Time passed slowly when one was suffering.

Three months had passed since Jaekyung was sent to the Land of men and it felt like three years. She had done the same things everyday. Clean, get scolded, clean, and get scolded. She woke before the sun rose in the sky and slept past midnight.

She was physically tired all the time, but more so mentally. The other maids took advantage of her effective working speed which was attributed by her powers. They pushed the worst and most tiring chores to her all the time and Jaekyung had no choice but to accept them because she was the youngest with the least experience there.

She tried to tell herself to be strong, because apparently, she was going to spend a long time there, and if luck wasn't on her side, the rest of the life. She had to adapt to life.

But she still found herself crying herself to sleep every night. She had to hide her cries and sobs under the blanket from her roommate, trying not the wake the latter. She hadn't slept peacefully for a long time and she dreamt of home, her father, Chunji, f(x) girls, and Infinite every day at night.

And not to mention L. He was on her mind all the time. She never knew how painful it was to be apart from someone you loved and she definitely knew the pain now.

Jaekyung didn't talk for a long time. She fell into a depressed and saddened state and didn't open to talk unless necessary. She didn't mix with the other maids and they disliked her for her pretty looks and "cocky" behavior.

It wasn't long until Jaekyung was met with a shock.

Some of the maids were in the garden, cutting the weeds and arranging the flowers. They had to do such work when the princes and officers weren't about. They didn't like women, and especially lowly ones like them. If you met one on their bad mood....it was disaster.

Jaekyung was cutting weeds at the side. The other maids were gossiping as usual and she didn't join in. She never did. Why should she concern herself with the lives of other people she didn't know or didn't care about? It was plain stupid in her eyes.

"Hey did you hear what happened to Sujin?" one of the maids asked. "A shred of her rag was left in Minister Kim's room and he was furious when he saw. He made her kneel in front of his room for two days straight without food! It's horrible!"

"That's so scary!" the other maids shrieked. "We must be careful of Minister Kim and steer out of his way!"

Jaekyung just continued with her work quietly. She sighed and glanced up at the sky. It was blue. A beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds, with birds flying freely in the sky.

What right did nature have to continue being so beautiful and peaceful when her life was in a mess? Life was so unfair.

Jaekyung didn't realize that the chatterings of her fellow maids had stopped and she continued standing there in a daze. *Myungsoo oppa..*

"When will you move out of the way and let me pass?" an angry voice asked.

Jaekyung spun round in shock and saw Minister Kim glaring at her. She looked at where she was standing and cursed herself mentally. She had stood in the middle of the path day dreaming and Minister Kim had been waiting for her to move out of the way.

She bowed immediately and scrambled to the side. But Minister Kim wasn't satisfied. He was pissed and he hated maids like her, women without any powers and use in the society whatsoever.

"Is that all? Not a word of apology?" he snarled. "Get on your knees and apologize! NOW!"

Jaekyung fell to her knees. "Jwesonghabni..." Jaekyung's eyes widened. had opened but no voice was coming out. She croaked and tapped anxiously, trying to cough some sort of sound out.

Minister Kim tapped his feet urgently. "Well?"

Jaekyung panicked. What was happening? Why couldn't she speak? Why wasn't her voice working anymore?

She began coughing and squeezing desperately, puzzled and confused. *What's going on? Why can't I talk?* Nothing came out of except for a breathy drawl.

Minister Kim grew angrier and angrier as he waited. But he clearly wasn't getting an answer from her and he felt pissed beyond words. "Don't get up until I say so!" he ordered, and stormed away.

Jaekyung watched him go desperately and tapped . She still couldn't talk and she had no idea why. The other maids came over sympathatically and patted her shoulder. "Why didn't you just apologize? That would have made everything easier!" one of them asked.

Jaekyung looked at them sadly with pain in her eyes. She opened and tried to form words but no sound came out. She pointed to and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Guys...I think she can't speak anymore." one of the maids whispered in shock.

Jaekyung nodded and lowered her head. Another maid gasped. "Do you think it's because she didn't use her voice for too long, it didn't work anymore?"

Jaekyung didn't listen as the other maids discussed about her situation. She felt helpless and vulnerable. Even if all the powers in the world, she felt weak.

She recalled the last time she talked was...two and a half months ago. Her fingers trailed down her neck and she closed her eyes. *It doesn't matter anyway. I don't talk now. It's no big deal being a mute. I'm living like a mute anyway.* She bit her lip sadly. *Maybe if I wasn't so sad all the time, this wouldn't have happened.*

The next time Jaekyung woke up, she found herself lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. She sat up groggily and looked around, squinting.

She saw a figure stand up from a chair at the side of the room and come over to her. Jaekyung's eyes focused on a women in her forties with a warm smile and laughing eyes. "Hey, Jaekyung right?" she helped Jaekyung up. "You fainted."

Jaekyung rubbed her eyes and blinked confusedly. *When?*

"You were kneeling at the garden for more than fifteen hours in the sun before you finally fainted." the woman told her before Jaekyung could ask. "I found you and brought you here." she bit her lip and looked at the bags on the ground.

Jaekyung's eyes widened when she realized those bags were hers. "You're to share a room with me now." the woman told her. "Your roommate doesn't want to share a room with you now that you've offended Minister Kim." she broke the news gently. "I hope you don't mind sharing the room with an old maid like me." she smiled.

Jaekyung shook her head and smiled. "It's okay." she mouthed.

The woman looked at her for a moment and sadness flashed in her eyes. "So they weren't lying. You really lost your voice?" she sat beside Jaekyung.

Jaekyung nodded and played with her fingers. She sighed softly. *Why had I lost my voice all of a sudden? Why has this happened?*

A warm hand patted her shoulder and she looked up. "It's okay, Jaekyung." the woman smiled. "It must be some sort of emotional barried you're going through now. It'll go away."

"In the mean time," she held out her hand. "I'm Madam Jung. I hope you don't mind me as your roommate."

Jaekyung grinned and took Madam Jung's hand. *Thank you, Madam Jung.*