"If fate existed, it would love me. I'm everything you'd ever want in a human. Probably everything you'd ever want in a deity too. But that's only if. Fate doesn't exist. I got lucky."
-초성민 (Cho Seong-Min)
"If fate existed, it wouldn't know I existed. It's too busy giving talent to rich geniuses and putting the poor through the floor of rock bottom. I'm just Jin-Seong. But that's only if. Fate doesn't exist. And yet, I'm just Jin-Seong anyways."
-박진성 (Park Jin-Seong)
"Time, curious time. Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs. Were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?"
-Taylor Swift, "invisible string"
Tuesday, April 26th, 2022. Just another day at work for Seong-Min. She was assigned a Runeterra lore comic sketch to draw a clean copy for, which she would then send over to the other people in the art team to colour, refine, and finish.
Drawing the same armoured guys with big weapons got boring sometimes, but every day was usually a new assignment, going from splash arts (the most fun, in her opinion), to character animations, to comics, to animated videos (the most gruelling, but the most appreciated by the community).
Likewise, it was another day at work for Jin-Seong. Wake up, scrims, VOD review, team discussions, grind solo queue, maybe stream, then back to sleep.
On her way home on the subway, Seong-Min caught up with her friends' social medias, answered the daily "how are you" from her brother, Cho Seo-Jun. At home, the day continued in the same mundane fashion as every other day. Cook dinner, talk to herself, and play League.
But today, there was a slight surprise. Seemingly a glitch in the system containing her same-old life. Today, one of her opponents in-game was none other than Park "Teddy" Jin-Seong, T1's ADC. And her former high school teammate.
It was almost like a high school reunion. Seong-Min was a bit shocked that she was already high enough MMR to match up against T1 Teddy, considering she was only in Master and he was in Grandmaster. Jin-Seong also recognized her IGN immediately. They had played on the same amateur LoL team in high school. He remembers her the clearest, because she was younger than everyone else in high 1 after skipping middle 3, being 15 while the other first year high school students were usually 16, like Jin-Seong.
They played against other high school LoL teams in the city championship, and ended up winning in the first year due to Seong-Min (the mid laner) and Jin-Seong (the ADC) carrying most games. Jin-Seong isn't sure what happened in the second year, as he dropped out after the first semester ended in mid-July, when in August, he was given an opportunity to represent Seoul in the annual KeG Championship.
Jin-Seong was hesitant about dropping out before he had the chance to do something that was very important to him. But with two-thirds of his family cheering him on and him wanting to pursue a bigger career for LoL, he decided to drop out of high school.
Seong-Min remembers clearly what happened in the second year. They had been winning in the first semester as expected, but things went south in the second semester. She remembered getting a text from Jin-Seong, telling her that he'd dropped out to pursue a bigger opportunity that he was offered.
Seong-Min was heartbroken. She thought they would at least finish high school together, and, well, whatnot after that. Their team ended up taking second place in the city championship, which Seong-Min absolutely couldn't stand for. She needed first, or nothing.
Seong-Min felt betrayed by Jin-Seong. He had left her alone to go after a glorious career, winning high championships on prestigious teams.
And yet here they were, facing each other in a ranked solo queue game. With Seong-Min on one side, recalling the only and, she swore, last time she would be heartbroken. And Jin-Seong on the other side, being reminded of his guilt, anticipating the end of the game when he would add her and talk to her. At least, he hoped.
The game itself was trivial compared to history between the two opponents. Seong-Min's team won, but Jin-Seong was just glad it was over. He added her, and waited, praying she would add him back.
Seong-Min saw the friend request come in after the game, at which she almost choked laughing. "He wants to reconcile with me NOW? April fools was 25 days ago, you donkey." Despite that, she still accepted his friend request.
사슴 (Saseum):
What the hell do you want?
T1 Teddy:
Sorry?
사슴:
LOL April Fools is over Jin-Seong, as is the time for apologies, which was six years ago.
T1 Teddy:
Look, I know you're mad at me.
사슴:
Have been for six years. Your point being?
T1 Teddy:
Can we talk about this in person?
사슴:
Why does this matter to you now? Fine, meet me in front of Riot KR headquarters at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I have work at 8 so show up or don't.
T1 Teddy:
Okay, I'll meet you there.
Funny how that works, isn't it? Meet each other in solo queue, and talk in front of your job the next morning. Just luck to Seong-Min. Not good or bad luck, just luck.
What will he even say to her? Questions swim around Jin-Seong's mind as he tries to sleep. He sets his alarm for 6:45 and closes his eyes. Seems like fate might really exist, and it may have just pulled him back together with the person who crosses his mind every time he hears the word "guilt." Don't mistake fate with fortune.
YOU ARE READING
Ursa Major | Park Jin-Seong
Romance23-year old Cho Seong-Min is an artist working at Riot Games KR on art and animations for League of Legends. She herself is also a casual player of the game, until she meets an unlikely opponent in-game. Little does she know, that player would be th...
