Myungsoo sits in his chair by the fire reading a book. He stops reading every now and then to think of the Krystal, the once slave girl. He wonders if she still remembers him but he doubts that. She’s been through such terrible things with her previous owners. He’s lucky that he was able to find her through the one incident when she set fire to the study of her fourth owner. He had heard of that news from one of the cooks he knew before they were brought into that residence. The cook had told him where she was going and he had found her with her fifth and last owner. When he had bid for her he felt so disgusted that he had bought a human being. He hopes that she’ll realize that she isn’t a slave anymore and trust him. He told the cooks to prepare a simple meal for her but he doubted that she would eat it this evening. With good reason though, this whole situation is too much to seem real. He knows that she thinks he’s trying to trick her or lead her on but he’ll give her as much space for as long as she needs.

Krystal dries her hair with the towel feeling the best she’s been in years. She slips on a blue nightgown that once again, is made of something she’s never seen before. She opens the drawers of the wooden desk to find a quill with many different pots of ink and a leather-bound book. She twirls the quill in her hand wondering where she would hide the book if she did write in it. She opens the book to the first creamy-white piece and starts to write.

This is the first time I have done something like this but I think I have a very good reason. Maybe one day I can go over what I’ve written and connect my thoughts and figure out who the mysterious Mr Kim is. I cannot believe that I’m in such a luxurious room where I have no duties and I cannot stop worrying about what might happen. If there is a catch, there has to be one. Nothing this good happens to someone like me without a catch. Mr Kim is very strange. The mask he wears is not the usual mask that either covers the whole face or the eyes. It only covers one eye that must be hiding something on his face. He carries a cane as well hinting an injury. He looks quite young, around my age maybe a bit older. There’s something familiar about him. It might be his voice or his eyes. I’m not sure if I’ve seen him before but I highly doubt I’ve ever seen someone at his status before.

The door opens and a maid comes in with a hot plate of rice and meat. She sets it on the table next to the book.

“Thank you.” Krystal says quietly. The maid bows and leaves.

I’ve just been served food. That hasn’t happened since I was eight when my mother would serve me food. That was before we were forced to live in poverty and my parents were hunted. I was sold as a slave at eight because they thought it would be the only way to keep me safe. With the first I only worked in the kitchens before it was time to be sold off. The second one was the worst. He had used me in ways that would be better left unspoken but then he got fed up with me and sold me off. The third would beat me if I was ever late for one of his objectives. The fourth only beat me because he needed to let out his anger on someone. This last one I had been the slave of for two years but I just working in the kitchens once again. I worked for the first for four years, the next two I only served for one year, and the fourth I served two years. I don’t know what has happened to my parents, I can only hope that they haven’t been caught yet and are on the run. They never explained what really happened for them to be hunted by the authorities but I think that is something that I must accept.

She sets the quill down and admires her work. She had been taught how to read and write by the one friend she had in her first household. No, don’t think of him, she tells herself knowing she’ll end up crying if she does. She looks at the food set out for her and her stomach growls. There could be something in the food but she’s so hungry. She gets up and locks the door, something she wasn’t able to do with her second master.

She nibbles on the meat trying to wait but then her hunger overcomes her and she tears into it. It’s delicious. She tries to slow it down with the food. She hasn’t felt this full since she was a child.

I’ve just eaten the food and now I’ve got to wait a bit of time to see if I fall into unconsciousness. It had happened once with my second master. I became sleepy after he gave me food and that was the first time I was ever used like that. Strange, I haven’t dared think about that time voluntarily for years. It had also happened to my friend. I wonder what happened to her because she was sold at the same time I was but to someone else.

Nothing has changed dramatically, the only tiredness I feel is the digestion process. I may be able to rest normally now. Fortunately I am a light sleeper.

She puts the quill to the side and closes the book. She sits down on the bed and it’s the softest thing she has ever felt in her life. She puts her feet up and her head falls on the pillow. She’s asleep in seconds.

Krystal opens her eyes with great difficulty and her eyes need a second to adjust to the sunlight. She’s well rested; it’s such a good feeling. She stretches wincing as some joints pop before getting up. She changes into a simple pink dress when there’s a knock on the door.

“Yes?” She unlocks it and opens it revealing a young girl with a tray of eggs and bacon. It reminds her of her dad and how he always made them for her and her sister. She stops herself; she can't think too much about her sister especially since…stop.

“I have your breakfast, miss.” She comes in and puts the tray on the desk.

“What’s your name?” Krystal asks.

“Su-Min, miss.” She says.

“Can I ask you something?” The girl nods, “How is your life working here?”

“It is very nice, Mr Kim took us in and told us we were going to be paid while working here.” She replies. Paid? So a maid who would normally be the slave is treated like a cook?

“Is he kind to you?”

“Yes very, he says that we may always go speak to him when we have problems. This house is the safe haven for slaves.” The girl smiles brightly. Krystal looks at her face to see some scars, probably from previous owners. She’s glad this girl is safe from men like her second, third, and fourth master.

“Do you know why he does it, a man like that should have some sort of connection to slavery to be so invested in it.” The girl shakes her head.

“I cannot say but what I can say is that Mr Kim is a very kind-hearted person.” With that she leaves the room. Krystal sighs before sitting down at the desk.

A girl called Su-Min just came into my room and I asked her about Mr Kim. She told me all that has been done for the slaves and that they are even paid here! Then I asked her why Mr Kim would do such a thing for us all and if he had some sort of connection to slavery but she said nothing. Could Mr Kim really only be doing this to be kind? That may be but the nobility don’t suddenly start to free the slaves, something must have happened to change his outlook on us. If I find that out, I may have a different outlook on this situation.

She eats her breakfast taking her time and admiring how the sun shines into the room. Then she gets up and hesitantly opens the door. Even though it has never happened to her, she’s expecting something to pop out at her and then shattering this dream she’s in. Nothing does, she goes down the stairs listening to the wood creak lightly under her bare feet. She came here with torn up shoes and she preferred to walk barefoot. If she’s really free, it shouldn’t matter if she wears shoes or not and they’re clean as well.

The carpet is soft under her feet so she enjoys walking on it. She goes to a wooden door that may be the kitchens since it is in the corner. She opens it and hears a lot of activity. She goes down the smaller flight of stairs and sees quite a lot of girls and boys getting ready for the day.

“It can't be, Soojung?” A familiar voice says to her left. She turns around.

“Jinri!” She smiles, one of the first in years. It’s her one good memory from her second residence.