon entering.

 

"Go Won! Thank god you're here. Can you get this to work?"

 

Chaewon dug into her pockets until she found a match, then struck it and tossed that into the fire.

 

While she was poking about it, Yeojin and Yerim greeted each other enthusiastically.

 

"It's so good to see you!" Yeojin exclaimed.

 

"You too," Yerim smiled.

 

 Chaewon felt awkward staying, but Yerim and Yeojin tried to include her. Yeojin made her tell Yerim about what Yeojin had been doing in school, to test whether she could remember. In return, Yerim related equally dull but well told stories about her life with Jungeun and Jinsoul.

 

It seemed that Jungeun was Yerim's older sister and Jinsoul was their servant. Yerim didn't mention parents, so Jungeun must be her primary guardian as well as her sister. Like Yeojin, she was homeschooled.

 

"You should come over some time and get lessons from Haseul," Chaewon suggested.

 

"Yes!" Yeojin attacked Yerim in a hug. "That would be so much fun! You have to get Kim Lip to let you do that."

 

The girls were so infectiously cheerful Chaewon soon found herself warming up to them. By the time Yerim left she had officially concluded that she loved having visitors.

 

It was just a pity that their visits were so infrequent. After some serious grilling from Yves about how she'd gotten along with Yerim Chaewon was left to go about her usual routine. She spent a lot of time looking for Olivia, but she wasn't having any more luck then Vivi. She didn't really believe that Olivia could still be here, but she didn't have anything better to do.

 

Yeojin told her the best thing to do for boredom was play with animals. Yeojin had a small group of frogs in the backgarden.

 

Chaewon's best animal was butterflies. It was weird, but they just seemed to like her. However, when she was inside she liked to play with the cat that wasn't theirs.

 

One day, Chuu came to her with a bunch of broken jewellery she'd found in an old room somewhere.

 

"Can you help me put all these back together?" she asked.

 

It was something to do so Chaewon didn't say no. After only a few moments of work, however, Chuu fell asleep.

 

The cat had been sniffing around them as they worked. Laughing, Chaewon picked it up and slipped a pearl necklace around its neck. The cat gave her a disgruntled look when she put it down.

 

She leaned over and poked Chuu, to no avail. When she looked back for the cat she realised that it had left, and the pearl necklace with it. Oh well. Nobody was going to want it anyway.

 

Or that's what she would have thought, if Hyunjin hadn't approached her hours later with the pearl necklace in hand.

 

Chaewon was sitting down, drinking a glass of water, when Hyunjin slammed her hands on the table in front of her.

 

"What do you want?"

 

"What do you mean?" Chaewon asked, startled.

 

"You sent me a message?" Hyunjin brandished the necklace. Chaewon stared at it, not understanding.

 

"I gave that to the cat."

 

"It's my cat," Hyunjin said, like that was obvious.

 

"It is? I didn't know that."

 

Hyunjin sat down opposite her. "Look, whose side are you on, anyway?"

 

"What are you talking about? Are there sides to be on? I don't think I'm on anyone's side."

 

Hyunjin smiled slowly. "Wrong answer. You are on a side whether you like it or not, and you'd better start acting like it. Me, I've chosen a side. Heejin is my best friend, and I’d never ever let her down."

 

"I'm not Heejin's enemy," Chaewon said. "I work for her. I like the girl."

 

"Whether you want to be or not, you are her enemy. You are working against her. All of you are."

 

"Is this house full of crazy people?" Chaewon couldn't help saying.

 

"I think it's full of people that you don’t know anything about. You'd be wiser to watch your tongue."

 

Chaewon stared resentfully at her retreating back. ing .

 

Before Hyujin could leave completely, Chaewon grabbed her hand. Hyunjin looked over her shoulder.

 

"Where's Olivia?" Chaewon asked impulsively.

 

"She got fired. I'd check the kitchen. There's where she usually is."

 

With that, Hyunjin yanked herself away and left.

 

This house was a house full of clues. Chaewon felt like everyone knew more then she did, and she didn't understand why nobody would tell her anything. For days, she didn't approach the kitchen.

 

On the day she finally did, Yerim was over, so everyone was busy. Chaewon cast one final look at Yeojin and Yerim playing together on the carpet. They were the very picture of innocence.

 

Then, she went to the kitchen.

 

In all her time here, she'd never been to the kitchen. A servant was probably supposed to go there a lot more often, but Chaewon doubted that she even was a servant or had ever been meant to be one. She was on a side. She was a player in this game that everyone was talking about, but she didn't even know what the game was.

 

It was time to get some answers.

 

The dining room was empty. The kitchen door was locked, but Chaewon didn't really care and just kicked at it until it fell open.

 

She'd been expecting pots, pans and food. She wasn't expecting a massive, earthen pit, and therefore nearly fell into it.

 

"Hello?" She shouted into the darkness.

 

"Hello? Who's there?" A thin, reedy voice returned her call.

 

Chaewon rested one hand on the doorframe, her upper body leaning over the pit. "Who are you?"

 

"Olivia! Who are you?"

 

"I'm Chaewon! You're Olivia? Vivi said you were still in the house!"

 

"Is she there?"

 

"No!"

 

"Just jump down! You'll be fine," Olivia shouted at her.

 

Chaewon left herself fall into the pit. It was shallower then she'd thought, and although she stumbled when she landed she didn't fall down.

 

There was a girl watching her from the centre of the pit. As Chaewon came closer, she saw that Olivia was extremely pale and thin, contrasting starkly with her jet-black hair. She was kneeling on the floor and it took Chaewon a moment to realise that she was bound with heavy black chains over her arms, legs and back.

 

She tried to move when she saw Chaewon, but collapsed to the floor again. It was horrible. Chaewon lightly reached out and touched her hair, it.

 

"Please… help me," Olivia said.

 

Instead of helping her, Chaewon sat down on the floor in front of her. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

 

"It's a long story," Olivia warned her. "But yes. It's better you hear it. You're in danger.

 

"Well, let's start by saying that this house isn't real. It's not a real place. If anyone else walked through this forest, they wouldn't see it. You can only be here if you're part of the game.

 

"The game was set up a thousand thousand years ago by God and Satan, when they were trying to divide up the world. You'll laugh, I know, but it's true. There's no difference between God and Satan, but they wanted to know which one would rule and which one would act as her servant.

 

"The earth gave them the challenge. The three of them- God, Satan and the earth- took human form. Then the earth created an innocent girl, one who would never get corrupted. You know her as Yerim.

 

"Yerim lives life with an angel and a devil on her shoulders, but she divides her time equally between them. It is her responsibility to choose which side rules. Each player was given an angel or devil to work with and was allowed to select a human. Their selected humans play the game without knowing about it and whichever one Yerim picks chooses the ruler.

 

"As you may have already guessed, Heejin is God and Yves is Satan. Haseul is the earth, and therefore she rules this house. Years ago, Yeojin and I were selected to be the humans who would try to win over Yerim.

 

"When Yeojin won Yves flew into a rage and cast me down here. She said she would select a new girl to try and allow her to win. That's you, Chaewon. If you don't win the game, Yves will send you down here too!"

 

It was unbelievable. It was almost unbelievable. Except for the part where it all made sense. Hadn't Hyunjin even called Jinsoul a demon? So that was what she literally was? This was crazy.

 

"What will happen if I free you?" she asked in a whisper.

 

Olivia grasped her hand. "I know a way out of here. We can get Vivi and go back to our normal lives. Leave this sick, twisted game alone."

 

"So who is Vivi anyway?"

"Yves made her. Yes, made her, because she was lonely with only demons. She's like a robot or something. Vivi isn't a real person, but she was my closest friend here and I want to help her. She deserves a normal life."

 

Chaewon nodded, her head spinning. "Yes. Yes, ok."

 

Olivia smiled, a thin thing that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Good."

 

Chaewon's hands fumbled around Olivia's chains, throwing them off her. For some reason they seemed to melt off the other girl as soon as Chaewon touched them, so it wasn't long until Olivia was freed.

 

"Let's go," Olivia whispered to her, putting a finger to her lips.

 

The dining room was still empty. Chaewon could hear Haseul in the hallway saying goodbye to Jungeun and Yerim.

 

Olivia and her were just about to leave when the door opened. Chaewon stopped dead. Yves and Chuu came in. They were holding hands, Chuu saying something funny to Yves while smiling cutely up at her. Yves put a hand to to hide her laugh.

 

Olivia didn’t try to hide, even though Chaewon uselessly pulled on her arm. Her gaze was fixed on Yves, burning with a terrible anger and hatred.

 

No sooner had Yves looked at her then Olivia threw out her hand. Yves stumbled backwards, her hands flying to her chest, and looked at Chaewon in the instant before she burst into flames. She looked betrayed.

 

"No!" Chuu screamed, flying towards Olivia with her fists raised.

 

Olivia flicked one finger upwards. On her command, black faceless forms erupted from the floor, shattering the wood. Two gripped Chuu so she dangled between them, where she continued to fight fruitlessly.

 

Two more grabbed Chaewon and hauled her to stand next to Chuu. Chuu turned to Chaewon. Her love for Yves was written all over her face. She was plainly devastated and frantic with loss.

 

"How could you do it?" She demanded. "How could you free the devil?"

 

"The devil?" Chaewon stuttered out.

 

Olivia laughed. The sound was lower then Chaewon had expected. She stepped forwards to where Yves was writhing in agony on the floor and reached through the fire, forcing Yves to look at her.

 

"Yes, Chaewon. You thought this pathetic creature was Satan herself? She could never replace me."

 

Yves moaned into her hand. Olivia dropped her. "Ugh, how disgusting. I can't believe this came from me."

 

Chuu screamed at her. "Shut up! Make it stop! Please don't hurt her any more, we didn't know, she was just tried to help me."

 

"Oh, when you clapped me in irons and threw me a dungeon you didn't know? What exactly didn't you know? You didn’t know that you can't take a random demon and make her the devil, not even if you convince Jinsoul to go along with it?"

 

"We thought…" Chuu's voice trailed off. "Well, we were able to make a human, so we thought…"

 

Olivia walked around Chaewon in a slow circle. "Yes, you attempted to make a human. But it's not quite right, is it? I mean, look at this thing. My poor Yves, you tried your best, but I just don't think it's believable. I did a much better job with you, Jiwoo."

 

Chuu struggled harder. "Don't call me Jiwoo!"

 

"Sorry, Chuu. Stupid name."

"Yves likes it," Chuu said pathetically.

 

"Speaking of, I'm sick of her whining," Olivia approaching Yves again. "I made you, demon, and I can get rid of you just as easy."

 

In a blink of an eye, Yves was gone. Only the scorched earth and Chuu's screams remained of her.

 

"I don't understand," Chaewon said. Because it was the only thing she could think to say.

 

"See? This is why I say she's not quite right. The humans aren't supposed to ask this many questions."

 

Since Chuu was in no state to listen to her, she turned to Chaewon. "Let me explain. I'm Satan. Obviously. Mostly, the things I told you are true. When I started this cycle with Yerim, I made Yves as a demon to help me and Chuu was the human on my side.

 

"But Yves and Chuu fell in love. Yves betrayed me, blabbed everything to Chuu, and the two of them teamed up to throw me in a pit and replace me as the new devil. They then created you to do Chuu's old job. It was very embarrassing. Any questions?"

 

"They… created me?"

 

"Yes. Technically I suppose I created you, since I created Yves and she created you."

"But I wasn't created. I'm real!"

 

Olivia laughed again. "Darling, you're not any more real then Chuu here is. You're significantly less real then Vivi. You're just a pawn in my game."

 

When Chaewon shook her head, still refusing to believe it, she grew more annoyed. "Really? What's the name of your village? What are your parent's names? You're seventeen. Did you go to school before coming here? Did you leave early or did you graduate? How did you get a job here?"

 

"I don't…. I don't know," Chaewon was forced to admit.

 

How could she not know these things? She supposed she had just never stopped to consider them.

 

Olivia sighed. "Come on."

 

The rest of the family was in the living room. Heejin was sitting on a chair, with Yeojin playing at her feet. Hyunjin and Haseul stood behind her. They all looked up when they saw Olivia. Haseul glanced at a tall cupboard in the hallway, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

 

Olivia yanked open the door of the cupboard. Vivi tumbled out. Her back was ripped open, wires and strange metallic cogs spilling onto the carpet.

 

"I suppose this is your fault." Olivia said to Chuu.

 

"Yves's," Chuu said quietly.

 

"Right, well. Yes." For a moment, Olivia stood still, looking at the pieces of Vivi at her feet.

 

"Why did you kill her?" Chaewon asked Chuu.

 

"She was telling you to find Olivia," Chuu tried a broken, teary smile. "We wanted to win the game and be happy. We were so glad when we created you- you were like our daughter-"

 

"Oh, shut up," Olivia said, and waved her hand vaguely in Chuu's direction. She vanished without a trace.

 

Chaewon was left gasping like a fish. The living room now had only Heejin left in it. Chaewon knew there wasn't another exit and could easily imagine where Hyunjin and Yeojin had gone. If Heejin really was God, they were probably in the same place as Yves and Chuu. Nowhere.

 

She was next. As Olivia's eyes came to rest on her, she opened - to beg, plead, scream, she wasn't sure what. She never got the chance.

 

When Olivia turned back to Heejin, the house was gone. They stood on a rooftop. Olivia spread her fingers, feeling Haseul's presence in the air.

 

"I think we should stop playing the game," she said.

 

Heejin shrugged. "It's a shame. I always liked it."

 

"Of course you did. It was biased towards you. You were always going to win. I'm sick of that."

 

"So you'd prefer to have open combat?" Heejin tilted her head, a smile playing across her lips. "Do you really think you can beat me?"

 

Olivia tensed, ready to spring. "Let's find out. You've been winning for too long, God. It's time to change that."

 

Heejin glanced to the side. Choerry stood watching them, Kim Lip and Jinsoul standing behind her.

 

"You're ready to referee?" Kim Lip asked Choerry gently. The girl nodded.

 

Heejin lifted slightly off the ground. The earth trembled, and the ultimate battle began.