It was now six in the evening. Prying the curtains open, you could see that the sky was gradually darkening. In the distance, you saw a group of children flying colourful kites. Against the grey skies were prominent colours of orange, yellow, blue and green. They must be happy. You thought pessimistically, imagining the life you had led just hours ago. Freedom never seemed further away. In the past hour, you had already put away all your belongings into the huge walk-in-wardrobe that had more than enough capacity for your limited clothes. In fact, you barely did any packing since an attendant insisted on doing anything related to manual labor. How is packing my own stuff “Manual Labour”??!! Any attempts of protest were met with polite explanations that repeated itself along the lines of you needing to watch yourself because of your new status. It was only after she was satisfied that she finally left the room, leaving you to yourself and your incessant thoughts. It’s not her fault. She’s just following orders. You sighed, knowing that you had a long road ahead to adapt to this new kind of lifestyle.  I don’t think I can get used to this. Curling up on the daybed under the windowsill, you hugged your knees as you stared out blankly at the horizon. “Fairytales make things look so perfect. One day a pauper becomes a princess, and she lives happily ever after in riches. How would the pauper adapt to such a change? No one ever writes anything about it. And.. What if the pauper didn’t need riches? What if she never wanted to be a princess? What if... She was happy living life as she did?” you muttered under your breath, the answers to your question lost infinitely.

You rested your head on your knees. Everything was weighing down on you, and imaginary burdens threatened to crush you. Afraid, you shut your eyes abruptly, attempting to calm yourself down.  At that moment, you suddenly noticed that there was music in the air. With a heightened sense of hearing, you noticed that it was coming from the hallway. The voice was warm, deep and full of emotion. Even though its source was too far away for you to decipher the words behind the song, it seemed to touch you immensely. I wonder where it’s coming from. Intrigued, you momentarily dismissed prior weary thoughts as you focused intensely on the music. Slowly, you got up from the bed and advanced carefully towards the door. Turning the doorknob gently, you poked your head out of the room. Glancing left and right, you realized that the hallway was empty. I guess the coast is clear. You closed your eyes again and managed to gauge the direction that the sound was coming from. You could hear it more clearly now. The rises and dips in the melody was accompanied by a strong but controlled male tenor. Slowly, you creeped down the hallway, in the direction of the music. Soon you stopped at a door beside your room. It was ajar, and after leaning your ear against the wooden door, you could finally confirm that the music was coming from the inside. Should I? You pondered; conflicted at the tempting comfort the music seemed to bring you.  With a deep breath, you peeped through the ajar door, hoping to find the source of your comfort. With the limited view you accessed, you immediately noticed that the room was a bedroom. In fact, its interior structure was exactly like yours. Only, the room was painted in shades of blue and black. In the corner of the room, was a shelve of displays. Upon further inspection, it was a collection of toy cars and legos. It’s a boy’s room?! Your suspicion was confirmed when your eyes swept across the room, and landed on a figure seated on the swivel chair. The view of a broad back, and short black hair shocked you. Gulping, the first reaction you had was to disappear quickly back into your own room before he realized you were peeping. However, you were stopped when he started singing along to the instrumental playing from the laptop in front of him. It’s him. It’s his voice that comforted me. You froze in your tracks, mesmerized at the same familiar tender voice. After belting out two bars of the melody, he suddenly stopped singing. “I can see you, you know”, a clear male voice snapped you out of your thoughts. OH CRAP. Before you could run away, he spun around on his swivel chair to face you. The first thing you remember was thinking of how his appearance matched his tender and clear voice. He had black hair and bangs that he would frequently sweep out of his face. His eyes were brown and rather big for a guy. He also had a chiseled face, and a sharp chin that only seemed to make him look more attractive. However, painted on his handsome face was an expression of suspicion. “You must be Mi Young?” he asked plainly. His neutral tone snapped you out of your trance again. “Urm… Yeah”, you replied as you looked at the ground, clearly embarrassed to be caught snooping around. “I’m Min Hyuk, your step-brother”, he replied with a tinge of anticipation. “My.. My.. Stepbrother?!” you exclaimed, unable to control your shock at the unexpected identity of the stranger. “Look, I’m as surprised as you are alright. But Dad’s seriously sick, and if he wants to meet his long-lost daughter, we can’t deny him of this wish, can’t we?” he asked, irritation apparent on his striking features. Gulping in nervousness, you nodded hesitantly. In response to his harsh tone, slight tears started to well up in your eyes. “Good, so let’s all try to live peacefully alright?” he whispered with a softer tone upon noticing your hurt expression. Gripped by a loss of words, you could only nod fearfully in response. Tears threatened to fall from your brown eyes, but you were determined not to cry. I’ve embarrassed myself enough without having to cry in front of him. And when the first tears rolled down your pale cheeks, you were already halfway down the hall as you fled back to the solace of your room. I really don’t know why I’m here. It’s hard enough despite dad and aunt’s kind intentions. But it’s so hurtful to know that I’m not wanted here. I’m just another stranger.