KALOPSIA

3. Gateway to Henituse

"Since this is a fantasy, nobility-based place. We should be able to find him if we show up at the house under their last name, right?" Jihye asked.

"Jihye.. how many novels have you been reading?" Heewon asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Not as much as mister Kim Dokja over there!" Jihye said back, pointing at Dokja.

It was the next morning, and first thing, they called for a meeting.

"Do you think it'll be that easy to get inside? We're basically commoners!" Sooyoung criticized her thinking. She was lousily sitting back in her seat.

"Then what should we do? It's not like we can get in another way. And we'll stay commoners unless we do something significant enough for the emperor to bestow us a title... unless we get adopted into a noble family!" Jihye cheerfully suggested. "Or better, we get adopted by the emperor!"

"You want to be adopted by an old man?" Sooyoung scoffed.

"Hey. He might not be an old man.. at least in some novels..."

"I'm actually starting to wonder." Heewon said, interrupting them before they get into a fight.

"Jihye's right." Dokja said.

Sooyoung sat up from her chair. "You're siding with her?!" She asked, flabbergasted.

"Like Jihye said, we really don't have another choice." Dokja smiled nervously. "We have to try before quitting."

Sooyoung's face glowed red, from both anger and embarrassment, mostly leaning towards embarrassment.

Dokja ignored her. He looked around the room before turning back to everyone else to ask, "where's Joonghyuk? He was acting oddly strange when we met back up yesterday, and today too."

"When is he never strange?" Sooyoung seemed to have the memory span of a fish.

"I believe he's still in his room." Heewon informed Dokja on his whereabouts.

"Alright, thanks."

"Should I go check up on him, Dokja?" Sangah asked.

"Could you? It would be very helpful." Dokja didn't want to make Sangah do the dirty work, especially just being with Joonghyuk is already dreadful.

"I'll be fine, Dokja." Sangah reassured him.

"Alright. Thank you, Sangah." Dokja felt relieved having such a reliable person alongside him.

"Then I'll be back soon!" Sangah left the room.

"When Sangah returns, we should set out to the Henituse house." Dokja said.

"Alright." They all said in unison.

After a few minutes, Sangah came back with Joonghyuk behind her.

"Dokja! I brought him here, I alreeady told him about our plan." Sangah said.

"Alright." Dokja got up. "We'll be heading out then." Although he was surprised that Joonghyuk agreed to come with them without retaliation, it wasn't the time to think about that.

They walked out and onto the streets.

"We should take two separate carriages. I don't think we all would fit inside one carriage." Dokja sweated as he realized.

"We're taking a carriage?" Yoosung asked.

"Yeah, since we don't know where it is exactly. We could just ask them to take us to the Henituse household and they'll bring us there." Dokja responded.

"Stupid." Gilyoung laughed and mocked Yoosung.

Yoosung raised her fist with anger, but held it inside herself to not sadden Dokja.

They quickly got onto a passing carriage and headed towards the Henituses. It was a long and bumpy ride but they eventually arrived. The carriages left as soon as they left.

"It seems.. too luxurious..." Dokja stared blankly at the buildings in front of him. Even the gate that separated them from the insides was fancy and probably worth lot too.

"Who are you and what are you here for?" A voice quickly snapped him out of his imagination. It was the gatekeepers.

"My name is.. Kim Dokja.. and we're here to meet Cale Henituse." Dokja couldn't think of a name on the spot, since he didn't want to be too suspicious for using a very stereotypical name or a very unusual name. But he had to choose one.

Their reaction turned weird as they heard his name. "I'll go inform the young master. Stay here." They left in a flash.

"Why did you give them your real name?" Sangah asked.

"I forgot to make fake names before coming." Dokja felt defeated.

"HAHAHA! Look at this dumbass!" Sooyoung laughed wildly at his remark. "He forgot about his identity!"

Dokja snapped, "and you have one?!"

"Of course I do," Sooyoung made a very shiny and extravagant expression while saying, "I'm Bob Smith."

"What kind of name is that?!" Dokja asked in irritation.

Sooyoung just continued to laugh hysterically which angered Dokja.

"Excuse me." The gatekeeper came back. "Young master Cale would like to meet you." They announced. "The butler will guide you to him."

The butler was beside them, bowing a bit over. Seemingly like a regular butler, except, they wore a very unsettling smile. "Follow me." They spoke.

They complied and followed.