I Wished For You [Michaeng]

Chapter 7: A Piece of the Past

A/N: The following chapter is a flashback.

TW: minor mentions of blood and violence near the end of the chapter.

Have fun reading!

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Twelve years ago

Every other day at noon, Chaeyoung had grown to expect it, a letter waiting on the ledge of the well. By this point, she could have easily run away as she was allowed to go to the village nearly every day. But she respected the rules. This was the little freedom she had. Exchanging letters was already risky, keeping them hidden was riskier. It was her mission to defend those letters. The words written within were not meant to be shared. As soon as she grabbed the letter, she ran back to the orphanage. She was careful to avoid anyone, but the world had other plans when she accidentally bumped into someone while running back to her bed in the chamber she shared with many others. She fell backward and dropped the letter in her hands. The other person grabbed the letter before she could.

"Wait, please don't," Chaeyoung pleaded.

"Why would I? I'm not that type of person," the other person said, extending a hand to help her up.

When she was fully standing, the other person-who had to have been at least ten centimeters taller than her-handed her back the letter.

"Thank you."

"It's no problem. Your name is Son Chaeyoung, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It seems you're quite famous around here. Brave, fearless, curious, has a knack for art, generally keeps to herself. Those are just some of the things I've heard about you. My name is Chou Tzuyu, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"You probably want to read that letter, right? I'll go where I was heading before you bumped into me."

"I'm sorry, thank you again."

"Just pay more attention next time. See you later."

Tzuyu walked away and Chaeyoung was left to her own devices.

Who is this person? How did they know my name? Where did they hear all that about me?

She always had more questions than answers. The letters she received were the only thing remotely close to giving her what she craved. She walked into the chamber, sat on her bed, and started reading the letter to herself.

"My dear friend, who gave you that mun? I'm surprised there are any genuinely kind people left in that village. Did you make a wish with it? I bet you did. To answer your question from the last letter, I think you should keep at it, who cares if people find it weird. I have a request, in the right corner of your next letter, draw two animals you think represent us. I want to see your art. I believe in you. Have a good day. Sincerely, the girl by the well."

One answer for the million questions she still had. It was simple yet gave her so much validation. She went over to the shared desk in the corner of the chamber and wrote her response. In the corner of the letter, she drew a tiger and a penguin. The letter was then folded and slid into an envelope. She addressed the letter to its respective person and left it the next day.

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"I think you're overthinking this," Tzuyu said.

"She closed the letter with 'Love, the girl by the well.' How else am I supposed to interpret that?" Chaeyoung asked.

"It's a normal way to close a letter."

"But she never closes a letter like that."

"Chaeyoung, you can't just accept something this simple, can you? No wonder you have so many unanswered questions."