As I escaped the threshold that was my town, the green haired man lead me to a car.

It was painted a bright white, almost blinding underneath the sunlight. The door handles were made of silver, and the lights an attractive shape, making the car have more of an edge. It was the strangest piece of machinery I had ever seen. Seeing it from afar looked like a floating box, up-close it looked like something from an alien planet.

"Get in." he said firmly, and I nodded before opening the door and sitting inside.

As we began to move, it felt like I was gliding through air as we drove up a winding ramp that led to the floating city. I watched as the blue sky filled with puffy clouds met the rolling green hills and water, that surrounded my town. My mouth hung open at its beauty.

I had never seen it like this before. 

It was beautiful, green, colourful and clean.

As we entered Onavale, I gazed at buildings of various sizes, with the sun kissing the top of them, and upon everything. 

It was like heaven from how bright it was, unlike my town below; dark and eerie from lack of sunlight.

Large and small homes lined along parts of the city, with brown, black and shiny roofs. The windows looked as if it was made of solid ice from how clean they were.

People with different coloured hair wore clean, sophisticated clothes, as they walked the streets heading to work. My eyebrows raised in surprise, to see no one in rags roaming the sidewalks, and sleeping on the ground. It appeared everyone was rich here, as if poor people were were just non-existent.

Instead, those people filled the mud-filled ground below.

The silver streets that the car followed wound and snaked throughout the city, almost like tree branches. The green haired man turned, and turned, eventually following another silver branch which led to the tallest and widest home here.

The man stopped the car, parking it in the black road in front of the house along with several other cars. He opened his door then stepped out, and I did the same.

"This is the house of the Order, we call it headquarters." The man said. "You will be working and staying here from now on."

My eyes roamed the mansion with a quirked brow. The house was made of white and perfectly smooth concrete with a black and reflective roof. Orange illuminated through the glass windows, evoking a warm and comforting feeling. I gazed in awe, never before seeing anything so rich in my life.

It was like living a dream.

The green haired man headed toward the house and I tailed him, until we entered a door through the back, where it was much dirtier and older looking than in the front. The concrete was cracked, and the door's metal handle was orange with rust.

I assumed this was the place for the slaves.

Once I stepped inside, I was met with maids and slaves in grey dresses, and their coloured hair tied back. They ran around eating breakfast, cooking food on the large stove nearby, and talking to each other—that is, until I entered.

They all stopped, and movement and sound halting. They were frozen, pale and shocked all at once, taking in my form and watching my every move. It was as if they were waiting for a lion to pounce on its prey.

The room drowned in an awkward silence of staring, before the man spoke. "This is Ms. Park, she's going to be the new slave for Mr. Kim," he said patiently. 

I gulped, meeting the eyes of the shocked Gems.

"I'll leave her to you." The man said, turning around and leaving.

Once the man was gone, an older woman stepped forward, mouth formed into a thin line. Her hair was darker, unlike the other Gems. It almost looked black, but under the lights, it reflected a plum purple. "Follow me please,"

My gaze fell down, avoiding the stares from the others as I walked down a thin hall, leading to other rooms. There were beds, and other basic items, such as dressers and closets.

"Have you been told the rules?" She asked, entering another room filled with dresses exactly like her own.

"No,"

"There are quite a few." She said, walking further into the room. 

The plum haired woman turned her back to face me, heading toward a rack with several dresses hanging on it. She reached toward one of the dresses.

"This looks to be your size," she murmured, before walking over to a board placing the dress on it, and spreading it flat.

"Number one, don't engage with Mr. Kim other than him telling you what to do." She said firmly, but flatly, like she had rehearsed this many times. "He's had many—" she paused pursing her lips, "—mishaps occurred in the past."

"Mishaps?" I questioned.

She rolled her eyes. "Flirting, in lack of better terms. That's why he has a new slave every couple months, the boy can't keep his hands to himself." She explained, eyes fixated on the dress before her, until she picked up a fish shaped thing, with smooth metal on the bottom. "Hopefully you being a human will allow him to control that."

I nodded.

"Leading to rule two, girl." She said, irritated. "Don't talk back, meaning, no questions or defending yourself." She explained, placing the object on the dress pressing down firmly.

I bit my bottom lip, knowing that would be the hardest habit to tame. My curiosity was sometimes out of my control, resulting in many, many questions.

"Number three, you will have a set of chores to do every day, along with a schedule. You must follow it, or there will be punishment."

My eyebrows raised, and I gulped.

"Number four," she moved the object slowly over the dress flattening and smoothing the material. "You must be clean, showered, and dressed appropriately everyday. This will be your dress," the woman pointed at the flattened clothing under her hand. "The showers are down this hall, and across from the kitchen."

"Lastly, Number five, you call me Ms. Jung, and anyone related to the Order by their last name. Never call them by their first name, they are above you. Especially since you're a human and not a Gem."

I looked down and nodded reluctantly, the idea that a person was more important than someone else just didn't sit well with me. Why were certain people treated like gods and everyone else is just delinquents?

There was no reason for it.

"Understand the rules?" The woman said pulling me out my trance, as she placed the strange object to the side.

I nodded, observing as she lifted the dress from the board it was lying on.

"You're going to first shower, and you will put this on, got it?" She eyed me with her black beady eyes.

I nodded, and headed straight to where she told me the showers were.

It was the most amazing feeling ever, to shower underneath the heated water. I've never felt so warm, and cared for in my entire life. Back at home, if we needed to be cleaned, we had to shower in the nearby lake. In most cases, the lake was dirty from the animals lurking in there, and the trash from Onavale making its way into it.

This time, for once I felt clean. I gazed at my skin as I stepped out of the white cubicle, noticing how it was paler and more smooth. 

I watched in awe, as I stepped in front of a mirror on the wall.

My skin was scarred and marked with moles of various sizes, dotted along my jaw and nose. I even noticed a birthmark on my neck, which I'd never seen before. Seeing these new details was so strange to me, it felt like I was gazing at a new person.

I reached over to the grey dress that Ms. Jung told me to put on. I raised it above my head as it slipped down my frame to hug my shoulders and waist. Once my head peeked through the top, I watched myself in the mirror as the simple dress moved along with my body.

It was quite long, hanging to the middle of my calf. It had a circular neck, with basic shoulders and a towel in the front to hold things. It wasn't anything special, but it was a thousand times better than what I wore previously, even though the dress was extremely tight and uncomfortable. 

It felt like wearing a tube.

I stepped out of the bathroom to see Ms. Jung standing there waiting for me, her foot tapping against the hard-wood floor impatiently. "Now, I will do your hair." She said quickly, turning me so that my back faced her. "I usually do a half up style." She explained, tugging at my straight black hair.

"You humans have hair like dogs. It's thick and not cooperative." She murmured.

I exhaled and closed my eyes, allowing the comment to brush away.

Don't let it get to you.

She finally released my hair and I turned around to see her holding socks and pointing to a pair of black boots below her. "Now put on these socks and shoes," she said. "They protect you from the mice and infections."

I nodded, slipping my feet into the thin fabric and finally putting on the boots.

"You are ready," she stated, nodding her head with satisfaction. Then, Ms. Jung pulled a sheet of paper from her own dress and handed it to me, being sure to not touch my hand. "This is your schedule."

I took it and studied the page filled with chores. I grimaced slightly at the long list, before looking back up at the woman.

"You'll be paid to do a good job. Don't mess up." She said firmly. "You humans have a bad habit of that, so I would expect you to tread lightly."

I glared at her as she left, and stepped into another room.

Bitch.

***

My throat was dry as I moved down the narrow hallway, holding a mop and bucket in either hand. It's a typical effect most get after talking too much, yet, I barely spoke within the hours I entered Onavale. Ever since I was a child, I wasn't much of a conversationalist, but I had the tendedency to speak my mind when I needed to. 

Especially if there was any wrong-doing.

However, I was in the presence of people that could kill me if they wanted. So, it took all of my willpower to not say anything salty back in response to the Gems' comments. I would dig my fingers into my palms to prevent even a mumble of words from escaping my lips, leaving behind nail scars, and dents in my skin.

It was much more difficult than I presumed.

The Gems were relentless, smirking and laughing at me. They wanted to see me break, but I refused to whither.

I stopped before a room and glanced at the list again, and nodded, knowing this was the correct room. Once entered, I placed the bucket on the floor, and dipped the mop into the soapy water, before pulling it out and swiping it across the floors.

I had no idea whose room I stood in, but I quickly made the assumption it belonged to Kim Taehyung, due to the large bed, and highly decorated dressers and walls. I dipped the mop into the bucket again, then plopped it on the floor, letting its grey fabric glide along it, picking up the dust and crumbs.

I groaned with pain when my hip bumped abruptly into a small dresser. I gasped overhearing a metal clatter on the floor.

"Fuck," I muttered in fear, placing the mop on the floor to see what fell. I raised an eyebrow noticing a gold ring with a large red stone in the centre.

Out of curiosity, I reached for it and studied the ring.

It was beautiful, the stone's blood red colour reflecting the light within the room, the gold shiny and expensive. It was smooth under my fingertips, as I traced every detail and swirl.

I had never seen anything so amazing in my life.

"Did anyone ever tell you not to touch what doesn't belong to you?" A deep, hoarse voice said from behind me.

I gasped, placing the ring back on the dresser slowly. I spun around, coming face-to-face with eyes deep like an abyss, and hair a dark, blood red.

[A/N]

HEYYYYY

Edited, kinda

Taehyung's finally in this chapter! Well, for 3.5 seconds at least 😄

Thanks for reading! Be sure to fill that star with some love, it was meant to be filled ❤️