ㅤ赤い糸 TEASER TWO
ㅤ赤い糸 RED STRING OF FATE。TEASER TWO
what are friends for right? no.
Hyebi has never been the type of person who goes out of her way to stroll along the pretty autumn streets, smell the blooming asters, and nibble on a pretzel while listening to music, really. She is more of a sandwich-shoving, sleeping past the alarm, last-minute-do-it-all type of girl.
It must be a play carefully scripted by Fate that she ends up in the busiest street in the morning anyway, muttering an array of colorful profanities as she briskly strides along the stony path. The fallen leaves crinkle under her soles, and maybe this feels a little nice and relaxing, but it's still not her style.
Hyebi pulls her coat tighter to herself, mentally cursing at the weather as she quickens her pace. Okay, so maybe she did ignore the punctual beeps of her alarm, but still, she didn't deserve this.
A few feet away, she sees a crowd. At first, she had thought that they were lining up for the Italian restaurant (which is a surprise because people never really visits her neighborhood for the food).
That is apparently not the case, Hyebi deduces after a while, because they are all wearing weird sweatshirts and dragging every passerby into their group for a chat that looks pretty tedious. A few are also holding large white signs on more vegan products! and something else along those lines.
Smelling trouble, Hyebi backs away and plasters herself to the wall across the Italian restaurant (which, now that Hyebi thinks about it, serves ty pizza), moving even faster now that she knows her precious time could be in danger. She takes out her phone and pretends to be busy with it, opening and closing her photo gallery and sliding her thumb around randomly.
She thinks she’s quite safe, actually, because now the chatters of the crowd are lower in volume and she sees a crossroad right in front. She knows she is winning, so close to the gateway of success (the bus stop). It’s only a couple of feet away.
But then someone is clutching onto the crook of her left arm, surprising her into throwing her phone right to the crossroad and watching solemnly as it is flattened by vehicles a million times its size.
Hyebi doesn't know whether the noise that leaves is a sound of despair or relief because she needed a new phone anyways and now this gives her every reason to.
The grip on her elbow loosens a little and she hears a dramatic gasp from her left. She turns her head to the source of it, unimpressed look already etched on her face.
"Oops!" The girl says, twisting her face into what seems to be an apologetic expression, but Hyebi stays unimpressed, frowning a bit. The strange girl doesn't seem the least bit sorry.
Hyebi's not that put out, honestly, but if acting like it can get her a new phone for free, then why the hell not. "You broke my phone."
The girl swallows, blinking furiously at her. "Well, technically I didn't. You did." She motions exaggeratedly at the crime scene. "And well, the cars. And trucks."
Hyebi wonders why humans can be so shameless as she mourns over the loss of her money, because clearly this girl isn't going to buy her a new phone. "Okay, but aren't you going to tell me your name? You were an aid to the horrible murder of my phone."
"And why should I? Are you going to report me? I haven't done anything wrong! I'm very innocent I tell you—I'm a humanitarian, I'm all about human welfare and also global warming."
Not another one, Hyebi thinks but decides to play along, humor the girl a little. "Well, guess what? I'm all about humans and how stupid they are."
The girl's jaw drops and she looks truly offended, clutching onto her chest as she looks at Hyebi with a horrified expression. "You can't say that!"
Hyebi can't help but find it a tad cute, a little girl who barely looks fifteen standing proud on her beliefs. But that doesn't help the fact that she is running late for her class, so she sighs, giving her deformed phone another sweeping glance before staring squarely at the girl.
She brings her fist up, rolling it a little and this time the girl's eyes widen, set on her fist. "Wait, are you going to hit me? Oh c'mon. We can talk this through—I'm a very respectable person—"
The girl clenches her eyes shut, expecting the hit and Hyebi can't help but think that she is too cute to be true as she brings her hand closer to the poor girl and—
—flicks her forehead.
"Huh?" The girl's eyes flutter open, a little confused as she blinks at Hyebi.
"Stu—pid," she enunciates slowly, right at the girl's incredulous face before brushing past her and crossing the road.
She feels strangely satisfied at herself, and pretends that she did not just step on the lump that was once her phone, wincing slightly.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hyebi feels a vague sense of déjà vu as walks down the street the next morning, her thick scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. It's surprisingly quiet this morning. Almost too quiet, as if preparing for an impending disaster.
She totally didn't miss her bus on purpose, but with her phone broken into pieces she has no annoying beeps to wake up to, and so here she is again.
There is no crowd this time, and the Italian restaurant is empty of patrons, the usual. Feeling better now that she is sure there is no one to disrupt the peaceful routine of the day, she tugs on her scarf and burrows deeper into it, inhaling vanilla.
That isn't until Hyebi feels an arm suddenly wrap around her left one, pulling her closer to it. Scenarios of yesterday's happening comes back to her all at once and she looks to her left fully expecting the phone-destroyer, human-lover idiot of a girl.
Today, the girl is wearing her school uniform, name tag (Ryu Hyeji, it reads), and a backpack that jingles with each step. She looks a lot younger this way, and now Hyebi is pretty sure she is no more than fourteen.
"Shouldn't you be in school right now, Hyeji?" Hyebi asks, adjusting her own backpack and smirking smugly at Hyeji, who is stunned.
"You stalker! How did you know my name? Oh my God, did you put a tracker on me or something? Is my family in danger? Who are you? You meanie! You—"
A deadpan expression appears onto Hyebi's face as she stares at the girl before her. She honestly doesn't expect Hyeji to be so dumb, and to be such a disgrace to everyone carrying the syllable 'Hye' in their names. "It's on your name tag," she says bluntly, interrupting the girl's parade.
"Oh. Oh! Duh," Hyeji says, having the decency to look a little embarrassed. "I knew that."
Hyebi can't help the smile stretching across her face. "Yeah, you totally did."
"Is that supposed to be sarcasm?" Hyeji voices out, eyes squinting slightly.
"And how old are you supposed to be? I bet you're still in middle school," Hyebi replies rather smoothly, pointedly ignoring the rather stupid question.
"Oh, please. I'm sixteen."
So that is a little surprising, because Hyeji looks painfully young, her bangs neatly trimmed and two pink bunny pins clipping it in place. She definitely seems a lot younger than Hyebi is, and to think that they are the same age. "If you are sixteen, you won't go around talking to strangers."
"Technically, you're not a stranger, Hyebi."
Hyebi's hand flies to cover her nametag, although that is useless now that her identity (more like her name) is exposed. "Well, whatever. Go to school, kid."
"You still haven't told me your age!"
"And what are you going to do about that?" Hyebi taunts, flicking Hyeji on her bangs and laughing when Hyeji staggers backwards in shock. She takes the opportunity to jog to the crossroads, eyes crinkling at the ends as she shouts, "See you, kiddo!"
five years later.
location: seoul, south korea. time: afternoon.
location: seoul, south korea. time: afternoon.
"You used to be much kinder back during high school," Hyeji whines, clutching onto the bruise on her shin but making no move to walk the small distance to the shelves, where she keeps the first aid kit.
"And you used to be less annoying. I guess people do change." Unaffected, Hyebi continues on scribbling the equations she needs to memorize for tomorrow's test.
"Hyebiiiii," she cries, rolling on the bed that is not hers as she kicks her sneakers onto the floor.
This time, Hyebi actually turns to her, and Hyeji feels sort of accomplished, though she quickly deflates. "You're washing my sheets later."
"I did it last time, I'm not your personal maid!"
"You will be if you keep getting dirt all over my part of the room," Hyebi shoots back, used to the argument and knowing very well that Hyeji has lost yet again.
Hyeji closes before suddenly smirking. She falls face first back onto Hyebi's bed and begins making loud groaning noises into the pillow, holding her legs close.
Sighing, Hyebi knows this tactic too well, and she doesn't understand why it keeps on working. "What do you want for dinner, you idiot."
Hyeji straightens up immediately, grinning from ear to ear as she scrambles to the side of the bed, pulling Hyebi close by the hem of her shirt. "Two bacon and cheese burgers from that really cool cafe, please." She hugs her close, sighing happily.
Rolling her eyes, Hyebi shoves Hyeji away and satisfies herself with the 'oof' her roommate (how they ended up being roommates, Hyebi would rather not get into) lets out, before going over to the racks and blindly throwing a first aid kit to the bed.
Hyeji lets out a whoop of triumph. "You know you're in love with me, Hyebi! Have been ever since I broke your phone!"
"So you admit that you broke my phone. Five years later of course." Hyebi is already pulling a random coat from her dresser, a little annoyed that Hyeji keeps on getting her to run errands for her in the cold of the winter. "I'll be back soon."
"Wait!" Hyeji yells, and Hyebi is rolling her eyes.
"What now—"
Hyeji gets up from the bed and buries her face on the dresser, pulling out a grey muffler and a matching beanie before slightly limping to the door. She forces the muffler through Hyebi's head and pushes the beanie on top of her hair, smoothing it out with her hands. "Please tell Minwoo, the really cute cashier at the cafe that he owes 'Ryu Hyeji fifty bucks' yeah?"
And if Hyebi feels touched at the gesture, she doesn't show it, face perfectly straight though she feels her cheeks pinking. "Wait, why?"
"Don't ask, just finish your mission and trek the dangerous obstacles called snow."
Hyebi rolls her eyes (Hyeji keeps on telling her that she will get it stuck one day). "Yes, your majesty."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hyebi's birthday has always been something that was small. When she was younger, her parents would celebrate it by pancakes in the shape of her age, bacon, and eggs in the morning. In the evening, once her father came home, they'd all gather around a small homemade vanilla cake and sing the traditional happy birthday song.
Ever since Hyeji graced her world with her obnoxious presence, though, it has always been ridiculously big, and not necessarily in a good way.
Just last year, her poor excuse of a roommate had gathered what seemed like a hundred people into their cramped apartment and sprinkle Hyebi with glitter (that took weeks to completely get rid off, mind you) throughout the day.
Turning twenty-one was just another year of her getting older. For Hyeji, it was a milestone of legal drinking age and the need to scare her less in the morning with loud popping streamers (that probably woke up their neighbors as well). Perhaps Hyebi should appreciate the things Hyeji goes through for her, but she could do without the heart attack and stress.
"No random people this year?" Hyebi mumbles sleepily, hands wandering along her desk in search of her eyeglasses.
"Nope!" Hyeji chirps, looking a little bit too excited on a day that is not her birthday. "Although I did get you something you can't possibly hate!"
"I'm not so sure about that, but I'll pretend that I like it either way." Hyebi puts her glasses on and searches for her hairband this time. Hyeji hands it to her wordlessly and she ties her hair into a messy bun.
"Oh c'mon. I put all of my hard work and sweat into this. Plus, I even stopped helping my fellow spartans in putting vegan bacon into grocery stores."
"And how's that going to make me feel better?" Hyebi grumbles as she gets up, downing a glass of cold water before walking to the bathroom, Hyeji hot on her tail.
Hyeji looks on patiently as Hyebi brushes her teeth and washes her face. Hyebi is thoroughly weirded out now, because Hyeji is never silent.
"I'll be right back." Hyeji says abruptly, speeding out of the bathroom and disappearing around the corner. Hyebi doesn't really pay attention to what Hyeji's about to do but she sure as hell hopes it's not another one of the crazy ideas Hyeji pulls from her .
"I'm back!" Hyeji says a bit too cheerfully, waltzing into the bathroom holding a small, neatly wrapped box. It doesn't seem like anything fancy and Hyebi thanks Fate with all her heart. Hyeji pushes the box right into her hands, and it feels a little heavy, though she is quickly distracted by Hyeji's bouncing. "Open it now! Open it!"
"Calm down, geez." Hyebi wipes her hands onto a towel before walking over towards Hyeji and grabbing the present out of her hands. Hyebi sighs, placing the box on top of the counter. "You didn't even greet me a happy birthday yet," she grumbles.
"I will, later! Just open it first!"
Hyebi reciprocates only because she can't possibly take more of Hyeji's useless energy (which so happens to bully others (namely her) into agreeing with whatever she wants).
When she opens the present, she keeps her expectations low. Knowing Hyeji, whatever is inside could be anything from dead snake to an End Global Warming Now! keychain.
What she doesn't expect is a brown box with iPhone 6 written neatly on top of it. "You've got to be kidding me," she deadpans, eyeing Hyeji suspiciously. "What did you put inside?"
Hyeji drops the same way she did when Hyebi had mentioned about how stupid humans were five years ago, looking every bit scandalized. "Excuse you! I take offense to that."
It makes Hyebi more curious, and she opens the box to find a brand new phone staring back at her, all sparkly and shiny. She stares at Hyeji with disbelief written all over her face.
"Is this actually a phone that works," she says as she plucks the phone out of the box and flips it over.
"Of course it does! Who do you think I am?" Hyeji says, hand on her chest in mock offense. "And don't give me that face!"
"You're Ryu Hyeji, I have every right to be suspicious."
"True. I did use your credit card to buy myself that new cute Kobito phone case once."
"You did what?" Hyebi asks, stopping what she's doing and stares at Hyeji incredulously.
"Happy birthday!" Hyeji quickly says, trying to distract her with a blinding smile as she tackles Hyebi into a tight hug. "Happy, happy birthday!"
Hyebi's sigh is that of the truly defeated, but there is a smile on her face as she (really carefully) puts the phone down and brings her arms around Hyeji. "Yeah whatever. You're still an idiot."
"Love you too," Hyeji mumbles, mirroring Hyebi's smile.
AUTHORS' NOTES
TOBIOS: So we just wanted to introduce our characters for you guys to get a gist of them, and just our writing style. We got a bit carried away like this is 2.5k words I can't even. Let's pretend this is like two teasers put together, but I mean yay! Weeps tbh.
KINTOUN: We totally had fun writing this teaser. Like, I stayed up to 3 am on a school day fighting with Chau to write sentences to sentences (again, bless gdocs). For the very curious, Hyebi is my character, and Hyeji is Chau's! Enjoy <3
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