07/27/12

Hyunseung's also a magician?

            Hyuna was rushing out of her room, her adrenaline rushing. She hoped she wasn’t too late.

            Just before arriving at the dining hall, Hyuna hid herself behind a column and peered over at the person sitting alone next to the dining table. He was there, twiddling his thumbs, his gaze shifting to Hyuna’s direction every once in a while. Hyuna couldn’t help but smile.

            It was around 7:15 A.M. right now. It turns out that both Hyuna and Hyunseung were early birds, and they were always the first ones to come down for breakfast. Every day, they would chat with each other for a good thirty minutes before anybody would come down for breakfast. At least Hyuna thinks it was around thirty minutes. It seems that Hyuna and Hyunseung have been arriving earlier and earlier to breakfast. Now, even the cooks are still asleep when Hyuna and Hyunseung arrive.

            However, Hyuna overslept today. After checking the clock, Hyuna leapt out of bed and quickly got ready. She didn’t really know why she was so nervous about being late. They had always met up naturally, one before the other. Their rooms were actually pretty close to each other, one room on each side of the royals’ room. Still, they always met up in the dining hall.

            Coming out of her hiding place, Hyuna tried to nonchalantly walk in. Sensing Hyuna’s presence, Hyunseung looked up and smiled at her. No, he grinned. Hyuna felt her skin tingle, and she couldn’t help but grin back.

            “Sorry for being late today,” Hyuna apologized as she sat down next to him.

            “No worries. There’s no pre-arranged time, anyway,” Hyunseung’s grin faltered a little.

            Way to go, Hyuna, she thought to herself. Their meeting in general was a touchy subject. Talking about their meeting as if it were a… date… was useless. Hyuna shouldn’t be having romantic feelings for anyone, much less the king’s assistant. They were both in the same situation.

            “Anyway, how has the queen been doing?” Hyunseung, realizing Hyuna’s mood, quickly changed the subject. “Is she still very upset about the decisions made during the advisor meeting?”

            “She calmed down a bit,” Hyuna sighed. “But she’s being stubborn. Especially to the king. Honestly, I just wish they would just kiss and make up.”

            “They’ve definitely done the former,” Hyunseung smirked. “They were arguing a few nights ago, and in the midst of their argument, it suddenly turned quiet.”

            “I heard it too!” Hyuna’s eyes sparked as she turned her body to face Hyunseung. “But it must have been the spell. Victoria hasn’t been looking guilty lately, so if they did kiss, it wasn’t at their own will.”

            “You can read Victoria’s expressions pretty easily,” Hyunseung remarked. “Even though I’ve known Nichkhun for such a long time, I still can’t do that.”

            “Well, Nichkhun has an almost flawless poker face,” Hyuna stated matter-of-factly. “Victoria, on the other hand, her poker face is like a translucent screen. If you look hard enough, you can see past it.”

            “Still, you’ve been with her for a long time, right?”

            “Yeah, it’s been around ten years now. How about you and Nichkhun?”

            “We met around nine years ago.”

            “At school, right? That’s where I met Victoria.”

            “Really? You two met at school? But aren’t the both of you from the same country?”

            “Mere coincidence. Or maybe it was fate.”

            Hyuna smiled as she recalled the first day she met Victoria. “She was as reluctant to be assigned to me as she was with Nichkhun. She kept on complaining to the teacher that I was too shy and quiet.”

            “That’s a bit mean,” Hyunseung frowned.

            “Well, that’s how she is. Extremely straightforward,” Hyuna sighed. “Except for when it comes to love. Then she’d conceal her true feelings from everyone. Even from herself.”

            “She shows her affection to you, at least,” Hyunseung pointed out.

            “Only to me,” Hyuna suddenly grinned. “Because I was able to crack open her shell.”

            Hyunseung laughed. “And you’re trying to help Nichkhun crack open her shell as well?”

            “Yup!” Hyuna nodded with vigor. Her heart beat faster when she heard Hyunseung laugh again. “How about Nichkhun? How did he react when you two were assigned to each other?”

            “Oh, well, he didn’t really say much,” Hyunseung smirked at the thought. “Just looked at me and then looked away. It wasn’t until I beat him in combat did he even try to talk to me.”

            “Oh? How did you do that?” Hyuna asked. She knew that the king was not the best at combat. Even Victoria was nationally ranked higher than him. But then again, Victoria was surprisingly good at combat.

            “Well, since I’m a magician, I was allowed to use magic,” Hyunseung explained. He kind of looked like he didn’t want to talk about it. “The rules are different for magician-nonmagician combat. For Nichkhun, he only needed to touch me with his sword before the time limit. For me, I just needed to fend him off. But all the spells I cast must not have been prepared beforehand.”

             “Oh, I get it. It was kind of like a test of speed instead of strength,” Hyuna nodded with understanding. “But you must have been pretty good! Magicians create spells by manipulating the chi around a handful of sand, right?”

            “Yeah,” Hyunseung said without emotion. “You sit and meditate, and move the chi by the force of the mind.”

          Hyuna’s mouth formed a big O-shape. “So you are basically defenseless until your spell is ready.”

            Hyunseung nodded. “And even if your spell is ready, there is no guarantee that the spell works. You just throw the dust and hope for the best.”

            “That means your mind works really quickly,” Hyuna remarked.

            “Oh, I wish,” Hyunseung smiled bitterly. “I don’t think there’s a correlation between how fast your mind works and how potent your magic is.”

            “You’re not proud of your magic abilities?” Hyuna asked, surprised. Seeing his reluctant nod, her curiosity grew even more. “Why not?”

            “It only causes trouble,” Hyunseung said nonchalantly. “Many people don’t like magicians. They think we have an unfair advantage over them.”

            There was silence.

            “You were secretly hoping that they actually passed the law, weren’t you?” Hyuna asked. “The one where magicians can’t use magic in public?”

            “No!” Hyunseung defended. But after seeing Hyuna’s disbelief, he sighed. “And yes. At first, I did. I thought that maybe if they did pass that law, people wouldn’t hate me as much. But I understand their point. Restricting magicians will only create more hate.”

            “Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t hate you,” Hyuna stuck out her tongue. “Hehe. Victoria doesn’t hate you, Taecyeon doesn’t hate you, and Nichkhun most definitely doesn’t hate you.”

            “That’s one thing that I really do admire about Nichkhun,” Hyunseung added. “Nichkhun doesn’t discriminate. He sees everything for what it is. There is barely any… irrationality in his judgment.”

            “Victoria would disagree with that,” Hyuna smirked. “But yeah, I understand what you mean.”

            “That’s sort of why I’ve decided to give up practicing magic,” Hyunseung confessed.

            “What?” Hyuna was shocked. “But magic is a part of you!”

            “That’s the thing,” Hyunseung began to explain. “In many ways, magic is a very irrational and emotional practice. It is basically the opposite of logic and order. I’ve noticed that I’m a really irrational person. I have a hard time being able to see the whole picture. It’s hard to step away from the situation for me.”

            “So giving up magic is your way to gain rationality?” Hyuna was perplexed. She’s never heard of anyone doing this before.

            “Yes,” Just said resolutely. “Until I feel like I’m able to think logically. Until I can solve sixth grade math problems with ease.”

            “You aren’t able to solve sixth grade math problems?” Hyuna was surprised.

            “That’s what I mean,” Hyunseung pointed out. “It isn’t common for magicians to excel in mathematics. For some reason, it is much harder for them to grasp.”

            “The advisors are pretty logical, though,” Hyuna reasoned.

            “That’s because they are the best magicians in the country,” Hyunseung dismissed.

            “Geniuses, huh?” Hyuna raised her eyebrows.

            “Probably,” Hyunseung shrugged.

            Hmm, maybe Hyunseung is going on the right track after all, Hyuna thought to herself. I heard that there is a trench every magician has to pass before he or she can bring his or her magic to the next level. Maybe that trench is rationality.

After thinking about it more, Hyuna nodded. “Well, since you are going on this path, I will support you no matter what! You will definitely solve sixth grade math problems! In fact, you will even solve higher level math problems!”

            Hyunseung looked surprised. “Really?”

            “What?” Hyuna pouted. “You thought I wouldn’t approve?”

            “No, no,” Hyunseung quickly answered. Afterwards, he looked thoughtful. “It’s just that… that nobody really cheered me on before.”

            His face reddened after realizing what he just said.

            Hyuna laughed, suddenly feeling extremely giddy.

            “What’s so funny?” a voice came from the archway that led to the dining hall. It was Taecyeon.

            Ah, our time’s up, Hyuna thought. As always, it felt sort of disappointing.