Beautiful Stranger
Mystical Love
chapter one
Beautiful Stranger
“You have a mysterious charm that nobody else has.”
– Beautiful Stranger, SNSD
“Chorong-ah…” A middle-aged man called his daughter weakly. The called girl walked toward her father hesitantly. She somehow had a rough idea what her father wanted to talk about.
“I’m sorry…” and that confirmed it, “business hasn’t been doing good right now. We’ll have to move out again… Pack your things, Chorong-ah. We’re going to go tomorrow morning.” He said dismissively. Chorong, being the good daughter that she was, quietly nodded and retreated to her room. Once she got inside her room, she locked her door properly and trudged to her closet, pulling out a worn-out suitcase that people usually used to pack their clothes. She proceeded by taking, folding, and putting her clothes into the suitcase. After her task was finished, she silently walked to her study desk, picking up a photo frame. Inside it was a photo of her and her mother, brightly smiling as if nothing else mattered. Chorong clutched the frame to her chest and sat on her bed, tears quietly fell from her eyes.
“Mom…” she silently whispered, “I miss you…”
“Father’s business isn’t doing well here, too…” she mumbled, “so we have to move out again… Mom, why did you leave us so soon? You were the only one capable of turning father’s bad business ideas into a prosperous one… Now that you’re gone, we’ve been moving from place to place…”
“Mom… I don’t want to keep on living like this… please, please help us so that we won’t have to move out again in the future…”
Silence quickly engulfed the room, and only the sound of Chorong’s faint sobbing could be heard. Moments later, however, the girl silently chuckled, “what was I thinking?” she muttered under her breath, “there’s no way things can change… we’ll just keep on moving anyway…”
Soon after, she heard a knock on her door, followed by a girl’s voice, “Chorong-unnie… Are you in there?”
“Yes, Eunji. Is there something wrong?” the room’s tenant asked, trying her best not to sound like she was crying. However, the girl on the opposite side of the door didn’t buy that. “Unnie, can I come in?” she asked. Chorong knew Eunji had already figured out that she was crying. Defeated, she weakly walked to her door, unlocking it and opened it ever so slightly, enough to see her cousin pouting.
“I knew it…” Eunji mumbled, “Please let me in, unnie.” She pleaded. Chorong looked calm, but honestly she was surprised. Eunji rarely said “please” and that was enough to tell the older girl that her cousin was worried for her. Chorong nodded and opened the door wider for Eunji to come in, and once she was inside Chorong quickly locked the door again.
“You packed already?” Eunji asked, glancing at the suitcase and then at her cousin. She watched as Chorong gave her a nod as an answer, “wow, you’re fast… I haven’t even touched my suitcase.” She said and smiled. Seeing this bright side of Eunji returned the smile back to Chorong’s face. “You should pack…” she mumbled, “We’re leaving tomorrow morning, you know?”
“Yeah, but I just want to cherish our last moment in this house,” she said, smiling sadly, “I already made some friends, too… I’ll have to say goodbye to them later…”
“Why did you make friends in the first place, Eunji?” Chorong asked, sounding bitter, “you know this is bound to happen sooner or later, yet you never stopped making friends.”
“Chorong-unnie…” Eunji looked at her cousin with a sad smile, “why are you always against me making friends?”
“Because…” Chorong said, “Friendship is merely an ideal created by stupid, shallow-minded people.”
“You keep saying that since forever…” Eunji’s smile dropped, “but you’re wrong, Chorong-unnie. Friendship is not just a mere ideal. It’s real. Friendship is real.”
“Oh please…” Chorong groaned, “just how many of your so-called ‘friends’ are still contacting you now?”
Eunji remained silent. The older girl scoffed, “see? Is that your ideas of ‘friends’? Someone who forgets you once you leave?”
“Chorong-unnie, please…” Eunji sighed, “Maybe they’re busy-”
“You’re too naïve, Eunji,” Chorong said firmly, “only naïve people believe in ‘friendship’.” She walked to the door, “why don’t you pack your things now? I’m tired, I want to sleep.”
Eunji, defeated, unwillingly walked outside the room. “Chorong-unnie, I’ll have you know that I’m still adamant with my belief.”
“Be my guest.” Chorong said dismissively, closing the door again gently.
“Friendship, huh…”
“That’s so stupid…”
It was still early in the morning when they arrived at their destination, a small countryside village which was close to both the sea and the forest. The air was still very fresh and clean, something Chorong and Eunji hadn’t felt in a while, and the neighborhood was quite nice too. They provided Chorong’s family hospitality; something Chorong longed for quite some time.
When the Park’s reached their new home, Chorong and Eunji gasped at how beautiful it was. Although it was only a wooden house, it was bigger than all of their previous houses. It was situated at a very strategic place, where you could get a clear view of both the sea and the forest. The house was located near a cliff, but the way to the edge of the cliff was fenced so that no one would fell down. Inside the house, there was a fireplace on the living room. The kitchen was well-decorated and clean. There were three rooms; two of them contained a double-sized bed. Overall, it was a nice house. According to Mr. Park, their house was given to them by the other residents.
“So, about the rooming…” Mr. Park started, “Dara and Chanyeol will be in one room, Chorong and Eunji in the other. I’ll sleep in the only single-bed room. You can go unpack your things now.” He stated. Everyone nodded and took their luggages from their car, an old, beat-up Toyota Prius their father got from his in-laws. Once they did, they went to their assigned room. As soon as Eunji closed her and Chorong’s room, the latter opened the room’s transparent door which led them to the balcony. From the balcony, she could see the calm, blue ocean and the lush, green forest. It was such a beautiful sight that Chorong’s tears fell. All she wanted at that time was for her mother to enjoy the breathtaking sight with her.
“C-Chorong-unnie? W-What happened? Why are you crying?” Eunji asked, panicking. Chorong wiped the tears with her sleeve, “nothing’s wrong. I just… remembered mom.” She faintly mumbled, but Eunji heard it. She quickly hugged the older girl and rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. Chorong cried again, moved by Eunji’s considerate actions. She knew she could always rely on the younger girl for support.
“T-Thank you, Eunji…” she whispered, her voice cracked as the result of crying. Eunji nodded silently and was about to pull back, but Chorong tightened the hug, “let’s just stay like this for a while, Eun… I-I kind of need a hug right now…” she shyly requested. Eunji smiled and whispered “sure” before returning the hug.
For the first time since a while, they hugged longer than ever.
There was still a long time before dinner, and Chorong wanted to familiarize herself with her new neighborhood. She asked her father if she could walk around for a while, which her father complied easily while adding, “Please return before dinner.”
Chorong simply nodded before taking her coat which was given by her late mother and a pair of sandals which was a Christmas present from both of her parents. She was about to open the door when Dara, her older sister, appeared. “Where are you going to, Chorongie?” she asked. “Just around the neighborhood. You know, to familiarize myself.” She answered. Dara, despite thinking that it was a bit strange since her sister was usually quite aloof, nodded and left.
As soon as Chorong set her foot outside of the house, a surge of fresh but chilling breezes welcomed her. She felt herself slightly quivering, and thought, “Good thing I’m wearing this coat.”
She began by walking on the path to the center of the town. Once she arrived there, she was greeted by a pair of young girls, “hello, Unnie! We’ve never seen you around before. Are you new?”
Chorong unknowingly smiled at the two girls, “yes, I am. My name is Park Chorong, and I live there, just near the cliff. And may I know your names?” she asked. The two girls exchanged looks before smiling at Chorong, “of course, Unnie! My name is Kim Namjoo, and this is-”
“I’m Oh Hayoung. Nice to meet you, unnie.” the seemingly older girl interrupted her friend and smiled innocently at Chorong. Chorong returned the smile, “nice to meet you, Hayoung and Namjoo. You two look like you just went home from school, but as far as I remember there was no school around.”
“Ah, you’ve got sharp eyes, unnie. Yes, we just went home from school but our school isn’t in this town, it’s on the nearby town. There’s no school here.” Namjoo explained. Chorong shyly chuckled, “ah, thank you. But aren’t you two elementary school kids? Won’t it be dangerous to walk from town to town alone?”
“Ah, don’t worry unnie; we’re already used to it. Right, Namjoo-unnie?” Hayoung said and looked at Namjoo, who answered with a nod. Chorong raised an eyebrow, “Hayoung, did you just call Namjoo ‘unnie’?”
“Yeah. Is there something wrong, Chorong-unnie?” Hayoung innocently asked. Namjoo seemed like she understood what Chorong was talking about and smiled, “Chorong-unnie, I’m a fifth grader while Hayoungie is a fourth grader. I’m a year older than her.” She explained. Chorong looked at Namjoo with wide eyes, “Hold on, really? Wow… I’m sorry Hayoung-ah, I thought-”
“Ah, don’t worry unnie. I’m already used to it.” Hayoung smiled, “by the way… Unnie, have you heard of the ‘forest elf’?”
“’forest elf’?” Chorong raised an eyebrow. “Yep. I guess you haven’t unnie. You see, inside the forest, it is said that a forest elf who had lived for centuries is roaming around, protecting the forest and this town from any disaster. Also, it is said that those who saw it will receive a lifetime of blessings and happiness. I really want to see it someday, right Hayoungie?” Namjoo explained and asked Hayoung, who answered with a nod, “many people had tried to meet it, but so far none of them returned with good news. Chorong-unnie, do you believe in ‘forest elf’?” the youngest girl asked. Chorong pondered with her thoughts for a while. She obviously didn’t believe in fairytales but answering no would break the two kids’ hope. She had no choice but to nod.
“Then, unnie… would you like to go meet the ‘forest elf’ with us?” Namjoo asked, which shocked Chorong, “you mean right now?”
“Of course, unnie! There’s no difference between now and tomorrow anyway. Come on, unnie! Come with us!” Namjoo pleaded childishly. Chorong mentally scolded herself for not being able to say no, “… alright… let’s go…”
“YAY! Let’s go, Chorong-unnie, Hayoungie!” Namjoo excitedly said while pulling Chorong’s arm. Hayoung smiled brightly at Chorong before following her friend.
“Kids… it’s almost sunset. Aren’t your parents going to get worried?” Chorong said tiredly. Of course she would get tired when the two kids energetically pulled her from places to places around the forest, searching for the ‘forest elf’ which, to Chorong, was obviously nonexistent. She seriously doubted that no one actually thought it was just a myth and dismissed it.
“Awwh~ but I still wanna search for the ‘forest elf’!” Namjoo whined, pouting. Hayoung looked at her friend and smiled, “Chorong-unnie is right, Namjoo-unnie. Our parents will get worried if we wander for too long.” She said. Namjoo still pouted but nodded nonetheless. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she was also tired from all the searching. “Okay, then…” she said weakly, “I guess we’ll have to call it a day…”
Chorong saw the sad look on Namjoo’s eyes and felt guilty. She walked to the two kids and said, “how about I’ll go search for it a little bit longer for you two? When I saw it I’ll make sure to tell you guys how it looked like.”
Namjoo’s and Hayoung’s faces brightened up almost immediately after, “really, Chorong-unnie!? You’ll do it for us?” Namjoo asked. Chorong nodded and was engulfed into a tight hug by the fifth grader, “thank you, Chorong-unnie! You’re the best!”
Chorong returned the hug and accidentally saw Hayoung looking at her and Namjoo with a hurt expression. Chorong wondered why Hayoung would look like that. Perhaps it was jealousy? But that’s ridiculous. Namjoo and Hayoung were still too young to understand the concept of jealousy.
“O-Okay, then… Namjoo-ya, Hayoung-ah, you two should go home now. Your parents would be so worried sick right now,” Chorong firmly said. Namjoo and Hayoung gave her a smile, “sure, unnie. Good luck! And good evening!” the two said in unison and left the forest, leaving Chorong alone in the wilderness. As soon as the two elementary kids were out of sight, Chorong’s smile was quickly replaced with a look of fear and nervousness. “Aish, Park Chorong… it’s going to get dark soon and you’re still stuck in a forest searching for something that definitely doesn’t exist… what an awesome start for your first day here…” she grumbled. She decided not to venture too far just in case she lost her way inside the forest.
But that was exactly what happened.
“…Where am I…?” Chorong asked herself as she scanned her unfamiliar surroundings. There was no sight of people’s house. She had travelled too far deep inside the forest, and it was already dark.
“… oh no, I already promised father that I would return before dinner, too…” she mumbled. She no longer dared to move, afraid that the more she walked the more she’ll lose her way inside the now dark, terrifying forest.
Suddenly she heard someone behind her, “you shouldn’t wander alone in the forest at night…”
She immediately turned to see the one who talked to her, and saw something unusual.
A girl, possibly around her age, was sitting on the ground while resting her back on a sturdy-looking tree. She was wearing a white dress laced with flower patterns. She also wore a flower crown on her head, a pair of ivory white sandals, and on top of her shoulder was a little squirrel. Despite her dark surroundings, the girl radiated a bright aura that seemed to lighten up the area. She didn’t look at Chorong, but the latter could already tell that she was the one talking to her.
“I could say the same to you…” Chorong’s brows creased. The girl looked at Chorong and smiled gently, “ah, I’m different… beside, I was talking about you. Don’t involve me.” She said, grinning. Chorong felt thousands of butterflies were flying and colliding inside her stomach, and her face was flushed, tainted with a light shade of pink. She didn’t know if it was because of the girl’s sweetly addicting voice or because of her breathtaking looks. Maybe it was both.
“Nice to meet you, though. I’m Yoon Bomi. What’s your name?” the girl introduced herself and offered a handshake, which Chorong hesitantly returned, “I-I’m Park Chorong.”
“That’s a nice name. You new here?” Bomi asked which earned her a nod from the new girl. “Ah, that’s nice to know. Not many new people came to that town nowadays. So good to know that people still come and live there.” The girl said. Chorong felt weird with Bomi’s statement because the way she said it felt like she had been living for way longer than she looked like, but she dismissed the thought.
“I assume that you’re lost, right?” Bomi smirked teasingly, and Chorong’s face went beet red. “Alright, come with me. I’ll show you the way back to the village.” The white-dressed girl said, holding Chorong’s hand. While they were walking their way out, Chorong felt a surge of warmth spread across her entire body, concentrated on her face. Bomi looked at Chorong for a brief moment and chuckled, “why is your face so red?”
“W-What?” Chorong asked, flustered. She looked away from Bomi’s teasing gaze while the latter just laughed it off.
“There’s the village just straight ahead from here. You can go on your own, right?” Bomi asked. Chorong gave her a weird look, “you’re not coming with me?”
“Nah, I have other matters to attend to.” Bomi said, “Go. Your father must be so worried sick right now. Say hello to your cousin for me.” She said. Chorong who was looking at the village and didn’t pay attention to Bomi only nodded in response. However, as soon as Bomi’s words clicked inside her head, she quickly turned to look at Bomi only to found out that she already left.
“How did she know so much about my family?”
Chorong retreated back to her shared room with Eunji after receiving a good amount of scolding from her father. She plopped herself on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.
She heard the door clicked open and saw Eunji giving her a curious look, “you never walked around for so long before. What happened?” she asked. Chorong only sighed in response, too tired to answer.
“Well, it’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.” Eunji said, “By the way, Chorong-unnie… have you heard about-”
“The ‘forest elf’? Yeah, I have.” Chorong answered tiredly, earning her another curious look from her cousin, “you have? I thought you don’t believe in such superstitions?”
“I don’t, but apparently some elementary kids do.” She mumbled, “Go sleep, Eun.”
“Well, okay…” Eunji said, giving up. She pulled up her blanket and closed her eyes. Chorong, on the other hand, kept on thinking of the weird girl she met in the forest.
‘Her clothes definitely didn’t match her surroundings… she looked like she was cosplaying…’ Chorong thought, ‘but what’s this? Even though she was so weird and out of place, I felt like being pulled towards her… perhaps it was her mysterious charm? I don’t know… but she definitely had that…’
She decided to just shrug her thoughts off and slept. But the girl’s name kept repeating itself inside Chorong’s mind.
'Yoon Bomi...'
'Such a beautiful stranger...'
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author's note » Sorry that I marked this as subscriber-only haha I was just testing some features + since I'm pretty damn sure I'm going to procrastinate a lot on this story haha anyway since TSOF will be revolving around HaJoo and JungLi for a while (whoops, spoiler...) and that means ChoMi and 2Eun will be neglected then, that's why I put those two here for a while XD and I did say that HaJoo might appear but I didn't expect it to be this soon -_- ahaha and this story will be of 'fantasy' genre BTW
@athousandreveries: here's the first chapter~ tell me what you think :")
@akumatsubasa: ah, you're here chingu~ there ya go, ChoMi-centered fic~ since you keep wanting for them :p and there's a slight HaJoo here hahaha I feel less guilty (?)
finally putting this story to a rest. final chapter is up gaiiissss :D that 'complete' status makes me a bit teary :"
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