A Real Fairytale

This is for my honorary big sister, Alex (staticdream) whose birthday is the same day as my bffl's (July 9th) so I simply had to do something for her. This is a little early, but pft she'll get over it. Anyway, Alex! This is for you! JUNIX FTW PPLZ :)

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As the wailing little boy finally began to calm down, his father set him down in his crib. “That’s my boy,” the man crooned with a soft smile. He gently rolled his newborn son onto his back and massaged his tummy. “There you go…I would tell you a story, but I promised your older sister that she would get a story from me tonight.” He bent down towards the crib and dropped a kiss on the tiny infant’s forehead.

“Yeobo,” called a soft yet firm voice from the master bedroom.

He poked his head out of the nursery. “Jagiya…?”

“Don’t forget to turn off all the lights downstairs.” She appeared in the bedroom doorway, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Loose sweats and a plain white cotton tank top completed her simple look. Though most men would not find the outfit particularly alluring, this man always considered her the most beautiful thing to have ever come into existence.

“Of course.” He flashed her his signature smirk. “When have I ever not remembered to turn everything off?”

She muttered something unintelligibly before turning back inside.

He chuckled and started down the hallway, where his daughter sat fully awake on her princess-style bed. Pink and red curtains fell as a canopy from the latticework above her head; stuffed plushies consisting of unicorns and dinosaurs rested above her red down pillows. “Daddy!” she chirped when she saw him enter. “Yay! Story time!” She immediately dove across the bed and grabbed a giant book from her desk. “This one.”

“Ah…haven’t read this one since you were just a baby.” He flipped open the cover. “However, this one has several stories in it. Which one do you want?”

“Oh~” Her eyes went wide with understanding. “I see, I see.”

“Do you still want this book—?”

“NO.” Quickly, she jumped out of bed and darted over to her closet. “Ah, where is it…?” Toys flew up and over her head. A soccer ball nearly hit her father in the head, but he managed to avoid it. For five minutes, this continued, until at last she pulled her head away from her toy chest. “Hmmm. Ah! Awww…” She turned around. “I can’t find my favorite storybook!”

“Oh, no…it’s okay…”

“But I wanted you to read it to me~!”

He held out his arms. “That’s okay, sweetheart. I have the perfect story to tell you. It was never written down so I can’t show you any pictures, and I’m sure you won’t remember much of it, since it’s somewhat boring and may put you to sleep…” She ran over to him and he sat her atop his lap. “But I promise to do my best.”

“You will do your best, daddy!” She clapped her hands in delight. “You’re the best storyteller ever!”

“Little one, you give me too much credit. Well, here goes.”

Once upon a time, in a far eastern land, there lived a girl with her sisters and brother in a beautiful pension. Out of the three, she was by far the most quiet and collected. Every morning, she rose and finished her chores around the household, and then slowly gravitated towards her parchment scrolls midday. Her siblings observed her work methods daily, and they never changed; she leaned forward toward the table, nose almost touching the surface, with her quill flying across the parchment. Despite her brief moments of coolness and apparent lack of interest, she cared deeply for her siblings and her parents (who lived just in the next town over).

Her family only knew of her love for literature and sciences; they did not realize that a dreamer lay beneath the surface of the intellectual student. Others could plainly see that she strived to be the best biologist in the kingdom, but deep within she wanted more. She saw the girls dressed in their best clothes and wearing the finest jewelry. She never really cared for such material things, but a longing grew inside her every time she witnessed a lord twirling his lady in the air after a long absence from home. She wanted a warm pair of arms to encase her in a comforting cage. She ached to receive a love letter from a man who wished to court her.

Many days passed, and finally the girl was given the chance to achieve one of her goals in life. The royal court was in great need of a person gifted with the knowledge of a life science. The queen personally called at the girl’s house in order to request her to live closer to the castle. Even though her sisters and brother wanted her to stay, they knew that this was her dream job and so let her go with only smiles and waves.

One day, a group of dashing young lords rode by the pension, laughing and talking about a battle recently fought. The girl’s sisters rushed out to greet them in earnest, the brother trailing behind—for he held no interest in jousts and wars and all the bloody sports these men had been brought up around. “What can we do for you?” asked the youngest sister.

“We heard from the many surrounding villages that this pension was home to three of the kingdom’s most beautiful women, my good lady.” One of the men dismounted and kissed the top of her hand.

Her sister giggled. “Why, brave knights! There are but two of us here at the pension, along with our darling young brother.”

Another soldier—this one with a child’s face (“One of your uncle,” the girl’s father said with a tiny laugh)—approached them on his horse, frowning. “We were told that there were three maidens…and a kind young gentleman,” he added, nodding politely towards the scowling little brother.

The youngest sister tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well…we used to have three women living here, but our sister left us in order to continue her studies while working under His Majesty…”

What looked to be the youngest lord there (he really wasn’t, in fact) hurriedly dismounted his horse and rushed forward to grasp the girl by the shoulders. “The other sister left? The one gifted with scientific knowledge?!” He shook her lightly. “She is the one my heart seeks! I first saw her in the village due south, having a cloak made for her younger sister. The way the sun glinted off her strikingly dark hair (at this description, the little girl made a face, but her father continued his tale)…her lovely complexion…her brilliant smile…”

“Sounds like her,” the young brother murmured.

“I must have her hand in marriage! That is, if she wishes to take the title of wife to this lowly lord.” The humble soldier dropped to his knees and gripped the hands of the two sisters. “Please…if you are her only family, your sister is the most beautiful thing in this universe to me. I have never felt this way towards anyone before, and—”

“Hold on a tick.” The young brother helped the soldier up to his feet, all while scowling, though in a very dignified manner. “My sister is not as flighty as the women in the village, and she is not one for pretty poems and words. As a matter of fact, I’m astonished that of all people, you like her. It is not as if she skips about, humming carefree. She…studies…diligently.”

“Then that makes her an intelligent girl who will always answer the questions I could never answer!”

That did not deter the brother. “She also hardly ever looks up from her parchment paper. Her nose is practically glued to the surface, and her quill is always tipped with the best ink money can buy.”

“She is skilled in writing neatly and coherently? All the more better! My letters to the king are always filled with mistakes and errors. She can thrice check my scrolls while living in my loving care!”

Again, the young brother was not defeated. He crossed his arms and smirked triumphantly. “She pays no heed to any men, even those of nobility and honor. She…why, she…she…she is already endeavored to a much handsomer and winsome knight!”

Finally, the lord’s shoulders slumped forward. “She is?”

Behind the brother’s back, both of the sisters fought to keep their faces straight—and failed miserably. In truth, most of it did apply to their science-loving sister, but the last part was a lie. The brother merely wanted to see how far this knight would go in the attempt to secure his sister’s hand in marriage. “Yes, to a knight of the king’s court itself. She spends so much time in His Majesty’s presence, it was but a matter of time before she fell for one of the pretty b—I mean, very handsome men.”

Suddenly, the only golden-haired lord there slid off his horse and joined his fellow man on the grass. “Don’t fret, sir,” he said in a loud, cheery voice. “I’m sure this brother is merely pulling your leg because he worries for his sister.”

“Christ, if only you really knew her,” the brother muttered under his breath. His sisters heard him and fell over each other, giggling silently.

“But I do,” replied the golden-haired man with a slight frown. “I’ve come across her plenty of times when visiting the king and queen. I’m extremely close with the young prince, and he loves to talk about marine life with the lady. Of course, with such good companionship comes the inevitability of his falling hard for her. But she shows no interest in anyone…” He looked at his friend. “My lord, you still stand a chance with her.”

“Help me get her!” he wailed, gripping the knight’s collar. “She is the only thing in this universe that has ever captured my heart!”

The youngest knight’s eyes widened. “But of course, my lord…it would be an honor to let my friend know of your love for her—”

“Sisters,” came a cold, hard voice. “Why did you not inform me of this visit by these noble lords?” Just behind her brother stood the very woman in question, her hands full of parchment scrolls and quills. Ink splatters covered her fine dress and gentle face, but her expression was enough to send them all quivering with fear. “Here I am, in my most disgusting of dresses, the one I wear whenever I go out to the lake and observe the wildlife there—”

“MY LADY!” The lovelorn knight fell back to his knees and drove his sword into the earth, as all knights should do before a king…but he was young, so it was to be excused. “For two and twenty years I have lived a most pitiful existence, always alone and waiting for the right person to come along. It is you, my lady—o the delight of my eyes! You are the only one in this universe for me. I have fallen hard for you.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, promptly causing her to drop most of the scrolls.

“Hold on a tic, I’ve dropped these…”

“Please do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife!” he exclaimed with a nervous twitch. And then, as if by magical means...

The man finally looked down at his daughter, who was quietly dozing against his chest. “Yah,” he complained, but she didn’t move. “Hmmm…fine. We’ll continue this story another day.” He gently picked her up and laid her against her pillows. He pulled the great red comforter up to her chin and tucked in the sides. “There you go.”

She let out a small yawn. “It’s okay, Daddy…” She rolled onto her side, her back facing him. “I think I know who that story’s about.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Good night, little one.”

“Night, Daddy…” In just a few more moments, her breathing deepened and she fell back asleep.

Stretching his stiff arms, the father rose from the bed and tiptoed down the hall to check on his son. The infant boy had rolled onto his stomach and was now sleeping with his tiny pink mouth slightly ajar. “Good night,” he murmured as he ran one finger down his boy’s cheek. Finally, he started to move towards his own bedroom, where his wife sat up reading a thick novel. “Got them both to sleep at last.”

“Nice to know.” Her attention seemed to be solely on her book, so he sighed and crawled under the covers, intending to fall asleep instantly. He suddenly felt a small pressure on his arm. “Hang on a minute.” She carefully marked her page and set the book down before joining him beneath the sheets. “I was wondering…what you wanted to do tomorrow.”

He blinked. “You’ve never asked me this before.”

“Well, the kids will be with Junsu and my sister, so we have the day to ourselves.” She fidgeted slightly. “So…what would you like to do?”

“Hmmm…” Even though he knew this was much too lovey-dovey for her, he drew her closer to him and nuzzled her neck. “Doesn’t matter. I just want to spend time with my jagiya.”

“You always say that,” she grumbled. “We’ll figure something out in the morning. Night.” She rolled onto her side and let out a sigh. His light laughter made her roll her eyes, but she said nothing more. Right before she drifted off to sleep, she remembered what she had wanted to ask him initially. “Oh. Right. What story did you tell our daughter? I don’t want her to have any nightmares.”

“Nothing too scary.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “Just the story about the lords and the fair maidens.”

He could hear the grin in her voice. “So you told her our story.”