"Let's kill this love!"
"YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH—"
I belted the high note like I was on my BORN PINK world tour, brushing my hair in slow motion like I was in a shampoo ad no one asked for.
Dressed in a green, puff-sleeved, princess-core gown, a tiara headband, and fuzzy frog socks, I looked exactly like a Disney princess--
Oh wait.
I AM a Disney princess.
(Delusion is the solution.)
A Disney princess with the spirit of a rockstar and the dedication of an OG Blink.
Because who says a girl can't be a hopeless romantic and an OG BLINK?
As I fluffed my hair for the fifth time (queen behavior) there came a knock.
On my royal window.
Pause.
I blinked.
Naturally, I assumed it was a squirrel asking for Wi-Fi again, but when I tiptoed toward the window with the grace of a scared grandma and peeked outside… no one.
"…There's no one."
Was it a ghost?
A stalker?
A delulu fan of my nonexistent K-pop idol career?
Then—
"Ahem."
Someone cleared their throat.
"Look down, my lady."
WHAT IN THE SHREK JUST SPOKE?
I looked down and promptly screamed like someone paused a K-drama kiss scene to show an ad.
Because staring up at me...
Was a frog.
A slimy, warty, cursed-looking, slightly pompous little frog.
"EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!"
Frogs = my Roman Empire of nightmares.
And this one? TALKING.
The frog blinked.
"Don't be afraid, my lady. I am a prince."
I paused.
"A... PRINCE?"
Disney, is that you? Is this a reboot?
"Indeed," the frog said, puffing out his green chest proudly. "I was cursed by a witch. Only a true lo—"
"Love's kiss can turn you back into a human?" I finished.
This has Princess and the Frog written all over it. Am I supposed to kiss him and BOOM—a tall, broad-shouldered, jawline so sharp 'it can slice bread' kinda guy pops out?
I squinted. "So if I kiss you, you'll become a handsome, tanned, rich, emotionally unavailable man who wears suits and has daddy issues?"
"Well... yes. But I'm emotionally available now."
Well, slap me with a tiara and call me delusional. Was this finally my peasant to princess moment?
"What's your name?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"I am Prince Haneul."
My soul left my body.
"PRINCE HANEUL?!" I shrieked.
As in THE Prince Haneul?
The royal bachelor that every girl in Korea dreams of marrying? The guy who looks like he walked out of a romance manhwa and onto a red carpet?
"You seem surprised?" he said, tilting his froggy head innocently.
Understatement of the century, your slimy highness.
I blushed. And I NEVER blush. Not even when I was stuck together with my crush in the elevator that one time.
He's asking me to kiss him. Me! Mira Kim. Regular degular frog hating civilian. Out of all the girls, why me?
…Wait.
He's still. A. Frog.
"Are you sure you're Prince Haneul?" I narrowed my eyes, suspicion bubbling.
He looked offended. "You dare question me?!"
"Okay, geez, royal ego much…"
But… he was still a frog.
"Are you suuuuuuure you're Haneul?"
"I AM OFFENDED."
"Alright, chill amphibian."
Crucial decision, but I did what any lady with a right mind would do. I took a deep breath… held my nose,scrunched my face, and leaned down like I was kissing a piece of wet broccoli.
Peck.
Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew—
Suddenly, the wind howled.
Magical sparkles exploded like BTS pyrotechnics around him.
I stepped back dramatically, ready to embrace my palace era.
This was it.
I'd kissed the frog.
I'd freed the prince.
I was about to—
…
"MR. JEON?!?!?!"
My soul ricocheted off my body and did five cartwheels across the astral plane. My knees buckled like a K-pop trainee after 10 hours of dance practice.
Standing in front of me, shirtless and smirking like the final boss of a K-drama, was NOT Prince Haneul. It was my cold, ruthless, devilish boss, Jeon Jaehyuk.
CEO of Jeon Corporation. My emotionally unavailable, soul-sucking, daylight-hating, coffee-addicted, devil-in-a-suit boss.
The man whose eyebrows were permanently furrowed and whose smile was a cryptid.
The man who makes interns cry just by breathing near them.
And now… apparently, also a frog.
"You?!" I gasped, taking another step back. "WHAT IN THE K-DRAMA IS THIS?!"
He smirked like he was proud of the trauma he was causing. "Surprise, my lady,"
I was too stunned to speak.
Too horrified to breathe.
"WHYYYYYYYYYY?" I cried.
This was illegal. This was emotional harassment. This was—
BANG!!!
Someone kicked my door open like we were in an action movie.
An old lady stormed in, her hair wild, her eyes crazier than my browser history at 3 AM.
"You broke the curse?!?" an old witch-looking lady yelled.
My jaw dropped. "HUH?"
She glared. "HOW DARE YOU UNLEASH THE DEVIL?!"
"Okay wow. Chill. He was a frog five seconds ago."
"You FOOL!" she bellowed and I flinched dramatically. "You just unleashed the chaos upon the world!!"
And before I could say another word, she raised her wand with a look that said "I shop exclusively at ChaosMart".
I took a trembling step back.
"Wait—wait—can we just TALK about this?! I haven't even had breakfast yet—"
KABOOM.
The wand exploded in a burst of sparkles, smoke, and the faint smell of roasted corn.
I turned into a chicken.
A literal, squawking, fluffy, white chicken.
Feathers exploded from my pores like glitter bombs at a K-pop concert. My designer gown? Reduced to a tragic puddle of tulle beneath my now crispy chicken feet. My tiara? Lopsided on my feathery head like I was the loser of a royal pageant for poultry.
This was it. This was karma. For what? I don't know. Maybe for stealing Yuna's fries in seventh grade. Maybe for lying on my resume. Maybe for swiping Jeon Jaehyuk's almond milk from the office fridge. Whatever the crime, this punishment was too much.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jeon—the cursed frog turned boss turned shirtless devil—just stood there, laughing like he'd been waiting his entire villain arc for this exact moment. His arms were crossed, his smirk was criminal, and his laugh? Oh, it was the sound of unpaid overtime, rejected leave requests, and emotional trauma wrapped in one disturbingly attractive package.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"