Prompt By: @kireitenshi

-Title: The Sorceress and Her Knight

-Ship: ZE:A's Hyungsik x Go Ara

Characters: [MAIN] Go Ara (actress), Hyungsik/Park Hyungsik (ZE:A) [SIDE] Dongjun/Kim Dongjun (ZE:A), Heechul/Jung Heechul (ZE:A)

Word Count: 2128

Warnings: Mild violence; mild language; implied ual references; alcohol consumption

Summary: In which Go Ara runs into Park Hyungsik at a Halloween party, but its 10x better than ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘Be More Chill’, and right up there with ‘Married To The Music’.

A/N: Anything reference I do not own! 

Go Ara wasn’t aware the Halloween party thrown by Kim Dongjun was this type of Halloween party.

Ara had always loved Halloween, loving the fact that she had a perfectly good excuse to dress up and pretend to be someone (or something else) for a night.

Not that she didn’t like herself. She did, but the keyword here is pretend. It was fun to pretend she was a rebel, a mistress, an artist, a businesswoman, an athlete, a detective, a princess, a prophet, a judge...the possibilities were endless.

She could be whoever she wanted to be, and do things she normally wouldn’t.

But walking into this Halloween party, dressed as a sorceress, complete with the black aesthetic and long-hanging dress and sleeves, she immediately felt extremely out of place.

If Ara had known that this party would be full of girls wearing shorts so short she wasn’t sure whether she could call them shorts or not and guys wearing a pathetic excuse for a shirt, she would’ve bought the y purple witch costume and not the undead zombie one.

She immediately wanted to leave, but also wanted a free drink and free food.

That’s what parties were good for, right? The free stuff, not the guy who tries to grab your or the drunk girl who throw up into your s.

Not the hot, sweaty mass of people Ara currently pushed her way through in an attempt to find a drink, even if it was a half-full, half-drank, half-crushed abandoned one.

She felt a little better finding out she wasn’t the only one in a huge, clunky costume when she ran into a guy dressed in old, traditional attire. He looked like he walked straight out of a battlefield in the 900s.

“Can I help you?” he asked, the fake blood on his face crinkling with his skin as he smiled.

“Just trying to find a drink.” she said, deciding to be truthful with this guy. In a costume like that, one he had difficulty moving in, there was no way he could try and grab her without her knowing first. Even if he did, and even if she let him, she’d quickly be out of any ‘mood’ with the amount of time it would take the both of them to strip from those large, layered costumes.

“Luckily for you, I know just where to get one.” he his heel and dived back into the crowd, Ara trying her best to follow along.

“Who are you, anyways?” she called, trying to be heard over the music and conversations around them.

“Park Hyungsik,” he called over his shoulder. Ara found it a miracle he heard her. “And who may you be?”

“Go Ara.” she replied as they breached the crowd, Hyungsik beginning to fish through a cooler tucked away behind a large television.

He straightened himself up, handing her a metal pop-tab can that was cool in her hands.

“Unfortunately that’s all we have left,” he sighed, pointing to the ‘kiwi flavour’ that was advertised loudly across it. “This little cooler here was supposed to be secret, but either Minwoo’s already made his way through all of it or Heechul’s already tried to show off for some girl and let everyone know it was here.”

“If it’s a secret, how do you know it’s here?” Ara asked, popping the lid.

“I’m friends with Dongjun.” he said, as if it was obvious.

“Oh.” Ara muttered, not having much to say to that.

She knew she was already on the outs of this social scene- theatre kids didn’t always mix well with football players just looking for a . She had seen (and acted in) Mean Girls enough times to know she wasn’t one of those ually active band geeks.

“What are you supposed to be?” Hyungsik asked, and Ara looked up at him, unaware that she had looked down and began fiddling with the tab of her can.

“A sorceress.” she said quietly. As if this guy didn’t think she was that much of a nerd already.

“That’s cool,” he mused, reaching out and playing with the hanging part of her sleeve. She let him, not wrenching away. “Know what I’m supposed to be?”

“An old prince?” she asked. She had watched enough historical dramas to get a close enough guess, but she had always been crap at history.

“Close. A knight. Same time period, I guess. I wanted to go as a medieval knight, but this was all the store had.” he gestured to the costume, and she laughed.

“I ordered this online.”

“That probably would’ve been smart of me, if I hadn’t procrastinated until the day before.”

From then on they talked, Ara barely touching her drink. At first it was small, slightly boring small talk, and then she found herself sitting outside with him, her drink can empty, asking him if he thought God was real.

Even if Ara had drank often, her tolerance would still be quite .

Hyungsik only laughed, realizing she wasn’t completely sober (but not piss drunk either), and asked her for her number.

He dropped her off at her house that night with not only her number, but her Snapchat, Instagram, and old MySpace (the song attached was one from the musical RENT. Hyungsik wasn’t sure what song it was exactly, and he didn’t understand much of it, but after quickly running it through Shazam he came to the conclusion it must’ve been a French musical.).

On Sunday, Ara was focused on finishing her homework- with a test the next day, she needed all the study and study time she could get.

She flipped over one of the flashcards she had carefully made when her phone buzzed, a notification popping up on the screen.

It proclaimed it was from Park Hyungsik, the boy from the party a few nights before.

As opposed to the regular ‘I’ll answer later’ feeling she usually got when reading Snapchat notifications (especially when she was studying), she felt her heartbeat quicken.

What was this? What could possibly lay behind this small red square? What would be displayed across her screen? Would she be grossed out? Would she laugh? Was it something huge? Something urgent? An accidental ‘oops wrong person’ type snap? Nothing at all?

She tried to push any and all thoughts of this mysterious, strange Snap out of her head and go back to focussing on her studies.

A few moments later, still trying to resist temptation, she crossed the room, placing her phone far away from her.

Five minutes later, she was sat on the floor, across the room from her colourful flashcards, her finger nervously hovering over the square before opening it.

“Hi” was the only thing displayed across the otherwise dark screen.

She immediately felt relieved. It was nothing.

And then her heartbeat picked up again. Did he want something? Why now? Why her? What did she say back?

She decided she was just that bad at social interaction that she didn’t know how to respond to a simple “hi”, and decided to respond back with the same simple reply.

She got up, going back to her flashcards, until she heard her phone chime from across the room, and she once again found herself hunched over her phone.

Hyungsik’s response read “how are you?”

Ara: good, you?

Hyungsik: good. what you up to?

Ara: studying

Hyungsik: studying what?

Ara: vocab for school

Hyungsik: yikes hate vocab

Hyungsik: who’s your teacher?

They continued like that, they’re first conversation outside of Ara’s tipsy state and Hyungsik’s friend’s house being about teachers and some festival Hyungsik had went to earlier that day.

Ara quickly found out that both her and Hyungsik went to the same school, and the next day she found herself eating lunch with him the next day. The conversation often lulled, the two struggling to find things in common besides overdone clunky costumes.

Ara acted in the school’s performance program, preparing her audition for the upcoming play.

Hyungsik was on the football team, being a little ways into the season by now.

Ara listened to a lot of musical theatre and mainstream pop. Hyungsik liked foreign rap, despite not being able to rap himself.

Ara cared about her grades, whereas Hyungsik often skipped classes.

Ara liked to read, and Hyungsik didn’t know The Hunger Games was first a book.

Despite basically being polar opposites, they did get along well- they often made each other laugh and could find some sort of topic to talk about, even if it was the whole ‘are aliens real’ debate again.

A little while later, posters advertising their school’s winter dance popped up.

“What are you doing that night?” Hyungsik asked her one day, walking from class.

Ara shrugged. “Nothing, I think.”

“Want to go with me?”

“What?”

“The winter dance. Want to go with me? I know it’s not a big proposal or anything but I-”

“No, don’t worry.” Ara quickly covered. “I’d love to.”

“You’re not upset I didn’t give you a proposal? No signs or anything?”

Ara shook her head. “Just asking is fine. I’d be a little embarrassed, anyways.”

A little over a week later, Hyungsik pulled up outside Ara’s house, ready to drive the two to the dance.

“How did you know my address?” Ara asked, not being able to remember ever sending him her address.

“It was in my GPS from when I drove you home from Dongjun’s.”

“Oh.”

“I’m no stalker, don’t worry.” he laughed, and she found herself laughing, too.

Once they stepped into the dance, Hyungsik gingerly took Ara’s hand, leading her in.

“You look really pretty,” he told her. “Not that you don’t usually look pretty, it’s just that-“

Ara laughed. “I get what you mean. You look more handsome than usual, too.”

At first the two danced casually to the upbeat, party songs the DJ played, and Ara wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that she knew all the words to songs like Party In The USA and that Hyungsik practically had the entire Cha Cha Slide memorized.

When a slow song came up, seeing everyone around her either roll their eyes or pair up with someone near them, Ara felt that nervous, bubbling feeling rise up within her.

Would she dance with Hyungsik? Would they both stand on the sidelines, alone? Were they two people that danced together? Or just friends?

“Ara,” Hyungsik broke Ara out of her thoughts, his hand outstretched for her. “Dance with me.”

She smiled, eager to accept, but was suddenly pulled backwards, someone’s hands dangerously low on her waist.

She tried to turn around, free herself of whoever’s grasp she was in and get a look at them to figure out who they were, but again, she was pulled forward.

She felt Hyungsik’s hand briefly in hers, and the next thing she knew, Hyungsik was on the ground, crying out in pain.

It all happened very quickly, and Ara wasn’t sure what was happening most of the time.

“Hyungsik!” she cried, kneeling beside him.

The music didn’t stop, but the crowd moved around them, giving them space yet still watching.

“I think my arm is broken.” Hyungsik said softly as Ara gently moved him to lean against her.

“Sh-h.” Ara hushed.

“I’m cold, Ara.”

She glanced up, and then back down. “We’re under the air vent.”

“Ara?”

“Yes?”

“You’re a sorceress. Fix it.”

“What?”

“Your costume,” he elaborated, a feeble smile playing at his lips. “You’re magical.”

“Yeah,” Ara muttered, not knowing what else to say. “Yeah, I am.” Hyungsik didn’t answer, and Ara saw his eyelids fluttering closed, struggling to stay open. “Hyungsik? Are you drunk?”

“What time is it?”

“About ten.”

“I’m tired.”

“No, Hyungsik. Stay awake, please.”

Go Ara never got her dance. Instead, she was given a marker to write her name across Hyungsik’s cast.

She never got a kiss, instead a dramatic retelling of how Hyungsik saved Ara from death by almost dying himself.

Ara liked to pretend. She liked to pretend to be other people who did things Ara herself wouldn’t normally do.

She never had a favourite role, a favourite costume, until now.

In a way, she wasn’t pretending to be a sorceress. She still had that magic magnetic pull about her, drawing in those around her. She was a magical healer, always managing to make Hyungsik laugh, even when he had to sit on the sidelines.

Although this was one of his first roles, Park Hyungsik wasn’t 100% pretending anymore, either. In a way, he was her knight, saving her from danger, whether it was he slipping in the puddle first or scaring off creepy guys that came her way.

He even saved her history grades.

FIN