Chapter 2: Cinderella

Oh, that clock! Old killjoy. I hear you. Come on, get up, you say, Time to start another day. Even he orders me around. Well, there's one thing. They can't order me to stop dreaming.

- Cinderella

Those were the happy times, those three carefree months the two brothers used to get to know each other. Jiyong would teach Seung Hyun how to play basketball, show him videos online and tell him everything about the teams, players and games. Meanwhile Seung Hyun, being the older one, taught Jiyong a precious lesson of life, how to be free and, of course, about all other mature things like , gambling, drinking and self defense. 

Everyone always said Jiyong was the one acting more mature, he often seemed like that. But in reality he was just a young high school boy, a teen with all his teenage problems and a huge weight from the past on his shoulders. Seung Hyun was more experienced in the sphere of real life, he knew that happiness lied in doing what you like and being like you want, who you really are. Freely. Around him Jiyong didn't need to be so collected and emotionless, he didn't need to think about how to be so people surrounding him wouldn't like him too much. When he was with Dara he was afraid she would see his true feelings, find out about his true self, he had to hide it all carefully. With Seung Hyun it was another story.

Fairy Godmother: Salaga-doola, menchika-boola, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Put them together, and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Salaga-doola, menchika-boola, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. It will do magic, believe it or not, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Now, "Salagadoola" means, "A-Menchika-boola-roo," but the the thingamabob, that does the job, is "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

It was truly unbelievable how different one person could be. Jiyong laughed, joked and made fun of everything he could. His sense of humor and witty tongue were his strong points, he knew how to make others laugh. He was so full of love and warmth it was overflowing. He was the nice guy, knowing how to act in a way that wouldn't offend anyone. He shined, his aura pulled people closer, he was too good of a person to be ignored. But when his time with his older brother came to an end a shadow fell over him that instant. Just like Cinderella whose dress disappeared and who's carriage turned back into a pumpkin after the clock twelve. Smiles and happy spark in his eyes were all gone as if they had never been there. In school he was the distant and cold student board president and the energetic but strict and basketball team captain. He was nothing like that flirtatious, happy and cute little ball of energy who would fall asleep his head resting on his elder brother's shoulder.

But in each and every story about Cinderella, there is a glass slipper, right?

Something that was carelessly left behind.

Perhaps just a memory would be enough.

A beautiful memory.

One day Seung Hyun accidentally bumped into Dara while lingering around her school gate, waiting for Jiyong. By now he knew everything about her, Jiyong would never stop talking about his feelings towards her, about her in general. She was pretty and attractive, true. But Seung Hyun found her extremely spoiled and mean, not exactly how he liked his girls. He felt something wavering towards her as well but he couldn't explain what nor was he interested in finding out. It would later crash onto him like a tsunami. But right now he was dating Bom, completely in love with her, or as completely as a player could be (he loved flirting and games, perhaps even more than Jiyong). At some point he got bored of this never ending love story, just like that he decided to create an ending even knowing Jiyong would be super mad. He went ahead, kissed Dara and asked her to go out with him, everything else... is history.

Once Seung Hyun asked Jiyong how come he loved that bratty wannabe princess so much and when did he manage to fall in love with her. A knowing smile and a playful chuckle, it would be a long story, longer than life. First answer was “I don't know” but after some teasing and insisting Jiyong gave it a thought. When he was little he was scared of Dara, then he hated her because she would always bully and push him around, always laughing at his misery, habits and weaknesses. She wouldn't even try to understand, merciless.

“She made me strong.”

Despite being a dictator and a bully Dara had her weak moments too. Though if Jiyong ever tried to make her feel better she would get mad at him saying she didn't need anyone's pity. The best would be not do anything, in the end she would somehow end up somewhere around him, sulking, maybe sobbing and looking depressed. She wouldn't say what was wrong, she'd just quietly get over her pain or sorrow and in the end start that never ending complaining about the reason of her misery. When she was smaller she'd sometimes hug him and say she was feeling bad, maybe even ask for an advice, though later made fun of whatever he had said. Whenever he was sad she'd really try to cheer him up but what she thought was cheering him up was rather just bullying him. 

Anyway, at some point Jiyong finally realized that Dara wasn't a god or superhuman, often even weaker than him himself. In the end he was someone she could always turn to for an advice or support, someone who could answer all her questions, someone who could make her feel safe, someone she knew would understand her no matter what, someone important and precious, someone she treasured, someone she loved, someone she knew would never abandon her during hard times. And he felt it all, how important he was to her despite all his flaws. “She cares for me so much, for someone like me... who doesn't deserve any bit of that love. And for so long I thought she would always dislike me. But in the end... she cares and always did.” 

And for the first time after his father's betrayal and disappearance.

Jiyong felt... precious.

The next question was, how to stop her feelings?

Many summers ago, in their distant childhood, one day at the orphanage Jiyong found Dara in her room, sitting on her bed and crying. He had been looking for her for a long while already because nun Mary had asked him to bring her help picking strawberries. “She must be lazying around somewhere” she had uttered a little sternly. Jiyong sat on the edge of Dara's bed. “What's