Happily Ever AftHER | xiaojin

I | The Prince Is Late

In the world of Happily Ever After, fairytales are played out like clockwork repeatedly until the end of time. Those within live oblivious to this fact as they die and are reborn as themselves. A cycle of torturous happily ever afters. Good wins all, true loves kiss and, well, happily ever after. Revolving completely around happily ever after, the term would become sickening in an instant to those on the outside but to those within, they owed their whole existence to this. Without it, they would cease to exist.

For a millennium, the grandfather clock ran smoothly, keeping the fairytales on track. It's master, passed down with each generation of the fairytale as it repeats. The master of the grandfather clock was the only true mortal in this world, fated to their own happily never after. A lifetime of service, from ancestor to ancestor, as old as time. 

Neither a second late nor a second earlier, the clockwork's accuracy could not be questioned. Not until now... It was time for the prince to show up. Shen Xiaoting had been waiting out in the enchanted forest, awaiting the inevitable rescue of the prince so they could share their true love's kiss. The only problem was... he was late. This had never before happened until this moment and Xiaoting could tell something was wrong, though she was unaware of her repetitive life.

There was an unsettling feeling, leading to her tapping her feet and crossing her arms as her head continuously surveyed the area around her. Impatience. It was a new feeling that she'd never quite felt before. Or at least not to this degree.

Without a true love's kiss, the story could not conclude.

Unsure of why she was feeling this way, Xiaoting had come up with a solution to kiss whoever would come by next just to finish the story. With each second passing by, the storyline was changing. Never had it changed so much before. A second or two could be excused but this had turned to minutes. For some reason, as the storyline began to differ from how it should be, Xiaoting's character was becoming more self-aware. 

What she had considered to be deja vu her whole existence had now become distant memories of her past life. How had her previous deja vu's come true but not this one? It had never happened to her before. Something that she was certain would happen was becoming uncertain with each and every second passing.

So far there had been no noises, not even the faint snap of a twig, however, much to her surprise, she had turned around to see a young maiden crouched down over a bed of flowers. Startled, Xiaoting had forgotten the promise she had made to herself for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself.

It wasn't her prince charming but she was due a kiss by fate. To hold it off any longer would be chaotic for the world of Happily Ever After. For the very few minutes that had passed by, already the realm was changing, unbeknownst to those within. 

Taking a few steps closer, she noticed the handmade wicker basket, which housed multiple variations of wild and beautiful flowers. Much like the wild, beautiful flowers, this moment had become like that too. A wild, spontaneous kiss shared with someone who wasn't her prince or even of the same sex.

The young maiden had turned around, noticing a shadow hovering over the patch of flowers, taking note of the young woman in front of her now. Her eyes were piercing, staring down at her with a sense of determination.

"Can I help you, miss?" She stood up, now face to face with her.

Yujin's eyes widened in an instant as Xiaoting leaned in for a kiss, her hand moving up to cup the side of her face. This was Yujin's first kiss. Xiaoting had stolen her first kiss. But could she count a kiss with a woman as a first kiss? Did that matter? Much to her surprise, the young maiden enjoyed the kiss, her eyes eventually drooping shut as she relished in the pleasurable sensation taking place. Every fibre of her being tingled, her heartbeat racing as she erased her surroundings in her mind.

Singing birds had now been replaced with the sound of her pounding heartbeat, the fresh scent of nature after a night of rain had now become intoxicated with the sickeningly sweet cinnamon scent of the woman before her and the new flavour which had now settled onto her lips, lulling her into a sense of security. Safe. She felt safe in the presence of this stranger.

At last, Xiaoting had pulled away with a radiant smile. Her rosy pink dress had now become snow white, lengthened down to the ground with a matching veil attached to a tiara resting perfectly on the crown of her head. Glancing down at her own attire, the young maiden let out a gasp.

Bells chimed and people cheered gleefully as white petals rained down upon them from the sky.

What was happening?

"Smile," Xiaoting urged her without moving her lips as she kept a proud grin on her face. "It's our happily ever after."

"Huh?"

"We're married."