Chapter 2: THE DARK FIGURE

Min-hee got to a very large golden gate which was deteriorating, showing more of rust and age. But one could agree that the gate was majestic as it stood in front of her like a giant sneering at its meal. She turned around to inspect the area, using her right hand as a shield from the sun.

Squinting her eyes, she narrowed more to study the vast surrounding just to make sure she wasn't followed. And after being satisfied that she was all alone, Min-hee heaved a sigh of relief before proceeding to the side gate and as usual, it was open. Unlike the big gate, the small gate was easier to push.

She halted on seeing the faded "For Sale" sign that was laying carelessly on the ground. She picked it up and then dusted it before going back to the large gate to steady it there. Seeing that the sign was more visible, she continued her way through the small gate.

As Min-hee wheeled her bicycle inside, she couldn't help but admire the surrounding, feeling a sudden calmness in her soul because she was on a familiar ground, a place she frequently visited, a place she had always loved as a child but it had become a deserted place which had little of its former beauty. She was at The Aera Manor.

Since the death of a widower, Master Gong Tae-soo, the owner of the Manor, it had stood empty and abandoned for five years. But Master Tae-soo's heir, his only son who lived in Europe with no intention of returning, simply arranged for the contents to be cleared and auctioned. He then put up the Manor for sale at a very high price which was relatively too high for a very old Manor but when he was questioned, he explained that the manor had been in his family for hundreds of years.

Since then, the Manor diminished from its true beauty. A place which bubbled with life, energy and laughter because Master Tae-soo was an expansive, wealthy and generous man and he normally throws parties. But now, it has been replaced with weeds, wild flowers and emptiness.

Min-hee balanced her bicycle on a pillar and squeezed through frames of tangled weeds and wildflowers. From a distance, she could see the peeling but brilliant statue of The Lady playing a harp hovering over the lake.

It had been so long since anyone visited the Manor because of the weeds, although there was a time some villagers volunteered themselves and cleared the weeds from the lake, as well as mowed the grass. After five or six times, they stopped due to an injury sustained by one of the participants. Since then, the Manor had been completely deserted and people were warned from entering the lake because of the weeds.

Min-hee on the other hand, cared less about the weed and cared more about the prospect of cool water against her heated skin. And because she always had the lake to herself, she never had to bother with a swimsuit.

This had become a secret pleasure, something only she enjoyed. She felt that her presence was a reassurance to the Manor that it had not been completely forgotten.

And the Lady, who had been sitting there for almost four hundred years playing the harp, Min-hee thought herself to be the audience, listening to the music that no one else could hear but only she.

For some reasons, Min-hee always stood in front of the statue naked and sometimes danced, enjoying the freedom of being alone and grateful that the statue wasn't auctioned along with Master Tae-soo's wonderful collection of portraits, paintings and other miniature statues.

But on that very day, Min-hee had no interest in dancing. She admired The Lady as she began to undress and then proceeded to put her clothes neatly on a bench.

As usual, she stood naked in front of The Lady, unclipping her long hair, letting it fall at her back passing her waistline.

"I am so glad you are here, my Lady," Min-hee said to the statue, bowing slightly. "Because the lake wouldn't be the same without you."

She turned to the lake, dipped her left foot to test the temperature of the water. The water wasn't just cool, it was very cold, and it made Min-hee gasp. She cautiously took little steps into the water from the sloping bank. And as she waded deeply into the water, the first shock wore off. The chill instantly became acceptable. The once cold water was now a welcoming embrace, and with a small sigh of pleasure and relief, she submerged herself completely.

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Min-hee was so occupied with herself, the Manor's garden, the lake and The Lady that she didn't for once pay any attention to the dark figure looking down at her from one of the windows of the Manor. She was occupied with checking if she was being followed that she missed the exotic Genesis car parked behind the security house.

This dark figure watched her take off her clothes, talked to a statue, bowed to it before entering into the lake.

Never in his life has he seen such long full-brown hair. "Is she real?" He thought to himself. Partially, the question was little of a lady talking to a statue and more of a naked gorgeous brown-haired woman walking sweetly into the lake.

He watched patiently as the hair floated on the surface of the lake and when it finally sank into the water, he hurried his way down the stairs, across several rooms to get outside —to get to the lake. Just to reassure himself that what he had seen was a real woman and not a figment of his imagination.

He stopped abruptly then took few steps back to get a good look at himself in a mirror.

"You don't jump off to talk to the goddess of the lake without checking if you could dazzle her yourself," he muttered to himself.

The flare in this dark figure's deep eyes was blazing. He needed to be sure—and to be sure he had to feel.