I’m in love with a fairytale

(Jiyong's P.O.V)

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Sent: Wednesday, 7:57 p.m.

T.O.P, I need your help! There is a competition I’m taking part in and I have to design a collection (6 outfits), but I don’t have any ideas!!! I don’t know how it is even possible, but it seems that my mind is full of other stuff and I can’t concentrate on creating anything… T___T The theme of the first stage is “Childhood” what makes matters even worse… I would normally invent something, but there is a lot going on at school recently, and I’m still thinking about some trouble I had caused to my friend… We were made to work as a team and the problem is that I feel I have to impress that person. But how can I even dream about it, when I have a black hole in my mind!

You’re the one who always gives me inspiration, so please help me~! I’m sure that just reading the topic was enough for you to get a right association!

I count on you!

Yours,

GD

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Sent: Wednesday, 9:34 p.m.

Oh, it seems that we’re taking part in the same competition :) And you’re right - I got an idea at the same moment I heard that “Childhood” is the theme… But I guess I can’t share it with you :( I’m sure that you would eventually find a good way out of your problem and something will come to your mind!

Maybe you should try asking your friend for advice? The person may occur to be your new source of inspiration, when I’m not able to help you. If you work as a team, you should spend some time together and invent something! Don’t hesitate to open yourself up to new possibilities!

Tell me about any progress!

Take care,

T.O.P

~~~~~~

I leant against a bus window and sighed. It was slowly getting dark outside and I started wondering, if I would be able to recognise the area, where I should take off the bus. My sister had drawn me a map, but I was almost sure I would get lost and never find the place where Seunghyun would be waiting for me. I looked at my watch and praised myself mentally for leaving the house an hour before the meeting. It gave me chance that I would eventually find a way to the café and appear on time. I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath to calm down. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going out somewhere with Seunghyun. It all seemed so unrealistic that I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. How is it possible that it actually is happening? I recalled the events from Wednesday and although it was Friday today, I could remember them clearly, as if they had happened minutes ago.

Even though I wanted to do everything to clear Seunghyun of all charges, he had a completely different attitude towards the whole case. To my surprise, he told the headmaster that it was him who had hit me, but explained that he hadn’t done it deliberately. I had a chance to listen to his detailed description of that imaginary situation, because after having my wound taken care of, I was led to the headmaster’s office. Seunghyun ‘confessed’ everything without hesitation and the headmaster believed him. I shouldn’t have been surprised - he had a really good reputation at school and was liked by all the teachers. I was also sure that his buzzer beater and an awesome overall performance during the match made the headmaster look at him differently. During Seunghyun’s speech I tried not to look confused. Moments before I had been planning how to explain the incident, but Seunghyun brought the situation under his control without my support.

He didn’t take care of himself, but of his brother. I didn’t realise it at once, but later, when we left the office to let the teachers discuss the case, Seunghyun told me that after Dongwook’s brawl with a teacher, he had been given an ultimatum. He had to prevent Dongwook from causing any trouble and if he ever failed to do so, they both would be expelled. I was aware that the headmaster had agreed to let Dongwook stay at school, only if Seunghyun was always by his side, but I had no idea that the situation was so serious and Seunghyun himself would pay for Dongwook’s every misbehaviour.

When he told me that, I was so glad that I wasn’t courageous enough to protest and hadn’t said a word in the office. That would have destroyed Seunghyun’s plan. I was thankful to myself that I had decided to remain silent and only nodded from time to time, when I had been asked, if everything, what Seunghyun had been talking about, was true.

We were sitting next to each other onthe couch in the secretary’s office, waiting for Seunghyun’s punishment to be pronounced, when he suddenly grabbed my chin and made me look at him. My heart was beating like crazy, when he touched the plaster on the corner of my mouth and brushed it gently with his thumb.

“Does it still hurt?” He asked me, with his look so full of sympathy and sorrow that I internally fought against myself not to hug him to nonverbally tell him ‘everything is alright, don’t worry’. In reaction I only shook my head, although my wound was still painful. I didn’t want to worry him.

His finger moved from the plaster to my lower lip and I felt I was losing my senses. He did it the second time this day and I couldn’t stop wondering what could it mean. 

“Can I ask you something?” He said suddenly and looked me in the eyes.

A shiver ran down my spine and I only nodded.

God, he is probably thinking that I can’t speak at all.

Seunghyun looked down, probably trying to find right words, but when he opened his mouth to speak, the headmaster suddenly appeared in the room. We both jumped away from each other. Fortunately, the man hadn’t seen anything confusing, because he started speaking without reluctance.  My jaw almost dropped, when I heard what the teachers decision was. As a compensation for hurting me, Seunghyun had to help me with preparations for the designing competition.

I must have been a really good child the whole year, because I got the best gift ever a month before Christmas.

Seunghyun also seemed satisfied with such an outcome of events. At first, he was as surprised as I was, but then smirked under his breath and that flicker appeared again in his eyes. It made my heart stop for a second and when it started beating again, it sent even more warm blood to my cheeks. He really does want to work with me!

It was Mrs. Hwang who came up with that idea. Having listened to Seunghyun’s story, she felt guilty that she had accused him so easily and hadn’t given him a chance to explain himself. That was why she had done everything to defuse the situation and decided that it would be a great solution to make us work together.

“Combining your drawing skills and Seunghyun’s imagination gives you 100% chance to win this competition,” she later told me and I knew she was right.

The headmaster expressed his hope that we would proudly represent our school with the best results and let us go. There was only one problem - this morning I had left home wearing only my school blazer. I reluctantly reminded myself how Dongwook had pushed me out of my own house and pointlessly hoped that Seunghyun wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t wearing a coat in the middle of November.

He actually did notice and insisted on hearing what had happened in the morning. Considering my overall disability to talk to Seunghyun, all I could do was say one word: “Dongwook”.

Seunghyun turned pale and stood like frozen for a while, then his expression changed. He took my hand and we went to his locker. He handed me his spare football jacket and willy-nilly, I had to put it on. It was far too big, but to my own surprise, I felt very comfortable in it. It smelled like Seunghyun and it was so pleasurable to wear something belonging to him. I almost felt like a footballer’s girlfriend.

That day Seunghyun walked me home. We talked, or rather he was talking, about the competition and how we should plan our work. We were walking shoulder-to-shoulder and sometimes our palms touched, what made my heart lift every time it happened. Seunghyun glanced at me from time to time to check, if I was listening to him. I hid half of my face in the big collar of his jacket, not to let him see my embarrassment. At first I had been extremely happy thinking about our cooperation, but now I realised that it would probably be the hardest task ever. I felt so nervous that I wasn’t even able to concentrate on the theme of the first stage. Seunghyun made me feel that way. I doubted that anything good could come out of it. How was I supposed to collaborate with Seunghyun, when I felt too shy and overwhelmed to even say a word?!

When we reached my house, Seunghyun put a hand on my shoulder and made me look at him.

“You were so silent today,” he stated.

I wanted to answer, but no explanation came to my mind, so again I only nodded.

I’m so pathetic.

Seunghyun laughed and patted my head.

“You’re adorable,” he said, smiling at me. All I wanted was to sink into the jacket. “I guess you’ll have to get used to talking to me without alcohol running in your veins.”

I couldn’t help giggling quietly. He was right. I made a resolution that I would do everything to behave normally being next to him.

Seunghyun made a move and found himself so close to me that for a second I was sure he was going to kiss my forehead. Shock must have been visible on my face, because he suddenly stopped and only brushed some hair out of my face.

“See you tomorrow at school,” he said, slightly embarrassed.

“Okay,” I managed to answer. Wow, it was a progress.

He turned around and started walking down the driveway. I wrapped my arms around myself and then realised that I was still wearing his jacket.

“Seunghyun-ssi!” I shouted. I could hear his laughter and knew he was amused by my sudden attempt to call him with greater respect. When he looked back, still grinning, I decided I would keep his jacket for now. “Thank you for everything!” I exclaimed instead, proud of myself that I managed to say something out loud.

Seunghyun only saluted in reaction. I waved him goodbye and quickly entered the house.

The first thing I did, when I came to my room, was writing to T.O.P. He was the only person who could help me with dealing with my problem. However, his answer filled me with disappointment. He was also taking part in that competition, what meant that I wouldn’t be able to ask him for advice. The only good thing was that he had encouraged me to focus on cooperation with Seunghyun. I somehow got used to fulfilling every T.O.P’s suggestion, so I felt a lot of motivation and it appeased me a little.

I spent the whole night sleeping in Seunghyun’s jacket. Its scent quickly lulled me and thanks to it I could dream about pleasant things.

On Tuesday I decided to take matters in my own hands, but Seunghyun was again quicker than me. He told me he knew a special place and wanted to show it to me. Of course, I couldn’t say no, not only because it was Seunghyun, but also because of T.O.P who advised me to ‘spent more time with my friend’.

And that was exactly why I found myself on that bus. I came back to full awareness just on time. The bus stopped and I recognised the name of the street where I was supposed to take off. I grabbed my bag and jumped off the vehicle. I slipped on the frozen pavement, but managed to regain balance and avoided a close meeting with the ground. The bus drove away, leaving me alone in the unknown area. I found Dami’s map in my pocket and started analysing it. When I finally managed to identify some buildings and streets, I started following my sister’s directions and, to my own astonishment, didn’t get lost.

The neighbourhood seemed quite unfriendly, but I blamed it on the poor weather and late time of the day. The roads were hardly lit and there weren’t many lights in the windows of buildings I was passing by. It was Friday afternoon, so I supposed that everyone had left the suburbs and went to the city centre to celebrate the end of working weekdays.

Two cross-streets later, I heard a quiet melody and involuntarily started searching for my phone in pockets and bag, because I was sure it was Seunghyun calling me to say he had already reached the place. Only after a few seconds did I realise that it wasn’t my ringtone and I actually hadn’t given my phone number to Seunghyun. I cursed myself for doing things before thinking and slapped my forehead. Having done a mental note for myself that I should somehow get Seunghyun’s number, I started listening to that unfamiliar melody, which was still playing somewhere in the distance. I followed the music and soon found myself right in front of a small café. A signboard hung above decorated door proclaimed that it was “Land of Sweets” - the place I was looking for. I couldn’t believe my own luck!

I smiled to myself and decided to go inside. I putmy hand on the handle and pushed the door, making a step forward. I couldn’t anticipate that this action would let me cross the border between real world and magical land of fairytales. I wasn’t ready for all of the wonderful scents and beautiful interiors that appeared around me, so it hit me with redoubled power, almost sweeping me off my feet. The unmistakable aroma of gingerbread and hot chocolate reached my nostrils and I breathed in, letting my lungs fill with scents of happiness. Now I could easily recognise the melody that led me here. Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the sugar plum fairy” made me sure that I found myself in the world of the Nutcracker. The sounds from the music box enchanted me and I started looking around the room in a daze. I had never seen such an amazing place. I had completely forgotten about the cold and dark November evening outside and all my eyes could see at that moment were wonderful decorations which gave the place that special character. I couldn’t stop admiring all the wooden toys, porcelain dolls and enormous teddy bears, which occupied every corner of the room. I slowly approached the Christmas tree, which was longing for my attention for a longer while, and when I touched one of its green branches, I realised it was a real tree. Normally, I would think that it was too much - creating a Christmas atmosphere a month too early, but currently I was so bewildered that I stood in awe of the sparkling candles and ornaments and I was sure I would never say a bad word about this café. It gave me a chance to experience the true magic of fairy-tale-like Christmas I had only dreamed about.

I was watching my joyful expression in one of the glass ornaments, when I suddenly felt someone’s hands covering my eyes. My heartbeat quickened as heat of another person’s body was pressed to my back. I already knew who it was.

“Guess who?” Seunghyun’s warm breath brushed my cold earlobe as he spoke in his low voice. A tingling sensation overtook my body. I was about to say his name, but he continued: “I will give you a hint. I’m the commander of gingerbread soldiers and my body is made of wood. But if you show me enough affection, I will turn into a charming prince.”

His sudden mood for role-playing had really amused me.

“The Nutcracker,” I answered and giggled under my breath. I reached my hands towards Seunghyun’s palms on my face and when my fingers touched his, I added: “So am I supposed to be Clara?”

Seunghyun took my hand and turned me around to face him. It almost felt like we were dancing.

I finally could see his wonderful smile. We hadn’t run into each other today at school, so I unexpectedly felt I had missed him. For the hundredth time, I noticed that my feelings were out of tune; my mood could change abruptly whenever I found myself near Seunghyun. Still, I was too afraid to name the cause of it.

Seunghyun was wearing a woolen sweater put on a shirt, and a pair of brown trousers, but what attracted my greatest attention were glasses in dark frames. I had never seen him wear them before, but I had to admit it made him look even more handsome. I had doubted that it was even possible, but it seemed Seunghyun would never cease to amaze me.

“Here you can be whoever you want,” Seunghyun replied to my question and squeezed my hand gently. “Can I take your jacket?”

I quickly took off the football jacket and handed it to him.

“It’s actually yours…,” I mumbled with blush appearing on my cheeks. “Sorry, that I’ve kept it…”

“Don’t worry,” Seunghyun said, smiling. “I want you to have it. It belongs to you now,” he added and sweet joy rushed through my body. “Follow me.”

Seunghyun hanged the jacket on the coat hanger standing near the entrance and showed me the way to the place, where he had already left his stuff. All the furniture in the café was antique and probably dated back to the beginning of previous century. Our table was round and covered with lacy tablecloth. I sat on the semicircular old sofa and wondered, if Seunghyun had chosen such a seat deliberately. Tonight he behaved like a real gentleman and it all seemed like a date, but I forced myself not to think about it in such categories. It was a business meeting, after all. And I had to remember that we were supposed to work.

Suddenly, I started feeling a bit stressed. I hoped that Seunghyun wouldn’t demand me to come up with any ideas, because my creative thinking was limited in his presence. He joined me after a few minutes with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his one hand and a book in a leather binding in the other.

“Before we start working, I want you to taste some of the delicious cakes they serve here,” he said, taking a seat on the opposite side of the sofa, so that he could look straight at me. He gave me the mysterious book he had been holding and I realised it was a menu. “Choose anything you would like to try. It’s my treat.”

I started leafing through the pages, impressed by the amount of desserts, cakes and hot drinks the café had in its offer. At the right moment I finally made up my mind and chose a ‘Marzipan Palace’ cake and ‘Christmas Woods’ - hot milk chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon, a waitress dressed in a beautiful purple dress approached our table. She was very tall and slender, her hair was dyed honey blond and she had puffy cheeks and glimmering make-up. It all made her look like a fairy and I assumed that she actually was one. I looked around the room and noticed that all the waiters and other staff members were dressed as characters from “The Nutcracker” and the girl in front of me was probably Sugar Plum Fairy, whose theme music had led me here.

“Oppa!” she exclaimed in a sweet voice, when she saw Seunghyun. Something knotted inside me and I sent her an angry look. “I see that you’ve brought a friend this time!” She smiled at me happily. I guessed she hadn’t noticed my expression.

“Yeah,” Seunghyun answered, smirking. He hasn’t noticed it either, has he? “We have a project we’re working on and your café will be our source of inspiration.”

“Oh, that’s great!” She started clapping her hands and hopping at a spot.

I frowned, surprised by her behaviour. She seemed to have mentality of a five-year-old girl. She suddenly turned to me and put out her hand.

“My name is Bom! Nice to meet you, Oppa’s friend!” She said, but I barely heard her.

When she had made the sudden gesture, I noticed that the fabric her dress was made of, wasn’t a typical satin. It was covered with a thin layer of semitransparent thin organza, probably a combination of artificial silk and silver thread with some shiny specks sewn to it, which made the dress glitter in a good light.

Seunghyun cleared his throat and I took my eyes off of the girl’s dress to look at him questioningly. He raised a brow, smiling wide, and nodded at Bom’s hand which was still drawn to me. I took a sharp breath, when I realised I had been staring at girl’s sleeve, carefully analysing its texture, while she wanted to greet me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I mumbled, too ashamed to look at her face, and quickly shook her hand. “My name is Jiyong,” I added and all I wanted was to curl up and die.

Bom seemed unaffected by my strange behaviour and without any needless comments she accepted our orders and quickly disappeared behind the kitchen door.

“I had no idea you’re that much into fashion,” Seunghyun said with a smile that still hadn’t disappeared from his face.

I shrugged my shoulders, cheeks burning.

“It seems that I am,” I murmured, keeping my eyes downcast.

Seunghyun chuckled and started looking for something in his bag. He eventually put out some pieces of paper and I managed to read upside down that they were enrollment forms. Seunghyun glanced through the columns and mumbled something about unnecessary paper work.

“Okay,” he sighed. “We had to fill this thing and then we will concentrate on the ideas for our collection. Do you have a pen?” He added, having put everything out of his pencil case. I smiled to myself, having noticed that there were only crayons in different shades of blue, and couldn’t get rid of a sudden feeling that it reminded me of something important. However, I wasn’t able to remember what it was, so I concentrated on finding a pen in the depths of my bag.

“Here you are,” I handed the object to Seunghyun and watched him write the date and some other information on the first page.

“So… The next point is ‘The name of team and nicknames of members’,” he read aloud. “Do you have any nickname we can write here?”

I clasped my hands on my lap under the table and bit my lip. I glanced at Seunghyun, who was looking at me expectantly, and I realised that it would be the first time I revealed my pseudonym to anyone. It seemed like no big deal, but in fact it was a great step for me.

But it’s Seunghyun, I told myself. It won’t make any difference, if I tell him.

 “Well… I have one,” I started speaking after drawing a deep breath. “But it’s quite embarrassing, so don’t laugh, okay?” I asked him, looking straight into his eyes. I surprised myself by finding courage to resist his glance. Seunghyun nodded and I continued. “Some time ago I invented something… I wanted it to be simple and catchy, so all I did was transforming my name-” My voice stuck in my throat, so I swallowed hard. Seunghyun was still watching me, anticipation visible in his expression. “I took ‘Ji’ and wrote it as the letter ‘G’ and then translated Yong into English… And what I got was-“

“G-Dragon,” Seunghyun suddenly whispered and brightness flared in his eyes. A pleasant shiver ran down my spine. Having shared my secret nickname with someone, I felt delightful lightness, especially because that person was Seunghyun. I knew he wouldn’t take any advantage of it and what was more, he couldn’t have any idea who G-Dragon was in the koreafahion.kr society.

“I know it’s funny and child-“

“It’s not funny. I really like it,” Seunghyun interrupted me. “And I think it suits you.”

I blushed, taken aback by his sudden outburst. “A-and what have you written in your column?”

“Oh.” Seunghyun suddenly looked as confused as I was. “I wrote ‘Tempo’. It’s an old nickname from junior high...”

He scratched his head and avoided looking me in the eyes. I pouted and started playing with the edges of the sleeves of my sweatshirt, unable to deal with the tension around us. Fortunately, the waitress named Bom chose that moment to bring us our cakes and a big mug of hot chocolate for me. I mentally thanked her for appearing and then she winked at me. I almost dropped the teaspoon I was holding in my hand. She’s a real fairy!, I shouted internally and started apologising to her in my mind for having thought such nasty things about her before. Bom, however, excellently pretended not to have her magical abilities and only wished us to enjoy our meal.

I decided to try the chocolate first. Taking only a one sip was enough for me to compare the wonderful taste with the cocoa my grandma used to prepare for me whenever I visited her in winter. And if something could be compared with my grandma’s speciality, it meant it was really good.

Seunghyun’s chuckle woke me from dreaminess.

“You’ve got whipped cream moustache,” he said, giggling.

“Oh!” I quickly off the cream from my upper lip, angry at myself that I hadn’t felt it earlier. “It’s almost impossible for me to eat something without making my face dirty,” I explained, before I bit my tongue.

We both laughed and I thanked my inability to drink chocolate with cream for relaxing the atmosphere.

“Did you bring your sketchbook?” Seunghyun asked and I shook my head.

“The one I was using is completely damaged and I didn’t have time to buy a new one.”

“And what about the drawings? I didn’t manage to see all of them, but what I did see was great,” he said and I couldn’t help feeling proud.

“I had scanned most of them right after drawing, so I can show you the rest someday,” I told him happily. “But they are quite monotonous. Some designs and a few portraits of my sister, some random people and… you,” I bit my lip, waiting for his reaction to my confession. I had no idea what came over me, but I suddenly felt I had to explain him who the blue-haired person from my drawings was. Before Mrs. Hwang had led me out of the classroom on Wednesday, I had noticed that Seunghyun was holding one of those pictures.

“Me?” He repeated in surprise and I nodded.

“The guy with blue hair… You picked up that drawing, when I accidentally pushed the sketchbook off the teacher’s desk.” I looked down feeling his shocked gaze on me. “Don’t be mad,” I blurted out.

My quick change of attitude must have amused him, because he started laughing.

“How could I be mad at you?” He said and put something on the table in front of me.

I raised my gaze and identified the object. “A sketchbook?” I asked, admiring its fancy cover. The name of a prestigious company written in the right corner ensured me that it must have been really expensive. “It’s yours?”

Seunghyun shook his head, taking the sketchbook in his hands and showed me its back cover. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but then I noticed something written at the bottom. The inscription said: ‘Kwon Jiyong’. If I didn’t know Seunghyun’s nature, I would think it was a joke.

“Oh my…,” I whispered in astonishment. “Is it really…? Are you sure I can take it?”

“My brother destroyed your old one and you have to draw the designs of our collection somewhere, so I bought it for you. If you don’t want to disappoint me, you have to accept it,” he said, bringing a wide grin to my lips.

“Of course I will accept it!” I answered joyfully and didn’t manage to prevent myself from hugging the gift. “Thank you so much, Seunghyun!”

“My pleasure,” he said and drank his coffee.

I was adoring my new sketchbook and perfect smooth texture of white pages made of the paper of highest quality, when another familiar piece of music reached my ears. “The waltz of snowflakes!” I exclaimed.

“It’s my favourite piece from ‘The Nutcracker’,” Seunghyun told me, his chin propped in his hand. “Though I’m not really keen on classical music. It’s all because of the fairy-tale atmosphere it creates, I suppose.”

I smiled, understanding what he meant. “This is exactly why I like Tchaikovsky’s ballets.”

“So it seems it was a good idea to invite you here.”

I nodded quickly, “The place is like taken out of books I used to read being a child.”

“Did you have your favourite one?”

I considered my answer for a short while. “Not really… I liked a lot of them, but I can’t say I indentified myself with a particular character or situation… .”

“When you said it, I realised I have always felt the same,” Seunghyun said, nibbling at his chocolate cake. He suddenly sat up straight and made his eyes meet mine. “I have an idea. Let’s invent our own fairytale.”

 “Our own fairytale?” I repeated, surprised. Aren’t we supposed to do something slightly different?

“Yeah! With our own characters and storyline,” he explained, so full of enthusiasm that I decided to take part in it, just to please him. I nodded and started eating my marzipan cake, while Seunghyun began telling his story. “Once upon a time, far far away from here, there lived a Prince who ruled his peaceful and rich dukedom. He was admired and loved by everyone, but he felt very lonely in his enormous palace. He spent every year watching changing seasons from his chambers and left them only on the first day of each period of the year…”

“There was a special tradition in his country saying that the ruler should visit one of four districts named after a season to greet his minions and admire the work they had performed during the whole year,” I got really involved into Seunghyun’s story and wanted to add my ideas, which unexpectedly flooded my mind.

Seunghyun smiled at me proudly and easily followed my idea.

“Each such visit required a special outfit which had to represent the characteristic features of a particular season. The Prince had always designed the outfits himself, but after some years he suddenly felt a lack of inspiration. It was the time, when winter was coming to an end, so the Prince prepared his last costume and made his way to the Spring district,” he stopped, letting me continue.

“Between the Spring and Winter districts there was an area occupied by the poorest citizens. Among them there was a boy known as Tailor who was renowned for sewing beautiful dresses out of nothing. He collected rags and pieces of different fabrics and turned them into beautiful clothes for his sisters and cousins. One day, when he was looking for some pieces of cloth in the streets, he noticed a golden carriage going down the road. He realised it must have been the Prince heading towards the Spring district.”

Seunghyun didn’t seem surprised by the appearance of a new character and smoothly continued the story.

“The Tailor decided to ignore the presence of the ruler and he kept on going, but suddenly he noticed something glimmering in the sunshine in the middle of the road. As he had come closer, he saw a golden horseshoe, which must have belonged to one of Prince’s horses,” he silenced and let me develop my character my own way.

“He couldn’t believe his own eyes. He picked up the horseshoe and hid it in his pocket. Filled with joy, he ran as fast as he could to reach the main square of the Spring district. He wanted to sell the horseshoe and buy lots of expensive fabrics, he would normally never afford. However, he had forgotten that the market was closed on that day due to Prince’s visit...,” I stopped to drink my chocolate, which had already cooled down, but Seunghyun didn’t want to speak now. He waited until I quenched my thirst and I came back to telling the story. “Many people were hurrying towards the square and the Tailor suddenly bumped into a little girl. She had been holding a basket full of fruits which landed on her dress, damaging it completely. The girl started crying and Tailor felt guilty. He took the girl out of the crowd and decided to help her. He transformed her dress using the scraps of fabrics he had collected earlier and coloured it with juice of fruits.”

“He hadn’t noticed that the whole time his actions were observed by the Prince who was amazed by Tailor’s skills,” Seunghyun took over the story again. “When the Tailor finished his work and let the girl go, the Prince approached him, making the boy speechless and confused. The Prince felt that the boy might have been a solution to his problems, so he wanted to get to know him. When he heard that Tailor lived on the streets of area between districts, he offered him a chamber in his palace as a new home in exchange for his company and help with designing seasonal outfits.”

“The Tailor felt so overawed in the presence of the Prince, who turned out be a charming and kind-hearted person, that without hesitation he gave him back the golden horseshoe. It only confirmed what the Prince had thought about the Tailor. He took him to his palace and both of them found happiness,” I felt we were reaching the end, so I tried to sum up the story properly. “The Tailor could use the best fabrics and let his family lead a wealthier life…”

“…and the Prince had found a great companion and never again felt lack of inspiration,” Seunghyun added and we smiled at each other.

Seunghyun drank his coffee to the end and then said only one word: “Wow.”

He didn’t have to say anything more. I knew exactly how he felt. I had never experienced anything like that, such a connection between two people. I was so proud of myself that we managed to break the ice and I was actually building compound sentences, while talking to Seunghyun. He also must have noticed it, because he seemed deeply satisfied.

I realised that I was holding a pencil in my hand and glanced down. Two pages of the sketchbook were covered with some messy drawings, depicting the Prince, or rather Seunghyun, in seasonal outfits, the little girl wearing dress made by the Tailor and the Tailor himself, resembling my person.

“It seems that we have an idea for the collection,” Seunghyun voiced my own thoughts and moved closer to me to see what I had drawn. We were now sitting next to each other and Seunghyun rested his hand on my shoulder. This unexpected closeness almost made me swoon, but I tried to stay calm on the surface.

“You’ve done a really good job here,” he said, having analysed the sketches. “This is exactly how I imagined it,” he looked at me and my heart started racing in my chest, because of the closeness of our faces. Seunghyun chuckled suddenly.

“You were right about your eating like a piglet,” he stated. “You have some cake in the corner of your mouth.”

I felt stunned and for a while all the sounds around us were muffled. All I could hear were my own heartbeats. At that short moment, I was sure Seunghyun was going to kiss me, but after a few seconds of hesitation, he only used his thumb to get rid of the small crumb from my face.

Deeply disappointed, I blamed everything on my vivid imagination and stupid expectations that were never going to come true. Seunghyun couldn’t feel the same way I felt about him and I had only convinced myself he wanted to kiss me. Pure stupidity.

When after an hour or two Seunghyun went to the counter to pay for our meal, Bom approached the table and started cleaning it.

“Jiyong-ssi,” she suddenly spoke, making me jump at a spot. I looked at her and she bent down to face me. “You know what it means, when a boy touches your lips, right?” She asked in a quiet voice and I froze. She either had observed us or really possessed a magical ability of seeing people’s auras. “You know it?” She repeated, because I hadn’t reacted in any way. This time I nodded, afraid that Seunghyun may appear in any moment. Bom seemed content. “Great. So don’t forget what I will tell you,” she made dramatic pause and looked me in the eyes without blinking. “Don’t give up on your feelings. He does want to kiss you.”

I took her words to heart, believing in her fairy magic. However, Seunghyun didn’t kiss me that evening. He didn’t do it during the next week, when we were meeting every afternoon in arts classroom to finish and correct the designs. Nothing happened when we went together to a post office to send our entry. Another week passed and I slowly started doubting in the Sugar Plum Fairy’s power.

On the first day of December, I decided to stop behaving like a princess waiting in the tower for a prince charming. The weather seemed to change along with my attitude, because the temperature suddenly dropped below 0 and I wasn’t able to wear only Seunghyun’s football jacket instead of a coat anymore. That day was also special, because it was set as a date, when we would get the results of the first stage of the competition. I was sure we did our best and our interpretation of the theme was very innovative and original (Who could also have invented their own fairytale?), but still the anticipation made me feel worried.

During the long break I ran into Seunghyun and together we went to the arts classroom. I wanted to show him my latest drawing, because it was his wish to see anything I drew in the sketchbook he had given me. It had become our routine and after a few times I had stopped being afraid of his opinion.

I had barely put out the sketchbook from my bag, when the door of the classroom opened. A girl with curly hair looked around the room and nodded to herself, when she noticed us.

“Are you Kwon Jiyong and Choi Seunghyun?” She asked, approaching us with an envelope in her hand.

“Yeah,” I answered in a shaky voice.

“Mrs. Hwang told me to give it to you,” she handed me the envelope and left the classroom.

My hands were trembling, when I opened the letter. I scanned through the text and relief filled my body, when I finally found the phrase I was looking for.

‘You have qualified to enter the second stage of the Competition…’

My heart lifted and I turned around to face Seunghyun, who had read the letter over my shoulder. I wanted to hug him for joy, but he suddenly leant to me and his soft lips touched mine in a gentle kiss. I felt heat rush through my body and in a sudden act of self-confidence I wrapped my hands around Seunghyun’s neck and responded to that kiss. I loved the way his lips moved against mine and the touch of his manly palm supporting the back of my head. I had waited for this moment long enough, but this fantastic feeling was worth it. I prayed it could last forever. I didn’t want to wake up from this marvellous dream, like it had happened to Clara in ‘The Nutcracker’. I was holding my Prince in my arms and it was my plan to never let him go.