The Ice Prince

Moon Byulyi was the most notorious ice queen on campus. Well, more accurately, her tall, slender frame and handsome features gave her a more of a boyish regal charm than anything else. And the girls loved it.  

Rumour had it that she’d broken a thousand hearts, yet she couldn’t keep one for herself. Still, there was probably nothing more attractive than pining after the unattainable, and girls continued to throw themselves at her feet with homemade cookies and love letters. Even if Byulyi never took them. She would always just stare at them until they got uncomfortable and left. The truth was that she was no good with words. She always stuttered, and said the most idiotic things--especially around girls. So she always stood and stared. Nobody seemed to understand her vacant, yet unknowingly attractive, stares. They called her the ice prince.

There was one incident late November, where no matter how hard she stared, the girl just wouldn’t give up. As the girl told it, Byulyi had glared at her offered letter until Hyejin told her to back off. Out of nowhere, Hyejin then pushed her down, so Byulyi could crouch down and meet her eye. In a smooth, nonchalant voice, Byulyi insulted and threatened her until she ran away crying.

Once the rumour was out, everyone claimed to have seen it. In one story, Byulyi was the one to kick her down. In another, Hyejin slapped her across the face and Byulyi laughed. One outlying story even told of Byulyi making out with Hyejin just to break her heart even more.

Nearly a month after those rumours, Byulyi was still sulking. To the untrained eye, she didn’t look any different, but Hyejin knew. They were sitting around Byulyi’s room one day playing video games on the plasma, when Hyejin decided she couldn’t stand Byulyi’s sporadic little sighs any longer.

“The is wrong with you?” Hyejin said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“What?” Byulyi mumbled. “I just got a double kill. Why don’t you help me out if you’re just gonna stand around and ?”

Hyejin rolled her eyes—she knew Byulyi wouldn’t be able to see it, but it psyched her up and she needed that kind of energy to give the older girl a big verbal smack across the face. She watched their characters explode on screen, and quickly exited out of the game. Byulyi kicked and whined, but Hyejin had long stolen the TV remote from her waving arms. Times like these, Hyejin couldn’t understand why anybody would call this big baby an ice prince.

Hyejin turned to her, and looked her dead in the eyes. “I’m talking about you. You’ve been sighing like crazy and it’s getting on my nerves. Is this about the rumours?”

“No,” Byulyi said, with what she hoped to be a tone of absolute finality as she threw down the controller.

“Is this about Yongsun then?” Hyejin didn't think it had anything to do with Yongsun, but she loved watching the array of reds pass through her best friend’s pale cheeks whenever she brought up the class president.

It seemed like just yesterday when Byulyi ran into her room screaming and throwing herself all over Hyejin, who had spent such a nice and peaceful afternoon skipping class, just because she was assigned a seat next to her longtime crush.

“We...we talked! Can you believe the Kim Yongsun talked to me? The Kim Yongsun!”

“Well, what did she say?”

Byulyi cleared , closed her eyes, and smiled as if she was about to deliver the line of the century. “Hi, I’m Yongsun,” she announced proudly. Then she looked at Hyejin, and dissolved into a dreamy smile.

Hyejin threw a pillow at her. “Dude, get your together. You're so ing whipped. She’s just another charismatic nerd. There are plenty prettier, smarter, or more whatever-the-hell-you’re-looking-for girls out there dying to go on a date with you.”

She pointed a finger at Hyejin then, and shouted, “You take that back, Ahn Hyejin! Yongsun is perfect! I don’t say about your Jung Wheein, so leave my Yongsun alone!”

Hyejin scoffed, though she could not deny that her heart leapt a little at the mention the other charismatic nerd in the class. The one who has haunted her dreams since the first day of class, whose smile—that dimple!—is just so...so…

Hyejin shook her head and brought her thoughts back to the present, where Byulyi sat looking all pathetic and defeated as she stared at the ceiling.l

“Hyejin-ah,” she groaned.

“What?”

“You don’t think I’m a bad person, do you?”

Hyejin leaned over and nudged her leg with an outstretched foot. “I know you’re pathetically shy and couldn’t harm a person if I paid you. Wait, no, you’ve got money. You couldn’t harm a person even if I served Yongsun on a plate all tied up in nothing but red ribbon for you.”

“Hyejin!”

“Well, it’s true. That girl was seriously salty. I don’t even remember her name anymore. I just call her Salty in my head. You did your usual thing and walked away—I believe you, Byul. Goddammit I think anybody would believe you if you just ing tell them.”

Byulyi heaved a deep sigh at the ceiling. “You know I’m not good at talking to people,” she said, lolling her head to the side to seek some sympathy from Hyejin. “Especially girls.”

Hyejin sat up and leaned forward, resting her chin on a propped hand. “So this is about Yongsun, isn’t it?” she teased.

Byulyi brought both hands to her face. “Ugh, why does she have to be so cute?” she cried into her palms.

“Just talk to her,” Hyejin said, patting her friend on the shoulder. “You’re gonna get nowhere ing to me about it. I’m sure she’d be nice enough to listen.”

“How?” Byulyi asked, pulling her legs up into her chair like a dejected child.

“What do you mean how? Find an opportunity and talk. It’s what I’ve been telling you for years!”

Hyejin knew how this pep talk would go. They’d gone down this road many times before, ever since Byulyi told her about this “tiny” crush on their class president. Every time Hyejin tells her to go for it, Byulyi ends up sulking. Even if Yongsun herself tried to strike up a conversation with her, she’d just retreat inside that damn icy shell and never come out. Byulyi claimed, every single time, that there simply wasn’t a good opportunity. And there never will be with that terrible attitude of hers.

Hyejin was almost convinced of that.

Until one fateful day, the universe decided it was finally time to push their asses into gear. Mrs. Song was a darling old history teacher, who had no qualms about putting her students to sleep every afternoon with dry, boring lectures full of information you could google in about 0.0001 seconds. And now, she clearly didn’t give a about jabbing metaphorical swords into the hearts of her students when she announced that the final project will be done in pairs.

They had five days to research and present on a period of Korean history, which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t have to work in randomized pairs.

Byulyi’s heart was in when Mrs. Song announced the first name. “Kim Yongsun,” she said. Oh god, she was so torn. Did she want to be her partner? Was that her opportunity? Yes, she thought, let me be Yongsun’s partner! But no, what if Yongsun ends up hating her? What if she lets her down? She wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of pressure. Yes, no, yes, no—her mind whirled in the seconds it took for her teacher to finish her sentence. “And Moon Byulyi.”

Byulyi froze. She didn’t dare turn to look at her, but she could already feel Yongsun’s eyes on her. Was she disappointed? She was smiling—Byulyi couldn’t tell. Her heart was beating way too fast and she thought she might faint.

Back in the real world, Yongsun had indeed turned to look at her new partner. She was smiling prettily, as she tried to ease the tension that had settled after the name had been called. Mrs. Song was still calling names, but she couldn’t be further away. “Guess you’re stuck with me,” Yongsun whispered. “Do you want to work on this together today after school? Maybe at the library?”

Byulyi tried to find her tongue. When she couldn’t, she made an abstract noise of approval, and hoped Yongsun would get it. Yongsun’s smile seemed to falter then, and Byulyi could only look away and put her head down for the last ten minutes of the class to berate herself for being such a damn idiot. How hard was it to say yes? She screamed internally.

“B-Byulyi?” she heard a gentle voice whisper. She felt a tentative poke on her shoulder, and sprang up. A pair of brown eyes widened at the sight of her grumpy, deadpan expression.

“What?” Byulyi said hoarsely. She cleared , which seemed to surprise Yongsun, as she backed away with an awkward, bashful smile.

“Um, class is over. Are you okay?” she said meekly, her cheeks tinted just the slightest shade of pink. She was so cute that Byulyi wanted to reach over and close that short distance between them, embrace her and squeeze her—just like that. Fortunately, Hyejin breezed by then, ignoring them, and Byulyi scrambled to join her best friend without another look at Yongsun.

The next class was entirely spent in deep self-reflection mode. Well, that would be the most euphemistic way of putting it. She ran through all the possible scenarios that she could have been just a little bit friendlier toward Yongsun during history class. And if she was that ed up over a little greeting, then what was she going to do when they had to spend five days together? Every day. After school. Just her and perfect goddess Kim Yongsun.

She gulped as she walked through the doors of the library. She could feel every pair of eyes on her now. It was her first time in the school library, and she was way out of her element. She hated the place but she didn’t want to tell Yongsun because she didn’t want to look like a snob. Her reasons for hating the school library were simple: people always stared, and it wasn’t half as nice as her private study/library at home. The school didn’t even have the manhwas that she liked.

Hyejin was always too busy flirting with the cheerleading squad to be her moral support, no matter how much Byulyi begged for a double date with Hyejin and her dream partner, Jung Wheein. She didn’t understand why Hyejin kept leading all these other girls on when her whole damn world clearly revolve around Wheein. She inwardly snickered at the thought of Hyejin crying and threatening and cursing at Mrs. Song to get her to partner her up with Wheein. Now that she thought about it, this situation with Yongsun was awfully suspicious as well. Damn Hyejin and her influence.

Yongsun hadn’t arrived yet, so she picked a table furthest away from prying eyes. Anyone watching her stride across the library, her assured footsteps confidently hitting the green carpet, would never suspect that her inner self was dying and living in a never-ending cycle at the thought of meeting Yongsun outside of class for the first time.

She took out her books, her pen case—that is, a velvet case containing a single pen—and phone. She quickly plugged her earbuds into her cellphone’s audio jack, and hoped that some music would help calm her nerves. Two passing girls were whispering to each other, and giggling as they waved at her. She ignored them and turned the volume up a little louder. She furrowed her brows and wondered why on earth girls stressed her out so much.

She closed her eyes and drummed her finger on her textbook.

When she opened her eyes again, Yongsun was smiling at her. Her heart must’ve leapt out of her chest as she pulled her earbuds out. “When did you get here?” she asked, her voice a little gruffer than she intended. Desperately, she tried again, this time gesturing maybe just a bit more than she needed to as the words tumbled out. “I-I mean, I didn’t see you there. I mean, my eyes were closed so—obviously—I didn’t, you know. I, uh, god, um, I hope you didn’t have to wait long?”

Yongsun watched her in utter disbelief. Finally, Byulyi gave up, and buried her face in her hands. The way Yongsun’s mouth began to drop and the way her eyes widened will be forever a mark of shame in her memory, as she watched the moment over and over behind her eyelids.

Suddenly, Yongsun burst into laughter. Not the polite giggles she’d been so accustomed to during class, but loud halting, screeching laughter. Byulyi dropped her hands as Yongsun clamped a hand over . Everyone’s eyes were on them, and nobody seemed to want to miss the show.

“L-let’s go to a different library,” Byulyi whispered, shoving everything back into her backpack at the speed of light. She didn’t wait for Yongsun to agree before grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her out the front door, half walking, half running to get out of there. Byulyi refused to slow down, even when Yongsun started to whine at her between breaths. As cute as it was, she didn’t slow to a walk until they got past the school gates.

“S-sorry,” she said, bowing profusely to the class president. “I don’t...they were..and I can’t. Oh god, why can’t I ever talk properly?”

There it was again, that loud, barking, genuine laughter. Though it had surprised Byulyi in the library, she wouldn’t mind listening to it over and over again. Yongsun’s laugh was so contagious that she even found herself smiling a little.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry for laughing,” Yongsun said, clutching her stomach with one hand and wiping a tear with the other. “It’s just. Wow, this is going to sound so embarrassing, but you were just so cute!” If Yongsun noticed how hard Byulyi blushed then, she didn’t show it. “Don’t take this the wrong way. Everyone thinks you’re really cool—heck, even I think you’re really cool—but you’re just...not good at talking, are you?”

Byulyi blushed again. Cute and cool in one sentence. Her brain was going into overdrive, and it was taking her entire vocabulary with it into god-knows-where. Yongsun thought she was cute. And cool. She didn’t even mind that Yongsun realized her secret.

“A-are you okay?” Yongsun asked. “You have a really serious look on your face right now. I hope you’re not mad?”

Byulyi shook her head. “My house has a library,” she simply said. “We can work on the project there.” Byulyi stepped away to make a phone call, and when she came back, she announced that the driver will arrive in five minutes. 

Byulyi was silent during the entire trip to the library. Yongsun asked questions, made impressed little noises and exclamations when they arrived at the family mansion, but nothing seemed to provoke a reaction out of the quiet girl. Of course, Yongsun had no way of realizing that Byulyi was still short-circuiting over her innocent comments, so she simply followed her, and hoped that Byulyi would be more willing to talk once the project was at stake.

Byulyi’s private library was half the size of the school library, but packed densely with books in every corner of the room. There were comfortable looking beanbag chairs scattered around, a table with a lamp in one corner, and a table with a fancy, futuristic looking computer in another corner.

“Built that myself,” Byulyi said proudly, breaking the silence as she watched Yongsun’s curious eyes wandering over the computer. There’s a mini fridge under there if you’re thirsty. Should be some snacks in the bottom-right drawer too.” She threw herself onto one of the surrounding beanbags and pulled her tablet out of her backpack.

Yongsun smiled as she watched Byulyi get comfortable, and was glad that her partner could talk so openly in her own space. She dropped her backpack into one of the nearby beanbags and dragged the chair closer to Byulyi. Byulyi’s eyes widened as Yongsun's beanbag pressed right up against her own.

As she sat down, all Byulyi could think about was how close she was and how nice she smelled, and how bad she was at functioning like a normal human being around Yongsun.

“Is it okay if I sit so close to you?” Yongsun asked shyly. Byulyi wasn't sure what she did in response, but she hoped that it looked something vaguely resembling a nod.

“S-so,” Byulyi said quietly, hoping a change in topic would quiet down her mind long enough to be of some use to Yongsun, “o-our history—I mean, our history topic project final thing. I mean, Korea?” She slapped a hand on her forehead.

Yongsun giggled, blushed, and looked away shyly when she met Byulyi’s eye. “Our topic is the forced occupation of Japan,” She said, pulling out her history textbook. “This could be a controversial one. People might get kind of upset, so maybe we should just focus on the facts. Um, do you want to know a secret?”

Byulyi thought Yongsun looked beautiful under the lamplight, and her lips looked especially kissable when she leaned in then.

“My parents are kind of against it”—Byulyi nodded slowly, hypnotised by Yongsun's warm breath on her ear—“but I've been secretly learning Japanese on my own.”

“O-oh yeah?” Byulyi said absentmindedly, inwardly sobbing as Yongsun pulled back.

“I really liked manga as a kid,” she said with a shrug. “And Japanese animations are so much better than any Korean ones, you know? I used to love hiding in my room and streaming it on my phone secretly under my blankets. This history stuff...it was a long time ago right?”

“I really liked those Japanese movies,” Byulyi said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked up into Yongsun's warm, patient eyes, and suddenly it felt so easy for her to just open up and give Yongsun her heart. “My favourite was Spirited Away. I really like honest, kind-hearted girls like Chihiro. And that No-Face guy...he's, well, I kind of get him, you know? T-there's so much he wants to say, but he just...can't. S-s-so I-I think it's cool that you're...learning Japanese.” Byulyi smiled, more to herself than anyone else, at her feat of being able to turn off the panicked part of her brain and sounding like a real human for once.

But Yongsun was mesmerized by the handsome smile on Byulyi’s face, aimed directly at her and her heart. She couldn't look away, even when she felt her face heat up once more, and wondered what she had done to deserve such a privilege.

She knew so many girls who would do anything to take her place right now. Hours ago, she would've been willing to give up her place as Byulyi’s partner—anything seemed better than working with the school’s most notorious ice queen—but not she wasn't so sure. She might just want to stay by her side forever. No, wait, what was she thinking? She wans't like one of those swooning, fainting fangirls.

Yongsun cleared . “Let’s figure out how we’re gonna do this project.”

The next day, neither spoke at school. They exchanged a short greeting in history class, and confirmed that they would meet outside the school and wait for Byulyi’s driver together, but nothing else seemed to change.

Byulyi spammed Hyejin with text messages, worried that she had put Yongsun off somehow, but Hyejin had skipped school all morning and was too busy raiding Byulyi’s mini fridge and playing her games to text back. Even when she saw her in history class, Hyejin was too busy making googly eyes at Wheein to read her cries for help. As soon as the bell rang, Hyejin was off to watch the cheerleaders practice. It wasn't until she got home, with Yongsun following silently behind her, that she received a single text from Hyejin: “Stop being a loser. Fighting.”

It was Tuesday, and they had four days left before their presentation. Byulyi felt a sense of calm as Yongsun stood beside her in her private library. She had thought a lot about this golden opportunity, and was determined to be the best partner that Yongsun has ever had. If they could finish it early and get it out of the way, Byulyi vowed that she would confess—this project was the only chance before the end of the semester, and if she didn't take it, then maybe she didn't deserve a perfect being like Yongsun anyway.

They worked tirelessly that day, late into the evening. Hyejin stopped by and surprised both Byulyi and Yongsun with take-out as a silent apology for being a bad wingwoman. They ate and laughed on the floor of Byulyi’s study, and it was quickly apparent that Hyejin wasn't afraid to flirt with Yongsun right in front of her best friend. No matter how many glares Byulyi shot at her, she wouldn't stop. The worst part was, Yongsun even seemed to be enjoying it.

After Hyejin threw a particularly smouldering glance, Byulyi cried, “Yah! Save that look for Wheein! I'm gonna throw up on you if you keep looking at Yongsun like that!”

“Protective, are we?” Hyejin replied, laughing as she dug her chopsticks around her styrofoam container, “You don't mind, do you, Yongsun?”

Yongsun’s eyes darted between the two of them. Byulyi was practically smoking through her ears, and the rare display of emotion made her look so cute that it must've awakened a sadistic part of Yongsun that just wanted to a little more.

“I don't mind at all,” Yongsun chirped. “It's very flattering actually. Hyejin, you must be very sweet underneath all that armour, huh?”

Hyejin laughed. “Better not go slandering my rep now, darling,” Hyejin replied with a wink.

Byulyi rolled her eyes. “I hate you, Hyejin.”

After Hyejin left, the continued their work in near silence, talking only when necessary. Yongsun couldn't help but wonder if she'd taken the teasing too far with that comment. But the way her lips pursed and her brows furrowed as she glowered down at her tablet was very attractive. Like she wanted to go in and kiss those lips and smooth the frown away—she had sighed when she caught herself thinking this, and conceded that maybe she was just a little bit like one of those fangirls. Any fangirl’s heart would beat this loudly around her, right? It wasn't anything personal.

“Yongsun,” Byulyi said. Yongsun yelped and turned to look at her, but Byulyi didn't look up from her screen. While Yongsun’s heart raced—and she tried to convince herself that it wasn't personal the way her body was responding to the way Byulyi called her name—she half-heartedly responded to Byulyi’s question about the Japanese army.

She went home that day, more confused than ever, but was glad that they were almost done. They had completed almost all the entire project today, and Byulyi had even been gracious enough to give her time to work on her other assignments. While Byulyi had been confusing as hell, she was also one of the best partners she's ever had. Her heart couldn't help but drop a little knowing she had one day less with Byulyi.

Wednesday’s classes passed more or less the same way. They didn't talk to each other much at school, or on the way to Byulyi’s house. Byulyi was extra tense that day, but Yongsun didn't dare to comment. Byulyi carefully kept herself at a good distance, physically and emotionally, and refused to look at her when she spoke. Yongsun would never admit it out loud but she was annoyed as hell.

Byulyi had been so genuine on their first day, and so animated when she was with Hyejin on the second day. So what did she do wrong? Whatever it was, she wanted to—needed to—apologize. Yongsun wanted so badly to see Byulyi again—the Byulyi with the sad eyes when she talked about No-Face, the Byulyi with the dazzling smile, and the Byulyi with the red face when her best friend . These snapshots that she was privileged to see—it was greedy, but she wanted to see them again.

When they walked into Byulyi’s library, Yongsun was the first to speak. “Listen,” she said. “I—”

“Let’s finish this,” Byulyi cut in. She threw herself onto her favourite bean bag chair, signalling the end of that conversation.

Yongsun bit her lip, determined to broach the subject again the second they finished their presentation. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but she was going to make her talk, damn it, or she will die trying.

Several hours of of intense concentration later, Yongsun leaned back and heaved a happy sigh. “We’re done!” She cried, dropping her tablet onto her lap. Byulyi blinked at her and nodded, ever so slightly. She wore a peculiar expression on her face as she looked into Yongsun’s eyes then. It was...intense.

Yongsun shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Listen,” she began to say, “I know it must not have been easy for you working with me the last few days, but I'm really glad I got you as my partner. I—”

“K-Kim Yongsun,” Byulyi said. Yongsun was about to be angry being interrupted a second time, but when Byulyi stood and knelt down in front of her beanbag, she felt no words, only butterflies, fluttering through her entire system. “I-I’m sorry if I'm...you know. I've been thinking. All day—um. No, that is...I—god I thought I was brave enough.” Byulyi placed her hands on either side of Yongsun’s bean bag, closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath, and when she opened her eyes to look up at Yongsun again, her warm eyes seemed to melt away her fears.

“Kim Yongsun,” Byulyi repeated. She held Yongsun’s eyes for all of a second before she looked down, her face burning out of control. She took in one more breath, and finally, said the words she'd been wanting to say since the first time she'd laid eyes on the student council president:
“I...really like you. W-will you be my girlfriend?”

Yongsun sat there, eyes wide. “I'm dreaming,” she thought out loud.

“No,” Byulyi said with a small, shy smile. “I-I've like you for a very long time.” Another thought seemed to strike her then, and she hung her head a little, mumbling apologies as she began to pull away.

Yongsun clasped her wrist. “Wait,” she said. “I'm just...hold on...my heart—this is really—just give me some time okay?”

Byulyi smiled again, slow and sad this time, and it hit Yongsun like a punch in the gut. “I just need five minutes,” Yongsun explained quickly.

Byulyi blinked, dumbfounded, as Yongsun shot up from her beanbag and ran around a bookshelf, away from view. She dimly heard the soft thumping of feet on her carpet, as if Yongsun was stomping on a spider behind the bookshelf.

“A-are you okay?” Byulyi called.

“One moment!” Yongsun returned.

Yongsun reappeared minutes later, straightening her hair out with her fingers. She had a sheepish smile on her face, and Byulyi would've thought it was the cutest thing has she not been so nervous standing around.

“Sorry,” Yongsun began. Byulyi felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach at that word, but Yongsun continued. “I could barely contain myself, and I didn't want you to see what a dork I was jumping around for joy like that. Oh god, why did I even tell you that. Jeez you must think I'm crazy.” Byulyi shook her head vigorously.

“Moon Byulyi,” Yongsun said with a grin. “You're the biggest girl crush in the school, you know that? Almost every girl I know would kill to go out with you—including myself.” Byulyi beamed so brightly then that Yongsun almost wanted to drop everything and just pick her up and kiss her silly. It took every ounce of willpower to continue. “But,” she said seriously, prompting a frown from Byulyi, “I don't want you to think I'm just some fangirl. I...I want to see your smile, your anger, your sadness, and your joy. I want to hear your stories and I want you to hear mine, and, well, I don't know if that means the same thing when you say you like me, but, I guess...that's my way of saying yes. I'd love to be your girlfriend, Byulyi.”

Byulyi grinned from ear to ear. It felt like the most natural thing in the world when Yongsun stepped into her arms. She didn't know if she was moving too fast, but the moment could not feel more perfect. Under the dim lamplight of her safe haven, Moon Byulyi kissed the girl of her dreams for the first time, and her heart soared when she kissed back, telling her that it wouldn't be the last.

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A/N: Thank you for reading The Ice Prince, everyone. Big thanks to Fengxian for letting me intrude on her wonderful world.

Please check out the first half of this story here~