Chapter 2 - The Talk 

“I’m up, mom. Stop screaming.” 

I groaned as another round of screaming started from downstairs. 

“Lee Yoonmi! Get up you lazy girl. We have guests coming over soon.” 

I buried my head deeper into the pillow. After last night’s rowdy party and then the extra run back to the house has left me exhausted and cranky. Considering I returned just before 5 in the morning and my wake up call started at 9, I can proudly say I’m utterly screwed. I might just have to take a bunch of pills to get rid of the incoming headache that will soon plague me. 

“I’m up, mom. Please stop screaming.” I growled, not bothering to open my eyes. “See, I’m getting ready.” I made some uncoordinated movements with my arms on the bed before dropping them like a sack of potatoes. 

“Hurry up!” I smiled. That’s usually the warning I get before she leaves me alone for an hour. 

“Okay.” I said into the pillow before changing sides to get into a more comfortable spot. 

“I mean it Lee Yoonmi!” 

“Ugghhhh... MOM!” I whined pulling myself up from my warm comfort. What is wrong with this women? I just want to sleep. I need to sleep. Three hours of sleep is not fun. Screw the guests. I don’t want to meet them. They can go and fu— 

I stopped. 

“No.” I exclaimed as I suddenly remembered who was coming today. “No, this can’t be happening.” I quickly picked up my phone and looked at the time. It’s 10am. 

“” I’m so screwed. 

You see, today I’m getting a special recruitment visit from a very prestigious academy in all of Seoul. 

The Celestials Academy. I know the name is not that grand but still. It’s one of the world’s best academy that houses the best of best. All of its graduates are now big companies CEOs and major share holders, ruling the world by the tip of their fingers. Infact, my whole family has been to this academy. My parents. My grandparents. My great-grand parents. My great great-grand parents. It’s a tradition. So it’s obvious, that I, Lee Yoonmi, the only child of my father would attend this place. 

THAUK! 

I winced as my foot hit the dresser. I totally deserve this. I have been prancing around the room trying to get ready for the special visit, but ended up making more of a mess than the actual dressing. I looked at my toe in worry. It was red. And it was throbbing in pain. 

“!” I cursed as I tried to hold down my scream. “Deep breadths, Yoonmi. Deep breadths.” Why does this always happen to me? 

I was about to give my dresser a deathly glare is when a flash of black stopped me. There was something lying at the foot of it. Exactly where I had happened to hit my foot. 

“Oh, what the hell? What are you doing here?” I grumbled picking up the familiar looking playing card. “Shouldn’t you be on the table?” 

I looked at my study table where I had last placed this card. It was empty. The window behind it was wide open. The wind must have flown it all the way across the room. Just like it nearly took my eye out last night. 

“Ya! Are you a trouble magnet or something?” I rambled as placed it on the dresser and continued to fix my jeans. “You should know, I blame you for this. Because of you I had to take a detour last night in heels to escape your little fans. Nearly broke my ankle from all the running. And now I’m super late for my interview that will possibly decide my future in the Lee family.” 

Is it weird that I’m talking to a card? Something tells me it can hear me. 

Looking at the mirror, I sighed sadly. My eyes were red and puffy from the lack of sleep. My lips were chapped due to dehydration and my skin colour had turned two shades darker than normal. I am well and truly ed. 

“Again, I blame you for this.” I repeated as I picked up the card again. As predicted, it was larger than a normal playing card. The sides were curved and there were specks of small white galaxy like blobs that covered the dark background. It seemed like the blobs were moving and twinkling just like what a normal galaxy would look like from under a telescope. The silver diamond in the middle of the black wispy background was shinning for some reason. The sun rays from the nearest window sparkling the diamond like the real thing. The surface felt smooth. There was also some writing underneath it. Two characters. They looked pretty similar to the old Hangul characters that was taught to us in history class last year. Hmmm. I might have to refer to my  notes to see what it means. Meanwhile, I flipped the card around. The other side was blank white. But I could see faint outlines of vines forming around the border of the card. They had a light green tint to them. 

“You’re such a weird card.” I hummed, narrowing my eyes slightly. Something is not normal about this card. It was warm. Like it was buzzing with energy. As if it’s waiting for something. 

“Why were they after you? Heck, why did I even decided to pick you up? You do know Song Mina is going to kill me if she finds out I took her precious card. Actually on second thought, I don’t regret taking you. I don’t like her anyway. So I don’t really care if she’s still out there crying over her harem of boys to find you. Besides, I can see you are in a very bad shape. All these tears and rips. It makes me feel sad. I don’t know why.” 

It was true. The state of this card is making my heart ache. Even though the diamond was shinning, the sides and the white blank side are carved with creases and slices of lines. 

“Am I going crazy? I’m talking to a card.” I mused, shaking my head. “Yeah, I AM going crazy.” 

Suddenly, the card grew warm. A tingly feeling went through my fingers. I looked weirdly at it. 

I think I’m really going crazy. 

****** 

I looked weakly at the peas on my plate. I had just finished my breakfast and was starring at the extra big green peas that my lovely mother has decided to dump on me for some unknown reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love peas. But today, they seemed too sweet for my taste. 

“Why aren’t you eating, sweety?” 

I looked up at my father’s clean face. His face portrayed unknown worry. I couldn’t grasp what he was thinking but by the side glances that he kept giving to my fumbling mother, made me worried. They both were acting weird since the moment I have come downstairs to join them. 

“They’re too sweet.” I said, dropping my chopsticks loudly on the table. Unknowingly, my hand went to the side pocket of my jeans where I ha