Nuance | Chanrosé

#8 - Secret

Rosie had been following Kyungsoo who roamed around the second floor just to find the slightest sign of Yoojung. They even looked into any existing space like wardrobes, en-suite bathrooms, and other spot that seemed possible for a 12 year old to hide in. Almost every single room that occupied the floor had been checked. However, there were only two rooms that they couldn't get into.

"I'd rather shake hands with a cactus than to let Park Chanyeol know his daughter went missing," Kyungsoo said.

"What about the other room?" Rosie asked.

"Which room?"

"The one across Mr. Park's room."

"Oh," Kyungsoo mouthed. He thought for a while. "That's impossible. The room is locked most of the time and only Chanyeol has the key to it."

"I see," Rosie replied. She then remembered when Yoojung caught her trying to open the room. She was warned that Chanyeol would be furious if he knew someone was trying to open the room. "Is this the first time she did something like this? Going missing?"

"No, actually-," Kyungsoo stopped his sentence mid way. His expression changed as if he had just come to a certain realization.

"Why? What happened?"

"Rosie, thank you," Kyungsoo said before he abruptly made his downstairs, leaving Rosie confused.

When Rosie tried to follow Kyungsoo again to see where he was going, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in the front door.

"Yoojung!" Kyungsoo called. He quickly approached the little girl. "Where did you go!? We were worried about you!"

"Nowhere," Yoojung answered. She tried to avoid Kyungsoo's suspecting look.

"You tried to run away from home again, didn't you?"

"I did not. Well, it crossed my mind- but I didn't do it."

"Please don't do that again. You're lucky your father has no idea about this."

Yoojung's expression turned more sour upon hearing Kyungsoo's remark.

"Yoojung, have you even eaten?" Rosie asked, standing next to Kyungsoo. "The food looked untouched when we went into your room."

"I'm not hungry," Yoojung replied shortly. However, a moment later, a faint growling sound came from her stomach. Her face turned red in an instant.

"Even though you're not hungry, you shouldn't skip meals," Rosie said, disregarding the weird sound. She didn't want to embarrass Yoojung and make the kid hate her more.

"She's right. You should eat," Kyungsoo said.

Yoojung shook her head quick.

"I'll eat with you. And then, I'll tell you a story from a book that I just finished last week," Kyungsoo assured.

Somehow the offer was too interesting for Yoojung to resist. She then nodded in defeat and followed the two adults to the dining room.

"I didn't know that you were into stories like that, Yoojung," Rosie said. They all already sat on the dining table—with Yoojung picking the nearest seat to Kyungsoo, of course. "If I knew it earlier, I would've brought my old books here and share them with you."

"Her mother used to read her a lot of stories when she was younger," Kyungsoo said. "I guess that's where the fascination came from."

"Really? Then you must have a favorite, Yoojung. What's your favorite story?"

At first, Yoojung hesitated to answer. She thought for a while before deciding to speak. "The Heavenly Maiden and the Woodcutter."

Rosie was surprised; not with Yoojung's choice of book, but by the fact that she was willing to respond to her question. "What a good taste! It used to be my favorite when I was younger too."