SALVE | l.ty + k.jn

two

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chapter two - silhouettes

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Jennie stared at the soft shade of baby-blue in front of her.

The blue material hung loosely on the girl like a babydoll dress.

Careful not to step on the girl's feet in front of her, Jennie's eyes scanned the silk, ballet-like shoes, also blue.

It was no surprise, as all lilliettes were required to wear such modest-like apparel. But of course, many of the girl's outfits varied to fit their personas... like Jisoo, for example, who wore a daring red satin set.

Of course, Jennie was wearing the color her mother had chosen. A pearly pink.

Their outfits were validations that they had officially graduated from the academy. It was time to get chosen into their homes, and as the girl in front of her had turned her head as someone to their left had begun to announce something in a megaphone, Jennie caught a glimpse of her glass-like skin, artificially flushed with an orange tone- the same color applied to her lips which she nervously bit at. Her hair had been curled in perfect ringlets, her bangs perfectly framing her face.

Jennie recognized the girl from her homeroom. Her name was Kim Ji-Woo, who liked to be referred to as Chuu. Perhaps her staring had been a bit much, as Chuu had craned her neck to peer back at Jennie, meeting her honey-like eyes with Jennie's deep mahogany ones.

Exchanging warm smiles, Jennie sincerely wished the girl luck... whatever that was worth, and wherever she were to go.

She wished that for all ten other lilliettes in front of her, and the twenty remaining behind her.

Just one line of lilliettes out of the very many.

They were being shuffled neatly into a massive building connected just outside of the academy.

Although everything appeared coordinated and organized thanks to months on end of preparations and presentations on how every lilliette must behave, many of the lilliettes' hearts and minds remained unrest as their hearts hung at the threads of their sleeves.

Except Jennie, who could now care less.

Jennie then ignored her surroundings, not much to look at as everything was just as their instructional videos portrayed it to be, anyways.

The most recent video which had been documented three years ago that Jennie would only stay awake to see her cousin, Yoon So-Hee briefly appear in.

So-Hee had been auctioned off three years before to a man who lived on an island hours away from the academy. A handsome and charitable man who enjoyed his privacy and rather wouldn't get involved in the political affairs many of the men- especially the men of the estate were involved in. Her cousin was impeccably one of the 'lucky ones' as she had not become a house-maid type of lilliette, but had become his wife.

Many lilliettes dreamed of being one of the 'lucky ones'

Jennie and So-Hee shared an admirable friendship as they exchanged handwritten letters here and there, with So-Hee promising to come visit once Jennie graduated. Jennie wondered if it were just an empty promise, but didn't hold her to it as she knew So-Hee meant well.

"Lilliettes from homeroom 'C', you're on the auction stage after the second batch of girls. Follow me to your room." A woman says, appearing at the front of the line and dressed in a skin-tight black blazer and skirt, much like the other administrators wore.