huang xiaohui

❝  – that’s a good point, you can’t have a bad day in spring. especially the start of spring. that’s the best part, ❞   he manages to say after the people around them turn away once again, whispering since junjae didn’t want to cause anymore irritation from the surrounding people. angry students could be terrifying - he knows because he’s been one lately.

❝  –  a bit behind on the unpacking noona but better late than never! look you even found a germ? i love fairy tales,❞ the corners of his lips easily curl themselves up into an amused smile, he shifts his seat so that he is now sitting closer to the other female. eyes are wide with curiosity, already charmed by the prospect itself. ❝  –  when i was little i read a lot of fairy tales from all around the world. i had a book.. an english one like that. i wonder if i’ll see something i recognize from there too? ❞

“Something you should probably know is that many Chinese stories don’t - how should I say this - don’t have what some people consider a happy ending; at least, not like the ones in Disney movies. That’s not to say that they’re all sad! That would be much too depressing to share with children. But they don’t always end in a way you might expect.”

Xiaohui carefully opened the worn cover and ran a finger down the list of stories before finding the one she had been thinking of. “Here we are! This one’s a good one to start with - the Nodding Tiger.” She flipped through the book until she stopped at a slightly faded illustration of a tiger and slid the book closer to Junjae. “Why don’t you start, and I’ll help if there’s a word you don’t know.”

the stage wasn’t where she belonged. there’s the studio hidden behind walls with its own flashes of light and glamour. there’s the rink too, the favourite place for her to be. the stage is for others like her close companions who had decided to sign themselves up. she’s here as a cheerleader. voice loud mixing in with the crowd, she’s made paper banners for everyone she knew. their performances are scattered around through the week today was a day where she simply poked her head by to see what had been happening.

❝ oh? ❞ head cants to the side where a familiar voice had called for her. eyes widen in familiarity, a second later her own hand is leaping up, legs bouncing on the spot so she can be seen among the taller beings. it’s difficult not to be washed by the crowd though, the smile turns sheepish when the other has to do the work to catch up.

❝ i didn’t know you were going to be here either xiaohui! did you enjoy yourself? i was busy so i could only come for the last few minutes. tell me, did i miss anything amazing? i wonder if i’ll be able to find it on youtube later… ❞

“Everyone was so good! I had no idea there were so many people with different talents in Hwaryung!” she paused, thinking about what she’d just said. “Then again, that’s why the contest is happening, right?” She smiled sheepishly; sometimes, her mouth ran faster than her brain could keep up with, especially when she was speaking her native language.

“Anyway, are you doing anything else this evening? I thought I might grab some food — want to join me?”

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ this sensation felt like the best answer to everything. quiet, yet bustling all at once. it was only her voice which trickled through the wind and the bird chirping, eyes both shifting from the black ink on her page to the water colours on the other’s. there’s fascination with how the two of them have pulled themselves into some harmony. brief harmony at least. that she just ruined.

❛ oh. sorry! ❜ hyemin squeaks out, scrambling back on the pages to try to remember where exactly she had stopped moving her mouth and allowed her brain to explore the world inside the novel instead. she can’t quite recall, so she tilts her head back at the other with a sheepish glance and soft nervous laughter. ❛ uh where did i last leave off? ❜ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

“Of course you’d get distracted. I’m not even surprised, honestly.” Her words were said teasingly as she smiled at the other girl, unable to even pretend to mad at her for very long. Xiaohui loved her brothers, she really did, but it was nice to have someone to treat as a little sister every once in a while, and Hyemin fit the requirements perfectly.

“I think —” She leaned over to look at the book, trying to find the spot they had left off. “You stopped here,” she pointed to the phrase with her elbow, keeping her paint covered hands well away from the book’s pages. “Do you want to keep going, or do something else for a while?”

         HE SOMETIMES WONDERS WHEN HE WILL LOSE the innocence as those around him described that comes with learning something new. junjae is no stranger to the complaints of those around him when it comes to school, but he still appreciates the sprouts of new knowledge that grows in his mind. enough in fact that he’s sought it out himself, now a child who is seeking to learn another language. a part of it, he attributes to his friends who know it, wondering if he could coat his tongue with silver and charm them with new surprises.

❝  – hello!❞ it had been a scramble after homework and class to rush himself over, plopping himself down on the seat across from her with a smile. light laughter easily leaves his lips as mirth bleeds into his features. ❝  – busy as school always is. but still ready to learn! i hope your day has been good?❞

Xiaohui grinned. “Spring is here! How could it not be a good day?” She was about to continue when a loud shush from the neighboring table interrupted her. She nodded sheepishly in apology and turned back to Junjae, ignoring the residual glares sent her way.

“So I was going through some old boxes under my bed that I think they might from the move over here, which is a bit embarrassing, especially since my dad has been pestering me to actually clean out my room — anyway, I was going through them, and I found this!” She pulled a book from her bag with a flourish and set it on the table. “It’s my old book of fairy tales from when I was little! Some of them are the same as ones told here in Korea, so I thought we could read them together.”  

It was the late morning spring sunshine filtering into the room and onto her face that woke Xiaohui. As she slowly grew aware of the world around her, the first thing that struck her was the throbbing in her head. She groaned and turned over, trying to bury her head into her pillow in an effort to make it stop. It was then that something struck her: she wasn’t in her own bed.

She shot up, then immediately regretted it as the dull pain sharpened into what felt like knives being stabbed into the back of her skull. It was almost enough to make her curl back into the bed and try to go back to sleep, regardless of who it belonged to, but she instead she blinked blearily and rubbed her temples, trying to understand what on earth was going on. The last clear memories she had were from the night before; she had gotten together with some of her close friends from university. A club wouldn’t have been her first choice, but it was harder and harder to find time to see each other now that most of them had graduated and started working, and a few of the girls had raved about it enough that they had all agreed. The evening had started out just as she had hoped, full of laughter and reminiscing. Drinks had been ordered, and even though the melody could barely be heard over the continuously pulsing base, they had all danced their hearts out. Xiaohui knew there had been at least two more rounds of drinks, but she couldn’t remember anything else. It was as though, no matter how hard she tried, the rest of the night was blanketed in a thick layer of fog.

She sat there a moment longer, but no new memories came to explain why she was in a stranger’s bed. There was, of course, the obvious explanation, but surely she would know if something like that had happened. Right?

Refusing to think of the alternative, she resigned herself to the fact that answers would not be found by staying in bed. She pushed the light blanket off her and stood up, her bare feet warm against the cold granite floor. The fact that she was still wearing her clothes from last night, except, apparently, for her shoes, gave her some small comfort. As she began walking to the door, the sheer size of her surroundings struck her; wherever she was, it was certainly luxurious. Thankful that the fact that she hadn’t put on too much makeup before going out meant there was probably less smeared all over her face right now, she pulled her sweater tighter around her in an attempt to keep out the chill of brisk spring air. When she reached the door, Xiaohui paused, uncertain of what — or who — to expect, then opened it and peeked out cautiously. “Hello? Is anyone home?”

( send one thing for your muse to do to mine. )

Xiaohui had reached over to grab his food as a bit of a joke, but that had changed as soon as she had taken a bite. It was one of the most delicious sandwiches she’d ever eaten, and she knew she wanted more — at the very least, she wanted to be able to get the same thing later. So when Luca leaned over to whisper his order in her ear, she listened intently, trying to remember it so that she could order a version for herself. “I would never have thought to add sundried tomatoes. It’s brilliant!”

One of the great things about working at Hai University was, in Xiaohui’s opinion, that they didn’t put all of their money into sports; some of the budget was left for the creative arts, and she was always excited to try the new equipment that showed up.

Said equipment was authorized for both the official class and the club, and because she helped out with both, the art teacher had asked her to come in today and oversee the latest installation. She was just beginning to unpack the box when someone walked through the door —  they had spent plenty of time together during club hours, so she was both unsurprised and excited to see him. “Hey, Yongnam! Want to come and help me with this?”

( send one thing for your muse to do to mine )

Xiaohui walked slowly along the sidewalk, doing her best to seem casual, as though she hadn’t noticed the boy following her. It wasn’t the first time Nick had tried something like this, but normally she had her head in the clouds and didn’t notice him until it was too late. This time, however, she was determined to make a move before he could.

She kept going for a moment longer, then darted into the nearest side street and waited until he followed her around the corner — and she jumped in front of him. “Gotcha!”

( send one thing for your muse to do to mine — accepting! )

Xiaohui laughed as she ran away from the girl chasing her, looking over her shoulder as she did so. “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset! You’re the one who said that you were full — there’s no reason your ice cream should go to waste!” She tried to keep going, but laughing and running at the same time meant that she was quickly running out of breath, and Hana was rapidly closing what little space there was between them. Recognizing her defeat, Xiaohui stopped, holding up her hands in surrender but still grinning. “Okay, okay! You can have it back.”

( send one thing for your muse to do to mine — accepting! )

Xiaohui had been focusing intently on her pad of paper for nearly fifteen minutes now, pausing only to look up at the boy in front of her to try and get his the angles of his face just right. She still struggled with drawing people despite years of practice, so when Felix had agreed to sit for her, she jumped on the chance. The session had started off quite normally, but the last few times she had glanced up, Felix had almost seemed frozen, looking only at her. As she held the sketchpad up to the height of his face to compare them, she laughed gently. “You know, when I said ‘don’t move’, I didn’t mean that you had to stare at me the whole time.”

( send one thing for your muse to do to mine — accepting! )

Xiaohui had been dying for an excuse to sketch the older houses in Hwaryung, so when Hyemin suggested meeting up to continue reading the book they had started together, she had eagerly agreed. After wandering around Aerong Village for a while, they finally decided upon the perfect bench to spend their afternoon on, and had been sitting there for some time now, Xiaohui brushing her watercolors onto her pad of paper while Hyemin read aloud.

Engrossed in copying the detail on a nearby wall, it took her a moment to realize that Hyemin had suddenly stopped talking. “Hey!” She looked up from her painting at the other girl, mouth open in exaggerated indignation. “You can’t just stop and read to yourself when it gets to the good part!”

Xiaohui had purposefully arrived at the library a bit earlier than she needed to today with a particular biography of Claude Monet in mind that she wanted to read. Once she had found it, she made herself comfortable at one of the available tables and sent Junjae a text telling him where she was.

Engrossed in her book, she only realized what time it was when Junjae took the seat next to her. “Hello!” She smiled at him as she began their conversation in Mandarin (she’s found it’s best to start off that way rather than have to switch thought process later) and closed her book, setting it to the side. “How has your day been so far?”

As the final performer of the day began to pack up his instrument, Xiaohui stretched lazily, then stood up and brushed bits of grass off her pants. She had spent the afternoon sitting on a patch of grass relatively near the stage, enjoying the performances while drawing bits and pieces of her surroundings in her ever present sketchbook. But now the sun was beginning to set, orange tinting the previously bright blue sky, and the event was finished for today.

As she walked over to her bike, she paused, spotting a familiar face in the crowd. “Karin? Karin!” She waved, then, as the other girl kept walking, began to jog lightly in an attempt to catch her. A few people stared as she went past (perhaps because of her behavior, perhaps because she was yelling in Cantonese) but she ignored them and kept going until she was next to the younger girl.

“Karin!” She smiled brightly as she finally got the other’s attention. “I didn’t know you were going to be here today!”

Xiaohui sat down on the nearest bench, balancing a box of food in one hand and a drink in the other. “Okay, so I know that the whole purpose of this event is to let people show their talent, and I am looking forward to that, don’t get me wrong.” She took a sip of her drink then set it down next to her. “But I’m also really excited about the food trucks because this smells amazing.” She eagerly took a bite of her meal then paused, eyes half closed, to enjoy the flavor. After a moment, she opened them again and turned to her companion. “Yep. The taste is just as good as the smell. Try yours!”

biography — profile — plots