unfortunate. | 연준 √

thirty-three

"The crown can fit on any.
It's how you use the crown that won't fit."
- Unknown.

Well, with all the hints I've been given, I'm supposed to know the truth now, right? No, I don't. I don't think my thoughts know, too. Even with the depth they behold, they expect nothing less than a girl being betrothed to a Crown Prince. That's the only idea I have at the moment.

However, knowing this story full of its (dramatically horrible) twists and turns, the climax will be worse than figuring out I'm here to rewrite my life and save Yeonjun's. I've gotten so much information but because of this... unrealistic chance, I still haven't processed the fact I'm in an era without technology.

Well, besides my short monologue, the Wangseja- I mean, soon-to-be Wang has been awfully busy. Horribly, I miss him, causing my own mini spiral and temper tantrums to erupt as I learn to get more and more bored as I stay here. These highs and lows terrify me (highs and lows as in my emotional being) at how bad they're getting because of my imbalance here- considering I am a Seoul kid.

I sigh as the water gets darker, falling against the rock with a splat. The rock begs to move- but without his stubby arms and legs, he's forbidden to test life's limits. With that, he has his parade rained on every other day by this flow of water, crying with the nonexistent tears that mix with his rain. Of course, "him", as if rocks had a gender. 

Any person here would immediately call a rock a "he" thanks to gender stereotypes. Even oxygen is a he, right?

Anywho, I sit, trying to get rid of the unsteadiness in my heart. I just want to listen to music, crying about boy bands, and having a nit to pick with office Sana. I want to go back and be rescued by a concerned Eunwoo- but I also want this Yeonjun that'll hopefully be the one I'm looking for this year. My luck? Possibly. He could be it. Like Ho Seok, he had horrible charm ever since he couldn't kill the king.

He isn't entitled to it, but you can see the point, right?

Valentine's Day was a bust, considering I didn't even get anything from Yeonjun. (I'm joking, I swear. Actually, I wanted to spend Valentine's with my mom. I miss her more than I miss the luckiness I had before birth. I don't know whether I deserved this pain or not- or if the fortune cookie is really trying to help me change my luck. 

Even weirder, it was office Sana who was helping me. Isn't that weird? They're two slices of the same apple... yet one was maybe... trying to help me?

Someone hums from behind me, causing me to turn around. All I meet are legs- but from the color of the hanbok, I could tell it was someone of importance. So, I gaze up, and there is the man of the minute. Choi Yeonjun. The boy smiles with his golden teeth as if he was all a dream, tilting his headpiece in a greeting. "My love, what are you doing out here all alone?"

Oh, the butterflies.

"My love... as if," Ah... great going, Youra. Now he'll think you aren't interested. "Come sit." His smile never fades despite my awfully rude remark, the boy taking his seat next to me. His hands grab for mine, intertwining our fingers together. He's being... confident today.

"Youra, do you want to get married?" 

"Excuse me?" My words come out harsh, but that doesn't surpass the baffled tone in my voice. "Woah, woah, woah. Marriage? You want to get betrothed to me?"

"Why not?" That hurt- and I'm sure it was shown on my face because then he starts to panic. "Not like that! I just mean I'm intrigued by you... and you make my life a bit better... Youra, I can't explain this well. You get what I mean, don't you?" His eyes are doe, enlarging as his puppy eyes show his innocence. Oh yes, I do, Choi Yeonjun.

"Marriage..." Shaking my head, I sigh, throwing that suggestion out the window. "Let's talk about it later. How was work today?"

"Work? Oh, you mean my chores as the Crown Prince?" Nodding, he nods back. "Oh, well they were just fine! They aren't as tiring as they used to be considering I've done a lot more work, however, I think things are going great! I hope the townsfolk don't get mad at me when I do something wrong..."

"Aw, don't worry!" I reassure him the best I can, but I know him like the back of my hand. Living in Seoul meant everyone had secrets, insecurities, and regrets. Even here... I think the chances of those have increased. "You've been doing great recently. I mean, look at you, being so hardworking. We haven't met since the midsummer's spring!"

Testing him, yes.

"Mid...summer's... spring..." He stumbles across his words, holding his forehead. "Such complex literacy. What is that?" 

"It is from a book I read when I was a child."

"Wow! So you were just as smart as when you were a child! Fascinating! So knowledgable, Youra!" He claps his hand in a sweet fury, a wide smiling across his face. "Can you tell me about this book? I want to read it!"

"Well... I can tell you about it- I don't have it with me..."

"That's fine! Please, please, please~ tell me!"

"Uh okay... well, it's a romance between four people," I explain, his hand intertwining closer to mine. "One of the boys, Demetrius, is in love with Hermia- who is in love with another boy named Lysander. However, a girl named Helena loves Demetrius."

"Sounds complex." He comments. I nod, chuckling slightly.

"It is," I reply, looking over at him. "Demetrius does not love Helena and tries to persist and get near Hermia- who doesn't want him. Then, these fairies cause a ruckus and use this flower juice to have Demetrius fall for Helena. However, the fairies mix up the two boys- and Lysander meets Helena, falling in love with her."

"Wow..."

"Of course, the fairies try to fix it, but it ends up with Demetrius falling for Helena. Hermia is all alone and is sad about it, showing how betrayed she is. Of course, in the end, the fairies do fix things and have the supposed couples fall for each other, which is a great ending. However, the fairies do not get a happy ending."

"Why?"

"Because the fairy queen, Titania, wanted to protect this boy. She got enchanted by the fairy king and he took her boy. After they took her out of the enchantment, she was literally forced to fall in love with him again and the fairy king, Oberon, was able to take the boy. Isn't that upsetting?"

"Very," The boy frowns, looking away. "I don't want to be separated like that. It's as if I got taken away from you!" His words cause me to do my own thinking, averting my gaze to the rock that is still getting rained on. 

Was our love story similar to Midsummer's Dream? Of course, it's as if I am Helena, the second lead in this on-going story- whilst Hermia is Sana. While Yeonjun loves me dearly, he acts as Demetrius, having the determination to get things done. Lysander is Eunwoo- and that is the main lead. Life plays as the fairies, causing the two main pairs chaos and heartbreak as time goes on.

This dream will never be forgiven despite Puck wishing for it at the end of the book, wondering where things went wrong at the end of the day. Time is ticking, and just like the night of the pair's fallout, Titania's love with a donkey, and a stolen child, I need to start rushing to get things done as if I was Oberon.

Things need to be solved and done... but without the proper knowledge, am I really set to be like Ho Seok? To fall with Joseon?

You have time, Youra. Just please... hurry while you can.