L U C I D || A Dreamcatcher AU

4 | Enchantment

She was in the library.

Yoohyeon gently leaned against the bookshelf that was slightly taller than her with a book in hand, back facing her target so that her face would not be revealed. Her slender fingers gingerly tipped the smooth pages of the book, not too quickly in order to maintain the illusion of her actually reading it, yet not too slowly lest it seemed unrealistic. Appearing to be engrossed in her book, no one paid Yoohyeon any attention. After all, she was just a girl.

A girl that felt unwanted by everyone, never recognised, respected and fully appreciated. Everything that she said and did, no matter good or bad, was pointless and meant nothing to anyone. Nothing about her stood out, except maybe for her unusual silver hair, but youth these days have been progressing into outrageous hair colours, and no one would bother to take a second glance at her for she was just another pretentious millennial.

She focused on the ongoing conversation in the aisle directly behind her. A slightly husky voice spoke, "How many books are you planning to borrow?"

"Four, maybe? I don't really have anything going on in the upcoming week so I'll just bury myself in some really good novels. Romance probably, might borrow some books on botany too," a gentle voice replied.

Yoohyeon made a mental note. That was her, no doubt. Her voice hadn't changed, but how much had she herself changed?  Yoohyeon recalled the incident from 6 years ago, and rage started to swell within her, threatening to consume her like an inextinguishable flame. However, she maintained her composure, showing no trace of emotion in her eyes. She wasn't about to let emotions get in the way. The years since the incident, she had become adept at hiding her emotions. She showed no anger, no sadness, no joy or resentment - not even boredom. She might as well have been a store mannequin.

Eyes still fixated on the book that she was holding, Yoohyeon continued to focus deeply on those two female voices, especially her target's, forgetting that there was in fact, another girl with them until the nasal voice called out a name. "Minji?"

"I'm here!" The voice seemed much closer to her as compared to the other two, causing Yoohyeon to look up sharply to her left, only to freeze on the spot. There, at the end of her aisle, stood a girl who was nearly as tall as Yoohyeon, with long, silky raven black hair and a glowing complexion. She had some books resting on her left arm, while her right hand continued trailing across the spines of the books on the shelf in front of her, tilting her head slightly to read the titles, as if searching for a particular book. Seemingly aware that she may have spoken louder than she should've, she turned towards the nearest person to apologise, who just happened to be Yoohyeon. "Sorry, was I too loud?" She smiled sheepishly, fingers subconsciously tucking strands of hair behind her ear.

There was a shyness to her, a hesitation in her body language and a softness in her voice. She was right there, only feet away, plainly dressed in a t-shirt and faded jeans with little to no makeup. But in her understated glamour, she might as well be on the television or a girl in a pop music video. Yoohyeon was starstruck. Blush seared through her cheeks and for a minute she thought her face was on fire. She suddenly felt awkward, demure, and coy; even going as far as attempting to hide her rosy cheeks behind her slim fingers. A strange feeling came to her - a feeling that she had buried eons ago. She never believed in love, whatever that four-letter word meant. Although butterflies in the stomach were often associated with love, those butterflies were more like deadly scorpions to her. Choosing to love someone was essentially giving them the right to hurt you. That one person had the power to make you or break you. When you loved someone, no matter how much they had hurt you, you would still choose them every single time. They could give you a thousand reasons to leave but still, you will dig in to find one, any reason to hold on to them. That was what Yoohyeon was afraid of. As romantic as being loved and loving someone was, love was a weakness. Love is something not worth risking everything for.

In spite of all that, she couldn't help but want to love this girl named Minji, who was the most beautiful being that Yoohyeon had ever laid her eyes on. Everything about Minji reminded Yoohyeon of an angel; ethereal and holy, though she did not believe in angels or God for that matter. Everything about her was perfect. Too perfect to be real. She then reflected on herself. Me, the poor girl-next-door who is both an ex-convict and a social outcast, fantasising about being with a girl too beautiful and too pure of this world. Dream on, that's bullshit.

"Is something wrong?" Minji's sweet voice interrupted Yoohyeon's train of thought. Realising that she had been staring at her for way too long, Yoohyeon silently reprimanded herself for being distracted and answered the concerned Minji. "Sorry, I just spaced out for a while. No, it wasn't too loud. It's alright." Yoohyeon noticed that the voice that left her lips was higher pitched than it actually was, thus making her grimace internally. Gross. Even then, she managed a small smile. Minji smiled back, even wider than before, now showing her perfectly polished teeth, saying, "Ah, that's good to know!" and turned away. Just as Yoohyeon was about to return her attention back to her book, Minji whipped around. "Hey, that book you're holding...are you almost done reading it?" Yoohyeon met Minji's gaze, sensing a tinge of desperation in her eyes. Attempting to impress Minji, Yoohyeon smiled charmingly, saying, "I'm not done reading it but you can have it. You seem to really want it so, it's all yours." Minji's eyes lit up. This girl does things to my heart. "Really? You're okay with it? I've been wanting to borrow that book for a couple of months now!"

Yoohyeon chuckled slightly. "It's always borrowed, isn't it? Titles like these are real popular. But yeah, you can have it anyway." Minji grinned, bowing as she thanked Yoohyeon profusely before reuniting with her friends, causing Yoohyeon to feel slightly embarrassed by how grateful Minji had been and their brief moment of physical contact. As Yoohyeon had passed the book to Minji, their hands had touched for a split second, leaving Yoohyeon speechless. She hadn't made physical contact with anyone in years, and now, the feeling made her nervous, yet excited. She wanted to feel the thrill again.

Yoohyeon remained frozen at the same spot. How is it possible for someone to be this perfect? she wondered. Feelings aside, Yoohyeon was disappointed that she'd failed to attain the information that she wanted all because of a girl. A girl!  Weakness does not exist in Yoohyeon's vocabulary, but she was starting to recognise Minji as one. Risky, Yoohyeon. Too risky. All of a sudden, an idea crept into her mind, taking form; She could make use of Minji to find out more about her target and eventually set her master plan in motion. It wasn't ideal to manipulate someone as pure and innocent as Minji to get to her target, but she needed to accomplish her goal. She knew that certain things must be sacrificed, and she knew deep down that as much as she craved love and affection, she was willing to give that desire up for her destiny. Slowly but surely, I will succeed, she thought. She was more confident than ever.

She would get her revenge.