The Brothers Kim

When Subin was eleven, she came across an anime called 'Noragami'. Yoongi, her brother, had been watching it on his computer while supposedly studying for his A-levels. She was young back then and she remembered being obsessed over loom bands so she didn't pay much attention to animes or K-dramas or anything Asian for that matter. But when she did start paying more attention to 'Noragami', she managed to learn something about the red string of fate.

"Yoongi," she remembered herself saying. "Does everyone have a red string connected to them?"

Her brother briefly tore his eyes away from the computer screen. "Er, I guess so. But it's more of a metaphorical saying."

Subin glanced around her body. "I don't see a red string connected to me at all."

"Idiot," her brother said while rolling his eyes. "Didn't I just say it's a metaphorical saying?"

"Yeah, but what's that?"

Yoongi sighed irately. "It's a figure of speech. Meaning, don't take the saying literally." He frowned at her when he noticed her blank expression. "The red string of fate is invisible to the human eye. Only people with superpowers can see it."

Subin, naïve as she was, questioned further. "So, you mean only God can see it?" she pointed to his computer screen. "Like Yato?"

Keen to get his younger sister off his case, he agreed. "Yeah, yeah, just like Yato."

Subin was thoughtful as she looked down at her hand.

The concept of her being destined to be with someone because of an invisible red string was quite hard to grasp but nevertheless, very exciting. Growing up in London, she had watched all the Disney films and was exposed to all the fairy tales but, she couldn't help feeling that none of those things applied to someone like her. For one thing, all the Disney princesses were Caucasian. She, on the other hand, was Asian. And the only princesses she could somewhat relate to was Princess Jasmine and Mulan— and Mulan wasn't even a princess. If Subin was ever going to meet her true love, it was probably going to be through the red string of fate, not some glass slipper.

Yoongi resumed watching the anime and Subin did too. But even though Subin looked like she was paying attention, her mind was elsewhere. Thoughts of the red string of fate filled her head. Most of which were questions she was dying to know the answers to. For instance, what could the person she's destined to be with look like? How old was he? Was he taller than her? Was he Asian too? But most importantly...

When will they meet?