It’s funny how humans react in different situation. Take me as an example. With calm movements, I placed the white envelope inside the pocket of my apron and I kindly smiled to the one that handed it to me.

“Thank you for bringing it all the way here. May I invite you in?”

He began laughing. And even though it was a soft sound, something about it didn’t appeal to me at all. It was bitter and hallow. It was hiding something that only the mind knew. “Excuse me miss for saying this, but I don’t think you really want to do that,”his voice traveled through the darkness of the summer night, sparkling like the hot ashes when the wind blows. “So I will politely decline your invitation, miss. Have a nice evening.”

And with that, the steps went away, sounding awfully empty on the alley of stones that led to the black gate.

“Who was that?”I asked Luhan as we stepped inside, locking the door behind us.

He shrugged. “The Mayor said that he’s a newcomer that wanted to speak to the landlord of the House. He was really silent all the way and there was something about him that gave me chills down my spine. I don’t even want to think about it anymore! What’s for dinner?”

“The lunch…”

♃~✵~♃

“Goodnight,”I said before closing the door of my apartment later on that night. Through the door, I could clearly hear Luhan’s steps down the staircase, all disappointed. Tonight, like any other nights, we would have been reading together. But the envelope was like the pulse of a heart inside my pocket…

I took out the white piece of paper that held so much inside and put it on the table. With steady fingers, I ed the corsage of the dress and let it slip down my body, leaving me dressed only in the white and thin, silky négligée. The toilet mirror was showing a pale figure with a slim body guessed through the thin négligée. The long, brownish hair was falling on my shoulders in cascades of dark locks, all the way to the end of my back. Two lines like pencil-drawn on my white face were moving above the big eyes. The lashes were curved up and sparkling like being touched by tears. And I was trembling.

I took a sit on the small tabouret, afraid that my knees will no longer sustain me. My fingers grabbed the brush, but my eyes were looking at the white envelope that seemed to shine on the brown wood of the table. It was tempting me…

“Dear Eun Rim,

I can call you that, right? Dear, dear Eun Rim…

It seems to me that only yesterday I left the House with you in the hallway, closing the door behind me as I stepped outside in the rain, taking a path that was so lonely and gloomy. And even though it was the last of September, the memory refuses to leave my head. You cried. I know you did, ‘coz I myself cried too. And here I am, writing this letter on a piece of paper that I stole from one of the Generals… I know. It’s one letter after 9 months of silence. And still, I can not stop myself from writing them down even though I promised myself not to.

Eun Rim, I left the comfort of the House and of your presence just to wonder around Europe, hoping that I will find eventually the other Portals. When I left, the mission didn’t seem impossible at all. That’s why I left in the first place, leaving you all alone with Luhan. But time showed me that war and cruelty work against humanity. And I regretted…

You maybe wondering what was I doing all this time and why the silence. I enrolled