The box was small, yet still large enough that your hand only barely fit around it. Looking at it with curiosity, you carefully turned it over and inspected it thoroughly.

It was a maple box that had once been polished and painted with lilies on the lid, but was now worn and even had a few burn marks. The lilies had been rubbed off, leaving an area of wood darker than the rest, and the carvings around the edges had almost vanished.

You lifted the lid of the box to see a tiny girl on the inside. She wore a simple, flowing white dress that went to her knees and her wavy dark hair ended with her skirt. You couldn't place a definite name on the color of her hair because it would shine with different colors in the light, but it was mostly a dark brown with an apparent hint of many other hues.

The girl was bowed over with her hands behind her back and she was looking up with a mysterious expression. Standing like that on a small raised platform, it was almost as if she had been searching for something below her, but had looked up at the last minute. She looked sad...and frightened.

The whole inside of the box was covered with a soft wine-red velvet, except for the mirror on the inside of the lid. Surprisingly, the mirror was glowing with a cleanliness that showed that it had no fingerprints or anything. You didn't see a key to wind up the music, but you had no doubts that it was a music box because you knew that the platform on which the girl stood was the perfect place to hide the small machine that would play the haunting notes of the music box.

You were so entranced by the whole mysterious mood of the music box that at once, you knew you must have it. So, taking it to the owner of the shop, you held it out for him to see.

"This is the piece I want," you said.

Normally he would have wanted to see what trinket had caught your expert eye, but he was too focused on his computer and Pocky to look up. Waving his hand in a shooing motion, he said, "Ok, ok. Go ahead and take that piece. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll be closing up early today."

And with that, you were "kicked out" of your favorite hideout.

Once you had left, the old owner of the shop looked up and around like he was missing something. "For some reason, I feel like something is about to go wrong...and yet I can't help but feel as if a weight has been taken off my shoulders," he mumbled to himself.

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-Outside the antique store-

It was already 4:30 and you knew that you had about half an hour to make it home before your oppa sent out a search party. Of course, it wouldn't really be a search party since everyone knew that you spent a majority of your time at the antique shop...and the search party would only consist of your oppa and your pet dog anyway...but still!

Laughing and humming to yourself, you skipped down the sidewalk. Once again you weren't paying attention to where you were going, and you ended up almost getting run over by a car when you crossed the street. But lucky for you, someone had glanced at you and recognized the danger.

"Yah, are you trying to get killed!?"  A voice yelled as you were pulled backwards and out of the street.

Shocked by the sudden motion, your muscles contracted and you fell to the concrete like an unmovable boulder. You sat still like that for a minute or two until a head came down to be eye level with you. And to your surprise (A/n: but not anyone else's lol xD), it was Changjo's mysterious face that stared at you.

"What are you, a deer? I wouldn't be surprised, considering your personality and the way you look right now," he chuckled.

The really sad thing was that you knew exactly what he was talking about. Like a deer, you tended to prance around and live a carefree, clueless life (or at least that's how it appeared to others). And like a deer in a car's headlights, you had become like a rock and your eyes were bugged out.

"heheheh..." you trailed off laughing in embarrassment. "Thanks for saving me!" You brightly smiled and hoped to make him forget what just happened.

"Nah, don't worry about it. After all, it's not like I'm just going to stand by and watch a classmate get smashed to a pulp." Changjo turned around to leave, but then seemed to think better of it and came back to face you.

"I have a feeling that you're going to hurt yourself again if I just leave you alone to get to where you're going. I mean, you did fall down in front of me twice already. And that's only in one day." He looked at you with evident worry.

You cleared your throat before you spoke. "That's nice of you, but I should be fine as long as I pay attention."

"That's what I'm araid of..." Changjo rolled his eyes. "Just let me walk with you so I can feel more at ease. Which way are you headed?"

Scratching your head in thought, you planned out the best way to let him take you home without showing him exactly where you lived. You didn't really know him too well and besides that, you didn't want to cause a misunderstanding with your overreacting family. If I let him drop me off at the small park a block down, then he should be satisfied and I won't have to worry about anything else... Making a final decision, you nodded your head in satisfaction and smiled.

"If you're sure you want to me, then I'm only headed towards a park about four blocks that way," you pointed past the street that you had almost gotten hit in.

"Well I guess it's settled, then," he smiled a heart-stopping eye smile at you. "To be honest, I actually live down that way anyway, so it'll be no trouble for me to drop you off on the way."

And with that, your smile turned into one of pleasant surprise (both from his smile and the fact that he lives near you) and you nodded.

"Let's go then," you said as you both walked towards your homes.

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A/n: Haha I couldn't wait to get on my computer and type this up when I got home from school today cuz I was thinkin of ideas for this all day :P But I had to do some other things first. Like homework =.= and a few other things. So I'm glad to finally get this off my shoulders ^^ Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading! Please look forward to the next chapter :)