~Sulli~

I walked up to V, who was standing right outside his restaurant.

He flashed me his usual smirk. “Good morning,” he greeted me, and leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Hey V,” I replied. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

V nodded. “Okay, sure. Ask away- I’ll do anything.”

“Can you keep your eyes out for a stone lion statue? It could be anywhere.”

“Okay, but can I ask why…?”

I bit my lip. “Ren said that he touched a stone lion statue and then he passed out, and when he woke up, he was here in the Spirit World.”

 “ I’ll be on the lookout for the statue, and if I see it, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, V.” I turned around to leave, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me back to him. I gasped, my eyes wide as I could feel my cheeks heating up and probably turning bright red. We were only a few inches apart. “What if someone sees?” I whispered, glancing around nervously.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” V said.

Why was I so nervous? My heart wouldn't stop pounding, and I remembered the kiss. What was I supposed to say? I was speechless.

“Do you feel the same way about me?” he asked. “Maybe it’s just my bond to you, but then why does it feel so strong?”

“V-V…what do you mean…?”

“Can’t you just be with me? Sulli, I care for you a lot. I’ve always been here for you, haven’t I? I wish you would see me as more of a guy than just a friend.”

“It’s only because of the bond,” I protested, “That’s what the bond is- it makes you close to that person and you don’t want to leave them. But can’t you think of my feelings too? I have Ren to mentor now as well, and he’s bonded to me the same way you are. It’s going to be difficult starting anything now.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say no. But I can’t accept it. I’ll keep trying to change your mind, because I like you too much to let you go so easily.” V let go of my hands. “It’s hard for me too, you know, because now I have to share you with him.” He went back inside.

When I returned to the palace, Ren ran up to me, looking worried, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Headmaster Leeteuk wants to talk to you in his room before work starts.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” He frowned. “Did something happen with V? You seem…sad. And it looks like you’ve been crying. Usually you’re so energetic.”

I forced a faint smile onto my face. “It’s nothing, I’m just tired. I’ll go see what the headmaster wants.”

He was sitting down at his desk when I entered the room, and he tapped his fingers against his wineglass. “More, please,” he said, holding it out to me.

I refilled it with red wine and bowed. “Why did you call me here?”

Headmaster Leeteuk sighed deeply. “You know, there are some people in this world that you trust to easily. You share everything with them, you want them to be by your side and listen to you, to never leave you alone…But sometimes things happen to get in the way of your relationship. And then suddenly, that person has to leave you, whether by choice or by force.”

I nodded. “Nature cannot be controlled or changed by us, Headmaster.”

He snickered. “Yeah, that’s right, actually. But you know what hurts even worse than that? Deception. When someone takes advantage of you, lies to you, and makes a fool out of you, playing with your emotions and pushing all your buttons. It really ticks me off. But I suppose you’ve never been through anything like that, have you?”

“Not everyone’s perfect,” I shrugged, keeping my eyes low.

“Let me tell you something, Sulli. You’re an excellent worker, but don’t trust anybody. I made that mistake long ago, and to this day I’m regretting it. So don’t trust anyone, and only trust yourself. You won’t betray yourself. But others will easily betray you.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Headmaster. Thank you for your advice.”

“You need to be ruthless towards those who deceive you. You can’t let anyone take you down. That’s what I grew up listening to, over and over again from my parents who raised me that way. But I made a mistake of letting one person into my heart and know all of my secrets.”

I finally looked him in the eyes. “Even the greatest can fall.”

He chuckled darkly. “Yes, that’s true. Leave now…and don’t forget what I said.”

I left the room, feeling uneasy and troubled by his words that definitely had a second meaning behind them. Was he playing with me? Maybe he knew I’d taken the Records journal and was just messing around to scare me into obeying him. I told Ren everything that the headmaster had told me, and he was worried by it as well.

“If we want to make any more progress, we need to be careful so we don’t get caught.”

Work started, and we were given orders to prepare for the Lantern Festival, which was announced to be held in three days. The whole city had to be covered in colorful lanterns and streamers, and we had to help make new fashionable clothes. We were also given the food menu and assigned packages to deliver.

“I didn’t know the festival would be so huge!” exclaimed Ren, when he realized all the work that had to be done.

“It’s the most important celebration in the Spirit World,” I answered.

“So what will happen at the festival?” He hung up a lantern outside the palace.

“The gisaengs will dance and sing, and everyone wears their best traditional Korean clothing. There’s a lot of delicious food, and at the end of the festival, we put our wishes for the year into lanterns and let them go into the sky.”

“Sounds cool. How long does the festival last?”

“Until dawn,” I said, handing him another lantern to put up.

“Is there any alcohol?”

“Of course! We also drink the most during the Lantern Festival.”

Ren finished hanging it up and turned back to me, stepping close. “I’m really curious to see what you act like when you’re drunk.”

“Well, you’ll see it. It’s going to be so fun! I can’t wait!”

“And don’t forget to speak with that Head Gisaeng lady. She has some good information that we can use.”

“Yes sir,” I teased, smacking him with my lantern that I hadn’t put up yet. “Race me back to the palace?” I stuck out my tongue at him.

He gasped. “Oh, you are so on! I’ll beat you!”

I actually beat him running back, and in exchange I made him tell me a bunch of random things about the human world. I didn’t even remember any of it. He told me about his life, his family, friends, and school. Listening to Ren talk, I realized there was a lot more to him than just being the new boy who I had to mentor. Why hadn’t I seen that before? I’d never really asked much about his human life, not like this, anyway. Now I had a better understanding of what kind of person he was- Ren liked watching romantic movies and listening to music. He was the most popular guy in his school. His favorite food was pasta and he loved animals, and his ideal girl was someone who had short hair and would lie down while looking at the blue sky above the green fields. I wanted to hear more, but it was time to return to the palace.

“Should I cut my hair?” I joked.

“I like you enough already,” Ren blurted out, “So you don’t need to cut your hair.”

I froze. “Huh?”

He smiled. “You’re beautiful, Sulli. Don’t change for anybody.”

“Oh, um…thanks.” I blushed.

“Today was nice. Ah, I’m starving! Let’s hurry back!” He grabbed my hand and ran with me to the Palace of Lights. Ren seemed so carefree, but I wondered about all of the things he was holding back and covering up with his smiles.

The rest of the day, we helped to sew clothes for the festival, and even though I wanted to ask him what he meant earlier, I didn't get the chance.