a/n: some slips in historical references i think but it’s just to carry the narrative forward. also, i know there’s a discrepancy in the time period & language employed but time & language are all fallible structures & you guys wouldn’t want me writing in ancient korean or whatever anyway LOL no poetic shizz here sobs busy using my brain to revise for finals.
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my name is joohyun. you know the childhood fairytale “sleeping beauty”?

well yeah, my western counterparts probably didn’t like the whole idea of it originating from the oriental side of the world, or they didn’t like how there were no handsome knights to save the day (and the princess, nonetheless), so they went ahead and mutated the story as how it is spread widely today.

but here is how sleeping beauty really went.

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once upon a time, there lived a princess (me, duh), daughter of king taejong, ruler of the joseon dynasty. as usual we came to rule after a series of attack when the conflicting factions within the kingdom could not form amiable ties with one another. well my dad was pretty dope (is that how people use the word nowadays?) because in a determined attempt to prove his qualification to rule, he made several drastic changes to the laws, one being to remove the privilege enjoyed by the upper ranks of the government to maintain private armies, and the other being to revise current legislation regarding taxation of land ownership. while doing all these, he pissed off as many people as he could, even resorting to killing his rivals and relatives to retain his power (luckily, i wasn’t one of them eh?) the point is, he inadvertently put me in a precarious situation, because all he did simply made those who were alive look towards him with revenge burning in his eyes. and as all cliched revenge attempts go, what better than to attack the one closest to you?

i wonder why they didn’t go for my mother, though. (heh, just kidding i love you mum)

so anyway, one sunny day, i was perched on a sturdy branch watching my best friend skip pebbles on a running stream. it was always sunny with her. she was called seungwan. she was always shining, like the sun. i used to believe, i still believe she carried the core of the sun within her, radiating warmth everywhere she went. she always made people happy. she made me the happiest. nevertheless, i always admired her, she knew how to do so many things, from skipping pebbles to catching fish to shooting arrows. and me? i could only sit within the petty confines of my palace and learn how to drink tea the right way. meh.

“seungwan ah, how many times can you make the pebble skip?”

“mmm, 9?”

so she tries, palm upwards all ready to swing her wrist, aiming her pebble at an angle i can’t seem to grasp towards the water.

“1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8...plop” i break out into laughter, teasing her for not hitting her target. she pouts and i grin.

“i’m just kidding, wan-ah”

“not funny, come. you try it then, princess” she sneers and i scrunch my nose, because i know the minute i touch the pebble i will humiliate myself. and i’m the princess for goodness’ sake.

“no.” i say firmly and it’s funny because sometimes i can be a prick, but she always gives in. i fold my arms and look away. i hear her footsteps, treading out of water and coming closer to me. she offers her hand and i look at her for a second, before i take her hand in mine and jump off the branch.

“i’ll teach you.”

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in a patriarchal state my dad could care less about whatever threat seungwan would pose to his rule, so he usually left me to play with her. rather, i think he left me in her care. as i grew up, she would bring me out of the palace on little escapades. she’d ride me in her horse to a dense forest, and we’d lay against the rough bark of a tree and talk. sometimes she would reveal her shooting prowess to me, albeit blushing. she would wait for the sudden flutter of wings and i would see the muscles of her forearm flexed, drawing the arrow back. poor bird.

she was so happy, so strong and yet i wondered what else she was made of. her eyes always shone, but i always wondered why. was it always the case? it was funny, because while i had made her up here to be really predictable, i really couldn’t put a finger to anything else more concrete (not because i didn’t know her enough) but she was mysterious, like a heavy cloud that shot shafts of lightning. her capability was so much more than how i just saw it, that was what i knew for sure. it was funny too, because as i grew up, i started to rationalise for my constant curiosity about her and myself, too. was it normal to always have your heart racing was it normal to feel light-headed (i am not talking about running or being on drugs right now geez) was it normal to feel the urge to smile close your eyes and wish you were in your own glass globe, with seungwan nonetheless, shut off from the gazes and actions of the world?

as her hand slipped between mine, our heads tilted toward the azure of the sky i knew this was something beautiful and worth cherishing. yet somewhere at the back of my head i knew i shouldn’t think further of this friendship. gazes, i told myself, public gazes. and also the chances of not having my love (love?) being reciprocated.

“seungwan”

“hmm?”

“do you know how liking someone feels like?”

“mmm… i don’t know. but from the looks of how people make such a big deal of it, i don’t think words are enough to describe it.”

she tugs my hair behind my ear and smiles and i feel something sprouting within me and as much as i love the warmth unfurling in me, i knew vaguely as well this shouldn’t be happening. and this feeling brewing within me foreshadowed the things i knew i shouldn't be envisioning yet wanting from the depths of my heart.

but , well, i think i might have fallen.

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another day i was out with one of my servants to purchase materials for my calligraphy class, i was lured away by an old woman with a basket of beautiful calligraphy pens, my servant busy looking into one of the shops. i happily bought one and returned to the palace where i began writing and somewhere between the class a slightly neurotic part (i didn’t know it was because of the ing spell the woman cast on me ok) of me grew attracted to the pointed tip of the brush (it wasn’t a brush, ta-da, now you got it) and pricked my damned finger on it.

(apparently the old lady’s son was one of the poor souls my dad murdered and she wasn’t a tad too happy about it)

anyway, pricking my finger wasn’t enough because i remembered becoming really dizzy and fading into unconsciousness.

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(seungwan comes over, sits besides me and narrates the later part of the story as i pen it down, spoiler alert much?)

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maybe sitting by the bedside of your best friend lying unconscious could be one of the most horrid things to ever experience, drifting into restless slumber, not knowing if your best friend was ever going to wake up, her hand in yours, waiting for the slightest of twitches, just to know she was a little closer to consciousness. day faded into night, night sprang into a new day and i grew increasingly worried as beads of perspiration dot my face, was my best friend ever going to wake up? her dad had sent some of the most skilled physicians into the palace but none proved worthy enough in resuscitating his daughter. i watched with bated breath each time a physician tried a certain medicine, therapy, procedure (whatever you medical professionals call it) on her, all to no avail. everyday i could only remember pacing about the room in intense anxiety as i wondered when this nightmare would stop.

so one day a handsome young physician hopped in gleefully looked around the room and to my best friend. his mood was annoyingly incompatible with the current atmosphere of the room that was tensed and anxious. he stepped a little closer and i gripped joohyun's hand a little tighter. i didn't trust him already.

"i'm here to save the princess"

"no sherlock" really, that's what everyone said but i sighed, when would anyone turn their words into action?

he looked at me and shifted his eyes away. oh ok, i was supposed to give him the space he needed to save the princess. so i let go of her hand reluctantly and stood at a corner, watching him with skepticism. (seriously, if he killed her by accident instead...)

he pressed her wrist to hear her pulse, moving on to examine her vital energy by pressing several pressure points which i have no knowledge of. i furrowed my eyebrows, growing increasingly impatient as i watched him. he honestly looked like he was gallivanting and just doing this to take advantage of a pretty princess. but that's just my opinion, anyway. i continued to watch him like a hawk.

and all of a sudden, he leant over and kissed joohyun.

the ?

i rushed over and shoved a fist in his face. "what was that for?!" he yelled. "you tell me?!" i replied in fury.

"if all the physicians are not effective then i speculate it to be more than just a medical condition. supernatural ordinances and i just wanted to take my chanc—"

i punched him again, not thinking straight, and the chaos sent the guards in, who were taken aback at me holding the physician up by his collar, all ready to throw another punch at him. they pulled us apart and he scurried away in fear. the guards threw me a look before i tried to explain and they just nodded, a little fearful of me now.

the doors shut and i was beside joohyun again. i calmed down, looked at her and sighed heavily. in the few moments where i had gazed at her, an indescribable feeling stirs within me, sending tiny shocks down my spine and up the tips of my fingers. i remember thinking that my chest was beating erratically from the scuffle that happened not too long ago, but maybe that's not the only reason why. my eyes darted from her eyes to her lips and i wondered why.

i don't think words are enough to explain this.

so maybe, just maybe, actions will.

and maybe, just maybe, actions can save.

(thank you stupid physician for that suggestion by the way) i leant towards my best friend cautiously, still holding one of her hands. i could hear my heart beating loudly against my ears and i closed my eyes in an attempt to steady my pulse. then i felt my lips touch hers (& her lips were so soft, wait, no i'm supposed to save her not—) concentrate, seungwan, concentrate.

everything stilled, like a glass globe that wasn't shaken. and suddenly i felt a movement against my palm. i continued to remain very still, my body wasn't playing tricks on me, right?

then i felt the hand tense up, before gripping onto mine. and i opened my eyes to see joohyun's eyes slowly flutter open. i remember smiling against her lips.

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"and so the spell was broken by the act of true friendship"

" off, did you just friendzone me, bae joohyun?"

she pulls the manuscript away from me, and i lean over her shoulder, trying to peek at her conclusion but to no avail.

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and so the spell was broken by true love, but nobody needed to know that. they all assumed it was the act of the young physician but in an act of valor and love, i packed up, slipped out of the palace stealthily and ran away with my one true love.

maybe shirking my royal lineage has reduced me to a mere mortal

maybe shirking the possibilities of marrying a fine young prince and continuing the dynastic reign has cost me great potential loss of prestige

but then, as i ran hand in hand with son seungwan in the dense forest, giggling as she carried my belongings, tugging my hand foward as we ran, under the pale moonlight and myriad stars, i envisioned us heading towards a glass globe of our own, away from the judging gazes of society and pressures of the palace. afterall, there was nothing that could compare to being free, because all we want is to break out of the things that ensnare us from true happiness.

"for me, that's you."

and we lived happily ever.

the end.

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(take that, grimm brothers)