Ch 4. Mirror Mirror

Hoya smiled sweetly, admiring the pretty pink and white blossoms glowing under the small crack of moonlight creeping through Gyu’s wooden shutters by the window. Thoughts of Dongwoo’s gentle smile awaiting his return sparked a warm flutter in the hunter’s heart. Since their last meeting, the witch doctor had imprinted himself upon Hoya, and their relationship had grown to become something much greater than strangers, than friends. Hoya realized that Dongwoo and his precious smile filled the dark, deep void left by Hoya’s evil ex-wife. Just the thought of Dongwoo’s sweet angelic face made Hoya feel breathless; the pink haired maiden truly was the fairest of the woodlands for he had stolen, captivated the cold tiger hunter’s heart.

    The purple-obsessed hunter found himself hopelessly lost in a love trance. LIfe was looking more peachy by the day; he even took up gardening as a hobby. The tiger hunter turned to the flower pots stationed by the window and lovingly admired how well they’re growing despite the thick and musty atmosphere of Gyu’s old house. It was hard to find a good place for the plants, so Hoya left them by the one window in the house that wasn’t permanently boarded up by the shutters and allowed some sunlight to pass through. The lovestruck man hummed a lovely tune softly as he sprinkled some water on the neatly arranged hoya flowers that Dongwoo had given him. The flowers glistened under the moonlight as droplets of water hit each petal. Hoya slightly yawned before setting down the watering can and heading to bed. Little did he know that the very flowers that he cared so much for, the flowers that represented his blooming love, might be threatened by a small trouble lurking just right around the corner.

    From the dark corners of Gyu’s house lurked a small black shadow that had stealthily made his way downstairs and hid behind the dusty tapestries. The small figure watched Hoya’s back as the latter curiously observed what the broad shouldered man was doing in the dark by the window. He waited for the man in the purple jammies to retire to his sleep before revealing himself in the open. Promptly after Hoya was out of the premises of the living room, Myungsoo tottered his way over to the window sill, analyzing Hoya’s flower pots. A cat’s smile crept upon his dimpled cheeks as he was intrigued by the flower in mid-bloom. The vampire child took a seat on the floor under the window as he scooted closer to Hoya Ahjusshi’s beloved plants. Each blossom grew more radiant in color and form as he continued to look at it from under the moonlight. The child couldn’t help but to be absolutely mesmerized and enchanted by the aesthetics. Rarely did he see anything so beautiful, fresh, and alive in his home.

    Myungsoo had a strange obsession for beauty and all things beautiful, so the child would find himself unable to turn away from anything that had captured his attention. The longer he stared at something, the more likely he lost himself in his own hypnotic trance. And this is exactly what he was doing with Hoya’s flowers. His ruby eyes grew wide with a spaced out expression, yet his lips were still curled in amazement. His pupils dilated and the irises of his eyes began to spiral with different splotches and shades of red as they turned as bright as a blinking LED safety light. The flower pots began to vibrate. Then one by one, the flowers turned into a muddy yellow-brown color, slowly wilting into dirt. Myungsoo had accidentally burned the flowers with his hypnotic eyes. He frowned, the expression in eyes quickly changing as the witnessed the flowers deteriorating one by one. He panicked and scanned each pot down the line with alarm and finally, the flower pots cracked in two. The vampire child quickly put both hands over his mouth to stifle a silent gasp as he witnessed the aftermath of Hoya’s poor precious flowers. Hoya ahjusshi will be very, very, very, very upset with him, but Myungsoo would argue that it wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t intend to kill the flowers. They were just too beautiful that Myungsoo forgot to turn off his hypnosis powers while staring at it. He didn’t do it intentionally; thing just happen. The child scurried quickly away from the crime scene and into the night.

        Myungsoo found himself on a familiar path. He knew his parents didn’t like him sneaking off into the night, but the incident with Hoya’s plants depressed the poor child. He frustratedly questioned himself why he must break everything he touched. The child found himself face to face with the very tree that his father tried to climb to fetch his frisbee.

Extending his claws, the vampire child began scaling the tree for it became his favorite place when he wanted some time alone. There was a special someone he always longed to see everyday of the week, every hour of the day, every minute, and every second. As Myungsoo seated himself on a familiar branch of which he found gave him the best view into the house’s window without revealing his presence, he saw the beautiful small person resting beautifully inside like an angel in the room that was dimly lit by an owl night light. The sleeping figure’s chest rose and fell gently with each breath, his body tucked under poofy blankets. Myungsoo could stare at the little boy in the window for hours and hours all night, or day for the vampire child, and only then will his heart seem to be at ease. Myungsoo could not comprehend how or even why he has such feelings for the being lying just behind the window. His blood smelled sweeter that anyone Myungsoo ever encountered, sweeter than the candied-blood that Hoya Ahjusshi made for Myunggie, and it was like he had fallen into a deadly addiction. Slowly, a curved smile appeared on his dimpled cheeks as he lied on his stomach on the broad tree branch with his hands propping up his head as he watched the beautiful person through the night.

It came to the point where he would ditch his old father on his regular trips to town to sell ginseng; Hoya accompanied Sunggyu in Myungsoo’s absence. Myungsoo was now a fledgling vampire with better control over his profound abilities (yet he still manages to piss off uncle Hoya as always). Just like fledging adults (teenagers), Myungsoo was out of control. Woohyun had a hard time with the boy nowadays, the first being that he abandoned his duty of helping his father sell the ginseng. The second being that Woohyun still had to spend money on mini bat-blood juice boxes, and the third being that Myungsoo was staying up too late past bedtime where he now has dark eye bags both from lack of sleep and sun exposure. Finally, what pisses Myungsoo’s mother the most was that the stupid teenager was almost never at home except for when he was sleeping. Woohyun worried for Sunggyu. Every evening, Gyu woke up early just before sunset to make his way down town. Myungsoo also woke, but he would tell Woohyun that he was “taking a walk”.

Every night while the vampire community was being productive, Myungsoo would spend his time at the tree beside Sungyeol’s house. Yes, just by observing the little boy behind the window, Myungsoo came to find out his name, his obsession with coffee, how the top drawer of his dresser is the underwear drawer, how he showers at exactly 8 o’clock each night, and that his blood type is type B (which happens to be Myungsoo’s personal favorite). Each night, Myungsoo would find out more and more of the boy behind the window.

Mirror, mirror, who is the fairest? Sungjong looked at the silver hand held mirror in his hands. It was a keepsake from his late mother. It was she who told him that he was pretty, she who pinched his cheeks every day and said, “Aigoo, my boy is so pretty just like umma. What a beauty.” After his mother passed away, Sungjong was sad, but he was more than anything, curious about the mirror that his mother always looked at. This magical mirror is the mirror of all truths. It tells the truth and nothing but the truth, and Sungjong demanded answers. Sungjong’s mother was an elegant woman that Sungjong respected. He loved his mother as she always made him feel accepted, telling him that he was beautiful, just like her, and that people will swoon over him. She told him that someone in their family is one of the Great Beauties.

After her passing, Sungjong stared at his face in the mirror everyday chanted the same magical verse: Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all. Enchanted mirror show me!!!!! Reveal to me who are the greatest beauties of the world?

           Sungjong chanted the verse hoping, wishing that the mirror will show him the truth, hoping to see himself amongst the greatest beauties of them all. And night by night it would show him only one thing, and it would reply to him:

            "The greatest in which you seek, is no one underneath;  a beauty that none can compare, may it put one in despair. Please specify your request. Would you like to search for choice A) The fairest of the village, B) the fairest of the woodlands, C) the Fairest of the house, or D) the fairest of them all

. To return to the main menu, please say “E”.        

“Aiiisssh, this darn thing,” Sungjong groaned.

“Request submitted. Choice A is what you seek. Searching for fairest of the village. Please stand by while content loads,” The mirror replied. A green, glowing hazy swirl appeared in the mirror for a good amount of time before an image of a woman sitting on the edge of a bathtub, doing what seems to be as shaving her legs. The mirror zoomed in towards the lady’s face. The words “Woohyun” appeared at the bottom of the mirror and and Sungjong pressed a button to expand the biography. It read:
    “Nam Woohyun, Princess of the Northern Mountains fairest of fair, despite all his body hair; But only of the village.”

“Ewww!”

“To return to the main menu, please say ‘E’”.

“E!” Sungjong said.

“Hello, and welcome to Umma’s magic mirror. To request a truth--”

“B!” Sungjong was slightly impatient.

“Request submitted. Choice B is what you seek. Searching for fairest of woodlands. Please stand by while content loads,” Again, the green haze began spiraling. This time, it showed an image of a pink haired lady behind a counter who had a radiant smile. She was smiling at a man who seemed to be heavily armed and ready for a hunt. “Dongwoo” appeared at the bottom of the moving image.

            Sungjong stared at the scene projecting inside the mirror feeling a small prang of envy wash over him. Out of curiosity the fairy pressed on a button revealing a more detail description below:

             "Jang Dongwoo, fairest of the woodlands;  seeking for a husband. Destiny reveals, the only one that appeal; Lee Howon."

Getting frustrated, Sungjong yelled, “D! D! DDDDD!”

“Request submitted. Choice D is what you seek. Searching for fairest of them all. Please stand by while content loads,” The mirror began to spiral. “Connection error. Please press here to try again *presses*”. This time, the image was a bit dark at first, but it soon cleared up. It seemed to be a softly lit window, and a gorgeous boy was looking out of it. The words “Sungyeol” appeared at the bottom. The mirror tone seem to change into a condescending tone as it spoke to him:

            "The one in which you seek, so beautiful and meek. The FAIREST OF THE ALL, one who could make you cry at the Ball; Lee Sungyeol!"

Sungyeol's image appeared in front of him with a glowing radiance,  provided by the special effects the mirror had filtered in. Skin white as snow, lips red as roses,  and eyes bright as the stars on a lovely night. His figure elegant and defined. Truly no beauty could compare. The added description made a small vein inside Sungjong popped as he grip onto the magic mirror.

Sungjong was mad. “It can’t be…”

Sungjong was more than mad, he was appalled. It just can’t be. Denial washed over him. It doesn’t make sense. Umma had always told him that he was the most beautiful of all, how can this be magic mirror? Why? She never told him which one of the Greatest Beauties, but has she been sugar-coating him all these years? Is he not good enough to be the prettiest of the land? Has his mother been lying to him?! There was only one choice left and Sungjong dreaded to press it. He scoffed. At least he was the prettiest of the house right? Out of all his siblings, out of all his family members, he was the prettiest right? Sungjong comes from a line of fairies, so he has to be the fairest of something right? That’s still something…

“Main menu. Please speak what you seek to find.”

“C…” Sungjong whispered defeatedly.

“Request submitted Choice C is what you seek. Searching for fairest of house. Please stand by while content loads.”

Sungjong was nervous. His hands were sweaty. It has to be him, he is the prettiest of the house and that’s final. “I. Am. Pretty.” He chanted in his head.

A picture of his mother popped up.

“AIISSHH. UMMA. UMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! HOW COULD YOU?!!? I-I- THIS IS THE STUPIDEST THING EVER GAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Request submitted. Searching for handsomest of them all, also stupidest... Please stand by while content loads.”

A dark image appeared. Two glowing red dots then appeared in the image where the darkness eventually faded to show the perfect face of of a young man with curled lips. “Myungsoo.” The text appeared at the bottom of the image. Sungjong broke out of his trance of anger and aggravation, mesmerized by the face in the mirror. The lovely man in the mirror appeared with tousled hair and  perfect red lips curving in a galante smirk. His form well proportioned fitting into his black victorian suit handsomely like a prince charming.  

          A new feeling overtook him. Sungjong had found his new hope. To marry the handsomest of them all, which could possibly put him in the position of being the fairest. This handsome being had captured his heart and the only thing Sungjong intended to do was capture his heart.