“What do you mean you lost her?”

 

“She—”

 

“I don't want to hear any excuses right now. Go find her and bring her back.”

 

“Y-yes, sir.”

 

“Twenty four hours. If you fail to do so, you know the consequences.”

**

It's a waste of her time, Yewon thinks. 

 

Seeing her parents and siblings busy mingling with their relatives while she stands alone at the corner of the room with a glass of champagne in hand, she wants nothing more but to leave the venue to catch a breather. Family gatherings were once her thing but now she despises them. She dislikes how some of her relatives— especially the older ones— would give her a nasty look whenever they walk past her. She's used to it, yes, but a part of her still wonders why barely anyone tries to strike a conversation with her or acknowledges she exists in the same space as them whenever they gather.

 

As a child, Yewon was a people pleaser. She did everything her parents and siblings told her to do just to get praises out of them for listening well. At gatherings, she was extremely talkative, wanting to be close with all her cousins around her age. They got along well initially, always playing together whenever they meet up. However, when she entered middle school, her few years of effort went down the drain in an instant when they started to avoid her. It was obvious that Yewon wondered what she had done wrong for them to suddenly stop talking to her. She tried asking her parents, hoping they had an answer but they, too, ignored her as everyone else did— her mother tried to give a reason but her father had none. Her siblings were no different. A few weeks later, she suddenly found herself needing to travel to England to continue her studies there until she graduates from university.

 

Life in the other country wasn't any much better. She was bullied and teased a lot the first month for not being able to speak their language fluently. When it got too much for her to handle, her caretakers there ended up letting her be homeschooled until she was finally able to grasp and understand the English language well enough. 

 

Her personality took a huge turn once she entered high school when she realised that she had no reasons to please or make anyone proud of her when none of them barely cared about her. Not once did her own family call or text to ask how she was doing and because of that, she never visited them when it was the holidays. They never asked anyway. Since then, she didn't care what others thought of her as long as she got what she wanted. After all, it's her life and not for others to dictate how she should live. Her past isn't something she's proud of but it shaped her into the person she is today. From being someone who used to be really open about how she thinks or feels, her present self no longer sees the need to be vocal about it, thinking of it as a weakness if she does so. 

 

Now, the only reason why Yewon is at a gathering she didn't want to attend is that it's her welcome back party— that she didn't know was planned beforehand— after being away from home for 7 years. She didn’t have a choice but to go as her father was the one who personally picked her up from the airport, though, she doesn't recall telling him when she would return. In fact, she didn’t tell any of her family members that she was returning. She has a feeling that her caretakers were the ones who disclosed the information to him. One can never hide anything from the man. The authority he has over people is something Yewon started to question herself when she couldn't find the voice to go against him and not attend the party. She has a lot of hatred for him buried deep in her chest and she badly wants to lash out at him for not caring about her for the last 7 years. However, the moment he gives her the stern look— the one that she had gotten countless of times whenever she has done or about to do something defiant—, she doesn’t dare to talk back and obey him. Old habits really do die hard, Yewon comes to a conclusion. Even after long, she’s still afraid of the man she calls her father.

 

‘How is this even a welcome back party for me?’ Yewon asks herself as she finishes the remaining of her champagne in one shot. As each second passes by, her body is starting to feel lethargic mostly due to jet lag. She didn’t get to sleep much on her flight from England to South Korea, too occupied with completing the final touches of a sketch she has been working on for the past four weeks. It's nothing impressive but Yewon thinks it's decent enough for an amateur like her who only draws as a hobby. 

 

It's a portrait of a female— someone whom Yewon has never met in person or seen in any media but keeps appearing in her dream every once in a while. Her facial features are sharp, her bright eyes filled with innocence that makes Yewon want to protect her badly. She didn't think of it much the first time she saw the person in her dream. It was one that isn't worth remembering anyway— simply thinking of it as a foolish nightmare. That's until the female keeps appearing every few nights. 

 

It's the same dream every time. 

 

It frustrates her how she can't reach out or talk to her and can only watch as another person— it's always a different person— taking the female away from her. It makes her wonder if the dream is trying to tell her something and she has to figure it out herself to stop the dream from recurring. It's not a normal dream— anyone will call her crazy if she tells them her dream— and that is why she had decided to draw the female in her dream, hoping that she would be able to find the person in real life. That's if she really exists and is not only a fragment of her imagination. 

 

“You look different than when I last saw you. I almost couldn’t recognise you until I sn— until I took a closer look at you.” 

 

Tilting her head to her right, Yewon raises a brow when she sees that it’s no other than one of her older male cousins, Gunhee, approaching her. His looks didn't change much, Yewon takes note. It's only his physique that got more buffer than when she had last seen him. Even if he did change a lot, she can never forget how clear and pretty his eyes are— always b with curiosity and innocence yet this time, Yewon—being one who has been relying on body language— spots another emotion buried deep in his eyes, one that is easy to miss out if they only take a glance.

 

Emptiness.

 

Yewon wonders what had happened in the past 7 years for him to suddenly feel that way when back then, he's known for his happy-go-lucky personality. 

 

“You’re allowed to talk to me?”

 

“I don’t really care what they think anymore when they see me talking to you,” Gunhee shrugs.

 

“As if you weren’t one of them who stopped talking to me too back then,” Yewon clicks her tongue, giving the male a disapproving look. “You don’t have to try and be nice to me, you know. I’m not paying you for it.”

 

“I know. It’s my choice to talk to you.”

 

“Why are you only talking to me now then?” Noticing that a few pairs of eyes are looking at them, Yewon's expression turns into amusement when most of them are looking vilely at her as if she's doing something wrong just by talking to Gunhee. “7 years later and still the same look. I wonder what I did wrong for all of you to suddenly hate me.”

 

The judging stares don't bother her as much as the last time, having been used to the treatment. They can say whatever they want about her and she won't be offended one bit. (Not like they would even dare approach her and say all the bad things. If anything, they're cowards for talking behind her back.)

 

“It's not in my place to tell you,” Gunhee says, looking at her apologetically. “But after you were gone for years, I came to a realisation that there's no reason for me to avoid you. It's stupid; why they're avoiding you like the plague.”

 

“If it's a stupid reason, why can't you tell me what it is?”

 

Instead of being mad, Yewon is more intrigued by the newfound information. For what reason could it really be that the people who once doted on her a lot suddenly hate her in a blink of an eye? Seeing how her cousin is hesitating to tell her, she lets out a soft sigh and says, “You don't have to tell me. I'll find it out myself sooner or later.”

 

“Sorry,” the male apologises, his head hanging low out of guilt.

 

“If you have nothing else better to say or tell me, I suggest you leave me alone and talk to the rest. They don't seem happy seeing you with me.”

 

“More like they don't seem happy seeing us both. It's like twice the eyesore for them that we're here.”

 

That instantly piques Yewon's interest, causing her to be curious. She can't help but ask, “What did you do?” 

 

“Let's get out of here first,” Gunhee suggests. Seeing the skeptical look on Yewon's face, he adds, “I don't have any ulterior motive asking you to leave with me. I know you're just as uncomfortable as I am being here with no one to talk to so why don't we make an escape? I know you must be tired after a long flight. Though, it's fine with me too if you don't want to leave and continue being part of this useless family gathering.”

 

“How can I trust you?”

 

“I know you probably hate me as much as you hate the others but I swear on my life that I'm not here to harm you in any way so are you with me or—”

 

“Where do you plan on taking my sister to, Gunhee?”

 

Great, just great.  

 

Yewon preferred it better when no one was talking to her and blatantly ignoring her presence. 

 

To have her dear brother suddenly joining in the conversation when she's close to agreeing with Gunhee's offer, she knows it's harder for her to leave now when his eyes are on her.

 

“Woobin,” Gunhee greets curtly. “I thought you were busy talking to the others.”

 

Yewon frowns when the said person puts his arm around her shoulder. It makes her uncomfortable how Woobin is trying to act all friendly with her when back then, he only used her for his own benefit. Of course, she didn’t know that the last time. Her young self was still too naive to grasp the concept of being taken advantage of. She only helped him because he promised to give her anything she wanted. (Needless to say, that sounded like a good deal to a kindergartener Yewon.) Apart from that, Woobin never once played with her when she asked and always gave the excuse that he was busy. 

 

“I was… until I saw the two of you talking so I wanted to join in.” 

 

Yewon doesn’t need to look at him to know that he has his infamous smirk plastered on his face after finishing his sentence.

 

“We’re done talking actually,” she says, shrugging the arm off her shoulders. “The two of you can talk to each other now while I help myself with another glass of champagne.”

 

“But I overheard Gunhee mentioning about leaving this party. Don't you miss me, your brother? You have a lot to tell me about your time in England.”

 

“I'm not going anywhere.” Yewon looks at Woobin straight into his eyes, her tone nonchalant. “It's my welcome back party, right? It'll be rude of me to leave halfway.”