Chapter 001 || Trapped

 

Jiyeon sat at the vanity mirror, dressed only in a robe, her silky brown hair blanketed her shoulders as picked lint out of her right wing.

It was all routine to her.                                  

Her 'prep team' (a trio consisting of three humans by the names of Hyunwoo, Jieun and Jinwoon); did her hair and makeup, and then her mom and dad gave her a lecture on posture, attitude and, of course, 'Maintaining her image'.

The lecture was the same one.

Every single day for 13 years, starting when she was three to now.

Jiyeon could probably write it down in her sleep.

After the lecture would come her stylist, who was a pleasant human by the name of Lee Yejin, would dress her up for her public events

And then she would spend the next 3-4 hours at the public showing, constantly connected at the hip to Myungsoo.

Myungsoo.

Jiyeon’s mouth went bitter at the very thought of him.

He was, to be honest, an unbelievable bastard.

Most of the fangels (a mix between Fans and Angels which Jiyeon and IU created) were practically head over heels for him.

And she was betrothed to him.

Ugh.

Jiyeon’s thoughts shattered as she heard a knock on the door.

She picked a piece of lint out of her wing and looked at the time.

4:oo AM

Jinwoon was always here at exactly that time to clean her up for some event.

Speaking of which, it was Jiyeon and Myungsoo’s engagement party today.

It had been only a week ago when Myungsoo had ‘Proposed’.

 Both of them knew it was the inevitable, having been promised to each other by a vow their parents made a long while ago in order to maintain peace, but Jiyeon couldn’t help but feel it was a fix.

That somewhere, along the way, she had been cheated.

There was another knock on the door.

“Come in~!” she said, still looking at her reflection.

The door opened and, instead of Jinwoon, walked in Myungsoo.

Jiyeon’s eyes widened in surprise, but her composure was quickly regained.

“What is it?” she snapped, not taking her eyes away from the mirror.

“Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, isn’t it?” he asked, walking in and closing the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, voice as cold as ice.

The room was silent as Myungsoo slowly approached her, right hand in pocket.

“I pulled some strings and pushed back your prep team’s visit by thirty minutes,” he replied, upon reaching her.

Jiyeon looked at his face through the mirror, trying to read his features.

“Why? They have more use to me then you,” she said rudely.

“Well, I think, being your fiancé, I have the right to visit you.” He replied.

Jiyeon scoffed.

“Besides. I want to give you this.”

His left hand dipped into his pocket and brought out a purple velvet box.

He took his right hand out of his other pocket and opened it, revealing a silver necklace.

The charm was a star with a crescent-shaped hole in the middle.

To be honest, Jiyeon loved it.

She had always liked silver. It was just her colour. Night time was her favourite time of day, though most night angels favoured this.

Instead of saying her true thoughts, though, she said “If that is a bargaining token in exchange for good behaviour tonight, you can take it back. I didn’t plan on stirring up trouble anyway.”

Myungsoo ignored her words and took the necklace out of the box.

“Let me put it on then, Jagiya.” He replied, threading it around Jiyeon’s neck and clasping it in the back.

Jiyeon resisted the urge to tear it off and instead looked at Myungsoo through the mirror.

“Don’t get too attached. When we divorce…”

“If we divorce.”

And with that, he kissed the top of her head and left.

Jiyeon was angry.

Beyond angry.

What rights did Myungsoo have to push her meeting with her stylists back thirty minutes?

She let her eyes flutter over to her clock.

04:10

20 minutes until Jinwoon arrived.

That gave her a lot of thinking time.

She touched the mirror, tracing her hands around the edges and her reflection.

“You aren’t rude. Or cold. I think you’re just misunderstood.”

Those lines filled her brain.

Who had uttered them?

The answer was just beyond her reach. So close, but so far. She remembered his voice, young and untouched by puberty; maturity.

She carefully caressed the tiara that neatly sat on the vanity.

It was black, a colour that deftly indicated the night angels, and had no jewels.They saved the jewels for the King and Queen.

Softly, she began to hum her favourite tune.

Music was not a very popular thing around, but she had a very secret joy for it.

Sure, classical music was played at funerals, weddings, engagement parties etc., but aside from that no one really paid attention.

The tune wasn’t to upbeat and made her feel nostalgia; the bittersweet longing for freedom. To finally have all the duties lifted from her shoulders. She felt like she was suffocating, drowning in her own world, and that necklace felt like it was weighing her down; strangling her.

Jiyeon’s hand wrapped around the star charm, ready to rip it from her neck and throw it out the window for some pitiful human to scrounge and sell for money, when the door was thrown open; in walked Jinwoon, one of her stylists.

“Took you long enough.” She hissed at him venomously.

He shrugged and sat on her bed.

“Myungsoo held our meeting back,” Jinwoon replied nonchalantly, “Besides, the official engagement was only a week ago. There isn’t much to do aside from shower you up, lotion you and get you dressed in your under clothes, then I’ll hand you over to IU and Hyunwoo.”

Jiyeon nodded. “Let’s get started then.”

She took off the robe and hung it on the chair. Though Jinwoon had seen her do this many a time, he couldn’t help but wolf whistle.

She was, after all, pretty y.

“Oh, shut it!” she snapped at him. And with that, she walked into the bathroom.

“Such a pity she’s off limits,” Jinwoon muttered, then followed after.

********************************************

JB looked around frantically. His clothes were torn in random places, blood, dirt and leaves were stuck all over his shirt and jeans and scratches blemished his skin. Seeing the coast was clear, he sprung from the tree he was hiding behind and took off on a run, trying to keep his panting under control all the while.

In his hand, he held a knife which had the seal of Nedun kingdom, a skull with a pair of angel wings, engraved on the hilt. He had stolen the knife from one of the gate guards before fleeing into the forest, he was now being chased by about five gate-guards from Nedun kingdom, two of which were held quite high up in terms of being humans, and three of which were held quite low down in terms of being Night Angels.

He winced as a branch brushed up against one of his wounds, but kept running. He had a goal, and he was determined to reach it, no matter if he knew it was real or not. Despite this, his determination was beginning to waver. He hadn’t slept once  in at least two days, and even though he’d been on the run for around 5 weeks or so,  he’d never missed out sleep once until now, and that had taken its toll on him.

Half of his brain was wide awake, while the other was fast asleep, and because of this he kept on tripping up on tree roots and bumping into trees.

To say the least, it wasn’t a very kind experience.

And the next turn of events weren’t exactly kind, either.

Perhaps he should have heard the twig snapping. The whistle of the knife flying towards him. The sound of heavy breathing that wasn’t his own, but he didn’t. And that was  a very bad mistake to make.

No matter, though, because now he felt the knife embedding itself into his calf. And he definitely couldn’t miss the impact of body hitting the ground as he passed out.

**********************************

“Ouch! Jinwoon, be more gentle!” Jiyeon hissed as Jinwoon tightened the corset.

“Sorry,” Jinwoon apologized.

One might wonder how an angel puts on a corset, especially with those wings, but this one was special.

There were two zip up slits under the wing holes, and one would just have to slide the vest over the head and let the base of the wings go through the corset. Then they would zip it up and lace up the rest.

The two stood in front of the vanity, Jiyeon facing the mirror and Jinwoon facing her back, doing last preparations. In a few minutes, IU and Hyunwoo were gonna come in and start doing her hair and makeup.

“I don’t even know why you need a corset. Your figure is already perfect,” Jinwoon replied, tying it up in the back.

“Not in terms of a night angel,” she replied.

He spun her around, gave her a once-over and nodded in approval. “I’m done here.”

He pulled her into a goodbye hug.

“Jinwoon?” she asked.

“Yes?” he replied.

“Hands above the waist.”

“Sorry.”

He backed out of the embrace and left with a “See ya.”

Jiyeon shook her head in his direction as he exited.

“Oh, Jinwoon.”

She sat back down and brushed through her hair, because she knew if IU saw it tangled up and wet like that, she would blow off into a rant full of sass. Jiyeon swore IU was a gay guy in her past life.

After around 10 minutes of thinking and sitting there, the door opened and in marched the twins.

“I told you, Hyunwoo!” IU exclaimed.

“How was I supposed to know we would arrive earlier if we took your way?”

“You weren’t! I’m your fricken twin you’re supposed to trust my judgement!”

“But I’m older then you!”
“By 30 seconds! Besides, you and I both know that I was fated to come out first. You ruined it for me!”

“Seriously, IU? You’re still on about this ‘You ruined my first bornness’ crap? For goodness sakes! I came out first and that’s-“

“Ahem,” Jiyeon cleared to catch the two’s attention.

IU  and Hyunwoo looked at her, seeming to only notice that she was there now.

“Sorry.” Hyunwoo said.

Jiyeon flashed her camera-ready smile –The one she used in public that made it seem she was actually enjoying life-  “It’s okay.”

“Okay, then~ Let’s get this show on the road!” IU exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

They ran to the cabinet that housed all the makeup and hair products.

****************************

“Oh. Em. Gee.” IU exclaimed, “Jiyeon, where’d you get this necklace?” She held the charm between her forefinger and thumb, examining it.

Jiyeon made a gagging gesture. “Myungsoo gave it to me.”

IU gave her a serious face. “You need to realize that that guy is in love with you.”

Jiyeon rolled her eyes. “Just finish my hair!” she snapped.

IU shrugged, spraying a few last bits of hairspray on her hair.

“And….” She dropped the bottle of hairspray on the ground, throwing her hands out towards Jiyeon as if to represent her, “…Scene!”

Jiyeon facepalmed, causing Hyunwoo to cry out. “No! You’ll smudge your eyeliner!” he exclaimed.

He quickly wiped away the last layer and reapplied it.

“Now you look perfect. I can’t wait for Ailee to get you in your dress!” Hyunwoo almost squealed with excitement.

Jiyeon looked in the mirror.

Thick eyeliner. Bright lipstick. Pale skin. Simple, yet beautiful.

Her hair was done in a neat updo which started with two thin plaits in the front, which went back and into some kind of tucked in-braided bun.

IU slid on the tiara, and the hair-do was complete.

“Aigoo~ Our Yeonni-pop is so pretty!” Hyunwoo exclaimed.

“And that necklace adds a graceful touch~” IU added.

“Well, Yejin is coming soon. We’d better clear out,” they said simultaneously.

Immediately, they turned to each other. “Hey!” they said, in unison. “Stop copying me! You stop copying me! No-“

The two were cit off by a knock on the door.

They ceased the argument, fighting to answer the door. Hyunwoo got there first, IU following after, and they both grabbed the knob at the same time.

“Yah!” they yelled to eachother.

Jiyeon, who had had enough of their fighting, finally snapped.

“Just answer the fricken door!” she yelled.

Hyunwoo snatched IU’s hand and threw it to the side, taking control of the door.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” replied Ailee                                                     

“Well, me and IU will be going now.”

He grabbed her wrist and raced out the door, leaving room for Ailee to step in.

Slung over her arm was probably Jiyeon’s dress, which was hidden in a bag, and in her other hand was a bag.

“Well, Jiyeon. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” she grins.

***************************

“Open your eyes,” Ailee whispered.

Jiyeon opened her eyes, looking at herself in the mirror.

The dress was, needless to say, beautiful. The top was a corset type, the bottom puffed out and there were no sleeves.

She wore silver heels to match her dress.

“You will be the beauty of the party,” Ailee smiled, and gave a thumbs up, “Your mom and dad will be coming soon, so I’ll clear out now.”

Jiyeon gave a nod of assent.

“Thanks Ailee,” she replied.

“No probs. It’s just my job,” she grinned and saluted, walking towards the door. Just before she reached it, she paused.

Turned around.

“Jiyeon?” she asked.

“Yeah?” Jiyeon replied, looking at her.

“When you look at Myungsoo today…dig a little deeper.”

And then she was gone, leaving Jiyeon to contemplate that last sentence.

***************************

“Excuse me?” yelled the king of Nedun.

“We found the Runaway from Nedun. He was heading towards the… you know,”

“Execute him. Immediately,” snapped the king of Choondong.

“No, we can’t. He maybe a human, but people will speculate. They will think we are too vulnerable to even hold off a teenager. No, I know a better punishment for him. Much, much better.”

***************************

Okay, so I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone with the start.It is a bit slow, yeah, but I hope you enjoyed the scene with IU and Hyunwoo. Myungsoo actually really likes Jiyeon, but he’s kind of cold to the world, and he himself has no idea why he feels like that. As for Jiyeon, she really could care less. She hates Myungsoo, though. IU and Hyunwoo are kind of naïve to the other humans that are suffering out there. Jinwoon is ually attracted to Jiyeon, but that’s really it. He is a very individual. LOLOLOLOL. Ailee and IU understand Myungsoo, and Ailee can tell there’s a lot more to him then a vicious bastard. Choondong Kingdom is actually North Korea in there universe, and Nedun is South Korea. The reason Myungsoo and Jiyeon are betrothed is because they are trying to solve the ‘issues’ between them. Start’s a bit slow, but it’ll pick up soon. This chap is all about being trapped. Jiyeon feels trapped and suffocated because of all this pressure. JB is trapped, as in literally, and Myungsoo is trapped in his own feelings for Jiyeon.