currently recovering
from a hiatus.
How he had managed to be so clumsy, he had no idea. And as he stood in front of the brown box with the utility knife in one hand, the blade partially covered in blood, and the other cut up straight across his palm. It stung, badly even. Sighing in frustration he looked down at the wound, realizing the blood had started to fall on the wooden floor. Gritting his teeth he placed the knife on the counter and walked over to flip the open sign to closed. Moving in a hurried pace he went to the back room, wrapping whatever cloth he found around the wound to avoid more cleaning later on.
Making his way back to the front he glanced down at the blood stained floor, the dear wooden floor that gave the store it’s familiar feel. Sighing again he grabbed the paper towels under the counter, bending down to wipe up the worst of the red liquid. He threw the, now turned red, paper towels in the bin and draped his jacket over his shoulders. He used a few minutes to fumble out his keys, and locking the red door which was, ironically enough, the same color as his bloodied hand.
Though that seemed to be the only thing that took a while. Hauling a cab was fast, mainly because the driver had seen his hand and hit the brakes even when he had intended to drive by. “You alright son?”, the middle aged driver had said in a thick Jeolla dialect. And after having assured him that it was only a cut, he explained the way to the only hospital he would go to. Because even with his healing abilities, Won bin wasn’t the most popular Fable around and thus it took quite a while before it did heal. Although not something he wished a Mundane fable to know.
Once arriving at the Hospital in question he thanked the driver and payed up. Walking in a normal pace he made his way through the doors and towards the counter. “Is doctor Lee Jihyun in?”, he questioned the nurse in a monotone but strict voice, his gaze hard, reflecting the discomfort he felt. “Y-Yes, just a minute sir.” She said and reached for the phone apparently dialling said person. “Your name sir?” The nurse seemed nervous under his stare, like most people did as Won Bin could hear someone picking up the phone on the other end. “Won Bin.”
Sunggyu knew it wasn’t his right in anyway to ask the other fable such a question, but his curiosity always gotten the better hand. For once, he simply gave the other male a small nod and asked no more. He didn’t realized that it had gotten so late and all he wanted nothing more was to make his way home and lay down. He had been running the whole day and lost most of his stamina in the process of the chase. He really didn’t feel like he had the need to owe the male an apology for his question, nor did the other male ask for one. He simply stated that the shop would be closing soon.
The statement from the male made him turn his head to the door that lead back to out to the streets was empty and quiet just like the shop he was currently standing in. It was his time to head back to the farmlands and get the majority of his strength back. Work was to be done for the upcoming day and he wasted the rest that he was suppose to get to today due to the cunning men in black suits that had worked for the adversary.
“Ah, I realized when I was back there it gotten dark. My apologies for my unexpected arrival and making the stay longer than what was plan to be.” He spoke softly towards the other, still a bit curious as to why he had something against fables such as himself, but that would be something only the other male would know. Sunggyu didn’t bother to ask for the male’s name since he seemed so eager to have him leave his shop as soon as possible.
So, quietly — which contrasted drastically to his entrance, he made his way out the shop and moved on his way back to the place he called his home.
He spoke no more, simply standing there with his book in hand and waiting. His stance reeked of discomfort of having the other Fable around. Especially now seeing as he had gone to even question Won Bin about his behaviour. A question he had received so many times during the years, one he grew tired and always led up to more questions. Ones he did not at all want to answer.
Once the other spoke up, apologizing even, he lifted his head to look at him. He made no move to stop him or say anything in return. Won Bin was a person with a tad too much painful remorse in his body to divulge in the details. Details that were still fresh opened wounds when attention was heeded to them. As Sunggyu began to move, Won Bin followed him with his eyes. Almost as to make sure he did indeed leave.
And as the bell over the door went off and the door closed, he let out a sigh. Fables, in particular those he had encountered here, were clearly not something he could handle. Lifting a hand he drew it through his dark hair and walked over to the red door. Frankly, he wasn’t sure he would ever get fully used to this life.
With that thought he flipped the sign over to read closed as the fatigue began to set in.
A tradition of memory and hopes to help the fables make it through another year. A tradition fuelled by perhaps the things Won Bin had the least of. Memories of the past were his curse, and with such tremendous power they held, always prevailed against any type of hope he might have for the next year and all those to come.
Sitting sideways in his window sill he glanced up at the dark night sky, the only light being the cigarette between his lips. There was barely any wind, only the faint rustle in his disheveled hair exposed it’s presence. He reached for the bottle of whisky, taking a long swig of it, before even daring to look over at the lanterns. With a distinct sound he placed the bottle against the wooden floor and stood up.
Red, wishes and hopes for the next year to come. What wishes had the exiled King even, or did he have none at all? The latter was the only thing that made sense to his mind. No wishes for anything that would never happen regardless how much he wished. Because as much as the white-bear ignores his own heart, he wishes to find back to the great man he once was. He longs for his country, his people, his children and his long lost love. But those are not wishes that will come true, and to the broken soul of the King of Ultima Thule, he dares not even utter them let alone think it. Thus, the red has no inscription on its sides. He lights it, the red light illuminating the area around him, he lifts a hand out the window and let’s it fly away.
White, regrets about the year that has been. And not just one flimsy year covers his memories in regret. It’s the decades of living in a mundane world that has etched more, and more regret into his flesh. Regret that has taken up his very being into the core of himself. White would have to be the toughest to send, to spend time on, for the fable. He stood before the window with the lantern in his hands, staring at it. The light reflected onto his face, and oh how grim he looked. It was due to these things his memories flooded his mind. His Queen and his children, whom had not been seen since the homelands.
"Hvorhen De måtte være mine nydeligste små, og deg min aller kjæreste dronning.."
His voice is barely above a whisper as the words of his mother tongue escaped and it catches himself by surprise. How many years had he gone by without even uttering a word of it and now here suddenly, while even calling for the ones he loved in the past, they come without him being able to control it. Unconsciously his grip on the lantern tightens. Without any further sound or remembrance he sends it blank up into the sky, harshly closing the window he grabs the whisky bottle off the floor. The dark haired man collapses against the couch, frightened by his own words and action. Lifting the bottle up his lips, he drinks, drinks and drinks again.
Won Bin had one thing he needed to survive, and that was the knowledge that what once was must never be and never will.
When he first entered the room, the ambiance was tranquil and silent given the lack of fables present, dare he say dull. However, the stranger’s arrival had immediately perturbed the sense of tranquility or perhaps it was merely Garrick’s senses that were alarmed by this man’s presence in the room. Quite frankly, it made little sense for the fable was certain he had not met or seen the individual prior to this day, yet there was something about them that evoked a long forgotten familiarity. Certainly this man was a fable like himself, otherwise they would not be allowed entrance in this establishment, let alone would they have the ability to perceive Fabletown since it was protected by powerful enchantments. There were no signs that indicated that Garrick once frequented the other fable: surely he would have recognized something in particular about the stranger such as the shape of their eyes or their unique stance, but it didn’t seem to be the case at the moment.
Still, there was a nagging voice in the back of the German’s mind, an unsettling feeling inside the pit of his stomach that attempted to convince him that there was something familiar about the other. It was a rather frustrating situation because neither seemed to have the desire to make the first move and break the ice, leaving Garrick to assess the situation all while trying to comprehend whatever this odd feeling was. Great Odin, he’d been in numerous awkward situations in his lifetime yet this one was slowly but surely becoming one of the most peculiar.
Of course, the warrior could always choose continue ignoring this feeling of familiarity and remain silent, avoiding any further eye contact with the other fable and prolonging the awkwardness. Or, he could refrain from stealing furtive glances at the taller man and quiet the persistent, nagging voice in the very back of his mind by asking the one question that was on both of their minds.
Slowly, Garrick turned his body around so that he was partially facing the other fable that was present in the office, brows creased subtly in both curiosity and reluctance. “Have…we met before?” he drawled slowly in a low and gruff tone of voice, arms folding across his broad chest. “As odd as it may sound, you strike me as familiar”.
Won Bin was sure he spotted the other fable glancing at him. But who was he? His face was indeed unknown to the exiled King but his presence took him back to the time of— No he was not going to go there today. He was already at the edge of his nerves just being in the Woodlands and surrounded by more fables than himself. Remembrance was something he did not do, not to spite the others who were still back there, but for his own sanity and well being.
“Have…we met before?”
And that fact did not go well with the addition of being spoken to unprepared. Lifting his gaze away from the floor he looked over at the younger fable. He was at first reluctant to speak his mind, that indeed the other one looked familiar. Yet a part of him thought, what was the harm of replying to such a question with the truth, if he even managed to. “..Perhaps, but your face is unfamiliar to me.” He replied it as he saw it, something he couldn’t help but sound harsh while doing so.
Taking in his face once again, it was indeed unfamiliar to the male. “What’s your name?” He asked bluntly staring the younger in the eyes. Even with his habit of avoiding things he was after all a King, with all the manners that went with it. One of them to always look a person in the eyes and speaking clearly. Exiled or not, manners were manners and his regal air had never disappeared. He waited for the other’s answer, only then realising they were starting to attract the attention of the other fables around.
With wary eyes he glanced around the other fables as they hurriedly averted their own gaze. Again the sense of paranoia surfaced within him. He gritted his teeth as he avoided to look around. His muscles tensed visibly as he wrapped his arms across his chest, this was exactly why he avoided masses of fables. To be able to blend in and not be noticed.
Moon was still unable to grasp the causes of her constant fascination with the mundane world. It brought up unexplainable questions to her, a world that was whimsical. Utterly strange. She wondered day and night, believing that it might have been the way that the mundy rarely asked questions. The fact that they were entirely too gullible was entertaining. Or perhaps it was the strange equilibrium that caused the constant changes in temperature and weather or the vast amount of worlds that there were. It wasn’t worlds though, was it? They were called… ah, countries. These wonderings piqued the woman’s interest and thus she began her travels. She traveled east, west, north, south. Any direction that the wind lead her and she learned quite a bit in those few years. She, however, was completely absorbed with a tale that she’d listened to during her days in Japan.
A tale of a crane that granted a wish to those who folded one thousand in its honor with an art the Japanese called ‘origami’. At first, it seemed like any other silly tale that she’d heard during her years within the mundane world, but for some reason the story stuck. She wondered countlessly if there was such a being and, of course, she thought it to be true. How did she turn from a butterfly into a human girl? A portal to come to this world? Of course there was a crane out there to grant a wish. Silly silly. Thus, she spent any time that she had whenever she wasn’t working to continue along with her project of folding cranes. Within a week, she had 50. A month and the number nearly tripled. It was odd of her to have such a measly habit, but she wanted this wish. She wanted to become forever whole. A woman who knew what she desired and could live life happy in the end, that didn’t necessarily require a reason. Strange… She was becoming like the mundane with each day that passed.
With a little clear of her throat and a light sip of coffee from a styrofoam cup that she kept close beside her, Moon continued to fold the paper. Her fingers continuously memorizing every fold, every crease. She believed that she could do it with her eyes closed now, but she didn’t want to waste such beautiful paper. Once finished, she was to set it along the bench but the December breeze carelessly slipped the paper from her grasp and lay it against the cement of the sidewalk. Hearing the oncoming footsteps, Moon’s body lurched forward in hopes of saving the crane but her efforts were cut short when she heard the crunch beneath the travelers shoe. Brown orbs widened upon seeing the shoe twist once… a second time and a third before taking a step back. Did she dare look up at the face of her perpetrator?
Slowly raising her head, she looked up in the male’s eyes; her own immediately narrowing. She felt her body begin to shake and her lips twisted into a grimace. Through clenched teeth, she began to speak. “Was it so necessary for you to step upon someone else’s belonging? Or are you too big headed to care for something smaller than your foot?”
One fable, two fables, three fables and so on. Wherever he looked around he was met with a fable’s aura. The 13 1/2 street was after all made for the Fables and for their relaxation and comfort.
Oh how he hated it. How he so intensely hated being there with every fiber in his royal body.
But yet, he had gone and went there regardless. Despite the warning bells shouting in his mind and the amount of tension present in his muscles. What on earth made him come here one might ask. To go against his own warning signs and step out of his own bubble of comfort that was his book store. Though as much as the book store was his blessing in the mundane world, it was at this time his own curse.
“Thank you.” He muttered as he closed the door behind him. His semi long hair and dark hair mirrored the circles under his eyes as they cautiously glanced around. The night terrors had taken away his rest yet again, leaving his visage to look worse than your average man and fable. Though that did not let his good looks fade completely even tucked away behind his hair. But even with the sun shining on a cold winter day, it could not ease the discomfort he felt. Though not present on his face he loathed every second.
Even with a discomfort as such, he was not about to break the Fable town law. He needed a power up, so to say, of the spell on his shop. He had stayed in that shop for decades and more without anyone noticing him. The only thing that kept those curious eyes at bay was the enchantment. It allowed him to stay in his little bubble through all these years. Allowed him to breathe even, something he direly needed. A man falling victim to the cold eyes and evil whispers of others needed a sanctuary away from it all. Which he had found in the form of Mundane books and in the end his own library of sorts.
In the midst of his own thoughts and discomfort he didn’t stop making his way through the other Fables until he felt a faint crunch sound. Without words he arched an eyebrow, stepping once, and then twice before he lifted his foot away from it. ‘A paper crane?’, he questioned before a female voice dragged him away from the sight. And it was an angry one at that. “How am I to care or worry for something that I have no control over such as you dropping a paper crane under my foot.” He stated, not even as a question. “It is not of my concern.”
From the looks of the other male, Sunggyu could tell that there was a discomfort coming from the fable. Maybe there was a bad past between him and others, but he wasn’t someone to pick at someones past, since him to had one that was not so great. With a small nod, he turn to see the other already walking away. With a tilt of his head, he then shrugged the thoughts about the other male just walking off the way he did. At the time, he was more worried about the people finding him again, though a tinge of guilt did hit him as he intruded in the fables shop unexpectedly as he did. It was more of a spur of the moment type thing, rather than one on purpose.
He made his way to the back of the shop, looking at all the titles of the books that he passed. Maybe to past the time away, he could perhaps find a novel to read while he was at it. Since, there was nothing else to do in the shop. He was one to get bored very quickly and always had to be doing something. Finding a title that piqued his interest, Sunggyu pulled it off the shelf it was resting on and looked at the cover. It was one thing about books or any other thing. If the picture on it looked good then he was interested in it. He wasn’t one to read synopsis of things first, or to see what it was about. He liked to read it for himself with out the spoilers that the book gave him. Though on other occasions it was necessary.
The smell of roasted coffee filled the book shop, the aroma was quite pleasing to the young fable, though he’d never been the type to be a coffee drinker. Just the taste of it didn’t settle right with him, but that was an talk for another day. He settled down on the floor with a book in hand and leaned against the wall. Having taught himself how to read was a challenge in its own, but it was well worth it in the long run— there were still somethings left he had to learn as well, as if learning Korean wasn’t hard enough.
Opening the hard cover book, he soon began to read the first chapter of the book, having time go by he realized that he halfway finished the whole book. Looking up from it he looked outside to see that the sunlight was soon to fade away. Had he been reading for that long? Placing the book back on the self, he made his way to the front of the store to see the male still there. Surely, the adversary was long gone, but then he made eye contact with the other fable and curiously asked what had been on his mind a few hours past.
“You seem to be uncomfortable around me, is there something you have against people like us?” He asked him as he walked up to the counter, noticing he was the only one still at the store.
The floor creaked under his feet as he made his way back to the front of the book store. On the way he passed the other fable, glancing at him once before continuing to walk. For now Won Bin was sure he himself would manage the other’s presence, given he stayed quiet and didn’t poke around. Hundreds of years may have passed but Won Bin was never quite able to become comfortable around fellow fables. It seemed to be a curse he couldn’t shake off.
But his thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind, like always, as a customer came in. Accompanied by the sound of the little bell, Won Bin greeted the female customer with a ‘Welcome’ and watched as she made her way around the shelves. As soon as she had turned to corner, no longer able to see him, he let his somewhat customer friendliness fade away and return to his normal demeanor. No matter how grouchy he might appear.
Though as she had left another customer came in, and in such a way the day went on and on. The sun sent dimmed orange light into the old book store. Almost illuminating the small specks of dust hanging in the air. Immersed in his book, it wasn’t until he felt the other fable shift and walk up to him that he tore himself from the book. He turned his head, only to look straight into the others eyes.
Event at the question posed, one he would rather go without, his stoic demeanor did not change. “As much as it isn’t your business in the slightest; yes.” Again he felt the same feeling as he used to before and something he disliked greatly. The feeling of being scorned put up against the wall. For years now it had been him and they, a difference that only became enhanced with situations like these.
Glancing once outside at the sun, now nearly set, he looked back at the red headed fable. “I’ll be closing soon.” He looked down at his watch before closing the book in hand. “If your business is done I’d recommend you exit he store.” As seen in his words Won Bin was no social man. Not that it seemed like he was intent on changing that fact as he stood up to make his way to the back room.
Such a little thing-some thinner than a slice of bread even-such thing demanded for a price higher than Sehun’s monthly earnings!….and such thing as mentioned, took less than two minutes to be crushed under Won Bin’s frustrations. (Months of his earnings being crushed under in less than two minutes!- the thought would linger in his mind sometimes.)But such action couldn’t have gone disregarded and once Sehun had witnessed perhaps the third or the fourth of Won Bin’s phone wind up to lay in broken littered pieces on the ground, he pledged to himself that he would put a pause to the king’s continuous ‘slaughter’ of his cellphone devices. Thus, that being the ultimate cause of all, Sehun had offered to give Won Bin a lesson, or just a simple tutorial on the proper usage of phones.
He entered the shop through the backdoor, which creaked painfully when he pulled it open. Won Bin’s bookstore…. there, he was greeted by the specific type of smell that only old, ancient and aged books gave off after a period of time of being untouched by a foreign hand. All seemed to be operating as they should be, the dim lights set up to coordinate with the atmosphere nicely, absorbed with his surroundings, Sehun picked up a book without a proper thought, his fingers quick to leaf through the pages.
From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were — I have not seen
As others saw — I could not bring
My passions from a common spring
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow — I could not awaken-“I don’t like you.”
His fingers froze in mid-action, never quite fulfilling his action of turning over to the next page. Despite of the overwhelming urge to lose his grip of the book to let it collide with the floor with a heavy ‘thud’, Sehun to his relief, saw that he was able to close it back to tuck it under his arms. A voice far too familiar to his ears to be a stranger’s- had his presence brought vexation to Won Bin?….Fortunately for him, once he reached nearer to the vicinity of the other cautiously, the man hadn’t been speaking to him, but instead towards the device in his hand to be precise,appearing to be seemingly distressed over the said device too. “…Sire.” Sounding a bit close to a broken record, he needed to clear his throat, both to calm himself and to gain over Won Bin’s fixated attention on his phone. “Sire, your cell phone…I think…I think it needs charging.”
“Sire, your cell phone…I think…I think it needs charging.”
He hadn’t heard him call the first time, but as he heard the cough and Sehun’s voice call out Sire his head turned towards him. A title he could live with in contrast to being called King, well for now at least. A chuckle fell from his lips as he shrugged. “Perhaps, you would certainly know.” He lifted a hand and waved him closer. “Did you enter from the back door again? I didn’t hear you come in.” Won Bin was always so focused and, not to mention, used to people entering from the front door he never expected there to come people from his back. Although that was something Sehun did anyways.
Leaning back into his chair the raven haired man let out a sigh. Today was sure to increase his level of frustration greatly. He didn’t doubt that in the slightest. “Alright, charger was it?”, he questioned before wrinkling his nose slightly. Now the pending question was as to where he had put that god forsaken thing. Brows furrowed he began opening the drawers on the counter. Did he not put it there the last time he used it? He pondered as he dug through them. ‘Then again when did I use it last?’, he thought while moving out files and old documents about the store.
And there were plenty of them. Won Bin had after all been in charge of this book store since this part of Seoul had been built. Decades of filing, book reservations and avoidance of the Mundanes. Straightening back up again he turned to Sehun, only now noticing the book under his arm. “Sehun you didn’t happen to bring a charger with you?” He lifted a hand to scratch under his chin. “I think I’ve managed to leave mine in my apartment.” Although he wasn’t sure, he couldn’t seem to find it anywhere here. He shrugged mentally. Technology was never his thing.
Following the encounter he had with a certain young lady garbed in red, Garrick made the decision to take matters into his own hands. Idly waiting by and slaving away at filling out redundant, exhaustive reports would do nothing for the cause they shared as well as fought for. Truth be told, he grew weary of biding his time in this place, living a life that was not his own - a life that was not meant for him. The fable felt an overwhelming uneasiness the moment he set foot in the realm of mundanes, but what other options did he have? Remaining in the Homelands was considered to be nothing short of suicidal, yet the man’s mind could not help but dwell on the thousands and thousands of lives that were still trapped on the other side of those portals, doomed meet a cruel fate at the hands of the Adversary or live the rest of their days in fear and horror of what the future held for them.
Such thoughts were by no means pleasant. However, the harsh truth of the matter was that most of them were powerless when faced with this reality - powerless to change it. Perhaps Garrick was being impatient, perhaps his faith was wilting after all these decades of waiting to act, waiting for change. However, today was the day he hoped to end all of that; hence the reason why the young man found himself entering the Mayor’s office with the hope that she could be gracious enough to grant him access to the portal in Fabletown. Suffice to say, the place was as heavily guarded as a royal palace: entering without written permission from the mayor was not only forbidden, but a crime deemed punishable through various means.
Garrick had scheduled an appointment beforehand, thus once he arrived at the mayor’s office in the afternoon, the receptionist had already been aware of his arrival and allowed him to step inside. It wasn’t until he actually set foot inside the office that Garrick felt a sudden wave of familiarity wash over him, his steps slowing gradually as his eyes fell upon a taller figure standing in the room. Thick brows furrowed slightly at this particular feeling, standing beside the other male but at a reasonable distance whilst waiting for the mayor.
The old fable stole another quick glance at the stranger, wondering what could that feeling be. It felt…it felt as if though…he had seen that man before.
“Your presence is requested at the Mayor’s office.”
That had been the only message given by the, what he presumed to be, the Mayor’s “lap boy”. Though he had to give it to them, they were aware of his dislike towards and zero knowledge with the Mundane devices. And so he had to leave for the place he had come to dislike oh so much. Fable town and the Mayor’s office. Sighing he flipped the sign to closed, locking the door and making his way towards office.
After hauling a taxi, it didn’t take him too long to get there. Trusty John was at the entrance, just as he had been last time he had visited. He nodded at at said man and entered the Woodland apartments, bracing himself for whatever he would experience while there. Thankfully the entrance area seemed empty of any fables, except Grimble seemingly snoozing on his desk again. Sighing, for what seemed like the umpteenth time that time, he moved further in and down the halls towards the business office. Glancing at the other fables around he positioned himself against one of the walls, waiting for the Mayor to see him. Why was he even summoned here, he wondered. The only reason he could fathom would be why in getting his ‘expertise’, as they had called in, on the Mundane World. Again he sighed. Why had he bothered to agree to this in the first place?
He glanced down at his watch, watching the seconds tick by for a little while. What else was there to do anyways while he awaited to be called in. Lifting his head he did a swipe of the room and the fables around him. And by no shock he couldn’t recognize any of the faces. At last glancing to his side to see a young man stand he couldn’t help but to arch and eyebrow. He swore he had seen him look at him. He stiffened slightly, a flicker of what appeared to be remembrance going over his eyes or was he merely getting paranoid by each passing moment? He lifted his left hand, drawing it through his dark locks of hair. Fable town never did good to his nerves.
How many years hadn’t Won Bin lived in the Mundane world he wondered. He had lived through so many revolutions but always stuck to his own way of doing things. Which had in these days backfired on him, he had literally no clue on how to work for example a computer. He owned no modern communication device or anything alike except his phone. But that wasn’t the only thing that stopped him from understanding it.
The mix of incredible strength and growing frustration ended usually in him destroying the device in his hands. Something in the long run was expensive and tedious. By now he had managed to at least send messages, but the many icons and strange noises that emitted from the mobile device was frankly unknown to him. He knew what it was, how it had developed through history, and the usage. But could he do it himself? Not at all.
Grimacing slightly he picked up the phone between two fingers, nearly glaring at the thing. “I don’t like you.”, he muttered aloud in the empty store. And maybe it was good it was empty, refraining from being possibly called a lunatic. Frowning he placed the phone back on the wooden surface, still glaring somewhat at it. He didn’t really fathom why the mundane society now depended so terribly on these devices. He couldn’t even order new books without having to stop by and using these devices. Although it would seem he would have less people to interact with this way it was still begrudgingly annoying to him.
Yet, some people, or rather one person, had taken it up to attempt to teach the old fable how to use them. And today was one of those so-called instructing attempts made by Sehun. The one person who still held on to the hope that the fable could learn the new modern ways. Something he highly doubted himself.
It wasn’t new for her. Being up all night, it is. At first, she never had trouble sleeping.
You see, sleeping on the Sea is just like you think. You just sleep; there isn’t much to think over it. Her first sleepless night only happened when she first met her Prince - and she couldn’t sleep, eat, and swim around, sing or anything else she was used to do. Many happened after that first time - and this one night, the night she was no longer the Little Mermaid, and instead she was Soojung, was just like the first one.
It seemed someone just pressed the repeat and made her suffer for the night. Gladly, though, he wasn’t related to her thoughts - for a change - and she didn’t think like a mermaid in love with a human at all. What was bothering her was something else, something so common a Fable shouldn’t be worried about, but she was about to rip off all of her precious hair.
What time was it? She couldn’t know since she had been walking around Fabletown for a while. She had really lost the time notion since the reason that kept her up made her throw the sheets, night-light, notebooks and all the homework away, and finally get up from the bed, giving up from that thing that was almost giving her a headache (And she still didn’t know how to take care of headaches, so they were a no-no.)
The red-haired woman sighed, slipping her hands inside her coat. Nothing seemed to take out of her head she wasn’t able to finish a simple homework about interpretation of some stupid human war - and worse, all she had done on the class was embarrass herself and all because of that stupid loud and walking piece of metal. Had she been that stupid? It wasn’t like it was her fault she didn’t know what a Battle Tank was, but no one knew that, of course.
She was already getting close to have no place to wander around when she reached an old-like store. Was vintage the new world to describe it? Soojung didn’t remember. And it didn’t mind when she read the place’s name, narrowing her eyes a little at the writing. “West of the Moon…Oh. His bookstore.” She recalled, furrowing her eyebrows a little at the vague memory of the shop’s owner. However, before she could think on anything else, her eyes started to burn and she blinked, turning her head to the direction of a familiar smell.
The smoke was closer than she thought and she met the right person she was thinking about, the man who owned the store. What was his name? Woobin? She didn’t remember. And how could she, if he stared at her with that intensity only male humans could produce. Soojung’s cheeks tinted with a red less intense than her hair, one that didn’t fit her at all, as she pursed her lips and curled her fingers inside her pockets. “E-excuse me.” C’mon, you can do better than this, her mind pleaded, and the mermaid wetted her dry lips before lifting a hand to slightly point at the door he was leaning on. “Is it…open yet?”
He watched as she finally fell out of her thoughts, realizing his presence besides her. Turning slightly away from her, he blew out the grey smoke between his lips and out into the air. Mixing with the air he placed the white stick between his lips once again and breathed in a drag.
“E-excuse me.”
He turned his head towards her at her call. He watched her hand lift to point at the ‘closed’ sign hanging on the inside of his shop. Returning his gaze back to hers he motioned towards his cigarette. “After this.” he replied and dangled it between two fingers, flicking off some ash from the tip of it. He couldn’t help but glance at the female once again. Scarlett red hair, now a face almost matching her hair, young and fable. 'But which fable?’, frankly he had no idea. He was never the one who recognized fables by face only. Not anymore.
Taking a last drag of the cigarette he flicked it into the snow, stepping on it once. Blowing out the final smoke he brushed passed the red haired, fishing out his keys. With a click, he pushed the door open, flipping the closed sign to 'open’. Coffee in hand, he let out a yawn and walking up to the counter. He set down the coffee, not uttering a word the whole while. Won Bin shrugged off his jacket, tossing it over his chair.
Won Bin wasn’t a man for many words, something that the other fable probably could feel by now. Stepping away from his counter he walked past her again and towards the door. Opening it slightly, he stuck out a hand into the cold air and taking a hold of the newspaper on the side of the door.
Turning back he flicked off the snow that had managed to get on the print, scanning the headline. The bell sounded as the door closed behind him, yet so accustomed to the sound he paid it no mind. Looking up from the paper he noticed the red haired looking around, appearing lost to the book store’s owner.
He paused, looking at her before speaking up. “I’m sure you didn’t only come here for the books.” he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for her to speak up. Fables usually sought out his store while seeking his advice on Mundane issues. He was slowly getting used to it, or so he supposed, though the truth was different. The exiled king was not good with other fables in the slightest.
