Chapter 1
(A/N: in this book everyone speaks Korean because this books takes place in Korea. Duh. So yeah, everyone is speaking in Korean.)
Present Day, Year 2420
Tessa fiddled with her hands as she sat at the small kitchen table in the shared apartment she has with a couple of other girls and their mother and brother.
The thought of having a mother of her own came to her mind often, but it was strange to think about, it just seemed weird to think of it considering most women didn't keep their children after giving birth. They couldn't live with the reminder that they weren't able to prevent the horrible events that happen to them.
Lidia, Jeyoung, Kara, and Seonghwa were lucky to be able to grow up with their mother. The kids are all half siblings. They don't know their fathers and Mary, their mother, refuses to talk about who the men were.
One of the main reasons why she doesn't like to talk about it is because one of the men wasn't a pair, he was a random drunk man on the street that Mary just so happened to be on at the same moment one night. No one helped her. For two reasons. One, there was barely anyone around. Two, it wasn't a crime, it was a normal thing now.
Even though the world was in dark times, the family in front of Tessa were always bright. Or, as bright as they could be. Tessa might not have been one of Mary's children, but she is treated like one.
Mary knew Tessa's mother around the time she was pregnant with Seonghwa and they became friends.
After Tessa was born. Her mother sadly did not make it to see her face, so Mary took her in.
"Is the pin all set?" Mary spoke to Jeyoung as she kept her attention on fixing the position of Lidia's pin on the front of her shirt.
"All, all good mum" Jeyoung responded nervously as she stared at her reflection in the small mirror set on the counter.
Tessa kept still in her seat and played with her fingers, trying to think of anything but the event coming up in an hour.
"You okay honey?" Mary moved on from Lidia and knelt down in front of Tessa and pat her leg in a comforting way.
Tessa took her attention away from her hands sat on her lap and looked into Mary's shiny brown eyes.
Even though Tessa didn't say anything, Mary could read her expression.
"Look Tess," She gently slid her hands on top of the younger girl in front of her.
"It is a very stressful event. And, shit, I'm not gonna lie to you, it's scary as hell. But you have to remember that there is a chance you won't be chosen. In fact, there is a big chance you won't be chosen, just like the last time. Okay?" She gives a weak smile. "You just have to stay positive. Please, for me?" Mary patted Tess's head and ran her hand down her hair before getting up and going to check on the others once again.
Tessa couldn't tell whether or not it was just her getting scared or if she could really see more pain and worry behind Mary's eyes than she was letting off. Eyes really do say more than mouths.
It has been two years already since the last pairing event. Tessa went back to playing with her fingers and trying to forget what could possibly happen to her.
Pretty soon everyone from the city will gather together and names will be pulled. This is the second time Tessa has participated, not that it was her choice in the first place. If she refused, she would suffer a fate much worse than having a baby.
Tessa Pov:
I hope Mary is right, I really hope I'm gonna get lucky like the last time and not be chosen. But it's not so much me that I am worried about. It's Kara. She just turned 16 this year and I'm worried about her possibly getting chosen. She is too young and shouldn't have to go through this. Heck, I'm scared of any of the other girls going through this.
I look up and around the kitchen and my eyes land on Kara. I just want to give her a hug and tell her everything will be alright, but that would be a lie.
"Hey Tess, come here for a second." I look up and over to the owner of the voice, Seonghwa.
"Yeah sure." I give a weak smile. I stand up and feel my legs wobble a little bit from sitting for so long, and a mixture of anxiety. I honestly don't know which feeling it was really from.
I make my way over to Seonghwa and he motions me to follow him, so I do. We make it into his room and he lets me walk in before him. The sound of the door closing causes me to turn around, but my vision is blocked by his hard chest.
His arms are wrapped around me and his head is resting on top of my head. He starts rubbing his right hand over my back in a soothing pattern.
"I know I said this last time, but I'm worried about you." He speaks softly in my ear.
"Thank you Hwa, but you should be worrying more about your sisters." I said as I pulled apart from him. I held his arms and he rested his hands on the side of my arms.
"I am, trust me." He sighed and looked to the ground. "I already talked to them. Might or might not have cried a little bit for Kara." He shrugged.
"I love you Tessa." He pulls me back into his embrace. "I just want you to be safe, and this sure as hell isn't safe. What if you or the other girls are chosen and are paired with older men? This whole thing is scary." He runs his hands down my hair in a soothing way. I wonder if it's really to soothe me or him.
"Hey, whose side are you on?" I joke to lighten up the mood a little bit.
"Haha, funny." He sarcastically states and pulls apart once more to see my face. "I'm serious Tess. This is scary." His eyes start to gloss up a bit.
He removes his hands from the sides of my arms and brings them up to cup both of my cheeks. I watch his gaze lower to my lips and linger there for a second, then come back up to my eyes.
He leans down to peck my forehead and replaces where his lips just hit with his forehead. His minty breath fans my face and the smell of his cologne invades my nose, which I am okay with.
He moves his head down so that he can peck my cheek. He pulls back again to look at my face, his hands still gently holding my face.
My face heats up at the look he is giving me and I look down. He has never looked at me this way.
We used to hate each other when we were young, it took us about 2 years before we opened up to each other and gotten close.
I have totally forgotten about the pairing event happening soon.
He moves my face back up so that we are looking at each other once again.
He then slowly leans down softly, ever-so-slightly places his lips on mine.
It was perfect, almost like a puzzle piece the way they connected.
Seonghwa pulls back after a second and looks me in the eyes again. His hand suddenly drop from their position on my face and he looks shocked.
"I, uh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that, it just. Shit. I'm sorry for that. I just couldn't help it." He stumbled on his words and backed away.
I just sit there for a second, still trying to register what just happened.
"Guys! Time to leave!" Mary yells from the kitchen.
I look towards the door and back at the man infront of me.
......................................................................................
Present Day, Year 2420
Tessa fiddled with her hands as she sat at the small kitchen table in the shared apartment she has with a couple of other girls and their mother and brother.
The thought of having a mother of her own came to her mind often, but it was strange to think about, it just seemed weird to think of it considering most women didn't keep their children after giving birth. They couldn't live with the reminder that they weren't able to prevent the horrible events that happen to them.
Lidia, Jeyoung, Kara, and Seonghwa were lucky to be able to grow up with their mother. The kids are all half siblings. They don't know their fathers and Mary, their mother, refuses to talk about who the men were.
One of the main reasons why she doesn't like to talk about it is because one of the men wasn't a pair, he was a random drunk man on the street that Mary just so happened to be on at the same moment one night. No one helped her. For two reasons. One, there was barely anyone around. Two, it wasn't a crime, it was a normal thing now.
Even though the world was in dark times, the family in front of Tessa were always bright. Or, as bright as they could be. Tessa might not have been one of Mary's children, but she is treated like one.
Mary knew Tessa's mother around the time she was pregnant with Seonghwa and they became friends.
After Tessa was born. Her mother sadly did not make it to see her face, so Mary took her in.
"Is the pin all set?" Mary spoke to Jeyoung as she kept her attention on fixing the position of Lidia's pin on the front of her shirt.
"All, all good mum" Jeyoung responded nervously as she stared at her reflection in the small mirror set on the counter.
Tessa kept still in her seat and played with her fingers, trying to think of anything but the event coming up in an hour.
"You okay honey?" Mary moved on from Lidia and knelt down in front of Tessa and pat her leg in a comforting way.
Tessa took her attention away from her hands sat on her lap and looked into Mary's shiny brown eyes.
Even though Tessa didn't say anything, Mary could read her expression.
"Look Tess," She gently slid her hands on top of the younger girl in front of her.
"It is a very stressful event. And, shit, I'm not gonna lie to you, it's scary as hell. But you have to remember that there is a chance you won't be chosen. In fact, there is a big chance you won't be chosen, just like the last time. Okay?" She gives a weak smile. "You just have to stay positive. Please, for me?" Mary patted Tess's head and ran her hand down her hair before getting up and going to check on the others once again.
Tessa couldn't tell whether or not it was just her getting scared or if she could really see more pain and worry behind Mary's eyes than she was letting off. Eyes really do say more than mouths.
It has been two years already since the last pairing event. Tessa went back to playing with her fingers and trying to forget what could possibly happen to her.
Pretty soon everyone from the city will gather together and names will be pulled. This is the second time Tessa has participated, not that it was her choice in the first place. If she refused, she would suffer a fate much worse than having a baby.
Tessa Pov:
I hope Mary is right, I really hope I'm gonna get lucky like the last time and not be chosen. But it's not so much me that I am worried about. It's Kara. She just turned 16 this year and I'm worried about her possibly getting chosen. She is too young and shouldn't have to go through this. Heck, I'm scared of any of the other girls going through this.
I look up and around the kitchen and my eyes land on Kara. I just want to give her a hug and tell her everything will be alright, but that would be a lie.
"Hey Tess, come here for a second." I look up and over to the owner of the voice, Seonghwa.
"Yeah sure." I give a weak smile. I stand up and feel my legs wobble a little bit from sitting for so long, and a mixture of anxiety. I honestly don't know which feeling it was really from.
I make my way over to Seonghwa and he motions me to follow him, so I do. We make it into his room and he lets me walk in before him. The sound of the door closing causes me to turn around, but my vision is blocked by his hard chest.
His arms are wrapped around me and his head is resting on top of my head. He starts rubbing his right hand over my back in a soothing pattern.
"I know I said this last time, but I'm worried about you." He speaks softly in my ear.
"Thank you Hwa, but you should be worrying more about your sisters." I said as I pulled apart from him. I held his arms and he rested his hands on the side of my arms.
"I am, trust me." He sighed and looked to the ground. "I already talked to them. Might or might not have cried a little bit for Kara." He shrugged.
"I love you Tessa." He pulls me back into his embrace. "I just want you to be safe, and this sure as hell isn't safe. What if you or the other girls are chosen and are paired with older men? This whole thing is scary." He runs his hands down my hair in a soothing way. I wonder if it's really to soothe me or him.
"Hey, whose side are you on?" I joke to lighten up the mood a little bit.
"Haha, funny." He sarcastically states and pulls apart once more to see my face. "I'm serious Tess. This is scary." His eyes start to gloss up a bit.
He removes his hands from the sides of my arms and brings them up to cup both of my cheeks. I watch his gaze lower to my lips and linger there for a second, then come back up to my eyes.
He leans down to peck my forehead and replaces where his lips just hit with his forehead. His minty breath fans my face and the smell of his cologne invades my nose, which I am okay with.
He moves his head down so that he can peck my cheek. He pulls back again to look at my face, his hands still gently holding my face.
My face heats up at the look he is giving me and I look down. He has never looked at me this way.
We used to hate each other when we were young, it took us about 2 years before we opened up to each other and gotten close.
I have totally forgotten about the pairing event happening soon.
He moves my face back up so that we are looking at each other once again.
He then slowly leans down softly, ever-so-slightly places his lips on mine.
It was perfect, almost like a puzzle piece the way they connected.
Seonghwa pulls back after a second and looks me in the eyes again. His hand suddenly drop from their position on my face and he looks shocked.
"I, uh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that, it just. Shit. I'm sorry for that. I just couldn't help it." He stumbled on his words and backed away.
I just sit there for a second, still trying to register what just happened.
"Guys! Time to leave!" Mary yells from the kitchen.
I look towards the door and back at the man infront of me.
......................................................................................
Hey yall!
I would just like to say hi and welcome to my book, Chosen. To be honest this is more of a rough draft that I could possibly redo at some point if I'm not too lazy. So what I'm trying to say is that I put in a lot of effort into each chapter to make them enjoyable (theres most likely gonna be some that arent very good, like this one) but they may not be final.
I always love constructive criticism so I would appreciate your thoughts on my writing. A big goal of mine is to become a strong writer.
But anyway, enjoy the book!!
