[Scarlet] - A 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal' Fanfic

Title: Scarlet
Genre: General, Angst (Drama-verse)
Characters: Cho Sun, In Soo
Words: 472

Summary: She is breathtaking in the cold light of dawn.

"She was wearing red, you know, a brilliant scarlet red, just like today, on the day she was brought into our house as a child. Before my father stood a ten-year-old girl, and the fiery red of her robes really… became of her.”

o.o0o.o 

You are playing beneath the drooping eaves of a lonely house when you first see her --- a tiny girl-child standing in the dusty courtyard of this imposing place you call home. She is wispy, and not much younger than you, and a bright red rose (red like her lips, red like blood) is plaited into her long black hair. Its fragile petals tremble as she shivers slightly, but whether it is from fear or from the winter’s chill, you do not know. You do not know who she is, why she is here, or whence the wind has blown her from.

…All you know is that she is wild and broken, and breathtaking in the cold light of dawn.

The small, wounded sparrow that you have gripped in your hands struggles feebly, but this time, you let it go, tossing it carelessly on the ground. It squeaks, overjoyed at the sudden freedom, but, bloodied and injured as it is, can only flutter weakly in the dirt, unable to fly away. Normally this would make you smile – you always did like to clip their wings – but today, your attention is turned elsewhere, and you pay it no heed.

But the girl in the courtyard – she does, and her measuring gaze lingers for several breathless moments on the battered animal lying between you. With bated breath you watch her watch it, desperately hoping for those dark eyes to lift and collide with yours. 

(...Yet you are spared nothing more than a cursory glance.)

You scowl – does she not know who you are? – but your father arrives before you can march up and show her exactly who it is she had so easily dismissed.

“My lord,” she says, bowing low, bestowing upon him the honour that she so indifferently withheld from you. Gritting your teeth, you can only watch silently as your father tilts her pointed chin up in a merciless grip, his eyes sweeping critically over her thin face and figure.

“…You’ll do,” he grunts, finally releasing her. And then, more impatiently, “Well? Your name, girl?”

The girl bows again, swan-like grace in every move.

“This unworthy one… is called Cho Sun, my lord.” Her voice is demure and ever-so-carefully deferent, but there is a spark of defiance in her hooded, obsidian eyes that refuses to be quenched. It is untameable, and elemental --- and every fibre of your being roars for it to be seized, to be owned, to be possessed. ...Because you – vicious and worldly at twelve years old – denied nothing, yet lacking everything, have never desired anything quite so much.

‘Mine,’ you whisper, as you trace her fragile figure with hungry eyes.

Mine.

The brilliant scarlet of her dress is the sky on fire, leaving scorch-marks on your dead, dead heart.

o.o0o.o

Author's Note:

(Because the character's ages are unclear, I decided to make In Soo a little older than Cho Sun for the purposes of this story, even though she looks a lot older than he does.)

Like? Dislike? Utterly loathe? >_< Comments are love! and constructive criticism is, as always, very appreciated, but please be gentle!

This is my first (and last) Cho Sun + In Soo piece --- the first of my [10 Moments] one-shots (i.e. the '10 Loves For Jae Shin' --- as i.turtle puts it) is in the works. I don't actually know when I'll get it done, but most likely after my exams. It'll be way more light-hearted than this one, though, I promise! =P

I await your evaluation with bated breath. =X