#also this yook me like almost a week

[cheezy-str33t]

now presenting the Big RAE Drawing i meant to post over the weekend but forgot

(tap/click the photos to see the whole thing tumblr crops them)

[halfwayinlight]

Title: Whale Watching Fandom: Star Trek TNG Rating: PGish Pairing: Will Riker/Deanna Troi @jessrva requested  imzadi, post thad-pre kestra...i just love the potential of life with a kid that we never got to see, or he can be totally background..just solid hot married parents riker/troi

“See! See dat!” Thad squealed in delight, legs bending, and he would have been trying to clamber up the rails if his father didn’t have such a secure hold on him.

“Yeah, that’s a huge whale!” Will laughed as the enormous humpback breached and sent up a spray that misted them, even from meters away. He shook his head to get the droplets out of his eyes and was about to check Thad’s face when his son shouted in delight and strained closer toward the railing.

Deanna’s arm was there in a breath, banding across Thad’s chest. She gave a light pat. “We have to stand here, sweetheart.”

He leaned toward her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “He’s not going anywhere,” Will assured. Even if the very worst happened and their son somehow slipped, it was the holodeck and there were safety measures.

I know, but you know that I worry, she thought toward him. Her other arm slid around his back, and she shivered a little before snuggling in closer to his side.

“Compu--”

“It’s fine,” she assured, “you don’t need to turn up the temperature for me. It… it takes away from the ambiance.” Despite her insistence, he could see she was cold, even in the parka and thick boots and gloves and hat.

“At least whale watching season in Alaska is in the summer,” he teased, his hip bumping hers playfully.

“It’s warmer than the last time we visited,” she agreed.

“Mama! Yook!” their baby was demanding their attention now, his nearly year old self squirming in sheer delight as another whale surfaced and kept pace with the boat.

“I see it, sweetheart,” Deanna chuckled, clearly savoring the view before them, even if it wasn’t real and the temperature was lower than she usually preferred.

While most of their family holodeck adventures were more for the grownup’s amusement, they were expanding their options to try to give Thad at least virtual experiences he missed seeing by living on a spaceship. Most of the time Deanna chose something with the ocean or swimming. They had programs for Lake Elnar, the Opal Sea, Pacifica, and the Black Sea.  This was, to be fair, ocean-oriented, too. But she’d asked Will to choose today.

“A few more days, and he’ll be toddling through the gardens in Medara,” Will murmured. “And splashing around the lake…” When she was quiet beside him, both of his arm wrapped around their son and he glanced down at her. “You’re not having second thoughts about… the lake, are you? If it’s too hard, we can go somewhere else or stay at Fifth House.”

Her head shook, and she pushed up on her toes, pulling him close to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Tisses!” Thad begged.

Deanna smiled as her lips pressed to Will’s. An insistent chubby hand caught her coat and added to their son’s demand. “I have kisses for you, too, be patient,” she chided, though she did so with a laugh and a kiss to their baby’s round cheeks.

Imzadi?

Her hand patted Will’s back in assurance. “No, I just can’t believe he’ll be one in another week. It's going so quickly! I know Beverly told me it would, but... it's still going faster than I expected. It seems like mere weeks ago that I had him. And then he wasn't a newborn any more. And he's almost a toddler and looks less like a baby all of a sudden. That last hair cut, it's... different.  He's starting to look like a toddler, and then he'll be a child....But I’m glad we get to celebrate on a planet that’s so important to me.”

He knew what she hadn't said. That it reminded her of Ian. How fast it had happened. And this was normal growth, but it was moving quickly. These precious moments and milestones were coming faster than ever. I'm sorry, Imzadi, he tried to offer comfort, not knowing the words to make it easier for either of them. "And I'm glad, too. That we're celebrating in a place so important to both of us,” he added aloud. In his arms, Thad squirmed and exclaimed again as a pair of whales surfaced and one breached. “And I’m sure your mother’s spared no celebrations.”

“I’m sure she hasn’t,” Deanna agreed, resting her head against his shoulder. She relaxed against him as though she could absorb comfort from him like a sponge taking water. It was nearly true.

There was something else she wanted to add to that, Will was sure of this. But he had full faith that his wife would share soon if it was something he really needed to know. Something told him it was a conversation to have when their son wasn’t enamored with giant mammals and open water.

He pulled his attention back to Thad and the moment. If anything, being a parent had helped him learn to appreciate being in the moment. Everything was new and exciting to their son, and sometimes Will knew this was overwhelming. But today it was utter delight. Beside him, Deanna was absorbing the emotion, too, and she was letting him share in the euphoria of joy. The happiness of their boy slowly easing the harder memories of her first child leaving.

The lights shifted in the simulated sky, turning into dusk and the northern lights glimmering overhead and bring up fresh chatter and giggles from Thad. They settled onto deck seating in a cozy pile. It took only a few moments to conjure up a few blankets for them and some hot chocolate that Deanna shared with Thad.

Eventually Thad was cuddled between them and staring up at the shifting colors in the sky, enchanted.

“I’m looking forward to celebrating our anniversary, too, while we're away,” Will murmured against the sensitive skin of his wife’s ear.

“Mmmm, me too,” she agreed, turning and finding themselves a mere inch apart. He leaned in the remaining distance and took a long kiss. “Mother has something planned for that… not sure what, yet…”

His eyebrows lifted. “Should I take that as a warning.”

“No,” his wife chuckled. “She adores you. You make me happy. You take such good care of us.”

“I gave her a grandchild,” he continued the list wryly.

“Mhmm,” she agreed. “And she would be very happy to fill up every room in Fifth House with a grandchild.”

Will relaxed back in the seat and found her hand to give it a soft squeeze. He took several long moments to try to come up with the answer before finally asking. “Exactly, ah… how many bedrooms does Fifth House have?”

She sighed, her thumb stroking his hand affectionately. “Well, now that depends on how you count.”

“One… free,” Thad mused beside them.

“Yes, one, two, three,” Deanna agreed absently. “There’s something like a dozen bedroom suites in the north wing. South wing was largely ceremonial, but had a few rooms. I really don’t know how many are in the east and west, but I suppose mother would be glad to tell me…”

“Yes, would you please?” he dared her, eyes narrowing to match her mischief. Is that something we’re even ready to think about?

She shrugged silently, releasing his hand to fuss over the blankets around them and adjusting Thad’s small toque. I’m not saying no, but we haven’t really discussed it...Do you… want more kids?

I like the idea of him having a brother or sister. Growing up with a sibling. We both missed out on that. He’d sometimes wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up with a sibling. And more than once she’d talked to him about Kestra and shared her wonderings with him. What it would’ve, or rather could’ve, been like to grow up with a sister.

Personally, he thought it might have been harder if he’d had a sibling. At least if he’d had a younger sibling. It would’ve been harder, if not impossible, to leave for Starfleet at such a young age. He shivered at the idea of leaving a brother or sister behind.

Deanna somehow managed to move closer yet, pulling a drowsier and drowsier Thad into her lap and resting her head against his chest. I’m sorry he hurt you so much. Gloved fingers brushed his cheek, and it was only then that he realized there were tears.  “Will?” she asked softly.

“This is the best medicine,” he replied, wrapping his arms around his family and holding both of them close. “I love you both, very much.”

“We love you, too,” Deanna answered thickly, taking several long kisses, fingers playing with his beard.

This time it was his turn to brush away the tears, and he finally pulled back slightly from the kiss, dropping a small one to her forehead and cherishing this connection they shared. “The rest of this can wait until tonight… is Wes taking him?”

“Nursery,” she clarified. “They’re going to keep him overnight for us.” It took a lot of doing, including specific scheduling, to make sure Vale was on call and they were both off schedule the next day. But after a challenging first year or so of marriage, they’d learned to make time together as a couple. Since Thad had joined the family, they’d only managed five nights over the past eleven months to themselves.

That was an oversight Will hoped to correct, starting tonight. But they had planned a little family time first. And from the drowsy expression on their baby’s face, their plan to wear Thad out first was working. Currently Thad was shifting to rest his head against his mother’s shoulder, and he was sucking on his middle two fingers in the way he did each night as they read bedtime stories to him.

“What should I know about our trip to Betazed?” he finally asked quietly. They still had the holodeck for at least half an hour, but it seemed like Thad might be asleep before their time was up. Often if they started their own conversation in low voices, Thad would nod off. He certainly wasn't in a hurry to give up time with his two favorite people.

She gave him a gentle smile and rubbed their son’s back lightly. “You know that for Betazoids, children are a special blessing. So I think she’s likely planning a big party. Or even several parties and celebrations. I’m… actually a little concerned it might overwhelm Thaddy. There’s also a small ceremony. A blessing. But, Will, we live on a starship with the same few hundred beings, and his circle is small. It’s one thing to go to a planet or starbase and make a visit. But I’m worried it might be too many people and too much...”

Will absorbed this quietly before ordering another fresh hot chocolate for Deanna and taking a nearly asleep child so she could enjoy her drink. “The blessing sounds really nice. You’ve always been supportive of rituals and ceremonies to mark important events. But more than one party and a big party ...is that… typical?”

“A party and the blessing, yes. Knowing my mother, it will be much more elaborate. Because he’s her first grandchild. And, thus far, only grandchild. And because she’s… my mother.” That’s really all that needed to be said about Lwaxana Troi. “I’ll call her in the next day or so and try to make sure it’s… within reason.”

He nodded, pulling the blanket closer around Thad. “She really is one of his biggest fans.”

“It’s one of her more endearing qualities,” Deanna agreed. She pushed herself up, giving the view of the northern lights one last gaze before turning to her husband. “I think he’s asleep.”

“He is. He’s drooling on me,” Will answered with a grin. One hand cupped the back of his son’s head as he leaned in and captured her lips in a slow, warm kiss. He let it linger and deepen, tongue teasing hers for a long moment before pulling back. “I think it’s time for the two of us.”

“Mhmm,” she agreed, fingers teasing the nape of his neck and dropping several kisses along his cheek. “I’m thinking some nice synthenol… some of those oysters you like…” Another soft kiss to his lips, and she smoothed back a lock of his dark hair.

Will grinned widely. “And that new dress of yours?” he asked hopefully.

Her head tipped, and her eyebrows lifted as she gave him a long appraising look. “Actually,” she confided, “I had a different idea for my wardrobe tonight. But I’ll let that be a surprise… and I’ll even let you choose the jazz music.”

With a wolfish grin, he stole a quick kiss before rolling smoothly to his feet and shifting their sleeping son. His fingers entangled with hers, and he urged her up. “Computer, end simulation.” Nodding toward the door, he added, “Lady, you’ve got a date.”

[killingmebtob]

Vindictive: When An Angel Falls [Part Two]

Collaboration between Chi and Sara

Author: @killingmebtob // Chi

Title: Vindictive: When An Angel Falls

Characters: BTOB and Reader A

Summary: Now that she has come face to face with the Reaper, will she be overcome by fear or will she see the broken wings of a once radiant angel?

Author’s Note: I'll recommend a song for you to listen to--something to set the mood for this part of the story: "Spellbound" by: Lacuna Coil

Part One || Part Two

---

Seven o’ clock.

The clock on the gray, cracked wall said that it was seven o’ clock. I just didn’t know if it meant night or day as the small room that I was in was deprived of any windows and the only light provided was from a flickering bulb hanging from the ceiling.

The air was heavy and humid making it harder and harder for me to breath in the little corner where I sat with my knees pulled up to my chest.

The smell of rotten wood, dirt, and sweat filled the air.

There’s no way out.

I swallowed and felt my dry throat hurt from screaming and crying for countless hours. No one heard me. No one came for me. I was alone.

For what seemed like an eternity, all I heard was the ticking of the wall clock and my own heartbeat that were enough to almost drive me insane.

Then, unexpectedly, there were footsteps.

They started faint, but they grew heavier with each step.

My heart beat went up as I held my breath when the footsteps came to a halt in front of the door to the room that I was locked in.

There were sounds of chains and soon, light flooded the tiny room, blinding me and making my head and eyes hurt.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” said a voice that sounded so cold.

I felt my blood rush all over my body, pounding in my ears as a hand grabbed my shoulder. I knew I wasn’t safe and screaming was the only thing I could do.

“DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T TOUCH ME!!”

“Hey, hey! Ok, I won’t touch you. Relax,” I was greeted by an unfamiliar face of a man beside me. “I’m going to call the nurse.”

It took me a few seconds to realize where I was.

I was sitting on a bed covered with white sheets and a light blue, thin blanket was on me. My back was leaning against a wall painted in white and I was surrounded by what looked like a makeshift divider of plain blue curtains.

My head was still throbbing with pain when the smell of the place hit me like a hammer to my heart.

The strong smell of disinfectant triggered memories I wanted to bury at the back of my mind. This is why I never wanted to visit any hospital.

Why am I in a hospital?

“I’m glad you’re awake,” a nurse came inside my makeshift room with a clipboard in hand.

Behind her was the man who was by my side when I woke up. He was quietly listening while the nurse asked me a bunch of questions regarding my identity. It was also her who told me why I was in the hospital while she checked my condition. Luckily, I wasn’t hit by the vehicle when I crossed the street on a red pedestrian light. I just fainted from shock. The guy driving the car took me to the hospital to make sure that I was alright.

“You’re lucky that this man hit the break at the right time and shifted his car,” the nurse said, pointing at the man behind her with the tip of her pen. “If not, you would’ve had some serious injuries,” she said. She wrote a final note on the patient’s chart and excused herself.

“Well, you heard her,” the man said as soon as the nurse left. “You’re lucky that I stopped just in time. Can you imagine what will happen if I didn’t?” His arms were on his hips as he stood beside me, his eyebrows were furrowed. It was then that I noticed how tall he was as he towered above me. He wore a gray shirt and a pair of black slacks. Even in simple clothes, I could sense a certain aura around him. There was an air of elegance with the way he carried himself.

“Y-yeah,” I said, trying to find the proper words to say in such a situation. “Thank you for taking me here,”

He sat beside my bed and looked intently at me without saying a word.

I felt a sudden warmth on my cheeks knowing that his eyes were on me and I had to look away and find something else to put my attention to.

My things! The envelope!

I looked around wildly looking for my belongings. More than my own bag, I needed to find the envelope with all of the Reaper’s information that I got. I haven’t read the full report yet.

“Are you looking for this?” I looked at the man as he showed me my bag and the envelope that I was looking for.

“Yes!” I exclaimed as I retrieved the envelope from his hand. I was about to take the contents out to check them but halfway into doing that, I remembered that I was not alone. I looked up and saw the man eyeing the envelope with curiosity. I stuffed the papers inside the envelope once more and closed it. “T-Thank you,” I said.

The curious and confused look on his face stayed as he regarded me and the envelope on my lap. I saw him open his mouth as if he was going to say something but he closed it again, like deciding not to do it anymore. “You’re welcome,” he said. “I didn’t touch any of it. Just in case you want to know,”

I nodded awkwardly and looked at my hands. An unsettling silence passed between us until he told me that he will just talk to the nurse and ask if I could be discharged already. When he left me alone, I quickly stuffed the envelope inside my bag and decided to just look at it when I get home. I knew that those were confidential information that shouldn’t be found in the hands of a non-government official like me. It was illegal that I obtained it and I do not want to risk getting caught.

The man came back a bit later and said that I was free to go home since they didn't find any complication in me.

"Hey," I said as soon as we were outside the hospital. "I didn't get your name, yet,"

He narrowed his eyes at me.

It took me a few seconds to realize what he might be thinking. "I mean, I want to thank you properly," I immediately said. "You went out of your way and took me here even if it was my fault why I was almost hit by your car. You also took care of the bill, which I will pay as soon as I get my money," I realized that I've already given all of my savings to the informant. I didn't have anything left for me. Just a few cash to help me get by for a few days until I could get my earnings from my books.

He nodded as if taking in what I said but there was a tiny shadow of a smirk playing on his lips.

“My name is Sungjae,” he said as he offered his hand to me. “Yook Sungjae,” he emphasized his last name.

I told him my name as I shook his hand. I couldn’t help but notice how small my hand was compared to his.

I was about to take my hand back when he held it a bit firmly and repeated, “My name is Yook Sungjae.”

I looked at him, puzzled as to what he meant. He, in return, looked at me as if I grew another head on my shoulder.

Thankfully, he let go of my hand as he asked, “You are not from this city, aren’t you?”

I furrowed my brows in astonishment and confusion, “Yeah. How did you know?”

“I just know,” he grinned. “I’ll get going now,” with that, he turned his back to me and started to walking to his car in the parking lot.

“You haven’t given me your contact number yet!” I called out to him, remembering the hospital bill. “How can I pay you?”

He was already near his car when he turned around and faced me. “I’ll see you again!” He said with a wink before he went inside his car and drove off.

I was left standing in front of the hospital confused as to what had just happened.

//

Where could she be?

I tried to knock on my neighbor’s door one more time to check if she was home. It was Saturday lunch time and I thought that it was her day off but she wasn’t home.

In my weeks of stay in Sunshine City, she was the first person that I’ve met and befriended. Now that I think about it, she is the only friend that I have in the whole city. She welcomed me when I first moved in to the apartment building and we found out that we have a common interest in the case of the Reaper. She works for Sunshine City’s newspaper company as a journalist and she’s been following the case for a long time. Aside from the Reaper, we also found some other things in common and soon we became closer to the point that we would chat over some personal stuff too. I like talking to her. She’s like a sister that I never had.

I wanted to share with her the information that I got about the Reaper because I trust her and there was also something with the current case that bothers me. I wanted to discuss it with her.

The last time that we’ve seen each other was over a week ago when the body of Damien Dee was found in a pier not far from where our apartment is. I knew she was also going to be there as soon as she heard the news. To our disappointment, both of us didn’t get a chance to see the body as it was already taken away for autopsy.

According to the data I got, they identified the bloated corpse from the pier as Damien Dee, a well-known loan shark in Sunshine City. His autopsy reports showed his Achilles’ heels and the muscles on his underarms were slashed deeply. His throat was also sliced, which caused the heavy bleeding that eventually lead to his death. No wonder the media immediately thought that it was the Reaper’s doing. All these descriptions were how each of his previous victims were killed. If the Reaper targeted him, then I am sure that he was also a filth of the city.

The Reaper is a vigilante. In the eyes of the authority, he’s nothing but a vicious criminal, killing people in the most horrible ways. But for some, he’s a hero. The people he killed had one thing in common: they are all criminals who blinded justice with their influence and money. Those people violated the rights of the weak, stepping on them like rags that aren’t worthy of their time. They left victims crying out in injustice.

When I first heard about the Reaper, the case that I’ve read was about his first victim. He was a rich businessman from Sunshine City who had multiple cases of child abuse and pornography. If it weren’t for his death and the investigations done on that filthy criminal, his cases wouldn’t even be known to the public. The families of his victims would keep their mouths shut because of fear that he would get back at them or because they got paid to forget what happened to their children. But there was one time when his ways didn’t work. The father of a thirteen-year old, who the businessman raped, fought for justice for his son. With the help of a public attorney, they were able to take the businessman to court. Sadly, the case was closed after one hearing. For some reason, the father of the boy admitted to the media that he was just trying to extort money from the businessman and that the allegations weren’t true. No one has seen or heard of the boy and the father after that. Some said that they moved due to shame of being exposed but others knew the truth. But in the end, majority of the people forgot about the case.

Almost a year after the incident, the businessman was found dead in a dump site. His Achilles’ heels, the flesh under his arms, and his throat were all slit. In his mouth and throat, they found a bunch of Pheasant’s Eye flowers.

That has been the Reaper’s signature.

The media portrayed him as a monster, but, to me, he isn’t. I moved to Sunshine City to do my research on him. I wanted to write a book that views him in a different light. I’ve been researching about the cases he’s involved in, the background of his victims, and his true identity.

Based on the information I got from the informant, even the authorities don’t have a single clue as to who he really is.

“What brings you here?” The familiar voice of Minhyuk greeted me as soon as I stepped inside the Police Station. He was holding a few pieces of fairly thick folders in both hands, possibly on his way up to wherever his office is.

He is my neighbor’s boyfriend and I met him a couple of times whenever he visits her. From what I heard from my friend, he’s an excellent police officer who received awards for the outstanding things he did for Sunshine City. She looked so proud when she was telling me stories of her boyfriend’s achievements and I thought that she really loves him. I could tell that Minhyuk loves her too. They look so good together. Also, both of them are really attractive people with great achievements; a power couple.

He approached me to talk.

“Hey, I just…” I tried to remember why I rushed to the Police Station. It took me a couple of seconds to get my thoughts together and remember why. I told him that I was looking for my friend.

He narrowed his eyes at me as if reading my face. He asked, “You bothered to drop by here just to ask me where she is?”

Come to think of it, it really was weird from his point of view. I could have just waited for her to come home if I wanted to talk to her. That didn’t cross my mind when I hurriedly went out of my apartment and hailed the first cab that I saw. My mind was a swirl of excitement and questions. I’ve been reading the files of the Reaper ever since I came home from the hospital last night. I’ve read them over and over again until I was quite sure that something was weird. I had to tell my friend about it. I have to brainstorm with her. I couldn’t tell that to Minhyuk, could I? I illegally obtained their files and I knew that he, being a good police officer, wouldn’t let me go if he knew about it. My mind tried to process some kind of alibi but nothing was coming up.

“She’s in the hospital right now,” Minhyuk finally said after some silence.

“Ah,” I knew the reason why she’s in the hospital. Minhyuk’s mom was robbed and assaulted almost a month ago. From what my friend told me, she hasn’t woken up yet. That and the Reaper’s case might be the reason for the obvious dark circles around Minhyuk’s eyes. He looked like he aged a lot because of stress. From what I know, he’s the police investigator assigned to the Reaper’s case. He was working alongside with the FBI.

An exasperated sigh came out of him. “I think I know why you’re really here,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Does he know that I paid someone to get me the files?

“Are you going to interview the officers here again?” He asked but it didn’t sound like a question. It was more like he was stating a fact.

“No, I’m not,” I defensively said, feeling a bit offended yet guilty. I couldn’t blame him if he thought that way. Because of my curiosity and thirst to know more about the Reaper and his victims, I’ve visited the station a lot of times since I came to the city to try and get someone to give me an interview or any kind of juicy information. I’ve been escorted out a lot of times due to my insisted even if they were telling me that they weren’t allowed to provide any information to outsiders.

He sighed as if not listening to me, “I already told you, what we give to the media is the only information that we can give to you. All the other information regarding the case is confidential.” His voice sounded tired.

I wanted to defend myself and tell him that that wasn’t my intention but if I did that, then I would eventually have to reveal that I have confidential information of the Reaper. I just decided to go along with what he thought was my reason for coming. “Fine. I just thought that you guys changed your mind. I’ll get going now,”

“Look,” he said before I turned to go away. “I’ll tell her that you dropped by, okay?”

I nodded and went on my way.

I think I would just wait for her to come home then maybe I could discuss things with her.

//

Do students these days still go to the library?

That was always the first thought that comes up to my mind whenever I enter any library.

It was a Sunday and, regrettably, I woke up late. I stayed up all night reading the Reaper's files over and over again, taking down notes while I waited for my neighbor to come home. Somewhere in the middle of the night I dozed off and the next thing I knew, it was already ten in the morning and my neighbor wasn’t home. I should've asked for her number. The thought just didn't occur to me that much as I was never a big fan of mobile phones. I rarely use mine.

There were a couple of things that I wanted to research for my book. One of them was about chemical substances.

The file states that all of the Reaper's victims were drugged. I wanted to know more about it, that's why I visited the nearest public library. I know that I could've gotten what I needed easily through the internet but I prefer real books than digital information. Being surrounded by books calms my nerves and helps me think.

There were quite a number of books about drugs and chemical substances that I found in the library and I didn't know where to start or which books to get.

Maybe I should just grab whichever book that I put my hands on, I thought.

I scanned one section of the aisle and placed my hand randomly on one of the books that looked old and thick. Maybe the thicker it was, the more I could get from it.

I grabbed another one and another. Three thick books are already in arms and I felt my muscles ache.

"Are you going to read all of those?"

I turned around to the only voice I heard near me.

The owner of the voice was a man standing a few steps from me. He took a book from the shelf beside him and scanned the pages. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a plain white shirt.

I looked behind me and back to him. "Are you talking to me?"

He scanned one more page, closed the book, and placed it back on the shelf. "Yeah," he said as he turned to me. His soft dark brown hair caught the sunlight.

"Oh," I mumbled and glanced at the books in my hand. "Yes, I am researching."

"Really?" He looked at me with an amused face as he crossed the distance between us. "Didn't know people still go to libraries for research. I thought everyone just uses their phones for that."

Woah! Weird. Did he just read my mind?

"Some still do. I don't like phones," I answered.

He scanned the titles of the books from its spine. "Those are not for light reading. I'm not sure if those could help you. Are you a medical student?"

"Uhm.. N-no. This is for my novel," I answered honestly, which is really weird. It was my first time talking to him but he somehow managed to get me into a conversation.

Is he hitting on me?

"If that's the case," he said as he took the books from me and placed it on the empty space in the nearest shelf. "Don't start with those. You better go with books that give more information but not too much. Just the right amount," he stated as he scanned the shelves, reading and stroking the spines of the books. "There are some books that are like people. You get bored with them when there are too many words and some of them you think are useless because there are very few words. You've got to find the right one with enough but meaningful words; a book that you could easily dive into and absorb the contents."

His hand settled on a once white but now yellowish book. He smiled as he read the title.

"Here you go," he said as he handed it to me. "That can help you out,"

I took it and looked at the tattered cover, unsure if he was just toying with me.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," he said with a bright smile.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Yet, I smiled back as I got his lame joke, "Thanks. Are you a doctor?"

"Hmm… Something like that," He said.

I said thank you once more. I introduced myself as I offered my hand to him.

He took it and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Changsub."

[ongnable]

Okay I think I need your help! I started following Wanna One few weeks ago and I don't know what to watch to know them better! (I discovered them after being forced by my friend to watch Master Key 😂) so yeah I went around YouTube but if you can direct me to "worthy" content I'll be glad! ((especially with Ong cause it was kinda love at first sight 💕)) thanks and love your blog ✨✨✨

Ong being loved is honestly such a mood

I’ll put everything in order so it’s easy to go through, and list mainly the OT11 stuff + links to eng sub! ^^

M/Vs

Energetic

Burn It Up

Beautiful (Movie ver.)this is not the full version which is almost 15 minutes long (and i’m still salty about the unequal screen-time); to fully understand the story - watch the ’prologue’ too!

Beautiful (Perf. ver.)

I Promise You (I.P.U.)a personal favourite; it’s honestly such a blessing for soft stans!

Boomerang

Shows (2017-8)

Broduce –is definitely more than ‘worthy’ since we not only got to meet W1 in their pre-debut states, but also a bunch of talented boys/men. I think that the main reason our ‘core’ fandom is so strongly bound is mainly because of PD101 and how well you get to know them since it’s filmed over such a long period. you can only fall deeper in love, and appreciate their hard work more and more each time you (re-)watch broduce~

Mnet Present –this was kind of an ‘intro to W1′ type of thing from Mnet before unveiling Energetic, but it’s kinda precious how you can tell that the boys were still a little awkward with some of the others they didn’t perform with during broduce and how being in W1 still hasn’t really hit them since it was filmed before they started promotions. not a must-watch but it’s lovely to look back on.

Wanna One Go S1 –season 1 only has 2 episodes, but it quenched the thirst for content before they’re debut! XD if you’ve seen the legendary ongniel date gifs, this is where it’s from!! the boys were paired with their ‘main ships’ from back in Broduce. This is also where we were first introduced to the legend that is Sungwoon’s grandpa!

Return of Superman! 194-195 –not OT11, but i love boys that play well with kids, so it can’t be helped XD be prepared to melt into a puddle of goo watching the kids play with mom-Jisung, the uncles, and big bro-Jihoonie~

Weekly Idol 315-316 –gave birth a myriad of inside jokes (including the X-thigh dance which brought out all the Nu’est W x W1 broduce feels). Daehwi also cemented his status as a girl group dance machine whilst the boys were just their normal meme-worthy selves

Happy Together (510-512) (521-522) (531-?)–this wasn’t OT11, but there are sooo many moments from HT (Minhyun’s text-hwang status and Ongniel making headlines for their ‘couple drama’? yaaaas)

Wanna City –Mnet knows that variety shows are very much where W1 belong, so of course between Wanna One Go S1 and S2 we get a lil something special XD Hyung vs. Maknae line interactions are always hilarious, and Ong’s losing streak from Master Key basically begun here X’D If there’s one cut to watch from this it’s ‘Annyeong Cleopatra’! 

Wanna One Go S2 –the one true mecca of W1-variety. the ‘must-watch’! if theres one thing on the list to watch it’s W1 Go S2!! Most of the gifs/moment videos you’ll see floating around will be from this~

Amigo TV –just the boys being their normal memey-selves with a lot of food involved!! (Dan was busy with It’s Dangerous Outside of the Blankets while this was filmed - which is also a must-watch for soft-Dan)

Outrageous Roommates –only ongnielhwan, but since you like Ong I’m rec-ing this!!!! Justice League team interactions are my fav and when you put the ultimate comedic trio of W1 together with other hilarious people (aka. Yook joongwan from Rose Motel); it’s just a great ‘feel good’ show to watch after a long day!

Other OT11 shows:I Can See Your Voice (OT11) // SNL (personally not a fan of SNL, i just get loads of second-hand embarrassment from their skits >

A few other recent shows with Ong:K-RUSH // Radio Star // Hello Counselor

Comeback-shows (+ debut)

1x1=1 (To Be One) Premier Showcon –a legendary debut showcase~ they debuted in Gocheok Sky Dome which is a first! they made history just by debuting

1-1=0 (Nothing Without You) Comeback Show –basically we watch the boys eat at the beginning, do a hidden camera and then we appreciate all the hard work they put into filming Beautiful even though so many of them got so little screen-time T^T

0+1=1 (I Promise You) Comeback Show –another bts of m/v filming as all comeback shows require~ W1 also prepared an event for fans (even tho Ong was Mc-ing and unable to attend the same time as others); which was super super sweet. Also- Wanna One karaoke + more Sungwoon’s adorable grandpa! XD

Other Performances

A Summer Story x Nayanahonestly speaking I’m not the biggest fan of this mix, but it’s OT11 and they looked really cute and the summery outfits suited them well since it was reminiscent of their 1x1 album Pink ver. outfits ~

Jaehwan’s Immortal Song Perfs (20170930) (20171118) –I have a weak spot for rocker!Jaehwan so I personally like the November perf more, but Mnet likes promoting ballad!Jaehwan >

“Comes And Goes” - Terius (aka. Hwang Minhyun) –woop, the mask fooled no one, naver blew up as soon as this ep (and the ep before) aired cuz everyone knew if was Minhyun X’D it’s even funnier because Daniel was on the panel!

La Dolce Vita –is a recent cover they did on Sugarman 2, and to me it is definitely worth watching if for nothing but them saying ‘señorita’

[kmbtob-monthly]

June 2018 ;; Story # 1

Author: Mika

---

Your name: submit What is this?

---

Rule #1 You either need to be a skilled shooter or a skilled runner But being both would be better Rule #2 You must never be alone Be with someone you could trust your whole life with and always stay together And lastly... Rule #3 Don't get bitten by a zombie Just. Stay. Alive.

If you want to survive just keep these things in mind "Come on y/n, let's run for it" My boyfriend Sungjae said as he took my hand and we ran as fast as we could I don’t know how many days or weeks have passed since this catastrophe started but I do recall that this happened because of a meteorite that hit earth and unfortunately it was near Sungjae's hometown The meteorite was reported to be carrying alien bacteria that instantly started infecting people surrounding the area up to a hundred kilometers away that gradually spread to the whole country and soon enough, the whole world Many people died, a few survived, and well... the rest turned into the walking dead We were supposed to go to Yongin to stay for the weekend and also, so that I can meet his parents

It's not that long when we started dating and eventually he said he wanted to “show me off” to his family

“They’ll love you as much as I do, trust me” he would always say then kiss me on the cheek whenever I bring up the what ifs when the time comes that I’ll finally meet them

When I first met him, I was amazed at how he is just a simple guy, you know, having the t-shirt-and-denim-pants kind of fashion. He doesn’t wear any fancy accessories or branded perfumes, or doesn’t ride an extravagant car and yet he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth

Sungjae is cool and comedic at the same time, he can be cute or hot and something in between, he’s kind, sweet and thoughtful. He can sometimes be dumb, a little too much playful and annoying but it’s okay, I love this dork anyway

I never thought that my uneasy heart on our way to the place he grew up would grow into a frazzle by an unexpected turn of events

For starters, the road that we turned into was closed so we need to take another route but it was one where Sungjae was not familiar, so we need the help of the GPS

Then came an earthquake, a massive one, we were in his car and he halted at an open space away from the trees and utility wires

Panic started to rise in me when I saw establishments collapsing and heard people screaming

Sungjae reached out and put me in his embrace. I closed my eyes

“We will be fine” he whispered to me as I calm down, I didn’t even notice that I was shaking in fear

When we felt the quake stopped, I looked at our surroundings again, it was a total wreck

The road had a lot of cracks, breaks and other obstructions, and some downed electrical lines

“Are you okay?” he immediately asked “yeah” I nodded

Both of our signals were reduced to zeroes, the GPS isn’t working anymore

We were lost and we needed to find help

We waited for possible aftershocks and when none came, he got out of the car to check if it was safe to drive. He said to me that it’ll be hard to use the car so we got our stuff and we walked to find a vehicle or someone that can transport us to our destination

It was almost dark in the whole place because the power was down and the sun has already set

The town was so quiet, it was like we are the only ones alive

I can’t shake off the fact that atmosphere also got weird

“Let’s get back to the car, I think it’s safer if we go out in the day” I suggested and we headed back

Since then I got the feeling that what happened wasn’t just an ordinary earthquake

That there was something more

And boy was I right

That night we slept in the car, the mosquito bites woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up from the reclined seat and I noticed a form a few meters away from us

The figure got closer and I realized it was a man and he was walking very...slowly?

“Sungjae wake up, you’ve got to see this” I slightly shake him

He rubbed his eyes and put his gaze on the direction I was pointing

The man walked towards us, I got out my phone and turned on the flashlight and waved it outside the window “Excuse me, but were kinda er- lost” I called

The man didn’t say anything and just kept walking

“I think he’s drunk” Sungjae said as he opened the car door “Stay here, I’ll go to him”

My heart beat faster when he started walking towards the man

The glow that was reflected by the moon was the only source of light in the area

I saw Sungjae got closer to him and he stopped in his tracks

He stepped back but the man plunged towards Sungjae and strangled him

“Sungjae!” I ran to them and the face of the man was slowly coming into view

His eyes were fiery red, skin seemed like they were decomposing, blood trailed from the corner of his mouth and it smelled rotten, I have confirmed it was coming from that man or whatever it is

It was a monstrous sight, he was strongly pinning Sungjae down and he struggled to fight him back

The next thing I saw was his teeth going for Sungjae’s neck

There was no time to panic and I immediately spotted a broken tree branch and directly hit the creature as hard as I could

His neck twisted as he fell to the ground

“Oh my god, I was so scared” I hugged Sungjae when he stood up

“What is that thing?” I felt his heartbeat matching its pace to mine and his eyes were on the thing that almost killed him

I didn’t know what and how it became like that but one this is clear

It’s not human

Since then, we encountered more. We run and hide, here and there. We also saw humans like us doing everything they can to survive

When our stock run out, we got food, water, other necessities and supplies from convenient stores that were wrecked by the earthquake

It was the same everyday

We also got melee weapons and firearms in hardware stores and gun shops for defense

Besides staying alive we have another mission and that is to find Sungjae’s family

Now we are avoiding a group of zombies, they aren’t that fast but they are strong especially in groups

Usually if there is only one or two, we shoot or kill it but in a bunch like this one, it’s hard to fight them

We found a pick-up truck and hid on the back

“Are they gone?” I whispered still catching my breath

“Wait, I’ll check” he lifted his head

I heard him gasp, he looked more like he saw a ghost than the living dead “Why? What happened?” I asked him, he was turning paler

“Noona” was all he said before he got out of the truck

“No- Don’t!” I dashed towards him

He was about to touch the shoulder of a female zombie when I caught him

We ducked down in a bush “But it was her I was sure of it” His eyes turned glassy “I need to save her” Sungjae’s voice cracked at the last words

“Sungjae, it’s no use” I embraced him and he bit his lip as he cried in my arms “I’m so sorry” I felt my own tears start to fall

We kept moving in hopes of finding his parents

And praying that they are still alive

We searched more and found a woman in a garage on one of the houses, it seemed human for it was hiding behind a garbage can

It was Sungjae’s mom and we immediately went to her

“Sungjae” she cried when she saw him “Your appa…I lost him“ Sungjae hugged her “We’ll find him, eomma” he assured her

I joined in and comforted them, Sungjae also told her mom about his sister, it was a time that they needed to be strong because they we’re the only ones left

It wasn’t the first meeting I have in mind, but at least I got to meet his mother

Mrs. Yook held my hand “I heard a lot about you y/n, thank you making my son happy” she smiled warmly

“Sungjae is a great person eomeonim, you brought him up well. I am more grateful” I sincerely said and gave the same warmth of smile and she wrapped her arms around me

Sounds of clattering cans ruined our moment, reminding us that it was not a good time for chitchatting

A pair of zombies greeted us, one male and one female, they seem like they were a couple

Two more came

And another

Then another

They must’ve smelled us

We prepared ourselves for battle

“Stay behind me, eomma” I heard Sungjae say as the female zombie came towards me

I reached a cricket bat on my backpack, it’s the best I have that I can handle

I swung it hard hitting the female one on its side, then another came and soon they were countless

I can’t see where Sungjae was neither his mom

But I still continued to bat and kick whatever I felt on my leg clung

They were coming from everywhere and then I heard something break

“Uh-oh” I muttered and tried to find an opening

I run through it but one grabbed me by the arm and I felt one on the other. I screamed when I felt my body getting numb, their hold was too strong, I was getting dizzy for they reek that I can’t compare to anything

I thought I was going to die then and there

“Y/N!” It was Sungjae, I heard a gunshot then it was followed by another

I felt the decomposed hands on me loosened

Sungjae held my waist to support me, my legs feel like jelly

“Are you hurt somewhere?” worry was written all over his face

I shook my head as a no then I remembered his mother “Where’s eomeoni?”

He didn’t answer instead he shifted me from one arm to another and I heard a loud bang, I saw the living dead drop to the ground

“She… she saw abeoji- and..” he trailed off

Knowing what happened next I grab hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze

“I’m here” I said “We’re going to get through this together, right?” my gaze never left his

“I love you, I won’t let them take you away from me too” he pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead

I was going to answer when I saw one attacking from behind

“Behind you!” I said turning him around so he can shot it but the clicking sound of his pistol made him curse

It was already empty

It all happened so fast, the next thing I felt was a searing pain on my right shoulder

“NO!”

I got bitten

I felt myself getting weaker by the second

“This can’t be… no no”

I saw him run a hand to his face

“Sungjae” I said to him then smiled “I love you too”

He must stay away from me after this, or else he’s going to turn into one too

I was getting sleepy, I kept hearing his voice saying my name and telling me to wake up

It was fading

Slowly fading

Then I hear it again

“Y/N!”

This time it was getting louder but with less intensity than before

“Y/N wake up!”

My eyes shot open, my chest was heaving, my heart drummed violently, beads of sweat trickled down my face

Sungjae hugged me when I sat up

“God, you scared me” he sighed in relief

I saw that I was in my room and felt that everything was normal

It was only a bad dream?

“You were having a nightmare, you kept screaming and saying my name” he pulled away “I told you to watch something that is not horror last night but you kept on insisting” he nagged

It all felt so real

Then I remembered that I was the only one who watched the zombie movie last night because he kept on hiding behind the blanket

I just laughed and he gave me a puzzled look

He stood up and ruffled my hair “are you fine now?”

I smiled and nodded

“Okay then, get your things ready and we’ll get going” he said getting a bag “I said to eomma that we’ll be at home by lunch”

Shit. I forgot that it was today!

He saw my anxious face and he chuckled

“Don’t worry” he walked up to me and lowered his head then he kissed my cheek

“They won’t bite” he winked

[abctranslator]

Volcanic Age 35

Shaanxi, Mount Hua.

“Don’t forgive me!”

Gu Pung bowed his head so low, it almost touched the ground.

“Senior brother…”

Yu Jong Mok had a troubled expression.

Even if the both of them were third generation disciples, Gu Pung was the best of their generation. Receiving an apology like this would only make Yu Jong Mok troubled.

“I couldn’t fulfill my responsibilities as the guardian of the Lotus Peak. Because of you, your disciple got sacrificed… I’m really sorry.” Gu Pung’s voice was filled with guilt. He wasn’t even able to raise his head properly.

About three weeks ago, he won against Yook Dae Rang miraculously and survived but he wasn’t able to save Ju Seo Cheon.

He reported it to Mount Hua and patrolled for a few days with the warriors of the Murim Association but they couldn’t find him.

They wanted to look for them for a little bit longer but an urgent order to return was sent so he had to take the members of the Lotus Peak and return to Mount Hua.

He had continued searching without stopping but he wasn’t able to get a clue and returned not long ago.

In reality, it was no different from having come to a conclusion that he was dead.

“It’s all my fault. If I had believed in your disciple even a little, things wouldn’t have turned like this.” In addition, Ju Seo Cheon’s evaluation was completely overturned.

There was no one that called him the flashy yet frail one anymore.

Everyone was surprised by Ju Seo Cheon’s performance.

They got amazed at his attitude of not minding the disdain from his surroundings at all working hard on learning more, all the while hiding his strength and skills.

That’s why it was all the more regrettable.

They couldn’t stop lamenting having lost that kind of genius.

---------

Yu Jong Mong had been in Kang Ho for a long time since he became a pinnacle expert. But one day, he heard news about Ju Seo Cheon and returned hurriedly to Mount Hua, and that day was today.

Gu Pung, who was staying in Mount Hua, heard notices about Yu Jong Mok returning and went to find him first to bow.

“I would like to go to the Nine Fleets of the Water Forest and get revenge but…” He wasn’t able to move because of his situation.

Even the Murim Alliance was investigating this matter.

There was no way Yook Dae Rang would suddenly ambush the members of the Lotus Peak and the direct descendants of the Zhuge Family if he hadn’t turned insane.

On top of that, based on the information they had it was said that the ships were regulated on purpose in case the group crossed the Yangtze River in small groups.

They were doubting that there may be something behind it as it was a systematic ambush.

“Even though I don’t have a disciple, that doesn’t mean that I don’t know what sadness, rage and pain that comes when losing a disciple means. It doesn’t matter for me so please, resent and despise me.” The masters were like parents for their disciples, and that meant that the disciples were like children for the masters.

Although they shared no blood at all, they were connected by love and a connection that was beyond that.

“I won’t ever….”

Yu Jong Mok wasn’t just listening silently since before. He had tried to calm him down but Gu Pung only repeated similar words and continued to apologize. It seemed like he was yelling at him to kill him.

“Senior brother.” In the end, Yu Jong Mok had to interrupt Gu Pung inevitably.

“Yes.” Gu Pung put on a determined face.

But the words that came out from Yu Jong Mok were completely different from what he was waiting for.

“I’m fine so don’t be like that.” “Fellow brother.”

“Acting like that is harder for me.” Yu Jong Mok smiled bitterly and his eyes seemed somewhat complicated.

“It hasn’t been long since I returned to Mount Hua from Kang Ho. It seems like my body and mind are a bit tired that I need some time alone. I guess that’s why I could feel all those gazes on me.”

“....I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Gu Pung apologized once again with a dark expression. Yu Jong Mok couldn’t even remember how many times he had apologized.

“So can you leave me alone for the moment?” “Right, I understand. I’m really sorry for not having been considerate. Have some rest.”

Gu Pung left. His two shoulders were weighing with guilt.

Yu Jong Mok confirmed that Gu Pung had left and let out a sigh.

“Seo Cheon, you were much more amazing than what this master of yours thought.” He raised his right hand and checked his bosom. A folded letter came out from it.

Yu Jong Mok received a letter when rumors about his disciple spread and it reached the branch of the Murim Association he was at.

The disciple, that was known to be dead, was the sender.

The contents written in the letter was too long. But if you were to summarize it was that he was safe but was asking his master to keep it a secret.

That he was sorry to have made him worry and that he would certainly return with Zhuge Seung Kye.

“I’m worried about you so don’t be too late.” Yu Jong Mok raised his head and looked at the sky. It was clear weather with no clouds at all.

Weng An, the Golden Business Organization.

Lee Ui Chae ended up buying a house in Weng An as he was mostly active there.

The prices of the houses in Weng An were so cheap it made you doubt about it but it wasn’t weird at all if you thought about the characteristics of Weng An.

People that looked like martial artists were gathered in front of the courtyard. There were ten of them and Ju Seo Cheon had checked them when he entered.

Nine were second rate and only one of them was first rate, that was close to reach the peak.

“It’s fine if their abilities aren’t that good. The most important thing is trust. It doesn’t matter about the treasury because it will get known later but the group has to be composed by people that won’t escape with the treasures.” “You don’t have to worry if it’s that.” Lee Ui Chae put on a reliable smile.

“You aren’t going to say something like they are reliable because they are your blood relatives, right? If that is the case, then I will have to decline. This is a world where even siblings kill each other for treasures.” “I’m not such a naive person, great master.” Lee Ui Chae spoke, telling him not to worry.

“The people that are outside are all people that treasure their own families. Also, there’s a person each in their families that they have to support.” “You didn’t take their families as hostages, right?” Zhuge Seung Kye frowned and asked.

“Oh my, young noble Zhuge. I’m not such an evil person.” Lee Ui Chae shook his hands.

“I made a deal with them. That if they were loyal to me, I would treat and heal their families for free.” There are times when people did anything for their treasured people and Lee Ui Chae used that love.

“I only searched for people that won’t be able to hold a few days without my assistance. And, I also investigated their character beforehand. Shouldn’t we also consider a situation where they escape with their families after they obtain some treasures? Hohoho!”

‘What should I call this?’

Ju Seo Cheon got astounded.

It wasn’t a threat but if you thought about it well, it was no different from a threat.

It was a situation where you could think of it like ‘I may kill your family if you betray me.’

But it was also vague to say that he was evil

In the first place, they were unrelated to each other. Lee Ui Chae had no sense of duty to take care of their families by spending a lot of money for it.

Lee Ui Chae had only offered a deal, not a threat and the ones that accepted were themselves.

‘His ability on dealing with people is ghostlike, just like the rumors said.’

Being outstanding in business meant that he was also good at negotiating.

The Merchant King noticed the intentions of the people like a ghost and knew exactly what they wanted.

And he utilized that to get the most of the profit.

The subjects for that didn’t differentiate between forces such as the Righteous Faction, Demonic Faction, Death Sect or the Blood Sect.

It wasn’t for show that he stayed alive until the age of war ended.

‘That’s why he is also a scary person.’

Lee Ui Chae understood the emotions of the people better than anyone else. He had to understand them to use that as a means to earn money.

There was no empathy or sympathy behind his understanding. There was no disdain, scorn, rage or sympathy at all.

He was simply using them as a means to earn money.

“I already told the warriors that they would be raiding a tomb.” “How did you introduce me to them?” “I said that you were an expert whose words had to be followed with no complaints. They are people that don’t know your face or young noble’s Zhuge so you don’t have to worry about that.” “Well done. The treasury is in Chongqing. The exact location is here, so send people to a nearby village. We need means to contact you quickly when we return.”

Ju Seo Cheon handed out a coded map.

“And this is a decodification method. Memorize it all and burn it down.” “Ohh, as expected of the great master! Knowledge that can even slap on the honor of Zhuge Liang! You are really omniscient!” Lee Ui Chae got impressed in an exaggerated manner and hit his forehead with his palm.

“Kya! This small merchant got so impressed that tears are about to fall.”

“Cry then.” “Men shouldn’t shed tears easily.” Lee Ui Chae handed out a pocket that contained travel expenses.

“I will be assisting your trip from the side and from somewhere they can’t see me. Raid up to the heart of the treasury. But of course, you know that treasures are more important than bones right?” “Head merchant, wipe your drool first.” “Hut! I made a mistake. Let’s meet again later, then. I hope you have a safe trip.” Ju Seo Cheon took Zhuge Seung Kye and the ten warriors Lee Ui Chae gave him and left for Chongqing.

Chongqing was filled with martial artists of the Righteous Faction to search for Ju Seo Cheon and Zhuge Seung Kye but that wasn’t the case now.

They couldn’t even see any pirates. It was because the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain had given out an order to be prudent on plundering for the moment.

“They want us to believe in that kid that has just started to grow pubic hair?” The warriors got dumbfounded when they first saw Ju Seo Cheon, before their expedition began.

It was because the expert the head merchant had introduced was a youth that had just come of age.

In the Midlands, one became an adult at fifteen years old. That meant that he wasn’t even a youth.

If they had known that Ju Seo Cheon was actually only twelve, they may have convulsed.

“Sh, shout your mouths. It seems like he really is an expert.” The only first rate warrior among the ten of them raised his index finger and placed it on his lips. He was telling them to shut up.

Experts recognized low ranks but contrary to that, low ranks couldn’t recognize an expert.

“Is that true brother Wang?”

Brother Wang was the first rate warrior, Wang il.

The name Wang il was old fashioned but he was still a first rate warrior that almost reached the peak. He was someone that had grown up to that boundary from the pit so he was that respected and also had many people following him.

“Is he really a martial artist?”

Normal people didn’t learn martial arts and that’s why there was no rank.

It was obvious for them to not recognize it.

“You must have also seen clearly the steps of captain Ju or his posture with no openings.”

“Mm.” “Don’t look away because of your pride. And even if he is not an expert, we must obey his orders. Didn’t the head merchant say so before leaving Weng An?” “I’m sorry brother Wang.” “There’s no need to apologize to me. Apologize to captain Ju when we are resting later. The head merchant may see us in a bad light if we make a mistake.”

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[starrywriting]

first love

06-12-17

inspo: ‘Mass is not proportional to volume.

A girl as small as a violet…

A girl who moves like a flower petal…

is pulling me with more force than a mass.

Just then, like Newton’s apple,

I rolled toward her without stopping until I fell on her…

with a thump.

With a thum-thump.

My heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground.

It was my first love’.

-Kim In-yook

word count: 1,540

warnings: words: damn and hell???

( y/n unwillingly finds her summer love in the shallow booths of Pop’s the week before summer break hits Riverdale like a tidal wave. )

The air was hot, suffocating and deadly. It dampened the clothes of the people who walked through it and it created small crystals of sweat that seemed to slowly build up along hairlines, arms and bodies. Riverdale was quaint, boring, but tranquil and the same kids could be seen roaming the streets, laughing, talking, creating chaos. Nothing ever changed, and you weren’t sure if that was a good thing.

She gasped loudly, her head breaking through the waters surface as her (y/h/c) wisps clung to her delicate cheeks and neck. The water around her was glistening, the suns rays making it look as magical as it made her feel. This was (y/n)’s place, the pool. The citizens of Riverdale seemed to set it aside without a care, most of the residents had a pool in their backyards so the pool she was floating in now, was long forgotten by everyone it seemed.

Coming to this town was excruciating. She was no Veronica Lodge. Both had come around the same time, but Veronica’s beauty and backstory seemed to over shadow (y/n)’s but, surprisingly… (Y/n) didn’t mind. All she  cared for was the directions to the library. She had opted to be the watcher rather than be the watched; and so that’s what she did, she watched. She watched the jocks and their stupidity and how they covered their insecurity with sex and muscles. Or how Betty, the good girl of the school was pushing, craning and screaming to escape herself because she didn’t know who she was anymore.. everyone was readable to (y/n), everyone but the kid in the crown hat.

She always noticed his presence; not because he was looking at her, far from that. But, he always was there, he was always in the shadows of every school event, every field trip, every class room and (y/n) seemed to catch herself doing double takes on him because, at times it felt as if he wasn’t truly there, that we was only something her imagination made up to help her cope with the darkness that was growing in Riverdale. How could someone so interesting, someone who seemed to pull her towards him be so.. over looked?

Her damp feet darkened the pavement beneath her as her hair left a trail of droplets behind her. Coming to Riverdale was meant to be a change. Something to help not only her mother, but also her cope with the fact that they were no longer a three person family but rather, a two person family.. Her father had left and for a lists of reasons that haunted (y/n), she was forced to move to Riverdale; the town with pep. Riverdale at first was beautiful. The tiny, peaceful, almost plastic look to it made (y/n) feel at ease, but as time went on… It clicked to her. This plastic looking town was dark, very dark. Each person in the town seemed to be harboring a secret. Dark and ugly, each secret took a toll on each person of the town, whether they themselves realized it or not; but she realized. She felt at times, that even she was hiding an ugly monster inside her, something that weighed on her shoulders. Riverdale seemed to do that to you. Make you question everyone and everything around you.

Her eyes averted from the words that decorated the pages of the Blue and Gold, to the water droplets that splashed against the paper from her long, full lashes, to the small name at the bottom of the first article; Jughead Jones. As an outcast, (y/n) had never remembered her fellow school mates by their names. (Not because she was too rude to learn them, but rather because she had no one to learn them from.) She memorized her fellow peers by their facial expressions. Sour-faced was none other than Cheryl Blossom; the twin who sadly lost her other half; her brother. Doe-Eyed was easily Betty Cooper, her pristine ponytail and green eyes radiated against her pale skin that she felt so uncomfortable in.. and it wasn’t until later in the year that (y/n) but two in two together. Pinning furrowed brows with the crown hat as the marvelous writer, Jughead Jones.

The name itself sent shivers down her spine. He was something else. Every movement he made, every breath he took seemed more artistic than that of everyone elses. It felt like everything he did had a second meaning; like his writing. He was like a painting, every time you looked at it, you began to see even more beauty to it. It was obvious to (y/n) that she didn’t love Jughead, it was impossible to love someone who you haven’t even shared the same air as, let alone talk to him, right? However, what (y/n) was sure of, was that she was intrigued. How could she not be?

She watched her feet carefully, small spots forming on the fabric of her chucks from the water that seemed to cling onto her skin in attempts to avoid the burning sun. (Y/n) didn’t know at this point what was pool water and what was sweat but, as it was almost summer, she couldn’t give a damn.

The bell rung softly, signaling her arrival to Pop’s diner as small pieces of wet hair slipped out of her deformed bun, sticking out at random. “How’s it going Pops?” (Y/n) greeted happily, a grin quickly forming on her face as she leaned against the counter that separated her from the man who at this point was more like a friend rather than the owner of her favorite food stop.

“I’m feeling just right..” Pops hummed, an inevitable smile forming on his lips as he closed the cash register. “Your order isn’t ready yet, but tell your mother its because I’m making her milkshake extra sweet, like I promised!” Pops laughed, ruffling her damp hair before moving towards the kitchen. (Y/n) could only smile, shaking her head as she leaned her chin onto the palm of her hand. The diner was crowded. Teens bustled throughout the joint, moving from one table to the next, large grins on their faces. (Y/n) couldn’t help but watch them, it was interesting to watch them fake their emotions. Girls who had talked bad about each other behind their backs just the day before, sat next to each other, sharing a milkshake as they giggled empty compliments to each other. Or the couples, their hands intertwined without realizing that their hands, the night before, had been touching someone else’s hands as they rode out their climaxes. Everything was bizarre. It left her feeling a buzz throughout her body. Teenagers were rough, and she felt bad for herself for not only being along side them 24/7 in this god forsaken town but because she herself was considered a teenager like the rest of them. What an insult.

Her thumb had found its way into her mouth as she bit down on the pad of it, her eyes scanning hungrily for a certain someone, but she wouldn’t admit that to herself. She would never admit to herself that she looked for his crown beanie, or his blue eyes that seemed to be looking at the world morbidly. And it wasn’t until she found him, his bright sapphire eyes already on her that she let out the air that she unexplainably had been holding in. Even from a far, he made (y/n)’s eyes go the slightest bit wide as her lips parted in surprise.

Her eyes were glued to his. Her hands fiddled under the counter, even though she tried her best to calm her nerves and stop her hands from exposing her quick heart rate and tinged cheeks, but her feeble attempts were futile. She watched him as he watched her, and involuntarily she felt her bottom lip getting caught between her teeth as he stood up, sliding out of the bright red booth, laptop in hand as he strode over to her. (Y/n) felt a non existent breeze blow through her body, a shudder making its way into her bones as goosebumps blossomed quickly onto her skin like the bright flowers that bloomed outside.

Her eyes travelled from his ocean eyes that held an ocean so vast that she could drown in it, to his lips. The curve of his cupids bow making (y/n)’s ears hot and it wasn’t until she went farther down that she took in the leather jacket that hugged his lean frame loosely. He was a deadly serpent. Her mother had warned her about them… so why did she find herself craning for more from him?

“You’re a sight for sore eyes..” Jughead smirked, setting his laptop down as he slid into the seat next to her, “Names’ Jughead, what’s yours?” He hummed, copying her position, his thumb between his teeth as he smiled gently.

“(y\n)..” She smiled back, leaning back on her stool, her soft eyes looking him up and down once more before she sighed. (Y/n) was in for one hell of a summer.

[cyclopsgirlbook-blog]

Cyclops Girl, Chapter 1: Week 3, Day 3 of School

First Sign: < DIFFERENT >

American Sign Language. Two forefingers are crossed, and then separated.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   A female teacher finished chewing on her pencil, reversed it, examined her clipboard, and moved the saliva-coated eraser down a list of student names. She paused for a moment and then began, "Miss Meh—"

   "Here!" The girl bolted upright. She had already memorized the position of her name on the list and stood immediately, having anticipated this ordeal for several anxious minutes. The girl held in her hands a carefully prepared prompting paper which she knew that in spite of the time that she worked on it that it wouldn't be good enough. She pressed her face close toward the paper in order to hide it from public view, but of course she had to keep it at a certain distance away so that she would be able to read it, and because according to the teacher, people had to be able to hear her.

   The girl's erectness slowly morphed into a hunching posture, and her straight black hair hung down over her cheeks and in front of her face. Her hair was short, the sides and back cropped traditionally to end at the jawline and nape of the neck, the bangs [fringe] covering her forehead. Her skin was pale, almost white but with a slight tinge of yellow to it. She had a torso that was rounder about and wider than average, almost barreled, not because of fat, but from a thickness and stoutness in the bone structure that was characteristic of her race. Meanwhile though, her arms fell weakly from her sides, lacking musculature and being almost tube-like.

   Her face was not pretty, but nor was it ugly, even though she often thought it so. She had a wide, flat mouth, that had thirty-two shining teeth, none missing, although the canine teeth were a bit larger and pointier than a normal human's. There was nothing wrong with her mouth. Over her mouth lay a small, flat, button-like nose with two wide nostrils that let in enough air for her to breathe. Her nose was good. And above that, lay, surmounted by a prominent brow ridge and surrounded by a large bony socket that protectively sunk into the middle of her face, one big eye.

   She was a cyclops, and part of the cultural exchange program for monsters and humans. As part of her writing assignment for her English language and literature class, she had to address the class, out loud, for a total of five minutes. She began speaking.

* * * * * * *

   "...In 1945, the Second Great Human War ended. The Allied Powers occupied Japan. That is, America, China, England, and the Soviet Union. T-Tokyo was divided between them and declared an international zone. Tokyo was handed over to United Nations control in 1964. In 1987, Japan regained its independence.

   Then, in 1999, the barrier between the human world and the monster world was broken. War almost immediately broke out between the monster nations and the humans. The next year, a peace treaty was signed. It was all just a big misunderstanding. Tokyo was selected as the place for a special mission for human-monster interaction due to its s-status as an international zone.

   Finally, in 2001, the first monster-integrated school was created. Humans and monsters have established better relations and are becoming friends. I hope that we can become better friends and work together toward achieving greater harmony..."

   "C minus. Next!" spat the impatient female teacher.

   "O-oh..." groaned the twelve-year-old cyclops girl. She had just finished delivering her oral report on the history of human-monster relations. From an already quivering posture, she sank down into her seat and hunched over her desk. Even the slightest hint of disapproval could throw her thoughts into disarray.

   The class continued with reports from several other students, including a lamia and two taurids, who each chose their own specialization for the assignment. The cow girl and bull boy sat on opposite sides of the room, the cow girl covered in a veil, according to the requirements of their culture.

   After the period ended, the cyclops girl quietly made her way out of the room, never first but preferably not last either. She wished to avoid calling attention to herself. As she exited into the hallway, a blonde-haired human girl yelled out to her.

   "Umma!"

   "Huh?" the cyclops girl responded, her gaze having been downward, but momentarily lifted in response to hearing her name.

   "How'd it go?" the blonde girl energetically demanded.

   "Oh, it's you, Stacy-san," the other recognized. "...Not so good."

   "Really?" Stacy asked phatically. Then a big, toothy smile suddenly appeared on her face. "Hey, are you free tonight? I got movie tickets!"

   "Eh? Tonight...? Sorry, I don't want to..." Umma replied, speeding up her pace and making her way to her next classroom, breaking with her friend unilaterally.

   "But it's your favorite..." Stacy whimpered, her words falling off as Umma left into the distance. Stacy had purchased tickets to The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the remake).

   Umma loved horror movies, or at least that was what Stacy thought, as all of the movies that Umma had said she "really enjoyed" were in the horror genre. Stacy had bought the tickets thinking that this would be a nice outing with her totally best friend, but the gesture was not well received by Umma. Umma had already had other things on her mind; had already had other stresses; her English grade, and what happened this morning, among them; and for her, an outing with Stacy was just another complication to add to that.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   Umma tried to walk swiftly through the halls and courtyards, determined to get to her next class as soon as possible. But the student population presented an obstacle to her intentions, the mass being as chaotic as a sea. There was no regulation on which direction students walked, trotted, or slithered. So to simply get through a quarter mile, Umma had to do some of the most complex analysis she could manage. When she asked others how they did it, they said she should simply "go with the flow." She thought to herself, irritatedly, "Which flow is that supposed to be?"

   On top of the difficulty of simply moving, Umma did not like being touched or touching other people. In this environment, of course, the uncomfortable experience which she considered a crime was inevitable. Despite her best efforts to look around to see where everyone was, she bumped into someone.

   A second-year boy with a mess of snow-white hair backed up from Umma with a scowl. "Watch where you're going," he instructed her derisively, pushing up his light-frame eyeglasses.

   "I was," she almost shouted at him, having coincidentally run into him when she was turning her head back to look behind her for safety purposes. But he had already brushed past her, invisibly, and so she didn't say anything. As he left her, Umma felt a chill on her body almost as though she had been suddenly shoved into a warehouse freezer.

   The boy was Japanese, according to his school enrollment form, but he didn't much look like it. His face was long and thin, looking fatless, but without defined features, more smooth than bony. His eyes were peculiar. The whites of them were very white, so that they appeared almost glass-like. The irises were white as well, not the pinkish color that one would expect of an albino, but a perfect white, like that of a precious stone. His hands had long fingers that looked beautiful and almost feminine, but with a pointed seriousness such that one could call them claws or talons.

   Just as the boy left Umma's sight, he was accosted by a green-skinned orc in a striped rugby uniform who clapped his hand in an all-too-familiar way on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, Yuki!"

   The boy, Yukihito Tsurara, also called Yuki for short, glanced to his shoulder, saw the knobby green fingers, and immediately knew what this was about. "What?" he responded in annoyance.

   The orc let off his green hand from Yuki's flesh-pink collared shirt and tried to think of the best way to put it. "Listen, Yuki, there's a big game comin' up," the orc started.

   "A game, huh?" Yuki wore a shirt that was one size too large for him, on which he had fastened all but the top two buttons, so that his collarbone could be seen. The shirt was loose around the chest, but barely accomodated the length of his arms. On his long, slim legs were a pair of faded skinny jeans and on his feet were a pair of black, rubber-soled sneakers.

   "It would be real nice if you could be there."

   "Sorry, I don't really do sports. I don't like being in the Sun that long."

   "It's the first game of the season. It's going to be at night."

   "Sorry, I'm not really interested." Yukihito walked gracefully, one foot in front of the other, with a slight hip sway, like an old-fashioned lady, except that sometimes he would wildly shift to one side or the other, as if he was being blown by the wind or he was going to fall, but he would quickly correct himself up again. At times he seemed to move instantly from one location to another, within the blink of an eye, as if he had teleported.

   Meanwhile, the orc plodded along heavily behind Yuki at the boy's left side, sometimes having to break into a jog when he lost track of him.

   In the background, a squad of snake girls were ascending a flight of stairs, one of them clearly struggling. "Ah-yee, sistah, this scalin' don't come easy, walkas be crazy like. 'S like scalin' up a saw, innae?" The others laughed at her, covering their mouths with their claws, gold-colored bangles swaying gently on their forearms.

   The orc sucked his lip in distaste as they passed the group of lamias. "Yuki..." he pleaded, "Coach says that you have to be there."

   "What do you want from me, Claude?" Yuki asked, sighing.

   "Lemme put it this way, Yook..." the orc explained, "Ain't you was voted the Prettiest Boy in the School last year?"

   "Ugh, don't remind me."

   "We have to get some more girls in there. We know they're crazy about you. It's a publicity thing. Gotta fill in those seats."

   Even now, there were girls secretly gathered at the sides of the halls, whispering among themselves and trying to get a rare photo of the amazing Prince Yuki with their mobile phones.

   Yuki asked Claude sarcastically, "Would you pay me?"

   "I'll do your English homework for a month."

   An orc doing his homework. "I'd rather you not. The teacher might think that I got brain damage."

   "That's harsh, Yook."

   About this time, the white-haired boy was nearing his next class. He wiped his glasses with a cloth while walking. The two were silent for a while. Finally, they arrived at Yuki's lecture room. Readjusting his thin lenses, he confirmed that the room number was correct. As Yuki was reaching for the doorknob...

   "So?" the orc tried again.

   Yuki looked at the orc up and down, and then replied, emotionlessly, "I'll see what I can do."

   Pleased with this, Claude smiled an orc smile, with two bottom fangs sticking out. "Thanks, Yook."

   Yuki turned back to the door, but feeling the orc's presence, turned back to him, with an annoyed expression, as if saying, "You can go now."

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   Claude excused himself and started for his way across campus. He had been in a completely different location than he was supposed to be, more inclined toward athletics rather than academic performance.

   Relieved, Yuki finally opened the door and went inside. As his hand left the brass doorknob, it left a coating of frost on the surface.

   Meanwhile, in the mechanics building, was the cyclops girl. After English, Umma had a lecture / lab class in "Human Machines," one of which demonstrated was a can opener. She took part in the practice for the can opener, even though she already knew how to use one. Thinking about the negative experiences of that day, the girl gritted her teeth and worked her strength into turning the knob, which had the blade crunch and cut through the metal until it ended in a satisfying "pop". A whispering student across from her complained about her making a fearsome face.

   After that, the daily announcements were made, and the teacher gave cleaning assignments. Umma was given the task of sweeping the halls in the mechanics building. While she was cleaning, three of the orc boys from the rugby team came by and started roughhousing in the hall. One of the boys slammed into the locker beside her. She froze and waited for them to pass.

   One of the orcs got a certain bright idea and ran up to Umma and grabbed the school utility broom she had been using for sweeping.

   "What are you doing, Pierre?" another of the orcs asked.

   "Oi, look at this, mate," the orc said, putting his legs on either side of the broom and pointing the handle side in front of him at an upward angle. "I'm a knight, lads."

   "Ay, look like right on Roland you do."

   "Chevalier majestique [majestic cavalier]."

   The orc with the broom then began backing up. "I'm gonna joust you, mate."

   "Oh hell," his friend cried in mock terror. The two orcs without the broom began jogging at a moderate speed, looking back expectantly.

   "Waaagh!" Pierre cried, charging at the others with his broom as steed and lance in one.

   Umma was shaking. In no time, the orcs had disappeared down the hall and around a corner, taking Umma's calm, and the only broom she had, with them.

   "What's wrong?" a voice said, coming from beside Umma.

   She turned, not expecting someone to respond to her.

   There stood a boy wearing a khaki-colored leisure suit and black tie, holding a trilby hat in one hand. He had a childlike oval-shaped face with almond eyes. That face was framed by soft, downy, light brown hair, which was mostly short but had two sections which were longer, which fell over his ears and down onto his neck. Over that face lay an idle smile, not of someone that was particularly happy at anything, but happy with life.

   "Cleaning..." Umma mumbled.

   "Cleaning?" the boy repeated.

   "Me... cleaning..." Umma tried again, louder this time.

   "Do you speak English?" the boy inquired, trying to be accommodating. "I speak Chinese too."

   "No," responded Umma. "I mean yes." She tried to make her situation comprehensible. "I was cleaning and... They took my broom..."

   "I bet it was those orcs, huh?" he guessed, not with judgmentalism but with an almost laughing reaction.

   "Yeah..." What Umma thought was, "How did you know?"

   "Wait right here, just a sec," the boy with the trilby hat said to her.

   "Huh, for what?"

   The boy had already walked off a bit. "I'm going to get you another one."

   "Oh..." responded Umma. "Thank you..." she muttered. But by the time she said that, he was too far away to hear her.

   The boy walked over to the janitorial closet, which was in a different section of the building. He tried the door knob, but it was locked. He pushed in and out. It didn't open. He looked to each side to make sure no one was watching. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out two pins. He set his hat down on a nearby hall bench. Then he put his head near the knob and began working the two pins into the lock opening. It took him about half a minute to figure out the mechanics, and then he opened the door.

   "Really simple lock for this one," he thought to himself. After all, it was not a commercial lock, or even a house lock, and was only there for not having students mess with the supplies. The boy scanned the closet, which had a single glaring incandescent lightbulb hanging above, which hurt his eyes, and he brought out two brooms. Then he locked the door, got his hat, and walked back.

   Umma was surprised when he brought back two brooms. "I only need one..." she said, not understanding.

   "You have cleaning duty, right?" the boy responded, resting the brooms on a wall and taking off his suit jacket. His biceps and triceps bulged under his shirt, contrasting with his baby face. "Let me help you."

   "Oh..." Umma recognized, blushing. "Thanks..."

   "No problem." His suit jacket and hat were now rested on a hall bench, his jacket neatly folded and the hat on top of it. Handing one broom to her and taking one himself, he instructed, "You take that side, and I'll take this side of the hall over here."

   Pleased but feeling this was happening too fast, Umma stammered, "But... Your name."

   "Akechi. Akechi, Sumire."

   "Sumire? Isn't that a girl's name?"

   "Yes, I know," he said, smiling. "You can call me Kesh."

   "Kesh... Okay..."

   "And yours?"

   "Umma..."

   "Umma?" he repeated, hoping he got it correct. "A beautiful name, for a beautiful girl like yourself."

   Umma blushed. "It's not, really --" Umma tried to say, but she was interrupted by Sumire.

   "You get that side, I'll get this one," he said, reminding her of the task.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   After that, they broke to their respective sections of the hall. Umma looked at Sumire intermittently, as if amazed, but Sumire didn't look at her, only staring at the floor and at his work. When he had worked for long enough, and was nearing the end, he wiped the sweat from his face with his hand, two gold rings gleaming on it.

   Before Umma knew it, they were both done.

   "Good job, Umma-san," Sumire praised her.

   "No, it's thanks to you, Kesh-san..." He had done half the work, nearly.

   Sumire aired out his shirt and donned his jacket again, putting his hat in hand. "Let me know if you need anything. Any time."

   Umma smiled and opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

   "You go on home," said Sumire. "I'll stay behind and take care of these things," meaning the brooms.

   "Okay," said Umma. "Th-thanks again." She walked away and out of the building happily.

   Sumire returned the brooms to the closet, unlocking and locking the door easily. Then, when he got outside, he received a call on his mobile phone. The phone was a cheap, "disposable" black flip phone, one of the cheapest models at the store, its value contrasting with the clothes he wore. "Hello?" he answered. A man spoke on the other end of the line, in a voice too low for anyone else to hear.

   "Yes," Sumire affirmed. "Uh-huh." His smile disappeared and his face turned grimly serious. "I understand," he confirmed in Chinese. His eyes darted around. Then he ended the call and closed the phone.

   On her way home, Umma stopped at a local convenience store. She had expected to buy a strawberry cake there, because there was supposed to be a 50% off deal for the personal-sized strawberry cakes for that day, and she had been expecting it all week. But when she got in the store, they were all sold out. Umma frowned in disappointment, but tried to find something else to buy. While she was searching, a cockroach emerged on the floor. Surprised, Umma yelped and backed away haphazardly, knocking her head on a shelf for potato crisps and falling on her butt.

   "You alright, ojou-chan [little miss]?" the shopkeeper yelled.

   "Y-yeah," Umma replied, sweating.

   Umma tried to ignore the cockroach. After some time deciding, she settled on a fruit parfait which came in a little plastic bowl and had yoghurt along with strawberries and blueberries and some kind of granola mix on the top. It wasn't the strawberry cake that she wanted, but it was a good substitute.

   Umma bought the fruit parfait, thanked the shopkeeper, who was an old Japanese man, and went out of the store. Pleased and wanting to have at least a taste before she went home, just outside the store, on the street side, she popped off the lid and got the spoon out.

   It was just then that a primary school boy quickly rode past on a bicycle, splashing from the roadside motor oil in Umma's direction.

   The oil did not travel too far up, missing Umma's face. But it did stain her dress. Umma stared down at her newly-opened fruit parfait. The petroleum now ran over the fruit and granola and soaked into the yoghurt. Umma grimaced, put the lid back on it, and threw it in the trash can. Then she started for home again.

   After Umma got home, she went into her room, put on headphones, planted herself on her bed, and listened to Faith and the Muse. It had been a terrible, awful, very bad, no good day.

* * * * * * *

Second Sign. < SUPPRESS >

American Sign Language. A hand is brought down over the chest and closes tightly as it descends to the stomach.

   Earlier, that morning.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   Umma walked through a poorly-paved, half-dirt path on the outskirts of West Tokyo. A gunfight had occurred the previous evening, around 3 AM, between rival gangs of the Chinese immigrant community, the dispute having been over the rights for importation of a new shipment of illegally acquired antiques from the mainland. About 17 people had been injured, and 4 killed, the largest amount in the last eight months for one night for the municipality.

   A load of priceless jewels, jade, and gold had been burst open from their poorly constructed crates in the melee. After, and even during the crossfire, defending gang members attempted to recover their goods, stuffing jewelry and necklaces haphazardly into the back of their Ford pick-up truck. Cleaning up after the battle, they recovered most of it, but fearing spending too long and being caught by the Metropolitan police, they left a few items behind. One of these was a small, almost unnoticeable, yet very beautiful, black-streaked milky-white pearl.

   Umma had a tendency to collect and form an attachment to mundane, everyday objects that she personally thought were interesting, pretty, or sensorily pleasing in some way. As she ambled on the path going toward the train station, the item caught her eye, its perfect alabaster and ash existing in contrast to the modern gray of the pavement. Her steps quieted and retarded, she stared at the thing in small bewonderment before kneeling down and picking it up.

   It was rare, she thought, ethereal, although she did not treat it any different from the rocks she sometimes collected. It was small, albeit tangible, substantial enough, about an inch [3 centimeters] in diameter. She did not know how delicate it was. In care that may or may not have been excessive, she loosely cradled it in her virginal hands.

   The texture was somewhat similar to that of a chicken egg, albeit smoother, and it had the same weight as one, although it was much less in size. The dark streaks upon the light surface were long and wavy, seeming to have their own spirals and tendrils, with splattering here and there, almost like an image of a galaxy captured in inverse. Umma thought to herself, she would keep this, treasure this, and this would be her happiness for the day.

   She walked the out-road for a while longer, and as she approached closer to the train station, the signs of urbanization became more apparent. Modern glass-and-steel buildings adorned the skylines, and the hum of cars and rumble of street crowds were audible. Yet, the more negative effects of city growth manifested. The path came upon the slum quarters of the city, the last stop before the glistening paradise of downtown, although it was less than half a mile [one kilometre] away.

   Umma had become distracted by her newfound treasure, which had occupied her thoughts for a good thirty minutes before she gave in to the impulse to examine it in her hands once more. Thinking she knew the route well enough, she had not looked where she was going, and soon found herself in the area of city known as the "eagle's den."

   "Oiiii," an irritated female voice rang out.

   "Where do you think you're going, little girl?" said another.

   "Huh?" Umma looked up in confusion.

   "We said," an adolescent reiterated, clutching Umma's blouse collar in a sharp claw at the end of a feathery blue arm, "Where do you think you're going?"

   Umma's mouth opened and trembled as she struggled to say something.

   The assailant released her and backed up. Umma almost fell over backwards and tried to right herself. Two older girls, one with blue feathers, the other with green, now flanked Umma on each side. Gaudy jewelry including ear piercings of interlocked dangling rings was worn by one of them. A silver cross, a Western novelty, the meaning evidently lost on them, was worn by the other. They both wore loose socks, falling to and scrunching down onto the ankles of their scaly feet. They were harpies.

   At a slight distance stood a third girl, turned away, but keeping tabs on the situation, who wore distressed denim jeans cut off raggedly at the thigh of her thick horse legs, and smoked a cigarette. She was their leader, and a two-legged centaur.

   "What are you doing coming around here? You looking for trouble?" the blue-haired harpy asked annoyedly.

   "N-no..." Umma sputtered. "I always walk here... It's the shortest route to my school..."

   "Is it now? You must have been lucky for us not to find you up until now. You're walking into the territory of the Stregheristas [witches]. That's us, if you're slow in the head."

   "I'm sorry...?"

   "'I'm sorry?' Are you or aren't you? You make it sound like a question. Come on, Vinka, let's have some fun with this one." The harpy girl strafed behind Umma and batted the latter forward with the span of her wing.

   The other harpy picked up the idea and swatted against Umma in the other direction, back toward the wings of her friend. "Got you, Carla."

   The two thus played something similar to a game of catch with Umma's body between them. As this went on, Umma clenched her teeth and held ever more protectively on to the pearl which she still held in her hand, guarding it against damage more than she guarded her own bodily health.

   "What's this?" inquired the blue harpy as she pushed Umma onto the ground.

   The younger girl's hand went loose and let out the pearl, which fell earthward and rolled before settling. The green-haired harpy spied the object and immediately took hold of it. "It looks valuable. I wonder if we could pawn this for some cash."

   "Hey!" the blue-haired one objected. "I found it first. Give it here!"

   The green-haired harpy squawked. "No, I did!"

   The blue and green harpies proceeded to fight over the item, shouting at each other, "Mine!" and "Mine!" over and over again.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   "Enough, you two!" The centaur girl tossed her cigarette and stepped into the fore. "Give it to me."

   "Alright, boss..." the green-haired harpy reluctantly agreed, depositing the gem into her humanoid hand.

   The centaur girl briefly took the ball up to eye level for inspection, rolling it between her thumb and forefingers, then held it non-chalantly thereafter. "We don't have time to pawn anything. We have another deal coming up today. You two will get plenty of cash after that. Of course, you two wouldn't remember that, would you? That's why I'm the boss, and not you two bird-brained idiots. The best thing to do in a situation like this... Is to destroy it."

   "Yeah, boss. It's probably worthless anyway. It's probably a fake."

   "This'll teach her a lesson about going into our territory," the centaur concluded, dropping the pearl onto the ground. She glanced over to Umma, and not even looking at the thing, crushed the pearl under her hoof.

   "N-hoh!" yelped Umma as she struggled to breathe under the weight of the harpy's leg on her back.

   The centaur trotted over to Umma, the harpy moving aside to make way for the horse girl. The gang boss laid her hoof at first lightly on Umma's back. "Don't come around here again, you hear?" She then lifted her leg and struck down hard, forcing the wind out of Umma's lungs. "That was only half-power. Any more and you would have had your ribs broken." The centaur stepped off of Umma's body and made her way to leave. "Come on, girls, we're going to be late for class."

   The two harpies followed. "But we're always late anyways..." one protested.

   Umma sobbed after the three had left, her tears soaking the dirt of the ground. When she finally managed to stand, leaving the comfort of that patch of earth, she went over to look where the pearl had been. The item lay broken into pieces, which varied in size and lay splayed out over the surrounding dirt. Not knowing how to possibly bring it with her or repair it, Umma left it there. At first she desperately reversed herself, running in the opposite direction as the girls had come from, but then she corrected herself, and went toward the train station.

   Unseen to her, a dark cloud began rising from the fragments of the pearl. Concentrated over the most intact piece, a fragment of the lower shell which lay on the ground like a shallow incense bowl, a wispy black tower rose toward the blue sky.

* * * * * * *

Third Sign. < DAUGHTER >

American Sign Language. The arms are placed together and rocked over the chest.

   After school. Umma's bedroom.

   When it came to be late enough, and she had cooled down emotionally, Umma unpacked her bag and began working on her homework. This is the part of school that she enjoyed the most. Or, she thought, it had the least potential for a problem happening. The first assignment was a math worksheet. The girl got out her best mechanical pencil, and carefully but calmly wrote her name in neat letters on the top line of the page: "Umma Megaloculus."

   When it was about 6 PM [18:00], she received a knock on her door. "Onee...chan. Onee...chan [big sis]," came a voice from without, small but aggressive.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   "Oi, oi, you don't have to knock so much," Umma said, opening the door and coming out.

   "I only knocked ten times," her sister responded. She was a cyclops too, but younger, aged eight years old.

   It was time for dinner, Umma guessed. She stepped into the dining room to smells of steaming chicken.

   "How was your day, honey?" her mother asked, not turning to her but attending to the kitchen. Her mother was not a cyclops.

   "Fine," she might have said, but she didn't say anything, pulling out her Western-style chair with a squeak and sitting down at the table.

   "I made kateh [sticky rice]," her mother said, explaining herself.

   Across from Umma, at the opposite side of the table, sat her father, who involved himself in a newspaper, still half-dressed in his suit from work. He had a slight underbite that revealed two triangular lower fangs when he wasn't attentive to it. When he heard Umma sit down, he turned up his eye, and looked at her sympathetically and briefly, then returned to his paper. "Japanese President in Scandal Once Again" and "Prime Minister Unveils New Economic Plan" ran the headlines.

   "Oogie," Umma's mother requested, "Put that thing away. And get dressed for dinner."

   Her father silently complied. Oogie was her pet name for him, his proper name being Augebert.

   While he was away, the house phone rang. The wife picked it up. She was about to answer, "Moshi moshi? [Hello?]" but the calling code indicated it was an international number.

   "Hello?" a man asked in a heavy Eurasian accent.

   "Yes?" the wife responded, trying to remember her English. "Who's calling?"

   Umma's sister overheard from the phone, "Department... Family Affairs... Former Soviet Union..."

   As Umma's mother tried to finish the dinner, stirring pots and mixing things, she listened to a government official speak at length. As she bent her neck to hold the phone against her shoulder, wavy locks the color of burnt wheat fell out of her headscarf onto the milky white of the receiver. "Uh-huh... Uh-huh..."

   "What's going on?" the younger daughter asked innocently.

   Covering the phone, the mother answered, "It's about Grandpa."

   "Oh."

   "Don't tell your dad. He would be sad." She returned to the phone, responding to the man again. "Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh..."

   Some indistinguishable sounds from the other end.

   Umma felt too tired to pay much attention.

   "What do you mean?" The woman clutched the phone angrily. "He's my father!"

   More sounds from what seemed to be some kind of bureaucrat. "...Calm down, Demetra."

   "'Demetra'? That's Miss Chagani."

   The woman started speaking in her native Persian. The children did not understand the language, but from the sound of it, they would describe it as some kind of very fast yelling.

   When Augebert made his way back to the table, he had changed into a rough tan tunic with button clasps down the middle. This was a kind of traditional dress for his people after they had abandoned nakedness and wearing loincloths.

   Demetra Megaloculus (nee Chagani) served the meal, which consisted of a roasted chicken, rice, and an assortment of sliced eggplant, squash, and other fruits of the land.

   Umma's father resisted picking up the whole chicken with his enormous hands. He waited as the meat was prepared, and the plates made with rice and vegetables and allotted to each person.

   "Ahem," Umma's mother intoned, raising her arms skyward. "Let us thank Arimaz and the spirits for this meal we are about to receive."

   "We humbly take the flesh of your kind. Your fire, light, and thunder is with us, O Lord." These words were recited by the members of the table, most emphatically by the mother, monotonously said by Umma, imitated by the younger sister, the father merely nodding at the end of it.

   "How was your day at work?" Umma's mother asked.

   Umma's father further resisted touching the meat with this bare hands, remembering the fork and spoon that were placed beside it. He thought about the question, staring blankly forward, and then responded, "Same as usual."

   Augebert had been hired as a consultant for an electrical energy company in Tokyo, and so this had been a major reason for the family's move to Japan. Cyclopses, popularly known among humans for creating the thunderbolts used by Zeus, had independently developed their own knowledge of electrical science. When the human-monster relations began a few years ago, human scientists had been eager to integrate the corpus of cyclopean knowledge.

   After a time, he added, "There's someone there that's annoying me."

   "Oh really?" his wife inquired.

   "Don't worry about it." Umma's father looked down.

   The mother turned to the smaller sister. "What about you, Dora?"

   "Good!" she promptly responded, reflecting more of her general happiness than any specific assessment of her day.

   "Umma?"

   Umma stayed fixed on her food and near-silently grunted. She did not want to be interrogated more and waited, hoping it would stop. Her mother stared at her for a while expectantly, but eventually relented and turned to her plate. Umma pretended to eat, picking at her food with her utensils, but did not have much of an appetite.

   After dinner, Umma's father washed his face and bald head, then returned to the table with his reading glass and a novel for leisure reading.

   Umma by then had left already for her room.

   Umma's mother worked on cleaning the dishes, and then further cleaning in the kitchen and dining area.

   Dora was planted in her seat, bent over a stack of 8x12 [A4] paper and a jumble of crayons that was spilled over the table.

   Her mother continued cleaning, but occasionally looked over to see Dora's progress on what she was doing.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   She drew a picture in crayon of herself. She made the background first, in what looked like the mall. She gave herself a pretty dress. She gave herself hair that looked like her own, short and black like Umma's, content with that. When it came to the face, she thought for a moment, then drew herself with a smile and two beautiful eyes.

   "What a nice picture," her mother said, holding it up. "But what about the eyes?"

   "Having one eye is ugly," the daughter responded. "I want to be pretty like you, mommy."

   Her mother smiled, but her expression soured as she thought about her daughter's condition.

   Augebert put his book down and grabbed the paper. He immediately understood. The cyclops turned toward his daughter and said, "You should be proud of your race."

   Dora lowered her head. She felt a mixture of guilt, shame, and dissatisfaction with her father's demand, but given that she was a child, she had no way of expressing this. She almost cried, but held back.

   Dora got ready to take a bath, although this meant having to consider her body more. Dora's mother and her took baths together, but Umma preferred to bathe separately now.

   Umma's father wasn't able to fit in the bathtub, and so restricted himself to showering with the extending shower-head that the Japanese-style bathroom was fitted with. For this purpose, there was a small but sturdy wooden table placed in the room, which Umma's father used as a stool for squatting on. He was, after all, over 8 feet [2.5 metres] tall and weighed over 380 pounds [170 kilograms], and would have broken any normal-sized stool.

   Dora and her mother scrubbed themselves off, the latter reminding her daughter to clean behind her ears. They then soaked in the tub together. Demetra sat her daughter against her chest. The mother's pillowy breasts lovingly surrounded her daughter's head.

   When the water to the bathroom was running, the pipes made a rumbling sound that disturbed Umma. This was only one of the sounds which potentially disturbed her, and one of the more mild ones. Other sounds included that of the motorcycle, and that of the garbage disposal truck [rubbish truck].

   Umma's bedroom may have been perceived as tenebrous and menacing to outsiders, but to her it was sedate and relaxing, utilitarian. The walls were gray. The bedsheets were gray. On the back wall was fixed a stainless steel grating, from which hung various small personal effects, including pink and purple keychains, and a palm-sized karakuri [mechanical puppet] doll of a young girl.

   Beside her bed stood a small dresser-drawer [chest] on which sat an altar to La Anciana [The Old Lady], a deity venerated in rural Mexico. Next to her framed icon were placed two cheap, short, glass-encased white candles. Umma made sure to light these candles every day at night with a stick from the hearth fire. Occasionally, the icon changed, but she kept up the candles all the same.

   Umma's white blouse hung in front of an open closet [wardrobe] which housed four identical copies of the same.

   Along the middle of the back wall stood a heavy, solid wooden desk, both elegant and fortress-like, Romanesque [medieval], which looked at least a hundred years old, which she used for doing her homework as well as doing her personal writings.

   On her bed lay a stuffed doll of a sheep, a gift from her father. The sheep was big and round and cartoonish with white wool. Albeit, on the tag, Umma had drawn the Sign of the Wolf, with vicious pointed teeth and a long tongue. Really, it looked more like a laughing black dog than a proper wolf. Sometimes Umma turned toward the sheep and thought it was making a face based on the lighting in the room.

   The only light in the room, other than that from the candles, was provided by a single lamp on her desk. The lamp was incandescent, because fluorescent lighting gave her a stomachache. It had to be incandescent.

   Seated at her desk, Umma entertained herself with a dry paintbrush that she kept just for this purpose. She felt the soft bristles on her palms... On the backs of her hands... On her cheeks... On her arms... It was titillating for her, but at the same time, calming, in a meditative sort of way. She made careful not to get it too dirty, because then it would have to be cleaned and then properly dried. She changed out of her school clothes. As she pulled the blouse up, she felt the rough fabric tickle against her nipples, which became erect. She had the beginnings of two small breasts. "I wonder if I should start wearing a bra..." she thought. She slipped her arms into a black hooded jacket, and then zipped up the front. She liked the sound and feeling of the zipper. So she unzipped it and zipped it again. Zip, zip. After she was satisfied with this activity, she got out a dark brown, faux leather book which was marked with a pentagram on the front cover.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

   She opened it. On the first page, there was written in solid black letters: "If you read this, I'll curse you!" She flipped through to the next blank page for an entry. This was her diary. She wrote about her day, according to her current feelings. This was one of the few times when she wrote in ink. She promised herself that whatever she wrote, she wouldn't erase it. With a black nib pen, she scratched to her heart's content and filled up three pages worth. Then she put the pen down.

   She thought about closing the book and putting it away. But then she remembered something someone had told her, someone she called "sensei" [teacher]. If she wrote a diary, she should read back on the old entries from time to time, and compare it to the present. This would put her emotions in perspective. So she flipped back to an entry from three weeks ago. It was her first day of school.

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

Cyclops Girl, Chapter 2: Week 1, Day 1 of School

Fourth Sign. < FEAR >

American Sign Language. Both hands are splayed across the chest, and the mouth emits a silent scream.

   In a large, cold, tiled-floor auditorium gathered an incoming class of 240 students. On a stage stood a woman whose white blouse accomodated six gesticulating arms and from whose matte gray tube skirt extended two hard, chitinous, pointed black legs.

   The arachnid woman directed the staff who stood on the auditorium floor, as they worked to corral the incoming students into seating groups based on their gender, size, and body type. She communicated almost without saying a word, relying upon an elaborate system of hand signals that she produced in simultaneous and dextrous sextuple. Perhaps in order to better survey the audience, she occasionally paced upon the stage, and when she did, she walked with finesse, but making distinct clacking sounds as someone wearing stiletto heels, albeit these sounds being made with the ends of her own feet.

(To be continued...)

[Image: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, illustrated c. 1750 by an unknown artist, now in public domain. From the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts.]

[Follow cyclopsgirlbook.tumblr.com for Cyclops Girl novel chapters and commentary.]

[codsilk80-blog]

Beef TangSuYuk

Some foods go together like hamburgers and french fries, or sushi and miso soup. Likewise, when we eat jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) in Korea, people normally get tangsuyuk to go with jajangmyeon or jjamppong. Tangsuyuk is deep fried pork with a sweet and sour sauce. If you are into mukbang videos, you probably already saw these two eaten together. Maybe you wanted to try it after watching it. So here we are. Now you can make delicious tangsuyuk at home with my tangsuyuk recipe. So let’s get started.

Yield: 4 Servings

Short Korean Lesson

DahngGeun (당근) = Carrot

YangPah (양파) = Onion

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients

½ Cup Onion

½ Cup Cucumber

½ Cup Carrot

1 Cup Fruit Cocktail

Beef Ingredients

2 Cups Beef (Pork or Chicken)

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Cooking Wine (optional)

Batter Ingredients

1 Cup Cornstarch

½ Cup Flour

1 Egg

1 Cup Cold Water

Sauce Ingredients

Directions

Prepare about 1 lb (2 cups) of meat. Usually, we use pork for this dish in Korea. However, I will use beef for mine today. If you are a vegetarian, mushrooms, especially fresh shiitake mushrooms, can be a great replacement.

Cut the meat into thin strips. And then, season the meat with ¼ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of black pepper, and 1 Tbsp of cooking wine (optional). Set it aside for about 10 minutes to marinate. Meanwhile, let’s prepare the other ingredients.

I will carve the cucumber and carrot a little today for to make the dish prettier. This is how you do it. (Please watch the video for this step.) Then, slice ½ cup worth each of a cucumber and carrot into ¼-inch slices.

We also need 1 cup of canned fruit cocktail, drained, along with the vegetable ingredients.

In this step, start to preheat the oil for deep frying on medium-high.

To make the batter, combine 1 cup of cornstarch, ½ cup of flour, 1 egg, and 1 cup of cold water. Mix everything together well.

The consistency will be like crêpe batter.

After 10 minutes, add the marinated meat into the batter.

Mix it together.

Drop a little bit of batter into the preheated oil and if it floats to the surface immediately, the oil is ready for deep frying. Add the meat into the oil.

Fry the meat until the batter becomes lightly browned. You don’t have to cook it completely in this step since we are going to fry them again later. It took about 2-3 minutes for frying the first batch.

Take out the fried meat using a strainer to drain out some of the oil.

Put the meat on a tray covered with some paper towels. The paper towels soak up some of the grease. Repeat the process to fry the rest of the meat.

In a sauce pan, add 5 Tbsp of cornstarch, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 6 Tbsp of sugar, and ¼ cup of vinegar in a pot. Then, mix the ingredients slowly while adding 2 cups of water. Whisk it well until the cornstarch and sugar dissolves. Cook it on high.

When the sauce starts to boil, add the onion, carrot, and cucumber into the sauce.

You can also add the fruit in this step. Boil the sauce for about 5 minutes.

While making the sauce, deep fry the meat one more time to make it crispier. Fry it for about 2-3 minutes, or until it becomes nice golden brown on medium-high.

It is very crispy and delicious.

Pour the sauce on the top of the fried beef, and serve.

  I’m sorry that my voice is not quite normal in this video. I’ve been sick for few days. I almost thought that maybe I should not post a video this week and rest. Then, I got this comment, “See you soon again Aeri” and the message made me think, “Oh yes, many aeriskitchen chingudeul will be waiting for my video this Friday.” So, I started to work again, and I’m glad I did, because I could post this video today. I wanted to tell you that your comments mean that much to me. Thanks for your support and love again.

Did you enjoy my tangsuyuk recipe and special tips for today? Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel and give me a big thumbs up. I will be more than happy to read your comments.

Thank you for watching; see you soon again; bye ~~

Aeri’s Kitchen Tips

Have you ever had a problem cutting your meat like this? Either your knife is not sharp enough to cut the meat nice and neat or the cutting board keeps moving here and there while you are cutting your meat. Then, try these tips.

No 1. To cut meat easier, put your meat in the freezer for an hour before you cut it.

No 2. Place damp (wet?) towel under your cutting board, so it will not move when you cut the meat on it.

After an hour, the meat is a little firmer, but not too hard, so it holds its shape better when cutting it straight through. Now you can see that I can cut the meat smoothly without trouble on a stable cutting board.

Source: http://aeriskitchen.com/2018/11/tang-soo-yook/

[imhillaryanne]

Goblin (Korean Drama)

I finished this drama almost 6 months ago, but I wasn’t able to blog about it because I was so busy with school. I know it’s going to be hard for me to write this one now, but it was a good drama, and it left a positive mark on my head so it’s not easy to forget.

Today is also Gong Yoo’s birthday, so I think I will post this on his birthday! Happy birthday, oppa! 

What was the story about?

It was about a warrior who was cursed to immortal life, and the only way he can rest in peace is when her bride pulls the sword in his chest. But it was not an easy task because he fell in love with her bride and he doesn’t want to return to ashes. Consequently, his desire to stay immortal would cause the bride to die instead.

My opinions:

It’s my first time watching Gong Yoo, and although he wasn’t my type (wow hahaha) I was really amazed by how he’s such a great actor. His character as Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) allowed him to become a brave warrior, a bully brother, a super rich man, a noob person when it comes to things that are done by normal people, a naughty romantic boy, and a widower breaking down in front of his dead wife. With the different faces he has shown in this drama my favorite is when he broke down when he saw Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) in the “tea house” of Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook). It was contagious I also broke down and cried because I really felt the pain! Now I understand why the writer really made sure that he wants Gong Yoo to take the role, this is how versatile he is!

I have watched Kim Go Eun in “Cheese in the Trap” and I am already aware of her talent. So when I found out that she will be taking the lead role in this well-thought drama I realized that I will really support her on this— and yes I wasn’t disappointed and my fondness for her just grew bigger. I’ve always believed that girls should have big eyes to be able to show the variation of their acting/emotions with their eyes, but dang how can Kim Go Eun do it with her eyes??

For Lee Dong Wook, I have watched him in his dramas before and I always get unsatisfied because of how stiff he is when it comes to showing emotions. Like, I know the character is supposed to be someone who had a bad life, but the acting is monotone all throughout and it’s boring me. But for this drama, he was also able to show that goofy side of him when he’s with Sunny (Yoo In Na) or when he’s bickering with Kim Shin (Gong Yoo).

What is remarkable about Sunny (Yoo In Na) is her skill in crying and of course her perfectly carved body in those fashionable clothes. She’s so beautiful, I’d like to trade a week to be her.

It’s my first time watching Yook Sung Jae (Yoo Duk Hwa) and I was surprised in that episode when the almighty possessed him and he was being posh and a know-it-all. I just like that transformation!

And of course, am I going to miss this guy out? He was responsible for my goosebumps when he did that thing with his tongue. Eww! Park Joong Hun (Kim Byung Chul) totally annoyed the heck out of me with his ambitiousness. He’s the destroyer of the once good love story and he caused a lot of troubles. I hate him. I totally love him during the Descendants of the Sun, but when I watched him in Goblin I just want to bury him in the filming set of Descendants of the Sun.

A lot of people are going to agree with me, that the plot was really conceptualized well. The fact that they had the ending on the first episode already says a lot about how they were able to conceptualize it well.

However, I found it questionable how Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) was able to come back to life again after he turned to ashes and how was it possible for him to still have the same powers as Goblin? That part of the plot is quite questionable hmm?

For the Dialogue, there were a lot of quotable exchanges among the cast members but it was really funny when Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) and Kim Go Eun (Ji Eun Tak) set up Grimreaper (Lee Dong Wook) and Sunny (Yoo In Na), then Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) started making remarks about the clothes of Grimreaper (Lee Dong Wook) and Sunny (Yoo In Na), he’s really noob when it comes to things that normal people do. HAHAHA

And I also heard that Grimreaper (Lee Dong Wook) enjoys making adlibs that really cracks the whole set— and sometimes Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) himself because he wasn’t expecting it. HAHAHA

In terms of their Cinematography, there is no doubt it was excellent. As far as I remember they even delayed one episode because they wanted to perfect the effects.

Actually, it was the scene during the episode when Grimreaper (Lee Dong Wook) and Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) saved Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) from the abductors, that made me watch the drama. It was magical, cool, and simply daebak! When the light posts shattered as they both walked, meeeeeh I realized ok girl I am gonna get myself to this.

For their OSTs, I liked “Stay with me”, “Beautiful”, “You’re so Beautiful”, “Who are you”, “I miss you”, “I will go to you on the first snow”, “And I’m here”, “Winter is coming”, “Stuck in Love”, “Heaven”, “Round and Round”, and “Hush”. Yes, I almost liked the whole album and I can’t short list this because I like every song!!!

But of course, even though there are a lot of good things to say about this drama, the thing that I noticed is that there are times when they are no longer consistent and they have parts wherein they cut abruptly to give way to another part.

Lesson I learned: Life is too short to run away from your destiny/problems, what you have to do is face it right away and always prepare for the worst— because even though we are holding our own lives, the incidences that will kill us, harm us, and pain us are still unknown and it will just surprise us when our guards are down.

You can watch it here (http://kissasian.com/Drama/Goblin)

[swordsandparasols]

See this poster for Seven Day Queen?  This poster is very pretty, and makes me very angry.

Park Min Young may be in the center, and she may be playing the title character, but she isn’t the POINT of the poster.  She’s demurely looking down and away, and almost seems incidental to the poster.  See Yeon Woo Jin and Lee Dong Gun there? they’re both looking directly at the viewer, and their eyes are ALMOST level.  Not quite, and noticably not actually level with each other, but close enough that, with both looking at you, THAT’s what demands the viewer’s attention, with Park Min Young conveniently positioned well below that focal point.  The message the poster sends is perfectly clear regardless of if you know anything about the plot:  The men are the point, their relationship or conflict is what’s important.  The woman is there as the love interest for one or both, but not the point. or the show.  (To be fair, while this is the poster for the show I’ve seen the most, it isn’t the only one.  The other posters are better in that she’s more of a focus, but they’re also very clearly focused on the romance, and don’t give her the gravity or import that this poster gives the men.)

This has been aggravating me since it first showed up, and the previews (after the first with all the quick cuts and the white color scheme) only furthered the impression.  I still held out hope (and still do-it was my most anticipated of the current crop of kdramas) despite the steadily increasing unease the promotional materials gave me, but the first episode seemed to reinforce that impression, with most of the gravitas of the episode of the conflict between King Yeonsan and Lee Yook/future-King Jungjong and their issues with each other and Yeonsan’s daddy issues.  Our Heroine was endearing and plucky, but almost incidental to most of the plot in the episode, despite supposedly being the main character.  As I said when I watched the first episode over the weekend,  I’m hoping that the focus readjusts itself once the childhood parts are over and it ends up the show it could be instead of the show I fear it will be.

That said (and honestly, this post is 100% the result of my poking around to look at this week’s ratings for various shows and being newly annoyed by the poster) I can’t help but think this is a terribly timed show.  It’s covering the same material Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People did, but shifting the focus to palace romance and conflict between royals.  Rebel may not have been a runaway hit in the ratings, but it was a pretty solid performer despite almost no promotion, and received critical acclaim on pretty much every front, and a lot of that acclaim was for being the exact opposite of Seven Day Queen.  Seven Day Queen is also up against Ruler: Master of the Mask, which MBC has been heavily hyping for...what...a year?  Interestingly, Ruler was originally scheduled to premiere the day after Rebel’s finale, before Rebel’s final episodes were pushed back due to SK’s presidential election.  While Ruler doesn’t offer the same levels of commentary and critique that Rebel did over both real-life politics and sageuk conventions, it isn’t exactly subtle with it’s messages about political corruption and the dangers of a puppet ruler controlled by a hidden figure.*  Ruler, I think, is steadily pulling around 12-15%  ratings, while Seven Day Queen debuted with ratings at about half of that, despite heavy promotion from KBS. Even if the show does end up brilliant, the timing may have killed its chances of success. 

*Between Rebel, Ruler, Lookout, and Bad Thief, Good Thief, it looks like someone at MBC REALLY had a fire lit under them the last year or so, because they’re piling on the anti corruption, “small group of protagonists take on the powerful who escape/manipulate the law” political commentary.  (Ruler is probably the tamest about this, but it was also pre-filmed, and the plot overall fits into normal sageuk narrative structure, unlike Rebel.)  And I love it.  But gosh, MBC, maybe pace yourself a bit before you burn out?

[languagemajor]

Goblin Review

WATCH THIS. That is all. 

No, seriously, don’t waste time reading reviews, just go start it now.  I can’t recommend this series enough.  Maybe it’s the obsession I’ve had with Gong Yoo since Coffee Prince all those years ago (which may have been my first KDrama). Maybe it’s the pure visual beauty of so many of the scenes. Maybe it’s the unrivaled Goblin/Reaper bromance or the mellow, emotional soundtrack. Whatever the magic ingredient is, it’s working on so many levels.  

Pros: 

The Fantasy: Unlike some other dramas where the fantasy world is downplayed after a sweeping beginning, Goblin consistently delivers delightful, magical elements in every episode. Goblin and Reaper use their abilities in both phenomenal and mundane ways. Eun-tak has ghost friends. The past weaves seamlessly into the present through a reincarnation storyline. This keeps the viewer firmly immersed in an alternate reality. I feel like I’m vacationing in Goblin-land come Friday and Saturday, and that’s a good place to be.  

The Acting: RADIANT performances by Lee Dong-wook (2nd lead show-stealer for sure) and Gong Yoo followed closely by the touching female leads. I was also surprised by Yook Sung-jae, who plays Deok-hwa. He gets the chance to express other emotions besides self-absorbed chaebol in later episodes and for an idol-turned-actor (who many have low standards for) I was deeply moved. I think his performance in episode 11 could rival any veteran actor in the same role. 

The Plot: For the simple fact that the two main men aren’t after the same girl, it’s already head and shoulders above most KDrama storylines.  

The Aesthetics: Want to rest your eyes? Here, have a lusty Gong Yoo standing between gravestones overlooking a glorious Quebec City backdrop. Or a contemplative Gong Yoo walking through a flowering buckwheat field. Or a grieving Gong Yoo meeting his bride in the rain by the ocean.  Or an angry Gong Yoo chopping a boat in half in ancient times. Did I mention Gong Yoo? Oh, and the cinematography, lighting, fashion, and color concept is ok, too.  

The Music: Although there are a few cheesy, crooning love songs in the mix, probably so you don’t forget you’re watching a KDrama, the soundtrack is stirring and plays with my emotions. 

The Writing: Writing and delivery are two sides of the same coin, and since I mentioned acting already, I want to give credit to the writers for making me roll around laughing, gasp in suspense, and cry heaving sobs in almost every episode.  

Cons: 

The Drag: Yes, it can and does drag at times, especially if you’re not invested in the emotion of the moment. The show hooks viewers with the characters themselves more than a fast-paced plot. So although the plot is mysterious, intriguing, and occasionally thrilling, if you’re not buying into the characters in and of themselves, I can understand some episodes seeming slow (I’m looking at you, ski-lodge).  

The Backpack: My other pet peeve is packing most of the action and plot advancement into the last few minutes of each episode. Watching the series live is a mistake I’m sure many fellow impatient fans have made, since my fingers have callouses from all these cliffhangers.  

All in all, this is a show that sticks with you long after watching. Unlike other shows on right now (*cough* Legend of the- *cough*), which are enjoyable but not profound, I find myself thinking about Goblin throughout the week. Its magical charm will burrow a home in your heart. It isn’t over yet (only 2 more weeks). But since every episode has delivered, I’m confident the ending will be warm and satisfying. Please don’t betray my trust! 

-Le Le 

[killingmebtob]

[[☾]] Coming Home Early // Yook Sungjae

Author: @killingmebtob // Sara

Title: Coming Home Early

Characters: Sungjae and Reader

Rating: NC-17

Summary: With shoulders tensed from too much work, (Y/N) asks Sungjae for a massage.

Warnings: NSFW, Explicit Sexual Content, Swearing, Fingering, Unprotected Sex

Author’s Note: AHHHH HELLO! It’s been a while. I’m sorry. Huhu. I wrote a quick on from the requests because I needed something to “relax” my mind from my current writing project for kmbtob. *wink wink* Ah... It’s been a long while since I’ve written a smut so please do bear with me. Hehe.

---

Your name: submit What is this?

---

“Good work today,” my boss tapped my shoulder as she was doing rounds in the office before she left. I could only muster a small smile and a soft thank you before she continued on to the next person. I was a bit envious because she was about to clock out of work while I was going to stay and clock in some overtime.

The Human Resources department was hinting at a promotion soon and my boss had been talking to me about it for a while now, telling me that I’m one of the candidates that she would be endorsing to the HR once they release the details for it. Of course, any sane employee that wanted an advancement in their career would grab the opportunity to show off.

And that’s what I’ve been doing for over a week now.

I’ve been going home late at night. Usually, I’d be too exhausted to do anything aside from washing up and sleeping. I felt terrible partly because I was neglecting myself but mostly because I would see my fiancé watching me worriedly every time. I felt like I was a bad partner by pushing him to the side for the sake of work.

My eyes glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. 7 pm, it read. I didn’t realize that I’ve been here for 2 hours now. I started packing up my things, thinking of my partner. I would usually leave the office at around 9 or 10 in the evening. For a change of pace, I decided to head home early tonight.

The smell of freshly cooked food welcomed me when I got home about an hour later. It made my lips lift up into a smile before I called out, “I’m home.” The sound of scrambling made me laugh a bit as I walked further into our shared apartment.

“You’re home early,” he sounded happy. I followed his voice to the kitchen where he was cooking up dinner. His tall figure loomed over the kitchen stove. He looked really cute wearing a blue apron with cat prints on it. “I’m making your favorite. I’m the best, aren’t I?” he mused as he watched me walk to where he was.

“Thank you, Sungjae,” I mumbled, hugging him from behind. What did I do to deserve such a man?

After dinner, I washed up and quickly changed into my house clothes. Now, we were both lounging around in the living room to pass the time. A movie was playing but I couldn’t focus much because my shoulders were aching. They felt tense so I kept on rotating them to ease the discomfort. Of course, Sungjae noticed what I was doing.

He shook his head. “You’ve been overworking yourself,” he sighed.

“I know. Sorry,” I mumbled. “It’s just… It’s the promotion and everything. I want to get it so I’m doing my best,”

“I know you are. I’m proud of you for it,” Sungjae slightly smiled. “But I also want you to think of yourself too. If you burn yourself out, all your hard work will be for nothing,”

“Okay,” I took in his words gratefully. “Uh… Can you…”

“Massage?”

“Yes, please,”

“Come here,” he easily said. His hands were quick to gently hold onto my waist before he guided me to sit in between his parted legs. He moved to sit a little straighter as he pulled me closer to him. “Comfy?”

I silently nodded in response.

“Okay,” he mumbled before I felt his hands on my shoulders. The moment his thumbs applied pressure on a tender spot and pushed out a knot, I couldn’t help but let my head loll forward at how nicely his fingers felt as they worked wonders on my shoulders.

“Oh,” I couldn’t help but let out lowly in a moan when he pressed a little harder. I could feel my breathing start to get heavier as my eyes closed. All I could feel were his hands that were slowly moving down my back as he continued to ease the tension underneath my skin. I couldn’t help the pleasured murmurs that were escaping my lips.

I hummed in satisfaction at one of his gestures.

“Here?” Sungjae deeply asked, his thumb kneading an area on my lower back. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin at how his voice sounded. I knew that tone. A pool of warmth started to brew in the pit of my stomach.

“Y-Yes,” I breathed out, making Sungjae chuckle in response. His deep tone made me squirm a bit closer to him. I was surprised when I heard him sharply hiss before his hands slipped under my shirt. I ended up stuttering his name.

The man behind me started peppering kisses on my right shoulder and then slowly going up the side of my neck. He would sometimes lightly nip on the skin, leaving me gasping in surprise. All I wanted was a massage to release the knots in my muscles but it seemed like he had other plans now.

I could feel his hands lightly tracing circles on the bare skin of my back as they trailed up, hitching my shirt in the process. I couldn’t control the pace of my breathing now that the anticipation was running through my blood. A gulp could be heard in the room when he started to play with the clasp of my bra.

“May I?” He whispered, his breath tickling the lobe of my ear, before lightly biting on it. Shivers ran down my spine as I nodded. Almost instantly, he snapped it off. Sungjae’s hands pushed the loose bra up before he cupped both of my breasts in his hands. He gently kneaded my mounds as I fell back against his chest, my head thrown back against his shoulder.

“Ah,” a loud gasp rang in the air the moment he pinched both my nipples. He played with the hard buds in between his fingers. He would chuckle once in a while, especially when I would arch my back to press my chest against his hands more.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He said. One of his hands had stopped fiddling with my breast to trail down to my covered legs that were somehow parted. His fingers trailed up and down the top of my thigh before moving to trace circles in my inner thigh. He would move his finger close to where I want him to touch me but he would teasingly move it away before it got too close.

“Sungjae, please,” I pleaded.

I felt his chest rumble as he chuckled. He didn’t deny though because he pushed his finger on top of my clothed clit. I couldn’t help but moan out loud as I arched my back. He ran his finger up and down my covered slit before he slipped his hand into my shorts.

“Fuck,” he hissed when he felt that I was wet through my underwear. “A massage, really?” Sungjae mused while his finger was circling my clit above the piece of fabric. The friction from my underwear and his ministrations were causing me to part my legs further as I was involuntarily raising my hips.

“I could say the same about you,” I shakily stated, feeling his erection digging against my back.

“You kept on making those sounds,” he reasoned out. “My mind just started going elsewhere,” he sounded amused and he continued, “For example.”

In one swift movement, he had pushed my panty aside as his finger made contact with my wet core. Sungjae groaned as he up traced my wet slit to my clit. The whole time, I was putty in his arms. All the while, his other hand continued to pull at my nipple.

“Sungjae,” I breathily spoke.

“What do you want?”

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from moaning at how his voice sounded. If I could, I probably would’ve melted then and there.

“F-Fingers,” I stammered, my heart hammering in my chest. He didn’t say anything at all to my response. He just continued to move his fingers along my slit. Once in a while, he would rub my nub in a circle. It was starting to get frustrating because I wanted more. I was about to plead again but he suddenly pushed his middle finger into my hole slowly.

“Oh God,” I gasped as his finger stretched my walls. With how wet I was, it wasn’t that hard for him to fully push his finger inside. He slowly pumped it in and out for a few times before he pushed another. I had my eyes closed as I surrendered myself to him. His other hand had stopped playing with my breast to attempt to pull of my shirt and bra. I ended up helping him out even if it was a struggle with how he continued to push his fingers into me.

A whine of protest left my lips when he stopped and pulled his fingers out. I was about to ask why but then he started to push down my shorts and underwear, leaving me bare naked. I was about to feel conscious because he was still fully clothed but his hands grabbed at my thighs and spread them apart. Quickly, he had inserted two of his fingers into my cunt again. His other hand was now pushing my clit in quick circles.

Sungjae would groan every time my walls would clench down on his fingers. “Close?”

I could only nod my head as the words were stuck in my throat. He started to slow down the pace of his fingers causing my high to subside a bit. But it didn’t stay that way for long because he had inserted a third finger. I yelled out his name at the addition and then he started to ram them in faster.

“Fuck,” I gasped. “I’m… I’m…”

“Cum, (Y/N),” he darkly spoke, his other hand pressing harsh and quick circles on my clit. My whole body shook as I came undone. He continued to push and pull his fingers in me to help me ride out my climax. When I was done, he slowly slid them out. I was trying to catch my breath as I watched him bring his fingers up to his lips.

My lips parted in surprise when he licked his fingers clean. It was the first time that I’ve seen him do something like that. I never knew that it would be such a turn on or maybe it was just the mood.

His hands were back again on my waist as he guided me to turn around so that I was straddling his waist. I could feel his clothed cock pressing against my core. I couldn’t help but ground myself down on it despite just cumming.

Frantically, I made quick work of his shirt. The moment I had discarded it, his hands were cupping my cheeks, bringing me in for a kiss. I melted against his touch once again. It’s been too long since we’ve been this intimate. My heart was soaring as he kissed me fervently, as if he was afraid that the moment would end if he stopped.

Breathless, we both pulled away. I raised myself up so that I could help him remove his remaining clothes. I was about to move down to the floor to suck him off but he shook his head. Instead, Sungjae positioned me on top of him.

“Oh,” I moaned at the contact of his member against my nether lips. My hands grabbed onto his shoulders as he was guided me to slide along his hard length. When we’ve both have had enough of teasing, Sungjae guided his tip to my dripping hole.

I bit down on my lip as I took him in. His fingers were no comparison to his thick cock. I was holding my breath as I continued to sink down on his length. Once he was fully inside, I let out a long moan. I felt filled to the brim with how long and thick he was. I stayed still for a bit to adjust to his size. Once I was comfortable enough, I started to move my hips in circles. Each movement had us both gasping for air and I could feel Sungjae’s fingers digging into my skin.

“(Y/N),” he groaned loudly as he thrusted his hips upwards, causing me to shriek in surprise. That felt so good but I knew that he only did that for me to stop teasing him.

I huffed as I started to slowly move up his length, clenching my walls around him. When just the tip of his cock remained inside, I bit down on my lip as I looked at him in the eyes. His dark orbs were pleading for me to stop teasing. So, I did. I quickly moved my hips down, slamming his cock back inside me. Even I was shuddering at what I did. I continued to do that for a couple more times until Sungjae became impatient.

His hands tightly gripped at my hips as he held me steadily. This time, he was the one thrusting upwards in a quick and harsh motion. My hands had weaved into his hair as he had his way with me. I could feel my orgasm building up at his harsh pace.

“Fuck, fuck,” the words kept on spilling from my lips as they mixed with moans and screams of his name. “R-Right there,” I moaned out when he hit my g-spot. I could feel the coil in my abdomen twisting tighter as he kept on aiming for that sensitive spot. Chants of ‘yes’ and ‘more’ rang in the air along with his groaning of my name.

“I’m cumming,” I breathed. My orgasm washed over me, my walls closing down on his length.

A groan left Sungjae’s lips as he continued to thrust into me. My climax had subsided but he kept his pace. With how he was going, I could feel myself building up again. Soon after, I felt his cock twitch inside me before his cum spurted out and painted my walls. The feeling of his cum shooting into me threw me off the edge once again as I came for the third time tonight.

We both sighed in contentment as we sat there, just basking in each other’s presence while we were coming down from both of our highs. Once we had caught our breaths, I moved off of him, his cock slowly sliding out of my dripping hole. Both of us whimpered due to the sensitivity.

“You should really start coming home earlier,” he teased, still catching his breath. “So we could do more,”

I laughed heartily at my fiancé. “If you say so,”

[grassshrimp56-blog]

Beef TangSuYuk

Some foods go together like hamburgers and french fries, or sushi and miso soup. Likewise, when we eat jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) in Korea, people normally get tangsuyuk to go with jajangmyeon or jjamppong. Tangsuyuk is deep fried pork with a sweet and sour sauce. If you are into mukbang videos, you probably already saw these two eaten together. Maybe you wanted to try it after watching it. So here we are. Now you can make delicious tangsuyuk at home with my tangsuyuk recipe. So let’s get started.

Yield: 4 Servings

Short Korean Lesson

DahngGeun (당근) = Carrot

YangPah (양파) = Onion

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients

½ Cup Onion

½ Cup Cucumber

½ Cup Carrot

1 Cup Fruit Cocktail

Beef Ingredients

2 Cups Beef (Pork or Chicken)

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Cooking Wine (optional)

Batter Ingredients

1 Cup Cornstarch

½ Cup Flour

1 Egg

1 Cup Cold Water

Sauce Ingredients

Directions

Prepare about 1 lb (2 cups) of meat. Usually, we use pork for this dish in Korea. However, I will use beef for mine today. If you are a vegetarian, mushrooms, especially fresh shiitake mushrooms, can be a great replacement.

Cut the meat into thin strips. And then, season the meat with ¼ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of black pepper, and 1 Tbsp of cooking wine (optional). Set it aside for about 10 minutes to marinate. Meanwhile, let’s prepare the other ingredients.

I will carve the cucumber and carrot a little today for to make the dish prettier. This is how you do it. (Please watch the video for this step.) Then, slice ½ cup worth each of a cucumber and carrot into ¼-inch slices.

We also need 1 cup of canned fruit cocktail, drained, along with the vegetable ingredients.

In this step, start to preheat the oil for deep frying on medium-high.

To make the batter, combine 1 cup of cornstarch, ½ cup of flour, 1 egg, and 1 cup of cold water. Mix everything together well.

The consistency will be like crêpe batter.

After 10 minutes, add the marinated meat into the batter.

Mix it together.

Drop a little bit of batter into the preheated oil and if it floats to the surface immediately, the oil is ready for deep frying. Add the meat into the oil.

Fry the meat until the batter becomes lightly browned. You don’t have to cook it completely in this step since we are going to fry them again later. It took about 2-3 minutes for frying the first batch.

Take out the fried meat using a strainer to drain out some of the oil.

Put the meat on a tray covered with some paper towels. The paper towels soak up some of the grease. Repeat the process to fry the rest of the meat.

In a sauce pan, add 5 Tbsp of cornstarch, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 6 Tbsp of sugar, and ¼ cup of vinegar in a pot. Then, mix the ingredients slowly while adding 2 cups of water. Whisk it well until the cornstarch and sugar dissolves. Cook it on high.

When the sauce starts to boil, add the onion, carrot, and cucumber into the sauce.

You can also add the fruit in this step. Boil the sauce for about 5 minutes.

While making the sauce, deep fry the meat one more time to make it crispier. Fry it for about 2-3 minutes, or until it becomes nice golden brown on medium-high.

It is very crispy and delicious.

Pour the sauce on the top of the fried beef, and serve.

  I’m sorry that my voice is not quite normal in this video. I’ve been sick for few days. I almost thought that maybe I should not post a video this week and rest. Then, I got this comment, “See you soon again Aeri” and the message made me think, “Oh yes, many aeriskitchen chingudeul will be waiting for my video this Friday.” So, I started to work again, and I’m glad I did, because I could post this video today. I wanted to tell you that your comments mean that much to me. Thanks for your support and love again.

Did you enjoy my tangsuyuk recipe and special tips for today? Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel and give me a big thumbs up. I will be more than happy to read your comments.

Thank you for watching; see you soon again; bye ~~

Aeri’s Kitchen Tips

Have you ever had a problem cutting your meat like this? Either your knife is not sharp enough to cut the meat nice and neat or the cutting board keeps moving here and there while you are cutting your meat. Then, try these tips.

No 1. To cut meat easier, put your meat in the freezer for an hour before you cut it.

No 2. Place damp (wet?) towel under your cutting board, so it will not move when you cut the meat on it.

After an hour, the meat is a little firmer, but not too hard, so it holds its shape better when cutting it straight through. Now you can see that I can cut the meat smoothly without trouble on a stable cutting board.

Source: http://aeriskitchen.com/2018/11/tang-soo-yook/

[abctranslator]

Chapter 34

Three weeks later.

Guizhou, Weng An.

“Hahaha! Good! Good! Really good!”

Lee Ui Chae danced and laughed out loud.

He liked the weight of the pocket he was holding.

Lee Ui Chae was certainly a merchant that was great enough to be called as the Merchant King in the future. He displayed his talents for doing business without regrets and earned money. 

He hit the mark on the distribution of the products, the period, etc. He bought good quality products for the cheapest price possible and sold them at a reasonable price. Even though it may seem simple to do that, it wasn’t something anyone could do. The Merchant King was just too good in this.

Even the branch manager of Kae An, Shin Do Gyun, started to gain interest in his skills and he also gave him a commission not long ago.

It has been three weeks since he started doing business in Weng An and he had already spread to Kae An. The entire Guizhou didn’t seem to be far away.

Aside from that, he also earned money through other methods.

The Golden Merchant Organization didn’t only provide provisions but also weapons.

It wasn’t at an impressive level yet, they mostly picked up the weapons that were thrown away in the battlefield and sold them to the smithies of Chongqing.

After buying low ranked equipment from the smithies in Chongqing, they went out to the front lines to sell them to the warriors or ronins.

There were times when greedy ronins or vulgar fellows from nearby factions aimed for them but they calmly gave up on the idea when they heard that the organization was connected to the branch of Weng An and to Shin Do Gyun.

The only ones that could touch the Golden Merchant Organization in Guizhou was the River of Death, which opposed the Murim Association.

“Huhihi! It’s money, money!”

Lee Ui Chae laughed in a weird way and jumped in joy.

Money and especially gold filled up his heart. He enjoyed counting money more than embracing women.

Honestly speaking, Lee Ui Chae didn’t understand why people fell for alcohol and women.

“Smelling or touching is enough with money. Huhu, these guys...i’m dying, dying.”

Lee Ui Chae rubbed his face on a mountain of silver coins with enchanted eyes.

It hurt a bit but even that turned into a pleasant feeling.

“Buhihi, hihihi…”

It was madness that even the Blood Sect and the Demonic Sect would get tired of.

“Ah, I am greatly indebted to great Master Ju. If it wasn’t for him, I would still be licking someone’s butt.”

Lee Ui Chae removed his face from the mountain of silver coins.

“I want to pay back that debt but what can I do if he’s not in this world anymore? What should I do young noble Ju?”

He started to speak with less honorifics.

“Young noble Ju, have an easy passage into eternity. I will send you silver coins for...no, silver coins are a bit too much. He’s someone that doesn’t exist in this world anyways. Then, three pennies? Two pennies? No...even a single penny is too much. How will a dead person use money? Let’s just send him my feelings.”

Lee Ui Chae clasped his hands and bowed.

“Ju.. what was it? I don’t even remember his name.”

Lee Ui Chae completely forgot about the Ju whatever it was.

Knock knock.

“Who is it?”

Lee Ui Chae cleaned up the silver coins and asked.

“Head merchant, a martial artist says that he wants to meet you.”

A warrior that was guarding the door replied.

“Does he look like he has a lot of money?”

“He looks penniless.”

“Did he say that he belongs to one of the Nine Factions, the Five Segas or the Murim Association?”

“He says he’s a ronin.”

“Is he famous?”

“He’s not.”

“Chase him out!”

It would have been different before but right now, he didn’t have time to spend on that kind of person. It was much better to find something that was more profitable at that time.

“Yes.”

The conversation ended.

Lee Ui Chae took out the gold coins this time and started to count them. His lips curled up to the point it made people looking at it feel bad.

Knock knock.

“Agh, what now!”

Lee Ui Chae stood up from his seat.

“May I enter?”

A voice was heard from outside the door but the voice belonged to someone besides the warrior that spoke just now.

“Yes, come in!”

It was a familiar voice. He wondered if he was a guard that belonged to a branch of his organization.

Creeeeak.

The door entered and a kid that looked like he had just come of age entered the room.

“Uagh!”

Lee Ui Chae screamed and fell back.

“Yo, you, you are!”

Lee Ui Chae pointed at the man with trembling fingers.

“You don’t look well, head merchant. Are you ready to raid the treasury?”

“Huaaak! It’s a ghost! It’s undoubtedly a ghost!”

Lee Ui Chae embraced the money pockets and curled down.

“Don’t go killing people as you wish, head merchant.”

Ju Seo Cheon smirked and turned to look back.

“Come in.”

“What about the warrior that passed out?”

A kid that seemed to be nine or ten years old followed behind Ju Seo Cheon. He was a kid that looked weaker than kids his age.

“Don’t tell me…”

Lee Ui Chae’s eyes trembled when he saw the kid.

“He’s Zhuge Seung Kye. Do you know about him?”

“There are two ghosts! Fall back! I can’t give you a single penny to you!”

Lee Ui Chae was horrified and started to scream.

“Is there no one there!”

“You are noisy, head merchant.”

Ju Seo Cheon slammed the wall with his fist and a small hole appeared with a loud noise.

“I didn’t die and I'm right in front of you right now so please be quiet. There’s something I want to talk about.”

Lee Ui Chae raised his head slightly and confirmed the hole in the wall. And then, he stood up immediately and acted in a cringy way as if what he had shown until now was all a lie.

“Murim said that the Great Master had died but I didn’t once doubt that you would be alive, Great Master!”

Lee Ui Chae was really shameless.

One news struck hard on Murim about three weeks ago.

The death of a Hundred Expert, the Slipping Water Spearman Yook Dae Rang. And that the one that killed him was the Fourteenth Gallant Sword, Gu Pung.

Experts always attracted the attention of Murim and it also became a topic. What happened that day spread like rumors in no time.

“But why did you fight?”

“Don’t those pirates request for toll fees when you cross the Yangtze River? It seems like the kids of Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega couldn’t endure their anger and struck first.”

“Ho, certainly the future of the Nine Factions and the Five Segas. Mm, right. They are indeed martial artists of the Righteous Faction. It turned out well.”

The Nine Fleets of the Water Forest were called as chivalrous robbers and guardians but that was all nonsense. In the end, they were a group of bandits that stole other’s possessions.

It wasn’t only people of Murim, but even normal citizens felt refreshed when they heard those news.

“But the kids that could be called the future lost their lives.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Ju Seo Cheon and Zhuge Seung Kye were treated as missing.

Because of that, the Murim of the Righteous Faction was  in an uproar.

One of them was a member of the pride of Mount Hua, the Lotus Peak and the other one was a nephew of the family that led the Zhuge Sega.

Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega, which were the victims here, were so enraged they almost invaded their enemies.

“Do you know everything up to this point?”

Lee Ui Chae stopped speaking and wet his throat with tea.

“Yes, I somewhat heard it through the rumors but I don’t know what happened after that.”

“Indeed.”

Lee Ui Chae nodded and continued speaking.

“Before Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega could even inquire anything, the Nine Fleets of the Water Forest justified themselves saying that it was self-defense.”

“That’s a lie. That never happened.”

“Most people should already know. That is because the death of Great Master brought great repercussions, especially here in Weng An. They also heard about the details of what happened.”

However, Mount Hua and Zhuge Sega didn’t deny that argument as the rumors had spread as much as it could.

It wasn’t only in Kang Ho but most people in the Midlands thought that the group of Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega couldn’t endure the injustice of the Nine Fleets of the Water Forest and attacked first. And they were actually being praised for that.

However, the position of Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega would become vague if they denied that.

It could also mean as having stayed silent and allowed the injustice being done by the pirates.

If that happened, they would get criticized so they weren’t able to deny the rumors.

Even if Ju Seo Cheon’s and Zhuge Seung Kye’s identities weren’t ordinary, they weren’t at a level where they would consider to brave a controversy and avenge them.

“In the end, no one could give out an opinion about the matter and it ended like this. Great Master should also know this but Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega aren’t able to move as they wish because of the other forces of Murim.”

The damages they would suffer if they fought against the Nine Fleets of the Water Forest head on wasn’t normal. That would be a shattering in the balance of the forces. What came after that would be war aiming at the weakened Righteous Faction.

“However, Great Master Ju and young Master Zhuge have returned in the middle of that. Just what happened?”

Lee Ui Chae looked at the faces of the two people like he still couldn’t believe it.

“We were separated from the group and were washed away to a farther place by the Yangtze River. We almost reached Hubei like that.”

It was hard taking care of Zhuge Seung Kye, who had lost consciousness, when he had also suffered injuries but fortunately he managed to survive.

“We went south from Hubei to Hunan and then returned here to Guizhou. That’s why it took some time.”

“No, why did you return? Hubei is the territory of the Righteous Faction and on top of that...isn’t the Zhuge Sega over there?”

“That’s why.”

Ju Seo Cheon put on a vague smile and spoke before Lee Ui Chae could say anything.

“They would make a fuss if Seung Kye or I get discovered and each of us will have to return to Mount Hua and the Zhuge Sega and get protected. If that happens we wouldn’t be able to come out for a few years. Then, we just have to give up on the treasury of the Three Eyed Immoral God.”

“Ah….!”

Lee Ui Chae let out an exclamation.

“However...ah, it’s nothing.”

The treasury wouldn’t run away but it may get raided by someone else if he delayed anymore.

‘The treasury may really exist if I looking at the lengths he is willing to go to.’

He had heard of it about three weeks, no, a month ago but he was still not fully convinced. Precisely speaking, he didn’t think anything about it.

He had unconsciously taken care of things to obtain the commercializing rights of the provisions for the army.

But today, his thoughts changed when he saw how Ju Seo Cheon came to find him while keeping it a secret from others.

“The reason you brought young Master Zhuge is to take a secret mission? Indeed, Great Master is really thorough. You got a person and even prepared thoroughly for the plan...As expected of the Great Master.”

Lee Ui Chae rubbed his palms and made an obvious flattery.

“That’s not the case. Seung Kye is a business associate. It will be impossible to raid the treasury without him.”

Ju Seo Cheon started to speak about the mechanisms that were installed in the treasury.

“Are you certain the treasury exists?”

Zhuge Seung Kye put on a doubtful face from the side.

“Whether it is certain or not, you should just follow me. Little brother, you wouldn’t betray your life savior right?”

“Ugh.”

It seemed like Zhuge Seung Kye had something to say but he shut his mouth.

Ju Seo Cheon had made Zhuge Seung Kye follow him under the pretense that he was his savior.

Zhuge Seung Kye really disliked that but the debt still lingered on his mind so he still followed Ju Seo Cheon even though he was obviously dissatisfied.

“Now, head merchant. Are you ready for it?”

Ju Seo Cheon smiled faintly.

“I will follow you Great Master!”

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter