Mari Yoshihara considered love the plague of all emotion.
And to her, there was nothing more plaguing than Han Seojun.
#FEVER ##2022.
STVRLIGHTSS
TRUE BEAUTY (K-DRAMA)
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Yoshihara Mari watched with silently-tired eyes as the colossal wreck of a machine swallowed her money; the clang! of coins harmonising with the gentle buzz and whir of the ticket-machine before her, adding to the busy environment. A sweet sigh escaped Mari's lips, freshly-painted with a gentle red tint, while she reached out gingerly to take the crisp papery ticket from the machines own mouth.
She was in Korea—South Korea, to be exact. Two bus tickets were clasped in her palm while Mari waited with tranquility for her brother to return. The wind was bitter and air suffocating; train fumes heavy in the atmosphere as buses loaded luggage and people uniformly. Mako appeared beside her, a gentle, understanding smile on his features as she handed him his obnoxiously sleek black suitcase. A quick thanks was muttered in her direction before a bus arrived before them.
The Yoshihara siblings took their luggage hastily, flashing their tickets and a smile to the driver as they clambered on, the humid air suffocating and musty. Mari couldn't help the gut-wrenching fear ebbing away at her bones as she sat, cramped, beside her brother; heading toward their impending doom. Neither had seen their father in several years, and the fact he hadn't even mustered up the energy to ensure their safe journey to his house meant nothing much had changed. She was unable to understand why neither parent wanted the pair of twins. It seemed they only had each other.
An awkward rattle and opening of a crisp packet brought Mari from her sombre thoughts, the smell of salt suddenly in her face as Mako waved the packet at her, almost sensing the rampant dread radiating from his sister. She shook her head gently, appetite nonexistent as she glanced out the window, the tranquil nature of South Korea unable to quell the anxiety throbbing gutturally in her chest.
"We'll be fine." Mako stated calmly, reading his sister's thoughts. It was unnerving how much they understood one another sometimes. Their mother had always muttered something about 'twin telepathy', shaking her head and tutting at their antics, and perhaps there was some sense to the superstition.
She smiled at him, shoulders easing as he carried half the burden. "Of course we will."
Even as children, it was the Yoshihara siblings against the world.
And South Korea would be no different.
Relief washed over Mari like a crisp morning breeze; her body welcomed the fresh outside air after the stagnant, agonising bus journey that had unleashed both boredom and exhaustion onto her within the first ten minutes. Now, three hours later, the siblings followed the distantly familiar path, worn with age and use, as they moved automatically towards the house they barely recalled. The house that would now become their home.
A simultaneous sigh escaped both twins, Mako, the eldest (by five minutes!) knocked the door with a serious expression. His knuckles had rapped three times on the off-white paint before it opened, revealing a man in his late forties donned in suit and tie. His youthful demeanour told nothing of Yoshihara Asahi's age, as he looked surprised at the sudden appearance of his children, who had grown— a lot.
Mari and Mako bowed together, nostalgia filling Asahi to the brim as he recalled how often the pair would spook neighbours and family friends with their mirrored expressions and actions. He welcomed them in. They shared a look before gathering their luggage, entering the old family home for what seemed like a much more permanent stay.
"Well? Nothing to say to your father?," the man chuckled, "at least tell me how your journey went."
The atmosphere dripped with heaviness, piling up more and more as the seconds went by with no reply. Mari cleared her throat and then the air, sacrificing herself for a conversation with their expertly absent father.
"It was tiring. We were hoping to get some food and then settled in, if that's okay." The words of formality rolled from her tongue with graceful ease, a gentle switch from Japanese to the language she'd grown accustomed to in those golden childhood years of sunshine and youthful excitement.
Both Yoshihara men glanced at her in amusement, forgetting how Mari had always—always used formal Korean, even when her own family used it rarely with each other . It seemed one thing hadn't changed, despite the chaotic tumult of the prior years. They unconsciously grasped onto the one familiarity, finding solace in the strangeness of the youngest (by only five minutes!) Yoshihara sibling.
"Sounds good to me. We put a bed in the spare room— thought you both might like your own space now you're all grown up. Go get unpacked and we'll have dinner together. I have...something important to tell you both anyway."
Mari and Mako nodded, leaving with their bags before sharing a glare.
The game of rock, paper, scissors for the spare room had commenced; both siblings adorning a serious yet frustrated expression. This was their twelfth game.
"You should just let me have it! All your posters are in our old room anyway!" Mari argued, eye twitching.
An aggressive game took place again, hands swiping through the air sharply as Mari fought with rock. Mako had used scissors.
"Ha!"
Mari giggled, pulling faces at her brother as they stood atop the landing, red-faced from the intense game. She picked up her bag with a triumphant swoop and quickly raced to her new room.
Mako unpacked hastily, as Mari took care to place each piece of clothing, every book perfectly and precisely. She nodded with acceptance at her room before a voice bellowed from below, signifying that dinner was ready. The siblings made their way down the stairs, taking seats beside each other at the round, oak table filled with ghosts of the past. Their father sat opposite.
"So, I just wanted to let you both know that you'll be starting school Monday. The quicker the better—you both need to become familiar with Korea again, and I'm sure the...move has interrupted your studies."
Mari coughed, chopsticks barely out of her both as surprise gleamed and dazzled in the sweet brown eyes of the twins. Mako's held excitement at the same time, the prospect of a new school almost like an adventure.
Mari was horrified.
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Author Speaks. . .
"Hi !! Thank you for reading Fever so far. This is kind of an introduction to the main character, Yoshihara Mari. Next chapter will follow more of the True Beauty storyline so please look out for that! I would appreciate if you voted and commented with your opinions so far. Thank you!"
