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pruneunfair · 3 months ago

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Ranking every manhwa villainess and white lotus I could find.

Keep in mind these are all opinion based.

#22: At the very bottom of the list is Sumin Jeong from Marry my husband

Now, like almost everyone else on this list, Sumin is kept a level that is below the FL Jiwon so she can never best the hero. However unlike the others here, Sumin has not once been shown to be anything other than a dumb and evil bimbo who talks like elmo even before Jiwon regressed, her reasons for wanting everything Jiwon has make no sense and she has no flavor to her, no backstory that makes sense, no real charm since it's lost as soon as possible, all she has going for her is a distinct design.

#21: Charlotte-the villainess maker

Honestly, Charlotte is about as forgettable as the comic she's from. She doesn't do much, just basic bland white lotus tropes over and over. She is portrayed as a sweet heart but she's secretly a jealous vindictive mean girl, she loses everything to the FL because she's too basic for the not-like-other-girls readers, nothing really revolutionary about her, but this could be chalked up to the story shes from canonically being an abysmal mess written by the FL when she was 14, Sorry Charlotte.

#20: Iris Van Conrad-Today the villainess has fun again.

A step up from Sumin when it comes to backstories, still not the greatest but it makes a little more sense. She's more passive aggressive since her actual plots are destoryed in nanoseconds by the plot, she gets dunked on so much I wonder if she's supposed to the Villainess or a discount Meg Griffin. Considering the fact to that Reilynn is pedo coded, Iris is less of the two evils.

#19: Aisha Selir-divorcing my tyrant husband.

Shes okay, But like Charlotte, Aisha isn't very noteworthy, as usual, any attempts she makes to best or outsmart Robelia are met with utter failure, she could be something really great if she were just allowed to make a mark on the plot. Like actually have Alexandros take responsibility instead of blaming her for her existence. Her design before the art shift was pretty enough and I'm pretty sure she's being possessed by a vindictive soul so that might explain why Aisha suddenly became a villain when she's described as being dainty, sweet, and a general damsel and saintess in the story within DMTH.

18: Fonta Magnus:the tyrants only perfumer

Fonta is the type of antagonist that would be adored as a isekaied protagonist. She doesn't really do much though since she gets defeated over and over with the same plan of copying Ariels ideas (how original, no pun intended) I like her though just because her design reminds me of cartoon goth girls, specially Gwen from total drama island.

#17: Benela Verdi- the princesses jewels

I don't care if she seduced Ariannas father or killed her brother, Arianna was out there acting like she wouldn't do the same just to get with a sexy man. Benela may suffer from the same problems every other villainess does but if ranked them based on that then almost all of them would be on the bottom. This image of her drinking her stress away is accurate to how I felt reading this one.

#16: Claudine von Brandt-Cry or better yet beg

I absolutely adore Claudine and she's not really a villain but unfortunately the narrative says she's a so she'll have to count. It's why she's this low since she's just a woman who gets in the way of the main ship

As you can probably guess, her only crimes are being condescending to Layla and valuing superficial values such as wealth and status, crimes that somehow make her worse than Matthias in the narratives eyes. Justice for my girl Claudine ✊️

now we are moving up to the middle tier

#15: Diana-for my derelict favorite

This girl has more protagonist material then Hestia ever will. Sorry but Hestias entire thing is just being a rich girlboss, simping for Cael and damning any woman who broke his heart including Diana, who is the saintess that opposes murder, Wow! Who would have guessed that the saintess woman wouldn't endorse literal murder! Could she have communicated better? Yes, was she always in the right? Hell no. But she's got more character in her pinky toe then everyone else in their entire bodies to I salute to her.

#14: Irene/Aileen Hascator- I didn't mean to seduce the male lead

I have a weird relationship with her. One minute I'm impressed because she actually does manipulation pretty well at first with making the lives of those who won't swear loyalty her unbearable in very smart ways, she'll buy all her friends expensive dresses so she can stand out in a simpler one, she'll defend the black sheep and make her into her friend to keep up her sweetheart facade, unfortunately it's all so she can get with a boy where she goes nuts on anyone who gets near him.

#13: Freya van Furiana- how to get my husband on my side

I really loved this manhwa, almost all of the characters are complex and 3 dimensional with a great commentary on abuse, ED, and family dynamics, with that said I was a little disappointed seeing Freya as another basic white lotus who only wants Izek for herself, it won't take much even a little more character traits would help because Freya isn't just some random girl who became the ogfl, she was the childhood friend of Izek and Ellen, so we should've gotten to see a little more too her then what we got

#12: Mielle Roscente- the villainess turns the hourglass.

Beautiful design, basic but rather solid goals, a charming personality, Mielle has all of that in the bag. She secretly wants Aria and her mother out of her life since they aren't of noble blood (before the terrible Arias a noble plot twist) and she's really entertaining. However I'll never understand how she managed to destroy Aria in the first timeline if she's such an idiot now. The first timeline also takes the blame off of Arias shitty actions with "Mielle tricked her into being evil!" It ruins the charm since Aria, as a villainess should be allowed to suffer the consequences while not wanting to quit.. since you know, she's not meant to be a good person.

#11: Isabella de Mare-sister I am the queen in this life

NOT YOU!

THIS is the Isabella I'm talking about

Absolute genius, she knows that Ceasre is a bastard and not just in the literal sense, she doesn't even love him and just wants that sweet sweet power and wealth. Fooled Ariande for years that she was on her side and as a bonus she can easily say she wanted revenge for Alfonso to the public if they ever found out she was behind it all. But the best part about first timeline Isabella is her villain monolog that women mean nothing to men, putting your life in their hands is a fatal mistake and if you want to make it to the top, you gotta crush the opponents. But alas we never see this version of Isabella after Ariande goes back in time

Higher tier now, the best of the best who managed to make it this far

#10: Rhyse/Lise Sinclair- not your typical reincarnation story

Yeah shes technically being controlled by the author or hell maybe she is the author I have yet to finish this one but for once we get a comic that doesn't immediately pit two women against eachother and actually gives a solid reason for her to be at odds with Edith. When something doesn't go her way, Rhyse doesn't throw a fit and turn on the water works no no no. She stands there, awkwardly, almost like the real Rhyse is wondering why she feels so jealous and angry with Edith for stealing the spotlight. She's incredibly ominous too when that purple mist surrounds her to force the other characters back into place. All while she's making friends with Edith in a possibly geninue friendship.

#9: Isis Frederick- the villainess reverses the hourglass

I'm pretty sure most of us can agree she's the real villain of TVRTHG since she basically started and encouraged the whole operation to begin with from afar, the puppeteer if you will. Killer design, a great fear factor and an evil sister done better. Wish she had more time to shine.

#8: Diane Poitier- I abdicate my title as empress

What already sets her apart from other evil concubines is that she was there before Adelaide so her reasons for being upset that another woman is showing up to marry the Emperor is reasonable, obviously her actions aren't but I still felt bad for her since no one in that palace gave a damn about her, Diane got ruthlessly belittled and ignored for not being useful to their liking or simply being too desperate and when Adelaide tries to not make an enemy out of her, Diane is looking for anyone to direct her anger on but the redemption arc as short as it is, makes up for it.

#7: Leila- villains are destined to die

My favorite ogfl turned villain. Leila is pure evil no questions asked. She steals the body of Yvonne which played a part in taking the latters reputation to a degree in the fandom and starts brainwashing everyone around her. That's what makes her so terrifying, one minute you could be at your highest and you feel like you rule the world, and next minute it all comes crashing down when the face of your long lost sibling arrives with fake tears in her eyes, ready to destroy everything you hold dear.

#6: Soleia Elard- seducing the villains father

I can't believe I'm saying this but a classic black magic witch is a unique villain in the manhwa world. During her introduction she's already causing mayhem by trying to kill Yerenica with black magic, and at first you'd think she's another "I want my hubbies affection!" Chick but no, she just wants to marry Erudian to have his child and use said child to avenge her family and destroy everything, characters are all frightened by her because she actually gets shit done instead of failing every minute of the day, and even after all that, she's allowed the privilege of life by getting a redemption arc.

#5: Cosette Weinberg- I was the real one.

She deserved so much better!! 😭 Cosette, my baby, you were set up to be such an amazing villain with high intelligence and well thought out plans, why did they have to give you the good old plot induced lobotomy! Girly wasn't just smart but there were actually times I could get behind Cosette. When Keira gave a maid 100 lashes after she insulted and wished death on Keira, it was Cosette who took advantage of an actual truth with only a little bit of exaggeration, they were both evil but only one of them was rightfully called out for it. Honestly just read the novel, the manhwa did it dirty.

#4: Marianne Edenverre- into the light again.

Nah someone get this baby to a church and give her the aggressive baptism 10 times over, I'll always be wondering how the hell did that 10 year old get her hands on a demon in the first place, the fact that the family never found her hiding behind a door or closet staring into their soul like a paralysis demon is surprising cause I imagine she would do that and be like "it's just me sillies, I would never mean to scare you 😛" she's a well written villainess who I wish would have a little bit more screentime but her powers and what she can do honestly confuses me (like that whole body-swap thing)

Final 3 everybody, you ready for this?

#🥉: the 3rd place medal goes to Dodolea Castor from My in laws are obsessed with me

Another real villainess, putting everyone off guard with her initial gacha life brat persona only to be hit in the face with disturbing levels of cruelty that can only match a psychopath, she looks straight out of an uncanny mr incredible meme with that light skin stare shes got. Straight up laughs at Therdeos trauma while being well aware that she tried to SA him and how it affected the poor guy and later proceeds to attempt to kill and later kidnaps his wife. There's no remorse, no regrets, just the souls of innocents behind those huge eyes.

#🥈 : the second place medal goes to Verta Alberhart from depths of malice.

She isn't even the antagonist, no that's the protagonist! And honestly, the only white lotus in the main lead spot I've ever read so far. And while she has a messed up backstory that explains why she's so bitter, she still full on embraces it. Vertas way of being granted a second chance isn't even because of some goddess or divine power, she just snatches the body of a suicidal noblewoman and wreaks havoc on all of the disgusting noblemen in her path. She cries on the court trial of her fiances murder while secretly laughing knowing she set the whole thing up and slowly ruins the life of anyone who fucked around and found out.

At long last, we reached #🏅, and the crown goes to none other than...

Rashta Ishka from the remarried empress!

Hear me out now, this isn't just me being biased. Rashta earns first place because even though she is rendered an idiot who's only use is being worse so everyone else can look good, she still managed to do something unfathomable. She earned the respect of a fandom that initially hated her with all the fiber of their being and now she has a growing fanbase of real people, not fictional characters, actual fans. People are literally turning on one of the most popular manhwas that started it all for its treatment of Rashta (because who would guess that people are uncomfortable with the fact that a former slave is the ultimate evil and not the guy who tortures people just for shit talking the FL) and even though there is still a big part of the fandom who despises her, she still lives in everyone's head rent free. The trashta meme is more well known than Navier as a character and her character arc will always be superior and far more interesting than everything else in the story, after all remarried empress did start to decline after her death.

Jesus christ this took so long, I had to do so much rereading and fact checking but it was worth it.

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songmingisthighs · 2 years ago

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Stupid Lucky Rain

group : xikers

pairing : student!hyunwoo × student!reader

genre : fluff, university!au, strangers to lovers

word count : 10.1 K

note : part of the "Meet Me Under The Cherry Tree event by @cultofdionysusnet

a/n : hyunwoo need to STAHP being a freeloader in my mind like SIR RENT IS DUE I WILL NAWT TOLERATE SQUATTERS @flowerboykun I'm blaming you for enabling me writing for xikers <3 and GHAWD THIS TOOK SO LONG AND I DID NAWT MEANT FOR IT TO BE THIS LONG ???? THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TIMESTAMP ????? WTF HAPPENED ??????

buy me coffee ?

You never really liked your university. There were a lot of problems with not just the students and the teaching staff but also with the general management of the place and just the thought of it made you so mad honestly. What made you even more pissed was that the school was your choice because you were so drawn to the campus's open concept; the cherry blossom trees in spring, the stone path to each building, and the happy students everywhere. The decision was solely on you because your parents had even suggested that you go to school in another city but you just HAD to go to this school. So really, you have nothing and no one to blame for your shitty experience but yourself.

Days like this one, when nothing seems to be going your way or even just going right generally, truly made you feel so angry at nothing and no one but at the same time at everything and everyone. Thursdays were never your favourite day but since university, it has taken a rather worse turn. Your last class of the day with the WORST professor in your major talked your ears off which made the class run longer than it should and God forbid someone remind him that class was supposed to end AGES ago. So now, you're stuck by the entrance of your building because it was raining and you didn't even think to bring your umbrella. Now you resented the open concept your university had because what even the fuck was anyone thinking.

Whoever romanticize spring rain needs to have their mouths stuffed with wet cherry blossom flowers. Because while it looks so so so pretty, it's still a pain in the ass to deal with.

"You can't help me?" you groaned into the phone. You had hoped your friend who lived in the dorm could come with an umbrella and help you get home but alas you were met with YET ANOTHER disappointing answer. "I'm sorry, we have a dorm meeting in 5 minutes because someone got caught sneaking her sibling in after hours and all of us are getting punished with her," she sighed, obvious that she was disappointed with her own situation. Not wanting to make her feel bad, you assured her that it was fine and even mustering up a goodbye to her before hanging up. After the call ended, however, you couldn't help but slump down the wall nearby and covered your face with your bag to let out a muffled frustrated scream, completely oblivious that someone was listening in and even watching what was going on with you.

Hyunwoo knew you. Well, he knew OF you as you shared a class with his friend, Sumin and while he had yet to have direct interaction with you, he was well aware of general things about you. How you have classes mostly in the same building except for one in the seminar hall that you shared with his other friends, Seeun and Junmin (though he doesn't think they'd realize), how you seemed to have quite some close friends but you seemed to still be well known around campus, and how you seemed to cringe when you're under a tree that you frequent and a breeze decided to interrupt you. But all that knowledge seemed useless because Hyunwoo didn't even know your name. He couldn't tell his friends that he was interested in you (for a lack of better word) because he know that Sumin is (embarrassing) not going to let his interest slide as platonic. So he kept (suffered alone) to himself and just watch you from afar, sometimes getting a chuckle or a grin at your antics. For a lack of better explanation, Hyunwoo considered himself intrigued by you and now that he was able to get a close-up look, he was, for a lack of better words, amused.

Determined to return home as soon as possible, so you can just wash the ick of the day and fall into a deep slumber where you can just fantasize about being a marshmallow (Or a rock, Tinnitus rules), you stood back up in a speed of light, surprising the person who was behind you. "I can do this, I can just run past this itty bitty rain and be home in no time," you mumbled to yourself, huffing and jumping slightly to prepare to take off. "Straight to the bus shelter, it's... Nothing, not that far," your head nodded along your words, starting to feel like you were being filled with positivity, "Yeah, yeah, it's no biggie whatsoever." Hyunwoo was grinning and chuckling to himself, amused at how you were trying to... survive? Does that make sense?

Not letting yourself hesitate much longer, you took off from your spot to face the seemingly worsening rain.

"Wait-,"

It didn't take long for you to slip and skid away several feet and land on a cherry blossom tree. To make your accident more unfortunate, the petals of the cherry blossom tree fell from the tree upon impact and scattered around you dramatically. Seeing this, Hyunwoo panicked and reached into his bag to fish out the umbrella his roommate, Junghoon, had placed for him, taking a moment to stare at the item in embarrassment because he could have gone to you and lent you the umbrella while he was (creepily) staring at you and your antics. Nevertheless, he shook his head and opened his umbrella to shield him before running over to you.

The closer he got, the more he could hear you sobbing whilst still in the same position as when you landed to a stop. Hyunwoo cringed and slowly leaned down so that his umbrella would also cover your face as it did with his. "Excuse me miss, are you okay?" he asked sympathetically, genuinely feeling bad that you had to go through such an embarrassing accident. Thankfully, you answered him, even if it was with an eery sarcastic laugh, "I'm... On top of the world, walking on Sunshine fantastic," you said as you closed your eyes, "And it's... Amazing that you saw me at my worst." Hyunwoo couldn't help but cringe at your words, wanting to be helpful but not quite knowing how to. "Uh... If this is your worst, I'm glad you're pulling it off," he smiled in awkward assurance, hoping that it makes your unfortunate accident perceivably better for you. Thankfully, you chuckled at him even if it was pathetic laughter (because if you hadn't, Hyunwoo might dig himself a 10-foot hole and just stay there until the embarrassment ebbs away.

He was just about to help you up and possibly asked if he could accompany you to wherever you needed to go but he heard his name being called (by a voice that sounded like an impatient Minjae) from the far distance. Afraid that he might get caught with a (cute) girl, Hyunwoo's eyes widened and his head snapped back to you who was beginning to it up. With a heavy heart, Hyunwoo handed you his umbrella and before you could ask him what he was doing, he gave you a charming smile that made your heart skip a beat.

"I hope you get back home safely."

That was all he said before he took his backpack over his head and dashed through the rain. "Wait," you called out, trying your best to stand up quickly, "I didn't get your name!" It was unfortunate that you didn't hear his friend called out for his name due to the heavy rain.

Unfortunately, the sound of the rain was louder than your voice and Hyunwoo was already quite far away. All you could do was stare at his retreating figure in sadness and conviction because how did he not fall and embarrass himself like you did and you hadn't gotten the chance to thank or talk to him. But you were at least safe from being (even more) wet on your journey home.

As you walked away, you couldn't help but look back at the tree where you landed. Usually, it would take you some time to recover from such embarrassment. Heck, you'd be angry at yourself, the tree, the pink petals, the sky, the weather, the grass, the pavement, the university, and maybe even the students that didn't fall like you did. So it surprised you to have walked away with a light heart and even gratitude. All thanks to that mysterious cutie who you didn't even get to look at properly before he ran off. You would've liked to appreciate his beauty first before you both parted. How had you never realized there was anyone as cute as he before? Why did you have to meet him in such an unfortunate circumstance?

You couldn't help but let out a final sigh before resuming your walk to the bus stop, hoping that you'd get to meet the stranger you met under the cherry blossom tree once again.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

"So he just gave you an umbrella... and ran?" you nodded at the question that was asked by one of your friends, Liz.

"And you had never seen him on this campus before?" your other friend, Rei, added and again, you simply nodded at her question.

All three of your friends smacked their foreheads with their palms, absolutely dumbfounded by how you handled the situation. "God, (y/n), how is it that these kinds of things seem to only happen to you?" Your last friend, Haewon, asked in exasperation. You couldn't help but groan and slumped down on the table before you, accidentally bumping your forehead on the hard surface which made Liz cringe. "And there she goes again," she teased, snickering but pushing your head slightly to see the red mark and your scrunched-up face and gently pressing her cold can of cola on the spot, "Dum dum."

Rei rested her chin on her open palm and tilted her head, "So, what are you planning on doing?" she asked. For a moment, all you could do was hum, not knowing what to do because you really do have no plans whatsoever. It had been five days since you saw the cutie who helped you under the cherry blossom tree and you hasn't seen him since and you were sure that you'd recognize him immediately. How can you forget his worried eyes that turned into adorable crescents when he smiled? How can you forget his soft, pastel green cardigan and white shirt that was paired with black jeans and white Adidas that somehow made him look like a model? How can you forget his melodious voice when he talked? And God, how can you forget the fact that he made you feel better without even trying? He was it, he was what you needed to motivate you to go to school and it might be just some dumb crush but you really do want to see him again.

Unbeknownst to you, Haewon had slipped her hand into your bag and taken the umbrella the boy had lent to you and waved it over her head as she rose to her feet slightly. "Is there a cute boy who is missing his umbrella because he lent it to a clumsy fool last week?" she yelled at the whole cafeteria out of the blue which made you yelp and immediately pulled her down just as people snapped their heads towards your table. "Are you nuts!?" you hissed as you hit the side of her arm in a scolding manner. Yet, Haewon only blinked her eyes confusedly at you, "Wha- me? I'm doing your job effectively! Don't you wanna meet this boy and then marry him?" Truly, you wonder how Haewon's mouth has yet to get her in trouble. "Not marry!" you whined at her to which she just rolled her eyes, "Fine, you're against marriage, but you want a future with him, no?" All you could do was groan and run your fingers through your hair, "Rei was more helpful when she couldn't help me with an umbrella last week," you muttered. Liz scrunched her nose at you and she couldn't help but add, "I mean... Had Rei helped you last week, Mr cutie wouldn't have been able to help you," to which you replied with a deadpanned look on your face that made her raise both of her hands slightly, "I'm just stating a fact here, you're mad at Haewon unnie, not me," she grinned sheepishly.

It wasn't like you were mad at your friends or anything because you were mostly mad at yourself for not being able to find the cutie. Granted, you had only seen him once but on a campus with a limited number of students walking around everywhere, statistically speaking, you should've been able to bump into him again in no time. But no time feels like yes time and yes, time sure was being a bitch because it felt like forever. Every day, you try to be more aware of your surroundings, be more aware of the people in case you see the cutie and every day, without fail, you brought the umbrella he lent you in your bag along with a little note of gratitude. In it was the usual thank you for helping your dumb ass and for making your day slightly better and at the bottom right corner, you had written your number for the purpose of "wanting to pay you back for your kindness. So text me when you're available :)" it's cheesy and you blame Liz.

Suddenly, someone approached your table, a guy who looked so innocent and he had the most adorable smile on his face. "Hi, sorry, is the rest of the seat taken?" he asked, tilting his head a little. you were sure that had you known him, you would've absolutely squished his cheeks and given him the biggest hug ever at any given time. "Oh, no, please," Rei gestured for him to take a seat on the space at the end of the table. "Thank you!" he cheerfully said before turning slightly and waving his hands, "Guys, I found a table!" The four of you couldn't help but turn around and watch as six more guys walked through the sea of people towards the direction of the table you were occupying. "Guys, I think we need to leave," Rei said, cringing at the number of people around but also at the thought of them having a hard time finding seats. The rest of you nodded and immediately packed your stuff and took your trays. Seeing this, the guy felt bad, "Oh, you guys don't have to leave!" he pouted, feeling bad because he thought you all left because of him. But Liz waved a hand at him and smiled, "No, don't worry! We need to go to class anyways!" which seemed to reassure him as he simply nodded and bowed slightly, "Thank you so much," he smiled.

Once you and your friends cleared, the guy's four friends soon came to the table just as the four of you left the table, giving the guy you interacted with one last wave (just for fun) which he happily reciprocated. "Yujun, dude, how'd you get them to leave?" Sumin smirked, chuckling slightly while setting his tray down. The other people in the group; Yechan, Junmin, Hunter, Junghoon, and Jinsik followed suit, taking their respective spots. "Probably by telling them something about snail penises," Yechan snickered at his friend whose expression dropped into an unamused one, "How're your books, Yechan, are they balanced?" he retorted back. But of course, Yechan being Yechan, he wasn't affected by his friend's words, he simply sit on his chair and plastered on (an obviously faux) innocent smile, "Better than your genealogy paper I'll bet," thankfully Junmin was there to stop either one of them to start throwing food at each other, only letting Yujun squeak out something about Yechan's response not even making any sense.

It seemed like you really do have rotten luck because not even five minutes after you cleared up, Hyunwoo walked into the cafeteria with two of his friends on his sides. "All I'm saying is," Seeun shrugged his shoulder to readjust his bag so he won't let go of his tray, "The idea that reality is all fake and that the physical world is all caused by ideas is plausible! For instance, what if the things you see around you aren't actually what they seem? What if the things that you see are just how your brain wants to perceive them? Or let's say there's a chair in a room. Who's to say that chair still exists when you leave the room because there was no one to perceive it?" God, Hyunwoo love his friends but sometimes he really does question why they became friends in the first place. The additional three guys soon approached the table you had just occupied, and to poke fun at you and your luck even more, Hyunwoo had chosen to sit on the spot you sat on. "For fuck's sake, Seeun, you took ONE philosophy class last semester. Move on!" Minjae complained, choosing a seat at the far end, near Yechan where he didn't have to deal with Seeun. However, Seeun only scoffed at his older friend, "By that logic, you should forget all your introductory classes because you had only taken those classes once, hyung."

"Hey, Hyunwoo's here!" Jinsik greeted his seemingly quiet friend in an attempt to stop more fights to break and even resume the potential fight between Yechan and Yujun. "How are you today, hyung?" Hunter, who was next to Hyunwoo asked before popping a piece of fish cake from his bowl of tteokbokki into his mouth. "Oooh look at him, isn't it obvious?" Sumin snickered, making Hyunwoo freeze in his spot while his pupils shook nervously, fearing that Sumin might know something, "Hyunwoo is sad because his little mysterious miss scattered-petal-umbrella-borrower hasn't been seen around." Immediately, Hyunwoo's head snapped to Junghoon who felt his friend's glare and he halted his movement just as he was about to take a spoonful of soup. Hyunwoo's eyes narrowed and Junghoon, without dropping his spoon back into his bowl, made a statement for himself, "I didn't know it was a SECRET secret, I thought it was a general knowledge secret."

Confused, Junmin looked between his friends with curiosity, "What? What miss scattered-petal-umbrella-borrower?" he asked, clearly wanting to know what everyone (some, but it didn't include him so he felt left out) was talking about. "Say those five words quickly like a tongue-twister, I dare you," Minjae snickered and soon the table erupted into a tongue-twister challenge battle, allowing Hyunwoo to just sulk in his seat.

It wasn't like he wasn't trying to find you because he absolutely did. He mulled over why he hadn't seen you in a while and made a plan to be able to see you which was basically to just frequent the cherry blossom tree where you fell. To be fair, he had only implemented the plan the day before so his success rate as of now was about the same as seeing a monkey juggling in a baby suit. Not to mention his busy schedule as a Food Technology student was not really allowing him much freedom. Still, he tried. He tried by studying under the tree, right on the spot you landed on and made sure to pass the tree when he got to the campus and when he was about to leave. But so far he hadn't had his luck meeting you again. The effort Hyunwoo put to present himself also doubled because he wanted to look nice for you. His usual fluff of hair was styled better (courtesy of Sumin) and his clothes were nicer (courtesy of Minjae), heck, he even found a new sense of confidence (courtesy of Yechan who said that they're one Christmas away from buying him a loom and call him the loonie roomie with a loomy).

"Hey, hey, hey, let's go back to talking about Hyunwoo," Minjae chuckled after seeing Sumin choke on his own spit. Yujun glanced at the oldest, blinking twice in confusion before stating, "Well, to be fair, we all got sidetracked because of you, hyung," Minjae's left eye twitch at the guy who was innocently nibbling on a piece of chicken on his fork but he managed a (forced) wide grin, "Well, I'm refocusing back to Hyunwoo," he said simply. Hearing this, Hyunwoo sat up straight and shrugged slightly, "I don't think there's much to tell, you know? It's just... Someone that I wished to have more interactions with," though he wanted to appear casual or even nonchalant, the slight pout on the corners of his lips betrayed him.

"Okay, now I'm confused," Sumin said, raising an eyebrow at his friend, "I've introduced you to a lot of people on this campus and you didn't seem to be interested in anyone. Who changed your mind??" "God, Sumin hyung, isn't it possible that Hyunwoo hyung is interested in someone who has NOTHING to do with you?" Hunter scoffed. The rest of the table was nodding at Hunter's words, agreeing with him. But it wasn't until Yujun turned to Hyunwoo that he realized Hyunwoo's ears, despite his face remaining a neutral colour, were bright red and seemingly hot if one was to touch them. Yujun's eyes widened and he squeaked, finger immediately pointing to his older friend who realized and whose eyes widened to saucers, "OH MY GOD, HYUNWOO HYUNG LIKES SOMEONE HE KNEW FROM SUMIN HYUNG!" he exclaimed loudly.

To avoid bombarding, Hyunwoo immediately packed his stuff and took his tray, "I don't have time for this," was the last thing he said before he ran off, leaving his friends complaining and booing at him.

On his way out to his next class, after putting his tray to where it was supposed to go, Hyunwoo slumped on a nearby wall and hung his head. It was embarrassing that he couldn't control his reaction and because of that, people now know that he was INTERESTED (not yet crushing) on someone that Sumin also knows. "God, my life is a joke," he muttered to himself before crouching down to tie his shoelaces that had become loose.

To mock his existence, just as his focus was on his feet, you ran right past him back into the cafeteria. You looked around and spotted the table you sat on before. As you rushed back to the table, Yujun looked up and beamed when he recognized you. "Oh! It's miss nice table sharer!" he exclaimed, causing people on the table to snap their heads at you, curious at what Yujun was talking about. You were stunned to be greeted like that, as evident by your rounded, blinking eyes, but you smiled at him, "Hi? And it's (y/n) if you wanna thank me more for giving you my table," you joked. Sumin swallowed the food he was chewing and nudged you on the hip gently, "Hey (y/n), what's up?" While you both were not really that close (even with the class you shared), you both were fond of each other and you knew that Sumin has a playful and friendly persona which was why everyone was comfortable enough to joke and poke with him. You pouted at him, "I think I left my wallet here by accident. If it's not here, then it must've fallen out when I was walking around and I might as well say goodbye to it," you sighed. The guys on the table were nice enough to immediately look around and even down under the table to help you locate your missing item. All but one. Junghoon quietly lifted your slightly tattered wallet up with a blank look on his face, "I didn't realize this was yours," he simply said. Minjae exhaled sharply and reached to pluck the item from his friend's grasp, "You're not supposed to take things that aren't yours, Junghoon!" he then handed you the item with a sheepish (almost embarrassed) look on his face, "Sorry about him, he can be peculiar." Junghoon scoffed and crossed his arms at Minjae's words, obviously dissatisfied, "Hey, at least I noticed the item before Hyunwoo hyung placed his tray on it."

Simply relieved, you hugged your wallet to your chest happily. "God, thank you for keeping it safe!" then you pat Sumin's head like how you would a puppy and lean down slightly to match his eye level, "I'll see you tomorrow at class, okay?" to which Sumin replied with his fingers that are supposed to indicate him saying 'okay' as his mouth was busy chewing. With the reply, you (once again) take your leave with a wave of goodbye and an extra enthusiastic one to Yujun who enthusiastically double-waved at you.

Once you were out of earshot, Yujun spoke up, "She's nice! How'd you know her, Sumin hyung?" "I knew her from my mandatory English class, she helps me a lot with essays but that's about it," the whole table nodded in understanding at that. But then they snapped their heads all at the same time at the sound of Seeun snickering. "What if that's the girl Hyunwoo hyung has a crush on?" Jinsik rolled his eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder, "Pay attention dude, do you think Sumin would just use the people he knew from class as a potential match for Hyunwoo?" Seeun raised an eyebrow at his older friend challengingly, knowing full well what his defence would be, "There are endless possibilities of worlds. If you can think of it then it can exist in theory therefore anything is possible. However, nothing can exist without it being perceived by someone." And for the first time ever (since the second week of his taking his philosophy class), his response was met with nods of approval and even understanding.

"Hence, my earlier statement that things might just simply exist because there is someone to perceive them. Like the chair," as soon as those nods come, they were immediately replaced with groans and protests. Jinsik, Yechan, and Junghoon even threw their juice boxes at him.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

In the next three days, there were more close run-ins that happened between you and Hyunwoo that if you both realized would've caused your heads to explode.

The first occurrence was the day after the almost run-in at the cafeteria. You were paired with Sumin for a class discussion, even spending time making a report in class. It was a complete fluke (and by that, it was most likely orchestrated by destiny) that you were paired together because neither of you had ever gotten so close, not in the several months since you both took the class. Even by the end of the class you both walked out together to discuss more on the paper that you both were supposed to submit by that night. The two of you were so into your conversation that you didn't even realize that you had left your laptop in the classroom. "Shoot! I need to go back,": you turned around and cringed at the number of people walking slowly out of the class like a herd of sheep. Sumin chuckled and shook his head at you, "You're unbelievable, kind of like my friend Hyunwoo," he chuckled. You only rolled your eyes and nudged his body with yours lightly, "You're a jerk," your bottom lip dropped into a teasing joke, "Text me later about your part?" Sumin nodded in agreement with a smile, letting you know that he will do his part of the paper before you ran off. Sumin barely took two steps forward when the person he was talking about rounded the corner and patted him on the shoulder, "Hey man, you done?" he smiled widely. "Yup, you done checking the tree?" Sumin's words almost made Hyunwoo choke on his own spit, "How'd you know about that?" it was obvious that not even Hyunwoo could hide that fact. Sumin simply smirked and wrapped his friend in a friendly hug, "We got eight other close friends, man, how long do you think you would be able to hide that fact?"

The next occurrence happened the night Hyunwoo decided that he wanted to get some midnight snacks with Yechan and Minjae who were pulling an all-nighter at their dorms. It was an impromptu decision for all of them and Hyunwoo didn't even want to go in the first place but Yujun was giving him puppy eyes and Seeun annoyed him enough that he go to get them what they wanted (which, halfway out of his dorm, it had just occurred to him that both Yujun and Seeun could've gone out themselves). At the same time, you came out of your dorm clad in a hoodie, mask, and your comfiest pyjama pants because you were feeling pissed at yourself because you hadn't found the mystery cutie. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, it had been exactly seven days since that (un)fateful day and logically speaking (and if you were to put your trust in destiny's hands), the day you would've most likely to meet him again was today on similar circumstances (because it hadn't rained). So you waited and waited but the mystery cutie never even showed so you spent two hours after class for nothing only to come home to your door opened which means that one of your roommates was in your room and you were betting on the narcissistic kleptomaniac who has been shit-talking you behind your back. You were so ready for the new semester so you, Liz, Haewon, and Rei could move in together. Near tears, you got into the convenience store to gather everything you need to calm yourself down. The three guys were already in the convenience store, talking loudly with each other, laughing and joking around and even narrowly missing you; when you were in one isle, they were in the next, when you turned to stare at the rack, they passed you, even noticing your presence but not your identity. Out of the three however, Hyunwoo was the one who noticed the hard sigh you exhaled and the times you clenched your fists when you couldn't find something or saw that it wasn't in stock. Even when he was paying for the things he bought (which were mostly Yujun and Seeun's snacks), he couldn't help but turn his head to your crouching figure in front of the instant noodles, completely oblivious that you were the person he has been looking for this past week. When you paid for your item, the cashier put something you swore you didn't pick out earlier. "Excuse me, I don't think that's mine," you pointed out, making the cashier stop her movements. But she nodded her head in the direction of the door, "The guy before bought something for you," when the bag was in your hand and you were able to reach into the plastic bag and took out what she had put. During your walk out, you couldn't help but keep staring at the lollipop that had a smiling face on its wrapper. It was stupid maybe, but you were just so happy to have gotten it and just like that your day was made.

The last occurrence happened when Hyunwoo and you decided that maybe simply standing or watching near the tree was not enough, you have to be attached to the tree. So that Friday, after your morning class, you buckled down and settled on the grass, studying (or pretending to be) as you keep a lookout. "Okay, but can we at least get you lunch?" Liz asked, smiling sympathetically at you. You shook your head but Haewon rolled her eyes and linked her arm with Liz and Rei, "We'll just get her like a kimbap or something, she's definitely going to want to eat, she's just stubborn," she teased as she walked away. As they walked away, Hyunwoo parted ways from his friends and approached the tree, eyes filled with determination to finally meet you again and this time properly talk to you. Neither of you realized that you both were on opposite sides of the tree, blissfully unaware as you occupied yourselves with working on whatever you could work on. For thirty-five minutes the both of you could hear the other typing on their laptop or writing or opening up books but both of you thought those were the sounds that came from other students from the nearby tree. You didn't even hear the sounds anymore once your friend came back and sat down around you; Liz next to you and Rei and Haewon across you. As you chew on your kimbap, all four of you chatted, well, mostly the three of them because you were keeping your eyes on the people walking nearby, waiting for the mystery cutie to pass by not knowing that he was on the other side, smiling to himself at the sound of you four being so happy and carefree. He was rather intrigued because he noticed that there was a voice that got him feeling some sort of recognition and just as he was about to take a peek, he heard someone call his name from the building. "Dude, we have a rescheduled class 10 minutes ago, what are you doing?" his classmate called out, making Hyunwoo's eyes widen in realization and quickly pack his things. "Shit, this is bad," he muttered to himself as his hands tried to shove everything in as quickly as possible. But in his clumsiness, he accidentally let his water bottle roll away to the other side of the tree without him realizing it. Just as Hyunwoo strapped his backpack on, a voice halted his movements, "Here, I think you dropped this." He looked up to see a girl holding his water bottle and he immediately nodded and took it from her hands, "Thanks, uh..." "Liz," "Yeah, thank you, Liz," he smiled at her before rushing to his class. Noticing Liz talking, you tried to peek over and saw a guy in a rather clean-looking smart outfit running off into the building. "Who's that?" Rei asked, noticing what you saw as well, "Some guy, he dropped his water bottle and I helped," Liz shrugged. "He was cute," Haewon said before she nudged you with her foot, snickering slightly, "Do you think you wanna switch mystery cutie for him?" she teased. You took one last glance at the guy (or his back since that was all you could see) and shrugged, "My mystery cutie is probably like ten times more handsome," you stated obliviously as you munched on your kimbap, fully unaware that that was actually your mystery cutie.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

Saturdays were your favourite as you have no classes and you have no responsibilities. As a university student, you didn't have much going for you nor do you have many options for entertainment. So more often than not, you utilize the campus facilities however you can. One of your favourites is the shuttle bus to the heart of the city which was not that far. Little did you know, Hyunwoo felt exactly the same way about being a student but his way of utilizing the university facilities is slightly different considering his friends are lawless hooligans.

That day, you had just gotten back from the mall with your friends and you decided to leave early because you had this feeling that you had forgotten something. Funny enough, it wasn't an umbrella because you found yourself always carrying mystery cutie's umbrella with you. Initially, it was just in case you accidentally bumped into him somewhere you didn't even think you'd bumped into him or something. Honestly after not meeting him for a whole week, you got the impression that there's a chance that he might not even be a student at the university (wrong). He could be a visiting student (wrong). Or maybe a transfer or even an international student doing a semester program (wrong). Would it be ridiculous to assume that he's a TA or even a new professor or a potential new TA or a potential new professor? (yes because it is so dumb to think that). So you went home by yourself and on the way, you realized that because you were going to be dropped off at the campus, you could maybe go around a bit to look at the campus life activity board to see if you could spot his face in the pictures there.

Meanwhile, Hyunwoo and some of his friends (Jinsik, Sumin, Junmin, and Hunter) decided that they wanted to spend some time at the gym. As active boys, it was important for them to burn energy somehow so that they wouldn't get into any trouble. Same principle as raising children. Or puppies. They have to tire themselves just enough to be obedient and not cause any mess. And it was fun or maybe just interesting to see the university that would usually be busy with the hustle and the bustle of busy busy students and their lives and their need to keep up with their schedules and ambitions. On Saturdays, Hyunwoo was able to simply appreciate the university as it is. He wasn't really sure of a university with an open concept as he would more often than not think about the practicality and even the effectiveness of it for students (other than giving something green to stare at and providing fresh air to students who spent most of their days in stuffy rooms with other students who looked just about done with studying). But he came to like the place and its concept and he was able to appreciate it even more ever since he saw you. He liked being able to find you in odd places every now and then which has now become frustrating because now that he actually wanted to meet you, you're nowhere to be seen like a Fata Morgana. Maybe he has to reach a certain level of desperation first.

Unlike the days before when he had to go to class and there was a higher chance of meeting you, Hyunwoo decided against dressing up. He let his usual flop of hair down and wore a loose sleeveless work shirt and training pants with his favourite workout shoes. It was him getting back to simplicity despite the protests of Minjae who insisted he wore an athleisure outfit which was stupid because although Hyunwoo looked absolutely amazing and he felt confident in the form-fitting shirt and parachute fabric pants, he couldn't move for shit and he was uncomfortable. So he ran out as soon as he changed so that he didn't have to listen to Minjae nagging at him for not listening.

"Are you ready to admit now?" Hyunwoo's reps on the chest machine halted at the question thrown by Sumin. "Admit what?" he asked with an eyebrow raised. Sumin dropped the dumbell he was curling before standing up and leaning next to Hyunwoo's machine, forcing the guy to strain his neck slightly to look at him, "That your little miss scattered-petal-umbrella-borrower is probably a figment of your imagination," he teased, smirking at the guy whose face scrunched into a scowl. Hunter walked by and smack his older friend on the back with a towel, "Don't be mean, Sumin hyung, Hyunwoo hyung said it happened so it must have happened," Hunter was definitely trying to back his friend up but somehow, it seemed like he wasn't. Hyunwoo couldn't help but scoff at his two friends, "Why does it seem like you guys think I'm crazy?" "Well," Junmin walked over and sat on a bench close to them, "It's not that we think you're crazy, but it kinda does feel like you're avoiding us and using this... Mysterious girl that no one has seen as an excuse," he shrugged. Jinsik came by with kettlebells and started doing his reps as he joined the conversation. "We're just worried about you, man. You usually keep to yourself, yes, but this is a whole other level. I mean, if she's real in the first place, how come you haven't found her in the past week?" he asked. In frustration, Hyunwoo groaned and threw his head back onto the padding of his station's seat, "I can't believe I'm even saying this," he then looked to the side, straight into Sumin's eyes and pointed at him, "Mystery girl is in the same English class as you."

The revelation surprised everyone but not Sumin who simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? She's in my class?" he scoffed and Hyunwoo nodded, "Well, did you see her last time you came by to get me after that class?" Now, that question made the others shut their gasps and exclamations of a surprise to see how Hyunwoo would react. The guy froze and his eyes darted around in slight panic, knowing full well that he didn't and that answer might come off as how his friends had insinuated before. "Uh..." Hyunwoo looked around his friends as his brain try its best to string enough words to make a sentence that makes sense. "Well..." he started out, getting more nervous even though he was only facing his friends and their stupid questions. It didn't help that all of them looked genuinely intrigued and were patiently waiting for him to say something, anything as soon as he could. Unfortunately, the pressure got to him and he didn't think twice before he stood up, surprising his friends, especially with his announcement before he ran off and out of the gym, "I think I need to run laps outside."

With that, Jinsik smacked Sumin upside the head, making the guy groan and clutch the side where he got the impact. "What was that for!?" Sumin huffed, trying to rub away the pain. Jinsik smirked teasingly at him and leaned down, "Maybe that ought to realign your crooked brain so you could think straight next time you speak," then he ran away before Sumin could reach down, grab a dumbell and throw it at him.

Hyunwoo didn't like this. He didn't like feeling negative things especially if he was doubting himself and when he felt like he was getting pissed at his friends. He knew full well that none of them meant to, none of them wanted to piss him off or make him feel bad about himself, even Sumin despite the way his words were articulated. But it just made him feel bad about himself, it made him feel stupid as if his wanting to find this mystery girl is a pointless crusade when it's not that serious. It's not like Hyunwoo is going around everywhere asking girls if they are the girl he has been looking for. For one thing, he's not the prince charming from Cinderella. And his introversion would cause his social battery to deplete after 2 interactions hence causing him to flop down on the floor like a fish out of water. He so badly needs his social battery to survive his classes and actually get grades above passing which is all dependent on class interactions. It also wasn't like he didn't want his friends' help, it was just embarrassing to admit that he has a crush on someone that he had only seen from afar. Especially admitting it to Sumin who had been nothing but nice and proactive, introducing him to different people only for him to be interested in someone Sumin hadn't introduced him to yet. Again, he was well aware that it was stupid but he couldn't help but feel like that, especially in a circumstance like this one. The circumstance is his existence as an introverted, awkward klutz.

It didn't occur to him that he had been running around the campus for a solid 20 minutes. The soft droplets of water were what snapped him out of his trance in the first place. Almost at once, more droplets of water fell from the sky, drenching his body and forcing him to run for cover. Through the thick curtain of rain, Hyunwoo could barely see anything, everything seemed blurry and the sound rendered him in a confused state as he couldn't seem to decide where to run for cover. In the midst of confusion and mess, Hyunwoo managed to slip on the slippery, muddy ground and skidded forward until his body collided with a tree. On the ground, looking up, Hyunwoo finally realized that he was actually under the cherry blossom tree where you slipped yourself over a week ago. "Are you serious?" he exhaled sharply as his eyes closed, feeling like the universe was making a mockery out of him by causing a seemingly calculated accident to further mock him of his incapabilities to find you or even to show him how you must've felt when this happened to you. Now Hyunwoo knows perfectly well what it felt to see petals scattering around you as if they wanted to mark where you landed just to make you feel even more embarrassed.

Hyunwoo was just about ready to have the ground open up and swallow him whole so he could spend an eternity muddling in his own stupidity and incapabilities. But when he failed to feel the rain on him anymore, he opened his eyes to see you crouching on top of him with your bottom lip between your teeth and his umbrella covering both of you from the rain. "Are you reenacting my accident, stranger?" you teased.

Reflexes kicking in, Hyunwoo tried to sit up quickly but ended up knocking his head with yours. Quite hard actually as it sent the both of you reeling slightly back. "Oh, God! I'm so sorry!" he panicked, forgetting about his pain momentarily to tend to you, he went as far as ignoring his own pain momentarily and even forgetting that he was an awkward klutz, surprising you when he grabbed your face gently to look at the spot that was starting to turn red from the rather harsh impact. You were blushing at this point because he was closer than you thought he would be especially considering that this was your second meeting. But he didn't seem to notice it as he was so focused on you, completely oblivious that he also had a red spot from the impact, shown from between strands of hair. Seeing this, you couldn't help but giggle at him, "Okay, damn, forget you reenacting my accident, you're just clumsy." Just the sound of you giggling was enough to make his heart skip a beat and his body freeze. He wanted to believe that it was the building anticipation that took over him and distracted him from functioning as a human being.

The sound of the rain reminded you that Hyunwoo was still drenched and that you were also at risk of getting wet. As much as you liked him holding your face, you grabbed his wrist gently which caused his eyes to shift to yours from your forehead, "We should move inside the building, we don't wanna catch a cold now, do we?" you teased. Luckily, Hyunwoo seemed to realize his position fairly quickly and stood up with you. He even took the umbrella from your hand which prompted you to take his hand instead as you led him inside the building.

Despite both of your seemingly confident and calculate moves, you both were blushing like lovestruck fools (because you both were), avoiding each other's gaze as your hearts beat out of your chests. The both of you tried to convince yourselves that it wasn't the nerves it wasn't the absolute nerve-wracking realization that you both had FINALLY found each other on a day that neither of you expected. Nope, definitely not. It was... something else completely unrelated.

Once you both got inside the building, you immediately led Hyunwoo into an empty classroom and sat him down somewhere he wouldn't feel the cold draft. Hyunwoo was just glad to see you, he was following your instruction and let you lead him, situating him wherever and however you want like a little puppy. Once he was perfectly situated, you carefully folded his umbrella after taking it from his hand and placing your bag on the seat next to him. "Okay, I think I can find some towels from the clinic office, are you fine by yourself here?" you asked, cringing slightly now that you were able to see how pitiful he looked. But despite his unfortunate-looking appearance, he was smiling brightly and nodding enthusiastically, "Yeah, I'll be fine! Don't worry," he reassured. Hearing that, you nodded and immediately dash to get the things that you needed to help him.

However, just as you were about to step out, your feet halted and you took a step back into the classroom. You turned slowly and looked at him, seemingly hesitant to leave him alone. You didn't want to be dramatic, and you really do believe that the mystery cutie you had just finally found again after so long (over a week) wouldn't just disappear on you. But still, you had JUST found him. You didn't want to leave his side.

Hyunwoo seemed to notice your hesitance. The way your eyes turned just a little sad and the way your hand gripped the door clued him into your hesitance easily. He thought it was adorable how you were acting to him, to someone you barely know. "I won't go anywhere, I'll wait for you, right here." he smiled gently at you, effectively reassuring you, allowing you to leave the room with a lighter heart and a slight spring to your step which didn't go unnoticed by Hyunwoo who chuckled and shook his head at you.

Even once your steps disappeared out in the hallway, Hyunwoo couldn't help but stare at the door with a smile still etched on his face. It took some time for him to tear his eyes away and when he finally managed to, he took notice of his umbrella that was on the desk, in front of your bag that was placed next to him. There was something on it that caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, he noticed something on the handle that looked like some kind of sticker or plastic. He took the item in his hands and pulled the handle out to see that it was a plastic wrapper, plastered just a little bit above the handle with a sellotape and the more he looked at it, the more he noticed that it looked like the wrapper of the candy he bought for someone just a couple days ago. He thought that you must've added it there yourself for some reason and while technically it was his umbrella, he wasn't mad that you put a little decoration on it. "What a weird coincidence," he chuckled.

"What's a weird coincidence?" he didn't even realize that you had returned to the room until he heard your voice. He simply waved the umbrella in his hands, "Oh no, I'm just looking at this thing in my umbrella." You quirked an eyebrow as you placed one towel on another empty desk and approached him with another one, "You like that?" you grinned while handing him a towel before pulling out a chair to sit in front of him, "Some guy bought me a lollipop candy with that wrapper a couple of days ago because I guess I looked pitiful enough that he felt sorry for me," you chuckled. When you looked up, you saw Hyunwoo staring at you with his mouth slightly agape, he had even stopped drying his hair with the towel you just handed. You took his expression as his negative reaction to hearing you talk to him about some other guy while he was simply right there like as if you were trying to show off how wanted you were. With eyes widened to saucers, you raised your hands and shook them in a panicked manner, "No, I wasn't bragging! I was just- well, I didn't even know the person! Could be a guy, could be a woman with a boyish haircut, who knows?" You honestly didn't even know why you panicked in front of him, it's not like whatever he could say or think of you would matter. He's a stranger. So why does it matter to you if he perceives you positively?

Luckily before you blabber even more, Hyunwoo shook his head which was enough to shut your mouth. "No, it's not about that, it's just... You're that person?" now you're confused. Your eyebrows knitted together and you waited for Hyunwoo to say something as additional info because that sentence made no sense yet. "I... I went to the convenience store just outside the campus dormitory with two of my friends," realizing where he was going, your eyes widened and you cut him off, "One who's a civil engineering major and another who's majoring in veterinary science." Hyunwoo's heart once again skipped a beat but he couldn't help but continue what he wanted to say, "And we... I saw someone sighing in front of the ramen so I..." Again, you cut him off, "Told the cashier to give me the smiley lollipop candy."

For a moment there, you both just stared at each other, grinning like two idiots for no reason. From what you thought was an apparent misfortune as a very cute guy saw you in such an unfortunate situation, turned out to be the craziest entanglement of fate ever. It was as if you both were meant to have so much near misses so you both could meet at exactly the right moment, the right time, and the right place. Underneath the cherry blossom tree that you first fell in love with when you were so close to hating yourself for the decision that you thought was so stupid just so he could give you a new perspective on things.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

It was unfortunate (yet highly predictable) that Hyunwoo caught the flu after meeting you. Of course, his friend blamed him for wandering around for two hours aimlessly before coming back to the dorm and changing out of his wet clothes. For obvious reasons, Hyunwoo didn't tell his friends that he had finally met you. Not yet at least. The both of you agreed that after a week of your friends poking fun at each of you, it's best that you both got to know each other first. So you both exchanged numbers and had been texting each other quite frequently ever since. Hyunwoo's flu forced him to be on bed rest for three days which means that your plans of hanging out after class fell through. But to be honest, he was rather grateful for the situation because you have been sending him food and care packages to the dorm without him even asking. To avoid his friends' detection, he would more often than not say that he ordered takeouts for himself or that his mom sent him a care package. The closest call was on the last day when you sent him homemade soup that he deemed was a takeout he ordered but when Junmin received the package, it had a cute kitty sticky note that said 'get well right meow!" with two hearts at the end. It was at that moment Hyunwoo realized that it was a good thing he was rather agile because he had never moved that quick to steal the package from his friend's hands.

So after his bed rest, he was back to full health and was way more ready to go to the campus than he had ever been. He didn't even let Sumin or Minjae style him that day because as per the information he found out on day two, you actually loved his hair as a floppy mop of hair and his rather soft boy aesthetic; pastel cardigans, light jeans, and converses. So even with Minjae and Sumin following after him with verbal protests (Sumin) and a series of boos (Minjae), Hyunwoo was able to coast clear out the door.

You were no better. While Hyunwoo didn't specify what look he liked best on you (because in all honesty, he likes how you look no matter the clothes or style you were wearing), you put an effort into your clothes that day which rather surprised your friends. They were gawking and asking questions because it was quite a drastic change. It wasn't like you changed into Elle Woods or Sharpay Evans out of the blue but it was obvious that you paid attention to what you were wearing that day.

Both your and Hyunwoo's friend groups were rather confused at your smiling faces and your constant attention to your phones. It wasn't unusual for you to be focused on your phone, but for you to giggle at it openly? They thought you had gone mad from looking for a mystery cutie. Little did they know, you were simply feeling your feelings for him, the mystery cutie you now know as Hyunwoo.

You were walking with your friends after your last class of the day, happy that not only you were finally able to meet up with Hyunwoo after waiting for quite a while but also because you both orchestrated a surprise for both of your friend groups.

"I'm really worried for you, you haven't stopped smiling all day!" Haewon said, trying to get you to stop walking so fast and to talk to her. But you shrugged her off gently, stopping at where you had promised to meet Hyunwoo, under the cherry blossom tree where you and he each got your taste of the universe's prank. "Haewon, guys, I swear I'm totally fine!" You pause to shrug your laptop back to a more secure position on your shoulder, "I'm not being weird, okay? I'm just... Happy, I guess? Giddy, maybe," you grinned and it didn't reassure them whatsoever. Before either one of them could say anything, you heard someone calling you from behind and when you turned around, you saw Sumin, Hyunwoo, and the people Hyunwoo had introduced to you (informally by showing pictures of them and telling you their names), Yujun, (the cutie you asked to sit with you that one time, Yechan, Minjae, and Jinsik. "Oh!" Sumin grinned, walking faster to you with his arm around Hyunwoo's shoulder, completely oblivious of Hyunwoo's knowing smile. "Hey, (y/n)! How have you been?" he asked, "Good, Sumin, I'm glad our paper hasn't killed you like you said it would," Yechan and Jinsik snickered at this while Yujun tilted his head to the side and his lips widened into a large grin, "Oh, you're the girl who helped me find a sat for lunch last week!" he exclaimed. At this revelation, Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow at you but you just casually (while trying your best to be lowkey) waved him off as a sign that you would tell him later. "By the way," Sumin stepped up, bringing Hyunwoo to focus much to your surprise, "(y/n) I'd like for you to meet my good friend-"

Your friends' and his' jaws dropped hard onto the ground when they saw you grinning widely and reaching a hand out to Hyunwoo's tuft of hair. "I see you decided to FINALLY let your mop down today," you teased which made Hyunwoo chuckle. "Yeah, I know you said you liked my hair like this and look," he stepped out of Sumin's hold (to which Sumin's hand just flopped uselessly next to his body) to spread his arms wide, showing off his look, "I'm wearing a cardigan too!" You have to admit that you couldn't help but bite your bottom lip at his adorable navy and light blue heart cardigan and Hyunwoo couldn't deny that seeing you look at him like that made his chest puff out with pride. Yujun and Yechan began clambering and reaching to clutch each other when they saw Hyunwoo reaching out to grab your laptop bag from your arm and offered his elbow to you. With a tilt of his head, Hyunwoo made a show to you (and his friends for good measure) when he said, "Shall we?" to which you gratefully accepted. Before you both took off, you turned around slightly and look at Hyunwoo's friends, "Told you his mystery girl was someone from Sumin's class." And Hyunwoo took a look at your friends with the most charming smile he could muster, "Aren't you glad the things that happened to (y/n) led her to this moment?"

As you both walked away, your friends and his began erupting into exclaims of disbelief and surprise but also relief. It was absolutely priceless and you would have definitely paid to see it in slow motion and to know exactly what they thought or said when it finally dawned upon them what had just happened. Overall, you both were just glad that things worked out in the end, everything worked out perfectly fine and oddly enough they all happened in one place.

Something told you that from that day forward, you both would love that stupid cherry blossom tree.

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obraveyouth · 8 months ago

Text

link knew when to be silent, he was very much used to being a bit of a reticent and purposefully taciturn. but, with sheik he wanted to speak as if he’d grown up around him. when link spoke with the other members of his village, he was simply link: no accent. no fated hero destiny. no decade long twilight consuming obsession. it was truly, comforting and he wouldn’t take advantage of this feeling at all. it was why he drunk in anything sheik said with genuine earnest. plus, link’s own parental figures weren’t the hottest topic of discussion; so just from the way sheik’s words seemed to roll off his lips, he could assume it was the same for him.

but, sometimes, link had learned. the most needed of conversations where the ones that you needed to have but notones you always wanted to say.

❛ ion thank your hair betrays ya, morelike lettin’ da world kno’ who ya are. an unconventional hair color for an unconventional sheikah, am i right? ❜ hell, if nobody else then link thought sheik’s hair was very pretty, fitting even. he couldn’t imagine sheik with hair any lighter than he already had, the off-white blond was beautiful: whether he be in the physiognomy of a man or grimalkin feline.

❛ though we’ve got dat in common. easy ta see i ain’t fully ordonian or hylian.❜ link was tall, had a richer complexion than anyone else in his village ( working on a ranch all day only made the specs of melanin in his skin take on an even deeper hue ): but at least knew both his parents, even if neither still walked with him on the earth, he had known them for a full thirteen years. enough time to make memories, know their love and hate. it was better than the lather, it was better than never having the opportunity at all. ❛ we moved ta dis village when i was but a tot, so ion hav’ no memories ‘fore ordon but dis place always gonna be home. i donno what my mum was ‘pecifically but she’s jus tell me dat she descend from a people dat used to live near da dessert, she had the prettiest shade of red hair too, really bright, kinda like yours but ina notha hue. ❜

and why stop there, link never got to talk about his parents. while, not terrible ( everyone assumed he’d get sad ): but it had been fourteen years since then. sure, it had been terrible when he was still young but he’d seen far worse things than a peaceful death amongst loved ones on his quest: there where far more terrible things to experience than the natural cycle of life. ❛ her skin was darker than anyone else i’d seen before too—till i met telma anyways—she looked like she could be a cousin or sumin’ to my mum. ❜

his face turned a bit grim as he pushed through the last of the tale of his heritage. ❛ i learned from telma that darkskin, red hair, and height where the characteristics of having gerudo in ya blood—my mum was nearly a whole foot talla than my pops—far as i know he was jus’ hylian—but ( would it have even mattered if link said this, he’d already come so far in accepting this realization years ago ): wasn’t the most freein’, killin’ ganondorf, former king of the gerudo. ❜ to link, it had almost been like killing a piece of his mom, a piece of his culture he’d never get back. just serving as another wedge in reminding him that he wasn’t allowed a life of being average, of simply existing: that he was simply born with tragedy in his blood.

but they’ve both grown dark expressions. talk of parents—no matter how much time had passed—still could cause the pain to weigh heavy on the heart. the feeling of loss and grief was a wound time could not ever truly heal, link knew this far too well ( his actions for the past decade served as the biggest testimony ): with time, it could made the pain lessen, old wounds would cover with scar tissue but the memory of how it ached, how one could suffer would never truly vanish. nonetheless, he reached for another knife from his block and moved to stand beside sheik at his far-too-small-for-two cutting board. ❛ thanks for sharin’ and listenin’. sorry if i made ya upset again. ❜ every time link opened his mouth he seemed to say something just so unbecoming. he was either uninterested or too interested, how mind-boggling was it for him to be equally not enough and far too much all at once.

after finishing chopping and dicing up the various veggies, link goes to retrieve some meat from his underneath the floorboard storage. ❛ all da meat ‘ve is goat or cucco. ❜ the umami fragrance of whatever sheik was cooking hit is nose and made his mouth water, it was the only thing he could smell out of everything else in his home. such strong flavors he thought as such a delight would soon be on his tastebuds and it made the hero of twilight hymn in glee. ❛ what’s sirfry anyways? sheikh’s specialty? ❜ he hopes by asking, he can change the aloof mood could change back into the comforts of before.

He already knew just from looking around this morning that Link had quite the stock of food, and it didn’t surprise him. Given what he observed from the other, Link was clearly some sort of farmer and rancher. He knew what the Hero of Time was like, what he seemed to get joy from, and though he certainly doesn’t believe that Link got his love and life for all of this from the Hero of Time, he certainly seemed to have–just a lot in common. For instance, if the Hero of Time was actually raised and loved as a Hylian? He can see this being the type of life that he lived. But the Hero of Time didn’t get that chance, and instead was raised as a Kokiri.

Sheik would need a map of this Hyrule to truly compare, but from what he saw and remembers, he does believe at least in part that Orodon Village was close to where he remembers Kokiri Forest being. However, he also doesn’t feel the presence of the Great Deku Tree here. He’s sure the Great Deku Tree was somewhere over in Faron Woods, but proving that would mean heading over there and currently Sheik doesn’t believe he can or should go very far without the current Hero. Not only does he not know what effects being revived will have on him, but Link also still had need of him and he’s unfamiliar with this Hyrule. Running around without help was bound to get him in trouble.

He would rather not make more problems for Link, so staying out of the way and quiet was definitely for the best. Thankfully, those are two things he’s been conditioned to be good at.

Link seems to be done showing his kitchen stock off to him and Sheik still doesn’t know what he’s going to cook. Pumpkin is best slow cooked to soften it up, he could certainly do that tomorrow. For now, something quick and simple was probably in his best interest. Since he made a stew this morning, he could make stir-fry with some rice. That wouldn’t take him too long and would make the best use out of all the vegetables that the Hero has around. As long as Link has some meat he can add to cook down with it. Otherwise, it would just be a vegetable stir-fry.

“There’s nothing wrong with having something you’re passionate about.” Sheik answered him first, making his way over toward the counter to start getting out the things he wanted to add to the stir-fry. There were plenty of ingredients for sure, and certainly enough spices that he could find everything he needed. Though despite all of that, it doesn’t appear that Link cooks himself that much. Though he did say he was never properly taught, what does he eat usually then?

The question seems rather rude to ask so he keeps his mouth shut instead and focuses on the ingredients on the counter. He does still listen as Link talks, finding a few things to use to cook in as well as a knife to cut the food with. He checked the sharpness of it and made a rather pleasant sound at the blade itself. He might not cook but he keeps up with the tools to do so at the very least. Which would make this easier on him.

“Impa never told me much about my father, she didn’t want him to have any part in raising me.” Sheik returns the information, setting the knife on the side as he focuses on peeling an opinion. “As the color of my hair betrays me in probably telling you, he was a Hylian. A soldier at the Castle when she was young. That’s about all she told me though.” The rest, what happened with him and Impa, Link has more or less gotten in their conversation. But he can give him a little bit more. It doesn’t hurt to talk about her, and the Sheikah’s history is well documented at this point.

“Impa is–was the last surviving member of our Tribe, after the King and his soldiers slaughtered the Sheikah claiming treason as their reason for doing so. Fearing an uprising. Apart from her, I never got to know any members of our family.” He placed the onion down and grabbed the knife to dice it. “So when I was little, I spent my time following her around in the Castle, learning everything I had to. While training me she raised Princess Zelda. Impa was less a Sheikah and more just a member of the King’s army, a tool in her own right I suppose.” But what are the Sheikah ever, if not just tools of convenience? To be picked up and used when the Royal Family had need of them?

With the onion finished he turned to look behind him at Link. “Why don’t you help me chop these up and I can show you how to make stir-fry?”

Getting them off the topic of parents might be a good thing. He doesn’t want to make Link uncomfortable, and it only seemed to be serving in upsetting the both of them. One would think, at least at Sheik’s age, he’d have better things to say better stories to tell that don’t upset people. But the truth was, aside from the two lives he lived both rather short, he doesn’t have any other life experiences. Certainly no positive ones. The rest of his life was spent in a dark, nightmarish temple, that consumed his sanity and life. No one wants to hear stories like those. They’re not enjoyable or pleasant to listen to. They’re depressing and upsetting.

But he can, at the very least, cook with Link and show him how to so that when Sheik leaves after doing whatever Link needs, he can function on his own. At least in the kitchen. If he finds a way to actually do what Link wants, maybe he can even cook for this Twilight Princess of his. All of that of course is depending on if he does find a way to help the Hero.

#guideoftime #△ — in character › ❝ actions can speak louder than words ❞#△ — main verse › ❝ remnants of a sacrilegious hero who never wished to be ❞

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