Jimin’s takes a deep breath, eyes closed as the morning breeze blows past. In the mid-summer month, the weather was hot in the town of Jaesong, a small town, a few miles away from the Palace. With the sun rising, he feared the heat in the evening, so he would usually go fishing early in the morning, as well as catch the sunrise, the orange hue overtaking the dark cloud, was his favorite thing to see in the morning. Watching the sunrise, made him calmed, along with the birdsongs and serenity from the river. Aside from fishing, he was able to put in some work in perfecting his new dance, a dance, his team and he have been practicing for a month in hopes they get chosen to perform for the King.

He glances over at the three large salmon that were easy to catch, smiling, proud at his accomplishment. Jimin sighs, picking the basket, if he was late in bringing in the fish for breakfast, his mother will be upset with him.

 

As he approaches the gates of the orphanage, Lily Flowers, the door swings open and his younger sister, Dahyun, came running toward him, excited and laughing. He was the oldest one among many children at the orphanage, his mother and siblings were not his biological family. The woman, they all refer to as the mother, Mrs. Yuri was the head of the orphanage, she used to run it with her husband, a Korean man who died due to illness. Jimin was brought to Lily Flower when he was a fetus, so this family was all he knew of family, and he was content because he had everything and more.

“Older brother!” exclaims Dahyun, taking his hand, grinning.

“What?”

“You will not believe it,” she says, “We passed the test, we were chosen.” Jimin’s eyes widen upon hearing what Dahyun said.

“No way.”

“Here,” she says, waving a folded letter in front of his face. Jimin puts the basket down, taking the letter. He takes a deep breath, clearing his throat.

“Dear, Lily Flowers Dancers, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to perform at King Chang-wook’s thirty-first birthday. Please arrive at the palace on the fourth of the seventh month, at the hour of ten in the morning. A ride will be provided for you all.”

Jimin laughs, glancing up at Dahyun, his heartbeat increasing, not believing what he just read, “This is incredible, did mother see it?”

“Of course,” says Dahyun, “The fourth is a week from now.”

“Yes, you have one week to finish your sewing,” says Jimin, tapping her head with the paper, “This is an opportunity we cannot afford to lose.”

“We’ll be rich after this,” says Dahyun.

“We’ll have enough money and gold to last us a lifetime,” says Jimin, “Bring the basket to mother, I’m gonna go wash.”

 

After washing off, Jimin walks over to where everyone gathered around the table. On the table laid bowls of Salmon, Rice, gochujang paste, crispy salmon, sesame watercress, and kimchi.

“Wow, you have overdone it,” says Jimin, taking a seat across from his mother,

“A well-deserved celebrity dish,” she says, gazing at him.

“What?”

“You all worked hard to get this job,” she says, gazing at him, Suzy, and Taemin, the Lily Flower dancers, with Jimin being the main dancer, but everyone equally putting in the work, without them, he doubts he would have been motived to keep dancing. Their mother smiles, eyes sparkling, filled with excitement, “You should all be proud, this will get you the recognition that you deserve and will get you jobs worth of doing, instead of performing for drunk disrespectful men.”

“Not to mention good paying jobs,” says Taemin, as they all burst out laughing.

“Yes,” says their mother, “As well as money.”

“We must be well prepared before going to the palace,” says Jimin, “No more lazing around, everyone has to put in the work.”

“We are all going to help as well,” says one of the children.

“Yes, while we practice and prepare, you guys help mother around the house but focus on your studies too.”

“Yes, older brother!”

“Alright, enough chitchatting,” says their mother, “Let’s eat, we have a lot of work to do.”

“Yes, dig it everyone!” says Suzy.

Jimin chuckles picking up his chopstick, and bowl, glancing over at everyone.

 I will work hard I promise. You will all get everything you desire. Fancy clothing, books, shoes, everything.

***

A Week Later

After a week of practice, the day to go to the palace to perform for the King has finally arrived. Filled with excitement, he was restless unable to sleep and was up at the peak of the sunrise. The sun added an orange glow to the morning light, a perfect sunrise. The coach that was going to get them to the palace was set to arrive at eight in the morning, and it was now six, just two more hours.

“Why’re you waking us up so early?” whines Suzy, as she yawns.

“Early?” says Jimin, “You have to get ready and eat before the coach arrives, do you know how far the palace is?”

“Still?”

“Quit whining,” says Taemin, tying his hair back, “Do as your told, we have no time to waste.”

“Older brother,” says Dahyun, standing at the doorway.

“Dahyun?” says Jimin, “Why’re you up so early?”

“Actually, I’ve not slept.”

“What!” they exclaim at the same time.

“Well, I had to make sure your outfits are perfect,” she says, “I stayed up all night working on them, making sure they were outstanding. You’re going to perform in front of the King, Queen, Princes, Princess, and nobles, you must look elegant.”

Jimin smiles, approaching her, he locks eyes with her, she had dark circles, she really has not slept. Dahyun was in charge of their clothing, every outfit they wore to perform were made by her. Jimin smiles, his eyes filled with a gentle concern and pride, he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm, as she hugs him back.

“Thank you for working so hard,” he says, in a mere whisper.

They let of each other, and Dahyun chuckles, “Do you guys want to see the clothing”

“Of course,” says Suzy, gently patting her on the head.

 

They follow her to her room, as she opens the door, three sets of clothing hang on a rack. She laughs,

“The blue ones are for Suzy and Taemin,” she says, “and the pink one is yours, Jimin, to match with your cherry blossom hair.” Jimin chuckles, studying the silk-like outfits, they were majestically beautiful, and the flower embroidery around the neck made it look like a royal outfit.

“You’ve truly outdone yourself,” he says.

“It’s loose yet fitting so you guys can be comfortable, and also a little touch,” she says, walking over, “Half Face masks.”

“Masks?” says Suzy and Taemin, exchanging glances, confused.

Jimin stares at her, “That must be expensive to buy, why?”

“Well, at first I was just buying flowers at the marketplace and then I heard two girls talking about the King.”

“And?”

“And well, they said the King has an unlimited lust for anything young and beautiful and takes them as his prized possessions in the Haram, the mask will hide your faces.”

the room falls silent as they exchanged glances before bursting out laughing.

…

“I’m serious, I don’t want the King to take you guys from us, especially you older brother, there are many people courting you, men and woman. What if the King falls for you?”

“But it’s only a half face masked,” teases Suzy, “It’ll only hide half of our face.”

“It’s the only ones I could afford with the money I had left.”

“Stop teasing her,” says Jimin, “Dahyun, we are going to perform, that’s all, the King will be busy with all the other beautiful young nobles, what would he want with commoners like us?”

“Pinky Promise?” says Dahyun, holding out her pinky finger.

“Promise,” says Jimin, intertwining his pinky with hers, “Now, let’s go eat breakfast, the carriage will arrive shortly.”

“I’ll pack these neatly, so they don’t get ruin,” says Dahyun.

“Hurry up.”

 

It wasn’t long until the carriage that was sent to take them to the palace arrived. They stood outside as the thundering of hooves came to a stop in front of them with a brown carriage. The old man sitting in front of the carriage stares at them as they exchange glances.

“Are you the Lily Flowers Dancers?” asks the man, his voice loud and threatening.

“Yes sir, we are?” answers Jimin, “Would you like- “

“We should get going, we have a long ride ahead of us,” says the man, glaring at them with no interest in exchanging any more words.

Jimin turns to his mother, who places a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze, she was concerned but did not utter a word.

Jimin sighs, “Let’s go, little ones focus on your studies and help mother with chores.”

 

They each took turns embracing their mother and the small ones before approaching the small carriage.

“Make sure you have food and water,” says the man, as they put the wooden chest inside the carriage on the ground, “You may address me as Lee if you have any questions, we should arrive at the palace by nightfall.”

That long,” mutters Jimin, getting inside, and sitting beside Dahyun.

 

***

With the setting sun came a tangerine hue across the sky, Jimin stared at it from the mirror. The others were fast asleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes. Anxious and excited, this is the first time they have been so far away from their town, and he wanted to take in every single thing. So far all they passed was empty fields and trees through a forest. Town of Jaesong is located on the north side of the Palace, it is two days walk, or so he heard but it was faster with a horse and a carriage, the distances seem shorter.

He nervously touches his silver cross pendant necklace, calming himself down.

“Everything will be alright,” he mutters underneath his breath, staring out the glass window.

 

“We are here,” says Lee, the carriage driver.

Not sure when he closed his eyes, Jimin quickly sits up, staring out the window, it was dark except for the lamps and moon illuminating the place. He gently taps Dahyun on the shoulder, and she mumbles something as she opens her eyes,

“Wake up,” says Jimin to Suzy and Taemin.

“We’re already here?” asks Taemin.

“Looks like it.”

 

They get out of the carriage with their wooden chest that has their belongings.

“Wait here,” says Lee, walking up to the small steps towards the house. Jimin looks around, he couldn’t make out much. They watch as he knocks on the wooden door. He glances over at them, and they smile at him, exhausted from the journey. In a few minutes, the large wooden door opens, just a little and a young girl, maybe a servant by the way she was dressed. Jimin watches her as the carriage driver, Lee says something to her, pointing to them. She stares at them, and nods her head,

“You may come in,” she says, “Madam has been waiting for your arrival.”

“Let’s go,” says Jimin. Taemin picks up the wooden chest, going up the stairs. Jimin stops, turning to the old man, Lee, “Thank you for bringing us, safely.”

“Just doing my job,” says the man, turning around and walking away.

“How rude,” says Dahyun as the carriage leaves.

“Come on in,” says the girl.

 

They follow her inside, it was bigger than appears from the outside, it was a large country house inside, with many rooms, it was quiet. The girl leads them to a larger area of the house where everyone seemed to have gathered, on the floor, chitchatting.

“Madam, the Lily Flowers are here,” says the girl, without bothering to address them or introduce herself, she walks away as an elder heavy woman in a red, elegant night dressed made her way towards them.

“Good evening,” they greet as the woman stands in front of them.

“Good evening, she says crossing her arms, “Your invitation papers.”

“Oh,” says Jimin, gesturing for Taemin to take the paper they received. He takes it and hands it to her. She reads the paper and folds it, looking at them,

“I was told the Lily Flowers consists of three dancers, you’re four?”

“Oh,” says Jimin, “Dahyun is not a dancer, she is in charge of our clothing and makeup.”

“The Royal Entertainment house has all qualified people in charge of that,” she says.

“Um…she is already here madam,” says Jimin, “We didn’t know, please forgive us.”

“Besides no one can dress my siblings better than me,” says Dahyun.

Jimin glares at her, “Dahyun.”

The woman snickers, “Alright, there is no rule that goes against using your own people, but you will have to share a bed with her, we only prepared the room for three people.”

“That’s fine,” says Jimin.

“You may address as Madam, she says, “Welcome to the Royal Entertainment House.”

Jimin clears his throat, “I’m Jimin, this is Taemin and Suzy, and she is Dahyun.”

“Lily Flowers? That’s a strange name for a troupe.”

“It’s named after our orphanage,” answers Jimin.

“You’re all siblings?”

“Yes, in a sense,” says Jimin, “We were all raised at Lily Flowers.”

“Alright, it’s late, you must be tired from the ride, you may go to your room, we have a busy day ahead of us,” she says, “Eun-Sang, show them to their room.”

“Yes Madam,” says the same girl from before name Eun-Sang.

 

The room consisted of three small beds, barely big enough for one person. They glance at each other,

“It’s small,” says Eun-sang.
“No, it’s fine,” says Jimin, “Thank you.”

Eun -sang stares at him in silence for a few seconds, “You’re really gorgeous.”

Jimin chuckles, shyly, “Thank you.”

“Hmm, no wonder why you guys are the last performers.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last performers are always the most beautiful and remembered,” she says, smiling, “See you tomorrow, have a good night.”

“Good night,” says Jimin.

They watch her as she walks out, closing the door behind her.

“Is it just me or all the people here weird?” says Taemin.

“Let’s get some sleep,” says Jimin, “You can share a bed with me Dahyun- “

“No way,” says Dahyun, “You need your rest, you’re the main dancer, you cannot be exhausted. I’ll sleep with Suzy.”

“Huh? Don’t I need to rest as well?” says Suzy, offended.

“Hmm, we’re both small, so we can hug each other to sleep,” says Dahyun.

 

They all burst out laughing.

 

“So, we won’t have time to sightsee,” says Dahyun.

“No wandering around,” says Jimin, “We need to be invisible and not attract attention when we are not performing, is that clear?”

“Okay.”

 

***

The whole day was filled with music and decoration, and plenty of food. Even though they could not go on court grounds until it was time to perform. They didn’t wander around and instead, they took the available time in the morning to practice with their backup dancers. They were two performance, and they were the last time, Eun- Sang was right, being the last performers is most important because all focus will be on them to please the Royal family and all the guests. Depending on how well they do tonight will determine their future in the Entertainment world.

 

As the time slowly came, Jimin and the others, all dressed, waited in the back until Madam give them the single to go in. Jimin’s heart pounded in his chest, as Taemin and Suzy paced back and forth. He caresses his necklace, taking in a deep breath, this was it. All those months of practice have brought them to this moment.

“Nervous?” asks Dahyun.

“A little,” says Jimin, chuckling.

“When they see you, they will surely be spellbound,” she says, “You were born to dance older brother, all of you.”

“For Lily Flower, for mom, and for you guys,” says Jimin, chuckling, hoping his nervousness eases up.

“Alright,” says Madam, “Get in formation, as soon as they are done with the introduction, you go in.”

“Yes, Madam!”

“Do not embarrass this house, is that clear?”

“Yes, Madam!”

 

Just as they were instructed as soon as the introduction paused, in formation, they quickly made their way to the dance floor, paused with Jimin in the front, Taemin and Suzy behind him and followed by the other dancers. Jimin takes a deep breath, as lights twinkled, shining on him, with his Black Purple White Red Pink Half Face, silk shirt with flower embroidery and white pants, he was shining. He could feel the silence in the air and the curious, judgmental and adoring eyes on them, but he didn’t focus on that. All he wanted to do was dance, and so he did. As the music began, so did the dancers

Each step and movement was filled with poetry, their masks hiding their features, yet seeming to show glimpses of dark, flashing eyes beyond, flowing in graceful and seduction, bringing the non-vocal interpretation of the beats, of the soft strings, in a way the audience can understand.

 

As the choreography comes to end, with them bowing down to the King, Jimin scans the room with his eyes, breathing hard within rhyme to his heart, beating rapidly. He glances up briefly, at the King who sat with his family, the Queen, and two sons,  just feet away from the dance floor. I thought the King had three children, he wonders. Locking eyes with him for a brief second, the King, eyes rest, unblinking, pierced his gaze, sending a chill down his spine. He couldn’t tell whether the King was pleased with their performance or not, his face was stone cold. A soft gasp escapes Jimin as he realized who he was looking, he lowers his gaze. And just like that, it was over, and the room was filled with claps.

 

***

The rest of the celebration was not theirs to attend, so they had to go back to the Entertainment house.  They all gathered around for wine and food, mostly left over from the kitchen but it was plenty, and luxurious. A meal for a King.

“That’s was beautiful,” says Madam, “So simple yet, I’ve never seen some execute the butterfly dance that elegantly.”

“Thank you,” says Jimin, “I’m not sure the King liked it.”

“Oh, do not worry,” she says, “That man never smiles or clap for anyone but you three did an amazing job, why are not part of a royal house?”

“This was our first time performing at a palace?” says Jimin.

“First time,” says Madam, astonished, “Well, you surely kept them hypnotized, I was right to make you the last performance. I had many noble asking about you.”

“Really?” says Taemin and Suzy, at the same time, “This is awesome, soon we’ll get proper jobs.”

“Our payment?”

“Oh, you will receive it before you head out tomorrow morning,” says Madam, “I would love to have you- “

“Madam it’s a Lord, he wishes to speak with you,” interrupts one of the girls walking in the living area.

“A Lord?” says Madam, getting up from where she was sitting and heading towards the door.

 

“We did it!” says Jimin, picking a cup of wine, “Let’s drink!”

“Yes!” they all cheered.

 

Madam walks back after a few minutes with the Lord behind her, “Jimin,” she says, “He needs you to go with him.”

“Um…okay.”

“Follow me,” the Young Lord.”

 

They walked in silence, Jimin’s eyes wander around as he follows the Lord, wondering where he was taking him, but he was too afraid to ask.

They walk to the palace, the moon was shining brightly, and it a matter of minutes, they reach a door.

The Lord stops, and turns to him, “The King would like to speak with you.” Jimin gasps, shocked as his eyes widen, staring at the Lord.

“Th-the-Kin-but-wh- “

“Stop it with the questions,” glares the Lord, “The King is waiting.”

 

 As he opens the door, Jimin shook, unable to think or make sense of what was happening. Many questions went through his mind as the Lord gently pushes him inside, closing the door shut. Hands tightly clenched, he glances up, frozen, as his eyes land on the man sitting down. He gulps, his stomach tightens, remembering Dahyun’s words and rumors that are whispers in the corners of the town markets. The rumors of the King wanting and taking anyone of beauty as his concubine. Jimin takes a deep breath, hoping the King was just going to give him compliments on his performance even though a voice in the back of his head, told him that was highly impossible.

“Have a seat,” a low deep, demanding voice reverberates through Jimin's bones.

Jimin quickly, walks over and sits down on his knees, hands planted flat on his thighs, and head lowered, heart pounding in his ears. The King was a few feet away but the distance felt like a long stretch river.

“What’s your name?”

“J-J-Jimin.”

“Jimin, such a beautiful name.”

“Th-thank you, Your Highness.”

“Your performance was really outstanding, and you are exceptionally beautiful.”

Jimin gulps, fidgeting with his hands, the low rumble of the King’s voice filled with authority and power sent chills through his body.”

“Do you know why I called you here?”

Jimin remain silent, biting his lip, hoping if he doesn’t answer, the King will not seek an answer from him, Jimin exhales, glancing up at the King, as he realizes the King was waiting for an answer.

“No, your Highness,” he pips, his voice cracking, exposing his fear.

The King chuckles, “You serve me, I want you to stay here at the castle as my concubine. I’ll give you a luxury life for good. Are you okay with that?”

Jimin clenches his jaw, so the rumors are true, “Your Highness, I- “

The King interrupts, “If it’s your family you are worried about, do not worry, they will be taken care of. Such a person like me who appreciates beauty I can give you anything you desire. Of course, you’ll have to devote yourself to me.”

Jimin’s trembles, it sounds like he was being given an option and a chance to decline but he knew better. The King was not offering him everything, he was demanding and a choice was not one of them. In fact, his decision has already been made the minute the King asked him to meet him. An unfortunate fate. A complete nightmare.