C H A P T E R 1
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

“Mei!”

“Yes, mother?!” Mei Hua shouted at the top of her lungs. She forced her fingers to type faster and more furiously as she was desperately trying to reply to her friend via Facebook. Sighing as her reply sent, she raced down the stairs.

“I want you to clean the attic, honey.” Her mother spoke as she stirred the boiling pot, “It’s gotten quite dusty over the years.”

“But mother!” Mei Hua had better things in mind than cleaning up the musty, dusty, and cluttered attic. She would rather sit in her room and on her laptop all day. Besides, her parents wouldn’t even let her out of the house along. They’d only let her out on certain celebrations or with friends that they knew. Mei Hua was 18, for crying out loud! And her parents still babied her… still.

“I know you would rather sit in your room,” Her mother spoke again, chuckling to herself. She smiled to her daughter and clicked her tongue. “I was like that when I was your age.”

“You were?”

“Yes, honey.” Her mother chuckled before pointing the wooden spoon in Mei Hua’s direction. Her mother had her hand on her hip as she waved the spoon in front of her daughter’s face. “Now, let’s save that story for another time, alright? Hurry along and go clean that attic!”

“But moth—“

“Don’t you try that, Mei. Get some time off that laptop of yours. You’ll thank me.” Her mother spoke, her back already facing Mei Hua as she continued to cook their dinner for the night. Opening again, Mei Hua quickly closed it. She knew that her mother wasn’t going to tell her anything further. Unsatisfied, she sulked out of the kitchen with a pout. She stomped up the stairs, muttering to herself.

“And don’t you dare lay a finger on that laptop,” she heard her mother shout from the kitchen, “You’ll be in big trouble, Mei.”

“Stop stomping up the stairs like an elephant, Hua.” Her brother, Wei Min, yelled from his room, “Are you trying to break the house?”

“Oh shut up, Wei.” She scowled, banging her fist on his door to shut him up. Hearing his booming laughter erupt in his room, the scowl on her face grew even more. She walked past her room with a sigh and made her way to the attic. The thought of going into her room, snuggling up in her bed with the blanket, and doing, well, nothing fascinated her. That’s all she wanted to do— stay in her room and fan girl over obsessively hot Korean men. I mean, come on. How can you resist those bodies?

“The attic’s all musty and gross,” Mei Hua whined, grabbing the necessary cleaning items she needed. “Why couldn’t mother make Wei do it?” She muttered to herself, stomping up the rickety ladder to the attic. She peeped her head through the small square opening and scrunched her nose in disgust. Even to the human eye, you could make out the dust that floated around in the air through the faint attic light. One sudden sneeze of cough could send all of this dust flying into the air.

“This is why I don’t hide up here anymore,” she made a face, noticing how dusty the attic has gotten over the years. “It smells like mold up here too.” She groaned to herself, grabbing the duster.

“Here goes nothing,” Mei Hua muttered under her breath, starting closest to the door… which was a bad idea. The dust collected the most there, over the years. With one swipe of the duster, the dust flew everywhere and surrounded her. Mei Hua was coughing by now, covering and nose from the dust with her elbow. It was getting hard to breathe and her eyes strained against the dusty air. Figuring it would be best to not suffocate under dusty air, Mei Hua walked over to the small window in the attic and pulled it open, letting the faint yet bright summer light in.

Turning back around to continue with her work, she noticed that the light was shining directly onto a small box. She walked over to it carefully, picking it up gently as if it was glass. It was no bigger than her hands placed side-by-side. It was a wooden box; the mahogany paint was chipping with its age. Small words, covered with dust, were barely readable as Mei Hua tried to brush the dust away. Unable to read it, she opened the box and was greeted with an eerie yet pretty tune. More words were engraved into the box’s lid.

“Careless, careless. Shoot anonymous, anonymous. Heartless, mindless. No one who care about me?”

There was a small ballerina figurine that spun in the circle with the music. The neck was cracked slightly, causing the head to lean slightly to the left. With every turn, the head would snap back before falling freely back down, sickening Mei Hua’s stomach. Forcing herself to tear her gaze away, she continued to recite the words engraved into the box.

“I have no choice but to tolerate who was lost outside, even though I close my eyes…”

She finished the lines embedded into the box as her fingers grazed against the last few words. The box slipped through her still fingers, hitting the floor with a thud. Her eyes fluttered close as her body felt as if it was in a trance. She felt a falling sensation overcome her body even though she knew she was sitting. The last moments before her mind went blank, the chiming tune from the music box echoed in her mind.

“Hyung,” Sehun whined as he sat crisscross on the floor of the living room, “I want food.”

“Go get it yourself,” Jongin muttered, pressing the buttons harshly as he furrowed his eyebrows. “Can’t you see I’m busy? I nee— Yes!”

“Darn!” Kyungsoo cried, throwing his controller to the floor as Jongin defeated him once more. They have been playing the same game for hours now, Kyungsoo being persistent as he desperately wanted to kick Jongin’s . “I swear, you’re cheating, aren’t you?!”

“I am not cheating!”

“Are too!”

“I want food!” Sehun cried again, this time with a pout.

“For goodness sake! Will you three just shut up?!” Baekhyun groaned, looking up from his laptop as he sat in the kitchen. “You guys are getting so annoying! Sehun, go ask Luhan for food! Kyungsoo, Jongin beats everyone at that game. He’s not cheating! Jongin, for crying out loud, choose a different game to play!”

“But—“

“What’s going on?” Luhan asked as he entered the kitchen, over hearing Baekhyun’s aggravated cries from his room. At that very moment, he regretted ever saying those words aloud.

“Kyungsoo thinks I cheated!”

“Because you did! You win every single time! It’s not fair!”

“Hyung, I’m hungry. Do you have food?”

“Great job, Lu. They’re not going to stop pestering you.” Baekhyun spoke, shaking his head slightly. He had his laptop in one hand, the other on Luhan’s shoulder, patting it gently. “Good luck with that. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” With that, he walked off, leaving Luhan to deal with the troublesome kids. Ignoring their pleas, Luhan walked into the kitchen rummaging into the refrigerator for something to eat.

“Kyungsoo? Do we have any leftovers?”

“Huh? Oh, leftovers?” Kyungsoo spoke, glancing up from the television. “I don’t think so. Yeol might have eaten it all last night.”

“Speaking of Chanyeol, where is he?” Luhan asked, closing the refrigerator as he settled with some yogurt. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I thought he was still sleeping,” Jongin spoke, barely taking his eyes off the television screen.

“Who knows,” Luhan grinned cheekily, placing a spoonful of yogurt into his mouth. “All I really want to know is what we’re going to have for dinner.”

“I was thinking of making kimchi fried rice,” Kyungsoo groaned as Jongin defeated him again in the game.

“Again?!”

Kyungsoo only gave Luhan a smirk.

“Where am I?”

Mei Hua groaned softly as she snapped out of the trance. Her head was throbbing. The immense pain was unbearable. Eyebrows furrowed, Mei Hua held her head in her hands and groaned. What was going on? As she glanced around, her head still in her hands, she noticed that this obviously wasn’t her home. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. Floor to ceiling windows shone light brightly into the room. The television was blasting a game’s tune and the sound of guys screaming at each other filled the room. She sat in front of a black leather sectional, she soon found out. She winced as her head throbbed again and groaned, resting her head on her knees.

“Hyung! Where is it?” Sehun called out as soon as Jongin and Kyungsoo abandoned the game console. He wanted to watch the latest drama. Now.

“It might have disappeared around behind the couch,” Jongin spoke, shrugging his shoulders. He sat on the sofa and twiddled around with his phone, his fingers pressing onto the screen repeatedly. He looked up and met the younger’s eyes. “Everything disappears there.”

Rolling his eyes, the younger obeyed and went to look behind the couch. Who knows what lurked behind there? Last time Sehun was behind the couch, he found chewed gum stuck on the floor. Gross much?

Blinking repeatedly, Sehun was met face to face with an unfamiliar girl. She was a beauty, alright. She gave off an aura of, well, someone you probably wouldn’t want to mess with. Other than that, she looked completely lost. She looked at Sehun with those piercing, dark eyes. They grew wide as soon as Sehun spoke. She shook her head and tried to cover his mouth to prevent him from speaking but—

“Oh my goodness,” Sehun spoke, his voice rising with every word. “Hyung! There’s someone in our house!”

Mei Hua scowled and removed her hand as soon as the male spoke— scratch that, screamed out. His voice echoed against the walls. You could probably hear his voice from the Great Wall of China. Complaints and stomping could be heard coming their way. She glared at him and her scowl grew even more.

Oh great.