Listen to Mermaid Princess by Mystic White : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcURgEtfZh0

 

Days after that fateful meeting, Sungyeol and Myungsoo had become inseparable friends and I had found someone who didn't care about the history of my name or my family. Sungjong's forehead should have been embedded in wrinkles, what with the number of times he quirked an eyebrow everytime Sungyeol glared at any parody of my name. After a long time, I felt cared for beyond familial boundaries. It was only natural that within a span of five days, 120 hours, I found myself completely lovestruck with a crazy guy named Lee Sungyeol. 

 

My shyness didn't waver though. I still found it tough to relax everytime he gave me a one-arm hug, everytime he fixed my scarf for me, everytime he grinned in glee when he pointed out that our coats were of the same colour ("we look like a couple!") and most often than not, everytime our eyes met in between other people's words and laughter. It was getting difficult for me to close my eyes to sleep and waking up in the morning began feeling like a blessing.

 

Praise my luck, for just when my winter was exalted with Sunlight Sungyeol, my best friend was struck by heartbreak. 

 

"He said," Sungjong cried, while he tightly held onto my gloved hands, "he didn't want to ruin my Christmas...so... he..... Oh God!"

 

I cringed and felt helpless watching him howl again. Sungjong's boyfriend had been placed at a prestigious French restaurant. Sungjong already knew that it was a French cuisine centred restaurant. His boyfriend forgot to tell him that it was located in France. 

 

"Seven months!" he cried. "Who keeps a secret like that for seven months?"

 

"A douche," I muttered. Unfortunately  my words failed to tickle the funny bone and led to another breakdown. 

 

"Oh come on Sungjong," I said after a while, caressing his back. "Look, tomorrow Woohyun's holding a party at his place. New Year's Sunjong! Let's cheer to the fact that this got out of your life before 2013 could begin!"

 

The short but sharp sentence seemed to have done it's job. I inwardly sighed in relief and peered at my smartphone. I bit down my lip with regret as I saw the number of texts Sungyeol had sent me, each one unreplied to. 

 

"Reply."

 

I looked up and found Sungjong wiping his tears with a smile on his face. "Idiot," he murmured and pulled my cheek. "I'm glad you're smiling so often nowadays." 

 

I blushed and began reading the texts I had been sent.

 

Myungsoo told me Woohyun's holding a party tomorrow night?? I forgot his address, I want to bring along a few friends. Text it to me please!

 

You busy or what? Okay just text me whenever you get free! :D

 

I heard Sungjong's boyfriend dumped him. Let me know if he wants snails thrown Mr. French Chef's face!

 

WHY HAVEN'T YOU REPLIED YET???

 

Ninja. I'm getting worried. Where are you?!!

 

NINJAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja Ninja!!!! Ahhh my fingers are unconsciously typing down your name over and over again!! Reply before I go insane!!!!

 

"Someone needs to Instagram this," Sungjong said. 


"What?" I said, suddenly feeling hot. I adjusted my scarf and heaved a sigh. 

 

"Your face," Sungjong said. "It needs to be Instagrammed. You're as red as T Swift's current favourite lipstick."

 

Thank God for pain, I thought. Had my jaw not started hurting, I would have never realized how wide my smile had become.

 

                                                                                  ****************************************

 

"Whose the boy?"

 

I stumbled on my heels and glared at my father. He grinned at me and turned around to receive a wink from D2, who was fixing Myungsoo's hair (much to the latter's annoyance). 

 

"That's a vague question Dad," I murmured and carefully straightened the ends of my black skirt. This was the first time I was wearing black sheer stockings. I wondered whether other girls felt as uncomfortable as me. Then I realized that maybe they had worn enough by this time to get used to it. 

 

"That's a cute sweater," Dad remarked. "Remember what you said when I bought it for you?"

 

"What?" I said, praying that my face doesn't react before my words do. 

 

"'What's the point Dad?" Myungsoo imitated my voice while walking towards us. "'I'll never get to wear this! Girls wear this to impress boy! My impression is lost after my name!' THAT, is what you said."

 

"Thanks," I said and whacked my step-brother's head. He simply grinned, only to have D2 run after him to fix his hair again. 

 

"Keeping secrets now, are we?" Dad said, walking towards me and moving my hair away from my shoulders. He handed me my brown fur-hooded coat and fixed the sleeves of my block-printed sweater. 

 

"Just nervous," I said, relenting to his mind-reading skills. He smiled and kissed me on my forehead. 

 

"If what Myungsoo tells me is right," he said, ignoring my widened eyes directed at my brother, "then this guy obviously doesn't care about the walls you've built. He only cares about the you behind those walls."

 

"Not once has he asked me about your name," Myungsoo commented and smiled. "Infact, he seems to have given your name all the affection you failed to give." I blushed slightly, only to have D2 fawn over me. 

 

"Okay we're leaving!" I cried out and pulled Myungsoo away towards the door. 

 

"Don't kiss him for too long!" D2 shouted. I heard an irritated 'what?' from Dad and was glad to have left the family discussion right then.

 

                                                                                          ***************************************

"What now." 

 

My deadpan voice reflected the passing away of my excitement. An entire group of teenagers was standing outside Woohyun's condominium while the owner was speaking to two cops by the pavement. 

 

Myungsoo clicked his tongue. "I knew his personality would get him into trouble one day."

 

"All he had to do was ask for permission...he should have just showed his bloody aegyo and let us have a nice party." Sungjong sighed and looked at me. 

 

"Which is why I'm asking," I said, perusing my primary virtue of patience. "What. Now."

 

Sungjong's phone buzzed. His eyes skimmed through what looked like a long message and when he was done reading it, a grin was plastered on his face. Suddenly everyone else's phone buzzed as well. Woohyun read what seemed to be the same message and right after doing so, the tough tone he was using towards the cops, transitioned to that of a school kid promising obedience.

 

I was the last to receive it. It was an unknown number. 

 

Come to Seoul Plaza.

 

I shook my head once, twice and for the final and third time. THIS was the sensational message? 

 

"Hey," I called out to Sungjong. "Give me your phone."

 

"What?" Right then, Woohyun said something and the crowd around me began moving off in different directions. 

 

"Sungjong! Woohyun! Myungsoo!" But my voice got lost in the spontaneous parade and moments later, I was walking with a bunch of strangers, my friends nowhere around me. There was a group of three guys and two girls with me.  

 

"What was the message?" I asked them. They looked at me and then at each other. 

 

"It said to come to Seoul Plaza," the girl quickly replied. Before I could ask them if they had a car, they scurried away and vanished from my sight. 

 

"What the hell," I muttered and shoved my hands in my coat pockets. I began walking down towards the new party venue and pitied myself with every shiver that ran down my legs. So much for the skirt. Even Sungyeol won't be there, I thought and tied my blow-dried hair in a low ponytail. 

 

I mentally kicked myself once I reached. Of course, ice-skating. What else would there be at Seoul Plaza? 

 

I looked around, trying to find a familiar face in the crowd. I called Sungjong and Myungsoo, only to be ignored. I glanced at my watch and sat down on the bench. One hour left, I thought and waited. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quarter-to-twelve. 

 

My eyes were tearing up now. I don't know why but the memory of my middle-school prom returned to my mind. Minhyuk, the coolest guy in our batch, had asked me to the dance and as a tradition, I waited until the final day for the dress he had bought for me. When I had opened the prettily adorned box, I found a worn-out taekwondo outfit and a note saying : "I dare you to wear this! :P"


Thankfully I chose to stay in. Eitherway, I had felt betrayed by my name for the nth time. 

 

This was nothing like that incident. But like any human heart, I began wallowing in the darkness that I had recently escaped from. Hi old friend, I felt like saying and began easing myself into the familiar pathetic Ninja of the past. Even if this was a well-intentioned joke, the fact was that I was the of it, again. I thought of Sungyeol and a faint light flickered in my head. 

 

"Ninja?"

 

I looked up, my jaw falling slack open when the man I was thinking of appeared before me. His cheeks were red with exhaustion, his neatly brushed hair matted to his forehead with sweat. Just like the first time I met him. 

 

"Oh hey," I said. 

 

"Weren't you supposed to be at Woohyun's party?" he asked, slowly approaching me. I fiddled with my hands and shrugged. 

 

"The party venue got shifted..."

 

"Ah." Sungyeol nodded and looked around. "Where are the rest?"

 

I shrugged again, but this time with gritted teeth. My vision was fogging up and I begged my tears not to introduce themselves at this moment. 

 

"Ninja?" It was the same tone of concern that had been used when he bumped into me. I took in a breath and tightened my scarf around my face. 

 

"Don't use my name," I said. "It's embarrassing."

 

"What?" 

 

"Don't sound so oblivious," I sniffed, not afraid to look him in the eye. My tears were showing off their glowing appearance on my face now. "You must have secretly laughed at my name too."

 

Sungyeol looked baffled. He walked towards me, his face inches away from me. "What are you talking about?"

 

I shook my head. "You won't get it." I sniffed again and walked around him. "Anyway, Happy New Year---"

 

He stopped me. I turned around to find his hand on my arm, a dead serious look on his face. 

 

"First of all," he said. "It's not midnight yet. You're staying here until we both hear that big clock there ring in 2013. Second."

 

He gently pulled me back. "From the moment Myungsoo told me your name in the park, I knew there was a story behind your embarrassed look, that perpetual look of apology you hold in your eyes. Stop feeling embarrassed okay? Ninja. What's in a name? I don't care if a lifetime of people poked fun at you. You blame other people for misunderstanding you when it's just an excuse for you to run away from anyone who grows close to you. You want friends, but you don't want intimacy. It doesn't work like that."

 

"Thanks for the tip," I said. "Can I leave now?"

 

"No." What he did next was a moment I had daydreamed often. 

 

Sungyeol had hugged me before, many times. But this time, he didn't hug me. He embraced me. It wasn't a lanky arm clumsily hanging off my shoulders. It was a warm body wrapping itself around me while I stood still. 

 

"I thought you were opening up to me," he said, his voice muffled by my coat. I was too shocked to give an immediate reply. Seconds later, I mustered enough strength to say, "I have."

 

"Then why am I the only one hugging like this?" 

 

"I can't express my feelings well," I stammered. He stepped away and grinned, taking my arms and resting them on his shoulders. 

 

"It's that easy," he said. From a house close by, the countdown was ringing towards us. 

 

"Two...one. Welcome to 2013 Ninja."

 

I must have gazed into his eyes too long. How do I know this? Because right when I widened my eyes at his approaching face, our lips met. 

 

"Dad said not to kiss for too long!" 

 

We broke apart and found the lost party grinning at us. Myungsoo was at the helm and Sungjong was standing next to a guy I had never met before. 

 

"YAH! IT WAS YOU!"

 

2013 started with my boyfriend chasing after my brother for pranking us both to meet on New Year's Eve. 2013 started with me not caring about my name or the people who didn't like it. 

 

2013 started with a girl letting her guard down after twenty years. 

 

                               

A/N : Oh God, the amount of feels I suffered from while writing down this chapter! I hope all of you read this chapter while listening to the song, I'm already in love with it!

 

This one-shot was supposed to be pure fluff. I hope it reached your romantic expectations! 

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and I pray that everyone has a beautiful 2013!! 

Love,

almost_asian