We met at a market in Agrabah, on an unusual day where a pretentious Prince Ali paraded the most exotic of animals for a certain Princess Jasmine. The perfect moment came when I pushed through the throngs of people to satiate my desperate need of water. Parched and ready to die under the Moroccan sun, I spotted a water vendor, arms outstretched towards me, a tin bowl full of water in his hands. I walked hurriedly, my feet dragging across the dry ground desperate for a drop of liquid in my tongue.
As I was reaching for the bowl, another set of hands came into view and reached for the same thing. Our arms grazed against each other, skin slick with sweat, heat radiating from the scorching hot weather. We both paused, our heads slowly turning to look at each other, a series of apologies already at our lips.
Suddenly, I caught myself staring at her unusual hair wrapped around a garb of clothing. My eyes roamed from the top of her head, to her dry lips and finally falling into a pair of eyes that were already staring into mine. At that point, I don't know if the fireworks I saw were the ostentatious display from the parade, or my heart dancing and cartwheeling when our eyes met. Her eyelashes longer than vines captured me in a trance and I smiled and she smiled, eyes disappearing into thin lines, cheeks crinkling into the cutest set of whisker dimples I had ever seen.
And just like that, the moment Prince Ali fell for Princess Jasmine was also the moment our lives intertwined. We fell in love and it brought us to a whole new world.
But that wasn’t our story and while I could tell tales about how our lives intertwined, we started our story in the simplest of ways and I could never have asked for a better version.
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We met at a halloween party, on a Wednesday night, an unusual night for me to be out partying while I could be studying for my exams. That night, my friend, Lia, threw the wildest of parties in one (yes, one) of her mansions in Seoul. I was dressed appropriately for the occasion, but according to Lia, I “half-assed” my costume by putting on a Princess Jasmine headband and calling it a day. At least I showed up.
I was never one to obnoxiously make myself known at parties, or mingle for that matter, so I stayed in the corner next to the food and next to the only non-alcoholic beverage in the room: a fruit punch. If there’s one thing I liked at Lia’s party, it was that she never cheapens out on her food. That was the only thing that could get me to attend because she would always get my favourite egg rolls and deep fried cream cheese wontons. My palate may be unsophisticated but it knows good fried food when it sees one.
As I was refilling for my fifth...sixth cup of fruit punch, a pair of very cold hands stopped me from reaching the ladle.
“What the - “ I started and then stopped when I saw a girl wearing a red vest over a tunic-like shirt, and a small red fez hat atop her head, ladling fruit punch in my cup.
“A princess should never raise their own hand for things they want.” She said, bowing as she finished ‘serving’ me.
“Thank you...Abu?” I said questioningly, uncertain about her costume.
“The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness.” She said and bowed again, this time raising her little fez hat. “Abu at your service.” She winked.
I raised my cup slightly towards her silently acknowledging her “service” before going back to minding my own business. I didn’t care for pleasantries or company because I was already planning on leaving afterwards. It was getting late, the party was getting louder and quite frankly, too wild for my liking, and I didn’t want to be part of the scene where everyone gets shit-faced.
A brawl was starting at the pool area and people were bee-lining towards the show, hooting, fists pumping in the air and I decided it was time for me to leave. Nevermind that Lia would be disappointed, I’d rather not deal with the aftermath. She’s rich. She can hire people to clean up for her.
I was getting ready to leave when Monkey girl (I had nicknamed her that since her costume suited her well) thought it was a good idea to start a conversation.
“So, how do you know Lia?” She asked, a red Solo cup in hand, one arm leaning against the table. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes a little hooded, a lazy grin on her lips. She was not drinking the same fruit punch as I was.
“She’s my childhood friend.”
“Cool.”
I prepared to take my leave again but Monkey girl kept talking.
“I’m here with Yeji, in case you wanted to know. Yeji is in one of Lia’s classes.” I knew who Yeji was, I met her once. I didn’t need to know how she was connected with Lia. For all I know, she could be a gatecrasher or one of Lia’s many admirers. I’ve lost track of the men and women who had asked me for Lia’s number.
“Good to know,” I said while walking away from her.
“My name is Ryujin, by the way.” She was following me towards the kitchen and I turned quickly to look at her, eyeing her up and down.
“Chaeryeong,” I said shortly. “I don’t know what part of me screams ‘talk to me’ but I’m leaving. Nice to meet you, Ryujin.”
“Okay, that’s cool. Can I go with you?”
“What do you mean?” Ryujin was getting on my nerves but I stopped myself from snapping at her.
“I don’t really know anyone here and I don’t mind leaving now.” She said. “We can get ice cream. My treat.”
I considered her offer and motioned for her to follow me out. Even though she was starting to get on my nerves, I never say no to free food. While we were pushing through the crowd from the kitchen to the living room, we bumped into Lia. Surprisingly, she wasn’t as plastered as I thought she would be.
“Hey, Ryeongie!” She threw herself at me and I stumbled backwards. I would’ve fallen if not for Ryujin who held me in place. “Where are you going?”
“I was just leaving.” I untangled her arms around my neck and pushed her slightly away from me. The smell of alcohol was too strong for me to handle. She could barely open her eyes but I could already tell that she was studying me, scanning anything unusual around me. And then, she suddenly gasped, her lidded eyes trained at someone behind me.
“Ryujin! You came!” She pushed me aside and launched herself at Ryujin who was unprepared for the unwelcome affection. “Are you and Ryeongie…”
“Lia, no!” I said right away, appalled that she could ever think of something like that. To be fair, she was not wholly sober. “I just met her.”
“Aww, but you two look so cute together.” She cooed. And then she pointed at me and then at Ryujin. “You even have matching costumes! Aw, it’s meant to be.”
“FYI, I’m Jasmine and she’s Abu.”
“You know, when you really think about it, Abu was the main character there, not Aladdin.” Ryujin interjected and draped her arm on my shoulders, cooly posing in front of Lia and Lia laughed, way too loud, at her silly (read unfunny) antics.
“Okay, bye Lia. Make good choices!” I called out as I removed Ryujin’s arm on my shoulders and dragged her away from Lia and out of her sight.
We finally made it out of the house unscathed. The crisp fall air immediately greeted us and I let out a long sigh, taking in the fresh air. The cold wind was a welcome companion after being in a hot and humid house full of rowdy and drunk college students.
We walked side by side in silence, which I didn’t mind. Without the loud music and the bright lights, Ryujin seemed calmer, subdued even. At that moment, I began to welcome her presence and my annoyance from earlier disappeared. Her quiet demeanor intrigued me and I found myself looking forward to getting ice cream with her.
“You look cute in your costume, by the way,” Ryujin suddenly said. My breath hitched. There was a funny feeling that was creeping up in my stomach but I ignored it. Instead, I flipped my hair nonchalantly, pretending that her comment did nothing to me.
“Thank you. There’s nothing like a cute headband to complete the look.” She laughed and I noticed that her dimples formed slanted lines on the apples of her cheeks. I decided that Ryujin was a welcome companion after all. “You make a cute monkey too, Ryujin.”
The ice cream shoppe came into view and I skipped my way towards it. Ryujin followed, chuckling as she jogged to match my pace. Finally, we reached the shoppe and I ordered my favourite yogurt ice cream. Surprisingly Ryujin ordered the same and topped it with vanilla. I was about to pay for mine when she stopped me.
“My treat, remember?” Right, she did say she was paying.
I found us a table and waited for her. She joined me shortly after and I noticed that her hair was a striking cotton candy pink under the bright fluorescent lights. I couldn’t tell back at the party. She’d tied it in a low ponytail and I found myself staring at her when strands of hair came loose and she ran her fingers through her hair, removing the red fez hat in the process. It came to me all at once how attractive she really was.
When she sat down in front of me, I mentally tucked in my mind how she liked her ice cream in a cup instead of a cone. When she talked, I didn’t realize how deep her voice was if not for the quiet shoppe. The noise at the party had made it seem that she was loud and booming but she was quiet, voice low that she talked in almost a whisper. And I thought that I spoke too quietly.
It didn’t occur to me that I was already staring at her face (a habit I unfortunately have), until she snapped her fingers in front of me. I shook my head and looked at her only to find her eyes boring into mine. Under the fluorescent lights, it looked as if the universe was trapped in Ryujin’s brown eyes.
“Sorry, what was that?” I asked, embarrassed.
“I said, did you know that I’m in almost all of your classes?” The look of surprise on my face must have given her my answer because she shook her head and chuckled. “Yeah, I thought so. You always sat in front of the class and buried yourself in books.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you but never got the chance.” She said. “I’m glad Yeji dragged me to the party because I saw you there and grabbed the chance.”
“Why?”
“Well, I kind of have a crush on you.” I was surprised at her sudden confession. I could feel my cheeks heating up and scooped some more ice cream in my mouth, hoping the cold would cancel out the heat that was rising to my face.
“I see.” I looked away. I hoped that I was a good enough actress to mask whatever I was feeling. The funny feeling in my stomach earlier grew tenfold and managed to find its way to my fingertips.
“Is that okay?” She asked and suddenly the feeling reached my chest.
“I can’t really stop you, can I?” I said, now painfully aware at how close Ryujin was to me. Her hand was inches away from mine on the table. When she leaned in closer, I froze. I wasn’t aware that I was holding my breath until she started talking again.
“Okay,” she said, her voice even lower than before. “I want to get to know you better, Chaeryeong...” She paused. “If you’ll allow it.” I nodded.
“Can I walk you home?” I agreed.
And just like that, Ryujin opened a whole new world for me.