Seven | Book 1 (An EXO fiction)

24.

~Chapter 24: Bullying and Extra Protection~

Even in the brittle December air the flowers and plants are in full bloom. We walk along the sand covered and flower lined pathway that I saw through the glass door to the large opening. It's even more spacious standing in the middle of it. There are multiple paths and areas with benches. It's all colorful and beautifully trimmed. It's immaculate and if the biting wind wasn't here I think I'd almost have thought it was spring.

It's unnatural.

A part of me is sick at the fact that I know this garden is maintained through magic. Someone is here forcing the plants to exist at a time that they shouldn't be in bloom. The other part of me is just as amazed by the beauty. Full flowers here where there should be dead stems and decaying leaves. Don't they need the time to recuperate?

In front of where Sehun and I find ourselves is a large bush. The two of us walk over to the tall shrub and I peek around it while Sehun stands behind saying not a word. Since Jongin left, the two of us have fallen into uncomfortable silence. It's not that we are afraid to say anything to one another, but we just have nothing to say.

The opening of the bush appears to be the opening to some kind of complex maze. It doesn't seem all that scary, but I know that if I were to go in there then I may never find my way out. It's tall walls and lit pathways could easily swallow someone of my size, and without any magic to guide me out, I'd be lost to the world forever.

The thought scares me a bit, so I take a few step away, and settle for observing the rest of the life filled garden. I scan the area and see the various colors, plants, and pieces of decoration. There are no bugs and animals though...it feels artificial in so many ways.

A glistening blue fountain pours out water not far from where we stand and catches my eye. The sound of its soft splashing is calming. I wonder if they turn it off when it gets too cold. Can't pipes freeze?

The fountain itself is white, and it has a statue of a woman in the very middle. The woman has a solemn smile on her face as she pours never ending water out of her vase. At her waist there is a small, and seemingly intentional, break in the fountain that spills water out like a circular waterfall. The way the water pours out makes it seem as though the skirt of her dress is made of the water that fills the fountain. It makes her seem almost alive within the fountain.

"She really hates you, you know." Sehun's voice startles me out of my wandering thoughts. I pull my attention away from the woman with the water dress to look at Sehun's serious face. After recalling what was just said it doesn't take much more thought to know that he's referring to the queen bitch of the castle. Moonbyul.

I scoff a second too long after the initial statement. "I noticed." I turn away to follow the water flowing from the vase with my eyes. "I have no idea why though. I think a lot of the people here dislike me if not hate me already." I place my hands on my hips and bite at the drying skin on my lips.

"That's because you don't act like them."

I face him once again. "Hmm? I thought I was doing a good job."

He places a hand on his hip and frowns with his eyebrows. "Yeah you thought." He says sassily. "You still don't act like them. It's painfully obvious. And they definitely don't like how you are treated by your Highness; you get away with way more than you should."

"You think I don't know that? I didn't ask to be treated like this! She's weird and I don't know why she's doing this to just me. I've been thrown overboard into unfamiliar waters and she's the only person who's been nice to me. I can't trust anyone, no one likes me, and sometimes it all feels like too much. But I don't have a choice in being here anymore...so I could care less if all of you hate me. I'm not leaving until I have to." I huff and stomp over to the edge of the fountain to sit. I pull my coat tighter around myself and hunch over so that my head can rest on top of my interlocked fingers. Sehun sits quietly beside me.