Chapter 3: Ab Imo Pectore
A Devil That Looks Like an AngelThe doorbell rings and Soojin cannot help but sigh in slight annoyance. Ever since the last time Minnie has visited her, a pesky little angel in disguise has been bothering her with her presence in unannounced and unwelcome appearances. At least it isn’t raining anymore though, the weather has been tough for the last few days. When Soojin finally turns her to the door, she is met with surprise, the customer she had was someone she had not seen in a while.
“How unexpected,” Soojin remarks, “What brings you here today, my dear?”
“Minnie,” the short girl answers, “Yuqi, our other roommate, said that Minnie seemed a bit confused after consuming the enchanted forget-me-nots you had recommended.”
“Is that so,” Soojin articulates, “Can you explain to me what type of symptoms she experienced, she’s a rather troublesome case as I have no idea what illness she has.”
“Tell me about it,” Soyeon explains, “It actually happened two days ago so I’m not really sure of the symptoms, an emergency popped up at the clinic so I could not come to you earlier.”
“That’s alright, I’m rather well versed in my field so I’ll do my best to help you with whatever information you have,” Soojin assured the other girl.
“Well,” Soyeon begins, “She’s been forgetting a few things that happened right in front of her moments ago and she says she’s been hearing and seeing things that simply aren’t there.”
“Is that all?” Soojin inquires with curiosity, “Can you tell about what she’s seen and heard?”
“I mean, she also described a sour taste, but I think that’s besides the fact of the matter,” Soyeon elaborates, “She’s said she’s seeing and hearing things that involve this golden goblet. But I’m not sure if all this is because of your herbs or if it’s because of the concussion she had because of that meddling intern in training at the clinic.”
“Shuhua?” Soojin interjects, “The girl who crashed into her in front of my shop?”
Just as Soyeon is about to confirm Soojin’s statement, the doorbell chimes and the girl in question frolics her way in. The big goofy grin she wore on her face, however, soon turned into almost an expression of grimace when she sees that Soyeon is also present. Although she has become more acquainted with the short statured witch as she is fulfilling her promise in aiding Minnie when called for, she remains displeased and suspicious of Soyeon’s presence. Uneasiness is the best word Shuhua has to describe how she feels around the mortal.
“Hi Soojin!” Shuhua exclaims with excitement, waving at her with a beaming smile and eyes shaped into crescent moons.
“Speak of the devil,” Soyeon mutters under her breath.
The new visitor turns to Soyeon and almost sneers, “That’s funny coming from you.”
“Now now children,” Soojin tries to make peace between the two, “Let’s not talk about the deities here, I’m sure that none of you are devils.”
The clinic assistant raises her eyebrow at the statement, as she wonders how the herbal specialist would be able to differentiate deities from mortals. As far as Soyeon is concerned, mortals like herself, never find out when the deities are among them. Nonetheless, she decides to let the thought go as she is eager to hear Soojin’s thoughts on what might be wrong with Minnie.
“So, what do you think?” Soyeon redirects the conversation back to the topic that they were on before the new ‘customer’ intruded, “Minnie has had weird dreams related to the things she’s been hallucinating too if that helps you figure anything out.”
“I think it’s probably temporary side effects,” Soojin concludes, with an air of calmness around her, “There’s really nothing to worry about though, her body just needs time to adapt and get used to it.”
“You think so? Is there anything else that I should do since I am a healing mage,” Soyeon probes.
Soojin pauses to think for a second before she suggests, “Perhaps I should pay her a visit to make sure that is all, would that be alright with you?”
“Sure,” the medical mage accepts her invitation, “When would be a good time for you?”
“Would later today work for you, the shop shouldn’t be busy during the night,” the herbal specialist proposes.
“That should be okay,” Soyeon confirms, “then I’ll see you then, I have a shift at the clinic so I must get going.”
“A pleasure speaking with you, have a safe journey there,” Soojin bids farewell to the medical mage and then turns her attention to the young angel waiting in the corner.
She feels the exhaustion pile onto her as she watches her visitor’s eyes light up with joy.
‘Ah, here we go again,’ Soojin thinks to herself, but it’s not like she absolutely hates it when she sees the foolish girl. She finds it rather amusing, it’s just that she can be a handful at times.
---
Sitting on the enchanted rocking chair, that swings back and forth according to the mood of its user, Minnie is huddled in a blanket and abysmally bored. She knows that she should rest but she is itching to go on a stroll, she hasn’t had a breath of fresh air ever since her unfortunately timed accident with Shuhua. As Soyeon should be at the clinic and Yuqi has slipped out for a short errand for the blacksmith shop, she wonders if she can sneak out for a bit. She figures that it won’t do her any harm to go out for a walk; besides, she is convinced that the fresh air will help her. For the love of the angels, she surely misses going outside.
So, without waiting another minute, Minnie is on her feet and ready to sneak out the back door. She slips on a robe before she slips through the door and makes her way to the main road. Happy with her success, she adds joyful bounces to her steps as she starts to stroll down the streets. She finally feels a bit of normalcy come back to her after spending days inside, falling in and out sleep with weird dreams consuming her mind. On second thought, they might be considered nightmares considering how distressed they made her.
As she enjoys her leisurely adventure around her neighborhood Minnie takes pleasure in greeting the local cats. Although the creatures can only talk to telepathy witches and wizards, as language does not matter across the translation of thoughts, she was always fond of the cute creatures. Likewise, the cats joyfully purred at her, as if greeting, when she walked by. Minnie likes to think that they too enjoy her presence and are happy to see her; she takes a moment to smile at that thought before continuing on her walk. She is shortly interrupted again though by a familiar stranger.
“They say that they’re glad to see you after a long while,” a soft voice surprises her, conveying the thoughts of the cats to her.
Turning to face the owner of the voice, Minnie finds herself in front of a stunningly gorgeous woman who she has never seen in this town before. Yet there was something about her doll-like features and perfectly styled brown hair that she found familiar. It was like she has known her for years but she remembers nothing of it.
“That’s nice to know, thank you! Are you new to town by the way, I’ve never seen you before? I’m Minnie!” Minnie cheerfully greets the familiar stranger.
“Yes,” the beautiful girl responds, brushing back her hair which makes the other girl’s heart beat a tiny bit faster, “I’m Miyeon.”
“It’s nice to have you in town, Miyeon,” Minnie warmly welcomes, a bit flustered, “What brings you here?”
“This and that, mostly my friend needing some help,” the newcomer explains, “I’m quite an expert on herbs.”
“I thought you were a telepath since you knew what the cats were saying?” Minnie questions, “Only the deities possess more than one ability.”
Miyeon giggles and all Minnie can think of is how pretty she looks when she smiles. In fact, she wouldn't mind watching the other girl laugh for another few hours. She probably also wouldn’t even mind just staring at her for a couple of hours.
“I’m a woman of many talents,” Miyeon explains, “But yes, I am a telepath but I’m also well versed in herbs as I spend a lot of time in the forest with animals.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Minnie accepts her explanation without any hesitation, “By chance, do you know Seo Soojin?”
“Of course, she is the friend that I will be helping,” the telepath replies with some shock and gasps, “Has she said something about me?”
“No, not that I’ve heard of. I was just curious since you said you were going to help your friend with herbs and she’s the best medicinal herb shop owner in town,” Minnie elaborates, trying to calm her down.
“I see,” Miyeon says, “It’s good to hear that she’s doing such a good job then. Well, I’ll see you around then.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Minnie rejoiced, as she enjoyed the little chat they had.
After parting ways with the new resident in town, Minnie notices that the sun is starting to descend. So she decides that she should head back to her house before Yuqi and Soyeon find out that she has snuck out. She’s rather satisfied with her endeavors, having become acquainted with someone new and, more importantly, so beautiful and kind-natured. Quietly coming across her humble home again, Minnie tip toes to the back of the house. She slowly creaks open the back door and slips through. Taking off her common robe, she flings it into the magic wardrobe that immediately brings the robe back to where it was before she had left the house.
Everything was as is before she went on the little walk, or so she thought.
Settling down on the couch, Minnie wraps herself in her soft cotton blanket and waits for her roommates’ returns. She looks at the clock, watching time pass one tic and toc at a time. The longer she waits, the sleepier the girl feels as she’s cuddled up in the warm and fuzzy layers of fabric. In what seems like ages, the front door slams right open and in steps her ever so cheerful companion. The newly arrived resident is covered with spots of black coal smudged on her arms and face. Her hair is somewhat affray and dusty as well, but she seemed as joyful as usual.
“Hi Minnie, how was your stay home today?” Yuqi asks, popping a cleansing block open to get rid of the dirt all over her body, “I had a great day at work!”
Pushing back her drowsy state, Minnie perks up and exclaims, “You know the usual, just lying around, I think I’ve basically fully recovered and can go back to work tomorrow. Man, I miss the music shop!”
“That’s good to hear,” Yuqi smiles, and ponders, “I can only imagine how bored I would be if I couldn’t do blacksmithing for a few days. I’d miss polishing and firing up all those daggers, maces, quarterstaffs, and all of that stuff—heck, I’d even miss making shields.”
Minnie laughs at the younger girl's remarks and points out, “Did Soyeon tell you if she’d be late today? She’s usually here by now.”
The younger girl shrugs her shoulder and predicts, “She probably got caught up in another emergency or something at the clinic.”
When the homestay girl is about to agree with her, they hear a light knock rapping against the door. Not expecting any guests, the two roommates look at eachother with slight confusion. Cautiously, the younger of the two turns the knob slightly to take a glimpse of who it might be and she is met with confusion when see she’s their other roommate with three other visitors. She is familiar with two of them as Shuhua has been around helping about and Soojin is someone everyone in town is acquainted with due to her herbal expertise, but she has never seen the other girl before.
“Soyeon,” Yuqi addresses her beloved roommate, “Care to tell us why these people are here?”
Before the clinic assistant can reply she is interrupted by the loud rambunctious voice of Shuhua announces, “Soojin is here to check up on Minnie and since I like Soojin, and share fault in the current situation, so I’m here!”
Seemingly exhausted, Soyeon merely seems to nod and introduces the new friend in town, “And this is Miyeon, she’s Soojin’s friend who knows a little bit about medical herbs as well.”
“Nice to meet you and welcome to our humble abode everyone!” Yuqi boisterously greets, opening the door fully for their guests to come in.
As the three guests make their way in with Soyeon trailing behind, Minnie kindly welcomes each and every one of them. Though she was not expecting company, she was more than happy to be in their presence. However, her eyes lock with Miyeon, who she had met moments before and she is suddenly filled with anxiety. The home-bound mage hopes she doesn’t bring up the fact that they had met just a bit ago and is able to keep it a little secret between just the two of them.
Avoiding eye contact with Miyeon, Minnie quietly stays in the warmth of her corner on the couch as the other five start to get settled. Soyeon, who is exceedingly tired today, merely takes a seat quietly on the sofa, trying to recharge her energy while Yuqi attends to her. And the other three? Well, Shuhua desperately tries to cling to the herbal specialist but is met with disappointment as the new girl in town takes a seat next to her. The young and clumsy angel huffs, but she cannot defy her leader so she is forced to make do. After they have all settled down in the living room and gathered some composure amongst themselves, it is Soojin who breaks the silence in the room and asks Minnie how she has been.
“I’ve heard that your body is having trouble adjusting to the new medicine,” Soojin eloquently articulates, “How are you doing now, have the symptoms worsened?”
“Yes, I’ve been experiencing some strange hallucinations these last few days but I’ve recovered for the most part after staying home all the time,” Minnie reports, emphasizing the last part as she throws a quick glance at Miyeon.
When their eyes meet momentarily, Miyeon makes sure to give the worried witch a knowing smile so that she knows her secret is safe with her. The conversation soon progresses and Soojin confirms her suspicions that the sickly witch’s body was only having trouble adapting to the new medication. Miyeon observes the girl’s roommates sigh in relief and Shuhua has a smile perked up on her face. She thinks of how easy it is to fool mortals and almost chuckles to herself.
“Miyeon,” Soojin brings up, “What do you think about her condition, do you think that there may be something wrong with my hypothesis.”
“No, I think you’re spot on,” Miyeon jests, “I wonder why you even called me into town when you’re able to come up with a resolution on your own.”
Soojin forces herself to laugh, with dry sarcasm she responds, “Yes, why would I call you here without any reason whatsoever?”
Sensing tension in the room, Yuqi almost breaks into a state of panic while her mind scrambles to find some way to relieve the situation. Luckily, Shuhua has something in her mind as she looks curiously upon the relationship between her angel mentor and her recently acquainted crush.
“How do you two know each other,” the young angel inquires at the two of them.
Not knowing what to say, the herbal specialist nudges the ‘archangel’, signaling for her to come up with something.
With no sense of panic or hesitation visible, Miyeon reveals, “We’ve crossed paths many years ago in one of the worship temples of some faraway town. As fellow travelers, we decided to keep in contact every now and then.”
Shuhua seems to accept the answer readily and the conversation soon shifts to topics of mundane triviality. The girls enjoy their time together, chatting about random topics and making occasional jokes. Minnie notices that Miyeon and Soojin remain rather quiet for the time being though, they give off the feeling that they’re scheming something. She doesn’t think too much of it as she is aware of Soojin’s shy nature, maybe Miyeon is like that too; birds of the same feather do flock together after all.
As the night goes on the girls start to depart one by one, leaving the three girls to wrap up their day. Strangely, Miyeon is the last one to leave even though they’ve known her the last. Perhaps that statement in itself explains why she was last to leave; there was merely more to ask about her than the other two. In conclusion, one should never underestimate Yuqi’s curiosity or Soyeon’s myriad of questions about medical magic. Minnie doesn’t mind Miyeon’s prolonged visitation though, she finds herself comforted in her presence. See feels safe when she’s there—she can’t seem to find a reason for why she feels like that but it’s like she’s known her for years. When it is time to say farewell again, Miyeon asks for a bit of her time alone. So, here they are, face to face, with Miyeon standing outside of her house with the moonlight gleaming on her face. Her skin reflects the silvery light and her eyes seem to glow in the midst of the darkening day; Minnie is awestruck.
“Are you done staring?” the angel-like girl playfully jokes, “it’s getting rather cold outside.”
Minnie snaps out of it scrambles over her words to apologize, “I’m sorry, you’re really pretty and… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Miyeon laughs, and Minnie’s can feel her heart swoon again, “I just wanted to let you know that I won’t tell your friends about your secret little stroll earlier.”
The flustered girl sheepishly responds, “Thank you, it was just getting a little suffocating always staying home.”
“I can imagine,” the newcomer in town sympathizes, “If you would like, I can keep you company on your secret adventures.”
Minnie’s eyes seem to light up and almost too exuberantly accepts, “I would love for you to join! I mean, it’s not like I’ll have to sneak out anymore, it was just that one time.”
“Sure little Miss troublemaker,” Miyeon teasingly implies, “I’ll be seeing you soon then.”
“Wonderful,” Minnie says, “but how will you find me on these walks?”
“I have my ways,” she assures her with an air of mystery in her voice
The devilishly beautiful woman then turns around and departs from her house. Minnie calls out to her to ask what exactly she means, and she sees her soft lips whisper something. However, Miyeon is too far for Minnie to hear the three little words that fell from her lips.
“Ab imo pectore,” Miyeon repeats again, when she turns around and watches Minnie shut the door to her home.
[From the bottom of my heart; with the deepest affection.]
A/N: I really look forward to posting the chapter for the next update :) also happy 2 years with (g)i-dle, I truly love them from the depths my heart
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