The jinx and the voice - 1

                                                                      1

Chan woke up only at five o’clock in the next morning. After a deep sleep he felt relieved but famished at the same time. He hadn’t had a proper meal since yesterday morning and now his stomach was revolting because of that. He got freshened up and went to the kitchen to find some food. On the way, he looked at the closed door at the end of the hallway for a moment and then continued walking. It was still early for anyone to wake up and the whole mansion had an eerie silence.

When he reached the kitchen, he saw nanny Shu already busy in her works. He went to the fridge to look for something to eat but was stopped by nanny Shu’s words, “Cold food will be bad for you now, young master.”

Chan turned around with an awkward smile and said, “Good morning nanny Shu!”

“A very good morning to you too, young master! I was waiting for you to wake up. This is specially prepared for you. Have a warm breakfast, young master Chan.” Saying that nanny Shu brought some porridge, a glass of milk and a small bowl of brown liquid over to the dining table in the kitchen and gestured Chan to sit.

Chan obediently sat down and looked at the food and then at nanny Shu waiting for an explanation. Nanny Shu understood his gaze; she turned around and went back to the breakfast preparation for the Shaw family and started talking, “Jina saw the way you came in yesterday and asked me to prepare this for the morning. She had said that you would probably be sleeping, and won’t have dinner. So she instructed me to wait for you in the early morning. The bowl has a concoction for bruises; it will help you heal better.”

Chan saw nanny Shu busy in her works and without another word he finished up everything on the table. He took the bowls and went to clean them up in the dishwasher. Nanny Shu saw this and hurried to take it over from him. “Please leave them to me, young master.”

Nanny Shu was an experienced servant who was difficult to confront. So Chan was waiting for this opportunity, where nanny Shu would be closer to him. So he held on to one side of the bowls and said as a complaint, “Why are you treating me as the young master, when, no one else doesn’t even care if I am dead or alive? I feel as a joke, every time you call me young master. Can’t you treat me in the same way you treat Jina?”

“But, you are the son-in-law of the Shaw family, husband of young Miss Anaya and thus our young master. I can’t disrespect you, young master, no matter what happens in between you and the Shaw family. And as for Jina, she is like my own child. I have been personally taking care of her from the moment she was born. Jina likes to hear me calling her by the name and I can’t refute her. So, please don’t make such requests in the future, young master.” By now, nanny Shu had pulled the bowls away from Chan and turned towards the kitchen sink.

“Then why is Anaya not close to you? You seem to care about Jina more than anyone in the house. Were you not around when Anaya was born?” Chan tried to get more information from nanny Shu, about the Shaw family, and especially about Jina.

“I expect young master to have heard of Jina saying that ‘Curiosity killed the cat’”, nanny Shu said. Then she turned around to face Chan and continued, “Have a great day, young master Chan.”

Nanny Shu left no options for Chan, so he nodded and went back to his room. Jina was the owner of the warnings in his head. She always warns or tell something nerve cracking in simple but obscured words. Chan had a fair idea of the whole Shaw family except for Jina. So he suspects that Jina has some secrets and she has something on him too. Every time she speaks to Chan, Chan feels that she has seen through him. Just now, he tried to make nanny Shu talk, in order to get something about Jina, but that wasn’t fruitful.

Jina was like a puzzle that Chan couldn't solve. Moreover Chan felt that Jina's words had an influence over him which was beyond his control. There was something about her that made him trust her, something that made him relaxed, while with her.  But his rationality made him keep his guards up and that was why he had been trying to know more about her. Jina was only close to nanny Shu in the house. Her relationship with her parents and Anaya was also weird. Chan had often felt that Jina wasn't their daughter and was a guest living in the house. The Shaws also act as if there wasn't such a person in the house. Even then, her position was better than his. She still was the second young miss of the house.