Work Text:
Did you see her hands? She’s got those marks…
My mom said she's possessed.
Did you see her talking to herself again?
A shaman said a spirit got her during The Accident.
She’s always staring at nothing. Creepy.
Haunted, for real.
The way people talk, Yeji would probably believe she really was cursed if she didn’t know the truth. She wishes she could explain that a spirit didn't get her when she got hurt. Rather, the spirit came to her years ago and is the only reason she's alive now.
“Not a spirit, Yeji-ya.”
Yeji rolls her eyes. “I know that.”
“Are they getting to you that much? Do I need to rough them up?”
Her knuckles just stopped hurting the day before. Brushing the fingers of her left hand over the knuckles of her right, still a bit pink in the last stage of healing, she turns the offer over in her head. Shaking her bangs out of her eyes, Yeji answers, “Not yet.”
There's a feeling of disappointment that lasts a few seconds before morphing into a blanket of warmth at her side. Comfort.
“It won't be much longer, I promise,” Yeji says. Has been saying for almost a month, but now it's more real and closer than it's ever been. Maybe a week, at most two? When is the next full moon?
The warmth wraps around her, and Yeji's hand moves as if on its own. If Yeji focuses hard enough, she can see the outline of Ryujin's fingers linked with her own, palm hot against Yeji's. It’s comforting in the way that few things are anymore, makes more sense to her than just about anything.
“Can we go home? I’m hungry.” Ryujin’s hand squeeze’s Yeji’s, and gently turns her in the right direction.
She nods, because of course she'll take Ryujin home. Walking with Ryujin by her side, hands still clasped, keeps her from dwelling on the looks she gets from people that they pass. No one says anything to her face, but the whispers are loud.
Ryujin releases her hand at the front door of the modest apartment complex Yeji calls home. She remains a warm presence at Yeji's back all the way to Yeji's front door, where she punches in her code and lets them both inside.
Yeji's apartment - their apartment, because it's Ryujin's just as much as it is her own and has been for ages - is a cozy refuge from the pity and fear that follows Yeji in public. Tapestries of old folklore paintings are bracketed by star charts, pinned bugs, and bones in a mix of plain and ornate frames on the walls not covered by the handful of large, overstuffed bookshelves. Candles and so many blind box knick-knacks clutter many of the flat surfaces in the apartment, and plants seem to take up the rest.
Except for the low coffee table in the middle of the living room, which is bare but for a singular pale pink journal and a handful of pens.
It's easier to see Ryujin here, in their shared safe space. Yeji pulls her into a hug after shedding her jacket and shoes. “What do you want to eat?” she asks with her face hidden against Ryujin's neck.
“Your enemies,” she replies, and it sounds like she's smiling.
“Fresh out,” Yeji murmurs. “Sorry.”
The disappointed huff Ryujin lets out is ruined by an immediate laugh. “Kimchi jjigae, then.”
“That I can do.”
They've learned over the last year that even though Ryujin is solid, is here and real, she's not the greatest when it comes to handling objects that aren't Yeji's body. That means that Yeji cooks for them to minimize messes and broken crockery. She often does it with a Ryujin-shaped barnacle, but she can't say she minds: if the roles were reversed, Yeji thinks she'd never want to stop touching Ryujin either.
Dinner is a simple affair, eaten sitting next to each other on the couch. They share the bowl, passing it back and forth until it's almost empty. Yeji is bolstered by how much of it Ryujin has eaten, pleased by the thought of it strengthening her. Yeji gives Ryujin the last few bites and grabs the journal from the table.
“Full moon on Wednesday.” She taps the calendar, counting. Yeji's breath catches in her chest, and she looks at Ryujin. “Not tomorrow. Next week. Eight days.”
Ryujin places the bowl on the table with a small nod. “It's coming fast.”
They've talked about their plan to near exhaustion. A lot has to go right for this to work out, and it's the only chance they'll get for at least a year. The thought that they might fuck it up, that Yeji picked the wrong person, or the wrong place, or literally any of the other details threatens to bring the kimchi jjigae back up.
“Panic attack?” Ryujin's warm hands rub down Yeji's arms until she takes Yeji's hands in her own. The journal is on the floor by Ryujin's knee, and when did Ryujin get on the floor? “You're at home, and we're okay. It's safe here.”
Yeji tries to focus on the grounding weight of Ryujin’s hands, but her thoughts continue to spiral.
What if she somehow fucks this up so spectacularly that they don’t have another chance and she loses Ryujin entirely? What if they only have this one shot? Will Ryujin disappear and not come back?
“Yeji!”
Their eyes meet.
Ryujin is standing.
Yeji isn’t.
The couch holds her at eye level with Ryujin, and their joined hands keep her in place. The coffee table is floating at Ryujin’s shoulder, pens and journal over her head, and Yeji really hopes those are the only things that have gotten into the air during her panic. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Yeji matches her breathing to the steady rise and fall of Ryujin’s chest and focuses hard on letting the furniture return carefully to the floor.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice comes out small, adding an extra layer to the icky feeling of losing control of herself and the hint of lingering panic.
One of the side effects of The Accident, perhaps the only positive of it, has been the explosion of Yeji’s magic. She’d been able to do small things before, including seeing and communicating with Ryujin, and her abilities have gone crazy since then. Yeji can see more than just Ryujin now, and she can do things like levitate her furniture if she gets upset when before she’d maybe float a pen or a book at most. The Accident has also given her the confidence (or audacity, maybe insanity) to finally figure out how to bring Ryujin fully into this world.
“You don’t have to be,” Ryujin tells her, hands cupping Yeji’s face as gently as she speaks. She waits until Yeji meets her eyes, until she’s sure that Yeji is hearing her, to continue. “I’m scared, too. This is big. It could go wrong for a bunch of reasons, but it won’t. It won’t go bad because you’re Hwang Yeji and you can make anything happen.”
Oh.
That’s right. She is Hwang Yeji. She survived, and is here, with strong enough magic to make the world give her what she wants. And what Yeji wants is Ryujin. They’ve got their plan, and it’s going to work. “You’re right. We’ve got this.”
Ryujin’s careful smile widens, responding to the set of Yeji’s shoulders and the steady beating of her heart and ease of her breathing. “There’s my girl.”
Her cheeks heat, and she pulls Ryujin closer until she can hide her face against Ryujin’s belly. “Your girl,” she echoes, arms wrapping around Ryujin’s thighs to keep her there.
They don’t speak for a long time, simply staying together with Ryujin’s fingers running through Yeji’s hair and their breathing in sync.
Ryujin is the one to move first, leaning back and directing Yeji’s head up at the same time until they’re looking at each other. “Want to talk through the plan again? Or something else?”
“Both,” Yeji replies, because the plan is always on her mind and she can’t shake the worry that she’ll miss a step. Even so, she knows that dwelling on it will make things worse right now, and she doesn’t want that. There are other things they could be doing, and Yeji runs her hands up Ryujin’s legs to settle on the slight swell of her ass. She meets Ryujin’s fond gaze. “But we can talk about the plan later. Take me to bed?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
Rolling her eyes at the cliche, Yeji swats Ryujin’s ass. She stands, body sliding against Ryujin’s the whole way, and presses a quick kiss to Ryujin’s mouth.
🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘
Eight days turns to five.
Turns to three.
Turns to NOW.
The energy of the full moon is palpable even during the day. From the moment Yeji wakes, electricity buzzes just under her skin. Last night she’d taken a salt water bath, and it’s paying off now, even though she’s pretty sure she’s going to vibrate into another plane of existence if she’s not careful.
But that’s what they need today.
Everything Yeji touches starts to subtly glow, at least to Yeji’s eyes. Ryujin assures her, as they leave the apartment, that regular people won’t notice. Yeji hopes she’s right.
-
At noon, Yeji sits under a tree near the river. Her fingers trace a surface root that barely breaks the soil. The tree is a little sluggish so early in the spring, and it feels good to share some of her excess energy with it: the glow of her magic disappears into the soil along the path of the root and is pulled toward the trunk at the same time.
Ryujin is nearby, walking along the path next to the river. She’s exploring, watching water birds and taking in the sun on the water. For the first time, people other than Yeji are noticing her. Not everyone, just the occasional head turn and double take, but it’s a good sign.
Yeji’s heart is there, at the edge of the water, staring at ducks and pigeons and the way the light breeze makes the water splash gently on the rocks. She can’t wait for people to see her the way that Yeji can, can’t wait for Ryujin to be able to live fully in this world with her.
At three in the afternoon, they’ve moved a little closer to where they’ll need to be when the sun goes down. The neighborhood is more populated, and Ryujin keeps her distance. Yeji tries not to look for her, to check where she is; they need Yeji to look like she’s alone.
Vulnerable.
As the sun dips toward the horizon, disappearing behind the tall buildings that line the streets, Yeji separates from the dwindling crowds. This is the dangerous part, the part where everything could go sideways and not allow them another chance. There’s a meeting place she has to get to, without drawing attention.
She can feel Ryujin nearby, but is careful not to look for her. She can do this, she needs to do this without getting distracted.
“Hey. Lucy?”
Calm settles over her unexpectedly as she steps into the narrow space between two old buildings. Shouldn’t she be nervous?
“You’re Lucy, right? I’m supposed to be meeting -”
Yeji looks up. The man is tall, pale, and thin, and wrings his hands where he stands a few meters from her. She chews her lower lip, faking the nervousness she still does not feel. Bobbing her head in a shy nod, Yeji touches a hand to her chest. “I’m Lucy. You’re James?”
It’s the man’s turn to nod. “That’s me.” The following silence isn’t quite awkward, but something certainly adjacent to it. James clears his throat and takes a step closer to her. “Are you really magical?”
His Korean isn’t great, but it’s sweet that he’s trying even though she’d told him English was fine. Yeji almost feels bad about what’s going to happen. “I am. Do you want to help me?”
James closes the distance between them but does not touch her. He offers his hands to her, and she sees that he’s done as she asked. There are symbols marked on his palms, carefully and clearly applied. Yeji takes a slow breath and traces the symbol on his left palm without touching him, a centimeter between his skin and the tip of her finger.
“Wow.”
The air shimmers as if superheated above his hand, and Yeji quickly does the same with his right. James sways for a moment before shifting his weight and stabilizing. Yeji gifts him an approving smile, and James returns the smile with a loopy looking one of his own, eyes starting to glaze over. To Yeji, and maybe even to James, the activated symbols on his hand glow yellow-orange.
“Wow,” he repeats. “I can feel… It’s like…. like bubbles in soda.”
The fizzy feeling is how Yeji often interprets her own magic, and it’s a good sign that it feels the same for him. With careful movements, Yeji draws the magical symbols from his hands into the air between them, dragging them up from where his palms hover in front of his waist to float in front of his chest.
Ryujin has moved into position: she’s maybe a meter behind James, off to his left side - Yeji’s right - and ready for what comes next. She smiles, and Yeji knows in her guts that this is going to work.
“Your sacrifice,” she starts, and James echoes her as instructed.
The moon, full and bright, appears in the sky to brighten the alley.
Now or never.
Yeji designed the ritual to be simple. Yeji traces a new symbol in the air between them, just above the ones from his hands. “Life for life. Love for love.”
A smile tugs at the corners of James’ mouth as he repeats the words, and Yeji can only imagine who he’s brought to mind. She hopes he gets to see that person as the new symbol glows pink. With a deep breath and a whispered thank you, Yeji draws on everything within her that is so sure that Ryujin belongs here completely, and shoves the left hand symbol through James’ chest. The right hand symbol follows, sliding through James and zooming to Ryujin.
The pink symbol blooms above them, swoops through the trail of yellow-orange that connects James to Ryujin, and quickly expands to envelop them both. Yeji feels the heat of it on her face, and the fizzing turns to an electric crackle so strong she has to step back. The pink-yellow-orange magic glows brighter until it hurts to keep looking, but Yeji can’t - won’t - look away.
“Life for life,” Yeji starts, and waits with her heart in her throat for the magic to work.
The bubble of magic starts to shrink. The brightness in the alley comes only from the full moon. James is gone.
“Love for love,” Ryujin finishes and closes the distance between them. A pink glow clings to the center of her chest.
Yeji touches that glow, her hand landing over Ryujin’s rapidly beating heart. “It worked?”
Ryujin nods, smiling so wide it must be hurting her cheeks. She covers Yeji’s hand with her own. “I’m here, Yeji. You did it.”
She’s right in front of Yeji. She’s here and she’s solid and real. Yeji can’t stop touching her. Even in the safety of her apartment, Ryujin has always been a little faint, a little see-through, but now? The only reason she can’t see Ryujin perfectly is the tears in her eyes. “We did it.”
“Oh, babe.” Ryujin pulls her closer, and kisses Yeji’s temple as she continues to cry against Ryujin’s shoulder. She rubs Yeji’s back, always the pillar when Yeji is overwhelmed.
“I’m just so happy,” she says after a few tries. It’s hard to speak through the happy tears, through the immense relief that it worked. The Accident that changed her life happened for a reason, and that reason is this. Yeji won’t just be the crazy girl talking to herself - she’ll be the crazy girl talking to herself with her girlfriend by her side. Everyone will see Ryujin now, instead of believing Yeji’s looking at nothing.
Ryujin’s face is in Yeji’s hair when she says, “Me, too,” sounding just as relieved as Yeji feels. “Let’s go home.”
Yeji nods, and they make it to the sidewalk before Yeji stops. “Hang on. Let me…” She steps back into the alley and finds the faintly glowing spot where James had been. Crouching, she touches the concrete and whispers, “Thank you. I hope you’re as happy now as I am.”
She hurries back to Ryujin, and slips her hand into Ryujin’s waiting one. “Ready.”
🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘
“It will heal fine,” Ryujin assures Yeji with a wince.
Yeji wishes she didn’t like Ryujin defending her quite so much. Cleaning Ryujin’s busted knuckles has become extra intimate now that she’s fully in her own body and isn’t punching people with Yeji’s hands. She tries to be stern as she tapes the bandage in place. “You’re lucky nothing’s broken.”
Ryujin turns her hand until she can hold Yeji’s, lacing their fingers together. She pulls Yeji’s hand up for a kiss. “It was worth it.”
She blushes and cannot stop her smile.
Well… I still think she’s haunted.
That girl she’s always with… scary.
Just because she’s got a guard dog now doesn’t mean she’s not still haunted.
She looks happier.