“You lied.” Myungsoo said simply, crossing his arms childishly. He saw a reflection of his eight-year old self, a frown fitted on his small pudgy face. “You said we’d be okay.”

“At least, you’re okay!” she reassured, reaching over to pat his shoulder. He tensed under her touch, wondering why dreams had to feel so darn realistic.

“You’ve made me worry.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” The little miss held up her pinky, but Myungsoo didn’t bother for to put the extra effort in doing the same.

“How is that even possible?”

“You’ll find out if you promise!” she urged, holding up her pinky closer to him.

"Young master, you need to wake up."

Myungsoo groaned as the curtains were stripped of its intended purpose, fresh sunlight flooding into his bedroom. He squinted his eyes towards one of the maids, who bowed in apology.

“I’m sorry, young master. But you have an appointment you still need to take care of, breakfast will be waiting downstairs.” with a final bow, she exited.

He sighed, ripping the covers off and staggering to his bathroom. The large, square mirror gave Myungsoo a full view of his mess. Grey, puffy under eyelids (but for whatever strange reason, under eyelid fat was the new trend) pale, glasslike skin, and chapped lips. He searched for a brush and ran it under the tap, trying to tame his naturally puffy hair. Myungsoo got more frustrated when his ball of fuzz wouldn’t go down, and decided to take a shower and blow dry instead. Was that how girls felt when they did their hair in the morning?

Myungsoo’s outfit had already been laid out for him on his desk chair, neatly pressed and ironed. It was almost always the same outfit, black tie, white shirt, pinstripe slacks. He wasn’t a big fan of change, especially when it involved color.

With a swish of his blazer, he grabbed the folder from yesterday and walked out to his driver.

A maid ran up to him with a plate of toast. “Sir, you forgot your breakfast!”

He stopped in surprise, gratefully grabbing a slice from the china. “Sorry, thanks.”

It was a habit of his to leave without visiting the dining hall. He never bothered  to eat breakfast, because he hated eating alone.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” the usual, tight-lipped smile with a firm handshake. It was easier than Myungsoo had thought. Go in, propose the deal, butter the manager up, and get out. However, the portfolio didn’t entail that the manager of the movie theatre was a woman, who lapped up his words and persuasions like milk and honey.

(But he knew that she wasn’t paying any attention to his words, she was too lost in his eyes.)

Without a single complaint, this theatre would now function under computer cash registers sponsored by GrandLens. It was a formidable deal with a reasonable discount, besides the company was growing so erratically it would have been beneficial to accept the deal now before prices increase with popularity. With a final bow, he shook hands with the manager (who seemed to hold onto his hand a second too long) before turning to go.

His stomach grumbled, regretting that he had only taken once slice of toast this morning. He shrugged, walking over to the food stand the theatre offered.

And that’s when he saw her.

White dress, with delicate eyelet t around the sleeves, and black mary janes. She bounced passed the aisle of grownups, the lace of her white gown popping out back and forth as she circled the path, her dark hair flowing in motion. Myungsoo squinted his eyes, trying to look for some sort of halo on her head. Was she real?

He half-slid, half bent down to reach her level, and grabbed her arm. Her skin wasn’t scalding brown.

“Excuse me?”

The little girl looked at him in confusion, and almost disgust when she noticed the grip on her bare skin.

Myungsoo was about to speak again, before she beat him to it. And screamed.

Before he could back away someone came pushing through the crowd, where the little girl shied away from his grasp, hiding between the legs of another. A chant of ‘unnieunnieunnie’ started rolling out of her tongue, tugging on the young lady’s messenger bag.

“I’m sorry, she enjoys making a scene.”

“It’s fine.” Myungsoo heard himself say, watching the woman’s face curve into a smile. Wow, that smile could cure cancer and end the Korean war—at the same time. “I’m sorry I scared her, she looked familiar.” Unfortunately familiar.

She looked down at the little girl, who didn’t look as scared anymore. “She just wanted to make a scene, she likes attention.” she explained with a knowing grin, shaking her leg so the younger one would stand straight. “Go and apologize, Min. You embarrassed him.”

Instead, Min boldly asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Hey!” the older girl tugged on a lock of her hair.

Myungsoo shook his head, giving her a big grin. “No, no I don’t. But you reminded me of a special girl.”

“Then can I replace her?”

“Min!” the girl cried in embarrassment, pulling her to the side. She looked to Myungsoo, who looked just as flustered. “I am so sorry, we’ll get going now. Have a nice day.”

Exchanging bows, the two groups separated, with the two girls leaving first, Min being dragged out by the arm. Myungsoo scratched his head, wondering why they were off in such a hurry. Even so, the lingering thought of 1565 resurfaced under his guilt, all because of his stupid subconscious picking out a random little girl in a white dress.

He grabbed his phone and hit the second speed dial.

“Sunggyu-hyung? Are you free?”

“Right in front.”

Myungsoo broke through the crowd, walking through the double doors that indeed, Sunggyu was outside of the movie theatre. Wearing a casual navy graphic t-shirt and jeans,  he held his handphone in the air, leaning against the company car.

He gave him a grateful smile, feeling lucky to always have a friend by his side.

“Come on,” Sunggyu said, opening the backside door. “I have something to tell you.”

“I learned something new!” Sunggyu claimed proudly, waving his hands up. “I think it’ll help with your problem.”

“And what did you learn in class today?” Myungsoo played along like father and son, taking a sip of his iced Americano.

“So the other day I went on a date—a department you’re seriously lacking in—and we watched a movie. The girl character had ice powers and she felt hindered by society, and so her father gave her a pair of gloves to control her urges. He said, ‘conceal, don’t feel.’”

“Hyung, that’s just a fairytale movie.”

“Hey, that movie made me cry. So listen to me, brat.”

“And what am I supposed to learn from this?”

Sunggyu dramatically lifted a finger, speaking wistfully. “Let it go, Myungsoo. Let it go.”

“I think you’re going crazy, hyung.”

The older one lightly banged his fists on the linoleum table, staring at his companion straight on. “That’s what you think. But listen, you’ve been hiding these dreams for over ten years. Ten years, obviously that’s not helping if you’ve been having them for ten years. To cure this obsession, I think you need to face it head on.”

“It’s not an obsession.” Myungsoo muttered quietly, slumping in his seat.

“Obsession, addiction, fixation, , whatever. Maybe you should do some research on the fire, maybe you’ll find something. Have you ever tried that?”

Of course, Myungsoo had. But the obituaries in the paper would never distinguish her from the other little girls that could’ve been injured or dead, his eight year old self had no business lurking around those parts. Besides, the only thing he could research was names, a whole list of names in tiny font smushed together, when he didn’t even know her name.

“I don’t know how I’d have access now after all this time.”

“Are you kidding me?” Sunggyu snorted. “Your father’s the CEO of GrandLens. I’m sure now that you’re legal, you have access to lots of archives.”

Myungsoo seriously contemplated, his eyes darting back and forth. “Yes, but now since ten years have passed archives are blocked with good security. I don’t know how I’d get in without a scandal arising.”

“This isn’t the point.” Sunggyu shook his head, pinching his brow. “By facing it head on, you’re eliminating fear and the willingness to keep it suppressed so deep in your brain. Maybe if you find out the answer, good or bad, it’ll stop the dreams from haunting you once you achieve something definite.”

It could work. Myungsoo knew Sunggyu considered thoughtful reasoning, and took care of Myungsoo like his own. Sunggyu would only do something for their benefit. “Okay, where should I start?”

“Definitely visit some of the journalism majors on campus, they’ve gotta have access to these things.”

“Very true. Hyung, I can’t believe I’m saying this. But you may be a genius.”

“I know, I know.”