The Nutcracker Prince- Seohyun + Kyuhyun

Joohyun was unable to take her eyes off the glorious, glittering Christmas tree that towered over everything in the already enormous parlor room.

“Mama…Papa…this tree is beautiful,” she whispered in excitement. “This is the best tree yet.”

“Every year, the tree is the best yet to you, Joohyun,” her father remarked, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“Well this is by far the best we’ve ever had yet,” Joohyun insisted. She smiled up at her parents and then started searching for her presents. She gasped with delight when she finally found a brand new doll lying inside of a gift box with her name on it.

“Wah- she’s so pretty! I think I shall name her…Miyoung! Thank you so much Mama and Papa!” As Joohyun’s parents watched her play with the ornately decorated doll, a slightly reminiscent sadness could be seen in their eyes.

“Dear…” her mother turned to her husband. “I think this might be Joohyun’s last doll...she’s growing so much…” He nodded sadly in agreement.

“Whoaa! Toy soldiers!” Taemin, Joohyun’s younger brother, exclaimed. “Pew! Pew! Bang bang! Haha- thanks Mama and Papa!” He went about the room, playing with his new toys while Taeyeon, the eldest of the three children, glided gracefully into the parlor wearing her newest evening gown.

“Well, Mama, Papa? How do I look?” Taeyeon asked her parents, twirling around in circles. Joohyun, noticing this, began imitating her in a mocking manner behind her back and Taemin giggled.

“Absolutely stunning, darling,” her mother replied. “Aish, all of you children are growing up so fast!”

“Thank you so much for the dress…I really wonder what others will think of it…”

“Like Jungsuuuu….?” Joohyun sang mischievously.

Embarrassed and outraged, Taeyeon cried out, “Why you!” and started to chase after her little sister before remembering to regain her composure. “Hmph- how childish. You just don’t understand yet, Joohyun.” She returned to her room to put on some makeup while Joohyun stuck her tongue out at her older sister. Yet deep inside, she knew that for a while, she had begun to entertain some uncertain thoughts about growing up herself.

The party was in full swing and the heels of boots thumped upon the floor while hoopskirts whirled this way and that. By this time, Joohyun had retired to a couch with her friends and the family cat, Heechul. As she her cat and listened to the chatter of the other little girls, Joohyun couldn’t help but turn her attention to the arrival of Jungsu, her sister’s boyfriend.  

She rolled her eyes at the way Taeyeon’s voice became much sweeter and higher sounding than normal and how the two of them couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Nevertheless, Joohyun could not deny the pang of jealousy she felt when Jungsu asked Taeyeon for a dance.

I wonder if I’ll ever find someone who will love me like that… she wondered to herself as she saw how happy they both looked.

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered mysteriously and there was a small boom. “Omo- look!” Minji cried out. There was a cloud of crackling smoke  and from it stepped out a man with wild hair and an eye patch.

“Uncle Jongwoon!” Joohyun and Taemin cried out happily. Their eccentric godfather smiled at them and the two children sprinted headlong into his arms and enveloped him in a giant bear hug. The guests, relieved that it wasn’t some freak accident, cautiously greeted the inventor and toymaker while Joohyun’s parents graciously welcomed him to the party.

Uncle Jongwoon was a renowned inventor who had traveled all over the world in order to get new ideas on how to renovate the various things he created, namely toys. Joohyun and Taemin sat with the other excited children as Uncle Jongwoon showed off his wondrous collection of moving and dancing dolls like the columbine, the harlequin and the toy soldier.

Then, he told the children to gather around as he took out his most prized toy of all- a soldier doll, tiny in comparison to his other dolls, whose jaw was unhinged and could be controlled through a lever in his back. Uncle Jongwoon called this a Nutcracker.

He then began to tell the story about how the nutcracker had come to be:

There once was a great inventor whose name just coincidentally also happened to be Jongwoon who lived in a kingdom far, far away with his handsome young nephew Kyuhyun. The king and queen had employed the inventor to catch all the mice in the kingdom and he succeeded for the most part- except that he was unable to catch the Mouse Queen and her son.

The vengeful Mouse Queen, in retaliation for the death of all her subjects, turned the king and queen’s beloved Princess Sungmin into an ugly troll. The king ordered Jongwoon to find a cure for his daughter under the threat. It was many weeks before the inventor and his nephew discovered that in order for the spell to be broken, a young man had to crack the “Dandanhan” nut, the hardest nut in all of the land. Then, with his eyes closed, he had to hand the nut to the princess for her to eat and then, with his eyes still closed, had to take seven steps backwards without stumbling and while serenading her with a love song. The king and queen then offered the princess’s hand in marriage for anyone who could break her curse.

Well, thousands of men flocked to the kingdom to try their luck- but all failed. The Dandanhan nut was simply too hard to crack and many of them completely shattered their teeth. When all hope seemed lost for Princess Sungmin as well as Jongwoon, cool-headed Kyuhyun decided to try it out for himself. Astonishingly, he managed to crack the nut and, with his eyes shut tight, he handed the cracked Dandanhan nut to the princess. Then he started to step back and amazed the court with his melodious voice. 

Princess Sungmin greedily consumed the nut and almost instantly became beautiful again. The Mouse Queen, who had been watching the entire time, was outraged. She then cast a curse on Kyuhyun, condemning him to crack nuts all his life as prince of the dolls. Poor Kyuhyun was transformed into the nutcracker doll that he was to this day- but not before knocking into a pedestal which killed the Mouse Queen. Her son then became the Mouse King and swore vengeance on the Nutcracker while Jongwoon and his nutcracker nephew were banished by the king and queen.

After he finished his story, Uncle Jongwoon demonstrated how the nutcracker worked. Taking a walnut, he placed it in the nutcracker’s mouth and with a pull of the lever, he cracked the nut. He passed it around to the children. When Joohyun finally held the nutcracker in her hands, something about both her godfather’s story and the nutcracker itself entranced her.

Uncle Jongwoon noticed, smiled and said, “This is your present, Joohyun. Merry Christmas.” Joohyun’s heart lifted with joy and she gazed at the nutcracker lovingly.

“Hey, hey, Joohyun! Let me try it out!” Taemin shouted, grabbing the nutcracker right out of her hands.

“Taemin! Stop it- give it back to me! He’s mine!” she cried out.

“Oh calm down, I just want to play with it for a little bit…!” Taemin insisted. He ran off with the beloved nutcracker while his sister chased him down. Suddenly, he bumped into one of the waiters who was serving food and in the process, dropped the nutcracker to the floor.

Joohyun gasped and rushed over to the nutcracker. She felt inexplicably upset as she shouted at her brother, whose eyes were wide with shock, “Now look what you’ve done, Taemin! Couldn’t you be just a little less like an immature brat?”

“There, there, Joohyun,” Jongwoon said comfortingly to his goddaughter. “It’s all right- he can easily be fixed. Ah- your ribbon. May I?” Joohyun handed him her ribbon and watched as he efficiently repaired the nutcracker with it.

“There! Good as new!” he proclaimed, handing the nutcracker back to his goddaughter.

“Thank you, Uncle Jongwoon,” Joohyun said gratefully, cradling the nutcracker in her arms. The rest of the night passed uneventfully; satisfied guests eventually left the party and Joohyun and Taemin made amends (somewhat).

It was quite late at night when Joohyun finally crawled into her bed- but she found that she was completely unable to fall asleep. Silently, she crept back into the parlor and spied the nutcracker standing by the side of her new doll.

“Poor Nutcracker,” she sighed. “Aish- stupid Taemin always breaks everything. But at least you’re all right now.” Humming to herself, Joohyun began to dance with her beloved nutcracker. She executed moves with balance and a stunning grace- she was quite a talented ballerina for a girl her age.

Just then, Joohyun heard a squeaking noise and the sound of mice scurrying around the floor. Heechul, the playful cat that he was, tried to chase them, but they all managed to evade him. Joohyun’s eyes widened as more and more rodents began to appear in the parlor.

The grandfather clock began to chime- it was now midnight. Joohyun turned around and, to her shock, saw her godfather perched on top of the clock.

“Uncle Jongwoon? What are you doing up there? Wha-What’s happening?” she stammered. Her godfather only smiled deviously at her and with a swish of his cloak, magic dust scattered all throughout the parlor.

Right before her very eyes, the toys began to come to life. Her own doll Miyoung rubbed her eyes and remarked, “What a night to be woken up from my beauty sleep!” Taemin’s toy soldiers began to assemble into military units to defend themselves from the attacking mice.

Suddenly, from the crowd of mice emerged a huge, ugly mouse with a golden crown on his head. “Give me the Nutcracker!” he demanded. “Now is the chance for me, the Mouse King, to slice his little painted face to bits!!” With an evil laugh, the Mouse King waved his sword and challenged, “Come out, come out, Nutcracker, wherever you are!”

“Where am I…?” came a voice. She looked down and realized that the Nutcracker had become alive as well. He blinked his eyes open, clearly confused about what was happening around him and why he had suddenly shrunk to such a small size.

“Excuse me…why are you holding me? And what’s going on? All I remember was Princess Sungmin and…” As dazed from shock as Joohyun was, she managed to hurriedly explain the entire situation to the Nutcracker, with help from her doll Miyoung.

“Um…all right,” he said, slowly digesting all the information. “…well I’ll need a sword, for starters. Excuse me! Uh- soldier over there! Would you be so kind as to lend me your sword?”

“Yes sunbaenim! All hail, Prince of the Dolls!”

“I’ll get it for you,” Joohyun offered. She plucked the toothpick sized sword and handed it to the Nutcracker.

“Thank you very much, ma’am,” he said, bowing to Joohyun before jumping into the middle of the battle to face off against the Mouse King in a duel. Things weren’t looking well for the toys- there seemed to be endless hordes of mice that kept advancing.

The Mouse King grinned evilly as he saw the Nutcracker approach him amidst the warfare. Immediately, he began to parry with the Nutcracker, and the wits of the enchanted prince just barely kept him alive. Joohyun stood by the sidelines, still quite unable to believe what was happening right in front of her eyes.

With a cheap, underhanded , the Mouse King knocked the Nutcracker to the ground. “Victory…shall be mine…” he said evilly, poising his sword over the Nutcracker.

“No!” Joohyun cried out and impulsively, she took off her slipper and threw it at the Mouse King. It threw him completely off guard- long enough for the Prince of Dolls to stagger back up and deal a fatal blow to the Mouse King.

Their leader now defeated, all the mice scurried and the parlor was quiet once more. All of a sudden, Joohyun’s surroundings seemed to grow infinitely larger…then she realized that she was shrinking down to toy size.

The Nutcracker threw away his bloody sword, approached Joohyun and kneeled down in front of her, taking her hand and pressing his lips to it. Joohyun could not help but blush.

“Thank you…Joohyun-ssi. I am in your debt- both for awakening me from slumber and for saving my life. Please…come visit the land which I am apparently prince of.”

“Ah…it’s no problem,” Joohyun said, feeling a strange and foreign sensation of her heart pounding rapidly. Now that she saw him up close, she could not help but marvel at his handsome angular face and slightly curled brown hair. “…may I ask where is this land you speak of?”

“…that’s a good question. Where is the Land of the Dolls?” he wondered. It was all Joohyun could do from giggling at his confused, innocent expression.

“Do you people not know anything?” said Miyoung, exasperated. “Through the Christmas tree, duh! Here, follow me!” With that, Miyoung led Joohyun and the Nutcracker inside the tree and, impossible as it seemed, Joohyun entered a magical land covered in sugar snow and decorated with gumdrops, Turkish delights and other sweets that made her gasp with delight. She looked down and saw that her nightgown had magically transformed into a blue dress, twice as lovely as her older sister’s evening gown. The Nutcracker’s soldier uniform had been replaced with a dashing attire fit for a prince.

Much to both her and the Nutcracker’s surprise, they were met with an entourage of different fantasy characters, all of them hailing his arrival. Unconsciously, the Nutcracker held her close as he waved to his subjects and Joohyun felt her cheeks turn pink.

They were led to the breathtaking palace constructed entirely of gingerbread and marzipan where they were seated on magnificent thrones. Sweets from all over the world performed lovely dances before them. Trumpets announced the arrival of Yoona, the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy and her attractive Cavalier Donghae who presented to the court a dazzling waltz to the Pas de Deux.

The Nutcracker suddenly got up and motioned for Joohyun to do the same. When the dance finished, the Nutcracker requested for microphones to be brought out.

“What for?” Joohyun asked.

“Isn’t it your dream to be a performer, Joohyun-ssi?” the Nutcracker asked. “Would you like to sing a duet with me?”

“I’d love to…but I’m afraid I won’t know the words…”

“Don’t worry…you know this song. It’s in your heart,” he told her, smiling at her. Joohyun was extremely nervous, but seeing the Nutcracker’s smile immediately put her at ease. As the music started and she gazed at him, she felt her fears melt away. And when he began to sing, she realized that he was right; she did know this song in her heart:

“If you’ve ever heard this before,

Have you ever thought of me?

Do you just want to be friends

Or does your heart [still] ache for me?

I’ve learnt so much after having staggered all this way

You’re the only person who understands me

When I think of you thinking of me

My chest still feels tender as before…

As the song finished, the Nutcracker turned to Joohyun, smiling. He then bowed to her and formally asked her for a dance. Her heart overflowing, Joohyun accepted. As he led her in an elegant dance, in the back of her mind, Joohyun wished with all her heart that she didn’t have to leave her Nutcracker Prince.

The couple made their final pose and the court erupted in applause.

“Joohyun-ssi?”

“Yes, Nutcracker?”

The Nutcracker took her hands and, gazing right into her eyes, said, “Stay. Please stay with me. I want you to be my princess. I want you to rule with me, by my side, together in the Land of the Dolls forever.” Joohyun stared at him, now torn with this decision. Eternal happiness was so close, just at her fingertips. But then she remembered her life back at home, back in reality.

She was a real person; she didn’t belong in this fantasy world.

Swallowing hard, Joohyun said, “Oh Nutcracker…I want to. I want to so much...but I can’t. I’m sorry…” The crushed expression on his face made her want to cry.

“…You don’t love me?” he asked her.

“Oh don’t do this to me,” she said abruptly, tears forming in her eyes. “Yes, I love you, Nutcracker. I love you for who you are. I wish I could spend forever as your princess. But…I have to grow up. There’s a million things in the world that I want to do and...I want to be able to fulfill those goals I have. If I stay here in the Land of the Dolls, I’ll never get to become the performer that I’ve always dreamed of being. Oh…but I still love you anyway...”

The Nutcracker stood there while Joohyun began to cry over the sad truth that was the way of the world. Then, he smiled and held her close. “Shh…don’t cry, Joohyun,” he said softly. “It’s all right. I understand. We belong to different worlds. And all children must grow up and leave their toys behind…but listen, Joohyun, that doesn’t mean you have to forget them. We’ll always be alive…right here.”

He placed a wooden hand on her chest. “Here in your heart. I’ll always be there, waiting. If there’s ever a time you want to come back, the Land of the Dolls will always welcome you. And remember Joohyun…I’ll always care. I love you and I’ll wait for the day you return.”

His voice began to fade away, his familiar figure drifting into a haze. The lovely court of the palace in the Land of the Dolls started to disappear and an wave of sadness rushed over Joohyun as she called out one last time: “Nutcracker…!”

“Seo…Seohyun?...Seohyun!” So Nyuh Shi Dae’s Seohyun jolted awake.

“Oh good, you’re alive. God Seohyun, you scared the crap out of me- I thought you were unconscious and I had to call an ambulance,” Cho Kyuhyun’s voice joked. Seohyun blinked her eyes open- and found herself face to face with her Nutcracker.

“Wha…What am I doing here?” she asked, still dazed and a little shock from seeing Kyuhyun.

“Uh…I’m not too sure myself…I just came into the dorm and found you passed out on the couch,” Kyuhyun explained. Seohyun remembered that she had been dragged to Super Junior’s dorm along with Yoona and Tiffany-unnie. The recent events of her dream then hit her like a train.

“Oh…my god, Kyuhyun-oppa! You…you were in my dream…! Oh my god that was the most intense dream I’ve ever had…my unnies and oppas were all in it…Taemin was my brother, which was really weird and I think Heechul was the cat for some reason and…there were mice and there was the Nutcracker...” She stuttered to a stop when she saw Kyuhyun giving her a strange stare. She became greatly embarrassed when he started to laugh.

“That’s a really weird dream,” he chortled. “But hey- tell me more about it. You’re so cute when you’re flustered, Seohyun. Let me get some snacks for us- then you can tell me more.” He headed into the kitchen and Seohyun couldn’t help but stare after his retreating back.

“I think I’ve found my Nutcracker…” 

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DISCLAIMER: ORIGINAL STORY "THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE AND THE MOUSE KING" IS BY E.T.A. HOFFMAN. ORIGINAL BALLET ADAPTATION IS BY PYOTR ILLYCH TCHAIKOVSKY <--aka Russian music genius whom i love very very much. 

A/N: Hey all! this the last part of my christmas gift special! hope you Wires like it! ^^ i've been on kind of a nutcracker prince spazz lately (THE WARNER BROS MOVIE IS SIMPLY ADORABLE ;A;) yeah. lol. not exactly my most original work, but i can say that i DEFINITELY had fun writing this while listening to teh ballet <3 

*by the way, i'm (pretty sure) the song is a translation of way back into love- seokyu duet <3 

*EDIT: correction. that's not actually the song LOL. but i still thought the lyrics were nice so i let it be the duet. i couldn't find call it with my heart translations so yeah >_>

once again, a belated holidays to you and i shall be updating soon on what my next plans for oneshot writing are :D hwaiting!