Disclaimer: If I owned You're Beautiful, I would have Hwang Tae Kyung on a leash next to me at all times (be afraid Jang Guen Suk, be very afraid- rawr ;D).

"Long time ago, before the Sans people, the Earth was dark and barren."

All attention was on the figure in the middle. The warm campfire lit up his haggard face eerily.

"There was no sun, no sky, no rivers, no animals, no light, no people."

His voice was rich and deep. It was as if the very red earth was talking and not the wasted husk of a man. It was a voice that mesmerized.

"Earth was a lonely place." He paused and surveyed his audience. Reassured that he had their fullest attention, he continued with a smile.

"But the god Katonda was bored. Earth was his domain, and if he were to rule it, he needed a more exciting place!" The old man chuckled richly.

"The honored Katonda found a large slab of mica rock, 'Ah, out of this stone, I'll create my subjects,' he cried. He struck the stone and a million sparks flew up. They flew so high that they became the stars. He struck the stone again, and this time a flame leaped out. It burned his hand, so he threw it in anger. It became the sun. Kantonda worked long and hard. The new sun burned. He sweated. Sweat droplets as large as boulders rolled off of his back! These became the rivers." The audience held its breath; they knew that the conclusion was near.

"Finally, Katonda was done. Before him stood thousands of stone figures...his subjects. But, they were still just chiseled stone and immovable. So, Katonda breathed some of his own essence into each one and brought them to life. Yet, he saw that his subjects were restless. They had nothing to do on the barren Earth. So Katonda went back to the mica slab and out of the remaining stone, he created beasts and plants and divided some of his essence among them."

The old man smiled at the fifty small, ebony faces staring up at him, "So everyone of you has a part of Katonda's essence. and you share it with everything in this world." A goat bleated in the distance, startling some youngsters. "Ho, ho, even that goat! When we pass, Katonda's breath leaves us, but it's never gone. Oh no!" The voice got ominous. "It's all around us; our anscestors' spirits are everywhere. They control the forces of nature and can influence your very fates. They see everything, and we are their pawns. So don't you dare anger them, for you do not know the magic they are capable of!" The old griot's voice rose to a crescendo and was followed by silence.

His words had the effect he desired. The little faced were looking at him in fear and awe. Their eyes and mouths imitating perfect circles. A few small whimpers were heard throughout.

Just then, a loud snort broke the silence. The quick black eyes darted across the audience, looking for the culprit.

"Ho, ho! Does one of you disagree? Who wants to challenge old Kanaifu?" The youngsters did not meet his eyes.

"Ha!" Again that same impudent voice. It was one of the foreign care takers.

The old storyteller faced the culprit. It was a foreign man. He sat awkwardly on the ground, looking as if he was doing his best to touch as little of it as possible. His arms were crossed, and he wore a skeptical expression.

"Ho, does the sahib find the story not to his satisfaction?" The old man addressed the translator.

The translator said something to the young man which caused him to smirk. He began speaking calmly in his language. One of the female care takers sitting next to him quickly slapped her hand over his mouth. She turned towards the storyteller talking rapidly in a language he did not understand and bowing.

Confused, the old man glanced at the translator.

"Ah," the translator smiled apologetically, "the sahib says that you should not bully the children. He advised you to tell them that it is just a story."

The old man crackled, "Ho, ho the sahib says to say that it's just a story, but it's true. The children should know, it's the only way to protect them from evil spirits."

The young man freed himself from his companion's grasp and spoke rapidly while holding the struggling girl at an arm's length.

The translator looked uncomfortable, "Err, sahib says that you should not confuse the children like that. You are a good storyteller, and spirits and magic belong in stories. Telling a child that they're real is," the translator swallowed, "stupid."

The old man glared at the foreigner and was rewarded with a glare in return.

One of the senior nuns got up quickly, "Alright children, it's time for bed. Let's thank Kiongozi Kanaifu for the story."

A chorus of childish 'thank yous' rang out.

"Oh ho, ho, thank you for listening to this old goat herder little ones. Go on to bed, and may the spirits protect you."

The area around the campfire began to empty out.

The senior nun came over to him, "Thank you. We packed some supplies for you. You are welcome to spend the night here."

"Ah, thank you, but I must go. I left my herd with a friend, and I must go to them. Thank you for the dinner and the supplies." He patted the bag fondly.

The nun smiled and bowed. She turned to walk away when the old man spoke again.

"Ah, one more thing, tell the young sahib that the spirits are watching him closely and he should be careful." The storyteller smiled cheerfully and walked off into the night, leaving the nun smiling uncertainly after him.

XxXx

"Hyung-nim, you shouldn't have said that!"

Go Mi Nyu and Hwang Tae Kyung were the only ones left on the dirt path. Mi Nyu held Tae Kyung's hand and helped him navigate in the dark. Crickets chirped. In the distance, a faint roar could be heard. Tae Kyung kept stopping to spit.

"Tfoo, pfoo. Aish! You got dirt in my mouth! Tfoo. Aghhh, my tongue is coated in it!"

She offered him her canteen. He grabbed it, took a mouthful of water, and gurgled.

"Aish," he wiped his mouth, "next time you grab me like that, make sure your hands are clean."

She bowed sheepishly, "I'm sorry about the dirt, but you shouldn't have said that! You shouldn't have contradicted and elder."

"Pig rabbit, he was filling the kids' heads with nonsense. Spirits! Magic! Ha! You run a school here, so you have to make sure that they learn science and can tell between reality and folktales."

"He was just telling them a story."

"Stories are fine. What he was doing was confusing stories with reality. He's going to make them all paranoid! Aish, and I'm going to be the one who has to check underneath their beds, show them that there is nothing behind the door. And I swear, if another kid crawls into my bed because of a nightmare that evil spirits cursed him, I'm going to personally make sure that no storyteller ever enters this camp!"

Mi Nyu laughed.

"Ya, what are you laughing at?" he turned towards her incredulously.

"The children really like you."

Tae Kyung pursed his lips. "Why shouldn't they like me? What, am I not likeable?" He challenged her.

"Oh no, hyung-nim is very likeable...you just take some getting used to."

"Tch, getting used to huh? Then, are you used to me?" He scowled at her.

Mi Nyu quickly changed the subject, "Anyways, the children need stories to explain the world. Things like stars."

Tae Kyung was not happy with the subject change, but he bit the bait, "So do you believe that sparks created stars?"

"Well how would you describe little lights in the sky?"

"Aish, science. It's science! Stars are made out of gaseous elements. The electrons move up and down energy levels. As they move down, energy is released in the form of light. It's science...astrology, quantum physics!"

Mi Nyu stared at him, "Um, alright.'

Suddenly, she grinned, "Well, then hyung-nim is the biggest, brightest ball of gas out there." She gave him a thumbs up.

Tae Kyung was not moved, "Thanks," he said in monotone. "You know pig rabbit, you're getting really arrogant."

She smiled sweetly up at him.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. The male dormitory came into view. Tae Kyung glanced at his companion; she was practically glowing with happiness.

He grinned, "What are you smiling like a maniac for?"

She turned to him and grinned back, "Ah, I still can't believe that you're really here."

"I've been here for three weeks. You should be used to it by now."

"It's just that...Africa is defiantly not your natural habitat."

He cocked his head to the side, "Hmm, not my natural habitat huh? You know it's your fault that I'm here. If you came home when you were supposed to, I wouldn't have had to travel half way across the world to the middle of nowhere to see you. But, you're a lying pig rabbit, a pig rabbit who didn't keep her promise. "

"Hyung-nim, I couldn't come home, they were understaffed and under supplied!"

"That's why I took a month off and brought the supplies. I'm here to make sure that an unreliable pig rabbit like you keeps her promise. In a week, more volunteers will come, and you'll be free to go home. So for one more week, this is my habitat." He smiled smugly, "You should be grateful." Tae Kyung cleared his throat, "Besides, if you get rid of the flesh-killing sun, the red dust on everything, the possibility of being eaten by a lion, this isn't a bad place."

"Hyung-nim, I'm really, really,really glad that my ball of gas came to see me so out of his natural habitat." She nodded her head enthusiastically.

Tae Kyung's face twiched, "Go Mi Nyu?"

"Hmm?"

"Go back to saying star."

They stopped at the entrance of the male dormitory.

"Goodnight pig rabbit."

"Goodnight hyung-nim. Don't forget to hang your mosquito net this time!"

They stared at each other, neither willing to leave.

Go Mi Nyu glanced left and right. She quickly closed the distance between them and gave him a small peck on the lips. She smiled shyly and ran toward the female dormitory, all the while pressing her nose.

Tae Kyung's lips twitched, a radiant smile broke across his face as he watched her retreating figure.

"The pig rabbit is getting really bold." He grinned, "Hmm, that's not a bad thing." He touched his cheek where she, in her haste, had accidently hit him with her forehead. "Aish, but she should do it more gently or give me some warning."

Dazedly, with a lopsided grin, he opened the door to the male dormitory only to be attacked. Two hands grabbed him around the neck, four latched on to his legs, and two more whacked his torso.

"GYAAHH! Aish. Get off of me! I'm not a spirit. It's me!"

The little boys were reassured that it was indeed their funny foreign care taker and not an evil spirit. They quickly scrambled off of him. One little boy grabbed his hand and indicated for him to check under his bed.

"I hate storytellers," Tae Kyung sighed and went to indulge the boy.

XxXx

Two black eyes watched the whole exchange between Hwang Tae Kyung and Go Mi Nyu.

A goat's bleating could be heard in the distance.

Typing is torture X_X.

I did something I promised I wouldn't do anymore...I rewatched an episode of You're Beautiful *sigh* So now I have to write another story for it. Bear with it. Heh, I'm going to try a whole different approach; we'll see how that works out.

Anyways, Tae Kyung and Mi Nyu are in Africa right now. I'm trying to add a little bit of African folklore to the story...except I'm a complete novice in this. So, if I mess up grievously, please correct me.^^

I made up the story in the beginning (err, I tried to make it folklore-y), but Katonda is a real African god. He is from East Africa and is the god of creation, destiny, and judgement. Oh and a griot is a storyteller. If you read the story, thank you and please review!