Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom known as Korea, there lived a beautiful little princess named Kim Yeseul
...okay, so maybe it wasn't a faraway kingdom. It was the republic of korea, and the little girl was only a princess because she wore plastic tiaras around the house all day.
Korea was known for its landscapes, for it was run through with rivers and small mountains.
The Kim manor – and yes, it was a manor, the Kim's were not a poor familyㅡ on the outskirts of the City of Seoul.
This was the life the Kim's lived, quiet and peaceful but loving. There was a swimming pool in their backyard, a crystal chandelier in the entrance hall, and every bedroom had its own adjoined bathroom.
Kim Byeol had been pregnant when they bought it, and at the time both parents had a plan to fill the house with children.
"Five, at least," Byeol said dreamily, clutching her husband's arm as they looked up at their newly purchased house in wonder.
Ryu glanced down at his wife, with love and amusement sparkling in his eyes. "The floor map gives room for at least seven, comfortably," he joked.
"Ten," Byeol shot back, grinning. "If they share rooms."
That was the plan. Yeseul was set up in the nursery, a beautiful room in gold and pink, like a sunset painted across her bedroom. They gave her thirteen months of life before talking about their next child.
Disaster struck the night Byeol passed away in her sleep.
Ryu never recovered. The house, once to be filled with screaming, playful children, was empty and cold.
Little Yeseul grew to be eight, and her father loved her and doted on her as much as he possibly could.
He would have given her the world on a platter if she asked for it.
But he couldn't cure his own broken heart, and he gave in to the sickness that had been clawing at him for eight years.
But Ryu did leave something behind when he went. He was still a wealthy businessman, and above all he wanted his daughter to grow up happy and not alone. So he asked that Yeseul be taken care of by his business partner, Yoon Jae wook.
Jae wook was a single father; he had two daughters just Yeseul's age, Hyuna and Hyun-ji.
The three moved into Kim Manor the next day, bringing a great truckload of belongings with them.
Jae wook smiled for the lawyers and waved to the movers as they brought the last boxes in. But the second the door closed, things changed.
Hyunji stomped up to Yeseul's room, still pink and gold and beautiful. Hyuna followed in tow, walking in the odd way she had with her hair in two short braids. The two girls stepped inside, looking around.
"Geez, what a tacky design," Hyunji criticized, tapping her chin. "Who designed this?"
"My mom," Yeseul replied. Hyunji hmm-ed and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's the biggest room in the house," she said, "so I'll be taking it."
"What?" Yeseul cried. "No, you can't! That's not fair, this is my room!"
She stumbled out, watching in horror as Hyunji started pulling off her fairy and unicorn figurines, dumping them into a cardboard box. "Hm, don't need this, don't need this...ooh, this is cute!"
Yeseul turned and tried to enter the room across the hall, but Hyuna jumped ahead of her and leaned in the doorway "Sorry, this is my room, shortie" she drawled.
Yeseul shook her head, and ran down the hall to the other bedroom. But Hyunji had dashed through the conjoining bathroom, and appeared at the door right as Yeseul opened it.
"Sorry," she shrugged. "This is my study."
Yeseul stared at her, and Hyunji met her gaze with cold eyes. She looked back at Hyuna, who was grinning, and in her eyes Yeseul saw clear what exactly they meant to do.
She took off at a run, pounding down the halls. Hyunji and Hyuna took off after her, pushing and slamming her into walls as they tried to get past.
Each bedroom Yeseul came to, one would jump in front and claim it for her game room, or her den, or her makeup room.
This continued until every room in the house was gone, even the small one in the basement.
They rounded the last corner and Yeseul slammed straight into Jae wook. She stumbled back, staring up with watery eyes. Jae wook frowned and crossed his arms.
"I don't know how your father ran things," he said coldly, "but in my house there will be no running."
Yeseul sniffed. "They've taken all the rooms," she whimpered. "There's nowhere left for me to go!"
Jae wook looked down his nose at her. His strange eyes flitted over to Hyunji, and Yeseul turned to see that somehow she had managed to collect all of Yeseul's clothes and belongings.
The girl smirked, and handed Yeseul the box. She took it with shaking arms, turning back to Yoon sang.
"The attic is free," he said.
Then the tears that Yeseul had been holding back since her father's death spilled over, and with a shrieking sob, she ran away from the three new members of her family.
She ran up to the top floor, just outside of where her old bedroom used to be, and pulled the cord for the attic stairs.
Still sobbing, she climbed them and when she reached the top, pulled the ladder up after her and slid the trapdoor closed.
It was dark, and cold, and only a small half-moon window gave her any connection to the outside world.
Up there, Yeseul was effectively cut off from the entire world.
Some of the dust had settled on her shoulders and that was where she wasㅡ dusty, crying, and alone.
It is in that attic where our story begins.
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