Hotel del Luna

Chapter 9:Venetian Blue

Her long blonde hair, pulled into a loose ponytail, framed an elegantly pretty face.

"Do you know," the woman said, leaning casually against a wooden pillar, "How hard was it to find you?"

Y/N shifted the handle of the sword in her hands. The weight of it was both familiar and alien in her palm.

Nayeon's eyes narrowed. "That, I think, belongs to me

"Not anymore," Y/N spoke without thinking. "You should be careful about where you leave your stuff. Don't you know there is a bandit around?"

"So I’ve heard," said Nayeon dryly. "Apparently, she’s been terrorising every brothel within the county. Just my luck that she would hit my favourite one on the night I happened to be visiting." She looked Y/N up and down. "So what? Are you a thief or something?"

"Just passing by," Y/N scowled. "And I do not steal from brothels. Just the pigs who pay for them." She grinned at the change in Nayeon's expression.

"My men outside happen to disagree," Nayeon countered coldly. "After all, it wasn't just my valuables that you stole." She straightened at the sound of footsteps outside the barn. "Where have you hidden the rest of your spoils?"

Y/N felt alarm sink into her stomach. "You are searching the village?"

"You expected us not to?"

Y/N raised her sword in defiance. "Call your men off."

Nayeon's face darkened. "I don't think you're in a position to be making orders."

"I said, call them off!" repeated Y/N in a higher voice. "Get them to retreat from the village, or—"

"Or what?" Nayeon took a step closer and Y/N's sword flew higher. "You'll kill an officer?"

"No! I—"

The footsteps outside grew louder, and Y/N spoke her next words quickly. "You don't understand," she hissed. "Yes, I took your sword, but the people here have nothing."

Nayeon blinked, taken aback. "I will come quietly," Y/N insisted. "Please."

"Captainess Nayeon?"

Y/N glanced at the door, and using the moment of distraction, Nayeon sidestepped to the right of Y/N's sword and surged forward, grabbing her wrist and twisting the blade from her hand.

Before Y/N could even gasp, Nayeon clapped a hand over Y/N's mouth and shoved Y/N back with her weight. They fell out of sight behind a wooden pillar and into a pile of hay just as the barn door opened.

"Captainess," said the voice again. "We talked to the village elder and he says nobody has come through here in the past week. Should we still conduct a search?"

Y/N tried to throw Nayeon off and silence her but Nayeon's left hand still covered her mouth, and the other had Y/N's wrists pinned fast above her head.

Y/N's attempt only caused Nayeon's grip to tighten, and for a brief moment, she pictured the inevitable, her being carted off to the prison she knew resided beneath the palace without any hope of escape. But, to her complete and utter shock, Nayeon did the last thing Y/N had expected her to do — she lied.

"No," Nayeon said, catching Y/N off-guard. "I know the elder. If that's what he says then he's telling the truth."

In her surprise, Y/N ceased to struggle against Nayeon's grip, and she stared up at her with wide eyes. Nayeon's expression was unreadable as she met Y/N's gaze. "Wait for me outside the village."

"Understood, Captainess." said the voice, and retreated.

Nayeon breathed out a sigh and she removed her hand from Y/N's mouth.

For a while, neither of them said anything. Y/N was acutely aware of Nayeon's weight straddling her, both hands are beside Y/N's head.

"You've been giving it away," Nayeon said finally. "The things you've been stealing."

Y/N swallowed. "They have nothing." she said again.

Nayeon's lips unconsciously parted. There was something wandering in her eyes, "Who are you?"

Y/N opened her mouth to reply.

"Y/N!"

Y/N sat up, her eyes flying open. She was back in her room.

“I said—“ her door slid open, “Are you going to pick that up?”

Tzuyu stood on the other side of the doorway with an exasperated expression, "It's been going on for almost five minutes now."

Y/N looked over to her backpack, inside which her phone was currently blaring the Doreamon theme song. She grunted and crawled towards it blearily, which Tzuyu took as a yes.

Tzuyu closed the door and left Y/N to pick up the phone in privacy.

"What?" spoke Y/N into the speaker.

"I've been calling for five minutes." came Nayeon's annoyed voice.

"Huh." said Y/N. She could almost hear Nayeon rolling her eyes from the other side of the phone.

"You have your first job," Nayeon informed her. "A customer wants raisin toast from a specific bakery in Itaewon. I'll text you the address, so deliver it before eleven."

Y/N fell back into her bed. "What a sadist." she muttered.

"What?"

"I said you are a sadist!" Y/N hollered into the speaker and hung up the phone.

"Was that your new boss?" Dahyun called from the kitchen.

Y/N sighed, pressing her face into her pillow. "Just a dream." she whispered.