#cheonliang

“WE BESEECH THEE, MY LADY! HAVE PITY ON THE CHILDREN WHO HAVE MULTIPLE BEINGS IN THEIR EYES! PLEASE TAKE AWAY THE CURSE THAT IS CARRIED IN THOSE EYES, PLEASE CURE THE CHILDREN’S EYES”

You and the rest of your family kneeled on the mat in newly dressed white clothes as they continued their speeches, slightly horrified at the way the village people crowded around the performance.

“THE SACRIFICE HAS BEEN OFFERED, SO PLEASE TAKE THE CURSE AWAY!”

Sacrifice…?

Unfortunately, you first met him during the ritual performed in order to help “cure” both you and your brother. He looked like he was in middle school, just like you were.

It was only when everyone began to throw rocks at him that you realised that there were other people just like you and your brother.

That there was someone else out there who was deemed “othered” just for being slightly different, you notice the extra finger and toe he had and the way the villagers looked at him in disgust and anger.

It angered you. What made them better than him? Why were they seen as rejects for having something they didn’t? Why? 

What truly makes someone normal? After all, everyone was different from each other… Not everyone was the same, so why did you feel like an outsider? Why did they make you feel like someone who didn’t belong here? Why? Why? Why?

It just wasn’t fair, not fair at all. 

Perhaps that’s why you felt slight admiration for the young boy in front of you. He was beaten up pretty roughly but despite all of that he didn’t seem to falter.

Although your mother spent her entire fortune to come down to Cheonliang, she didn’t think of that as a waste at all. She did her best, she did everything she could to help us get back home.

However, everyone here was crazy and under the influence of their “lady”. No matter where your mother brought you guys to get help, it was always futile.

You wondered how much time had passed since you were kept under surveillance. Every move being eyed closely, having them breathe down your neck as they controlled what you ate and what you did.

Life in Cheonliang was hell. Maybe that’s why your mother escaped first, it was that day Hobin and you found out that people could take their own lives.

It was shortly after that when you realised that there was so much more in store for you two in Cheonliang, as the day you guys became the sacrifice had arrived.

As the previous man with six fingers and toes ran away you and Hobin had replaced him as a result of your polycoria. At first, you were consumed by anger and misery and blamed the boy for what happened to you and your brother but after everything, the rituals, the stares, the chants, it was then you understood how he must have felt as his time as a sacrifice.

Your respect for his will to survive and leave such a hell behind grew. Too afraid and weak to fight back, you and Hobin endured everything from the rocks to the name-calling.

You thought you’d be fine as long as you had each other. 

But you were a fool for thinking so… What you saw that day broke your heart, you never realised how much of a toll it took on Hobin.

The day you saw him trying to gouge out his own eye with a sharp tool as he cried made you realise that you had to become stronger for him and protect him as an older sister should.

“Hobin wait!” You called out, chasing after your brother who felt embarrassed and ashamed as he ran towards the mountains.

“Noona, I’m tired now! Let’s just die. Fuck! Fuck! What are we doing living like this?” Hobin cried out, “come out! Come out now! Whether you’re a monster or whatever you are come out! Please kill me!”

“Are you crazy Jin Hobin? We can’t end our lives like this, we’d only be giving in to what they want!” You tried to reason with him but he wasn’t listening and he sped up leaving you behind to catch up to him.

“Hey. Who’s a monster? What a funny bastard, do you really want me to kill you?” A tall man with a coat hanging on his shoulders asked as he bit into his tanghulu.

Hobin stared at him in awe and surprise as he didn’t expect a man to appear out of nowhere. He stood there for a little while before he was somehow brought into the mysterious man hide out.

“What are these again? Tanghulu? Are you sure this is going to be the rage soon?” Hobin asked as he chomped down on an abundance of tanghulu sticks.

“All done? Then get outta here. I despise ungrateful brats like you,” 

“Don’t worry I’m leaving. Anyway, what is this place and who the hell are these people?”

The four other boys also known as Wuseok Choi, Taebong Lim, Je-Wu Park and Hyeongjae Lee stared at Hobin before one spoke up, “before we say anything, let me ask you something. What do you think about the infant god?”

Hobin scoffed, “The infant god? Ha! There is no god just a bunch of idiots falling for some cheap tricks,”

“Mm, you’re a smart one, our teacher, Seongji told us the same thing,”

“Don’t call me that. I’m no teacher, I may have told you guys the truth about this town but I don’t remember taking in you clowns as my students,”

The students complained at Seongji when all of a sudden Hobin felt that it was the right moment to crash out, “I’m here to die! I heard there was a monster here but there’s none here!”

He went on a rampage and even badmouthed Seongji which caused something to stir up between Hobin and the rest of the kids who deeply respected their teacher as the self-proclaimed students.

A fight broke out and Hobin was winning albeit the others going easy on him but the older man did nothing to stop them from hitting each other.

“Jeez… he’s loud,” Seongji grumbled as he sighed in disapproval. The other three students were about to jump into the chaos when two voices spoke at the same time.

“What’s going on?” A blonde girl, nicknamed ‘the elephant monster’ questioned.

“Jin Hobin if you don’t come back here right now I swear down that monster isn’t going to be the one wh-“ you came to a pause as you witnessed the scene of your brother being flipped over right in front of you.

“How dare you speak that way to a lady. If you ever make fun of me again, I’ll break all your limbs!” The new girl, Mary, reprimanded staring down at the man despite him being already knocked out.

“W-woah…” You uttered, not expecting the girl to have such strength.

“And who are you?” Je-Wu asked looking up the unfamiliar face up and down. You avoided eye contact knowing that Hobin was probably the reason for this mess.

“Ha… I’m Jin Y/n and I apologise on my brother’s behalf for anything that he has done… Please don’t take everything he said to heart, he’s a little sensitive.”

The five students continued to stare at you as you walked towards your brother on the floor wanting to help him and get out of this place as soon as possible.

Small grins and whispers began to flow between the group of students.

“Hey, don’t you think she looks like teachers age???”

“Mmm, she looks quite pretty don’t you think this could be his chance to get a girl?”

“I can’t believe she’s related to Hobin they’re so different,”

“Wait… she’s wearing sunglasses do you think she als-“

“It’s alright, I’ll help you.” Seongji’s voice cut off the chattering of his students, feeling his ears turn a tinge of pink as he overheard what they were saying.

It’s been a few months since you and Hobin were accepted into the group along with Sujin Kim, whom you and your brother decided to help protect along with the Cheonliang Fam in return for her services as a maid.

Life had been so much freer compared to before, you felt accepted, loved and most importantly, like you actually belonged somewhere. 

Not only have they’ve been treating you nicely, it felt like being a big happy family.

Right now you were watching Seongji teach his students, more specifically Hobin, ssireum as he wanted to get stronger to which he agreed with helping him in doing.

You stared at them in admiration recalling how the Cheonliang Fam defended you and Hobin from the Shaman’s bodyguards, people from the Yamazaki clan. 

“Something caught your eye?” a voice, Wuseok Choi, asked with a small grin on his face as he looked at Seongji before turning his head back at you with a certain look on his face.

You felt your cheeks heat up before you rolled your eyes in denial, “so im not allowed to appreciate people helping out my brother now can I?” 

“Hmmm, sure but are you sure there’s nothing else to it?” another irritating voice called out. You looked to your left and saw Hyeongjae wiggling his eyebrows at you.

“No, there isn’t. You guys watch too many romances, stop trying to read in between the lines,” you complained feeling a little shy as they began to catch onto the feelings you seemed to have left lingering in the air.

“Aweee, that’s a shame, I was hoping…” Taebong trailed off, a fake frown falling upon his face.

“Hoping for what?” You questioned sceptically.

“That Seongji-nim would finally get a girlfriend, you know… if you just confessed,” He finished off, smiling.

It took you a moment to process what he said before groaning, “oh my gosh. Not this again, you guys need to stop this, I don’t like him okay!”

Je-Wu finally joined the conversation after being told to take five by Seongji. “Are you sure?” He teased, “I mean you have always been hovering nearby, worrying something is going to happen to him, especially after that day.”

“I am NOT hovering. I will admit I am worried but not just for him, I’m worried for all of you guys,”  You explained trying to dodge the accusations that were being catapulted at you. 

“SEE!” Wuseok shouted, taking you off guard at how loud he was. 

“What?”

“You said it yourself, you are worried about him!” He pointed out. You looked at him in exasperation, “as a friend yes, of course i am, lets not just focus on him but you guys too.”

“Nope, nope, nope! All i heard was that you careee for him~” They teased, you were about to speak up when all of a sudden,

“okay that’s enough what do guys got against girls?” Mary Kim spoke up, defending you which brought you a smile letting out a sigh of relief.

“Now this is why she’s my favourite! Come here Mary,” you squealed bringing her in for a hug.

“Buttt you do realise you’re making it so much worse, right?” Mary laughed, wriggling out of your hug. You looked at her in betrayal, “Mary! You’re supposed to stop them and be on my side not join them!”

The others smiled and immediately took the chance to jump in and tease you. This slowly began to embarrass you, and you lashed out at them with Je-Wu holding you back from throwing hands at them, “I swear if you guys don’t shut the hell up im actually going to kill you!”

From across the area, Seongji glanced over at the noise, raising an eyebrow at the commotion. Hobin looked at what was distracting him before turning back to Seongji, who was gazing intensely at you, “Something caught your eye?” He asked.

Seongji made eye contact with Hobin before shaking his head no. Right… Hobin thought before focusing on the move Seongji was teaching him

“So you’re seriously trying to tell me that you have no feelings for him whatsoever?” Mary interrogated, suspicious of the way you avoided making eye contact with her. You nodded your head, not wanting to say anything or else your own words were going to be used against you.

“There’s no way!” Wuseok cried out, “don’t think we haven’t seen the way you guys act when you think no ones looking,” 

You’ve never whipped your head to look at someone so quickly, “What! What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you remember that time we first met Sujin Kim?” he asked.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔:･

“You’re making kimchi teacher?” Hobin asked as he arrived at the hide out.

“I’m out of side dishes,” Seongji answered, focusing on mixing all the ingredients properly, “come and taste this.”

“Why should I?”

“You’re my student now, aren’t you?”

“I’m your student, not your servant!” Hobin complained, shaking his head. He was about to say something else, but he was silenced at the scene that just unfolded in front of him.

There he was, Seongji Yuk, feeding his older sister, Jin Y/N, some of the kimchi he made. However, that wasn’t what made him feel the ick, but rather the way Seongji wiped the excess kimchi from the corner of your mouth and ate it himself.

“Hmm, i think it needs a little more gochgaru,” you advised licking your lips afterwards not thinking much of it. Neither of you didn’t react at all to it, perhaps you both grew so close it felt comfortable and became normal for the two of you. 

Is what the Cheongliang Fam kids thought at first, but what they didn’t realise was the way you quickly backed away right after, slightly flustered. Or the fact that once again, Seongji’s ears turned red but were covered by his long, messy hair.  Seongji didn’t understand why he felt a little warm inside, but one thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t mind it at all.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔:･

“Back then, we didn’t think much of it”, Je-Wu said, “yet looking back on it, you were so obvious! I would wonder why Seongji-nim hasn’t done anything, but knowing him, he probably doesn’t even realise.”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” You try to rebut. They decided to stop bothering you, knowing that you were going to reach your breaking point sooner or later, and it was just at that moment that Seongji decided to call them back into practice.

You sighed in relief, but look down at your feet a little shy. Am i really that obvious?

They were right. That was the problem.

You knew the way you lingered near Seongji for longer than necessary. You also hoped that it wasn’t just you deluding yourself into thinking that his voice softened when he said your name. You guys didn’t converse much, but there was something gentler between the two of you. Understanding. And yet you also saw the distance he kept. Which is why you never said anything.

A few days have passed since that practice, and Seongji started to notice that there’s been a subtle change in the way you acted around him and the rest of the Cheonliang Fam. 

You acted a little… Distant. Seongji didn’t like it, and he wondered if there was anything that he did wrong, but he couldn’t seem to think of anything that would have angered you.

Usually, when he’d wake up, you would already be outside prepping some food for breakfast or doing something else like hanging out the laundry on the lines by the trees, but you haven’t been doing that lately. 

Even when the Cheonliang Fam would agree to a meet-up, you would be there before everyone else, which gave you some alone time with him, but you didn’t yesterday, and it seemed to be the same for today. He was with the Cheonliang Fam sitting inside his shack, unlike the usual grass outside, because it was raining pretty hard.

The rest of the Cheonliang Fam immediately noticed that there was something off with their teacher. He wasn’t the most expressive person, yet it was obviously evident on his face that something was bothering him. 

However, they didn’t want to question him, knowing that they wouldn't get anything out of him, but they may or may not have had an idea as to why he was like that.

“Hey, don’t you think Seongji-nim has been a little down lately?” 

“He doesn’t usually brood this much, something has to be up” 

“Do you think it's because he hasn’t had a tanghulu?”

“Are you an idiot, Wuseok? He wouldn’t be like that over some tanghulu,” Je-Wu scoffed, “it’s obviously because of a certain someone,” he smirked.

“Who?” 

“Oh my… of course it’s Y/n noona, you idiot!” He whispered loudly, trying not to let Seongji hear. 

“Oh, right… Wait, Seongji-nim likes Y/-“ Wuseok nearly shouted, but was cut off by Sujin Kim, who came in a little rattled.

“Hey.. have you seen Y/n unnie anywhere? She told me to meet her at the hut by the river, and I’ve been waiting for over an hour, but she still hasn’t shown up!" Sujin stated anxiously as she bit her lip.

This made Seongji perk his head up immediately before he ran out to go look for her, a little worried for you.

Hobin, hearing this, also stood up and was about to follow Seongji, but Sujin grabbed him by the arm and put a finger to her lip as she winked at him.

He winced his eyes at her, a little confused as to why he stopped him, his eyes widening in realisation.

“Oh my! Why didn’t we think of that? Smart move, Sujin-ah. Let's hope they’re something more the next time we see them,” The four guys cheered along with Mary, who had a small smile on her lips.

The mountains were covered in a sea of mud, making it harder to run down. This didn’t stop Seongji from running towards the river even as he nearly slipped on his way, having nothing else on his mind but the need to make sure you were safe.

The tiny raindrops seemed to crash down harshly from the sky as if foreshadowing that something terrible was going to happen.

As he ran and began to approach the steps that led to the top of the river, the squeaking of the wooden steps blended in with the crunch of the leaves under his feet as his eyes darted all around the place, trying to see if he could spot you anywhere. 

He ran to open the door to the hut, his jacket falling to the floor in the process as he wanted to check if you had ever arrived at the hut whilst Sujin made her way towards them, but to his dismay, you weren’t there.

Seongji began searching around places near the river in hopes of finding you, but he couldn’t. 

That was until he heard some sniffling near the bushes by the top of the waterfall that the river led to. Not knowing if it was you or not, Seongji looked for the source of the sound, just praying that it would be you.

“Oh? Seongji? What are you doing here?” You questioned a little surprise at his sudden appearance as you wiped your tears and quickly put your sunglasses back on.

Seongji let out a sigh of relief before giving you a big hug. He didn’t say anything, instead he just held you firmly in his arms not wanting to scare you away. You looked up at him confused, “is there something wrong?”

“No… it’s just, I’m glad you’re safe,” He answered not wanting to admit that Sujin had scared him for a second. You wanted to just stay in his arms forever yet pulled away not wanting to catch a cold with how the rain was still pouring heavily.

“Let’s head back to the hut, it’s better than staying here,” you said, taking him by his hand and leading him towards some shelter.

The two of you walked in silence, not wanting to speak up and break the tension that loitered in the air as you entered the hut.

You let go of his hand, reaching for a towel on the side, and Seongji had to prevent himself from grabbing it back, wanting to hold onto yours for a little longer but also wanting to respect your personal space.

“Here,” you said, offering him a towel which he took and dried himself off with. 

“Thanks."

You smiled before a frown was placed upon your lips, “Ugh, why did I think it was a good idea to stay in the rain?” you complained, looking down at the top you wore that was drenched and sticking to your skin.

Seongji’s jacket on the floor caught your eye, and you smiled once again, picking it up before telling Seongji to look away.

He complied with no resistance, and as he did, you took off your clothes and covered yourself up in his jacket that actually wasn’t that wet at all.

“Okay, I’m done, you can turn now, you should also put on this robe instead of sticking to that tank top,” you advised, handing him the robe before you made your way to sit down on the bedding as you guys waited for the rain to stop.

He did as told before joining you on the bedding, seeing that you took your sunglasses off and sat down right next to you. When he did, you scooted a little closer and laid your head on his shoulder as you started fiddling with his fingers.

Feeling the weight on him, he tensed a little before relaxing, realising you were just leaning against him.

“Why?” He asked. You stared at him, “Why what?” 

“Why have you been acting differently lately?” He pushed on, genuinely curious but also upset. You avoided looking at him, biting your lips, not wanting to answer him.

He frowned at that, “Is it something I did?” He questioned, his voice straining a little bit, worried that he may have done something to you during one of his seizures and couldn’t recall it.

You quickly turned your head back at him, “No! No… it’s not you, I’ve… I’ve just been rethinking some things, is all,”

The frown on his face didn’t falter, “rethinking what… and why?” Seongji imagined the worst-case scenario. You weren’t second-thinking about him… were you? 

Did you change your opinion on who he was and thought of truly him as monster?

Surely not, that thought alone scared him.

You opened your mouth to speak, but then closed it again. You didn’t want to tell him that you were avoiding him because you didn’t want him to notice your nervousness every time he was near or the fact that your heart pounded loudly against your ribcage, waiting to burst out!

“I don’t scare you... Do I?” He asked, a little scared at what you would say.

“What? No! I’ve told you it has nothing to do with you,” you tried to explain, but Seongji knew that you weren’t fully telling the truth.

You started fiddling with his fingers a little more aggressively, debating on whether or not you should just confess then or there. Though this was not the situation, you wanted to tell him that you loved him.

Letting go of his hand and leaning up straight, you clenched your hands in acceptance.

“I can’t do this anymore…” You trailed off. 

Seongji imagined the worst.

You were finally going to leave him, just like everyone else did.

“I can’t keep it to myself anymore…”

“Keep what?”

“That I love you, Seongji,”

The words seemed to catch him off guard. He didn’t expect that, he wasn’t expecting that at all.

You stared at him, not altering your gaze, wanting to let him know that you were serious about this, and for a moment, Seongji just stared at you.

“Love?” Seongji repeated after you. Love was a foreign concept to him, but if that’s the reason why he felt warm and attached to you, maybe, maybe he felt the same way.

He didn’t say anything else, instead, he pulled you into his arms once again and kissed you.

It wasn’t rushed, sloppy or half-hearted; it was soft yet passionate at the same time. Like he’s been wanting to do that for ages.

The kiss went on for a little longer than it should’ve, and you tried to pull away, needing to catch your breath, but Seongji placed his hand behind your neck and brought you further into the kiss.

Your hands curled into the robe he was wearing, trying to push him off, and when he finally pulled away, he rested his forehead against yours

“I love you too Y/n,” he breathed out, gently pushing you back until you met the soft bedding. He leaned over you, closely to the point your chest rose in anticipation.

You thought he'd kiss you again.

Instead, he dipped lower.

He went down towards your neck and left trails of butterfly kisses along your collarbone leaving you moaning softly at the feeling of Seongji’s lips brushing against your skin. Your fingers tangled at his hair, pulling him just a little closer.

"Seongji..." you whispered, he paused for just a second, his breath warm against you, as if savoring the way his name fell from your lips.

"Still okay?" he murmured. You nodded.

With that, all hesitation vanished.