The world you live in is essentially the same..
present day, same technologies.. except
everybody lives in castles and is trying to work
their way up to knighthood (including women).
Detail a typical day in your life.
Word Count: 1042
The voice sounded miles away, and the auburn-haired girl turned over in her bed, wiggling further under her blankets. "Princess Venus! It’s time to get up!" Drafty castle air washed over her, and she released a lazy groan as she realized her warm, down-filled blankets had been snatched away.
"Just five more minutes, Annette."
"I gave you five minutes. I gave you an entire hour!" The princess merely nodded and waved her hand dismissively. "Your lesson is due to start in ten minutes!"
"Annette!" The young princess’s eyes flung open, and she tripped out of bed, scooping herself up in an instant and scrambling around like a hungry rodent without a sense of smell. "Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?" she asked in accusatory fashion to be met with the resounding sighs of all the ladies in the room.
With her training clothes on and a buttered croissant hanging out of her mouth, Venus hurried outside the castle to the training grounds—a trek that normally took at least twenty minutes. Outside the splendid crystal castle, past the gardens and stables, a circle—no more than fifteen feet in diameter—comprised of small black stones lay on a bed of dusty sand. A short distance past the circle stood a wooden shed which stored the training dummies and mock weapons. Several wooden benches surrounded one half of the stone circle upon which sat three boys and four girls around the same age as the princess. In the center of the circle stood the Knight Sovereign who took down the evil queen and stole back their kingdom many years ago. Her strawberry blonde hair sparkled like gold underneath the autumn sun. Even when she smiled, the tragedy of war held solemn in her eyes.
The princess made it to the outdoor training arena five minutes late and her hands fell to her knees as she labored for oxygen. The Knight Sovereign pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"Late again, Princess?" Venus downcast her eyes. She was always running late. It was a trait she inherited from her father—a trait for which she’d been admonished time and time again.
"I’m sorry, ma'am." Hushed laughter prodded at the princess's composure as she took her seat beside the other students and her cheeks reddened in shame.
"All right, children. Up until now you have been practicing your attacks with the pells. Today, however, you will be practicing with each other." Whispers broke out amongst the students and their instructor cleared her throat impatiently before continuing on. "I will be splitting you up into pairs and you will be sparring with the jukto," she paused to motion to the barrel of wooden practice blades beside her. "Before we begin, allow me to make it perfectly clear that this is not a fight, and anyone caught using excessive force will dearly regret it."
Each of the teens grabbed a sword from the barrel and arranged themselves beside their assigned partner. The princess stared up her tall, fair-haired opponent with a sense of dread. Yoomi was the best in the class, and Venus was the worst. Not to mention, she always seemed to have an unwarranted amount of animosity towards the princess. Venus often wondered if it was because Yoomi's father chose to abdicate the Elysion throne to Venus's mother.
When the instructor blew her whistle, the princess of Venus ran at her opponent and brought her jukto down—an attack that Yoomi easily evaded. The momentum caused the princess to fall flat on her face.
"Do you really expect to be anything like your mother when you can't even take this seriously?" Yoomi chided as she twirled her jukto in her dominant hand with a justifiable complacency. Her words stabbed right through to the princess's insecurity. She knew all too well that she could never match up to her mother. Ready to prove Yoomi wrong, the princess pulled herself up and swung the sword like a baseball bat knocking Yoomi to the ground.
"Princess!" Venus froze as the instructor called her name. "What did I say about excessive force?" She could feel tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I—"
"Yoomi is bleeding. This isn't how I raised you!" It was too much. The princess ran off into the gardens, liquid embarrassment streaming down her face.
｡｡｡｡｡｡｡｡｡｡
"Gaeul!"
"Damnit." Soolee cursed beneath her breath as her daughter ran off crying. In her attempt to not show favoritism, she'd really screwed up this time.
"All right. Class is dismissed." She ignored the excited cheers of the students that would soon be replaced by avalanching rumors about Gaeul and headed off in the direction her daughter went. She knew exactly where to find her: underneath a large tree that bloomed year round. Soolee used to read to Gaeul beneath that tree when she was just a little girl. Soolee couldn't believe her daughter was already fourteen.
Gaeul was exactly where Soolee expected her to be, legs hugged to her chest, letting out tiny sobs. Soolee sat down beside the girl and wrapped her arms around her. The girl's sobs got louder as she tried to speak, the tears suffocating the syllables.
"I'm so-sorry, m-mama." Soolee quietly shushed the girl, imploring her to wait until she was calm to talk about it. When Gaeul was finally serene within her mother's embrace, she tried again to explain herself. "I'm useless."
"What? Oh, honey. You're not useless—"
"I am. I'm nothing like you. I could never be a soldier. I'm clumsy and stubborn, and I can't be on time to save my life." As she listened to her daughter, Soolee couldn't help but chuckle. "Why are you laughing?"
"Well except for the last trait which you so obviously received from your father, you described me."
"You?"
"I wasn't always this strong. I became this way out of necessity. There wasn't anyone fighting and I had a duty that I was born into." Soolee tilted her daughters face up and gently brushed the tears from beneath her eyes. "You do not bear that burden. All you have to do is be yourself, and one day you'll become a fine lady."
The brunette's breathe fell from her lips in a wearied sigh as she scanned over the list in her left hand; her right busy carrying a caramel latte in a generic to go cup. How could she have let the store get so low on ingredients? It was unheard of for her. In the back of her mind, she knew the reason. Her double life. She was rushing through inventory at the end of the day, and racing out the backdoor before she had a chance to go over the stock with foresight.
Soolee sipped her coffee, folded the list, and slipped it back into the pocket of her jeans as she walked towards the market. She took another sip of her coffee, and no sooner had she done so than she ran into someone spilling coffee over the both of them.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" She apologized with a worried tone.
Every year in the middle of spring, the neighborhood surrounding the orphanage put together a festival to keep the place running. Soolee had been helping out since before she can remember. When she came as a small child with her mother and grandmother she often wore mascot costumes and handed out samples. Now her grandmother ran the sweets booth, and the children had voted on Soolee to take over the kissing booth.
She wasn’t quite sure about the idea. If it was a cute boy, it would be okay, but a vagrant was another story. Eventually though, she succumbed to the children’s pleas. She brought in some reinforcements of her own: mouthwash, breath mints, etc.
So, on the morning of the festival she was all set at the little booth the older kids had made the festival before with a donation jar and a bowl full of breath mints. Dressed as cute as can be, Soolee sat down and reapplied her strawberry lip balm. People began to show up and she gulped nervously. It would be a long day.
The sign read: “Kissing Booth: ₩500. Higher donations welcome.”
It wasn’t too odd for Zitao to explore outside of the confines of his single room apartment every now and then. Ever since the opening of his little music shop, he hasn’t had much time to enjoy the warm days that spring has to offer. Out of approximately two and a half years, three days and 18 hours worth of nothing but constant work sans employees, he can only recall but only two days he took off for himself; his birthday. It was safe to say that he was very much overdue for a day of leisure and fun.
So it was decided. After packing his bag with his leather bounded journal riddled with his poems and lyrics, both his SLR and Polaroid cameras with accessories, his cell and wallet, Tao was ready to explore any and all of the surrounding towns.
A bus ride and a few pit stops for sweets later, he arrives to a neighborhood he had never seen before. “Oh wow, it looks like a festival or something.” With a new found curiosity, he pulls out Camilla. As he assembles one of his lenses to the mount, he smiles at the children running about. “They’re so precious.”
After safely securing the assembled device, he begins to snap away at the town and some of the curious kids. He hardly detached his eye from the viewpoint as he wanders down the street. Occasionally, he’d stop to share his candies with some of the smaller children. After learning what the festival was for, Zitao decided to stop snapping photos and check out a few of the booths and food stalls.
After purchasing a few treats for some of the children he had run into, he turns his attention to a different kind of stand. He smiles as he reads the ‘Kissing Booth’ sign. His eye light up with curiosity as he notices the long haired beauty manning the booth; his feet involuntarily began to move.towards the setup. As he approaches the stand, he pulls out a ₩10,000 bill and places it on the surface next to the bowl of mints. “May I purchase a photograph instead of a kiss?” He questions with an adoring smile.
It was definitely turning into quite a long day for Soolee. She gave quite a few old men cheek kisses, and gave some precious children kisses as well. A few primary-school aged boys turned their heads to sneakily get lip-kisses before cheering with their friends. She couldn’t be mad, it was adorable not to mention flattering.
Then there were the older boys. The ones who were so obviously luxuries, but paid the bare minimum just to try to shove their liquor laced tongue down her throat. In fact, she’d ended up using the mints more than the customers. She actually didn’t get many female customers. She wouldn’t have minded it really. A kiss from a girl might have been more hygienic than some of the luxury boys that had come through.
The line had disappeared from her booth, so Soolee scanned the area curiously. Her eyes, after flitted around several groups of adorable children, eventually fell upon an extremely handsome and strangely beautiful man handing out newly purchased treats to the children. She couldn’t help but smile.
Her attention was drawn away by a tugging on her skirt. Looking down, Soolee saw little Jisool, just barely two years old, looking up at her with wide eyes. “Unni.. makala peese…” Soolee bit her lips as her face lit up. Jisool, who positively adored Soolee, wanted one of the macarons Soolee had hidden in her purse.
“Here you go,” she said with a chuckle, handing the girl a strawberry macaron. The girl thanked her before running back to try to catch goldfish. Soolee looked up just in time to see the beautiful man lay a ₩10,000 bill in front of her. She blinked in shock, before blushing. Of course she couldn’t turn down the larger sum. The orphanage could use all it could get.
She gingerly retrieved the bill and placed it in the jar with the rest of the collected money, as she nodded. “That’s fine,” she replied, incredibly flattered. “You can still have a kiss if you’d like though…” To be honest, he’d purchased about 20 kisses with that bill, so she felt obligated to offer it. He was quite attractive as well.
Upon hearing the okay for the photo, Zitao flips the power switch on his camera to the ‘on’ position. As he fumbles around with the f-stops of his lense, he begins to speak, his attention on the device. “Well Miss, I would kindly take you up on your offer, seeing how its only fair.” He smiles softly as he snaps the shutter a quick 5 times of the booth itself, testing the lighting after his few adjustments. “But you see, I think its more appropriate for such a beautiful lady like yourself to be kissed rather being the one giving out the kisses.” Finally meeting his gaze with the long haired beauty, he couldn’t help but let a small chuckle escape his lips. “I always suggest for models to give me a smile they wouldn’t want me to forget. Though, I’m sure I won’t let yours slip my mind.” He adjusts the lens once more as he waits for her to pose. Once focused, he snaps the shutter button a few times to ensure that he got the perfect shot. “Perfect.”
Quickly, he disassembles the camera. “In exchange for the extra kisses, how about you tell me something about yourself for each one?” Kneeling down with his bag, he stores away each piece carefully. With a smile, he looks up. “I know I must be rather pesky, but I just can’t help myself around a beautiful lady like yourself.”
Soolee watched with interest as the hauntingly beautiful man set up his camera. Her eyes danced across his nimble fingers as they worked the tiny dials of the machine. Photography was not something she had ever had the patience to learn properly. Distracted from her visual learning, she felt her cheeks heat up as he explained why he would forgo a kiss.
When it came time for her to pose, she wasn’t exactly sure how. The blush rising in her cheeks made it hard to smile without giggling a bit. Her cheeks pushed up the flesh below her eyes creating an endearing eye smile. She parted her lips just a bit, her eyes and cheeks portraying most of the smile. Her hands felt a little awkward, as she let her hands cross daintily across her lap. Should she have posed them as well? But the photographer merely commented that it was perfect, causing some of her worries to withdraw.
“Nineteen facts…” She murmured in response to his barter. It was no problem, but where to begin…? “My name is Bae Soolee. I’m twenty-four. Hmm… I live with my grandmother at our patisserie, La Vie en Rose. My favorite color is yellow. Hmm…” She tapped her chin. “I’m not sure what else to say…”
Rummaging through his bag as she continues to give him the spill about herself, he hums a upbeat tune as he retrieves his Minnie from inside. Zipping up his belongings, he slings the bag over his shoulder as he rises from his crouching position, his newly retrieved possession in hand. “Well that’s four down, and I’ll count the photo for six kisses.” He muses, a smile ringing in his voice. He didn’t want to hassle the girl too much about ‘what was owed’. He would have donated the money just for the sake of the children anyway without asking for anything in return. Getting to see a pretty face was a plus to everything.
“Well Miss Soolee, 24, who lives with her grandmother at patisserie ‘La Vie en Rose’, favorite color being yellow; how about I pester you with trivia about myself since I’m on paid time.” He proposes rather jokingly. Zitao didn’t really want to leave just yet. This small conversation was actually the most fun he’s had in awhile. Manning his store had become his daily routine for so long, any kind of conversation with anyone would have sufficed just fine. It was hard for him to meet new people because of this, especially someone like Soolee. From the little glimpse he caught of her reactions with the children to her reveal of her living situation with her family, she was the kind of girl Tao loved to charm.
“My name is Huang Zitao, but most call me Tao. I’m 23, and have a birthday coming up. I own a music shop near Seoul, its in Hongdae to be exact, called Luckey’s. My favorite colors are white and pink. I moved to this country at the young age of 18 alone and continued to live alone. Photography is a very dear hobby to me. With a friend’s push, I’ve basically documented every single thought I’ve had everyday for the past ten years.” He pauses for a moment at the last fact, a nostalgic smile growing. “I seem to have run out of any much more to say.” He confesses with a chuckle, a brilliant smile spreading from ear to ear. “How about I bother you with two more things, and I promise I’ll be out of your beautiful hair.”
Soolee watched in awe as he retrieved an old Polaroid camera. She remembered her grandfather having one a long, long time ago. They were neat. The way they developed was amazing to her. Soolee blushed a bit as he reiterated what she had said. He seemed so at ease; she was glad. She disliked it when people were to distant when they spoke to her.
She repeated his name allowed, before commenting. “You’re not really bugging me; as you can see, I don’t have much of a line here. You’ll have to let me know when your birthday is, and I’ll make you a yummy cake.” She smiled, warmly. “Two more facts then… Hmm… I love stuffed animals, but I don’t have many because most of my money goes back into the patisserie. As long as I get to bake sweets that make people smile, I’m content. I make the best macarons in the area, as well. My favorite are the rose-flavored ones. I actually really like floral flavors, but I guess they are an acquired taste.” Rose, lavender, and violet were some of her favorite flavors, alongside passion fruit and fraise de bois.
“Oh,” she exclaimed. “That was more than two, wasn’t it. Well then, can you tell me your birthday and favorite flavor or dessert? I promise you’ll get way more than your moneys worth!”
Zitao couldn’t help but widen his smile as she mouthed out his name. He couldn’t help but let his smile take full control of his expressions the longer he conversed with Soolee. So far, there was nothing about her that was off putting. Her sense of style was the kind that effortlessly caught Tao’s eye. The more revealing clothing he’d see most women in the city parade around in was honestly a big pet peeve of his. The women who wore that kind of clothing tend to have the same kinds of attitudes: unlady-like and tasteless. Tao only associated with the more down-to-earth girls; he was raised a gentleman and he would only act accordingly to ladies.
Hearing the mention of her actually baking triggered an involuntary gasp of excitement. It was something about making things that just got Tao so riled up with joy, he never really could explain it. Maybe it was the sincerity in the process of making things that he adored the most. Without realizing he had already begun visualizing what it must look like inside the patisserie that is ‘La Vie en Rose’. What exactly was the set up? Could you dine in? Was her grandmother as adoring as Soolee? These and many more questions and assumptions cross his mind as she continued to explain her favorite flavors. “Rose-flavored macarons?” He repeats, the foreign flavor bringing his thoughts back to the conversation. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a rose-flavored anything. Or come to think of it… I don’t think I’ve ever tried macarons either.” He confesses honestly.
All his life he only knew of the sweets his father would get for him on special occasions and the few treats his female companions would make. There was no such things as ‘macarons’ in Zitao’s life. As a kid, it was always slice of cake for birthdays. Red bean buns on some weekends if he ever got the chance to stop at the local bakery on his commute home. And various mooncakes for the Zhongqiu festival back in his home town. Once he made his move, the only other treats he got to taste were the homemade cookies his deceased lover would make for him during his days of hardships. She was also the only person who made him his first full birthday cake. A dreary smile crosses his lips at the thought. Oh Ahmi…
“I would love to come by sometime to give you business, I would like to try some of those rose-flavored treats.” He manages a warmer smile, trying to hide his reminiscing. “And my birthday lands on May 2nd. As for my favorite flavor, I’m pretty simple.” He chuckles. “Strawberries are my favorite.”
Soolee chuckled at Tao’s response to her mention of her favorite floral flavored treat. Her eyes widened at his mention of never having tried macarons. Having never tried a type of sweet was never really a problem for Soolee, having grown up in a patisserie with a doting grandmother. As a child she had croissant for breakfast with un chocolat chaud like the French. Her lunch boxes were always packed with love and an eclair. In her third year of school, a rather heavy set girl began to bully her eclairs from her. After a week or two, Soolee came home crying to her mother and grandmother about her attempt to stand up for herself. The next day, her grandmother packed her a wasabi eclair that sent the bully home crying.
She would most definitely have to remedy his patisserie deprivation post haste. In fact, she had some strawberry macarons in her purse under her booth. She was bouncing inside, waiting for him to finish speaking so she could offer him a macaron. When he spoke of his favorite flavor, she clapped her hands together in delight.
“What a coincidence! I have some strawberry macarons with me right now!” She exclaimed, choosing not to mention that she had been using strawberry flavored lip balm all day. She withdrew a small brown rectangular box of pale pink macarons from her purse and placed it upon the surface of the booth.. “Have as many as you’d like!”
As if her name had been called, Jisool came up at that very moment to tug on the end of Soolee’s skirt. Soolee bent down, smiling at the toddler. “Neee~ What is it Jisoolie?” She picked up the sweet girl into her lap, holding her there affectionately. Instantly, her tiny fingers latched around one of the macarons. Before she bit into it though, the little girl said, politely, “gomawo.” Soolee’s attitude around children was noticeably bubblier. She couldn’t understand people who disliked children. Did they also hate sunshine and butterflies?
Soolee smiled at Tao. “This is Jisool. She’s the first one to come running to me every week when I volunteer here. She loves her unnie. Isn’t that right, Jisoolie?” The young girl nodded, still nursing the macaron, as Soolee kissed the top of her head, causing her eyes to smile and her cheek-apples to rise.
Noona! You gotta help me out! /He whines, pouting his plush lips;
She looks up from piping delicious rose buttercream into soft pink macaron shells. “Eh? What’s wrong Dongwoo?” Asks Soolee, popping a nearby raspberry macaron into his pillow-y pout.
He sighs happily as he chews on the sweet treat. Humming in bliss as he devours the sweet, he swallows before speaking. “Noona, you must be psychic because…” He motions for her to come in closer, “I’m. . really hungry!”
Soolee chuckles happily at his reaction and returns to filling the delicate pink shells. When he speaks again and motions her closer she can’t help but roll her eyes; she knew what he was going to say. No, she is not psychic; her dongsaeng just happens to be predictably precious.
“Ya…” she begins chidingly. “You’re always hungry.” She reaches to prod his stomach lightly with her index finger. “Is there a tape worm in there?”
Hopping up on the counter she had stationed herself for baking, he sits by her side. Rubbing the area she had probed his stomach, he whines playfully. “Noonaaa, it hurts so bad, I don’t know why I’m so hungry.” He eyes one of the sweets fro the corner of his eye. “And you’re making macaroons? Noona, you love me right? Right?” He pesters, bouncing on his bum like a child. “You should totally let me have some! Or better yet, let me make some with you.” He takes the icing bag from her grip swiftly, removing it with his own. Jumping off the counter, he kneels before the long haired beauty, her hand in his, he pouts with furrowed brows. “C’mon noona, think of the starving children… Me.”
“Aish~” She chided when he plopped up on her counter. “Get your butt off my counter. That’s a health code violation.” She narrowed her eyes and wagged her finger at him. She wasn’t terribly angry, but he knew better; and he definitely knew how OCD she could get about the cleanliness of her kitchen.
“And it’s ‘macarons’. 마 카 란.” She corrected him. “You’d think as many as you eat you’d have it right by now… or turned into one.” She chuckled, pouting when he took away her piping bag. She laughed when he knelt down in front of her, a light blush covering her face. He was her best friend and she didn’t have feelings for him, but he always got her flustered when he did this. “Dongwoo, you always do this when you know I have already saved you an entire cake already.” She chuckled, waiting for his face to react before continuing. “There’s lopsided galette de rois upstairs for you, buttt~ Since you decided to compare yourself to a starving child, in payment, you are going with me to help out in the slums sunday. “
//END
"Noona!" He throws his arms around the long haired girl, pulling her into a big hug. "Noona, I missed you~"
Soolee chuckles, returning her dongsaengs hug, before she remembers something. “YA!” She exclaims pushing him back. “You were supposed to go with me to the slums yesterday.” She crosses her arms, narrows here eyes, and puffs up her face; her version of a scowl.
“I’ll give the cheesecake in the fridge to someone more responsible, instead.”
“Aww, c’mon noona!” He whines, grabbing onto one of her arms. “You know I wouldn’t have let you go alone unless something was going on. You know that!” Releasing her arm, he drops to his knees before her in a plea. “Forgive me this once?”
She looked at him scruninizingly, as if she might not forgive him. “I don’t know,” she began. “The kids were very sad when they found out ‘Dongie-oppa’ wasn’t coming.” She sighed, chidingly.
“I suppose you can still have your cheesecake, on one condition.” There it was; she needed something. Not just any something. This was something she couldn’t even handle as Sailor Venus. “There’s a wangjine in the bedroom, will you please go remove it.” She switched to a pitiful expression, hands clasped together. The eight legs of a spider were horrifying enough to Soolee, but Chinese red-headed centipede petrified Soolee. In fact, she hadn’t been upstairs since she’d found it.
//END
Waltzing up to the girl working at the counter, he rests his elbows on the surface, chin in his palms; he smiles. "Yah, noona! Missed me?" he says, nudging her in the arm with his own.
The girl who was wearing uncharacteristicly long sleeves to cover the bruises from the night before’s unfortunate patrol, cringed at the excited voice before her. Running only on caffeine, Soolee had a horrible migraine making her best friend’s voice reverberate inside her skull. Her voice was a bit groggy as she blinked her eyes back open and smiled at Dongwoo. The smile was geniune, though not as energetic as her usual smile. “Of course I missed you, dongsaeng. Where have you been?”
His smile drops at the tone of her response, concern immediately dropping in his voice. “Yah, is something wrong? You look so tired noona.” Circling around the girl, he eyes her with curiosity. “No one is bullying you, are they?”
Soolee pulled the side of her bottom lip back in a grimace. She should have known he’d notice. He knew her better than anyone. “Bullying? No.. nothing like that. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” She yawned lightly. “And I…” How could she put this? OH, I’m the reincarnation of an alien goddess that fights for love and justice. Doesn’t sound insane at all. Not a bit. “…ran into some trouble coming home from the orphanage last night and ran into a group of thugs. I got away, but it took a while.” So much more believable.
Shock immediately overcomes Dongwoo as he hears her words. Thugs? Who in the world wanted to mess with Soolee? Especially with Dongwoo always ready to defend her? “Soolee. .” his voice darkened with anger, “Do you remember what these guys looked like? Did they steal?” His eyes widen at a realization. Grabbing her arm, he lifts it as if he were inspecting her. “Did they hurt you?! Soolee-ah, they didn’t hurt you did they?”
“Uhmm… It was dark, so no.” She felt horrible lying to Dongwoo. It’s not like she could tell him, right? In the past her confident had been used against her. She couldn’t let that happen to Dongwoo. Enough of the people most precious to her had died because of her foolishness.
Soolee tried to hide the wince as he lifted her arm to inspect her. “Yeah, but it’s fine don’t worry about it. I already saw a doctor about it.” She smiled and attempted to change the subject. “By the way, there’s a cake upstairs for you. It’s your favorite.”
Her confirming of his worries only upsetted Dongwoo even more. How could he think about cake when Soolee was hurt? Soolee wasn’t just anybody to Dongwoo, she was his family. She wasn’t blood, but she might of well had been.
“Soolee, how can I eat cake when some punks hurt you? And we don’t even know who they are!” Concern takes over his expression, his eyes big with worry. “What if they come after you again? Men like them are lowly like that, what if they do more next time?” He didn’t know what he could do. Someone put their hands on someone Dongwoo really cared about, and there was nothing to fix this injustice. He sighs in defeat. “Soolee. . you shouldn’t go out at night anymore. What if you get really hurt by some crazy in the shadows?”
“But it’s good cake; your favorite,” she encouraged with her best aegyo, gently prodding him in the stomach with her index fingers. The lies were beginning to upset Soolee’s stomach. She absolutely hated lying, most of all to her precious dongsaeng.
“Can we please just let it go, Dongwoo,” she pleaded. She sat down on the small stool in the corner behind the counter. She rested her head in her heads. Her brain was throbbing again. Would she have to cut back on her work in order to lead this double life? It was weird, but since she’d become more aware of who she was and what she had to do, patisserie just didn’t seem as important anymore. Perhaps this was why she was feeling a bit down lately?
He sighs, feeling defeat. He knew no matter what he could say, Soolee would just change the subject over and over until he gave up. Whatever had happened that night must have really shooken her up, and Dongwoo could tell that she didn’t want to think about it anymore than she had to.
Walking to her side, he silently wraps his arms around the girl. “Noona, I’m sorry.” Holding her with caution, not sure how much pain she could have been in, he pulls her into his chest for a few silent moments. With a deep inhale, he steadies any erratic breathing caused by worry. He could smell the hint of strawberries from Soolee’s shampoo with the aroma of coffee beans in the mix. “You know how I get, I just can’t stand seeing you hurt.” Keeping her in his hold, he sighs. “I really can’t eat that cake like this, you should give it to the kids.”
Soolee closed her eyes and leaned into her best friend’s embrace. “Thank you, Dongwoo,” was all she said before resting like that in silent for some time, nearly falling asleep. She was so tired, so very tired. She hadn’t even slept the night before. She merely nodded her head at his words and commented, “come with me, okay?”
Not long after the words left her mouth, her breathing grew deeper as she fell asleep in the safety of her friends embrace. Grandmother was out for the day, but Dongwoo already knew how to close the shop, he’d seen Soolee do it a million times already. This is probably why Soolee fell asleep so effortlessly in his arms.
Dongwoo couldn’t help but smile as Soolee starts to drift off into sleep. Concern still lingered in his heart, but the sleeping face of his dear friend cooled the flames of his worry and anger. Who could have hurt someone this angelic?
“Oh Soolee… I really don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” With gentle hands, Dongwoo scoops her up into his arms without much of a struggle. “You seem so much lighter too. I’ll make sure to leave a note for your grandmother to make you something tasty to eat.” Smiling down on his friend, he carefully carries her up to her room on the second floor. After gentle tucking her into her bed, he sits by her side for a few silent moments. “Soolee. . dongseang loves you, okay?”
Tracking back into the store’s front, Dongwoo begins the closing process. Once turning the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’ and making sure the doors were locked, he begins the wiping of the counters, sweeping the floors, and washing any pots, trays, and dishes left untouched in the kitchen. He didn’t mind this kind of work really, Soolee had done it a million times in Dongwoo’s presence, so he knew exactly how to tidy up to Soolee’s grandmother’s standards.
“Now I’m starting to feel sleepy… maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a few minutes.” Taking a seat on one of the stools, Dongwoo closes his eyes and slowly begins to nod off.
It was dark when Soolee finally opened her eyes and sat up on her small yet cozy pallet bed. She couldn't remember going to bed. As she rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes, her memories from before she fell asleep came back to her. Had Dongwoo carried her upstairs? She was lucky to have such a great best friend. Her stomach flipped as she remembered she would have to continue to lie to him. She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't bare to put him in danger. She observed her surroundings before sliding out of her bed. Her grandmother was already fast asleep in the bed beside her's.
Stretching, Soolee slipped her house shoes back on and made her way back to the cafe, ready to clean up the shop, but when she made her way to the kitchen, she found that it was already spotless. In fact, it almost seemed to be sparkling. She wondered if her grandmother had checked in on the cafe before going to bed, which she didn't always do on her days off as she trusted Soolee completely.
The sight that she found as she turned into the main room of the cafe made her giggle softly. Dongwoo asleep on the same stool she had passed out on stretched over the counter and looking perfectly at peace. Her dear friend must have cleaned up after she had fallen asleep. She crept back upstairs and cut a large slice of the cake she had mentioned to him before. She placed the plated dessert in front of the sleeping man and leaned close to his ear to say. "Wake up dongsaeng. Your butt will fall off if you sleep like that for too long."
Even after awakening to her true identity, Soolee had yet to transform. Her mind was still adjusting to the knowledge of her past lives, and the painful memories attached to them. She immersed herself even more heavily in her work, and wouldn’t fall for her grandmother’s tricks to get her out of the kitchen.
Eventually, Sunday rolled around, and she couldn’t keep herself from bringing fresh bread and cheese out to the children in the slums. It was more painful than before, knowing that she might have prevented all of this. If only I had been stronger, she thought.
But a new strength did arise in her. As she was playing with the children she heard screams down an alley. Everyone looked pained. They were worried, but they couldn’t help. Soolee snuck off to see what was going on with a sense of duty.
What she saw caused her stomach to flip in horror. Dark Kingdom soldiers were beating an innocent man for standing up for his wife who was being badgered by the perverted guards. Angered she turned back and pressed herself against the building she hid behind, trying to fight back the rage to attack.
She felt something heat up slightly on her chest. She reached for her mother’s ring, which she wore around her neck. It had changed. The topaz had grown larger; the white sapphires, smaller. Faint, barely noticeable was the symbol of Venus. Quickly, she pulled the necklace off and placed the ring on her finger.
As if possessed by the ring, she held her hand up to the sky, the words coming to her lips as if they belonged there; as if they’d longed to fall from her lips for centuries.
"VENUS POWER, MAKE-UP!”
She smiled as the familiar yellow stars swirled around her. When the transformation was complete, she twirled in her familiar uniform. Her hair was different though. Lighter than usual, and more golden. It seemed to suit her. Once again, led by her sense of duty, Soolee, now Sailor Venus quickly hurried over to the harassed couple.
“Soldiers are meant to protect the people, but you two bring shame to the title.” The soldiers protested, irritated; asking ‘who the fuck’ she was. “I am the sailor suited soldier of love and beauty. The one, the only Sailor Venus. In the name of Venus, prepare to be punished!”
The soldiers were annoyed. “Go home little girl; play superhero some where else.” Venus only laughed in response. “Of course, you little foot soldiers haven’t been told about me. I guess it’s time to spread the word that Sailor Venus is back.”
She raised her hand into the air, causing a magical chain of golden hearts to flow around her. “VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!” The stream of hearts shot out at the nearest guard, wrapping him tightly. “Still got it,” she smirked. The other guard got out his sword and lunged at her. She side stepped him, wagging her finger.
“Don’t they train you guys properly anymore. Perhaps you need some encouragement.” She blew a kiss, causing a golden heart of energy to fly at him as she yelled, “VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!” It hit him, though barely. She needed to work on her aim some. The attack put him in a trance like shock.
Sighing with relief, she turned to the victims. “They won’t be bothering you anymore. The power of Venus will have a life-changing effect on these boys, I promise.” She bowed politely to the couple, before running off.
Sailor Venus was back, and she wasn’t going to let the Dark Kingdom get away with their evil acts.
When Soolee finally made it beneath her sheets, she was more than exhausted. In fact, before she could properly cuddle her pillows, she was out. It was strange, definitely not normal. Neither was the dream that came almost as soon as her eyes shut, completely ignoring all of the known theories about sleep and dreams.
It was quite an odd dream. She watched as if floating above an extremely detailed 3-D projection as a small blonde baby with brilliant blue eyes was born to a woman with wavy golden hair. The image before and below her seemed to zoom out to a strange crystal encased castle orbiting… was that Venus? The image seemed to zoom forward in time before Soolee could get a better look. There was the blonde girl again, several years older, looking absolutely precious in a poofy orange dress. There were three other girls as well. One with blue hair and a lighter blue dress; another with straight, jet black hair and a red dress; and the last one had curly brown hair and pretty green dress. They seemed to be meeting for the first time.
This was officially the strangest dream Soolee had ever had. Not to mention, usually if she knew she was dreaming she would wake up right away, so why wasn’t she? Oh! Time was skipping forward again! A few years later perhaps? The four little girls were looking into the cradle of a little baby with white blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her mother ( the queen?) shoo’d them off so the baby could sleep. She was beautiful with hair like moonlight.
Elsewhere in the same day, a celebration turned foreboding as a dark, wavy haired woman with a similar bone structure to the newborn’s mother. She gave off an air of narcissism and jealousy. She cursed the baby princess and the queen sealed her inside a mirror. Fast forward at least a decade. The four girls are now in their late teens and dressed similarly. They looked a bit like Japanese school girls, but much more colorful. They had weapons as well. They kneeled before the queen, and the princess as they vowed to protect her with their lives.
A series of images of the girls moving to a castle on the Moon to better protect the princess. The Earth Kingdom; the princess’s forbidden love of Endymion and the Dark Kingdom taking over Earth before moving on to the Moon Kingdom. War. Fighting. Blood. Death. Was this a nightmare? The evil leader of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl ran a sword through the Earth prince as the Moon princess watched in horror before running a sword through her own heart, killing herself. The last of the guardian senshi alive, Venus, ran a sword through Beryl, killing her as she herself was already dying.
The queen of the Moon used the last of her power to send the princesses into the future to be reborn, before triggering the soldier of Saturn to destroy what was left of the Kingdoms of the Solar System.
Tears ran down Soolee’s cheeks as she watched her ‘dream’ grow dark. But it wasn’t over? All five of the girls were born again. Venus was the first to receive her powers thanks to a talking white cat named Artemis. Her uniform was different than before and she fought of a group known as the Dark Agency under the guise of Sailor V. They were on Earth, but it was long ago. The other three senshi awaken, but not before Sailor Moon, the Moon princess awoke. The Dark Kingdom was back though. Queen Beryl sent the Earth Prince’s generals, now brainwashed, to attack the girls. One by one they defeated them, but they turned out to be no match for Queen Beryl. With her last breathe, Princess Serenity wished for the senshi to be reborn, even if she could not.
Time passes, one by one the countries of Earth fall to the Dark Kingdom. Focus changes to Seoul. Soolee watched with wide eyes as she saw her mother holding a newborn Soolee in her arms. A symbol Soolee now recognized to be that of Venus glowed orange on the girls forehead, but her tired mother shrugged it off. Stunned, Soolee watched her life literally flash before her eyes all the way to when she fell asleep that night.
With a gasp, Soolee sat up in her bed, panting. That couldn’t have been a dream. It wasn’t possible. She stumbled into her bathroom. Sure enough, her reflection showed that same symbol shining on her forehead. The memories came back to her and she slumped to the ground in anguish.
