ᝰ synopsis: after the death of his predecessor, devi's father assumes the position of prime minister of south korea. this brings her closer to the royal family, where she crosses paths with crown princess karina, with whom she finds herself in a back-and-forth of friction and interactions that blossom after a night they spent together, but which cannot be repeated.
ᝰ genre: social media au, non-idol au, royalty au, high society au, forbidden love au, comedy, fluff, angst, slow burn.
ᝰ warnings: main character is an original character. insults, swearing, kms/kys jokes, mentions of alcohol and cigarettes, grammar mistakes (english not my first language), may add on.
ᝰ status: paused.
ᝰ featuring: aespa, and members of bigbang and le sserafim.
ᝰ synopsis: after the death of his predecessor, devi's father assumes the position of prime minister of south korea. this brings her closer to the royal family, where she crosses paths with crown princess karina, with whom she finds herself in a back-and-forth of friction and interactions that blossom after a night they spent together, but which cannot be repeated.
masterlist | next
[written chapter]
devi was an extremely multifaceted person, a true wonder. she was a shot in the air, the hurricane that came to sweep away everything in its path. she had never learned to set limits for herself, and if she did it was out of pure survival instinct. although that's what devi did least of all, survive. surviving meant you weren't living, not the right way. ha devi was in love with life and the adrenaline rush of giving her heart and soul to it. she was passionate about her convictions, she fought for what she believed in and was always at the front of any stampede that moved in the direction of something better.
devi was a traveler. she knew the world as she knew herself. she loved paris, she loved escaping to the different countries that made up the caribbean, she treasured her memories of her adventures in africa, but most of all she loved seoul.
she believed that a good politician was one who loved their land, and there were none of those left. her sensitive being was squeezed when she saw power in the hands of those who only wanted money or to take advantage of the weakest, of the people. unfortunately, she was surrounded by that kind of person.
that's why seeing her at a royal event was so peculiar, like meeting a jaguar in the middle of a public road. a gala full of economists, politicians and businessmen was no place for a dreamer like her.
but devi was also a lover. she loved to live like she loved to give her heart to whomever she thought was worthy, and she loved people. she was someone who would come for you at four in the morning when you needed company, she was the one who would follow you to the end of the world if you asked her to. and she was the one who would show up at a masquerade ball just because her best friend yunjin wanted it.
the lights were dazzling, changing and flashing to the rhythm of the music that the girl found extremely boring, but she understood that it was what was supposed to musicalize the lives of such monotonous people with such empty goals. the crowd was suffocating, but not for someone who was so fascinated with the human being and how it worked, not for someone who looked for connections between people as if she was under the sea and looking for oxygen. she thought that among so many packages without content maybe she could find someone who was worthwhile.
and so she did. because when you look, you find. and even more so with the determination and stubbornness that characterized the young woman.
the night had passed without notable events, beyond the fact that she enjoyed being in the presence of her friend who was characterized by being the soul in any crowd she found herself in, and with her other friend, jiyong, who if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was to make a party entertaining.
but it wasn't until she went outside to smoke a cigarette away from the distressing tunes that were dazing her inside the hall, that she found something that really gave her evening something to look forward to.
everyone at the gala was wearing their masks, as they went about their business, it was hard to tell who you were running into, but when a slender, delicate figure made her presence known in the courtyard next to devi, she didn't need to see her face. the woman had the most striking back and nape she had ever seen in her life, if she had ever paid attention to that. it was her aura of elegance that called ha to not be able to take her eyes off of her.
and devi wasn't shy or slow. if something caught her attention, she wanted it for herself, so after a moment of letting her eyes lose themselves in the woman's porcelain skin and finishing her cigarette, she approached this one. she positioned herself behind her and leaned in so that her head was on her shoulder, at ear level.
"are you looking for something?" she let out in a whisper that ran through her body.
the latter gave a little jump from the fright of the sudden company and turned quickly to see who it was. "i don't know who you are." was all she could say due to the uncertainty of the situation.
"for now." her mask only covered her nose and eyes so the confident smile that had been drawn on her lips was easily visible.
"who are you?" repeated the girl already calmer, and now slightly annoyed by the intrusion of the contrarian.
"i can't tell you." she refused. "that's what masks are for." she pointed to the pieces covering their faces. "but if you let me buy you a drink you'd be one step closer to knowing."
"and why would i accept a drink from you?" she folded her arms and from behind the garment covering her could still be seen furrowing her eyebrows in annoyance.
"because clearly i'm the most interesting thing that's happened to you all night."
maybe it was the drinks, or the sweet words that came out of devi's mouth like a waterfall, or her delicacy to treat a woman. or maybe the lady was extremely bored like everyone else at that party and was looking for something to generate dopamine. there were several possible factors as to how they had arrived at that situation, the only certainty was that they had ended up on the second floor that was desolate, in the darkness of a corridor, desperately kissing each other.
it was like that. when devi set her eyes on something, she got it.
the woman's hands tangled in devi's hair as they frantically sought to bring her even closer than they were, while ha's touch ran up and down the back of the other woman's back whose dress left exposed as if inviting her to explore it. their mouths were in a war to prove who needed the other more and their tongues caressed each other when they saw the opportunity to do so. the blackhaired lifted one leg with difficulty due to the big dress she was wearing and caressing devi's side with it she reached her waist wrapping it around it to which the latter held her firmly to avoid her from falling.
"we should go back." the woman spoke between kisses.
"no." she secured her grip on her waist and leg. "we shouldn't."
she brought her hands up to her cheeks to pull her away a little. "i didn't come here alone." she reported, still unable to stop the kisses the contrarian was leaving on her lips.
"neither did i." she concurred. "but i guess they wouldn't mind losing sight of me for a night." she tried to rejoin their lips only to be stopped by a hand resting over her mouth.
"maybe you have that privilege." she observed. "but if they lose sight of me, there's going to be a big problem." she laughed softly.
"let there be." she instigated. "what would life be without trouble?" she smiled broadly, her opponent's hand still on her lips.
"it's not that easy." she spoke with some sadness.
"things are only hard when you make them hard."
"do you have a philosophical saying for everything i say?" she looked at her amused.
"i must convince you to stay with me somehow." she raised her hand to her shoulder to carress her arm from it gently to take the hand resting on her lips and pull it away a little so that she could leave a kiss on the back of it. "would you let me take you out of here?" she proposed, her eyes expectant.
"and where would you take me?" she asked with a laughing expression.
"to my humble quarters, of course." she stretched her arms in the air as if speaking of something obvious. "i must warn you." she raised her index finger in the air, placing it in front of her as a warning sign. "that i am not the tidiest person in the world." she extended her palm after giving herself away. "but my mattress is extremely comfortable." she returned to her, grabbing her waist.
"i can't afford to run away with a messy felon."
devi showed a pout on her lips, which made the woman laugh.
"not without first knowing who i'd be running off with." she hinted mischievously.
"oh, of course." the girl took her distance, to a point where the other could see her clearly. she took the mask covering her face and carefully removed it, arranging her hair and clothes after doing so as if to look more presentable, finally staring at her exposing herself as if she were the muse of a painting. "devi." she held out her hand inviting for a squeeze. "to please you." she winked.
the woman took her hand as she laughed at her opposite's comment and tugged this one closer until she was at a sufficient distance to give her a gentle tap on the shoulder. devi wrapped her arms around her and looked into her eyes, losing herself in them as had been happening to her all night. the blackhaired took advantage of the closeness to inspect her features carefully, squinting her eyes as if that would help.
"i think i know you from somewhere." she mentioned, but she wasn't able to decipher where she knew that face from.
"i don't think so." she shook her head. "i'm never in one place for too long."
"you'd be surprised to know that i'm not either." she concurred.
"now that i've revealed my super-secret identity." she began. "could you give me the privilege of knowing yours?" she asked kindly.
"okay." she agreed after hesitating for a few seconds. "but don't freak out as soon as you see me."
"never." she assured and stepped back to give her space.
the blackhaired took a moment to meditate on what she was about to do, devi noticed her anxiety as she shook her hands as if trying to shake off the nervousness that way. she took a breath and raised her arms to behind her head to untie the straps that held the mask over her face. finally removing the piece and revealing the person underneath it.
devi froze, staring at her as if she had come face to face with a ghost. she was the most beautiful creature her eyes had ever seen, but it wasn't the first time they had seen her. she contemplated for a second that she had gotten herself into a barbaric mess, but another great quality of devi was that she was brave and didn't shy away from even the biggest of disasters. and if she thought about it, this was more of a blessing than a problem, a peculiar blessing.
devi arranged her garments again and quickly bowed. "jeoha." —your highness —.
"oh, please." she scoffed. "get up." she commanded and immediately devi obeyed. "you have put your hands inside my dress, all of this is performative."
"my hands were inside your dress before i knew you were a royal princess." she defended herself.
"you really didn't know?" she inquired incredulously.
"these masks." she held up her own, showing it. "they really do the job." she joked.
"do you understand now why it would be a big deal if i disappear for a night?"
"i understand." devi took a few quiet steps toward the princess. "and yet i still think we should give it a try." she admitted.
"you're stubborn." the blackhaired pointed out.
"i just really like you, princess katarina." she confessed.
the largest of the audience halls at gyeongbokgung palace was packed with a large number of the elite waiting to see the king appoint the new prime minister following the tragic and untimely death of the one who had previously served in that job.
the news had announced a tragic car accident and plans for his wake and the upcoming inauguration of the deputy prime minister were set in motion according to protocol as quickly as possible.
normally, the ceremony for the appointment of the prime minister was somewhat more discreet, but this time, a big event had been arranged. ha yoonho had been chosen by the king himself to take office, and after being accepted by parliament, the organizations for the celebration had begun immediately. it was no coincidence that the king had thrown such a party for the occasion since the ha dynasty and the yu dynasty had been close friends for decades, and in this case, ha yoonho and king yu seongmin were close friends.
the huge doors opened, letting in the new prime minister of south korea, bringing everyone to their feet. behind a large wooden table waiting for him at the end of a long red carpet were the king and his wife. while the royal princesses were seated to one side, their seats being closest to their parents. on the opposite side to them was yoonho's spouse, and next to her was an empty chair.
as the man walked in front of the attentive gaze of all those people who were part of the parliament cabinet and the south korean upper class to the rhythm of a melody played by a string ensemble, a bit of commotion began to build in the area where his family was supposed to be. people began to run and make room for each other while someone's agitated voice could be heard in murmurs. out of the crowd emerged ha dabin, or devi, the prime minister's daughter, who had overslept and was late for her own father's appointment as the most powerful person in the country. she made her way awkward and hurriedly to her mother and took a seat in that waiting chair, earning a rebuke from the woman next to her.
karina's eyes, who was watching everything from the front wing, expanded in horror as she saw her next to the woman who only minutes before had greeted and introduced herself as father ha's wife. that's where she knew devi from, it all finally made sense. she was the daughter of one of her father's closest friends and she had seen her at a few events throughout her life.
but more important than that, it meant she had slept with the daughter of the new prime minister.
from her place, devi began to survey the room, her ability to pay attention to things being very short, she always needed something to stimulate her mind, and as she let her eyes wander around the room, she found it. her gaze fell on princess katarina who was already staring at her from earlier.
karina expected anything but to meet her one-night stand in the middle of a royal appointment.
devi smiled sideways at her, her eyes showing confidence. the girl was happy to see her again, for a moment she had forgotten that she would be there, to be honest, she wasn't even sure if the princesses would attend. karina wore her hair down and a white dress that clung to her body perfectly, the newcomer was unable to tear her gaze away from her.
she winked at her.
and karina looked away.
the ceremony passed with devi paying very little attention to what was going on with her father and too much to the crown princess, while this one pretended not to see her and tried her best to stay focused on the event, giving a few glances at the other at times, only to be discovered by her.
everyone left the courtroom and devi was now officially the daughter of the prime minister of south korea. she congratulated her father before anyone else and took advantage of the gathering of people who came to speak to him to go on her journey to find the woman she had been with a month before.
after that night, waking up in ha's apartment, karina had practically fled. she said a fleeting goodbye and left no way of contacting her for a devi who was now fascinated with her. of course the blackhaired did not expect the prime minister to die in a car accident, nor that devi would turn out to be the daughter of his predecessor.
the chestnut slipped through the corridors of the palace, following the faces that seemed to work for the nobility, finally slipping behind the large wooden table into a small place off to the side, she walked around for a while and stumbled into a room where she could see the king's ceremonial accessories being taken from him. she assumed she was going the right way, so she kept on walking. then a voice alerted her and reached her ears briefly, a voice she knew. she followed the direction it was coming from and came across a small room where she could see, through the small opening of the door, princess katarina desperately explaining something to her lady-in-waiting.
she didn't manage to hear clearly what the blackhaired was saying, but she did hear when her companion told her to wait there. devi quickly ducked around the corner of the hallway and waited for the girl to walk away, then approached the room and carefully entered, closing the door behind her.
"aeri, did you forget something?" the woman said with her gaze focused on detaching the lock from her bracelet.
"shall i help you with that?" spoke devi seeing the difficulty the girl was having with the accessory.
karina lifted her head with momentum at the sound of the girl's voice, it didn't even take her a second to recognize it. "how did you get here?" she asked in surprise.
"let's just say you need better security at the palace." she joked.
"devi." she named seriously. "you can't be here."
"can't i?" she feigned bewilderment. "i thought being the prime minister's daughter gave me certain powers."
"certain ones, but not wandering around the royal palace at your leisure." her attitude was serious, unlike the intruder's, who seemed to be enjoying the interaction. "what are you doing here?"
"i saw you earlier and couldn't resist." she began walking towards her. "let's just say i haven't stopped thinking about you and was excited to see you." she confessed, her voice soft and confident.
"devi." she dropped her head and let out a sigh. "look-"
"you haven't thought about me?" she interrupted.
"i can't answer that." she dodged.
"it's a simple question."
"but it exposes me." she explained. "listen, what happened between us was really nice." she moved closer to her and put a hand on her chest. "but it's not going to happen again." she sentenced. "and these things." she pointed to her and the door. "they can't be happening."
"did i do something wrong?" devi's confidence was flagging, some disappointment infiltrating the way she spoke.
"other than breaking palace rules and security to see me." she laughed, but it carried a bit of bitterness. "you didn't do anything wrong." she assured sincerely. "but nothing is going to happen between us and if you keep looking for me, you'll only get into trouble."
"but what would life be without trouble?" she smiled as she repeated what she had said to her the night they met.
"that philosophy could maybe convince me once, but i don't fall for the same trick twice." she reined the girl in.
"could at least know why?" she inquired, her face exuding frustration.
"because i'm the crown princess." she said simply. "and someday i will have a husband to give me heirs." she explained. "i can't risk being caught with a woman." she turned away from the girl.
"and do you want that?"
"no." she answered truthfully. "but it's not my decision." she clarified, these things seemed assumed by her long ago. "i'm sorry, but you should go now."
devi didn't know what to answer, one thing that was uncharacteristic of her, she always had a come back for everything, but at that moment she had become mute. she hated everything she couldn't have, and at the same time she longed for it even more. she turned and walked to the door. "i just want you to remember," she stopped to speak to her. "that i'm incredibly stubborn." she reported. "and it just so happens that we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on." she put her hand on the door handle.
"that's not the way things work."
"things work the way i want them to." she winked and gave her one last smile, then walked out of the room, leaving karina alone.
ᝰ synopsis: after the death of his predecessor, devi's father assumes the position of prime minister of south korea. this brings her closer to the royal family, where she crosses paths with crown princess karina, with whom she finds herself in a back-and-forth of friction and interactions that blossom after a night they spent together, but which cannot be repeated.
Karina is under fire for being conservative and right wing
oh yeah, well, about that, here's my opinion, which you may or may not share.
she posted as she usually does sharing with us her daily life, the color of the jacket and the emoji she chose were unfortunate, but it's not more than what she usually does on her posts: she captions it with an emoji that goes with the color of her clothes. (you can literally go check on her instagram, she does it all the time.)
differently to things i've read online: the brand only sells that model in that color, there's no existence of a blue one. and actually, this brand has been very involved with social causes. which doesn't directly relate to karina, but i just wanted to clarify.
she deleted the post right away as she realized how it could have been interpreted. if she posted that to make a statement on her political beliefs, she wouldn't have deleted it.
she came to us personally on bubble and said those were never her intentions and apologized for making mys worry, while sm released an official statement a little after reaffirming she didn't mean it that way and asking for people not to distort the situation.
karina has openly recommended feminists books and authors before, as well as talked about the struggles female idols go through in a misogynistic industry, she too has donated to minorities in need. actions speaks and these things she's done just simply don't align with what the conservative party in korea represents, so i don't have any reason to believe she stands with them other than out of character narratives people have made in social media.
also, the son of a representative of this party made sexual comments about her, so that's another reason i have to believe she would never risk her idol image to post supporting these people.
i do believe she made a mistake that she's grown up enough to have avoided. i can say it was ignorant, but not bad intended.
i love karina and i will always do, that will only change if she ever did something that truly seems cruel, bad intended or inhumane, adjectives she's not. my posture is that this was an ignorant and idiotic mistake, but no more than that. straight up calling her a conservative over something so vague that she undid as fast as she could seems irrational to me.
you can agree with me or not, but this is where i stand. i love her and when i come back to write in this blog, it will still be about her, this always being a place to show love towards her.
i'm sorry if my views in this matter bothers anyone, you're free to stop following me.
꩜ synopsis: the lavier-choi's, a french-korean family from seoul's elite that runs an electric vehicle production business, has been preparing to face a looming economic crisis that could crumble their empire, and it all takes a turn for the worse when, unexpectedly, their patriarch, who headed the company, suddenly passes away. at the news and her mother's desperate call, albany, the eldest daughter, is forced to abandon her life in paris representing france as a professional fencer and return to her homeland to face her mom's old-fashioned whims in order to help the family. amidst all the frenzy, the only positive thing she finds is that, after years, she will be reunited with her siblings and all the friends she grew up with, especially the yu family from across the street.
masterlist | next
there are certain things that, as time goes by, you stop questioning. after your twenty-somethings it doesn't really matter what your favorite color is, or that kind of trivia you learn to ask as a child to start a conversation, there are different things to worry about, serious, adult things, like how you position yourself politically or whether you have a place of your own to live and grow old in, or what names you have in mind for your children. it's because of this abrupt reality in which she lived that the question of what her favorite season was hadn't come up in albany's head for years.
if she had to devote any of her time to that dilemma, perhaps now, at 28, she would choose fall. summer in paris was chaotic and as the years went by it seemed to get hotter and hotter, meanwhile winter was gray and depressing. fall was fine, damp at times, but still quiet and cozy at the end.
what she could be sure of was that as a kid she told everyone how much she loved summer.
in all honesty, everyone she knew in her hometown hated summer in korea. it has all the hallmarks of the worst summers you can think of, but albany used to love it.
when the vacations started, her parents would take them to spend it at the family villa in namyangju, it had been one of the many traditions they had for as long as she could remember.
two years before minho was born, the choi parents had bought this big house in gyeonggi, in the middle of the mountain and close to the river, in order to create memories with their children while they took refuge away from all the noise and frenzy of seoul.
of course, the chaos was still with them, it was just a different kind. as albany began to grow up and become more aware of her surroundings, she began to doubt that her mother as elegant, delicate and whiny as she was would have agreed to spend the wettest time of the year surrounded by nature, water and bugs. each year was accompanied by her squealing and annoyances that her father, an adventurer and lover of anything that required physical prowess, was unaffected by, as he was always on the move, ready to set off to embark on a new activity.
summers in namyangju were not relaxing, they were an annual survival camp.
and albany loved it that way, for most choi children had inherited, to a greater or lesser degree, their father's fearless nature. it was fun, it was exciting, for a moment she felt like one of those forest fauns she loved to read about and not the millionaires' daughter with a monotonous predictable life that she really was.
one of the things she loved most was hiking in the mountains, walks on which she always found fruits. her father had taught her about some that could be eaten and some that couldn't, and then she deciphered the others, as well as plants she learned to identify. she took them back to the house where she gave them to the chef to use, and by watching that lady she learned to replicate those recipes.
time also brought her minjeong, who even with that small body ate what sunwoo wouldn't consume in a week and loved the raspberry pie albany made. the little girl was not a good friend of nature, she tried, but it seemed that the outside world was too rough for her little legs still lacking in strength, so every summer, that her parents spent in the namyangju village of her best friends the choi's, she spent eating the dishes that the blonde-haired french girl had learned to make over the years.
thinking about her family also included thinking about the yu's, her parents' best friends who had such separation anxiety that they bought houses just one street away to spend all their life together. her father, choi junmin, had met yu suwon when they were both in high school and from there their friendship only thrived.
summers were spent with the yu's, christmases were spent with the yu's, the meaningless days of the dullest weeks of the year were spent with the yu's. of course the adults were always busy, but the children had been forced to fraternize to such an extent that they too became accustomed to it.
albany didn't know a life where she didn't cook for minjeong, even when she grew older, every time she returned to paris after a few days back home, she found herself baking raspberry pie with no one to offer it to. she couldn't go that long without making her angry or chatting with her about all the fantastic things they thought inhabited the universe apart from humans.
and then, there was jimin. albany didn't know a life without yu jimin.
her best friend in the whole world, her partner in adventure. the girl who climbed out of her window late at night just to talk until they both fell asleep, who had accompanied her to her first gala and who also went with her when she escaped from it. jimin who was there when her last baby tooth fell out and when she had to help her furnish her apartment when she had just moved to france. who used to accompany her to look for elves and who gave her her first 'spiderwick chronicles' book. in all her important moments, jimin had been there and vice versa, her first crushes, kisses, partners, her academic and personal frustrations, her achievements, albany's first fencing tournament, jimin's CSATs and the moment she found out she had gotten into the college she wanted.
when they started to get along, albany was a little older, always going everywhere with wendy and minho, but she didn't really talk to many other people who understood her impatient need, as an eight-year-old girl, to find a fairy among the flora of namyangju, so for three summers in a row, she kept running around, disappearing into the trees and bushes by herself.
until one day, in late july 2004, she wandered farther than usual from the house, finding herself at the entrance to a grove. albany was choi junmin's daughter, she had no reason to be scared, so with a firm step she headed for the logs, ready to catch this fairy she claimed she had seen a week ago, but who kept running away. the problem was that albany was not minho, so she was not completely junmin. she was also her mother eveline's daughter and she carried some of her fearful, sedentary genes in her, so when she saw a figure in the distance that was shorter than her, hunched over and with big ears, she froze in fear. she didn't dare go to capture it or attack it as her older brother would have done, she just stood static, keeping silent so the being wouldn't notice she was there. she crept away until she shot out of the trees and ran back to her family as fast as when she was playing soccer with the neanderthal she had for a brother.
but she couldn't leave it at that, she had found a strange creature in the foliage, she had to go back to investigate what it was, and if it was an evil entity, she had to make sure it didn't attack her siblings. so every day for a week, little albany went back to the same place, ready to face whatever that thing was, which was always waiting for her in that exact position she found it on. but she would freeze, couldn't get close, and ended up returning terrified and frustrated to the house.
one afternoon, now in early august, she returned to the grove. it was the same scenario that had been repeating itself lately, and the same reaction on her part. try as she might, she couldn't get her body to move in the direction of the critter that was standing there. disappointed in herself again, albany turned on her heels ready to go back to where everyone was. she was no longer running from fear, yes, she was still scared, but now she was just walking back crestfallen, berating herself for not being able to face the forest monster. but she couldn't run away that day.
"why you always come here?" a high pitched voice made her jump in place in surprise, followed by a terror running down her spine at the thought that perhaps the creature had heard the girl or her outrage.
"what are you doing here, jimin?" the older girl asked altered, rushing towards the newcomer to get her away from what she thought was dangerous.
"i followed you." she confessed, wriggling out of the blonde's grip and taking a few steps towards where her gaze used to be fixed, in seconds reaching much farther than choi ever had.
"viens ici!" —come here —. she whisper-shouted, rushing over to pull her away.
"what you do here?" the little girl spoke in vaguely understandable words. she had always been intelligent for her age, but she was missing a few teeth, making it difficult for her to enunciate.
"jimin, you can't be here." she took her arm and tried to walk in the opposite direction, but she got away easily.
"are you doing something bad?" an excited giggle accompanied her assumption, she wanted to be a part of it.
"no." she folded her arms. "it's dangerous."
jimin's eyes suddenly expanded and her posture shifted to a rigid one, her pupils probed the area for the threat. she brought her gaze upward, to albany's face, who because of the age difference was quite a bit taller, she looked uneasy. "what happens?" she muttered.
the older one just raised her arm and with her finger pointed to the figure that hadn't moved all week, leading the blackhaired's attention to it, who after analyzing it for a moment squinting her eyes trying to make sense of it, just said with a discouraging tone, "that short thing?"
"how dare you?" albany reproached in agitation. "it's small because it's a gremlin." she reported in a very low tone.
"what?"
"a gremlin." she repeated in the same volume.
"kremin." she tried to echo.
"gremlin."
"kemin." she failed again.
"nevermind." she dismissed. "they're little creatures that make mischief." she explained, holding the subsequent silence for a moment to look up and down at the eldest of the yu sisters. "just like you." she joked, causing jimin to squeal in annoyance and start hiting her shoulder. "se calmer, calm down!" she took advantage of the girl's closeness after her tantrum to tug at her clothes and hide behind a trunk with her. "it might hear us." she warned.
"you're bigger." observed the younger girl.
"and?"
"you can step on it." she assured.
albany contemplated it for a second, but her foot wasn't big nor her leg strong enough, so she shook her head. "i can't." she looked down in defeat. "gremlins are mean." she explained.
jimin turned to look at the taller one, crossed her arms resting her elbow on top of the other and bringing her fingers to her chin to hold it between her thumb and forefinger while emitting a steady 'mmm' sound that indicated she was thinking. "you and i." she pointed to the opposite and then to herself. "there are two of us and he is one."
"what about that?" replied choi confused.
"it can't beat us." assured the girl hurrying to walk in the direction of the creature, sure that albany was coming behind.
jimin walked with confident steps as her eyes scanned the ground for something, while the older one followed closely behind, her body bent over as if she wanted to use the smaller girl as a shield, anxiously letting out strings of words quickly trying to convince her to stop, but jimin was mischievous, the kind of child you would find hanging from the top of a tree without knowing how she got there, she didn't listen and when something got into her head, she wouldn't stop until she did it.
the older yu bent over to the ground to pick something, straightening up with a long branch held in her small fist and raising it in front of her with a proud smile to show it to albany.
"what's that?" the blonde inquired, still terrified.
"a sword!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"be quiet!" she took quick steps to her to catch her face and cover her mouth with her hand. "that's not a sword." she said softly.
"yes it is." she reiterated when she was allowed to speak and immediately gave albany a gentle whack on the forehead with the stick, pushing her away. "we will kill it with the sword." she reaffirmed.
jimin, again, slipped out of the blonde's grasp and dashed towards the gremlin with her branch ready to finish it off. "jimin, soyez prudents!" —be careful —. albany could be heard chasing after her quickly to stop her, but by the time she was close, jimin had already struck the creature with her so-called sword.
they both stopped suddenly, confused as they saw a large pile of leaves scatter in the air after being hit by the small yu and fall to the ground around the small trunk that seconds before they swore was an evil individual that was going to attack them.
"it's a tree." realized albany in embarrassment, realizing that her gremlin was just the base of a tree with some grasses around it that were tall and wide enough to look like ears, and the leaves that jimin had swept away created a hair-like shape.
"i don't think so!" denied the younger girl in a confident tone and impacted the trunk with the branch again. "yes it is." agreed when nothing happened.
"i got scared for nothing." lamented the blonde, annoyed with herself, and dropped down, sitting on the grass beneath her, an action that jimin copied. "thanks for helping me, though." she added after a few minutes without saying anything.
"it's nothing." she gave her a big smile without many teeth. "i protected you like a knight." she commented confidently.
"you don't look like a knight." she refuted with a laugh. "you're pretty and small." jimin furrowed her eyebrows and gave her a displeased sideways glance, she didn't like being called small. "you're more like a fairy." she corrected.
"then," she thought. "i'll be a fairy who protects you." she nodded her head, confirming her words. "what do you think, abany?" she had trouble pronouncing the letter L, so the name came out funnily.
"it's albany." she emphasized the letter she had missed.
"abany." she tried again.
"no, that's not it."
"bany." she sentenced. "what do you think, bany?"
"fine." she agreed. "you will be my guardian fairy." she put her hand on the top of her head, rubbing it and messing up her hair, but jimin stopped her by tapping her wrist with the branch she used as a sword. "can i borrow your sword?" she asked looking at the object.
"i'll teach you to use it." she smiled sideways.
and ever since that confrontation with a gremlin in the summer vacation of 2004, albany choi has not existed without yu jimin.
happiest birthday to my muse and the reason for this blog. this will always be a space to love this wonder of a soul unconditionally. may this day go beautifully for her and each one of you.
