Chung Seo-Hyeon
"So, your real name is Olivia?" Sang took a bite of his burger and looked at me. His eyes seemed to try to study me. I simply nodded and took a fry from my plate.
"Eric tried to make me his wife, but I knew what would happen to me if I had agreed. A life of being chained to him. And I despised him too much to even consider his proposal."
We sat together in a small, empty diner with red and yellow as it's main colors. They was bright and bold. We decided to sit the corner booth of the restaurant and ordered two burgers and small fries.
"Understandable," He said as he took a fry, "After what you had told me about the Leinhart Family and the scars you had showed me, I myself felt a little bit of resentment towards them for doing this to my friend."
I felt my face turn red.
Friend, huh?
"So, do you remember how you entered this world?" He leaned back and ruffled his dark gray hair. His striking blue eyes pierced me.
"I don't," I replied, fidgeting in my seat.
"Alright, then. Do you want to get revenge?" His question took me by surprise.
Am I really capable of doing that..?
He stared at me, waiting for an answer.
"I-I don't thin-" I couldn't continue. I looked down and gritted my teeth. Out of nowhere, tears started to fall down on my lap. I wanted to get revenge. I wanted to make Eric suffer just as much as I had at the hands of his dear father.
I wanted to slap the Madam with all my might, just like she always did to me.
I wanted to throw Madeline on the floor and lock her in a room, just like she did to me.
I wanted to tell off the other slaves and pull at their hair, like they did to me.
I put my hands over my eyes and started to sob.
I kind of felt embarrassed, suddenly crying in front of Sang like that, but I couldn't help it. I thought all the emotions that had built up inside me had calmed down, but there was still some part of me that couldn't forget the pain. The abuse. The hate.
He must think I'm such a nuisance.
"Here," I heard Sang say. I looked up, tears running down my face. He was holding out a tissue with a stoic expression. I took the tissue in one hand and felt relieved.
He doesn't think I'm a nuisance.
As I attempted wiped my never-ending tears away, I couldn't help but think in that moment about how kind Sang was.
He always looked bored, but I knew he cared about me. Or at least to some extent.
"Sang," I called when I finally stopped the tears, "You're really kind, you know that?"
I smiled at him with genuine happiness. I was happy I had met Sang.
He looked at me with wide eyes, and for a second, there seemed to be some sort of emotion in his eyes.
My eyes stared into his.
All this time, whenever we had talked, I would always sense some sort of sadness from him. His smiles seemed fake, like a well-built mask that was carefully sculpted over the years.
I would know, because I had a mask of my own; just a different variety expressions were displayed on mine.
Before I could blink, his dead eyes were back. "Thanks." He said, looking away. The dead smile was back, but I didn't mind. I had finally seen some emotion from him that day.
"So, what do I call you?" He was looking back at me again.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, your real name is Olivia, but I've been calling you Hyeon this whole time."
I smiled at his attempt to start a new conversation. "You can call me Hyeon. I don't like my old name."
"Okay then," He looked outside the window to our right with a soft expression on his face, "I guess its settled then. Hyeon."
He looked back at me and with a light smile. For some reason, I liked the way he said my name.
.
.
.
He walked me back to my apartment, saying it could be dangerous, but the whole time he had a grim look on his face. I asked if he was alright, but he just nodded. I didn't believe him, but decided to stay quiet.
When I reached my apartment, he asked me a question; the first thing he had said to me since we had started walking.
"How did you get a place to stay in?" He asked as he walked me to my door.
"I woke up here," I explained, "I remember closing my eyes in my previous world, but when I opened them again, I was here. I was fully healed and clean, and I was wearing strange clothing that I've now come to realize is our school uniform. Although I still had the scars."
"You just woke up here?" He asked in confusion.
"Yeah. Even I don't get it. But I'm sure I have a purpose here."
I took my key out of my bag and unlocked the door. Right before entering, I tilted my head up to look at Sang. I had made up my mind when he had given me the napkin; I will go to Elirac with him. I can't let him go alone without any prior knowledge, so even if he refused, I would still go with him.
"Sang, I've made a decision." His blue eyes stared into mine.
"What is it?"
"I'm going to Elirac with you." He stayed quiet and that started to make me nervous. I looked down and started to explain why I should got with him.
"I-in my previous world, there were a lot of books and research about Elirac, and I have a pretty good memory, so I think I would be a big help to you, and you don't know what kind of monsters you could come across! For example-" I was rambling on when he cut me off.
"Okay. You can go with me." I looked up at him, only to see a smirk on his face.
I felt my face go red. "O-okay then," I walked into my apartment, "Bye!"
"Goodnight."
I closed the door and slid down against it.
My heart was beating a mile per second, and I had no idea why.