main quest — kim seo-wan, ddos.
wherein the 7th class mage asks the traveler for help in finding the long lost princess. cws: mentions of schizophrenia and manic disorder (please do not take anything mentioned here to heart, for i only used what i know from the show), patient!reader. proceed with warning! a/n: this kdrama has a special place in my heart :,)
"hello, fair maiden," a voice greets you from behind. looking back to meet him, seo-wan looks down on your sitting figure with a toothy smile, his hands fiddling with themselves.
"um, hello," you greeted back, your crayon raising from the piece of paper you were working on.
seo-wan inched closer to you, eyes moving from your drawing to features of your face rather quickly. "you're from the neighboring village, right? here to gather materials from this tower?" he asks, his tall frame looming over you.
you raised your eyebrow at the foreign terms he used, "uh, i was transferred, yes," you nodded, "although i'm not sure if i'm here for the materials you speak of."
seo-wan nodded, a grin forming on his face. "you're a traveler, then. you drew the scenery well," he compliments your simple crayon drawing of the room.
a smile tugged at the ends of your lips. "thanks." you said, scooching to the side of the circular table, as if inviting him to sit beside you.
his eyes widened almost comically, mouth parting to speak before smiling to himself instead. you offered him a piece of paper and placed your crayons in between the two of you, making him nod in gratitude.
in contrast to your soft strokes of the crayon, seo-wan's rather extreme usage of crayons were all that you heard in the room that only the two of you were in, aside from the hum of the air conditioning.
"hey, glasses," you called, making his head raise to face you with an expression mixed of confusion and surprise.
"me?"
you nodded. "yeah."
"my name is seo-wan, kim seo-wan. and i'm gonna be the first eighth grade mage." he says.
your mouth tugged at the ends into a flat line, unsure of how to respond to whatever gibberish he seems to be saying. "okay, seo-wan the mage," you say, making his face light up at your correct call of his class. "what're you talking about?" you ask, tilting your head in question.
seo-wan let out an ahh, using the red crayon in hand to point at you. "i've never met a noob traveler before. they're always experienced and in level seventy like me," he says.
you pursed your lips into a confused pout. "i'm sorry..?" you said, unsure of how to approach your fellow patient.
"yes, yes, it's alright," he says, looking down at his paper to continue his drawing. "would you like me to teach you the terminologies of our world and help you navigate this tower? i could help you with quests, as i'm the more experienced one."
you stared at his focused face, feeling your interest piqued at the man. "sure, go ahead," to which he grinned at.
you found yourself listening to the rambling of your new friend, your eyes glancing to take a peek at his face as he did so. despite not fully grasping the concept of his fantasy world, you understood how his reality was different from everyone else's and listened closely at how excited he was in talking to you.
seo-wan spoke of how many creatures he's slayed and quests he's completed to reach his level, asking him to explain terms such as mediator, ambrosia, and the various kinds of elixir he's mentioned, which he gladly did so with the undertone of belittling your low level.
you completed two drawings over the past three hours, with your new friend's drawings of dragons scattered across the table with labeled names and breeds.
"mister kim, it's time to take your medication," nurse jung calls from behind the both of you, making you look up at her smiling face. "oh, mister kim, you drew today?" she asks, an impressed expression on her face.
you bowed at her in greeting, to which she returned with a smile. "nurse hong will be with you shortly, too," she says your surname. you nodded at her with a small smile.
"ah, mediator, i'm glad you came." seo-wan says, adjusting his glasses using his crayon-stained fingers. "i would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our guild and hunting team, the traveler." he says, an excited grin on his face.
nurse jung made a small O shape with her mouth as she nodded. "is that so?"
you nodded at her, glancing at seo-wan whose smile never faltered. "he introduced me to our enchanting world," you emphasized the last words to quote him, "and has tasked me to locate the long lost princess while he prepares his mana to slay the fire-breathing dragon." you explained.
nurse jung smiled softly at the understanding of your new friendship. "i see. well, mister kim here needs his medication before continuing on with your journey," she says, making him and you nod.
"the pill that grants the effect of everlasting mana!" he exclaims, excited eyes darting to you as he grinned. you nodded profusely at him.
seo-wan stood on his feet and begun to walk alongside nurse jung before strutting back to your table. "almost forgot the portraits of the great mage," he says, referring to his crayon drawing of him facing a bright red scribbled dragon, and his many others.
he smiled at you shyly upon gathering and retrieving them, which you mirrored. you both nodded at each other. "goodbye, maiden." he says before rushing to catch up to his attending nurse.
"open your mouth, please," said nurse hong. you opened your mouth and lifted your tongue to showcase your empty mouth, making her nod in satisfaction at the sight. "good job."
you scrunched your nose at her, turning your attention back to your work in progress of the view from your window.
your corned of the room had drawings of many sceneries you've viewed plastered all over, and a drawing made by nurse hong taped near the head of your bed from when she comforted you during an episode.
"i made a friend today," you mentioned to her casually, making her hum in surprise.
"oh! that's great, miss. who's your new friend?" she asked, hands moving to pack up the plastic of your medication and other medical instruments.
"there's this guy, kim seo-wan the mage." you said, a smile subconsciously tugging at your lips as you scribbled away. "i think his mind lives in a video game of some sort."
"i see, why do you think so?" nurse hong asked.
you shrugged, eyes never leaving the paper. "he was talking about fire-breathing dragons and gold and quests, or whatever." you answered.
"and how did that make you feel?"
your hand halted mid-stroke, your lips pursing. "i think he talks a little too much nonsense. i don't mind, though. he's cute," you answered once more, bringing your attention back to your drawing.
nurse hong scoffed to stifle her laugh, showing you a wide grin. "i see. it's great to know that you've made friends, miss."
you smiled to yourself at her words, feeling proud of yourself for making a friend—a cute one, as you mentioned. "i wonder if he knows i'm crazy when he approached me." you chuckled to yourself.
"i'm off now, miss. call me if anything happens, okay?" nurse hong sighed softly, offering you a small smile.
you nodded and bowed to her to bid goodbye, diverting your attention back to your drawing of the view.
a couple weeks passed since your first interaction with your mage friend seo-wan. you've witnessed each other's episodes and relapses since then, making yourselves shy away from the friendship for a moment out of embarrassment in showing your true colors, but you found your way back to each other through the help of other nurses, and through the feeling of missing one another.
you taught seo-wan about color theory and how to map out his drawings better, while he guided you to explore more of his world through his words, spending your free time together as you drew the events of your quests and talked about whatever in your room or over lunch.
you knew for yourself that the world you and seo-wan played in was nothing but imaginary. but sometimes, in even in the quiet evenings with the soft rain as the only source of noise, you found yourself thinking of which quests to complete in order for seo-wan to purchase the five billion won dagger that he's been talking about.
"open your mouth, please," asked nurse hong. you showed her your mouth as you always did, making the woman praise you for doing so.
small talks that you shared with your appointed nurse was always something that you looked forward to. your view of nurses from when you were first admitted was rather sour, but the new nurses and medication changed your opinion over time, feeling fond over nurse hong.
aside from the many additional drawings of old and new sceneries you drew plastered on the free spaces of your corner of the room, nurse hong favored the one you drew of her and you plastered just above your headboard.
she took this as a positive sign of improvement in your condition as she acted as a bridge for you to create a healthy and professional with other nurses as well, lengthening the duration of every episode of yours.
"i think seo-wan is pretty silly," you said, your figure hovering over your paper as you drew.
nurse hong raised her eyebrows at your words, a smile making its way to her face. "how so?"
you shrugged. "he just is. can't stop talking about wanting to find this lost princess. she's supposedly pretty and kind, and kept prisoner by this mighty dragon, which makes her more desirable for him, i guess."
soft clanks were heard as nurse hong packed her materials up. "oh, really?"
you hummed. "yeah. it's getting really annoying, honestly. i've told him many times that maybe the princess just likes to stay hidden and he keeps denying me, saying how she's meant to be freed by her one true love, or whatever," you explained further.
"must be frustrating, huh?" she answered, tucking her neatly-packed materials under her arm.
you sighed, continuing your drawing. "yeah. i wish he wanted to go on more quests with me instead of gushing about her all the time, or we could just take a walk around the hospital, or something."
nurse hong smiled at your words, taking note of your knowledge between fantasy and reality, but thought of how you found enjoyment in playing along with kim seo-wan.
a knock from the door disrupted your conversation. you both turned to face the person, seeing seo-wan and nurse jung standing in the hallway.
"oh, mister kim, nurse jung." nurse hong greeted with a bow, making you bow as well as the two mirrored you.
"hello!" nurse jung greeted as she entered the room and walked towards your bed while seo-wan only smiled at you shyly from behind her.
"usually it's just mister kim visiting us this hour." nurse hong points out.
a light blush dusts over seo-wan's cheeks as his eyes wandered the room. "oh, mister kim has requested to be accompanied by me." nurse jung answers.
nurse hong's eyes meets his, making him nod in agreement. "yes, i, uh, needed the mediator's guidance before completing a task." he explains.
nurse hong only nods before moving her eyes to meet nurse jung who widened her eyes to give her a knowing look. "i see, we should leave it to you, then," says nurse hong.
"goodbye," you bid, nodding at the nurses as seo-wan did the same.
upon seeing the nurses leave, seo-wan turned to face you, his hands fidgeting in front of him. "hello, fair maiden," he greets.
"hi, seo-wan." you said with a small smile.
you continued your drawing as your friend tapped his shoes together, deciding to sit beside you at the edge of your bed, where he usually sat while you hung out, before the nervousness got to his nerves.
"hello," he greeted again.
you turned to him with a raised eyebrow before laughing and offering him a smile. "hello, great mage."
seo-wan felt warmth bloom from his chest upon hearing his title. he attempted to take a peek past your shoulders to see what you're working on, before giving up and gulping, "i've to tell you something."
"oh?" you turned to look at him, hand covering your paper while your body couldn't. "what is it?"
seo-wan took a deep breath as he felt his face getting warmer after every second he spent under your gaze. even though it makes him utterly shy, he stares back into your pretty, shiny eyes. "i-i've thought it over for weeks," he starts.
"mhm?"
"erm," he trails, his tongue poking out to lick his chapped lips nervously. "i don't think you're a traveler." he said.
you tilted your head at his words, eyebrows furrowing. "what do you mean? i've reached level fifty-six as a traveler just a few days ago."
seo-wan shook his head, his body inching closer to yours. "i was mistaken. a sorceress concealed your true identity."
you pouted at him in confusion. seo-wan stuttered slightly before looking away with a deep sigh, as if finding the right words to use. "i—" his eyes closed before opening, locking into yours. "you're the long lost princess."
your lips parted in surprise, eyes widening at his words. "w-wh—"
"t-the long lost princess was said to provide support far greater than mediator could, and only she surpasses the one hundred limit of favorability." he said, feeling warmth on his ears and cheeks. "and you've done both, a-and more," he adds.
you breathed out softly, pursing your lips at the confession. "so, your favorability for me is.."
"a hundred and ten." he answers, making you smile at him. the warmth seo-wan felt now spread to every corner of his face, a small smile found its way to his lips as he answered, "a hundred and eleven."
your smile widened, your body inching closer to his. "is that so?"
"mhmm," he answers, his eyes moving to your lips before finding its way to look into your eyes once more. "you're my long lost princess."
"the?" you corrected his term in question.
seo-wan shakes his head, face merely an inch from yours as he answered. "mine."
your eyes closed immediately, leaning in to feel his lips press against yours. his hand hovered over your shoulder before pressing against it as you pecked him deeper.
pulling away from the kiss, you stared into each other's eyes with flushed faces, your breaths too heavy for either of your liking.
the sound of paper was heard as you moved your hand across it, making seo-wan turn to your now exposed drawing. "you drew us?" he asked in surprise, making you nod. "i thought you only drew sceneries?"
you smiled at him softly, "i only draw things i like." you answered. "i guess i have to change my traveler gear into a princess dress, huh?"
seo-wan smiled at your words before nodding firmly. "oh, the dress is purple, by the way, not pink." he said, adjusting his glasses.
"whatever," you grinned.
