Chapter Text
Despite the bad acoustics in the dining pavilion, Minjeong can in fact hear every word from the tables lining in front of her.
Under a tree’s shade, she pushes around the food in her lap. This is her spot, sitting in careful distance from everyone else in the warm grass. The light breeze carries Ryujin’s rough voice, edged on its usual annoyance.
Even though the gods’ stereotypes rarely associated with their children, in Minjeong’s experience it’s Ares’ kids that tend to take the most after their father. Shin Ryujin is especially menacing; when she isn’t wielding her axe, she’s starting the fights verbally, working herself up until there’s smoke coming out her ears.
Right now, she has one leg propped up on the bench, gesturing with her hands around, while she rants. Yeji at her side, seems to have mastered the art of tuning Ryujin out, eating quietly and exchanging knowing looks with whoever is sitting with their back to Minjeong. The younger campers are whirlwind of loud chatting and giggling, interacting across the isolated tables.
Ryujin reluctantly stands up with the rest of her cabin’s campers, stomping over to the fire pit. Yeji stays seated, only watching from afar. Minjeong knows she likes to make her sacrifices on her own, after dinner and the sun’s already setting. She tends to talk to her father in the way Minjeong imagines normal humans do, when they live far away and can only communicate through half-hour long phone calls. She tells Poseidon about her day, recalls every event in prolonged detail and asks questions she knows she won’t get an answer for.
Truly, if anyone were ever wondering about the camp’s daily news, Minjeong should be their first stop.
Sneaking around at night, glancing through the cabin’s windows at the sleeping campers, she’s the first one to catch any drama before it’s even fully unfolded. So, naturally, she also meets the newcomers before anyone else.
They arrive close to midnight, leisurely strolling through the gates. From where Minjeong is hiding behind a Greek column, she can make out their forms as two women, tall and lean. They hover close to the entrance, slowly looking around the serenity of the empty camp. One of them takes off her hood, a worn-out baseball cap sitting on long dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail. She’s chewing on her bottom lip, expression torn between nervousness and excitement.
Minjeong is dragged out of her stalking by big curls of hair tickling her cheek.
“She’s pretty, don’t you think?” Hypnos stage-whispers.
They share the narrow space behind the column; his head nudges hers slightly to the side as if he couldn’t see straight through the material. Unbothered by Minjeong’s lack of response, he continues.
“A little stiff maybe. You think they ran away from home? Probably not Seattle though, she doesn’t have that I-haven’t-seen-the-sun-in-ten-years-kind-of-look the way you had.”
Hypnos smells like chamomile and charcoal, the latter being something that seems to accommodate all the members of the underworld. Including her, unfortunately, a side effect of living in the Hades cabin and its abundance of torches.
The god is right about his observation – the newcomer has a slight tan to her, the night painting her in careful strokes of purple and blue, always a soft edge opposite a hard edge. She has a tight grip on the hem of her hoodie, turning around multiple times to stare back to where they came from. Her friend, who has left Minjeong’s view for a few seconds, returns and the girl immediately loosens up her anxious stance.
The darkness carries their conversation back to Minjeong.
“I couldn’t find anybody, everyone’s knocked out,” she says to cap girl and Hypnos hums intrigued.
“Maybe they want to mug us.”
Demigod thieves would certainly be something exciting.
“Hermes children for sure. Don’t tell him I said that- or you know what, he’d probably be flattered we thought of him.”
Minjeong turns around, power-walking away from the column towards the camp’s headquarters. Hypnos falls into step with her easily, halfway tiptoeing and floating, the belt of his bathrobe trailing behind. She climbs the stairs to the porch quickly, both of them knocking on the wooden door simultaneously. Immediately, there is the sound of a squeaking bed frame, hooves scraping against the floor.
“You’re lucky I’m here, these guys sleep like rocks.”
Chiron opens the door in his wheelchair and pajamas, in the midst of putting his glasses on. Dionysus almost runs into him from behind, clad in only checkered sleep pants and a tank top, hand gripping his chest like he’s about to have a heart attack.
“What the fuck just happened??” He heaves, running a hand through the mess of frizzly curls on his head. Chiron is more composed, but still visibly confused, especially once he realizes who is standing in front of him.
“Everything alright?” He rasps, voice thick with sleep.
“This better be important,” Dionysus huffs, “not all of us are night owls, Min.”
Minjeong points a finger in the direction of the newcomers. “There are people at the gate.”
“What kind of people?”
“Demigods.”
“Oh,” Chiron nods after a while, “I’ll be there in a second.”
He doesn’t ask if Minjeong welcomed them, knowing fully well that she doesn’t talk to anybody. Hypnos is gone; he only says it in so many words, but he avoids the god living in the camp at all cost. Minjeong doesn’t blame him for his apprehensiveness, despite initially thinking they would get long, bonding over their shared dislike towards Olympus.
She keeps her distance from where Chiron introduces himself to the new demigods. They don’t see her, but she follows their journeys towards their respective cabins – one to Athena and cap girl to Aphrodite. Right before she pushes through the doors, Minjeong watches her lift her shoulders to her chin, taking a deep breath.
The next day the camp is in utmost disarray. Hypnos shakes her awake, bright sunlight shining through the cracks of the shutters. Opening her eyes, she’s greeted by his excited face, big mouth stretched into a mischievous smile.
“Wakey, wakey, Min. You’re not going to want to miss this.”
She pushes him off her, sitting up in her bed and taking some time to rub her eyes and nose. Despite her cabin being the farthest off the side, she can hear faint talking and screeching from outside.
“What’s going on?” She grumbles, using her fingers to comb through her short hair.
The mattress dips, Hypnos sitting down at the end of it, his robe falling open to reveal his red tunic, a gold plate around his neck and shoulders. They don’t look very much alike, which would be a strange thought, considering genetics have very little to say in relationships between gods.
Yet, Minjeong knows other Chthonic gods, others of her mother’s creation, the latter included and they all share an uncanny resemblance. Despite the superficial similarities; the hair (hers is dark like some of the family’s, Hypnos’ is silver like the other half’s), the eyes, the apathetic expression – Minjeong sticks out like a sore thumb.
“Our new friends from last night are causing quite the turmoil,” he claps his hands together, “we should investigate.”
“Don’t you have a job to do?”
She kicks off the sheets, swinging her legs off the bed and dragging herself to the bathroom. There, in the dirty mirror, she stares back at her sunken in eyes, pale collarbones sticking out from under her metal band sleep shirt. She lowers her head, splashing cold water into her face.
“Paperwork is such a hassle, though. Demigod drama is much more entertaining, you know how much I love spying with you.”
Hypnos sets a few fresh poppies into the miniature flower pot next to the sink. “I have a good feeling about today too.”
Minjeong lags behind significantly with her morning routine. As most days, she manages to step outside when everyone else has already been up for hours. The counselors let it pass, knowing there’s no use to try and get through to her. They mostly ignore her, let her wonder around the camp like a ghost. Chiron, however, is another story.
“Nice of you to join us, Minjeong,” he smiles down at her, startling as she’s in the midst of grabbing some breakfast.
Hypnos was right; there is more fuss than usual. She has had to strategically sneak around to not have to cross paths with anyone else. She hums, as good as a ‘good morning’ as it gets and quickly fills her bowl with some leftover food.
“Thank you for waking me up last night. It’s good you noticed the newcomers,” he stops her from walking past him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “What are your plans for today?”
She shrugs, kicking up some mud on the spot, while she waits for him to let her go.
“Can you do me a favor then?”
Minjeong raises an eyebrow at this. It’s not often she’s asked to help out, simply because they are more capable options available at all times. Chiron looks around a couple times, waiting until a small group of campers walks by them and they are alone again.
“It is not that I don’t trust them, but you know it’s always better to be a little cautious, hm? Especially since they have been very vague about where they came from. I want you to keep an eye on them for the next few days. If anything seems suspicious to you, tell me.”
She doesn't know how to respond to that. Chiron is smart enough to know that she would most likely already do that and she only nods hesitantly.
“Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.”
Minjeong strolls along the sides of the shadows, keeping track of the campers’ excitement. She catches the occasional whisper, giggling with red tinted cheeks – something about a new arrival.
Since Aphrodite’s daughters like to lunge around canoe lake, she isn’t surprised to find everyone’s new obsession, trying out a paddle boat. Ennik is in the boat with her, the both of them already laughing and joking around as if they had been friends for years. The former probably saw a new girl enter their cabin and jumped at the opportunity to give her a warm welcome. They’re somewhat sisters after all.
The naiads go crazy around them, threatening to drown the boat, their hands tangling in the newcomer’s hair, spewing compliments. In the daylight, her good-looks are little more palpable, even from far away. Based on the number of campers waiting on the shore, she’s definitely not the only one to realize that.
The day reaches it climax when the masses move to the arena, wanting to see the Aphrodite’s daughter in her first class. Her arm muscles flex when she reaches up to tie her hair into a ponytail, only wearing the standard leather vest. She has a playful look on her face, much more relaxed that Minjeong had been during her first lesson.
Her grip on the sword is light, flicking it up and catching it easily, while circling Yeji. The latter volunteered to be her sparring partner and Minjeong slips through the crowd to get a better view of the spectacle.
Yeji’s eyes squeeze into creases from laughing, holding her shied by her side.
“I hope you’re not all talk, Jimin, I’d hate to embarrass you on your first day.”
Minjeong saves the name up in her catalog of campers, adds an image of Jimin’s casual stance, wearing the armor like it had been made for her. She shrugs nonchalant, grinning so hard, a dimple on one cheek appears.
“You’ll realize I’m not all talk about a lot of things.” She winks.
Yeji flushes completely, oddly contrasting to her usual unshakable demeaner. Then, she shakes her head, pushing out a long breath, before raising her sword. “Let’s go, then.”
There are shouts of each other’s names from the sidelines, clapping their hands together when it gets a little heating. The sparring is in Minjeong’s opinion so borderline unserious, it barely classifies as one. Yeji’s attempt to conceal her enjoyment speaks louder than the clashing of their swords; Jimin’s dance steps around her, whistling whenever she comes close to getting hit.
She’s fast. She’s done this before. It’s not the most unusual thing for a demigod to know how to fight, even before coming to the camp, but Minjeong wonders if this is what Chiron would classify as ‘suspicious. She doesn’t have enough time to dwell about it though, spotting the sway of midnight dark hair in the corner of her eye.
Like a dark cloud of rain and thunder, it hovers over Ryujin, attached to Eris’ floating form, whispering into the former’s ear. The goddess stares straight at Minjeong, holding a finger over her lips. Ryujin’s doesn’t even notice her stare, face set in a scowl, eyes completely obscured by darkness and following every move of the fight in front of her. Her fists are balled at her sides, leg twitching, begging to set into action.
Minjeong already knows what will happen, before it starts. Yeji slips forward, disoriented from Jimin’s zig-zagging and the former catches her with her own body, one hand coming up to her waist on reflex.
“Oops,” she smirks at Yeji’s stunned expression, using her leverage on her to spin her around.
A vein pops up on Ryujin’s forehead, while the people around her cheer. Something in her snaps, storming into the middle of the arena, putting herself between the two demigods. Yeji barely recognizes the action for what it is, still busy trying to push through her blush and Jimin raises one – sorely unimpressed – eyebrow.
“Quit the bullshit or actually fight. You’re wasting everyone’s time,” Ryujin spits out between her teeth, jaw so tense it might dislocate any second.
Eris is gone, but Minjeong still feels her presence in the hot air of the crowd, faint witch cackling in the background, perfectly amused. This wouldn’t be the first time Ryujin got into a fight unprompted, an unfair one usually, since she packs a punch like she’s constantly wearing steel gloves. Yet, Jimin doesn’t seem particularly intimidated; she stands about two inches taller than the Ares’ daughter, refusing to back away.
“You know, green doesn’t suit you.”
Yeji’s eyes widen at the provocation, eyes looping from Jimin to Ryujin, back and forth. She opens her mouth, presumably to try and deescalate the situation, but the hoard of campers surrounding them start laughing. Ryujin’s face is red, a mixture between embarrassment and anger.
Minjeong acts in a flash, obscuring Ryujin’s vision, making her stumble back, bumping into Yeji. She turns her head around, sight entirely sunken in darkness. The others laugh at her antics, unable to see what is happening. Jimin shoves her slightly, until she lands on her ass.
“You okay there? Too much teasing?”
The audience starts breaking through the inviable barrier separating them, coming to congratulate Jimin. It’s most likely the warmest welcome a camper has ever gotten and a foreign feeling twists in Minjeong’s chest, side stitch at the memory of how different people had treated her.
She lifts her spell off Ryujin, the latter quickly scrambling to her feet and rubbing at her eyes. Jimin glows in the midst of the praising attention, chest puffed up and a confident smile plastered on her face.
She looks like somebody, who has not gotten to know fear truly – somebody too big for her own body. This is what other people will see her as; having made her own podium to stand taller than everyone else.
But Minjeong knows better. She has seen her, just the night prior, uncomfortably stiff, anxiety ushering down her spine. Jimin has no idea that right there, in the middle of all her admirers, is somebody that has seen her as who she really is. Minjeong clings to the image of her fiddling with her hoodie, eyes glassy and so open.