Attention || Seulrene | Ongoing

Not All The Things That Shine

At the age of five, or the moment she started going to school, Seulgi was already warned about evil people. The witches of the world. The villains. The bad guys that would hurt her and abduct her when she became vulnerable like those princesses who were kidnapped and hidden in a faraway castle.

Her mother, who never failed to remind her, made it clear that she should steer away from these people. The naivety of little Seulgi made her nod her head fiercly while imagining the ugly people she saw on TV; big noses, zits all over their face, and balding.

Yes, the bad guys are the ugly ones. That's what she believed for many years and heeded to her mother's warning diligently.

But all her idea of the bad guy changed that one fateful afternoon while she was on the swing, gently pushing herself back and forth with a faraway look. She was then taken aback with the sight of the prettiest girl she saw.

Like snow white, her skin was fair and smooth. The sun made her look like she was shining, with its rays casting a soft golden halo while she blocked Seulgi's sight. Her brows were thick and dark, but scrunched up, creating lines between her brows. Her eyes was like what she read in that one science book- a black swirling mass of nothing, dark and deep and so... so... magnetic, as if pulling her to come closer and watch as the darkness consume her and swallow her whole.

Her lips, like the roses in her mother's garden was full and pink, but at that moment, it didn't look good on her face- being it contorted in a sneer.

With Seulgi's back aching, hands and knees scraped, and watching the retreating figure of the girl who kicked her, she realized that she has been shallow and stupid.

She believed she knew how bad guys looked. With that in mind, she thought she could avoid them at all cost, but life made her see that life is very much different from the movies and fairytales she loved so much.

Mrs. Kang, despite her warnings and lectures; has forgotten to remind her little girl one thing.

And that was to not judge a book by its cover.

Seulgi realized that she was never warned about the likes of her, who looked nothing like the evil witches in the movies.

In fact, Irene Bae could even fit the role of the princess stuck in the castle, the damsel in distress who's waiting for her knight in shining armor, or Belle or any Disney princess for that matter.

But regardless of her insane beauty, she wasn't like any of them. Princesses in movies weren't vile, selfish, conceited and utterly spoiled to the core.

Irene wasn't Belle or Jasmine, and definitely not Snow White.

She was the epitome of an evil queen, beautiful but filled with hate and all the bitterness in the world.

And Seulgi knew that that was worse than the bad guys she saw on TV.

Irene was much more terrifying than those. She's worse than those in boxed electronics- because Irene was tangible and so very real and Seulgi knew she had to avoid her at all cost.

//

"Why are you here?"

"I- Uh..." she stammered, looking at her polished black shoes and white socks. Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of the water but no words came. Her heart was beating fast, making her mouth shut tight and her hands shake.

"I asked you," A sharp jab. An inaudible hiss. "Why are you here?" Then another one but this time, it stayed, digging her pointer finger on Seulgi's shoulder.

Seulgi bit her lips, eyeing the offending digit and looking up at Irene who was an inch or two taller than her. Her eyes started to glaze, tears threatening to fall but it did not faze her. Not one bit.