I sat at my desk, with all my notes clattered before me, and only the night lamp was illuminating everything. Lists for technicalities, like for props, makeup, wardrobe and lighting crews were all checked and double-checked. The small post-it notes on them were also reviewed, and organized for my reading. My copy of the script was almost unrecognizable, with scraps of scribbled papers left and only bound by three paper clips.

Tomorrow, all this will come to life. All that’s left is –

My phone rang. I grinned as I identified the caller ID.

My finger slid on the green icon. “I was expecting your call.”

I could imagine the female on the other line narrowing her eyes. Sometimes I wondered if she ever noticed that habit of hers. “Tch. You did tell me to inform you about the ending,” she grunted.

I felt myself giggle. It was such fun to tease someone so easily riled up as her. I heard her huff on the other line. “So… how have you decided to end tomorrow’s play, Snow White?” I asked as I grabbed my notebook and readied myself to jot down anything necessary.

The first thing I did as soon as I stepped into the grounds of Hwan Haneul High School was to dial up her phone. As I expected from my dear sister, she did not pick up and the call went to voicemail.

I left a message still. “Noona, if you didn’t get my earlier messages, then I’ll say it again. I’m here to bring you back home.”

I ended the message and slipped my phone back into my pocket. I took a quick look around the premises.

For a school that was built at the side of town I was not familiar with, it looked impressive with pretty red bricks and the English gothic architecture. From all the tents and stalls set up around the school compound, all leading up to the amphitheater building that held the indoor events, they certainly knew how to throw a festival.

Judging from how they made the whole festival open to public... I smirked as I shoved both my hands in the pockets of my bomber jacket. “Noona’s going to get so nervous for the show later.”

As I walked through the crowded walkway in between the stalls, I could see some girls passing out a bunch of fliers that looked like itineraries for the school festival. One girl wearing a maid costume with long pigtails – I didn’t know that pigtails were still in style these days – blushed furiously when I approached her for a flier.

I sent her a polite smile, quickly shoved the flier into my pocket and walked away, disregarding whatever flurry of whispers she shared with her friends after that. It was a common happening and it started around last year, when I turned fourteen. And it never failed to put me in a bad mood.

It was around the time that my voice started to become deeper and huskier, my shoulders became wider and I grew taller than all my siblings. Even taller than my eldest, Joon-hyung. Girls started to whisper while their eyes trailed on me all the time. Every day in class, I would find so many love letters and sweets left in my desk and locker and my friends would hoot and say that I was the school heartbreaker. My Byeol-noona teased me about how I’m such a ‘popular cool guy’ because some girls flirtatiously waved at me when I accompanied her to the mall. I didn’t know what to feel about the whole thing. So what if I got a bit taller and sounded older? Are good looks the only thing important in life?

Before I sank even further into a bad mood, I settled for a hot dog stall that had chairs and ordered the first thing I saw on the menu. After the students managing the stall repeated my order and started working on it, I pulled out my phone and stared at the wallpaper. It was a blurry photo taken on my birthday party last year, and there was just Sun-noona and me in it. Sun-noona had her tongue out and was pinching my cheeks. I looked horrible, with my face stretched on the cheeks and the other facial muscles clearly in pain. It was such a contrast with her happy face.

I bit down on my bottom lip as I fought the sting in my eyes. I’ve always adored my Sun-noona. We were naturally close – since our was just two years – but I liked to think that we were even closer than our two elder siblings, who also had a small between them. Growing up, we’ve always told each other everything; from her first time holding a guitar, her (useless!) boyfriends and episodes in taekwondo and judo lessons, and me with my love for archery, horses and shooting. We’ve cried in each other’s arms plenty of times, just as much as we’ve fought and laughed together. Imagine what I felt when I came back home after a long evening of archery practice and she suddenly announced at the dinner table that she was going to live on her own?

At first I tried to bear with it, since my parents threw me snide remarks about me being a baby that never grew up and that she would be just fine on her own. Really though… do they not see the possibilities of things that could go wrong for Sun-noona?! Putting aside the fact that she needed to work part-time to survive, what if she gets approached by hormone-driven boys and is too kind to push them away? What if some of the girls in her school didn’t like her and decided to bully her and trash her locker and desk? WHAT IF A TEACHER PICKED ON HER IN CASE SHE FALLS ASLEEP IN CLASS?! At least before this, she used to be in the same academy as me, so I could watch out for her. Now? I had no such powers. Being the busy person she was, she no longer replied to my messages when I texted – though I am to blame because the texts tended to be whiny and full of emoticons – and therefore, she left me with no input of her current state of mind.

As my order was done, I bit down on it – it was a simple serving of Coney Dog – while gently flicking on Sun-noona’s face on my phone screen. I knew that my Sun-noona was not the type to share her sufferings. She was always loud when it comes to sharing all the things that made her happy, but when it comes to the things that made her sad, she would dig deep into her heart and just bury it all there. She was the exact opposite of me. I always voiced out the things that made me upset, but did the opposite with the little things that made me happy. Our parents called us the Angel and the Devil.

I flicked on her face on my phone screen again. “Stupid, stupid Angel…” I grumbled as I begrudgingly chewed on another big bite.

After I finished my lunch, I took out the flier and quickly scanned through the itinerary for the day and found the time for the play I wanted to watch. A quick glance to my watch told me that my instincts were right to come to the festival just before lunchtime. I made my way to the amphitheater that was slowly filling up with people, not forgetting to glare at one student who hollered too close to my ears when he was announcing that the play by the English Drama Club would start in ten minutes. He should thank God that he’s older than me and that my Sun-noona doesn’t like it when I get into fights…!

 I found myself one of the best seats in the house and got myself comfortable before I sent her a text.

To: My Angel Noona

Break a leg, Sun-noona! I know you’ll do great, so don’t worry, okay? 

Not even a minute passed after I sent that text when I had a reply.

From: My Angel Noona

Thank you so much, baby Shin! Urghhh you don’t know how nervous I am right now TT_TT

I chuckled. I could imagine her worried face, with her probably not being able to stand still and hitting her head on the wall repeatedly to calm herself down. She was probably even typing on her phone in a corner, hunched over and leaning her head on the wall so nobody could see her freaking out.

To: My Angel Noona

Oho, now you answer me! Didn’t you see the 27 missed calls from me, hmmmmm?? I even left you some messages in your voicemail!

From: My Angel Noona

Hahahaha~ Mianhae, little Shin. I was too busy running over some last minute additions to the play with the director. Let’s hang out after the play, okay? ^^

I pouted. Jeez, she had to pull out an emoticon on me.

To: My Angel Noona

Arasso, noona… See you.

As if on cue, the lights dimmed in the amphitheater and the host announced the start of the play. I kept my phone in my pocket as he ranted on, “A fairytale like no other, I give you… Snow White and The Seven Dwarves!”

I clapped along with the audience as a spotlight followed a girl in medieval clothes on stage. Recalling that the play was going to be completely in English, I sent a silent thanks to God for giving me my pushy parents who made sure that each of their children were just as competent in English as we were in our mother-tongue.

“Once, in a faraway kingdom,” the girl, whom I believed was the storyteller, started to speak with an obviously fake English accent, “there lived a princess called Snow White. She was orphaned at a young age, and lived with her evil stepmother, The Queen. Jealous of her beauty and kindness, the Queen forced Snow White to become a maid in her own castle and dressed her in rags. Not only that, The Queen had also hidden one important secret to her own niece; that magic runs deeply in their blood.”

Ahhhhhhhhhh so this was the twist in their story that Noona was talking about…

“The Queen had taken advantage of Snow White’s youth to conceal the one truth that could have made Snow White the rightful ruler of the kingdom, and that truth was sealed in a hidden prophecy that existed since the day that Snow White was born. Using her magic to keep herself youthful and beautiful instead, The Queen fashioned herself a Magic Mirror. Every day, she would stand before the Mirror and asked, ‘Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’ Almost every time she asked, the Mirror would answer with, ‘The fairest of them all is no one but you, My Queen.’ However, …” The storyteller paused for dramatic effect – which actually worked because I heard a couple of gasps from the audience who were just as magnetized as I was towards the play – before she sent us all a cynical grin, “Will the answer from the Mirror always be the same?”

The storyteller exited the stage, making the spotlight fade as well. The audio started to cue some classical music with some somber strings and brass instruments, and I could immediately tell that an evil character would appear. On the right side of the stage, the lights slowly faded in to reveal a girl dressed in a long black dress and cape, with a believable-looking crown on her head, as she glided to a humongous mirror – that actually held no mirror at the centre, but just a black curtain – with metallic roots as the frame. I had to say, from the way that The Queen held her chin up and her eyes arrogantly sweeping the crowd before landing on the mirror, whoever played The Queen was pretty good. But my Sun-noona is still better!

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” The Queen asked, a lazy smile settled on her lips. I felt some chills crawling up my spine. Ohhhhhhhh she’s real evil, alright!

The music reached a sort of with the strings going up and abruptly stopping once a creepy face appeared from behind the curtain in the middle of the mirror.

With a loud croaky voice, the Mirror dramatically announced, “Alas, the title no longer belongs to you, My Queen. No matter how much magic you’ve spent on your own youth, it does not match a natural beauty such as her. The fairest of them all is the girl with lips as red as a red rose, hair black as ebony and skin as white as snow. The fairest of them all is none other than Snow White,” the Mirror then disappeared. I suspected that he just hid himself behind the mirror well enough to not be seen.

The Queen was contorted with fury, and when she screamed in frustration, a lot of the audience flinched – I actually jumped! – in their seats, and just watched as she called for the Royal Huntsman. The Queen then ordered him to take Snow White to the forest and murder her. She even gave him a special box so he could put her heart in it as proof of Snow White’s death. At this point, I was distracted because of a couple of girls next to me who were chattering non-stop. However, when the lights came on again, with a light and refreshing plucking from the guitar in the background, I beamed as I – finally! – could see the Snow White of the show.

There was my Sun-noona, apparently in the scene where she was supposedly picking some fake flowers and putting them in her basket, and she couldn’t look more beautiful. Her long black hair, styled in a simple waterfall braid, was already longer than the last time I saw her, and it reached all the way to her waist. Seeing her in a dress with sewn-up patches was what made me stunned – I’ve never seen my Noona in a dress before. I knew that she was fair, and from the slightly smaller form, she probably lost a bit of weight too, but the red lipstick was gorgeous on her. I always knew that my sister looked good with anything red, I thought.

She opened her lips to start singing, and I knew that her voice just made everyone in the amphitheater fall in love with her.

“One song, I have but one song

One song, only for you

One heart, tenderly beating

Ever entreating, constant and true

One love, that has possessed me

One love, thrilling me through

One song, my heart keeps singing

Of one love, only for you”

I swear that some boys behind me were sighing away as they muttered things like, ‘She’s so pretty!’ or ‘She has a really nice voice!’ I shushed at them a couple of times before focusing on what happened on stage. I missed the part where the Hunter tried to kill her, and just managed to catch a girl wearing a green dress full of leaves and a leaf crown.

“Don’t be afraid,” the girl in green said in a perky voice as she held my Noona’s hand, “I won’t hurt you, Snow White. I am merely the Forest Nymph, here to deliver you a prophecy.”

My Sun-Noona pulled her hand away, put her fists up as defense, and looked at her skeptically. “How do you know my name? And what’s this business about a prophecy?”

The Forest Nymph burst out into a laugh – that was so annoying and out of place that it made the audience laugh too – and swatted my Noona in the arm. “Don’t sound so serious! I’m telling you the truth, I’m not crazy, you know?”

My Sun-noona just shrugged. “I dunno. You’re the one with leaves all over your body.”

I burst out laughing before I could cover it. Nice one, Noona!

The whole audience roared with laughter as the Forest Nymph actually looked affronted at her statement. The play then went on with the Forest Nymph revealing to Snow White a. k. a my adorable Noona about her magical heritage, even going so far as to say that she would need to go on a quest to find the Missing Prince since he holds the key to my Noona being able to take her rightful position as ruler of the kingdom. The Forest Nymph told her to get help from the Seven Dwarves who knew the woods like the back of their hands. As she then disappeared behind the curtains, I applauded along with the audience as the scene ended.

When the curtain opened next, there was a huge setting of a cottage, some wooden tables and benches and seven guys scattered around the left side of the stage. My Noona was on the right side, slowly approaching the area of the cottage, and even – cutely! – knocki