a trip to the matchmaker

You can't marry her off like that! She's not some kind of object you marry off to anybody just so you can rid of her!

Yoon's words echoed in my head as I played it over and over. The anger in his seething eyes were the kind of rage I've only seen once and a while and they were mostly reserved for his father. I have not expected him to react the way he did. I have not expected him to get so angry. 

Yoon wasn't home last time I was set up with a matchmaker but the news, however, traveled to him soon enough - thanks to my mother. Come to think of it, it didn't take long for Xin to disappear upon Yoon hearing the news of our engagement. 

I chased the thought out of my head. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Yoon won't have nothing to do with Xin leaving? Would he?

Then, why is he so upset?

"Hana!" Mother's soft voice called. She waved her hand over to my face as she pulls me away from my daze. "What were you in deep thoughts about?"

My mouth parted, shifting me gaze over to her. Her face is always a welcome sight. At thirty six, her beauty clung to her as though they would never fade. No wonder stepfather love her so much. She's as every bit as beautiful as the day he met her. "Are you worried about the matchmaker?" She asked. 

I blinked once. I hardly thought of the matchmaker at all. Yoon occupied my mind. "U-umm, yeah. Who wouldn't be scared getting matched to their future husband?"

She knew instantly I was lying. Perhaps, it showed on the sadness and disappointment in my tone.

She made a pouty lip, a shimmer of pity glimmered in her eyes. "Yoon was right, you are not just any object were trying to get rid off." She reached for my hand and cupped it inside hers, she held it gently and smiled before she spoke. "I love you, Hana. But your father is the head of the house. Whatever he say goes. You know how he gets? How scary he becomes? I tried to reason with him but he said you were getting too old and we need to marry you off."

"It's okay mother." I have always been raised to be a good child. Obedient, dutiful, faithful, loyal  and what else? "Jungjae is not too bad." He may not be the kind of chiseled and gorgeous man I dreamed of, but I know he'll provide. Who needs love and good looks when you have empty stomach?

This is for the best, I tried to convinced myself. I'm afraid the outcome would be catastrophic if I were to say no. Stepfather might take his anger out on my mother. I would never forgive him if he ever lays a finger on her. 

Mother chaperoned me as we headed over to the matchmaker. The appointment was set for this afternoon.

I shuffled my feet, staggering at times at the length of my dress. I wore the same dress as I did last time, there were no time to make alterations since stepfather wanted the matchmaking to happen immediately. There's no time to waste, he told mother. 

We're trying to make it on time when a stroke of good fate took my attention. 

"A red fox." I murmured as I stopped on my tracks. Its eyes fixed on me as though it's been watching me the whole time. "What's it doing here? Is it lost?"

Mother paused by my side. The fox shifted, turning to my mother before bringing its eyes back to me. There's something about this fox that made me uneasy. The way he watched and the way his eyes was glued to me. It is as if it wanted something. 

"Be careful, it's wild. It has rabies." Mother warned. Her hand grasped my arm as she stirred me away from it. 

"Right." I mumbled as we walked away. 

*****

Later that evening, I saw a man in my sleep. He was tall and slender. He walked around the corner of my bed and reached his hand to my cheek. His touch sent shivers down my spine - that even in my sleep, I quivered at the sense of his fingers brushing against my skin.

Then, it was over. The dream faded before I could fully immerse myself. 

I woke still trapped in the eeriness of the dream. Fog hovered filling half of the room slowly disappearing.

I looked around, still sensing the stamp of its presence when Yoon peeked through the my door he had cracked open. 

"Yoon?"

"Hana." He whispered. "I heard you moaning. I thought you were having a nightmare."

"I was, but it's over now." I answered. 

He pushed the door slightly wider, his disheveled hair told me he had not come out of his room today. "How did the matchmaking go?"

A sigh escaped. "It went." I said and my short answer was enough to let him how upset I was.

There was a long pause, a lingering silence that drew angst between the two of us. I could tell from the way he looked he's upset and he probably hasn't gotten any sleep in a while.

"Hana!" He croaked in a hoarse voice. "I know you're not in love."

"You don't have to be a psychic to know that." I humored.

"I can take you away, Hana. We can run away. They don't have to know where we are. We could go somewhere, we could move to a place where nobody knows us. We can start a new life together."