THE PAST

"Minjung ah, you must take good care of yourself okay?" A woman looked tearfully at Minjung.

Minjung nodded her head, blinking back the tears. She had sworn to not let a single tear drop on this day, but her tear glands just seem to want to disobey.

"I'll be fine in the palace aunty." Minjung assured. "You are the one that should take care of yourself. Don't overwork yourself I'll send the money ive earned, so don't go around doing odd jobs."

Her aunt nodded. "Take care Minjung ah. I'll miss you." she hugged her niece.

"I'll miss you too aunty." Minjung whispered as she cuddled with the mother feature in her life.

"Hurry up! Get in line! We're moving!" the guards roared.

Minjung turned to her aunt tearfully. "I love you aunty. Please take care." she whispered.

Minjung tore her gaze away from her weak aunt and ran to where the other new palace maids were gathered. The group was huddled together as the fierce guards gathered them together.

Minjung shot a glance at her aunt, who was waving back at her amongst the crowd of sad families. *Take care aunty. I will work hard in the palace to make enough money to cure your illness.*

The group of new palace maids were directed to a large cart that was meant for the transportation of goods, not people.

"Get on!" The guards shouted.

Minjung and the other new palace maids scrambled aboard, holding tightly on the cart when it took off.

"This is insane. This isn't even safe for human transportation." Minjung muttered.

The other maids looked at her as if she had some form of disease. Talking bad about the heads of management was apparently a very bad thing and they didn't want to be associated with Minjung lest they too got into trouble.

Minjung saw all of their scared faces and sighed, mentally facepalming herself. *Great job Han Minjung. Now you'll have no friends at all.*

"Yeah you're totally right!" a skinny and undernourished girl on Minjung right whispered. Though she was skinny, one could tell that she was pretty.

Minjung broke into a bright smile. "You think so too?" she smiled. "Hi I think we can be great friends. I'm Han Minjung."

The girl grinned. "I'm Lee Sujin. I think we'll be great friends too."

Minjung smiled. *Maybe the palace won't be that bad after all.*



The journey from the rural areas to the central city where the palace was located took more than 10 hours on the cart. The ride was unstable and bumpy as the horses ran across rocks and stones.

Minjung felt sore and tired, and she couldn't even stretch her legs with the limited space available.

"Aaaaaaahh.. I'm so hungry." Sujin whimpered, holding on to her stomach.

Minjung glanced at her worriedly. "Are you okay? When was the last time you ate?"

"Yesterday morning." Sujin held her stomach. "We didn't have any extra food in the house."

Minjung softened. She had a meat bun in her bag but she had meant to save it for much later. Her aunt had bought the meat bun with one week's earnings.

She took it out gingerly and tore half of it to Sujin. "Here you can have it before you faint." Minjung smiled.

Sujin's eyes widened. "Wow meat! It's been a long time!" she exclaimed. The lights in her lights dimmed. "But are you sure I can...?" she hesitated.

"It's okay. I have the other half." Minjung assured and passed her the larger half of the bun.

Sujin took it gratefully and practically swallowed the whole thing. Minjung giggled to herself. *She must be hungry.*

What an understatement.



Minjung strolled round the palace as she tried familiarizing herself with the place. It was already late at night, the moon high in the sky.

The other maids were tired from the ride and the immediate briefing they were given once they reached. All of them were sound asleep on the straw mats that acted as beds in the maid's quarters.

Minjung slipped out with the half of the meat bun left, as she wondered round the majestic building she had dreamt of visiting since she was young.

She gasped lightly as she passed by the gardens. "This place is so beautiful, even in the dark." she whispered. "I can only imagine how beautiful it will be in the day."

She snuck to the main lake in the middle of the palace. There was a bridge in the centre of the lake that led to a shelter in the centre of the river that the royals could study at.

"The life of royals are indeed different." Minjung gasped at the night scene, where the moon was reflected on the surface of the lake. "This is beautiful."

She spotted the floating shelter at the lake and she brightened. Being the curious girl she was, she ran all the way across the bridge, wanting to go to the shelter.

Little did she know, another person was strolling back in the opposite direction.

Minjung collided with the person and the half of a meat bun left fell out of her hands and dropped into the river with a soft plop.

"My Meatbun! I didn't even get to eat it!" Minjung cried in disappointment.

She looked up and glared at the person she collided with.

"YAHHHH!" she roared.