Seven | Book 1 (An EXO fiction)

21.

~Chapter 21: I Missed You~

I know that Sehun is supposed to know my whereabouts, but I'm sure a few minutes out won't hurt anyone. I just need to get out for a bit. Besides, I need to know about the different rooms in the castle if I'm going to be stuck here don't I? There is no use in just sitting around here when I have an entire castle surrounding me.

Leaving the book full of pictures under my bed, and the other two on the table, I run into my walk in closet for something new to wear around the house. While the white pullover is cute, I'd like to not have my underwear on display for the entire castle to see. People are perverts, and I'd love to avoid being the focus of their gross thoughts.

Men and women alike.

I find a bright yellow sweatshirt that is long enough to be a dress and a simple pair of black leggings. I drop my night clothes on the ground, and trod back out to the main part of my room. Slipping on my slippers, I sneak out of my room. Taking in a few breaths to keep my mind from wandering back to the book, I make my way away from my door. The hallway is empty aside from the decorations and doors that lead to other rooms. It feels as though the entire place is empty except for me, and that does nothing to make me feel any more at ease. I purse my lips and start to explore on my own.

I know that the castle has at least 3 floors. The first has that room where I encountered the other human girls, the second has the kitchen and the dining hall, and the third has various bedrooms including my own and Queen Yongsun's. I don't know what else this place has, but what I've seen can't be all of it. The castle is big enough to be a small city in itself. I know there has to be more.

I travel down both sets of stairs all the way to the first floor. Unlike my first time here, the huge front door is locked shut. The 8 women from before are no longer there, in their place are 10 men in similar purple protective clothing. The men block the front door with emotionless faces; none of them even glance at me to acknowledge my existence. Charmer guards maybe? At the very bottom I wander around to the area behind the stairs.

5 long and wide hallways.

I know the middle leads to the decision room from before. I walk down the hall furthest left and stare at the walls and decorations in wonder. Just one of these things probably costs more than my soul. I resist the urge to touch any of the pottery and decorations. Even the couches that are placed along the walls at random places seem entirely too expensive for me to sit on. The hall spreads off into other smaller halls, but in order to avoid getting lost, I follow this larger one to it's very end. This one leads to a wide glass door. I settle for looking out the glass in fear of accidently setting off an alarm or something by opening the door.

It's the garden that I've been looking out at from above for so long. I can see a path lined with flowers, but it opens up to the larger whole. I can't see much from this spot, but I'm not going to go mosey out there all by myself.

I don't know what's waiting out there. It might be morning, but I'm an easy target. I'm not an idiot. I'll go out there another day when I'm not walking around alone. I turn on my heel and head towards the second hallway. I'm surprised to find what looks like a spa through the hall's largest doors. It's clean and smells of various fragrances even just at the entrance.

The lights are warm and the air feels clean. There are multiple women just walking around and talking to one another in this lounge. They all seem so carefree and happy being around one another. I see no Charmers, and I wonder if this is normal for them. Being so pleasant when amongst those like them. I don't even fully walk in to the lounge of the spa, but frowns and uncomfortable glances are thrown my way, so I know they don't want me in here. I walk right back out.