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once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, lived a beautiful girl with her widowed mother and little twin brother and sister.
okay. it wasn't that long ago. and it really wasn’t a faraway kingdom. there's also no evil step-mother or ugly step-sisters in this tale either.
it’s in a rundown part of seoul, south korea. it looked faraway...because you could barely see it through the smog.
but to minju, growing up, the area was her kingdom.
losing her father at such a young age, meant her mother was the main provider for their family. thus, when minju finally reached the age to work, she quickly got a job at a local cafe where she’s been at for the past two years. the pay was minimum wage, but it was enough for a university sophomore to support herself and give any extra to her family.
minju unfortunately had to grow up faster than most girls her age with all the responsibilities she had to endure. sure, it was tough working a 3 to 10 job after school and taking care of her siblings, but she managed to get through the days knowing she was helping her mother out in any way she could.
“minju, is breakfast almost ready?” her mother voiced from the spare room.
her mom was backed up on paperwork again from the office, and had to get a headstart in the morning at home. adult-homework, as mrs. kim liked to call it, along with an eye roll. which meant minju was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the whole family once again.
“almost!” she yelled back as she grabbed the salt and dashed it on top of the scrambled eggs. she clicked her tongue when condensation dripped down to the fire, making a hissing sound almost burning out the flame. she was reaching over to check the bacon in the pan when a discord notification appeared on her phone.
minju immediately put down the rag she was holding and grabbed the device, already developing a smile on her face looking at the incoming message.
ssamusone: got a 10 minute break!
samusone: i can finally talk to you now! ^^
taenytts: awe yay!
taenytts: tired?
ssamuone: yeah…
ssamuone: but i feel better thanks to you :)
ssamuone: wyd? ^^
minju bit her bottom lip with a smile, typing out her response:
taenytts: i’m making breakfast! mom has stuff to do...
ssamusone: ah that’s tuff :(
ssamusone: whatchu makin? :o
taenytts: scrambled eggs and bacon!
taenytts: simple but effective ^^~
ssamusone: that sounds so good! i wanna try one of your meals someday tt
ssamusone--or ssamu-sone separated--is minju’s online...friend...she’s been talking to for a few months now.
the two met on a girls’ generation discord server. (hence why their discord names were snsd related.) ssamu being a sone (snsd fan) and minju being taenytts (taeyeon and tiffany + tts subunit).
in the two years of minju joining the server, the froggie was finally granted admin access to host the monthly discord streaming of girls’ generation music videos, when a new girl by the name of ssamusone--and a 2015 taeyeon icon--was the first one to join in during the ‘you think’ stream.
minju was so excited to see a new person on the server as her first time being a host, that she excitedly welcomed the user in a separate chat.
what started from a simple online friendship, slowly grew into a standard internet crush. an infatuation based on the person's true personality, rather than their looks.
in other words, they had no idea how each other looked like in real-life, yet they managed to grow an attraction to one another with nothing but discord messages and their love for soshi.
that’s the other thing of the internet minju loved, (other than bonding over snsd.)
being incognito.
keeping your identity hidden and being whoever you wanted to be. ssamu seemed to think the same way, for they knew their occupations and that they attended the same university, but they both wanted to build trust and develop more of a connection before revealing who they really were. so as for now, ssamu, is just one of minju’s close online friends who fangirls about taeyeon + tiffany with each other, and are in the talking stage of their building relationship.
minju was about to type out a response to ssamusone’s message, when she remembered the bacon being cooked and quickly turned around before they burnt to nothing...
her twin siblings, jiheon and jeno, only shook their heads and continued playing on their switch.
--
ssamusone: any plans today?
taenytts: going to campus after breakfast.
taenytts: studying. then work. bleh...
a bell sounded throughout the shop, along with a raspy voice coming from the back office room. “hey jjae, can you help out the customers that just walked in?”
“teddy bear!!” a woman with a high-pitched tone yelled from the entrance.
ssamusone: damn…
ssamusone: wish i could take you out somewhere fun after all the work you do.
without looking up, the ‘teddy bear,’ chaewon, inputted one last response and quickly placed down her phone. eunbi and noze soon approached the counter with a teasing grin on their faces.
“texting that girl again?” noze asked, picking up a mechanic pamphlet from the counter, flipping through the pages as eunbi stood by her side.
eunbi leaned against the space with a palm on her chin, observing chaewon’s flustered reaction. “she certainly isn't blushing about her own mother now, isn’t she?”
chaewon automatically shot her head up and looked at the rabbit who wore a shit eating grin on her face. “fuck off.”
“now now, swearing at me like that doesnt fit your tone, teddy bear.” the older bunny scrunched her eyebrows with a fake pout.
noze only chuckled at her side, flipping to another page of the pamphlet.
the cub rolled her eyes as she began to type on the company computer. “what do you guys want?”
“to tease you, what else?” eunbi smiled seeing the ‘teddy bear’ give her a hard glare. “i'm kidding.”
“just basic maintenance.” noze voiced out, eyes still on the page.
“are you sure it isn't to see hyewon again?”
ears perking up, noze put the pamphlet down and leaned against the counter with eunbi. “now that you mentioned it…”
the two seniors gave each other a knowing look as they broke out in a fit of girly-giggles. chaewon could only stare at them with a dead look in her eyes.
if you haven't figured it out by now, chaewon works in a mechanic shop with her best friends hyewon, yena and sakura.
sure, it doesn't seem like an ideal job for four female college students. but yena’s dad runs the place--so it was only fitting to give his daughter and her friends a part-time job for some cash. and hey, who wouldn't want a free job where they hire you on the spot?
being one of the most popular cheerleaders on campus--along with eunbi and noze--the tiger cub couldn’t care less about what others thought of her working in such a ‘masucline’ field. (the girls and boys at school only found that more attractive, however.) if anything, it proved to the rest of the students how anyone can break a certain stereotype, even if it's just working in a car shop part-time.
catching everyone's attention the second she entered the scene, hyewon came out of the office with a chip bag in her hands, wearing greasy overalls with tire mark stains all over her white crop top. the company's well-known attire.
hyewon approached the counter looking over the screen to see what job she had to do next.
the cub didn't mind helping out eunbi and noze for her mechanic benefits. but after a while, the two captains began to develop an attraction towards her workmate/friend, kang hyewon, coming to a point where the two girls would make up any bizzare car excuse just to only visit for the sake of ‘catching a glimpse’ of the older hamster.
“hi, hyewon!” the two cheerleading captains cooed in unison.
hyewon looked up at them with chip crumbs all over her face and loose-wispy bangs hanging over her eyes. she quickly swallowed her food before smiling at them. “oh, hi unnies.”
“they want a #4.” chaewon stepped in and handed her a receipt.
hyewon examined it and looked over at the older girls. “an examination. got it. follow me in the back.” she threw away her (now-empty) chip bag in the nearest bin before going out the garage door.
chaewon looked back at her unnies with drool practically pooling out of their mouths. “we have a schedule, you know. shouldn't keep her waiting.”
eunbi eyed the notification appearing on her ‘teddy bears’ lock screen, using the same mocking tone she did. “shouldn't keep her waiting either.” with that, the two captains walked into the back with a awaiting hyewon, already getting to work on inspecting noze’s car with sakura in assistance.
chaewon only rolled her eyes as she went back on her phone to text back taenytts.
taenytts: i wish…
taenytts: when can i meet you? :(
there’s a saying if love was blind?
well, it should be re-quoted to: if liking someone was blind...i mean...it must be…if chaewon is smitten about this mysterious girl she’s been talking with for the past few months.
both of them liked the idea of being anonymous online without any worries, and just making friends with people who have the same interests as them. but chaewon certainly wasn’t prepared for developing feelings over this girl…it just…wasn’t in the fine print, for say.
i mean...everything about taenytts was just perfect. the way she cared for others. her hard work and dedication to help her family. dreaming of becoming an actress and developing her career. her motivation for finishing college. and of course, her endless love for the snsd girls. who wouldn’t grow a crush on her? it didn’t even matter what she looked like at this point.
liking this unknown girl, was truly blind for kim chaewon.
…
ssamusone: soon. i promise.
“who are you texting?”
minju quickly put her phone down and looked back at the book on her lap. “i’m reading.”
yuri, minju’s bestfriend, gazed upon the buzzing lock screen notification before sitting under the tree with the froggie, “i’m not stupid. it's her again, huh?” she smirked.
“no.”
“huh~” yuri teased and tried to steal the phone from minju.
minju only whined as she dodged the girl's hands. “stop~ go bother nako!”
“she’s with hii-chan and yujin.” yuri huffed as she sat down next to her. “play with me~”
“no.” she leaned further against the tree. “i’m busy studying.”
“that’s not what i saw a few seconds ago.”
minju glared at the little hamster before scanning over the book again.
yuri sighed and took out a flyer from her hoodie. “anyways, look what ‘anonymously,’ ” she said using air quotes, “got slipped in my locker.”
minju scanned over the paper, “ah, eunbi’s halloween party is saturday?”
“what are you gonna wear?”
“what are you gonna wear?”
“reversing the question on me i see.” yuri chuckled, puffing out her chest a little, making a flower pose under her chin. “i’m going as cinderella.”
“with the gown and everything?”
“with a gown and everything.” yuri confirmed back. “imagine the power i’ll hold?!”
“gross.”
yuri made a disgusted face and threw the now crumbled up flyer at minju. she continued when the froggie smiled back, “now what about you? i need my best friend there with me.”
yuri saw minju’s mouth open to answer, only for a text tone to beat her to it, causing yuri’s hands to go up in surrender. “it’s cool, text your girlfriend, i’ll be waiting.”
“she’s not my girlfriend.”
“i know.” the hamster shook her head, “you guys don’t even know what each other looks like yet. i get you two wanted to build trust before you met up in person...but-”
“just safety measures, yul. she could've been a creepy old man when we first started talking.”
“and you dont think she is now?”
minju shrugged her shoulders, “i mean, i trust her enough to know she's a girl that goes to this school. we actually wanna meet up soon.”
“i still don't think...”
minju zoned yuri out as she saw the next few messages appear on her screen:
ssamusone: you heard about eunbi’s party, right?
ssamusone: maybe we can meet up there?
“oh my gadnis.” she mumbled out.
perfect timing.
“what’s up?”
minju sushed the hamster as she quickly typed a response:
taenytts: you’re going to that?!
ssamusone: ofc. it’s the biggest halloween party of the year!
ssamusone: plus, eunbi unnie is one of my good friends…
ssamusone: she’d kill me if i didn’t go.
“what's going on?” yuri began to whine from the side. minju sushed her once more.
taenytts: oh…
minju tried her hardest not to scream out in excitement. although her shaking legs weren’t helping at the moment...
taenytts: well, yeah i’m for sure going!
ssamusone: oh great!
ssamusone: you still didn’t answer my question though…
“minju-yaaahh~~~”
glancing up, the froggie finally spoke to the hamster. “she wants to meet up with me at the halloween party.”
“shut up...she asked?!”
minju vigorously nodded her head. “i don’t know what to say…”
“what’s there to say? if you’re ready, then just say yes!”
taenytts: i was getting to that, lol
taenytts: sure! i’m down to meet up with you there ^^
not even a minute going by...
ssamusone: awesome~~
ssamusone: meet me in the middle of the dance floor at 8pm :)
taenytts: perfect. sounds like a plan :)
…
“tell me why we’re here again?“ minju deadpanned in yuri’s convertible.
“hey, you get a free ride home and you’re complaining?” she spoke from the driver's seat.
“you could’ve gone when you dropped me off.”
“ugh, that would've been a detour tho...” yuri pulled up to ‘choi’s automotive.’ “i just want a wash, min. i’ll buy us some lunch after.”
minju looked around the unfamiliar area. “why couldn’t we go to the other car-wash by the school?”
“they were closed for some reason. this is the only place i found close by…”
coming out from a building, a young woman sporting a ten-million dollar smile, approached the driver's side of the vehicle with tire mark stained attire. “hello! welcome to choi’s automotive! i’m choi yena! how may i assist you ladies today?” she asked with a clipboard in hand, a little too energetic in minju’s opinion...
“um…hi.” yuri tapped her steering wheel a few times. “do you guys do car washes?”
minju swore she saw the ducky-like girl take a double look at her best friend before she spoke. very slowly… “of course!” she answered without hesitation. “we do all kinds of things here! we are a car shop after all!”
“oh, that’s perfect then!” yuri was honestly impressed. she just found this place a few minutes ago via gps, little did she know the perks of it. “i think i found my new car shop.”
as if the ducky like girl’s smile couldn’t get any bigger… “great!! thank you for your interest! if you could please leave your car here with your keys, we will get to washing your vehicle shortly.” yena ripped a paper from her clipboard, “the waiting room is inside to your left. follow me please.”
minju gave a suggestive grin at yuri, gesturing over to yena with her eyes. the younger hamster gave an intense smile, glaring at minju to stop her childish teasing.
yena went behind the counter with another girl on the register. chaewon--as it said on her nametag--gave the two best friends in front of her a kind smile, bowing her head a little in greeting.
“ring up these ladies for a car wash, jjae.”
chaewon raised an eyebrow at yena and snatched the paper from her hand. “car wash? we don’t do car washes here-”
“yah! what are you talking about? it’s right there on the board!”
“i don’t see anything either.” minju stated confusingly, slightly pouting her lips.
yena then slapped on a piece of paper with the words: car wash - $15 , at the very bottom of the list. “see, right there. but for you guys, it’s on the house!” she snapped her fingers at chaewon. “give them their receipt for a free car wash please~”
yuri and minju only watched in amusement as chaewon grumbled a few words before defeatedly sliding over a receipt on the counter, not forgetting to nudge yena in the ribcage with her elbow in the process.
…
the two best friends sat in the auto shop as they stared out the window. watching as--from who they recognized--kang hyewon and miyawaki sakura washing their car from whatever supplies they could seemingly find on the spot.
“yeah, they don’t do car washes here…” minju chuckled aloud.
“hey, if i could get a random car shop to wash my car for free somehow, then it’s all worth it.”
minju eyed sakura pour dish soap on the hood of the convertible. “only cause that ducky girl has a thing for you.”
“you think so?” yuri asked, seemingly clueless.
“she literally said, ‘but for you guys, it’s on the house!’ ” minju horribly imitated.
“she is cute after all, i’ll give her that.” yuri only laughed, nudging her head over to chaewon on the register. “cashier girl is pretty cute too, huh?”
minju scrunched her eyebrows at the hamster.
“come on, you’re bi, not tasteless.”
“i’m talking to ssamusone.”
“you could still find people cute…”
i suppose so… minju took a look at the register again. seeing chaewon with earphones on, intently working on the computer, wearing the company overalls with a white crop top peeping through. “i guess she is.” the froggie had to stop herself from looking any further when chaewon moved to get something, making her abdomen show a little. “isn’t she kim chaewon? the cheerleader with eunbi?”
yuri tapped her forehead in realization, “that's why she looked so familiar! i barely recognized her in those clothes, let alone in this auto shop!” she whisper yelled.
minju continued when she saw chaewon leave in the back with papers in her hands. “ain’t she known to be...i don't know...a little mean?”
“well, she is one of the most popular girls on our campus. she might have a little... spice, to her.”
“eunbi’s not mean though.”
“that’s cause we’ve known her since, i don't know, forever!” yuri spoke more quietly, looking around the room. “oh my god, i always hear rumors about chaewon seeing a new guy almost every week.”
minju rolled her eyes, sitting back more in her seat. “great. a mean girl who always has a new guy to talk to. why am i not surprised?”
chaewon walked back to the register with her airpods still in, bringing out her phone in the process.
“it’s just rumors, min. we shouldn't gossip like this...especially when she's a few feet away from us...”
“says the one who even brought it up…” the froggie let out a sigh, shaking her head a little before looking over at an incoming discord notification from her own phone.
ssamusone: at work...but i hope you are having a good day today ^^
--
sitting around in a local cafe after school is always an enjoyment for chaewon, yena, hyewon, sakura, with her girlfriend chaeyeon.
other than their workplace, the cafe is somewhere they could always have a nice cup of coffee and snacks while bonding like a real family over the littlest things in life. they all genuinely enjoyed their cafe dates, as it became a normal routine for them whenever they had free time. unfortunately today, their favorite spot was closed due to-
“a bug infestation?!” sakura read aloud the paper on the door with comically wide-eyes.
hyewon shivered at the notice, “i always felt stuff crawling up my legs whenever we went there.”
“you sure that wasn’t eunbi unnie’s hands?” chaeyeon teased with a loud laugh.
regardless, chaeyeon pulled up a random cafe location with a decent amount of reviews not too far away from them. they arrived there safely and automatically fancied the new atmosphere. something about this cafe just seemed so…expensive?
there were marble counters and tables almost everywhere, along with black cushion seating areas surrounding them. and a little chandelier? if anything it seemed more like a small hotel than a cafe...
after gawking around in awe, they all sat on the nearest couch and began to converse like they always did on their coffee dates. mainly about the halloween party and the costumes they were all going to wear…which is where the conversation is currently at right now:
“a prince?” chaewon made a face at yena.
“yup. i bought the suit and everything!” the ducky flipped her hair a little. “hopefully i’ll find my princess that night.” she wiggled her eyebrows.
“ew, no.” hyewon scrunched up her face. “my costumes better. i’m going as the joker.”
“that’s hot.” chaewon teased her friend. “eunbi and noze would surely jump at you in no time.”
“hey, not my fault i’m sexy.”
“why is everyone at this table weirdly conceited?” chaeyeon made a disgusted face, snuggled up to sakura.
“what about you guys?” yena nudged her head to the couple.
“we aren’t going.” sakura simply stated. “made other plans with chaeyeon’s sisters.”
“they are just so persistent on spending one halloween with us two…” chaeyeon sighed out.
hyewon only giggled. “that’s actually really cute.”
“you’ll be there in spirit. literally.” yena laughed at her own joke. “anygays…jjaewonnie!”
the tiger cub looked her way. “i’ma be a princess.”
“oo-la-la~ are you coupling with yena or something?” sakura teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
“oh my god...you’re the princess i’m searching for?!” yena squealed out, annoyingly rubbing her cheek together with the tiger cub.
“yah! stop it unnie~” chaewon whined out, pushing her away. “i planned this out for a few months already. i had no idea we were going to correlate…”
“okay okay calm down, we’re just teasing.” chaeyeon waved off with a smile, already changing the subject. “i’m ready for coffee though, anyone else?”
“rock paper scissors who orders in the front?” hyewon suggested with a mischievous smile.
everyone agreeing, they all adjusted their hands in the middle and did a few rounds. only for chaewon and sakura to go up last against each other in the end. making the loser-
“jjaewonnie! get your ass up to the register!” yena loudly pointed out with her finger.
the cub smacked the hand away. “what? no! another round!” she complained, jumping a little in her seat.
“sorry, you lost.” hyewon handed her a piece of paper. “i made a list of what to get us after i won the first round.” she said with a (not so) innocent smile. “i saw the menu on the way here.”
chaewon stared at hyewon for a good five seconds, before rolling her eyes and snatching the paper out of the foodie's hand, approaching the register in defeat.
being the only one in line, chaewon rang the little bell on the counter, signaling for the busy worker to turn around/hurry up and take her order. only to be greeted with a familiar face she remembered from a few days ago…
the register girl looked at her with comically large eyes for a second, before relaxing her shoulders a little and letting out a friendly smile. “hello. what can i get you?”
chaewon scrunched her eyebrows a little. sudden comprehension occurring…“hey, i remember you…” causing the register girl to tense up a bit. ”you were in the car shop with your little hamster friend!” she said with a kind smile and a snap of a finger.
“a-ah yeah...that’s me.” minju awkwardly showed her teeth. “thanks for the free wash by the way…”
“it’s no problem. yena--” chaewon gestured to the duck from behind, “found your friend kinda cute. we didn’t even do car washes, you know.”
minju giggled out, feeling a bit relaxed with the mention of her best friend. “i kinda figured that when i saw the girl with pink hair use dish soap on yul’s hood.”
“yul? that’s your friend's name?”
“a-ah...yeah. well..yuri.” she bowed her head a little at the older girl in front of her. “i’m minju. i didn’t properly introduce myself at the shop.”
“minju…” chaewon repeated in a small voice. “what a pretty name.” she gave a smile and held out her hand, “i’m kim chaewon.”
minju giggled and shook the girl’s hand, feeling butterflies when she felt how soft it was against her own... “i know. you actually told me over there. i also heard your name a few times from eunbi-unnie.”
chaewon released their handshake and tilted her head a little. “oh? you know her?”
“we are childhood friends…”
“so sorry about that.” chaewon faked a sorrowful expression, making minju let out one of her signature eye smiles with a laugh. “what a small world though. it’s nice to meet you minju-yah.”
minju couldn’t believe it. is this the girl that she heard so many people talk about being so mean to others? well, she did have a resting bitch face approaching the counter earlier, and she rang the bell impatiently to get the froggies attention...but overall, chaewon didn't seem as rude as people perceived her as?... although minju isn't going to jump to conclusions on the girls personality too soon. they just got formally introduced!
i’ll still be cautious around her…
escaping her thoughts, minju politely smiled back at the latter. “nice meeting you too chaewon. formally this time.” she then saw a few more people form a line from behind, bringing her back to her workplace mentality. “now...what can i get you?”
“ah yeah...” chaewon handed the paper to minju that hyewon gave her. “whatever's on that.”
minju nodded as she inputted the items in the register.
--
“what?! what do you mean you can't go tonight?!” yuri yelled over the video chat along with yujin, wonyoung, hitomi and nako all looking at minju’s screen in disbelief.
“you were excited a few days ago...what changed?” yujin worriedly scrunched her eyebrows.
minju whined on her desk as she ran her fingers through her hair, annoyingly looking at her laptop call. “my mom has to work overtime and she needs me to watch the twins.”
“but, aren't your brother and sister...i don't know...my age?” wonyoung raised an eyebrow. “can’t they take care of themselves?”
“mrs. kim lost their trust a loooong time ago.” hitomi giggled out. “remember the story when the two of them set the kitchen on fire?”
“and that was only one out of the five times in the last year!” nako laughed aloud.
“plus they are still minors...wonyoung only stays home alone cause she has an older girlfriend to watch after her.” hitomi stated.
“who is just as much a baby as me.” wonyoung rolled her eyes. “my mom only lets yujin watch me because she's a college freshman…”
“yeah, and we should be grateful she even trusts me in the first place~” yujin cheesed out, cockily biting her lip and stretching her arms above her head.
yuri put on an overdramatic thinking pose under her chin, “hmmm...i wonder if mrs. jang would still let yujin watch over wonnie if she found out they did nothing but make out on her bed for hours…”
wonyoung and yujin both froze on screen with an alarmed look on their faces. “you wouldn't…” the puppy voiced out.
“oh, i would.” yuri teased all too evilly. “me and leeseo have too much blackmail evidence.”
minju’s whining grew louder as she looked up at her computer screen with a pout. “guys~~ this is serious! i was supposed to meet ssamusone tonight!…”
“pfft~ easy. just sneak out!” nako suggested. “the twins are seriously old enough to watch themselves anyways.”
“my mom is literally at work right now. it’s too late to even prepare…”
yujin let out a sigh, staring directly at the camera. “unnie, i know you and your family are in a tough spot right now. but you literally do everything for your mom. just…have a day to yourself for once...”
hitomi nodded over the screen. “the kid’s right. if you want, me and nako can watch the twins while you're gone.”
“what?!” nako’s eyes got wide in defense. “i didn’t agree to this!”
“we were literally ditching the party for a study date nako-chan...plus, we can do minju-yah a favor after all the free coffee and cakes she always gives us…”
minju heard nako mumble an ‘okay’ while noticing a familiar discord notification coming from a separate computer window.
ssamusone: can’t wait to finally meet you tonight ^^
god fucking dammit...
…
minju only snuck out a few times in her life.
the last time she remembered was a few years ago back in high school. it would've been a success if it weren't for her panicky mother to file a ‘missing persons report,’ having the whole town searching for a teenage minju laying on her ex-boyfriends chest in a random field.
yeah...having the police find you in the middle of the night with a boy is definitely not one of minju’s proudest moments... which definitely made her learn her lesson and never do it again.
of course, until right now.
jiheon and jeno stared at the three older girls’ in front of them from the couch, video game controllers in hand.
“you’re going out?” jeno questioned.
“you’re supposed to watch us, unnie.” jiheon raised an eyebrow at her older sister.
minju nervously smiled and fixed the duffel bag over her shoulder. “p-plans changed. nako and hitomi are babysitting you tonight.”
the twins looked at each other with a bored expression. jeno then stood up towering over them all, “they look like the ones that need babysitting.”
“yah! do you know how embarrassing it is for us to watch grown kids in the first place?!” nako attempted to storm towards the boy, before being held back from the waist by her peach friend.
“ugh~ you almost burn down the house one time, and your older sister always has to watch you...” jiheon groaned out, standing by her brother and towering over the two japanese as well.
minju squinted her eyes looking at the time on her phone. “erm…yeah, i gotta go now. i’ll be back before midnight.” she then faced the twins. “i can trust you guys to behave. right?”
jiheon and jeno looked at each other with their signature eye smiles, seeming to use their twin powers to communicate in a way only they know how.
the japanese girls’ shivered in sight looking at them.
“don’t worry noona. you can trust us~” jeno cheesed out. “go have fun now~” he began to push the froggie out the door.
the last thing minju saw was jiheon slowly approaching the two japanese girls with an evil glint in her eyes. before minju could go back in and check out what was about to happen, yuri pulled up to the house in her newly washed convertible with the top down.
“get on in baby~” the hamster yelled out in a beautiful blue gown.
minju rolled her eyes and got in the car. completely ignoring the screams coming from the inside of the house.
--
stepping inside eunbi’s family’s house, felt all too familiar to kim minju.
this used to be considered a safe place for her back when they were kids with yuri. ms. kwon making her and her daughter pancakes in the morning after a long hide-n-seek session. or a nice cup of hot chocolate in the cold december night after a long day of school. not forgetting to bring home her mom and the twins a heated tumbler full of it on the way back.
the twins always did like ms. kwon’s hot chocolate. making minju hum at the memory of the twins drinking it when they were nothing but sweet little angels...before they fell from the sky around their sophomore year of high school…
anyways...
today, instead of being greeted by a bright and smiling mother at the door--who was out on a business trip with mr. kwon--harley quinn with a femine joker attached to her hip came in direct view.
“my my, look at you two~” eunbi sensually voiced out with a smile in character. “a masquerade angel and...aurora?”
“cinderella.” yuri clarified with a not so elegant curtsy. “wasn’t aurora’s dress pink?”
eunbi shrugged her shoulders. “pink. then blue. i thought you’d get the joke, but whatever.” the joker on her let out a snort, making harley quinn wrap an arm around her. “ah, this is my pumpkin for the night. kang hyewon.” she put emphasis on her name.
the girl in the white masquerade dress, minju, and cinderella yuri gave each other a knowing look. remembering the mysterious girl from the car shop eunbi and noze would always gawk over on the phone to them both.
seem’s eunbi is the one that won her tonight, however.
“it’s almost eight. are you going to be fine alone?” minju asked while walking with yuri.
the cinderella looked out on the dance floor and took a few steps back, grabbing minju’s hand in the process. “i’ll be okay. gonna try and find my prince charming tonight.” she said with an annoying smile. “will you be okay?”
minju panicked enough about this already...regardless of the possible outcomes, she still nodded in assurance. “yeah. i’m ready to finally meet her.” she gave yuri’s hand one last squeeze before adjusting her white masquerade mask over her eyes. “wish me luck!”
“good luck. let’s both get laid tonight!” yuri hollered before quickly leaving in the opposite direction of the dance floor.
before minju could protest, the clock on the wall got her attention. reading a minute after eight.
it was finally time.
dusting her silky tight white dress, and adjusting her wired-halo over her head, minju went out to the middle of the dance floor. standing in the center, unknowingly radiating an alluring enticing aura, gaining attention from all the party goers there.
the people’s eyes were practically luring towards her. just who was this masked white angel? she emitted a godlike energy that everyone couldn't help but want to catch a glimpse of this new enchantress.
minju went from a nobody, to being the person everyone would be giving their full attention to that night.
‘who is that?’ she heard several voices whisper one after another.
is this the effect of a white diamond masquerade mask? or is this the effects of being actually invisible and finally being noticed by ‘popular’ people? regardless of what it was, minju didn’t like it one bit. she felt awkward to say the least. therefore, in her same awkward nature, she began to subtly dance to the current music playing, hoping to ignore the stares and whispers and go with the main reason why she was there in the first place. to finally meet up with her ss-
“hey.”
could it be?...
minju heard a voice from behind her, causing goosebumps to raise all over her skin.
this is it. this has to be her.
she was sure of it! i mean...who else would greet her in the middle of the dance floor at this exact time they planned?
the masked angel shook off any last nerves she had and turned around, becoming face-to-face with--
“hyunjin?” minju confusingly voiced out, repeatedly blinking her eyes.
huh?...
the football player, hyunjin, smiled while bowing his head a little. taking minju’s left hand and laying a soft kiss on the back of it. “yes. and who do i have the honor of speaking to?”
wow, the football players didn’t even spare a glance of minju whenever she was in her normal ‘day to day’ life. this really wasn’t setting well with her at all.
“ummm…” still, there was always that possibility… “are you ssamusone?” minju attempted in a low tone, clear enough for the quarterback to hear. she was sure she-…um, he...was a girl though?
“princess, for you, i’ll be anything you want me to be.”
hyunjin grabbed her by the waist--with a huff of protest from the masked angel--and attempted to slow dance to a rap song, placing her hands behind his neck as they moved their feet to the uncorresponding beat. making minju bite her lip in uncomfortable confusion.
putting two and two together, minju knew this wasn’t the one she was looking for. not to mention a boy. minju shook her head and lightly pushed him away, loosening his firm grasp on her.
she needed a diversion.
“i-i’m a little thirsty.”
“would my princess like some punch?”
minju hated how that rolled off his tongue so easily… “y-yes please. full cup would be nice.”
hyunjin dorkily shot finger guns at her while he took off to the punch bowl. leaving minju in the middle of the dance floor with a slight headache, full of her own thoughts.
i knew it...it was too good to be true.
just as minju was about to give up to find yuri and call it a night, a voice clearing from behind caught her attention yet again. she wanted to ignore the voice no matter what, but the name they called her...definitely made her stay...
“um...taenytts?”
the masquerade angel looked around once more, now staring at a much shorter woman this time...in a dazzling pink gown, making minju’s breath hitch as she looked upon the princess with the softest voice she's ever heard.
no way…
“chaewon?”
the pink princess shyly smiled and gave a little timid curtsy, playing her part perfectly. “yeah…um…hello…”
this can’t be… minju thought chaewon and her were some what acquainted now…so maybe the pink princess finally recognized her tonight out of all these people and decided to approach her?
but she said my handle name…
which only meant...
leaving minju to ask, “do you know who i am?”
the tiger cub nervously giggled and looked through the mascarade mask. staring minju deep in the eyes. “well, i hope it’s taenytts…” she mistook the few seconds of silence as hesitation from the latter. “you are her, right?”
so she doesn’t recognize me…the real me...
“you’re kim chaewon.” minju voiced out instead. she couldn’t help but think this was all a setup from the beginning.
seriously, it must be a joke... why would one of the most popular cheerleaders on campus be the one she’s been talking to for the past few months. the one she’s heard so many awful rumors about...
sure, minju had her fair share of conversations with the latter now, but this…this was just too much.
maybe chaewon really was who minju thought she was and began playing a joke with her feelings...
never get your hopes up kim minju.
chaewon nervously giggled. “yeah…i guess this can be considered a shocker to some-“
“no, i'm sorry. this was a really big mistake. i've gotta go-“
“wait wait!” chaewon grabbed minju’s delicate wrist, stopping her in her tracks. “it’s not a mistake.”
minju’s heart skipped a beat. “don’t you know who i am?” kim minju…a nobody. a girl who works in a coffee shop trying to help her single mother get by. someone kim chaewon--the player--shouldn’t be talking to…
“of course i do. you’re taenytts. one of the biggest snsd fans i’ve ever talked to…” chaewon pulled minju closer by the wrist, “you’re the girl i’ve been waiting to meet. i know who you are.”
do you really though?
minju looked into chaewon's eyes and saw hope and sincerness in them. wanting them to be the girl she’s been waiting for. “what’s your name?” the cub continued with a soft tone.
just as minju opened her mouth to answer, hyunjin approached the two with punch in both his hands. “your sweet libations, my lady.” he automatically scanned chaewon up and down with a sly smile appearing. “oh hello. another princess to accompany me?”
chaewon rolled her eyes and fixed the tiara on her long black hair. “sorry. not on your team.”
hyunjin looked between the two of them and saw minju with her head down, refusing to look at the scene unfolding in front of her eyes.
the quarterback assumingly put two and two together and put the drinks up to his face in a surrendering gesture. “ah, i see…sorry to bother you two…” he then walked away, approaching another group of girls from the soccer team.
chaewon then faced back at minju with an awkward smile. “i guess you were expecting some girl who hangs out at starbucks, with nerdy glasses…and writes snsd fanfiction…”
minju looked at chaewon with an unreadable expression. “something like that…come on, your kim chaewon.”
“okay, and-“
“and? you're next in line for cheerleading captain. one of the top students in the university and the boys and girls go crazy over you! and a closeted snsd fan?” minju shook her head a little, not believing anything in front of her. “you can’t be both girls…”
“but i’m not ‘both girls.’”
“then, who are you?”
chaewon took one of minju’s hands and held it up to her chest, gazing into her smoldering brown orbs, just asking to be understood. “on september 5th, i wrote you: ''i live in a world full of people pretending to be something they're not.”
“you are literally incognito onli--''
''i'm the girl i wanna be online.'' the cub cut her off, pleading with her sparkling eyes. “give me a chance to be that girl in the real world.”
minju gazed down at their hands still holding, smiling a little as chaewon began to caress it with her thumb.
she continued, “do you want to join me for a stroll outside?”
oh, who was the masquerade angel to refuse?
…
“so, taenytts, would you tell me who you are if i guessed it right?”
minju pretended to think a little, walking on chaewon’s left side. “hmmm…maybe.”
“maybe?” the cub let out air in amusement. “well, how about we play twenty-one questions?”
“how about five?”
“i'll take what i can get.” chaewon proceeded to think for a few seconds, “okay, first question. you do actually go to ‘enozi university’, right?”
minju rolled her eyes a bit, scrunching her eyebrows. “of course.”
“look, i'm just checking.” chaewon let out a giggle. “i mean, you never know with the internet…”
“okay, next question.” the masked angel teasingly cut her off.
“were you disappointed when you found out that i was ssamusone?”
minju stopped in her tracks as chaewon approached in front of her, continuing. “be honest.”
thinking for a bit, the masked angel lightly nudged chaewon and proceeded to walk to the gazebo in eunbi’s backyard. “surprisingly….no.”
that earned a warm smile from the pink princess. “given the choice…would you rather have a rice cake or a big mac?
“a big mac.” minju answered without hesitation. “but why does that matter?”
“well, i like a girl with a hearty appetite. and besides, you just eliminated about a percent of the girls on our campus.”
“ah, so you like girls…”
“uh, yah! after everything between us!” chaewon chuckled as they stopped underneath their destination, eyeing a silent masked angel. “what? don’t tell me you believe in those rumors about me being a player with guys?”
minju didn’t answer and found her white heels more interesting to gaze at.
the princesses' smile dropped. ego hurt a little by even someone she liked to believe in something as stupid as bitchy gossip. “they are just rumors. i promise i’m not like that…and i definitely like girls.” she saw the masked angel finally look up at her. “you'd think i'd remember those eyes…you're so beautiful…”
slight blush went across minju’s cheeks, as she slightly turned away and gazed across the little pond. “next question.”
…
“what's up girl?”
yuri turned around from the punch bowl and found herself looking at jungsoong. one of the campus's notorious heartthrobs.
she was somewhat acquainted with him, for they shared the same study hall. only she wasn’t expecting he’d ever talk with her outside of an educational environment like this...
the power of the dress. she innocently thought.
“jungsoong-ssi.” yuri sipped some of her punch. “what are you supposed to be?”
“a three musketeer.”
“you don’t look like a candy bar?” she jokingly said.
“right.” jungsoong only laughed. “this is a bit random, but i see you wandering around here alone and i’m wondering…why don’t we have our own little party?”
great...one of these weirdos...
yuri gave the guy credit for his efforts, but she wasn’t that interested in him in the first place. she’ll find another prince charming somewhere else…”um, i think i’m okay right here.”
“awe come on jo, i know you like me~” the musketeer cooed out, beginning to close their proximity a bit more.
yuri backed away a bit, only to stop against a wall.
dead end.
“no…can you please stop…you’re making me uncomfortable.”
he only kept getting closer until his hand was by her head. “i just know, cinderella.”
yuri looked at him with sudden horror in her eyes as he was about to put his hands on her, only for a voice from behind to catch them both off guard.
“hey!” the figure forcibly yanked the musketeer's shoulders away from cinderella. “the princess said, ‘stop!’”
the guy irritability huffed out, looking at the figure with anger in his eyes, only for him to automatically recognize them and regain his composure. bowing his head in apologizes to the two as he mumbly walked off.
the hero then stood in front of yuri with a worried expression, careful not to touch her. “are you alright?”
it took a few seconds, but the cinderella smiled looking into the eyes of her savior. “hi, yena.”
yena--dressed head to toe in her prince charming costume--took that as a yes, and gave her a reassuring smile in return.
…
“if i ask you to dance, does that count as a question?”
“there's no music.” the masked angel stated.
“so?”
“all out of questions?”
“do you believe in love at first sight?”
minju bit her lip staring at the lovesick girl in front of her. “i'll let you know.”
“but i've seen you before?”
“yes.” minju was having fun making chaewon try to guess who she was… maybe a little too much fun…
“man. how could i have seen you before...and not know who you are now?”
“maybe you were looking, but you weren't really seeing.”
the princess smiled looking upon the angel, gazing upon the part of her face that wasn’t blocked off by the white masquerade mask.
seeing chaewon’s eyes glued to her lips, minju got the same idea as she slowly closed her eyes, staying in place as she felt the slightly shorter girl inch closer towards her.
after a few seconds of waiting, minju grew impatient and cupped the princess’s cheeks, closing the gap between them and kissing the older kim all too softly. molding their lips together in a perfect rhythm only the two of them could create in the moment.
everything really was turning out like a perfect fairytale.
pulling away in no less than a minute, minju laid a final peck on her lips before facing the pond again. cheeks flushed in a red tint. “you've got one more question left.”
chaewon dazedly blushed as she lightly grabbed minju’s hands, making her face towards her. “do you, taenytts...feel like you made the right choice meeting me here tonight?”
minju breathily chuckled, biting her lip a bit as she softly answered. “i do.” she slowly began to caress chaewon’s hands with her thumbs. “and do you, kim chaewon, ever wanna see me again after tonight?”
without any hesitation, chaewon leaned in once more, “absolutely.” already closing the gap between them yet again.
before the moment could escalate in any other form, minju’s phone began to vibrate in her bra, making her pull away in irritable panic. “oh god, not now…”
flustered, chaewon dusted her gown trying to regain composure. “what’s wrong?”
minju eyed her phone screen and saw a text from the twins.
thing 1: mom called saying she finished early.
thing 2: she’s coming home as we type!
”i've gotta go.” minju hurriedly voiced out, attempting to leave the party as soon as possible.
chaewon began to follow her confusingly, “you have a curfew or something?”
“something like that.” minju turned around and looked chaewon in the eyes again. “i'm sorry, but thank you. this has been the most amazing night. i’m sorry for having the wrong impression of you all this time too…” with a final nod of her head, she began to walk into the house again.
“wait! where are you going?”
“i'm late.”
“for what?”
going up the stairs, minju voiced aloud, “reality.” leaving behind a clueless chaewon at the end of them.
minju found yuri in the corner of the hallway with a girl she couldn’t forget even if she tried. devouring each other’s lips like their lives depended on it. minju rolled her eyes and tugged cinderella yuri away from her ‘prince charming.’
“yuri, we gotta go~” minju huffed out.
“w-wait!” yuri went back to yena, stealing one last goodbye kiss before forcibly being pulled out the front door.
“hey! i was in the middle of something with my prince!” yuri scolded, running with minju to her car.
“you'll get over it and live.” minju deadpanned, buckling her seatbelt and waiting for yuri to start her engine. “hello! it’s almost midnight! my mom is coming home early!”
…
chaewon approached yena on top of the stairs.
“what's up?”
”have you seen the girl i was with?” the pink princess stressed out, frantically looking around them.
“um, yah! she pulled off my princess!” the duck pouted her lips and crossed her arms. “so uncool…”
chaewon scrunched her eyebrows and shook her head. gaining attention to a noticeable iphone on the middle of the stairs with a tiffany young photocard in back of it.
tapping the screen, the pink princess picked it up and gazed upon the taeyeon and tiffany lockscreen in full view. placing the object in yena’s pocket shortly after for safe keeping...
…
“yuri?...yuri...yul, come on! what’s wrong with you?”
the cinderella groaned in the driver's seat, turning on the ignition. “i was making out with choi yena from the car shop! and i didn't even get her number!” she scrunched her nose in annoyance. “i’m kinda frustrated with you right now…”
minju whined as she placed her hands through her hair, finally taking off her masquerade mask that night. “i kissed kim chaewon.”
yuri’s eyes turned wide. completely forgetting the previous anger she felt towards her best friend. “wait, so, it was her--? what did she say when she found out that you were you?”
minju irritably scoffed and faced the hamster. “she didn't say, because she didn't find out.”
“you didn't tell her? why not?”
“yul, i'm nobody, okay? i drive a beat-up old car, and she's expecting asian barbie.” she took off the wired halo from her head. “i‘ll be doing her a favor if i just disappear.”
“min…” yuri hated whenever her best friend got too insecure about herself like this. she’s too amazing to even realize it. “you’re one of the most beautiful girl’s i’ve ever known. don’t ever talk down on yourself in front of me like that.” she said in a scolding manner, trying to get her point across.
minju let out a huff as she tried to find her phone in her bra, only to realize nothing was there other than her own padding…”oh no.”
yuri looked at minju paranoidly searching all around her seat and dress. “what’s wrong now?”
after a few more pats on her chest area, minju sat back in defeat and placed her hands over her face, “i fucking lost my phone!”
“we can go back ins-“
“just drive me back home yuri!” emotions consuming her, minju yelled through her tears, already having had enough of this night. “just…drive me back home please…” she mumbled at the end.
not wanting to overwhelm the girl even more, yuri started the car and began to drive off as fast as she could.
following a few demanding commands, complaints of going too slow, and almost running past a few red lights, yuri and minju finally arrived at the house. they seemed to be the only car there, for minju was hoping her mom’s car wasn't parked in the garage instead of the driveway out of all days being today. for extra precaution, instead of the front door, the two of them snuck to the backyard and opened up the sliding glass door, hoping to have arrived before mrs. kim did.
unfortunately, a light turning on from the kitchen made the two best friends freeze in place.
nako, hitomi, with jiheon and jeno, were sitting around the kitchen table with minju’s mom standing on the side of them, crossing her arms, staring directly at the party goers.
the four young adults smiled awkwardly at the intruders. jeno even gave a happy wave, but was soon slapped down by his twin sister.
“jo yuri.”
the cinderella’s ears perked up, automatically bowing in accordance with her best friends mother in front of her. “yes, mamn?”
the woman relaxed her shoulders, attempting to calm herself. “stay here with the rest.” although her eyes exclaimed a different tone of emotion. “minju, i’ll meet you upstairs. right. now.”
--
monday soon came around, and the talk of the party has been going on all weekend.
the masked angel has been on everybody’s minds ever since she entered the scene saturday night. almost like a historic event occurring, the campus just couldn’t stop gossiping about who that mystery girl might’ve been. it could be literally anyone at the university if they fit the description written on the ‘wanted’ posters posted all over the campus and social media.
kim chaewon and choi yena may or maynot be behind all that...
chaewon wasn’t going to lose her masked angel so easily, so she followed the ducky’s advice in putting up local ads to find her.
at least, this idea was better than the first one she had:
“call a private investigator! they’ll certainly figure something out if we pay them well enough. maybe we can get eunb-”
chaewon threw a pencil at the ducky in objection before she could finish her crazy suggestion. “that’s kinda stalking. no thank you…”
“well…” yena pouted and rubbed the part of her head the object hit. “how about ‘wanted’ posters? l-like the cowboy movies. only it’s different cause the person will turn themselves in and get rewarded with you and their phone.” the ducky flinched when she saw chaewon shift in her seat, assuming a text book or a random chair to be thrown at her next. and no, she wasn't being dramatic and overthinking things. definitely not...
“that’s…” the tiger cub looked down for a few seconds, before staring at her best friend with a nod of approval. “not a bad idea…”
…
have you seen cinderella?
description: xxxxxxx xxxx xx, x
xxxxxxx, xxxxx xx xx xxxxxxx.
reward: your cell phone back
and a date with kim chaewon!
come or call choi’s automotive at
123-010-2918!
(now does car washes!)
…
“i’m confused.” hyewon read the paper on the register counter. “why the flyers? and why can’t you just text her on discord to meet her?”
chaewon sighed as she reached in her pocket and brought out a device. “i have her phone. something else must’ve happened cause my messages aren’t going through to her laptop either.”
a gasp came from sakura. “what if she's ghosting you?” she said with wide eyes and a worried tone.
“i don’t think so…” chaewon‘s expression automatically dropped. pouting a little to herself while playing with strands of her hair. “at least i hope not...”
“you’re telling us none of the girls who approached you are the one?” the japanese beauty continued.
chaewon shook her head as she put the phone back in her pocket. “nope. all lied. the soccer team too.”
hyewon giggled with a hand over her mouth, “dang, i was hoping either gaeul, rei, liz or leeseo were one of them.”
followed by a groan, yena slammed her hands on the counter as she faced her best friend with an intimidating expression chaewon could never really take seriously, “that's enough. you’ve been through hell already jjae, and i'm sure there’s a logical explanation for all this, but we just-”
a loud crunch sound interrupted the ducky. “just gotta find her and see for ourselves.” hyewon finished, already taking out another chip.
“exactly!” yena put a hand on chaewon’s shoulder. “we will find your masked angel. months of talking with her won’t go down the drain after a few days. don’t worry.”
“um…” sakura jolted her head towards the window, breaking the moment. “is that a...twin bike pulling up at the shop?”
the four girls’ shot their heads towards the window, indeed seeing a blue 2-seater beach cruiser with a girl in the front and a guy in the back wearing a helmet.
intrigued, chaewon and yena began to walk outside. wondering if this had something to do with the masked angel.
“why do you keep wearing that stupid helmet?” jiheon got off the bike, staring at her brother unbuckling the headwear.
“for protection! anything can happen on the road.” he stopped talking as he saw two girls in ‘sexy’ company attire approach them.
yena took a deep breath as she greeted them with a ten-million dollar smile. “hello! welcome to choi’s automotive! i’m choi yena! how may i assist you today?”
“erm...hi.” jiheon awkwardly cleared her throat as she brought out her phone, “i’m here for…” she showed the two workers the screen. “kim chaewon.”
automatically, chaewon scanned the phone and saw the ‘wanted’ social media ad yena posted. “yeah, that’s me.” she then began to eye jiheon up and down with a raised eyebrow. “are you here to tell me you’re the masked angel?” already used to the idea after every girl in town visiting her today…
chaewon swore she saw jiheon’s cheeks turn a tint of pink, looking deep into chaewon’s eyes as she handed the phone to jeno. “y-yeah! that’s me!”
“what?!” jeno yelled from the side, “ji, this wasn’t-”
the younger girl elbowed him on his chest, “sorry for my twin...yup, you have my phone and everything.” she said with her charming eye smile.
“erm...i’ll let you handle this buddy.” yena patted the cubs shoulder as she went back inside the car shop. comically, hyewon, yena and sakura peeked their heads out the door in perfect crime-movie fashion.
chaewon crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows at the two twins in front of her. “yeah? what's in back of the phone?”
“it’s um...um…” jiheon looked at her brother with panic in her eyes.
jeno cut in with an eye smile of his own, “it’s a tiffany young photocard! and i’m the masked angel!”
“jeno!” jiheon began to repeatedly punch him as he attempted to dodge her fists.
chaewon looked at the scene in amusement. not only were these kids kinda stupid, but they must know something about the real masked angel if they guessed the tiffany photocard right…
“guys, stop stop.” the cub raised her hand, resulting in the siblings to turn and face her innocently. she played along and jolted her head towards jeno. “how are you cinderella? i thought she was a girl the whole night?”
jeno ignored the snort coming from his sister as he dusted imaginary dust from his shoulders, fixing the blazer he was wearing. “would you believe me if i told you i was a cross-dresser?”
“charming.” chaewon nodded her head in even more amusement, before lightly pushing him away. “now get to school you two.”
chaewon had to admit the twin girl did resemble the masked angel out of all the people that confronted her today, but she still had to be cautious with everyone, even if it meant those two siblings riding away/arguing on the bike knowing something she didn’t…
--
“grounded?!” wonyoung gasped with a shocked expression. “you’re a grown adult! why on earth would your mother ground you?!”
“since i live under her roof…” minju closed the register as she released a heavy sigh. ”she told me if i wanted to act like a child then she was gonna treat me like one.”
“i still don’t understand why she took your laptop too...what about your school work?”
“that’s what paper is for.” minju mocked her mother, waving to yujin who walked in the cafe. “you’re late.”
the puppy let out a groan, tying up her hair. “traffic. also, i think i saw the twins riding their bikes up here?” she tilted her head looking at the two girls.
ignoring wonyoung giving yujin a peck on the cheek in greeting, minju saw jiheon and jeno walk in the shop just as the puppy said...great...just great...
“hey wonnie! looking beautiful as always!” jeno cheekily saluted, earning a scoff from the younger bunny.
“jeno.” she addressed. seeing jiheon, wonyoung happily waved at her as she continued to set up the coffee grounds. thankfully yujin went to the back as soon as the two walked in…
minju looked at them with a blank expression. “why the hell are you two here?”
jeno faked an offended gasp. “wow, we could never visit our darling sister at work?”
yujin walked back to the front and made eye-contact with jeno, automatically putting a protective arm around wonyoung. “you two never show up unless you want something.”
“evil twins…” wonyoung mumbled out, loud enough for yujin to hear as they lowly giggle to themselves.
jiheon rolled her eyes as she showed her older sister her phone. “since you don't have any classes today and lost your phone, you probably don't know what’s going on. so here.”
minju curiously eyed the screen, trying to grasp all the information written on this so-called ‘wanted, have you seen cinderella?’ ad. and boy, if you didn’t think minju’s eyes could get any bigger… “she...she has my phone...”
“let me see!” annyeongz snatched jiheon’s phone out of the froggies hand, expressions’ dropping in instant realization.
wonyoung wacked the back of yujins neck. “yuj, you were at school earlier for soccer practice! why didn’t you say anything?!”
yujin pouted while rubbing the part that hurt, “hmph...i-i didn’t think they were connected…”
jiheon took her phone back as she looked back at her older sister. “we visited chaewon too.”
in shock couldn't even express minju’s state at the moment. one bomb after another from these two… “w-why?! what did you guys do?”
“well, first we went to tell chaewon-noona the girl was you…” jeno sarcastically smiled at jiheon. “but thing 2 over here developed heart eyes for her that it...kinda backfired.”
‘thing 2’ let out a scoff, “hey, you were claiming to be cinderella too, mr. crossdresser.”
“i mean, could you blame me? she was hot.” thing 1 slyly rubbed his neck.
minju whined and ran her hands through her hair. “you guys are unbelievable…”
“fear not dear sister!” jeno spoke up with an eye-smile. “this visit also confirmed how committed chaewon-noona is to find you!”
“that’s why we came here to tell you! so you can get your girl and your phone back.” jiheon finished with the same smile.
“damn...chaewon must think i’m the worst for not texting her at all on discord the past few days…” minju pouted out.
“why didn't you just use a different device to message her?” yujin wondered aloud.
“#1 i’m ‘adult grounded.’ #2, i lost my phone and my mom took away my laptop. and #3, thing 1 and thing 2…” the twins shyly waved at their mention, “will never let me use their own phones.”
jiheon nervously giggled. “sorry sis...a lot of personal stuff on here.”
minju rolled her eyes. “well at least i know she has it now.”
“you have to go and get your rewards unnie!” wonyoung stated out, slamming her fist on the counter. “right now!”
“but...we are working…”
“don't worry unnie. we can cover today for you~” yujin spoke from the side, with wonyoung rapidly nodding her head in agreement.
that sentence sounds familiar… minju sighed in her own thoughts.
minju bit her lip in contiplaition, looking around the room. “but, i don’t have a ride. yuri dropped me off and my car’s broken down…”
almost simultaneous chuckles came from the twins by the register. “once again, we came prepared.” jeno gestured the women towards the window where their bike was parked. viewing a rocket shaped sidecar attached to the side of the double-seated beach cruiser.
“we picked it up from jisung-oppa on the way here.” jiheon high-fived jeno in satisfactory accomplishment.
minju looked at her two siblings, face dropping while putting two and two together. “y-you want me riding...in that?”
…
“i hate you both so...so much.” minju mumbled in the sidecar, wearing a unicorn helmet on her head.
thing 1 and thing 2 were happily peddling straight to the car shop, sporting a big shit-eating grin on their faces. “safety first!” jeno took a hand off the handle and hit on top of minju’s head.
just before minju could shove jeno off in protest, the twins began to pedal faster reaching their destination, causing minju to hang onto the rocket for dear life.
right on time, choi yena came out from the entrance with the same smile and clipboard she always had. “hello! welcome to choi’s automotive! i’m choi yen-- o-oh hey! it’s you guys again!” yena looked at the scene in front of her in amusement. “and there's another addition...” she giggly waved at minju in the sidecar.
minju embaressly waved back as she attempted to take the unicorn helmet off her head, only to fail for the nth time in the last twenty seconds. “get this thing off me!”
jiheon ignored the struggling froggie and called out to ‘choi yena of choi’s automotive.’ “can you bring chaewon-sunbae out? we got her.”
yena raised her eyebrows looking at the three siblings. “got who…”
“cinderella.” jeno coolly finished, back to back with his sister.
automatically yena’s eyes shifted to a struggling minju in the rocket sidecar, successfully taking off the helmet, letting her dark hair dramatically flow in the wind. everything playing in slow motion in the ducky’s eyes.
“holy shit…jjae!!” yena ran inside, and not even a second later, pulling out a very irritated looking kim chaewon.
“what the fuck! i was fucking filling out documents you duck!” chaewon scolded the best friend, only to be cut off guard by the double-seated beach cruiser twins. “oh…it’s you guys again.” she then looked on the side to a very familiar looking froggie. “minju-yah! nice seeing you here again.”
“erm…hi, chaewon-ssi…” minju nervously voiced out, stepping out of the sidecar by jiheon and jeno.
chaewon’s eyes then shifted between the three of them, “wait a second…you guys know each other?”
yena patted chaewon’s back as she made a thin line with her lips. “your cinderella’s here.”
the tiger cub only looked at the ducky with scrunched eyebrows. yena continued gesturing over to the brother and sister. “come on guys, let me introduce you to some cool mechanics.”
“alright!” jiheon smiled out, grabbing her brother's hand.
“are they hot?” was the last thing jeno said before being dragged into the car shop with his darling sister.
chaewon shook her head looking at yena enter the place, who gave her a final wink of approval. the cub only rolled her eyes as she faced back at a very flushed looking minju.
“um…” minju was the first one to break the few second long silence, finding the pebbles on the ground more interesting than the girl in front of her.
“um?” chaewon confusingly repeated back. “is there anything i can do for you?”
minju can tell chaewon was losing patience. she already bothered the cub when her siblings came to visit…not to mention being dragged out again and face the same people she saw not even a few hours ago, distracting her from more of her work--as minju heard chaewon complain about to yena--when they arrived there.
minju couldn’t speak. she’s never been in this situation before.
she’s met chaewon a good amount of times now. heck, they even kissed at the party and have been texting non-stop for months before they finally trusted each other to meet up a few days ago.
but that was the thing…chaewon didn’t even know who she was. and she still doesn’t! after every drymatic thing that happened, chaewon still didn’t know that the girl standing in front of her was the masked angel.
they only ever knew each other online. over the internet. a place where minju could be anything she wanted. a place where chaewon blindly fell for a girl she never even seen the face of. just a 2014 profile icon of a wolf and red-riding hood version of taeyeon and tiffany at a halloween party themselves.
a girl with the name of taenytts. that’s all chaewon has ever known the woman in front of her as.
what if she doesn’t like this outcome? what if chaewon was expecting someone completely different than her? as far as she knew herself as, kim minju was basically a nobody. why would kim chaewon, fall in love with someone like kim minju?
''i live in a world full of people pretending to be something they're not….i'm the girl i wanna be online.'' the cub cut her off, pleading with her sparkling eyes. “give me a chance to be that girl in the real world.”
minju gazed down at their hands still holding, smiling a little as chaewon began to caress it with her thumb.
another scene played out in minju’s head.
“min…” yuri hated whenever her best friend got too insecure about herself like this. she’s too amazing to even realize it. “you’re one of the most beautiful girl’s i’ve ever known. don’t ever talk down on yourself in front of me like that.” she said in a scolding manner, trying to get her point across.
easy minju…breath…
what felt like minutes of silence and remembrance, was only another few seconds of staring at the rocks on the ground.
gaining a little smile on her face and a new found ray of hope and confidence, minju slowly looked up into chaewon’s eyes. seeing the older girl raise an eyebrow at the sudden staring contest between the two of them.
“i’m cinderella.” minju confidentiality voiced out, watching as chaewon’s face turned into nothing but a blank expression.
“huh?” the tiger cub scrunched her brows in confusion, slowly approaching her and eyeing her down from head to toe. trying to remember every little detail from the mysterious masked angel that night.
but the thing that triggered it, was her eyes.
oh, how the masked angel had such enchanting eyes…
“you'd think i'd remember those eyes…you're so beautiful…”
chaewon suddenly remembered from the party. oh, she was definitely never going to forget the way they looked now. the way they sparkled in the sun outside the car shop was the same way they shined from the lights of the night sky under the gazebo.
she’s finally really seeing what's in front of her.
“minju…” chaewon voiced out, raising her hand a few inches away from the angel's brown orbs, only staring at her lips and lower body that was exposed that night.
minju placed her hands over chaewon’s, and slowly lowered it down to where they made eye contact again, earning a smile from the pink princess of the party.
“let me make sure…how did we meet again?”
“during the ‘you think’ music video stream.” minju began to play with the cub’s fingers a little. “i messaged you separately in greeting.”
chaewon nodded cheekily at the response. “one more. who’s my soshi bias?”
“taeyeon.” minju answered without hesitation. “and mine is tiffany.”
that just confirmed everything. “it’s you.”
minju happily nodded, giving chaewon the most sincere smile anyone could ever give. “it’s me. and you’re actually you…”
chaewon giggled and interlaced their fingers together, bringing it over her chest. “taenytts?”
and for the first time ever, chaewon heard minju say her handle name with her own voice, rather than reading it over a screen. “ssamusone?”
“why didn’t you try to contact me after the party? i was worried…” chaewon frowned.
minju shook her head and began to caress chaewon’s hands with her tumb. “it’s a really long story, and i'd love to tell you about it later but…” her gaze dropped down to the olders lips, “i really want to kiss you right now.”
chaewon smiled and released their hands, bringing minju in by the waist, giving her the same sultry gaze as their first night together. “then do it.”
and oh, was minju more than happy to.
minju closed her eyes and leaned in to the older girl, wrapping her arms around her neck as she happily closed the gap between them.
both of chaewon’s hands held onto minju’s waist. moving their heads together in a perfect technique, molding their top and bottom lips against each other in an instinctive rhythm only they knew. built up desire taking over, chaewon bit minju’s bottom lip, causing a faint moan to sound and the angel’s mouth slightly opening in pleasure, allowing chaewon to slip her tongue in and caress their warm muscles together.
“are they seriously making out in the open like that?” sakura asked hyewon with a scrunched up face. “how embarrassing...”
the hamster finished drinking from her red bull, “oh please. you and chaeyeon were way worse when you guys started dating.”
“yeah, right.”
“says the girl who was practically grinding on the dance major at the end of the semester ge-”
“okay okay! i get it!” sakura looked away from the glass window and glanced at the older hamster with a teasing smile. “are you sure you’re not dating eunbi?”
hyewon only shook her head in objection. “why?”
payback. “i thought you guys were after all the times i heard you two fucking in the office room over here--”
“yah! it’s on!”
--
after the public make-out at the car shop, it was like everything fell into place for them all.
things even went well for yuri.
in addition to her best friend being in a new found relationship with an automotive shop-cheerleader, yuri was able to reunite with the prince charming of her dreams.
“unnie” while on a lunch break, chaewon walked into yena’s office room, with minju and yuri on opposite sides of her. “another car wash for yul here when you’re done.”
finally seeing the younger hamster again since the party, yena dramatically stood up from her office chair, causing a few desk supplies to fall onto the floor. the ducky cleared her throat while rubbing the side of her cheek. “um...of course! sorry you had to see that…”
chaewon shook her head as minju and yuri tried their best to suppress inappropriate laughter. which ended up failing miserably…
the tiger cub then approached the ducky and gave her a pat on her back. “she’s all yours buddy.” with a final wink, chaewon grabbed minju’s hand and walked out the door.
“mmm…” yena awkwardly giggled before kicking the fallen supplies underneath her desk. seeing a tint of red appear on the younger girl's face. “good to see you again, my princess.”
playing along, yuri approached the auto-shop owner with a smile, bowing in a typical fairytale princess fashion. “as to you, my prince.”
yup, the rundown part of seoul, south korea was clear and beautiful...the way it only is after a big rainstorm.
“you’re the new waterboy?” rei voiced out from the soccer field.
“when did that even happen?” gaeul mumbled on leeseo’s side.
jeno gave one of his signature eye smiles as he adjusted the strap full of water bottles around his neck. “high school senior community service credits. your coach signed a paper for me to be here.” he winked while looking at liz.
the blonde girl scrunched her eyebrows, taking a bottle from around his neck. “sure…”
after kicking a practice ball into the goal, yujin came running to the scene as soon as she saw thing 1 talking with her teammates. “hey! what the fuck are you doing here?”
jeno flinched looking at the puppy’s sudden intimidating presence. “yuj! i forgot you were in here for a sec…”
“you should be in school with jiheon and wonyoung.” yujin raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms next to team-captain liz.
he let out a nervous chuckle, “you see, i--” with that, jeno ran off towards the broken fence, leading to nako and hitomi’s get-away car.
chaos…
and as for the masked angel and chaewon, well, minju finally got her cell phone back.
ssamusone: hey, meet me in the music room.
taenytts: for what exactly?
ssamusone: um...new secret makeout spot?
taenytts: omg…
taenytts: i hate you.
ssamusone: is that a yes? ;)
taenytts: …
taenytts: i’ll be there right now.
ssamusone: i like you.
taenytts: i like you 2 <3
chaewon stared at her phone with a bright smile on her face, gazing at her new discord profile icon of her and minju on their one-month anniversary.
yup, the princess and the masked angel truly lived happily ever after.
at least for now.
hey, they are only in college…