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What would they do on New Year’s Eve?
Dokkaebi probably will lounge around all day, fiddling with her laptop and what not until about four hours before the party. She showers, treats her face to keep it moist, chooses outfits that would be the most fashionable and does the other make ups. If Ying is there, she would also set Ying up and be her personal coordinator. Asking which clothes they can match or which one would be the best at showing her charm.
Ying would have spent her day as any other normal day. She may go for groceries to prepare tang yuan and poon choi the next day, to be eaten on the 1st of January. Other than that, she spends time with Dokkaebi and lets her do whatever they should before the party. She would also remind her girlfriend to not drink too much, for they need to prepare special meals.
Countdown comes forth, and they share a kiss among the crowd. They talk about what would happen to them in the year of the rabbit, and Dokkaebi makes a corny joke like, “well, I’m a dragon and you’re a rat. I can eat up the rabbit but what’re you gonna do?” Ying replies, “you do realise that the rat won the race in zodiac myth by being smart, right? I’ve still got my wits, don’t you worry about that.”
What would they do on the first day of the New Year?
Despite having a massive hangover (and hearing Ying yelling, ‘I told you so,’) Dokkaebi drags herself out to the kitchen and boils a large amount of water in an electric kettle. She soaks tteoks (rice cakes) in a bowl of cold water, and stir fry beef cubes in a pot. When it’s cooked, she pours the boiling water and chopped garlic, and let it simmer before dumping the tteoks too. Lazy stirring with salt, soy sauce, beaten eggs and store-bought dumplings. After a while, she finishes it with chopped spring onions and pepper. Ying is super excited to slurp chew on the tteoks and dumplings filled with tofu and pork. Dokkaebi soothes her insides with hot broth, as any Korean remedies their hangovers with.
Ying takes over to prepare for some snack, tang yuan. It’s quite easy - make firm dough with glutinous rice flour and water. She knows how to make the proper filling with black sesame, butter and sugar, but sometimes she likes to cheat a little. So there are about seventy balls of rice dough made between the two women, half filled with black sesame and the other half with cubes of palm sugar. They boil about ten of them in hot water and scooped out when they float. Dokkaebi goes nuts with this soft and chewy dessert - she sometimes bites in too quickly while it’s hot, but claims that it’s okay because things taste at their hundred percent when they are piping hot.
Dokkaebi wants to relax without doing much, but Ying insists they need to clean the entire place. No dust, no dirty spots and stains. Dokkaebi really regrets drinking like there’s no tomorrow because frankly, this is her tomorrow. Ying eggs her on to sort their bathroom out with a bowl of baking soda and liquid soap.
The evening comes and Lesion visits, along with their friends (which are usually Vigil, Hibana, Echo, Frost and Azami.) Since he’s the only one who is good at making poon choi, Ying acts as an assistant and pulls Dokkaebi in to help out as well. “But whyyyy.” “Because we’re the hosts here, silly. Tze Long already prepared some ingredients overnight so we can’t just be doing nothing, okay?” There’s a lot to be stir-fried, boiled, layered and fried, but the result is magnificent. A massive pot with layers of vegetables on the bottom and a delicious variety of proteins on the top. Later they boil the rest of tang yuans to enjoy with beverages in the evening.
How do they feel about getting older?
They may wonder about where their career is going, or their physical capabilities. Dokkaebi isn’t too worried, as she likes to claim, because she can always go for jobs that deal with cyber security (whether that may be protecting or breaching.) Ying wants to travel around the world without being on a military tour. She feels confident at taking on whatever challenges or jobs required to earn her expenses, and perhaps life with Dokkaebi won’t be a boring one.
But as of now, they don’t like the sound of getting old. It’s a little daunting, inching towards the forties. The impression feels like a huge gap as thirty-something year olds.
Speaking of getting older, Dokkaebi looked into one of those fortune telling websites in Korean. They are your basic ‘type in the date, month, year, and time you were born.’
“Apparently I need to set my vision further than where I am,” Dokkaebi reads out aloud from her screen, “as long as I work on what I can do, things should go well, it says. I need to keep peace at home - well, that’s gonna be a tough one.”
Ying lies next to her lover. “Are they still hoping that you’ll magically turn straight?”
“Psh, yeah. Tough shit.” She scrolls down to skip to the good part. “Look! They say my relationship with a romantic partner will strengthen! Now we’re talking.”
“How about mine? Can you look it up?”
“Yeah, give me a sec.” Dokkaebi refreshes the page and types in Ying’s dates. She reads over carefully, choosing the essential bits to translate. “Oh wow. They say you have some luck to achieve larger things at a smaller expense, so don’t be so greedy with what you aim. Prepare well before the opportunities come.”
Ying muses on the cryptic passage. She then asks, “anything about romance? Like yours?”
“Let me have a read.” Dokkaebi reads carefully. “Dramatic. It says you will find good and bad relationships, but there will be someone who will give you appropriate advice. They won’t be nice or polite about it, like a critic. They mean well, so heed their words and make good decisions. There will be no troubles with your romantic partner, so happiness is just round the corner.”
“A critic, huh.” Ying can think of a few. “Either Tze Long or that dude. I’d prefer the former.”
“You mean Masaru? He’s mellowed out, nowadays.”
“Meh. He won’t have to worry about me.” Ying turns to nuzzle her head into Dokkaebi’s arm. “I don’t need it.”
“Of course.” Dokkaebi puts her phone aside and yawns. “You have me.” And they cuddle through the day for a short nap, for these kind of fortune reading are only for entertainment and nothing to be taken seriously.
Do they make New Year’s resolutions?
“I’m gonna make some mean abs like you, jagi (darling.)” Dokkaebi has been religiously checking her body compositions for a while.
“Like I said, you might be able to get it. But you gotta stop drinking alcohol, okay?” Ying eyes out at the protein shakes stored on the top shelf. “Or get back to taekwondo. I thought you guys learned it at your homebase.”
“Only for a short time.” Dokkaebi scratches her waist while laying flat in bed. “We don’t do it as extensively anymore.”
“Okay.” Ying walks over and tickles her girlfriend until she is forced to get up. “We’re doing this today. I’m going to drill some iron will into your body and soul.”
“Stop- stop. What are you, a sergeant?”
“Yours truthfully.” She is more than capable of dragging someone taller and heavier by the legs. Ying opens the window and squints at the weather, so she takes the key and a bag full of spare clothes. “We’re going to the gym, juju (piggy, affectionate.) Come.”
“Nooooo.” Dokkaebi knows there is no way out of this. Complaining and whining are useless
against Ying who is glowing with determination. “How about I help with your New Year’s resolution, hm?”
“My aim this year is to make a woman out of you.” Ying gathers their coats and socks. “Hurry, or there’s no more nuggets for dinner.”
“Mei Lin!” You can’t do that.” Dokkaebi can’t help but to obey, because she bought three packets of them from last week’s sale. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”