Chapter 3 – The White Dragon
Yona got me a place to stay that was near to Kija's room. Kija was kind of distant toward me but maybe that was how he acted naturally to people he just met so I didn't mind it that much. I tried sticking to him with every chance that I could get but he would just back away.
I knew that he was being distant because he was shy around me. It was the first time that a girl like me embraced him while sleeping—that was according to what I read from his mind.
"You do know how to use a rug, right?" Roo-na asked me. Yun made a schedule so that everyone in the castle would be able to teach me. As of now, Roo-na and Shin-ah were tasked to teach me of how to clean the shrine and pay respect to it.
Shin-ah was being quiet in the corner while dusting off the dirt.
"Like this?" I didn't know if what I was doing was right but judging from Roo-na's expression even without hearing her thoughts, I was doing a great job.
"You're doing a great job," she complimented. I didn't know why she needed to speak that out loudly even when I already read her mind.
I didn't even know why we needed to speak.
Like how I could read everybody's mind, she could read my mind too, right?
At least she knows how to do chores now, Roo-na thought.
"Thanks to you," I replied.
"What?" her eyes widened.
"I said thank you for teaching me to do chores now," I tilted my head to the right side.
She shook her head. "Maybe I unconsciously spoke that aloud," she whispered to herself but I heard it. "Come on. Shin-ah and I will teach you how to pay your respects to the shrine,"
"Okay," I replied.
I walked behind her and we stopped on the further middle of the shrine near the wall. Shin-ah was already there and he nodded at us, signaling us that he was ready to pay his respects.
The three of us went on our knees and I followed their actions just like when they were bowing. "You need to thank God for everything that you have right now," Roo-na explained. "If you have something that you wish for, now is also the right time to say that,"
"Then my wish would come true, right?" I wondered.
Roo-na stopped bowing for a second to look at me. "Sometimes they do come true if you have strong faith,"
Sometimes, your wish would be granted because you're lucky, Roo-na thought.
"If I'm lucky?" I repeated. This time, Roo-na eyed me very carefully.
I looked over at Shin-ah and saw that he was staring at Roo-na. She's really beautiful, Shin-ah thought.
"She is, right?" I asked Shin-ah.
"Huh?" Shin-ah backed away like he was afraid of me.
Roo-na looked back and forth between the two of us since she was kneeling in the middle of us. "Am I missing something here?" Roo-na asked.
"Maybe you didn't hear..." I shrugged. "...but Shin-ah thinks that you're really beautiful."
***
"This is Calendula," Avi pointed at a golden flower. Avi, Jae-ha, and I were currently in a huge garden where they grew medicinal herbs. Jae-ha wasn't really that knowledgeable about medicinal herbs but he wanted to accompany Avi. "The petals of this flower are edible and they are best used to treat skin conditions,"
"Okay..." I nodded.
She then pointed at a 5-foot tall plant. "This is—"
"Motherwort," I finished for her.
She proceeded to the next plant that was in the shade of violet...just like her eyes. "This is—"
"Passionflower,"
She pointed at a couple of white flowers. "While—"
"Meadowsweet," I finished for her once again. Even without her pointing to the next plant, I blurted out, "Spilanthes,"
Jae-ha eyed me curiously. "Looks like you're knowledgeable about medicinal herbs after all,"
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
"You know what they're called," Avi pointed out. "You remember the medicinal herbs' names correctly, Zara,"
"I don't," I denied. "Weren't you going to say that?"
"No..." Avi looked like she was thinking of something. "I spoke it in my mind..."
We're free now...I want to have children, Jae-ha's thought flew out of nowhere. We were talking of a different matter aloud but I guessed that Jae-ha was lost in his own world.
"How many?" I asked Jae-ha.
"What do you mean how many?" Avi wondered.
"Jae-ha thinks that he wants to have children since you're free now," I told her and just like Roo-na, she eyed me carefully.
Starting from Shin-ah and Roo-na down to Jae-ha and Avi...why was everybody eyeing me like I was suspicious?
Couldn't they hear what each other was thinking?
YOU ARE READING
The Definition of Loneliness (Kija Love Story)
Fanfiction"But please...don't tell anyone, okay?" "Don't tell them that you're lonely...?" I guessed. I didn't want to keep reading their minds if it was that unusual. It was a good thing that I could just read their minds if I wanted to. "Yes," he breathed...
