#itsr

The car flies over another massive bump, nearly wrenching your small bag of M&M's out of your hand. "Lee Sejin!" you yell at your stepbrother. "You better be going under the speed limit!"

"There is no speed limit," he says, turning around for a split second to your utmost horror. He gives you a shit-eating grin. "We're in a forest, remember?"

Of course you remember. There are barely any delineated roads here, and for the past several hours, you're reminded of it with the high turbulence of the vehicle ride conflated with Sejin's absurdly horrible driving skills.

"It's okay Y/N," your stepsister smiles. "Oregon's like this everywhere. Isn't the nature so nice? It'll be a good break from all that annoying California sun and those spiky palm trees."

You're not that sure how to respond. How do you break it to Sejin and Suji that you would much rather stay in the urban city with fast wifi and concrete roads than venture into the wilderness with zero cell connection and no roads at all?? If it hadn't been for your father's insistence and your step-sibling's persistent persuading, you wouldn't have bothered to visit your stepmother living in the middle of the woods. You'd rather stay with your mother in the city—where you're supposed to live. But your father wants you to become well-acquainted with your new "family," whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Your real family was split by a rough divorce (against your will and wishes) when you were just a kid. Now, you're ready to go off to college, and family problems are the least of your struggles.

But you suppose Sejin and Suji are okay. They're not horrible people, thank god. Yet you don't think you'll ever get used to their strange penchant for nature.

"Want some M&M's?" you ask Suji, attempting to be friendly with her.

"Oh, no," she laughs, looking at you as if you'd just offered her a bag of sketchy weed. "I'm on a diet."

With someone who's struggled with an eating disorder for several years of her high school life, you're not sure how healthy it is for Suji to default back on her four thousandth diet. But you're not in the position to say anything either.

"Suit yourself." You look out the window, popping another M&M in your mouth and staring at the obscene greenery with distaste. Your five-pack organic insect repellent's your only hope at this point.

Sejin refuses to slow down, accelerating through the pebbles and rocks embedded in the dirt "road." He runs over a particularly big stone, causing your ass to lift from the seat and your hands to loosen their grip around your bag of M&M's. The chocolate candies spill everywhere.

"Sejin!!" you shriek.

Suji offers little to no help, laughing at your distress, and Sejin pretends he doesn't hear you. You begin to wonder how on earth you're going to last on this two-week trip. To take extra precautions, you've downloaded over 800 songs onto your phone and even brought your nail polish collection to keep you sane. But if your step-siblings and stepmother force you to play around in their muddy farm or—god forbid—weed the garden, you're going to leave the next morning. Somehow drive yourself out of this mess.

To make this situation even worse, Sejin refuses to use a GPS—not that it would even work around here. If there was an accident of some sort, you doubt that any of you could phone the police.

"Wait, didn't we pass this area before?" Suji speaks up. She rolls down the car window, letting a gust of wind into the car and mess up your hair. You sink into the car seat, grumbling to yourself. How would she even know if Sejin passed by this area when all of the scenery looks goddamn identical??

"Admit it, Sejin. We're lost, aren't we?"

Sejin either doesn't hear Suji over the roaring wind or he chooses to ignore her; either way, he doesn't stop driving like a maniac.

"For the love of god, can we slow down?" you yell.

But your stepbrother continues to drive—faster, even. The wind from the open window hurts your ears and begins to tangle your hair into uncombable knots. You swear to god you're never going on another "vacation" with your step-siblings again.

"Wait!" Suji screams. "Sejin, hit the breaks!"

"What?" you gasp, quickly sitting up in your seat to see that your imbecilic stepbrother is driving straight towards a dark tunnel. And not just any tunnel—but one with some gargantuan stone statue in front of it. If Sejin doesn't stop now, the three of you might never see the light of day again. "STOP THE FUCKING CAR!" you shriek, kicking at Sejin's seat. "STOP IT!"

Sejin has half the brain to slam his foot on the brakes. The car lurches, and if it wasn't for your seatbelt, you would've broken your nose from the impact of your face against the driver's seat. You unbuckle the seatbelt, reaching out to push Sejin's shoulder. "Are you fucking crazy? You almost got us killed!"

"Relax, Y/N," he snorts. "Cool statue, isn't it?"

You glare daggers at him but look out the window to see what he's talking about. The statue he's talking about is anything but cool. It's large, ugly and shaped like a fucking toad of all things.

Before you know it, you hear two car doors slam and see that both of your step-siblings have gotten out of the vehicle and are beginning to walk towards the tunnel. "You're fucking kidding me," you mumble. Frantically, you emerge from out of the car as well but refuse to leave its side as you yell at your step-siblings. "Let's get back in! This is a dead-end! Your mom's probably waiting for us!"

"Oh, come on, Y/N," Suji laughs. "Look at this tunnel! It looks ancient! Aren't you into architecture?"

You don't dare take a step forward. Sure, you were briefly into architecture—building aesthetics are definitely your forte, especially when you take your Instagram photos. But as soon as you figured out that studying architecture requires studying physics, you quit your dream. Besides, an old, paint-chipped tunnel is creepy at the least and dangerous at the most.

"Can we not??" you yell. A swift gust of wind seems to urge you toward the tunnel, blowing your hair in front of your face. "We don't know what kind of rabies-infected animal's gonna come out of there! What if it's a bear??"

"Well, if it's a brown bear, we're dead. But if it's a black bear, we can just play dead!" Sejin exclaims. "I say we check this baby out!"

You are this close to getting in the car and driving away without them.

"I'm not going!" you yell, gripping the car door so hard that your fingers turn white. There's no way in hell you're going to go in some dark, dingy tunnel. Giant spiders might live there. Even worse, serial killers who are running from the law.

"Suit yourself!" Suji giggles. And to your utmost terror, the two of them begin to walk into the dark depths of the strange tunnel.

You don't want to sound crazy, but something about that place seems off. From the wind urging you to go in, to the chipping red-colored paint, to the ugly toad statue. It's all off-putting. But you're stubborn, getting into the driver's seat of Sejin's car and starting the engine. "Come on!" you yell, honking the horn. "Let's get going!"

Either your step-siblings are ignoring you or they're so far into the tunnel that they can't hear you. You'll never fucking know.

Your hand hovers over the gears of the car, so fucking tempted to push the car into drive. But, of course, your father would kill you if you showed up to the stupid ranch without your step-siblings. With a sigh, you turn off the engine.

That's when you hear the scream.

It's bloodcurdling. And it sounds like Suji.

"Suji?!?!" you shriek, stumbling out of the car and slamming the door. The hair on the back of your neck stands tall as you look around, your heart thumping in your head. You don't trust this place. You don't trust nature at all. Your hands fly to the golden locket resting between your collarbones, tugging and twisting it in anxiety.

The scream echoes again.

"Suji! Hold on!" you yell. You look toward the tunnel and back at the safety of the car. Are they in trouble?? You need to help them. Get them out of here.

You grit your teeth, running past the ugly toad statue and into the mysterious tunnel. Your footsteps echo in the darkness, but your step-siblings are nowhere to be seen. You begin to panic, wondering if whatever took them is going to take you too. You're just one step away from turning back and running out when—

"Boo!" Sejin yells, appearing right in front of your face.

This time, you're the one who lets out a bloodcurdling scream, nearly falling backward and onto your ass. "You asshole!"

Your stepbrother just laughs at you, while Suji stands next to him, giggling.

"You two were never in trouble!" you yell, anger taking over the fear.

"Of course we weren't," Suji laughs. "But now that you're out of the car, we can explore together!"

"No. I'm going back," you scoff. "You're fucking idiots. Both of you."

"Are you sure you can find your way back? Alone?" Sejin grins. "You ran a considerable amount of distance in here, you know. Think you can go back by yourself?"

You hate him because he's right. The adrenaline rush had helped you come this far. Now, you don't think you can move a single inch without someone in your sight. The darkness seems to envelop you, trapping you in the quiet tunnel.

"Oh, come on," Suji says, lightly touching your arm. "Don't be such a tightass. We just wanna see what's on the other side."

Curse your adventure-seeking step-siblings. If you don't make it out alive, you're blaming them. Not that anything would matter when you're dead, anyway.

"Fine. Fucking fine."

Sejin leads the way, using the flashlight from his outdated phone to see where he's going. You and Suji follow suit with you holding onto your necklace like it's your lifeline.

The place smells musty and disgusting. You wouldn't be surprised if you stumbled upon a couple of dead bodies in here. But finally, finally, you see a bit of light in front of you that's not coming from Sejin's phone. Your hopes rise. It must be the end of the stupid tunnel!

Except it isn't.

"Ooh, it's so pretty!" Suji gasps, ditching you to catch up with her brother. Your mouth drops open at the colorful sight.

The tunnel had led to a... waiting room?

It looks old and abandoned—cobwebs and dust decorating the wooden seats. But light streams in through a single stained glass window that remains shimmering in the sunshine. Goosebumps dot your arms and legs. You wouldn't call the place pretty. It looks more alluring... haunting, even. Like it's been designed to lure stragglers in.

Why on earth would a tunnel lead to a waiting room of some sort?

"Wait, I think I hear a train!" Suji says. "There must be a train station nearby!"

"Come on!" Sejin says, already on the other side of the room. He's pointing to an opened-up archway that definitely leads outside—you catch sight of a clear, blue sky and even more sunshine. You want to tell your step-siblings to go back, but you're too far in to give up now. Begrudgingly, you follow after Sejin and Suji out of the confines of the dark waiting room. The three of you are met in a completely different world. Or so it seems.

You were never one to like nature or even admit that it could be pretty. But the long, verdant grass swaying in the wind and impossibly cerulean sky might make you say otherwise.

"Wow," you breathe.

"Wow's exactly right," Suji giggles. "Come on!" she says, beginning to walk down a... paved path.

"Wait a minute! You said we were gonna go back after we saw what's on the other side!"

"Look, I think I see a town over there!" Sejin says. "Let's check it out!"

"No, guys!"

But it's too late. Your step-siblings are already walking away. You look behind you nervously. Instead of seeing a tunnel, you see a grand, red building. It looks eerily new... None of this makes sense whatsoever, but for some godforsaken reason, your step-siblings aren't willing to ask any questions. You thought they were smarter than this.

A sudden force of wind blows against your back, making you take a step forward into the paved path in front of you. It's as if the wind's telling you to go after your siblings. You normally wouldn't give two fucks about what the wind wants you to do, but you're starting to think if you do leave Sejin and Suji alone, they'd get themselves entangled in more trouble than they can handle. With an annoyed groan, you begin to follow your step-siblings. The path along the green grass soon comes to an end, leading to a stone set of stairs that stretches miles and miles across the land.

"Guys, let's go back," you say. "I'm serious. I don't like this place. I mean, look at the stairs. Why do they lead down to a ditch, only to have another set of stairs leading up from the ditch? It's like a fucking useless valley of stairs!"

Sejin just laughs. "It looks like water's supposed to go through between this valley of stairs," he says.

"Aw, how adorable!" Suji giggles. "Look, it's that toad statue again!" She points at the ugly stone sitting at the top of the steps on the other side.

You feel unsettled. And you feel even more unsettled when the stairs leading out of the small valley open up to a little town. There are quaint buildings situated everywhere but you have no time to admire the architecture when your step-siblings are already disappearing around the corner.

"Wait up!" you yell at them, running to catch up.

"Do you smell something good?" Sejin sniffs, his nose jutting out in the air.

"Mmm!" Suji's eyes light up. "Smells like mom's cooking!"

Like two bloodhounds, your step-siblings begin to lead you away to a small outdoor restaurant. You squint around the vicinity. It looks like a Korean traditional street market. There are water tanks filled with fresh fish and octopuses and even more baskets of fruit and vegetables. Even the signs are written in Korean. But why would there be a wannabe Korean town in the middle of Oregon?? And why would a place that looks so fruitful... be completely devoid of people?

"Wow!" Sejin gasps. "Suji, Y/N, take a look at this!"

You follow his voice to see Sejin already sitting down on a wooden stool. In front of him is a bar of food. Lines and lines of red tteokbokki and steaming fish cakes sit in metal containers, just waiting to be eaten. One whiff and you can smell fresh rice and traditional Korean side dishes from every which way.

"Holy shit," Suji breathes, sitting down next to her brother. "Let's eat."

"I thought you said you were on a diet," you sigh. But Suji doesn't hear—or pretends not to. Instead, she reaches out and grabs a fish cake stick, chewing on it with starved vigor. Sejin finds a couple of plates and begins to stack a huge tower of tteokbokki on it. "Sejin!" you say, voice sharp. "Your coach said to be careful of carbohydrates!"

"Mmm!" Suji groans. "This is fucking great! Y/N, you have to try." She holds up a fish cake for you, but your nose scrunches up and you back away.

"How are you even going to pay for what you've eaten??"

"Relax," Sejin laughs with his mouth full, spicy sauce dribbling down his chin. "There's no one here. We can dine and dash."

The food looks tempting but you're a little full on your M&M's. And besides... dine and dash is a preposterous idea. What if the three of you were caught? You and Suji would lose your college admission spots, and Sejin would lose his generous tennis scholarship at Stanford.

"No, we seriously need to get out of here," you sigh. "Guys, stop eating, for god's sake!"

But they won't. Suji used to count every calorie she ate—it's scary to watch her eat with such reckless abandon, letting sauces and soups dribble down her chin. Sejin's not supposed to indulge in carbs, for the sake of his tennis team, but there he is, eating spoonfuls of rice and rice cakes. They've dropped all of their table manners. It's saddening to see them act like hungry pigs.

You can't watch them eat like that any further. Quickly, you back away. No matter. You'll just pretend you don't know them when they inevitably get into trouble. It's not like you didn't warn them—they hadn't listened. Now that you don't have to chase after your step-siblings, you can finally take some more time to admire the scenery.

The place is like a Korean town all right—but so traditionally accurate that it looks like Korea itself. The fact that it's entirely empty is eerie, though. You decide you need to get away from the suffocating street market area. From far away, you spot a grandeur building with a sloped black roof and red and green-colored walls. It almost looks like one of those royal buildings you'd visited in Korea during last year's summer vacation. Maybe it's a tourist hotel? You begin to walk towards it.

Once the street market area clears out, you see a wide bridge that leads straight towards the building. Absentmindedly, you cross the bridge, shoes thudding against the wood as you squint at the structure. Upon closer look, you see that this is not a hotel in front of you but rather a... spa?

Very legibly, and in hanja, the word "oil" is sketched in black across a gold-plated platform. Bath oils come to mind. There's a roaring waterfall near the building, its sheer power rattling the opaque windows. Your eyes follow the waterfall, realizing that it leads down to the ocean. Your brows knit together. An ocean in the middle of Oregon? With your curiosity, you walk closer to the edge of the bridge, only to see that there are train tracks underwater. You shudder at the depths of the sea, stumbling back so that the ocean's out of view. You've never been a fan of deep waters. Suji had been right, though. There must be a train station nearby.

Scanning the vicinity once more, you scoff at the extravagance of some sort of bathhouse. "What a splurge."

But you can't help but admire the beautiful architecture. A few photos won't hurt. While your step-siblings pig out, you can go building sightseeing! Maybe even take a couple of Insta-worthy photos. You run your fingers through your hair in an attempt to untangle the knots from it to look semi-presentable. Your cute outfit's just a little bit wrinkled from the car trip but it'll have to work. You take out your phone, ready to take your self-timer photos. But the damn thing won't turn on.

"I swear I charged it..." you mutter under your breath. With your phone as good as dead, you realize there's literally nothing to do around here. "Hmph." You give the bathhouse one last stare, hoping to ingrain the beauty of it in your head, before turning around and nearly bumping into someone. "Oh, sor—" you apologize, stopping midway only because your eyes catch sight of the person you almost collided with.

He's beautiful. Hair swept across, revealing a glimpse of his forehead. Eyebrows slightly arched and dark, while his sparkling stormy gray eyes stare right at you. His thick, pink lips are pulled down into a rather unattractive frown, however. Hm. A hotty with attitude. Takes one to know one.

"Hey," you smile, stepping back. Relief floods through you to see another person around here, even if he's wearing—you look the man up and down—a strange, modernized hanbok, dyed a deep navy. The people around here must be Korean fanatics.

But the man—or boy—whichever, ignores your friendly greeting. Instead, he glares at you, his icy eyes staring right through your soul. "You have to get out of here."

You're used to hot men being rude, but he sounds more worried than arrogant. Your eyebrows knit together. "Excuse me, what?"

"It's getting dark," he says, gesturing out toward the sky. He's right. It had been bright just a minute ago but the sun's beginning to set, painting everything a dark shade of orange—even the waters beneath the bridge. "You need to go."

It's eerie, the way he says it. "Why? What is this place?"

The man places his hand on the small of your back and pushes. "Go," he demands. "I'll distract them."

"Them??"

Your head turns behind to look at the strange man, but your feet move forward, obeying his command. That's when you see it. The handsome stranger pulls his hand toward his mouth and blows. You gasp, nearly stumbling over your own feet when you see pink petals magically emitting from his lips, carried away by the wind. You have no idea how the hell hibiscus petals can "distract" anyone, but, of course, that's the least of your worries.

A hot magic man? This place is getting weirder and weirder. The sun is setting abnormally quickly, and the street market lamps are starting to turn on, glowing a creepy yellow. You take giant leaps to get to the restaurant that your step-siblings had been eating at.

"Sejin! Suji!" you shout. "We have to get out of here!" You've always wanted to leave this place but to have someone else back up your opinion makes you feel ten times better. You wouldn't be surprised if this was some breeding ground for ghosts at this point. "Guys!"

A loud scream rips from your throat.

Pigs.

There are two, abnormally large pigs. Wearing exactly what your step-siblings had been wearing. Sitting exactly where your two step-siblings had been sitting. Pigs. With their hooves, they paw at the metal containers holding steaming piles of dumplings and rice cakes, mouths full and chewing at the same time. They're fucking filthy too, reeking of some unidentifiable stench.

You rub your eyes to see if you're not hallucinating. You pinch yourself to wake out of this nightmare. But your attempts are futile. It pains you to realize that you're in reality. A reality in which... your two step-siblings have turned into pigs.

Another wretched cry leaves you when you begin to see dark figures lurking about the dimly-lit streets. Dark, transparent figures with barely delineated bodies—walking, some floating. They're ghosts. Spirits. Whatever.

The attractive stranger had told you to get out of this place; now, you can literally see why.

"Fucking shit," you breathe, legs turning into jelly as you look from your pig-turned step-siblings to the ghosts wandering around the streets. You knew this place was creepy but you didn't think it would be a literal fucking ghost town. Your step-siblings will have to wait. Without any more thinking, you run. You run past the buildings with ghost store-owners waving in their ghost customers. You run, hoping your legs don't give out and you plummet to your own demise. You run, screaming when a ghost comes too close to you. You've never run this fast in your life. Not even on the day after Valentine's when all of your favorite purses are on sale at the mall.

You never turn back, nearly crying with relief when you see the stupid, ugly toad statue. All you have to do is climb down those stairs, climb up another set of stairs, get through the paved path and back into the large building and out through the tunnel. It's simple. Easy.

Except when you run straight through the steps, you splash into water.

"Fuck!" A series of unintelligible curses depart from your lips as you scramble back out, eyes enlarging in horror and trepidation as you see the toad statue emitting water from its mouth. In a fucked-up, twisted way, Sejin had been right. Water is supposed to go through this valley of stairs... except it's drowned the steps entirely, spreading out like the sea.

Tears run down your cheeks as you survey the dark waters. It looks like an ocean out there. There's no way you're going to swim through that fucking madness. You begin to twist your locket in your hand. How will you and your step-siblings ever go back? No. How the fuck will you explain to your stepmother that her children have turned into pigs?!

Your legs threaten to give out, but you can't risk falling to the ground now—not when you have no idea if these ghosts are dangerous. Quickly, you scramble away, looking around frantically to find a dark corner in which no one would be able to find you. You hide yourself away in the darkness, balling up against a wall and burying your face in your arms. If you get out of this situation alive, you might as well write a fucking novel about it at this point. Turn your pain into bucks. Too bad it didn't happen earlier. You could've written your college essays about this exact moment. Unless they stick you in a mental hospital for being delusional.

You let out a scoff, willing yourself not to cry. Maybe the M&M's you ate earlier had drugs in them. Maybe you're tripping on shrooms. Maybe Sejin crashed his car and now you're in a coma, dreaming of preposterous shit. But that would make no sense. It hurts to pinch yourself and everything feels too real for it to be fake.

You never thought you'd be thinking this, but you'd rather be at your stepmother's stupid farm than here. Your hands squeeze around your locket, which gives you just the tiniest sliver of hope. It's the one your grandmother gave you before she passed away when you were only four. She'd always said, even at your young age, that you could solve any problem. Find any solution. She'd liked to say that you could sell anything to anyone—even a dirty sock at a high price. She was always so supportive of you. She used to call you her little resilient entrepreneur, and you'd sell your mother's horrible home-baked brownies to strangers on the street to buy store-bought brownies that you and your granny would share while watching T.V.

Thinking about your grandmother makes you calm down. You're able to take a deep breath in and slowly let it out. It's fine. Everything is totally fine. You'll have to wait it out. The ghosts don't show by day. You'll just... sleep in the dark wilderness and hope nobody finds you.

That's when you hear someone call your name. It's an unfamiliar voice and you clutch your locket tighter in your hands.

"Y/N?" the voice calls again.

When you look up, you see the hot stranger. The hot, magical stranger. "Shhh..." He puts his finger to his lips and crouches down next to you, putting a warm hand on your shoulder. "Are you okay?" he whispers.

You stare at him, no doubt with mascara streaks down your face. "Do you think I'm okay?"

He sighs, looking around cautiously before giving you his full attention. "You haven't started disappearing yet, have you?"

"Disappearing?!" you shriek under your breath. When you hold out your hand to inspect it, you nearly scream. "Fuck! Oh my god..." You can see through your hand. It looks absolutely ghastly. Almost like glass.

"Here. Eat this," the man says. "You normally can't stay in the spiritual world, but this is going to stabilize your existence here, all right? You have to eat food from our world to exist here."

He holds out a small, spherically-shaped red candy. You frown. "As much as I like M&M's, I don't think I should eat that..." There might be a chance that it's spiked, and with the disasters that have already happened to you, you don't think you can afford any more chaos.

The man senses that you're uncomfortable and leans away, trying to give you space. That's when you're able to get a closer look at him and his rather handsome face. He kind of screams stranger danger, but at the same time, you can't help but feel safe near him. He does look kind of familiar. But your brain's probably playing tricks on you.

"I don't even know who you are," you say. "And yet... Wait. How do you know my name?"

The man looks guilty, avoiding your eye contact and still holding out the red candy. "All your questions will be answered later. Right now, you have to eat this."

"You can't even tell me your name?" you say, exasperated. "And I told you, I'm not eating that." You try to swat the stranger's hand away from your face, only to realize that your arm had gone right through his. Your eyes widen in shock. "Fucking hell."

"I told you that you'll cease to exist if you don't," he urges. "Quickly, now."

"O-Okay... okay, fine, I'll eat it," you say. The man presses the red candy to your lips and you consume it, finding the texture of it smooth and discerning no taste at all. Soon, you see that your body isn't transparent anymore.

"See?" the man says. He smiles, holding up his hand. "Want to check if it worked?"

Your own hand trembles but you manage to lift it and place it against his. A relieved sigh escapes your lips. "It... worked. Well um, thanks."

"Thank me later," he whispers in response. "You're not safe yet. He's looking for you right now. Master's got eyes everywhere. When he finds out that I've helped you... a human. He won't be very happy. He'll try to turn you into a pig. Just like your step-siblings. The only way you can escape his grasps is to work for him."

"What??"

"Shh..." the man reminds you, putting his finger to your lips. You stare at him with confusion. "I'll tell you more later. We have to cross the bridge now. Remember that?"

You nod. "Of course I do. We just met there."

"Good. We're going to have to cross it now before it gets more crowded." He encompasses his large hand around yours and squeezes it. "The spirits have a reputation to act unkindly towards humans... You'll have to hold your breath the whole time we're crossing it, okay?"

"The whole time??"

"Don't worry. We'll walk quickly."

The man helps you up on your feet. "But what about my step-siblings??"

"We'll help them later, Y/N. We need to help you right now."

There it is again. Your name falling from his lips. But you don't want to waste time and ask another question that would surely be left unanswered.

The nameless man leads you away, his hand on the small of your back as you instinctively lean into his shoulder while tightly holding onto your necklace. "You ready?" he asks, hand moving to hold yours. You let him, only because you need the support right now.

"Ready for what?"

"Try to keep up," is his only reply. Then, he begins to run like the wind, blending in with the darkness of the night and practically dragging you behind him. It's hard to breathe at the pace you're running but you're still able to see your surroundings. The man takes you through a barn filled with pigs, a freezer with parts of unnaturally large fish and through stacks and stacks of hay. You're left in awe at this crazy spiritual world, wondering how on earth you ever got stuck here in the first place. The man opens and closes doors five feet away with a simple swipe of his hand, and you don't know what's more impressive: his magic or his ability to stay so enigmatic and trustworthy at the same time. What matters though, is that you don't meet any more of those ghostly figures.

Finally, the man slows down to open a little wooden gate that you see heads straight to the grand bridge. He turns to you, not even slightly out of breath. "Now's the hard part," he says, glancing at you. For a split second, his eyes flicker down to between your collarbones. "I see you still have that locket with you."

"Of course I still have it," you say, eyes narrowing. Your hands automatically clutch your necklace. He's totally implying that he knows you from before, and you're left wondering if you can really trust a man who wants to keep his identity hidden from you. "I never stopped wearing it."

"Good, good," he mutters. "Well..." he says, squeezing your intertwined hands. "Remember to hold your breath when we get on that bridge."

The reminder makes you unknowingly gulp. The once empty bridge is now bustling with strange-looking creatures. A majority of them are wearing bright Korean traditional clothing with strange masks covering their entire faces. Others are enlarged animals. You swear you see a duck—of all things—wearing an apron.

"Deep breath in..." the man whispers in your ear. You do as he says, your grip around your locket tightening. "Hold it."

And the two of you begin to walk across the bridge. Your heartbeat thumps in your head as the man quickly guides you through the crowded walkway, weaving in and out amongst the colorful spirits. In the beginning, it's not that hard. You try to take your mind off of the whole situation, opting to stare at the darkened sky instead. But your lungs start to burn.

It's almost as if the man senses your uncomfortableness. "We're almost there, Y/N," he says. "Just a little more—"

"Master Jimin!!!"

A slimy, wet, greet frog wearing a hanbok jumps in front of the two of you, and its sudden presence—along with its concerning ability to talk—makes you gasp, taking a long-needed breath. The frog gapes at you, its round, already protruding eyes bulging out even more to gawk. Then, it begins to shriek: "A human! A hu—"

The man—who you know now as Jimin—swiftly attacks the frog with some sort of blue forcefield, trapping it in the air and paralyzing it. You whip your head around at him in shock.

"Hang tight," are the last words he speaks to you before he's running even faster than the wind with you practically flying behind him. He runs so quickly that you doubt anyone can see the two of you except in the form of a blur.

Jimin stops running when the two of you are off the bridge and hidden away from sight, right below an opened window of the bathhouse. You're panting hard—although you weren't even the one who did all the running.

"It looks like we've been caught... They're going to be looking for you," Jimin says. He turns you to face him, hands placed on your shoulders. "You have to listen closely, now." He places his fingers at your temples. "Close your eyes."

He's so convincing that you can't help but do just that. And magically, as soon as you close your eyes, you can see a vivid vision. A staircase. A... boiler room? "To the left of this window is going to be a staircase," Jimin whispers. "Keep going down until you reach a large, metal door. Behind that door is the boiler room, and there will be Hoseok, the boiler man, inside. You have to ask him for a job. He'll say no at first. But you must be persistent. Beg for the job as if your life depends on it. Which, it does."

His fingers leave your temples and your eyes flutter open, staring at the man's handsome face. "And how will a job save my life?"

"Master can't harm you if you're a worker. It'd go against his contract."

Little to none of that made sense whatsoever. "Okay, but my step-siblings?"

"That's a problem for later." He smiles at you. "You're strong, Y/N. You'll get out of this. I'm on your side, okay? I'll continue to do what I can to help."

The question of why lingers at the tip of your tongue but the commotion going on from inside the bathhouse interrupts your thoughts.

"Master Jimin's back??"

"Finally! He was gone for so long!"

"Well, I heard there's a human roaming about!"

"What's Master Jimin going to do about it?"

"Ugh! I can almost smell the stench of it!"

"Go," Jimin whispers. "When you see me again, pretend you don't know me."

You frown at such strange directions but nod. "Okay. Got it. See you?"

But he's already gone.

Just like Jimin had implanted in your memory, you walk down the rickety stairs, down and down and down until you reach the boiler room. The door is heavy but you manage to bust it open. When Jimin had told you about the boiler man, he hadn't exactly planted a memory in your head of his appearance. It turns out the boiler man... is really Spider-Man but more... gothic.

He has a rather handsome but worn-out face, soot on his clothes, a high, sloped nose but eight fucking limbs.

This is the kind of figure your subconscious would make up in a nightmare. But your grandmother always told you not to judge by appearance. And Jimin had told you that you need to beg for a job. Begging's not quite your strong suit, but if begging is what will save your life and your step-siblings' lives, then begging is what you'll have to resort to.

"Hello? Excuse me? Boiler man?" you call out, walking closer to the busy man. All six of his arms are doing something. Either fetching more herbs from the hundreds of small cabinets behind him or turning a wheel or putting more coal in the burning furnace. "Hello?" you say louder.

"Eh???" the man calls out. "Come around, I can't see your face."

Why is everyone in this fucking world so demanding??

But you swallow your pride and do as he says. Once the boiler man sees you, he pauses his work. "Ah, a human! How did you find your way down here? A smart one, aren't you?"

"I want a job," you say. "That's what I'm here for. A job."

"A job??" the boiler man laughs. "What would a scrawny human like you do with a job?"

"Um, work?" you say. "I'll work with my job."

"You can't barge in here and ask for a job, little one," the boiler man scoffs. "In this economy? No. Run along, human."

You grit your teeth. "No. I would like for you to give me a job."

"Stubborn one, aren't you?"

You stand your ground. "I would like a job, please."

"I could turn you in to Master Seokjin and he'd turn you into a little piglet."

Your blood runs cold and your face turns stern, "Jimin told me to come here."

"Oh? Jimin?" The boiler man's face softens. "Well, why didn't you say so?" He laughs cordially and you frown at his sudden behavior change. "I'm not authorized to give you a job, human. Jimin knows that. He must've wanted me to meet you. No, you'll have to go meet Master to ask for that job, little one."

Your face falls. "Who is this 'Master' that everyone talks about?"

The boiler man sighs. "He's a ruthless, manipulative, power-hungry man... The proprietor of this bathhouse. You'll have to be strong to face him. Can you do that, child?"

You cross your arms over your chest. "I've dealt with corporate assholes plenty of times."

The man laughs. "Still, it is best to be on the alert, human, er, whatever your name is."

"Y/N," you say. "Choe Y/N."

"And I'm Hoseok. It was nice meeting you, human," he says, one of his outrageously long arms extending to shake your hand. "Taehyung's going to come down here any second to bring me my meal. Ask him to take you to Master Seokjin."

"Got it," you say. "Thank you... You know, for the help."

"Any friend of Jimin's is my friend," Hoseok says, smiling. "But you're gonna want to refrain from pulling that Jimin card to anyone else. Jimin might get in trouble, and we don't want that, do we? Oh! There Taehyung comes."

Right on cue, a paper sliding door opens to reveal another handsome man who looks a little bit older than Jimin—probably around Sejin's age. He gasps, nearly dropping his tray filled with food when he sees you.

"You!" he shrieks. "You're the one everyone's talking about! Hoseok! How did it find its way here?"

"She's my granddaughter," Hoseok replies, his long arms reaching out to carry away his food tray. "Take her to Master Seokjin for me, will you? She wants to work here."

Taehyung's eyes narrow. His long, light blue hanbok swishes near his feet as he walks closer to you. "Hm. She looks like she wouldn't last a day working here."

You scoff. "Really, now?"

"Ah, and so she speaks!" Taehyung laughs. "I haven't seen a human in a couple of hundred years. Fascinating. How hasn't Master Seokjin turned you into a pig yet?"

"She's got a secret admirer," Hoseok calls. "And he's going to be quite angry if you don't take her to Master."

"A secret admirer?" Taehyung questions, eyebrows raising. "Well then. I value my dead life, I suppose. Come along, human. Call me Master Tae while you're at it."

"Um..."

"And take off your shoes," Taehyung commands. "Master would kill you for tracking dirt everywhere and stinking up the whole place with your human smell."

"Be nice!" Hoseok calls as Taehyung marches you out of the boiler room.

And as soon as the paper door closes and the tall man ushers you into a grand, glass elevator, he turns to you with a huge grin on his face. "Sorry about the bitchy attitude," he laughs. "Gotta uphold that reputation, you know?" He juts out his hand. "You can call me Taehyung. Or Tae. Whichever's more comfortable."

"Um, okay," you say, eyeing Taehyung as you shake his hand.

"Goddamn! This is crazy," Taehyung laughs. "I can't believe I'm in front of a real, live human."

You quirk your eyebrows. "I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."

"No, it is," Taehyung insists. "If you make it out alive from Master Seokjin's office, we'll be best friends!"

You frown. "What do you mean 'make it out alive?' "

"Master's known for not being so kind to humans," Taehyung laughs. "Why would you want to work here? I mean, I guess the pay's nice. But still. A bathhouse? I doubt this was your dream growing up."

Your brows knit in worry. "I need the money, I guess... Is the master really that bad?"

"Oh, I'm terrified of him," Taehyung giggles. "Everyone is. I don't know how you have the guts to even meet him! Master Seokjin lives on the hundredth floor, so we have quite a long way to go. Hey, I know! I'll prep you!"

"Prep?"

"Master Seokjin likes pretty things," Taehyung says. "Here, let's wipe some of that soot off your face..." Taehyung licks his thumb then rubs at your cheek before you can even stop him. "There. Now let's do something about your hair."

"Shit, is it bad?" you ask.

"Let's braid it!" Taehyung exclaims, clasping his hands together. "We're gonna have to do something about your clothes too..."

You squint your eyes. "What's wrong with my clothes?" They're designer. Although you got them for cheaper at a warehouse sale.

"Hm... I suppose your clothes can stay... Master likes that kind of stuff anyway. But your hair..."

You frown at his strange words. Nevertheless, you let Taehyung run his fingers through your hair, and he begins to braid it, tying the end with a piece of red silk from his pocket. "There. You look traditional with a slight... modern? twist," he says, squinting at your clothes. "But wow. I hope everything goes well with Master Seokjin. You seem like you can take the intimidation," he giggles. "You're a little intimidating yourself."

It's not the first time you've heard that. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem!" Taehyung salutes you. "Oh! It looks like we've reached the hundredth floor!" he squeals. "I'm not stepping out of this elevator. I'm way too scared. But good luck," he whispers. "Hope everything goes well!"

You give him a nod of thanks before walking out of the elevator. The hundredth floor is decorated lavishly with emeralds and matching green plants. Jewels sparkle on the walls and are even embedded on the grand double doors that stand right in front of you. Carefully, you straighten out your clothes and tuck a strand of loose hair behind your ear.

This is it. You're not too scared. Your mother liked to drag you around to meet the crazy CEO's of multiple fast-growing companies. Some spirit CEO of a fucking bathhouse of all places can't scare you. You'll walk out of here with a job. No doubt.

You confidently bring your hand up to the door to knock. But before you can even do so, the doors open.

"Come in," a smooth, deep voice booms.

You frown but obey. The corridor of this penthouse is dark but the gems on the walls sparkle on their own. You think it's a little tacky to brag about wealth like this but if you had that many jewels and didn't know where to put them, you'd stick them on your walls too.

"Turn right," the voice orders.

You do so while admiring your rather opulent surroundings.

"Turn left. Yes, then go straight. Good girl."

Your insides flip at the pet name but you keep a straight face. You wind up in the most luxuriously decorated room you've ever been in in your life. This man is rich. Richer than you can ever imagine. Piles of gold line up against the walls, sparkling like their own towers of light. There's a crackling fireplace in the corner of the dark room but it does little to warm the cold atmosphere.

"Come closer," the voice suggests. You squint to see a tall figure leaning in front of a desk piled with papers, pens and glittering gems. "Closer... Closer than that, human. I don't have all day."

When you're three steps away from this man, you can finally see his face. A face so beautiful and ethereal that if the situation hadn't been so serious, your jaw would've dropped open quite unattractively. He wears a jet black suit with a sparkling gold tie, his hair swept back with gel and his sparkling dangling earrings swaying with his every slight movement. He's the most handsome creature you've ever seen. But you manage to keep your cool.

"Ah," the imposing man, proprietor of the bathhouse sighs out. "So you're the little human everyone's been fussing about." He leans in, cold fingers dancing on your chin. "Such a waste to turn into a fat pig..."

Now you get why everyone's so afraid of this man. He drips with charisma interlaced with intimidation. You struggle not to take a step back.

"I'd actually like a job here," you say. "A real job. One with pay."

The man's fingers leave your chin and he steps back to laugh. "A job? Human, you can't possibly wander up into my bathhouse so... serendipitously and ask for a job. It's not in your lowly place. My bathhouse is world-renowned and built to serve the regal spirits from all over the globe. Your step-siblings have devoured the great food we had to offer our spirits. Like little pigs. They paid the price. Now, how will you?"

You resist the urge to scoff. "I can pay you back by working for you. I'm very adept with money," you say. "Business is my second nature. I can help you revolutionize this bathhouse, you know."

"Oh?" The man—Seokjin—smirks at you. "You know what you want. Good girl."

There it is again. Your stomach does flips.

"I do know what I want," you say, taking a step closer to the man. "I want a job. Preferably one that allows me to showcase my business skills."

Seokjin's eyes glimmer. "My bathhouse is already perfect. I don't need scrawny human hands to fix anything."

You frown slightly at his stubbornness. But two can play that game. "Your ego's not going to get you far."

Seokjin jerks his head toward you, figure suddenly towering over yours. "What... did you say to me?" he seethes in a voice three octaves lower. His eyes turn fiery, reflecting the flames of the fireplace and his hands move around your throat, beginning to constrict your airway.

You choke but you don't take back what you said. How can you? When you're right?? Panic doesn't settle in you yet. Not when you're so close to succeeding. "Li-Listen," you cough, hands trying to pry Seokjin's away from your neck. "I-I was out in the town," you gasp. "And I didn't see any ads out there. I-It's time to s-sprinkle ad-advertisements," you wheeze. "And t-the fr-front of the b-bathhouse n-needs more p-pizzazz," you say, eyes watering. "Y-You need to p-provide p-prices and g-go-good deals u-up fr-ont. I-It'll att-ttract more c-customers."

With a sigh, Seokjin lets go of your neck. You fight the urge to go into a coughing fit, instead, staring Seokjin right into his eyes. Your throat feels like it's on fire, but you ignore it, eyes watering from the effort.

"Hmph," Seokjin huffs. He looks you up and down, probably scrutinizing your appearance. "Fine," he says. "You may work here."

Your face brightens and you turn away for a split second to let out the coughs you'd been holding in.

Seokjin looks at you with fascination. "If any human insulted me as you did, I would've turned then into a hog right in front of me... Then I would've ordered it for it to be cooked for tonight's supper." He shakes his head at you. "But you do have good ideas, human. Here." With a flick of his hand, he brings a floating piece of paper along with a fancy plumed pen in front of you. "Sign."

You realize it's a contract. Jimin had mentioned something about this before—that Seokjin can't harm you if you signed it. But a contract is a contract, and you know that stingy businesses tend to put all sorts of shady statements in them to trick poor workers into exploitation. Seokjin seems exactly like the type to do just that. "I'll take a moment to read the contract."

Seokjin scoffs. "Careful, aren't you?"

"I've been called vigilant before." You squint, scanning the paper and nodding along with it. It's simple and to the point. You don't find anything wrong with such a standard work contract. Most of what is put on there is practical, something you'd like to see on every contract out there. But that's until your eyes fall to the bottom of the paper. "Are you open to negotiations?"

The man laughs out loud. "No. What I put in that contract is final. And it is law."

"I don't know if I feel comfortable with you... taking my name. Whatever that means."

"Would you rather live in a pig pen?"

You notice that Seokjin's patience is running thin. His fingers are drumming against his desk as he looks at you with irritation. It looks like if you challenged him one more time, you'd be sent off into a pig pen as a hog.  "Fine." You scribble your signature on the paper, secretly cussing out the man in your head.

"Good girl." Seokjin grins. His hand reaches behind him to grab onto a golden tassel behind him, ringing a silent bell. Your eyebrows raise at the action, but you keep your mouth shut. The master of the bathhouse then gestures the pen and paper towards him and they float his way. The man snatches the contract from the air and reads your signature. "Choe Y/N..." he says, looking you up and down, eyes paying special attention to your lips. "What a pretty name for a pretty human."

You frown at his futile attempts to try to seduce you. "So I've been told."

The man laughs out loud. "And assertive too. I like it. It's mine now."

"My assertion...?" you question, brows knitting together. But that's when you see the man literally detaching the inked signature of your name—Y/N—and letting the letters settle in the palm of his hand. Your surname, Choe, stares blankly at you from the paper. You nearly step back when Seokjin closes his fist around your name, effectively taking it for himself. You have no idea what implications lie from this strange action, but you suppose, in a literal sense, he did take your name.

"You'll be known around here as Choe," Seokjin says. "That is your new name."

You're about to argue that he'd only taken a part of your full name—that technically, your last name had always been your name—when a familiar face walks into the room.

"You called, Master?"

It's Jimin. You stop yourself from looking twice at the man, however, keeping your eyes trained to Seokjin, instead. It dawns on you that Jimin must be some sort of apprentice... or henchman for Seokjin. It would make sense why he's regarded so highly amongst the other spirits but is a servant to Seokjin—coming when he rings a bell. You don't want Jimin to get in trouble for helping you either. You need Jimin to get back home. If Seokjin did anything to him... your ticket home would vanish. Just like that.

You pretend you don't even know him.

"Get Choe situated, will you?" Seokjin says. "She'll need the help."

"Yes, Master," Jimin says, bowing slightly. "Right away. Follow me," he says, voice cold and almost abrasive.

You turn around to look at Seokjin one last time; the man smirks at you, eyeing you up and down. Not liking his attitude, you quickly follow after Jimin who holds open the elevator door for you. The two of you are alone once again.

"Hey, Jimin, why the fuck did Seokjin take my name?" you question, breaking the silence.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Jimin says. "Address your superiors as such. To you, I am Master Jimin."

You stare at the man incredulously. There's no reason for him to be so rude to you... unless Seokjin has eyes and ears everywhere. But it's a bit disconcerting to see someone who had been so kind to you before, shut you out. He's all you have in this new world after all. The rest of the elevator ride is silent.

Jimin takes you down to the ground floor where a crowd of grotesquely-looking spirits gathers around. You try not to judge by their appearance but they also act like you're the plague, pinching their noses or covering it with their sleeves. It's like you reek of some disgusting stench. Human stench. Either way, you're not liking these ugly spirits.

"This is Choe," Jimin says, pushing you forward. "Master's given her a job in the bathhouse."

"What would such a scrawny little human do here?"

"Make her go back to where she's from!"

"Turn her into a pig for all I care!"

You whirl at the voices talking (literally) behind your back. "Say that again and to my fucking face."

The spirits all gasp, stepping back from you.

"Calm down," Jimin tells you, glaring at you through his gray eyes. You want to shrink into the shadows upon seeing his disapproval but you don't, standing even taller than before. "Where's Taehyung?"

"Here!" a voice calls from through the crowd. "What do you want from me?"

"You're in charge of Choe."

"Oh, come on!"

"Master's orders," Jimin says. "As well as mine. Take care of her, you lot. I'm off to cover some business."

The spirits are bowing furiously as he exits the premise. The rest of them glance at you, a mixture of both fear and hatred in their eyes.

"Come on, human," Taehyung yells at you. "I'll show you your dorm."

Glad that you can see another familiar face, you follow after him. The moment the two of you turn a corner and there are no other spirits roaming about, Taehyung grins, turning to face you.

"You're insane, Choe!" he exclaims. "You seriously convinced Master to get you a job? Damn!"

"He almost choked me to death so there's that too," you say, rolling your eyes at the memory. And against your better judgment: "So, what's up with Jimin?"

"Oh?" Taehyung raises his eyebrows, corners of his lips raising to smirk. "Why? What about Jimin?"

You shrug your shoulders. "Just wanted to ask. I mean, what's the deal with him?"

"Jimin's just Master's apprentice. Does what he tells him to do. Kind of intimidating himself, you know." Taehyung grins. "Why are you asking?"

He wants to coax a deeper answer out of you, but you deny him, shrugging again. "Just curious."

Taehyung gives you a knowing look. "Sure," he sing-songs, stopping his steps in front of a wooden door. "Anyways, here's your room," he says, opening up the door. "You kind of get a separate chamber because of... um, human privileges. We usually reserve this spot for our lower paying guests, but I guess it's yours now."

The room is quaint with wooden floors and paper walls. There is no bed but there are pretty blankets and a small basin that you would assume you'd use like it's a sink. But really, the best part about the room is the veranda with the incredible view of the nighttime ocean. You suppose the place is not too bad.

"You'll retire here in the morning," Taehyung says, spreading out your blankets for you. "We work at nighttime."

"Got it."

"I'll also have to find work clothes for you," he says, eyeing your silk camisole tucked into your black shorts. "You know what? I'll go fetch them for you right now. Wait here, okay?"

"Well, it's not like I really have anywhere else to go."

Taehyung's merry laughter is all you can hear as he disappears from your line of sight. You huddle up in your blankets, trying to process everything that had happened today. Of course, none of it makes any sense whatsoever. You don't even try to make sense of it at this point. Maybe if you just sleep... you might just wake up in Sejin's car. Maybe this had all been a dream.

That would easily explain everything. Even why Jimin had seemed so familiar to you...

Before Taehyung even comes back, you're completely knocked out, your complex thoughts weighing you to sleep. Taehyung sets your work uniform off to the corner of your room, careful not to awake you. He knows that you'll need the rest for what's in store for you tomorrow.

You wake at the sound of someone carefully opening your door. It's a wonder that you somehow fell asleep in the first place, but you're not one to miss out on sleep—even if it's due to stress. Fluttering your eyes open, you sit up in bed only to see Jimin, peering into your room. He puts his finger to his lips.

"Meet me at the bridge in ten," he whispers so lightly if you hadn't been paying attention to him, you wouldn't have heard him at all.

You nod and the man closes your door to leave you by yourself. Sunlight streams through the window of your veranda and you realize that all the other spirits must be asleep. Immediately, you get ready—never missing the opportunity to take care of your hygiene—and dress in your new work clothes. There's no mirror in your room but the uniform—a modernized hanbok dyed a light gray—feels baggy against your skin. You try to make the most of what you have, raking your fingers through your hair before braiding it neatly behind your back.

Swiftly, you tiptoe out of your room, hoping that you don't disturb any of the light sleepers. You take the elevator down to the boiler room to see Hoseok snoring on his little wooden platform. Your shoes are nestled neatly in the corner. You slip them on, giving the warm boiler room one last look before you're hit with the fresh morning air outside.

The spiritual world is beautiful. If you hadn't been so worried about saving your own ass, you would've taken a lot of time to admire the architecture. The waterfall's roaring in the background again and the skies are the same azure blue as yesterday. You carefully make your way to the bridge. It makes you laugh that such a disaster had unfolded here yesterday. Just because you'd taken one gasp of air.

"Hey."

A warm hand grabs your arm and you whirl around to see Jimin. He's smiling, seemingly in a much better mood than yesterday. Either that or he doesn't have to pretend that he's an utter asshole outside the bathhouse.

"Hey," you say back. "What's going on?"

Jimin laughs, tugging your arm and guiding you away and down some steps to enter a luscious green garden with flowering hedges and a verdurous pasture. "Are you sure you're not in shock right now?" he asks.

"Me?" He's probably referring to how you haven't had a mental breakdown in front of him yet. Or how calm and composed you look at the moment. You just shrug, letting the man's grasp on your arm lower down until you're absentmindedly holding hands. His touch is weirdly reassuring. "I guess I just have thick skin."

"So you're feeling okay?" Jimin asks. He pulls you forward so that you're facing him, able to look into his stormy gray eyes. They're mostly emotionless with the teeniest hint of worry.

"Well... I don't know what to feel," you confess. "But I do know that I'll have to get out of here."

"You will," Jimin says. "Here, in the meantime, eat this." He pulls out a couple of large, glutinous rice cakes. "I charmed them so they'll make you feel stronger."

"Stronger than I already am?" You grin.

"Mhm. It'll also get rid of your human smell," he says.

"Well, that's great. Thanks." You take a bite into the warm rice; it tastes slightly nutty and delectably savory on your tongue. You marvel at the flavor. "Mmm." Your next bites come in rapid succession until all too soon, there's nothing left in your hands—the only evidence that the rice cakes had been there in the first place is the stickiness of your fingers. Jimin's right. Besides the appetizing taste, his rice cakes also leave you feeling much warmer inside, much better.

When you look up at the man, you see him watching you, waiting for you to speak, to say anything. So you do speak. "I actually have some questions I thought of yesterday."

Jimin laughs. "I can't exactly guarantee an answer."

"It's okay. I just need to get it out of my head. What work do I have to do around here?"

Jimin hums. He settles down on the soft grass, patting the spot next to him. Normally, you hate sitting on a lawn without a mat to cover your ass being dyed an ugly shade of green; however, you suck up your complaints and settle on the ground. You have bigger problems than being at the risk of emulating the Grinch's ass, anyway. When the man sees that you've settled down comfortably enough, he answers your question. "You'll be doing what the other workers do. Probably clean the tubs, fetch fresh water, greet customers..." But Jimin's eyes glint in curiosity. "Or perhaps Master hired you for other purposes."

"I'm not sure if I like the sound of that."

"What did you say to get him to hire you?"

"I just gave him a thirty-second business idea pitch," you say. "He liked it too."

"Hm..." Jimin looks like he's in deep reflection. "Then there's no telling what he'll do with you." Upon seeing your downcasted face, he apologizes. "I'm sorry, Y/N... I wish I could be more helpful."

You find comfort, hearing the way your name falls from his lips. "I'll find out later today anyway," you say. "You're doing as much as you can..." you trail off, staring at the handsome stranger. "But I want to know why."

"Why?"

"Why you're helping me."

"Ah..." The man grins, standing up. "That's a question to be answered for later."

"What?" You still have hundreds of more questions to ask. And the only question you got out wasn't even properly answered.

"Come, you should go back inside to sleep. You'll need it."

You arch an eyebrow as Jimin helps you stand on your feet. "You are such an enigma."

"Oh, I've been told." He smiles. "Go now." He lets go of your hand and urges you to leave him.

"Fine," you say. You face away from the man, smiling to yourself and shaking your head. "But when will I get to see you..." you trail off when you turn around and see that Jimin's not there anymore. In the sky, there's a coiling white and navy dragon soaring away.

Of fucking course. Now there's one less question you need answering to. Jimin's a fucking dragon. At this point, you suppose it makes sense with all the crazy shit that's already happened to you in such a short span of time. Jimin's dragon origin might explain why he has so many magical abilities. Yet it doesn't quite explain why he's helping you.

Jimin's assertions about you and the way he acts around you... It's as if he's known of your existence for quite a long time. But you can't remember where you could've seen a fucking dragon. If you had, you would've started believing in other magical identities, like unicorns and Hogwarts. But you don't. Not only are you a sane person but also you're quite realistic.

Only in the spiritual world could anything be possible.

With a huff, you walk up to the bridge again, taking a short moment to admire the scenery. But the moment doesn't last. Agile on your feet, you find yourself back in the isolated corner of your room in no time. It's safe there and you're not totally out in the open. Though... it is a bit harder to sleep with the sun shining down on you and with so many unanswered questions buzzing in your head.

You're left wondering about Jimin's intentions before sleep overtakes you once more.

"Choe? You awake?" A loud knock sounds at your door and you jolt into consciousness, kicking your blankets to the side.

"Yeah! I'm up!" you call, rubbing your eyes. Your hair's still miraculously in a neat braid from this morning so you scramble to open the door.

"Master's asking for you," Taehyung says, coming into your room. "I honestly have no clue why."

"That would make the two of us," you sigh, splashing water on your face to wake yourself up from your drowsiness. You'll need to be alert and on your feet to meet Seokjin again. "I wonder what he could want from me."

"Beats me," Taehyung says, a playful smile pasted on his lips. "He never calls up his workers to his office in the grand penthouse suite, you know. You must've impressed him yesterday."

"Or he just wants to turn me into a pig."

"He wouldn't!" Taehyung laughs. "He's probably going to lecture you about the bathhouse works or whatever. Ooh! Maybe we'll get to work together."

You wipe your face on a towel and stand up. "I'll have to find out."

Once again, you find yourself standing before the intimidating man who towers over you in both height and aura. "Good morning's sleep?" Seokjin asks in his smoothest voice. But before you can give your honest answer, he's already starting a new sentence: "I'm going to give you a special job, human," he says, stepping out from behind his desk and leaning on it from the front.

You raise your eyebrows. "Okay."

"You told me that my bathhouse would be even more lucrative with advertisements."

"I did."

"What kind of advertisements, human? Pray tell."

You haven't exactly thought out the details yourself. With everything that has been going on, making up a business plan is the last thing on your mind. But you're not going to admit that. You'll bullshit it as you go. It's something you take pride in yourself—your ability to perfect the art of bullshitting. "Well," you say, crossing your arms. "Back in my world, we have digital ads... Videos, audios... But seeing that technology doesn't operate around here... I suggest you make paper ads."

"Paper ads?" Seokjin's eyes gleam. He takes a step towards you. "Which would include what information?"

"I'd be happy to write it down for you."

The man smiles though it never reaches his eyes. "Oh, please. Be my guest." With a wave of his hand, he sends a blank sheet of paper and a golden pen your way. You quickly scribble down random ideas on it, trusting that the short business course you took in high school will save your ass. If not, you can make up marketing tactics that may or may not exist in the human world—Seokjin doesn't have to know.

"I was thinking it could sort of be like a flyer," you say. "With your best deals upfront like this." You begin pointing at your detailed illustration, finger tracing your own figures and blurbs to accentuate your presentation. "You should also interview a couple of your richest clients and slap their reviews on there too. It's called bandwagon. Once popular spirits start coming here, the rest will file in. Easy."

Seokjin regards you with fascination. "And are there any more... tactics that you would like to share with me, human?"

You hum, taking some time to think. Your pause makes Seokjin divert his attention back to you, and you smile; it's almost like you have him wrapped around your finger. "Yes. I have quite a lot, actually." You take a confident step forward. "But I'll tell you after you make me your business manager."

Ah, there it is. Your golden ticket idea! If Seokjin accepts your offer, it'll all be smooth sailing after this.

The businessman quirks one eyebrow, gazing at you with amusement. His lips curve up into a smile as he sits down on his desk. "Business manager?"

"I assure you that I won't be any good washing the tubs and doing menial chores," you say. "But if there's one thing I can do, it's lead and organize. As your business manager, I'm confident that I can ensure you a prolific life. I'll be implementing my own marketing strategies, and I'll even supervise your workers' productivity and efficiency. It's all less work for you. As long as you don't make me scrub the floors or whatever."

The man stands up from his seat, carefully stepping towards you. He leans down, his face inches away from yours. "You think you can handle it, human?" he whispers, his eyes never leaving yours.

You grin. "Oh, I can handle so much more."

Your grandmother used to tell you that you could sell a broken toenail for ten dollars or more. Of course selling the services of a deluxe bathhouse would be easy for you. And with Seokjin's unexpected support of your business antics, you end up faring quite well. More than well. Splendid, actually.

The spirit workers have no other choice but to respect you; how can't they? You're their manager. Power is always something you handled well. Problems are something you handle with great finesse. With your new suggestions, the bathhouse is in better business. Nights are crazily crowded, and by the daytime, everyone is beyond tired.

But you rapidly adjust to your new life as the business manager of Seokjin's bathhouse. Taehyung is extremely enthused by your quick success, and he becomes your closest friend, always bringing you food to eat after his work shifts. You and Seokjin meet nearly every day (upon his strict insistence) to discuss your daily observations and stir up new ideas to keep the bathhouse as lucrative as possible.

Meanwhile, Jimin's nowhere to be seen. It's not really a big deal, of course. Not when you have so many other things going on in your life. But it almost feels like he's avoiding you. Well, not that you care. But it would be nice to see him more often. Seokjin, on the other hand, you see almost too often.

"You've revolutionized the process, Choe," Seokjin announces, clinking your shot glasses together. The proprietor of the bathhouse hasn't changed much from the first time you got to know him. He's still intimidating, money-hungry and power-obsessed. Not much different from you, actually. But you think that even you have more compassion in your heart than he does (which is essentially saying a lot). The man takes a sip of his glass, eyes looking up and down at your figure. You let him look. It's not like he's ever made any advances anyway.

"I guess I have revolutionized the process," you say, downing the clear liquid. It burns in your throat but you keep your stoic expression, smoothing out the slight wrinkles in the satin fabric of your newest gown. Seokjin had generously given you a fair share of extravagant clothes—clothes that make you look like you own this place with Seokjin. Clothes that signify you're not some heavy-lifting worker here. That you're a manager. The boss' right-hand woman. "Is there any reason for the alcohol?"

"Just wanted to celebrate," Seokjin says. Swiftly he sets down his glass on his desk and begins to walk towards you. "Is that so wrong?"

You gaze up at him, a smile forming on your lips. "No, there's nothing wrong with that at all."

Seokjin's dark eyes glimmer at your words. He begins to lean in but you lead him away, slowly stepping backward until the backs of your thighs hit his desk. It's a fun little game you like to play with him. How long the two of you can simmer in the hot sexual tension before one of you breaks. So far, both of you have been stubborn. But you like to think you've got the great businessman wrapped around your finger; though he holds so much innate power, you, a human, can best him.

Seokjin's dark eyes turn cloudy and he licks his lips subconsciously, pinkening them. Your gaze departs from his eyes to stare at his mouth for a split second before meeting his stare once again. You're teasing him and you hope he knows it. Seokjin's hands begin to hover over your face, and you think it'll take another second for him to lean in and kiss you. It's all going according to plan. Until—

"Master Seokjin."

Your head turns to see Jimin standing in the doorway, frowning at you and Seokjin nearly entangled in each other's arms. Seokjin pulls away from you without a single look of guilt in his eyes, and you continue to return Jimin's gaze, wondering what the hell he had been up to until now.

"You're back," Seokjin sighs, straightening his tie. "Did you take care of my business?"

"Yes, Master."

"Well then. You're dismissed."

Jimin turns and begins to walk away. Though his face had offered absolutely no emotion whatsoever, you could tell that he looked disappointed. Angry, even. "I'll take this time to dismiss myself too," you tell Seokjin. He looks at you with raised brows but doesn't object.

"Very well."

You quickly follow after Jimin, catching the elevator down with him. The man doesn't glance your way even once, continuing to walk straight out of the bathhouse and into the garden he'd first taken you to. For some reason, that memory seems so long ago.

"What happened?" you say, first to break the silence. "You were gone for so long." Jimin refuses to answer, and when you try to put your hand over his, he tugs it away. You scoff at his petulant action. "Well, I'm sorry we haven't talked in a while but giving me the silent treatment isn't going to make anything fucking better."

"He's using you, you know," comes Jimin's gruff answer. "Don't you dare submit yourself to him," he says, whirling around and staring viciously into your eyes. "He's using you."

"That was in the heat of the moment! I wasn't actually going to kiss him," you huff, nearly rolling your eyes. "We're just business partners. I mean, I do technically work for him but he's been showing me respect. I'm um, I'm really starting to like it here—"

"Y/N," Jimin says. He grabs your arms. "You have to listen to me."

You look at Jimin as if he'd told a preposterous joke. "Who the hell is Y/N?" You fold your arms over your chest, effectively yanking them away from Jimin's grip. "What are you talking about?"

At your reaction, Jimin's brow creases, darkening his eyes. "Y/N... That's... Well, that's your name, remember?"

No, you do not. You're Choe. Everybody calls you that around here. Jimin's being delusional.

The man's arms reach out and he grabs at the locket around your neck. "Do you not remember this?" he asks, voice quivering. "If you don't believe me, your name's in your locket. Choe Y/N. That's who you are."

You glance at the man suspiciously before opening up your locket to verify his claims. In pretty, loopy letters, Choe Y/N, had been engraved in the golden space of the necklace. You blink once or twice, and slowly, you begin to regain your memory. "Oh... I am Y/N..."

Jimin gives you a sad look. "Here. I have something to show you."

He doesn't hold your hand this time, only asks wordlessly that you follow him. The man leads you to a pig pen of all places. And that's when it finally dawns on you.

"They're over here," Jimin says, pointing at two pigs sleeping peacefully on the muddy floor.

"Suji..." you breathe. "Sejin..."

It pains you to realize that you'd forgotten about them. You were supposed to get out of this place but you'd entangled yourself into the world. You'd selfishly found your own purpose but had abandoned your step-siblings' lives.

Suji had suffered from an eating disorder for years and was an excellent spokesperson speaking about her experience and teaching young children to be healthy. Even annoying Sejin had a scholarship for tennis at Stanford. They both had a direction in their life, no matter how anti-tech they were. You, on the other hand, only found your purpose, your direction... here.

Now you need to get out of this place—not for yourself—but for your step-siblings. They have great futures ahead of them, and they don't deserve to be taken away... at least, not at the expense of your success.

"Oh god," you whisper, burying your face in your hands. "I can't believe I forgot."

"You remember now," Jimin says. "Hey, that's all that matters. You need to know your identity around here. It's his way of controlling you. Y/N, he'll never respect you as long as he has your name."

You whirl around at the man. "You know what? You're right. God, I feel bad. You've been trying to help me... If I did anything to push you away..."

"It's okay," Jimin says. He stops you by putting a consolatory hand on your arm. "None of this is your fault anyway. You're doing an excellent job. Don't worry," he tells you. "We'll get you and your step-siblings out of here."

You hope so.

Now that Jimin's helped clear the fog that had obscured your vision, you're able to see Seokjin for what he really is. A blithering, selfish monster who wouldn't hesitate to turn you into a pig and roast you over a giant bonfire if you didn't please him anymore. You can't believe you almost let that... that thing kiss you. Never again.

Seokjin continues with his smooth, subtle advances, trying to get you to stay in his office overtime or gifting you more clothes. He supposedly fancies you, but for some reason, you think his obvious infatuation with you has more to do with pet-like fascination than real admiration. You never play into his game, insisting on keeping things professional. Seokjin seems to take your rejections well. Either that or he's too prideful to beg for your attention... Or, even worse, he's planning on getting his revenge when you're least expecting it.

You make time to be with Jimin. The two of you sneak away in broad daylight when everyone's asleep, exploring the empty ghost towns and sharing content moments together. If it weren't for your step-siblings, you would've been satisfied living like this. Well, providing the fact that you know more about Jimin. No matter how much time you spend with him, he's still a large enigma to you.

Sometimes, you subtly but not-so-subtly try to ask him about his origins or how on earth he knew you from before. But every time, he adroitly manages to dodge your inquiries. So today, when the rain falls over your heads and soaks the both of you from head to toe, you decide to take a different approach.

"I've always wanted to ask, Jimin," you say.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you ever stand up to Seokjin? I can't be the only one who argues with him. We need to put him in his place."

Jimin laughs at your determined words but his smile is sad as he shakes his head. "Well, there's a contract involved."

"Oh?"

"I didn't have anywhere to go for a very long time. But... But now I have a name and even have a job. Jimin's not my full name, though. Y/N, I can't remember it. He took it from me just like he took yours."

Your eyebrows knit together at his words. "Well, Seokjin didn't take my name. I have it right here in my locket," you say, patting your necklace. "You know what? We can get you a locket like mine after we figure out your name."

Jimin smiles, raindrops falling on his face and rolling down to his chin. "Maybe."

You let him sit in silence for a while before you ask your next question. "Hey, Jimin?"

"Hm?"

"Is that why you're helping me?"

"What?" he asks, turning to you.

"Because you don't want me to become like you?"

"Yes... and... well, and no."

"Hm..." Your frown deepens as you try to connect the dots seamlessly. "Okay, so you said you knew me from before. Sometime in the past. Are you helping me because you think I'm the key to discovering your full name?"

Jimin turns away from you. Even through the rain, you can tell that he's getting red in the face, appearing almost guilty.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Jimin doesn't answer, contemplating how to reply to you without sounding like a complete, utter asshole.

But you come to save him the trouble. "It's okay." You shrug. "I won't judge. We all have to look out for ourselves." It's something you do very well. "It's how the fucking world goes round," you laugh. "You want your name back so you're helping me. I need to get my step-siblings out of here so I'll help you."

Jimin turns to look at you, admiration in his eyes. "Y/N, you're simply amazing." Before you can say anything on the lines of 'I know,' Jimin's got his warm hand on your cheek, his lips dangerously close to yours. You smile, knowing exactly where this is going. When Jimin leans in to kiss you, you're ready, eyes closed and body relaxed. His lips are wet from the rain and also feel impossibly smooth upon yours. Jimin's fingers entangle themselves in your limp hair, and he tugs you closer into his arms, making you feel hot in the cold rain.

You pull apart from him, nearly breathless, but Jimin's just grinning, nowhere near as oxygen-deprived as you are. "I have to go now. It's getting dark... Everyone's probably already awake," he says, reaching out and wiping raindrops from your cheek with his thumb. "I'll see you?"

"Yeah," you say, nodding. "I'll see you."

Jimin gives you one last kiss on your forehead before stepping away from you. The two of you part, and you walk up to the bridge, gazing up at the sky with squinted eyes after a few seconds to see the familiar dragon flying away. You smile to yourself, cheeks warming. But you shake your head and continue walking to the lit-up bathhouse entrance. Jimin had been right; night had fallen and everyone's already bustling around by the time you slip into the building. You just hope no one noticed you were gone.

Humming lightly, you begin to make your way up to your room, water clinging to your clothes and keeping you cold. But nothing can ruin your good mood right now. One huge soak in a hot tub will perfect this whole day.

"Choe!!!" a loud voice bellows.

You sigh. Maybe something can ruin your mood. That's no doubt Seokjin's voice. You wonder what the hell he wants from you.

"Choe!!" he calls again.

"Yes???" you yell, blindly following his screeching voice. Seokjin's on the ground floor and visibly regards your wet hair and clothes in disdain.

"Did you go out and play in the rain, human?"

"I might've."

"Hmph. You'll have an important task for today," Seokjin continues on, scrutinizing you from his height.

"A ta—" you stop midway, putting a hand to your nose. "Oh my god, what is that smell?"

Seokjin stiffly upturns his own nose. "Don't be rude, Choe. That's our... customer. You'll be taking care of him."

Your eyes widen and water (from the smell) at the same time. "But I don't ever work on the scene!" you try to argue. "I'm your business manager!"

"You're also the newest worker in my bathhouse," Seokjin says. "You will do as I say."

"But Seokj—"

"That's Master Seokjin to you."

"But—"

"Do you want to be turned into a pig?"

You glare at Seokjin, but you know he's not playing around anymore. There's no way out of this. You're to take care of this foul-smelling spirit, though you have absolutely no clue how any of this works. You're starting to think that this is Seokjin's revenge.

"I thought so. Wait out by the entrance."

You're grumbling and muttering curses under your breath but you obey. Other workers are snickering at your poor fate, delighted that Seokjin's little princess had been demoted so quickly and right in front of their eyes. But their happy faces twist with the horrible odor that permeates the whole area.

"Open all the windows!" you command. "God! Is it always like this around here?" Forget the pig pens outdoors; this is the real pigsty.

Taehyung catches up to you, breathing dramatically through his mouth. "Nope, never," he responds, wheezing. "It never smells this bad! Come on, I wanna help!"

Taehyung is an angel. You give him a grateful look before finally making your way to the front entrance. There are workers waving their paper lanterns at a black blob in the rain. You squint your eyes to get a better look, and it takes all of your willpower not to pinch your nose to get rid of the fetid stench.

"What... is that," you whisper.

Taehyung just shrugs his shoulders. "We're going to need one of the big tubs," he says, eyeing the monster-like spirit. "I wonder who it could be... Never seen anything like that before."

"How about you get the tub ready, Tae," you say. "I'll um, I'll lead the... customer there."

"It's on the left after you take two rights, okay?" he says. You would like to imagine Taehyung would've grinned if it hadn't been for the smell. He's quick to withdraw from the area and you're left to face the brown blob.

The spirit looks like a discombobulated Blobfish made of mud and copper-colored slime. If you stacked up four rotten egg sandwiches, two animal zoos and one giant durian, it still wouldn't equate to the abomination you're forced to inhale now.

"Hello!" you exclaim, clapping your hands together. You train yourself to take mere sips of air through your mouth, trying to forget that your nose even exists. "Welcome to our bathhouse. I'm Choe, good sir, and I'll be assisting you today along with Taehyung."

The mud monster lets out a groan, and it sounds somewhat like a 'Thank you,' so you nod, pressing a pained smile on your lips. "Follow me, sir! We'll get you cleaned in no time."

You're very, very aware that the mud monster is leaking its guck everywhere. Twice already, it's almost come close to touching your bare feet. There are chills all over your body, and you're sweating at the brow to maintain your composure in the repulsive odor.

Carefully, you take Taehyung's directions, guiding the smelly customer into the tub. You swear if you get any mud on yourself, you're going to cry. "Right this way!" you say, beaming.

Taehyung's waving at you from the top of the tub filled with swirling, hot water. "It's the best of the best, sir! Made from dried worms!" he announces.

The mud monster lets out another unintelligible groan but it seems to like the special treatment. Your eyes enlarge in premeditated disgust as the spirit begins to fall head-first into the tub. You're not ready for what comes next. Muddy water pours out of the tub—not to mention splatters of the guck flying towards you, staining your clothes and skin alike. You resist the urge to scream.

You turn to Taehyung, unsure what you're supposed to do next.

"I don't think scrubbing's going to help!" he whispers urgently.

You're shaking, spots where the fetid mud hit your skin burning. But you grit your teeth. Seokjin gave you a fucking challenge. You're not going to back down.

"I'm still going to try," you say, pushing your sleeves up and whipping your hair back from your face. "Get me a sponge, please."

Taehyung rushes out of the scene, and you trudge through the thick mud (that had risen up to your knees) to get up to the stone-walled tub. The guck monster lets out a sad whine, almost as if to say, 'I'm not clean yet! I'm not clean!'

"Sir, we'll do the best we can," you reassure him. "We'll—"

Something catches your eye. "Is that a..." It looks like a fucking bicycle handle of all things! You take a closer look, edging closer to the very rim of the tub, balancing yourself so you won't fall in. Why would a spirit have a bicycle stuck inside it??

Your head reels at the possible thoughts. Unless...

You look up to see Seokjin watching you, grinning. There's mud on you everywhere and you suppose that sight makes him quite amused. "Seokjin!" you yell. "I need a rope! Can someone get me a rope?"

The businessman freezes in his place. "And why would you need a rope?" he bellows.

"There's—I think there's something stuck in our customer!" you yell. "A bike? I don't know!"

You watch as something clicks inside Seokjin's head, his eyes lighting up as a result. "A rope!" he yells. "Someone get her a rope. Everyone go downstairs right now! Help her pull whatever's stuck!"

In seconds, Taehyung appears, tossing you your well-needed rope. You lean into the mud monster, sweat dripping down your whole face from the pressure and warm steam from the water. Grabbing the bike handle and wrapping the rope around it tightly, you yell, "Pull!"

Tens and tens of workers line up behind you, grabbing the rope and tugging. "Pull!!" Seokjin shrieks from above. "Pull as if your lives depend on it!"

Your arms are shaking but you've also gotten used to the smell at this point. With one mighty tug, the bicycle begins to come out of the mug glob spirit. But it doesn't stop there.

"Pull!" you cry, "I think there's more!"

After the bicycle follows a car tire, some plastic cans, another bicycle—all covered completely in mud and dirty rust. It keeps piling out without any cessation. You jump to the side, avoiding getting hit by any of the rancid junk. The spirits around you gasp and clear out the area, letting all the trash slide out and land onto the ground in a huge pile.

Your jaw drops open and stays there quite unattractively. "Oh my god..."

Taehyung's right next to you, shaking his head in disbelief. "All that trash..."

It's depressing, really. You remember back home when your friends had made fun of all the excessive 'save the turtles!' campaigns at your favorite spot on the beach. Maybe the campaigns hadn't been so excessive at all. Not with all the human trash that had come out of this poor spirit. No wonder everyone hates humans around here.

Gasps and shrieks behind you wake you from your thoughts. You turn around to see people crouching down and grabbing at these glinting objects at the bottom of the floor. You're squinting to get a better look at the commotion when Seokjin yells, "You idiots! The customer's still here!"

Everyone freezes.

There's loud, boisterous laughter that comes from the tub; the once muddy water had vanished and been replaced with a crystal-clear pool. A masked figure emerges from the bath, and you nearly stumble back in shock at its sudden presence. "Thank you," it rasps in its booming voice. The spirit looks straight at you, and you stare right back, in awe but frightened at the same time.

It feels like a grand entity. The mask looks centuries-old and meticulously crafted. The spirit gives you another nod of acknowledgment before laughing again, and it lifts itself from the tub—grandiose dragon-like body and all—and flies out of the bathhouse through the open windows.

It's silent for a second before everyone's cheering loudly, slapping you on the back in congratulations. You're too shocked to say anything or do anything for once in your life. You look down at your heavy hands where the spirit had gifted you something. It had nearly teleported out of nowhere, that gift. The only reason you know it's from the spirit is that it gives you a sense of spiritual serenity to hold it. The same feeling you had felt while looking at him. But you have no idea what it's supposed to be.

Whatever the gift is, you quickly pocket it when Seokjin calls your name, running towards you with his mouth set in a wide grin. "Choe!" he yells again. "You did it!"

"I guess I did," you say, a small smile breaking from your lips.

"That spirit right there was the potent River Spirit of the West!" Seokjin exclaims. "He repaid us in gold! Look at how much is on the floors!"

It also seems like the River Spirit had magically cleaned up all of the junk that had piled up on the floor of the bathhouse.

"Wow..." is all you can manage.

"You did well, Choe," Seokjin says, grinning at you.

You stare at him with suspicion. He'd put you up to this. It was like some sort of cruel test. He's lucky that the River Spirit had been generous enough to make all traces of mud and slime disappear in his gratitude. Or you would've put up a fight.

"You're welcome," you say, upturning your nose. "Now look how much richer you can be now," you say, gesturing at the gold sparkling on the floors and the workers now fighting over each other to pocket it.

Seokjin smirks, letting your insult pass over his head. "Why don't you take a few of those gold nuggets, hm?"

"And what would I do with them?" you laugh. "Use them to buy even more gold nuggets?"

The omnipotent businessman watches you leave, shaking his head in disapproval but also unable to wipe his smile off his face.

"So, I heard about the fiasco last night," Jimin says, laughing quietly as he greets you in your usual meeting place at the green pasture.

"Oh, that?" you smile. "Yeah, it was kind of insane. Sort of Seokjin's punishment for me for rejecting his advances. But at the same time, I guess it turned out okay. The River Spirit gave me this," you say, pulling out the small, spherical, greenish gift.

Jimin glances at it and laughs. "A dumpling for all your troubles?"

You gape. "What kind of demented dumpling looks like that??" But upon second thought... "Maybe it means something."

"Yeah, maybe it means that you should eat it."

You laugh, looking at Jimin with amusement. "It doesn't look very appetizing." But nevertheless, you bring the foul-looking "dumpling" up to your lips and take a small bite. Instantly, your toes curl and you make a disgusted face. "Fuck! That's disgusting!" you shriek, eyes watering up as you force the tiny piece down your throat. "God, it tastes like a culmination of the trash that I pulled out of the spirit!"

Jimin doubles over in laughter at your reaction. "It might be a medicine. So maybe it has other uses??"

"Ugh, it better," you say, making a face. "It fucking better."

Hours later, you and Jimin find yourselves laying on the grass, holding hands and staring up at the tall, blue sky. It's peaceful like this, and you want to ingrain the moment forever in your head.

"I hate that I ever came here," you suddenly say.

Jimin sits up, giving you a hurt look. "And why is that?"

You sit up as well, starting into his pretty gray eyes. "I mean... my step-siblings are stuck, wasting their time away as fucking pigs... And I'm... God, it sounds so selfish but if I never came here, I would never have not wanted to leave."

"Oh..." Jimin sighs. "We wouldn't have met again if you didn't come here," he points out. "Would you have been okay with that?"

You smile, squeezing your intertwined hands. "You're the reason I don't want to leave, Jimin."

After that, it's all lips and skin and hot passion. You're tugging Jimin into your quaint room and he's following you, his mouth on yours and hands on your hips. It's really an understatement to say that things got heated. Jimin makes you feel like you're on fire.

You rise from the ashes like a phoenix—except you really rise from your blankets—staring at Jimin as he slips his hanbok back on, tying the ends of the navy ribbons around his waist. The sunlight from your window illuminates his handsome face, and he sparkles, almost looking like some kind of celestial god.

"You're not going to stay...?" you ask, cheeks heating up at your own high-pitched voice.

The man stares back at you, sweeping his fingers through his hair to reveal his forehead. "I wish I can, Y/N... But I have some business to take care of."

There he goes being all mysterious again.

When you don't answer, Jimin attempts to make amends. "I promise I'll be back soon," he says, crouching down to leave a chaste kiss on your lips. "I'll be back before dark."

"You better keep that promise," you warn teasingly. "I'll see you."

"I'll see you." He grins, swiftly moving out onto your veranda. Your eyes widen as he jumps off of it, but soon, you see a soaring dragon in the sky. The corners of your mouth raise.

Too tired to wash your sheets now (and also worried that you might accidentally wake someone up), you decide you're going to do the washing when it becomes nighttime—when Jimin had promised to come back and see you. You quickly fall asleep under your blankets, the warmth of the sun caressing your cheeks and lulling you off to dreamland.

By the time you wake up again, the sky is black and Jimin's not here. Trying not to hide your disappointment, you get up from your covers and put on your clothes, ready to wash your sheets. But you linger for a few extra minutes, waiting on Jimin to come. He never does.

You shake the weird feeling off and decide to get your nighttime work started as usual. The whole bathhouse is still frantic about the piles and piles of gold nuggets that the River Spirit had left just yesterday. You ignore the greedy workers fighting over the gold and continue on as if nothing had happened at all. By the time the sun starts to peek from the horizon, you trudge back upstairs to your dorm, wondering if Jimin will be waiting for you there. He isn't.

Setting down your newly washed sheets, you get ready to go to sleep.

But that's when you see it. A dragon in the sky. But it's not sailing around with its usual grace. It looks like it's in pain—body coiling and recoiling as it begins to fly straight at your veranda. Your eyes widen as you quickly open the window to let Jimin in.

The dragon slams into your room, and you nearly let out a scream at its bloody sight.

"Jimin!" you whisper. "What happened??"

There's blood dripping from his giant dragon mouth, coating his sharp teeth. The blood splatters everywhere, tainting the paper doors and staining the blankets.

"Jimin!" you cry again.

The dragon snarls when you try to get close to it.

"Jimin?"

He looks like he's in too much pain, and his large, stormy gray eyes reflect some sort of guilt—as if he were in his human form, he would've apologized to you.

"Oh, shit," you whisper. "What happened to you?"

It's clear that he can't answer, which pains you. Jimin slowly begins to slink back and out of your room, stepping closer and closer to the veranda. It looks like he's going to fly away again. To fly away from his troubles. It makes you wonder why he even came here in the first place. In one panicked movement, you grab onto Jimin's blood-tainted horns, and he unknowingly jumps out of the window along with you.

You're in the air. You're flying with Jimin. You're not sure where he's going or if he even knows you're on his back, but he soars up and up and up... towards Seojin's office. You hold your breath, unable to admire the scenery but more than terrified of the ocean below you. A scream almost rips from your throat when Jimin crashes through a window and tumbles into Seokjin's office. The dragon snarls when he sees you there with him as you rub your sore shoulder from the pain. "What??" you hiss, eyes narrowing. "What do you—" Jimin begins to frantically point his tail at the curtains. You frown. It's almost as if he's telling you to hide.

That's when you hear Seokjin's voice.

"What was that awful racket??" it booms.

You understand Jimin immediately and slip behind the curtains, though you're not sure how on earth Jimin's going to cope.

"Ah..." you hear Seokjin's voice. "Now what do we have here? Why would you come half-dead into my office? Look what you did to my pretty windows."

He's being crueler than usual.

"Your little human girlfriend can't save you now," he laughs.

You clench your fists, willing yourself not to fly out from behind the curtains and attack his man. Why isn't he helping Jimin?? Instead, you keep your cool, analyzing the situation instead. In your humble opinion, Seokjin's not exactly evil. Sure, he's morally ambiguous, but he's not completely a villain-like character. He just prioritizes money over anything else. It occurs to you that maybe... Jimin could've done something wrong. Is that why he had never told you anything about his business? His secret missions? Is that why he came to you, frantic and bloody and out of his mind? Is that why he was so quick to abandon you? Because he didn't want to disappoint you? You're disappointed nonetheless.

"Choe's a wonderful replacement," Seokjin says. You can almost hear the grin in his voice. "She's even braver than you are. She'll be much more useful to me... Of course, she's much more... opinionated. But I can work with that."

You can hear Jimin snarling weakly at Seokjin's words. You want to spring out and tell him to save his energy. But you don't dare blow your cover.

"I'll have to let you die here, Jimin," Seokjin continues. "You know that I can't save you now... Excuse me, will you? I'll go find Choe to tell her the news."

You hear him walk away and you wait long seconds to make sure he's completely gone before you're springing out from the curtains and running to Jimin. But it looks like he's lost consciousness already. You try to keep calm, attempting to recall what to do when one is out cold. Maybe CPR can help? But you realize you know nothing about dragon anatomy. Where the fuck are their hearts located??

You turn the dragon over, running your fingers through his mane matted with blood. Your own clothes are dyed a dark, crimson red but you don't mind. "Jimin," you whisper. "Jimin!"

He won't wake up. And you have no idea whether he's dead or alive.

"Ah, I see a new face."

You whirl around in fright at the foreign voice. But it turns out it's a... hologram of an unfamiliar but tall, attractive man. He looks real and the proportions are all correct—the only thing that gives him away is his transparency.

"Oh thank fucking god!" you whisper. "Please! Help me—whoever you are. I need help!"

The man just smiles at you, refusing to move an inch. "I'm Namjoon, Seokjin's older brother."

You have no idea what that means for you. You didn't even know Seokjin had a sibling. "Please, if you know magic too, can you just—"

"I wouldn't help a thief," Namjoon says, eyes turning cold. He looks just like his younger brother and even acts like him too. Your heart drops. There's no hope now.

"A thief??"

"I was planning on letting him die..." Namjoon sighs. His eyes meet yours. "Ah, so I've heard you're Seokjin's new apprentice. Hopefully, you have more respect for others' belongings. What Jimin stole from me is what's killing him. I put a lethal spell on it."

With a sweep of his hand, Namjoon creates a wide hole in the ground. A hole that is so unfathomably deep that you can't see where it ends.

"Wait!" you shriek. "You can't just do this! Thief or not, he deserves another chance! Please, Namjoon!"

You can't believe you're begging someone you've never met in your life before. Is this who you've become now? You feel pathetic.

There's a flicker of pity that flits across Namjoon's eyes. But it vanishes just as fast as it had appeared. Namjoon shakes his head, just about to use whatever abilities he possesses to sweep Jimin into the dark hole when the dragon wakes up with a roar.

He lashes about, and you hold onto him tightly. In the commotion, Jimin's tail reaches out and slices the hologram of Namjoon in half. The older man gasps audibly but he quickly fades away into nothingness. One less threat to worry about.

"Jimin," you breathe from relief before you realize your comfort had come too soon. "Jimin!" you shriek as the dragon loses consciousness once more and begins to slide toward the hole. You grip your arms around the bloody dragon, trying your hardest to anchor him to the ground, but he's much heavier than you are, and you can't help but succumb to his actions.

The two of you begin to fall.

The darkness is terrifying but you grip onto Jimin's horns, squeezing your eyes shut—as if that would help you. Maybe this is your end. Maybe this is how you'll never save anyone and end up killing yourself and someone you actually care about.

You bury your face into Jimin's tangled mane, trying to forget about everything. Trying to let go. It's the first time you feel totally helpless. The first time you can't find any solution to your troubles. You want to reach and hold your locket, feel it close against the palm of your hand. But you don't dare to. You want to be as close to Jimin as possible when you cease to exist. You want to spend your last moments with him. And it hurts that you can't even remember the last happy thing you'd said to each other. Your head hurts. It reels.

But that's when you hear a soft purr. It morphs into a loud roar. Your eyes fly open to see Jimin awake. He roars again, stopping your fall and ducking into one of the vents, his scales scratching against the rough brick walls. You're unable to react, beyond happy and beyond relieved. You have no idea where he's taking you. But it doesn't matter now. Not when you know he's alive.

Before you can stop him, Jimin breaks through a wall, and the two of you come out to the other side, crash-landing on a familiar floor.

"What in the—" you hear a familiar voice. "Y/N? Jimin??"

It's Hoseok.

You quickly roll off of the now unconscious dragon, wiping away the tears that had fallen down your face. "Hoseok! Please! Help me!"

"What in tarnation happened??"

"I-I... I don't even..." you try to speak but to no avail. "I-I think Jimin stole something from Seokjin's brother... Namjoon? Whatever it is, it's killing him!" you sob out, pushing Jimin's messy mane away from his closed eyes. "I don't know what to do..."

"Oh, dear..." Hoseok breathes. "Oh, dear. Knowing Namjoon, it must be a curse."

"A curse?!"

"I don't know if my herbal medicine is enough to fix it."

The thought comes to you suddenly and it hits you so hard, you gasp. "Wait! The River Spirit gave me something," you say. "Look." You show Hoseok the greenish dumpling and he gapes at it.

"That's an incredibly rare medicine," he gasps in awe. "It might just work..."

"Jimin..." you say. "You hear that? You just have to eat this dumpling."

You don't think he can hear you. "Jimin...?"

It looks like you'll have to force it in his mouth. Without hesitation, you lunge, prying the dragon's bloody jaws open, minding the teeth. "It's okay, it's okay," you murmur. You don't know whether you're trying to comfort yourself or Jimin. You stick your whole arm in his mouth, depositing the medicine as far as it can go down his throat to ensure that he'll swallow it. Then, you clamp his mouth shut.

If you ever had the tiniest inkling that Jimin was dead before, you find out that he's surely not now. The dragon wheezes, eyes turning wide as it thrashes in your grip. You have to use all your might to keep his mouth clamped shut.

Hoseok's yelling and Jimin's growling and you're curled up in a ball, struggling to keep your arms secure around the dragon's mouth.

"It's working, it's working!" Hoseok yells.

You look up from your fetal position to see the dragon's body inflating—looking almost like a snake that had consumed something too large for itself, but whatever it had consumed is coming back up. You quickly let go of the dragon, and something shoots out of his mouth so rapidly, you're unable to see what it was.

"A seal!" Hoseok gasps. "Oh, and our culprit! The black slug! Get it, Y/N!"

You spring up, head dizzy at your sudden movements. But you do spot a black slug next to a pretty, golden seal. Ah, that looks like what Jimin had stolen from Namjoon. The slug might be the lethal curse that Namjoon had put on it. You act quickly, running around to squash the slug, which happens to be incredibly fast.

Hoseok's yelling, pointing and driving you absolutely mad but you manage to squish the black slug into an inky death. It's gross but it also gives you a sense of satisfaction. "I got it!" you exclaim. Your feet are messy now—one covered in black slime and both of them equally sooty. But for the first time, you could care less about your hygiene.

"You got it!" Hoseok laughs. He crawls away from his platform and toward Jimin who had morphed back into his human self. The spider spirit carefully turns him around. "Oh dear, he's knocked out cold..."

You pick up the seal and examine it in your hands. "What is this, Hoseok?"

"It's a magic seal... Definitely comes with extra power..."

"Well, I have to return it to Namjoon now, don't I?"

"That would definitely be the right thing to do."

"God..." you sigh, kneeling in front of Jimin. "And the black slug was Namjoon's curse, I'm assuming. Well," you smile, "it's gone now."

"Here," Hoseok says. "I saved these train tickets for more than forty years, but you need them more than I do. The train's only one way... And Namjoon lives somewhere called Swamp Bottom."

"Thank you..." you say. "Thank you so much."

"It's really nothing," Hoseok replies, smiling warmly. He can't help but notice the way you look at Jimin. He would help you save someone you love so dearly a hundred times over.

"I need to go right away," you say standing up. "I'm pretty sure Seokjin's looking for me..."

"Yes, child," Hoseok nods. "You'll have to climb down into the ocean. There should be a train station right down by the tracks."

"Got it," you smile, wiping away the dried blood from your cheek. "I'll have to give myself a little wash, won't I?"

"No need," Hoseok says. He uses one of his long arms to reach and pull a cabinet out from one of his hundreds of drawers. "Jimin insisted that I saved your old clothes."

Your eyes sparkle with delight. "He did?"

"He did."

You're able to change into your comfortable outfit, and it feels almost foreign to wear something that's not a loose gown or a hanbok. You feel like yourself... but only better.

"I'm going to apologize to Namjoon for Jimin," you say. "And from there... I just hope everything works out."

Hoseok watches you as you crouch down and cradle Jimin's face. "You're a fucking idiot, you know that?" you whisper, hugging him in your arms. "But I hope you'll be okay."

With that, you're off, wading into the ocean and walking alongside the train tracks submerged underwater. The deep end of the sea where you can barely see the bottom scares you. But the serenity of the undulating waves and bright afternoon sunshine is rather calming. So much has happened already; it's nice to have peaceful moments like this by yourself.

Your now cleaned bare feet pad onto the train station and you look up at the bathhouse. There had been so many adventures there... You'd lost yourself for a split second, forgotten the people you'd cared about. But now, you're back on track. Literally. After you manage to help Jimin, you'll help your step-siblings. Chipping away at your problems like this feels cathartic, and you feel light-headed and happy.

The train conductor is a ghost—a man who has no face but is able to communicate through hand gestures. He takes and shreds Hoseok's tickets and welcomes you on the train. It's completely silent there. Ghosts come and go. The train moves at a moderate place and you spend the whole time staring out and admiring the scenery. There are faraway villages and towns that float on the ocean, and you wonder if they're all inhabited by spirits. You spy a special little island at one point. One that has just a pretty little cottage sitting in a sea of verdant grass; a tall tree even stands at the very edge of the land. You fall in love with its tranquility.

Before long, the sun begins to set. Swamp Bottom is the last stop on the train, and now, it seems like you're the only passenger. Nervously, you twist your locket. But you need to keep strong. If you don't make it out alive, then who'll help Jimin? Who'll help your step-siblings?

It's nighttime when you reach your destination, getting off the train and slipping on your shoes to walk. There's a well-lit pathway that guides you through a dark forest. Fireflies and crickets calm your spiked nerves but your fingers still play around with your locket. If you hadn't been so nervous, this walkway would've been so beautiful to admire. You'd want to walk down here with Jimin, hand in hand. Or you would love to show this place to Sejin and Suji. They would love it here, surrounded by so much life.

Finally, you reach a pretty cottage. Your hand hovers over the door, just about to knock when it opens by itself.

"Come in," a deep, mellifluous voice says.

You obey—only to come face to face with Namjoon. Except he's not a hologram this time, neither is he transparent. He's very much real.

The first thing you do is hand him the seal with both hands. "I'm so sorry," you say, bowing your head. "I want to apologize for Jimin for stealing your seal. He should've never taken what was yours. And... And I'm really sorry that I kind of... squashed the black slug curse you put on it."

Namjoon takes the seal from you, his lips curving up into a friendly smile. Then, he begins to laugh. "You squashed the black slug??" he howls. "That's hilarious, my dear."

You stare at him in shock. "H-Hilarious?"

"That slug," the man explains. "That's not my curse. It's what Seokjin implanted in Jimin to control him all these years. My curse... Ah, it reacts much more slowly and can only be broken by love." He glances at you through his thin spectacles and offers you a warm smile. "I forgive Jimin, my dear. He didn't need much forgiving. My brother was the one who urged him to steal my seal."

Your eyebrows twist. "Oh... Well, that's new... But thank you. Really." This warm exchange is the last thing you expected from Seokjin's brother.

Namjoon shakes his head. "It's my pleasure, dear. Why don't you stay for some warm tea and cakes? You came such a long way to see me."

"Um..." You want to go back to Jimin as fast as you can but it also occurs to you... that you can't. Not when the train only travels one way. But you're learning to take one thing at a time. To take one step at a time. You'll figure it out later. "Yes, I'll do just that. Thank you."

Namjoon's humble cottage is starkly different from Seokjin's opulent lifestyle. He only lives with what he needs. A crackling fireplace sits in the corner of the room, painting the cottage in warm hues of yellow and orange. You sip Namjoon's tea in his pretty cups as you watch him melt a gold, sparkling material in the fire. You'd asked what he was making but he'd just smiled at you, emphasizing that it be kept a secret.

"Um... Joon?" you ask, the name falling awkwardly off your tongue. (But it's what Namjoon had insisted you call him.)

"Yes, dear?"

"Would you... Would you happen to know Jimin's full name?"

The man looks up at you. "I believe that's something that you know, Y/N."

"I do?"

"It'll come to you."

You cock your head curiously. "I hope it does..."

Namjoon just gives you a kind smile. "Here," he says, handing you a pretty locket almost identical to yours. Your eyes widen at the beautiful necklace and you accept it with both hands. "May it be engraved with a full name one day."

"You're alive, I see," Seokjin scoffs, crossing his legs as he spins around in his chair to stare at Jimin.

"I hope you're not too disappointed," Jimin says, icy eyes glaring at the man. "I want to make a deal."

"A deal?" Seokjin grins, leaning forward. "Okay. What is it?"

"You have to promise to take Y/N back home safely. Along with that, you have to return her step-siblings to their human state and allow them to leave as well," Jimin says. "That means you burn her work contract. And before you object, Y/N's done much more than she bargained for to help your bathhouse. You can't argue with that, can you, Seokjin."

The proprietor of the bathhouse raises his eyebrow. "You make fair points, apprentice." He pauses, staring down at the younger man with a smirk on his lips. "Very well. I will keep your side of the deal if Choe completes her side. She must pass a final test."

"It must be a fair test."

"Of course it will be," Seokjin barks. "She's already too... powerful," he admits slowly. "You realize why I decided to take her first name, do you?"

"You were afraid she'd overpower you. It wasn't like you to take her first name, but I knew what you were doing," Jimin says. "I know a lot more than you think."

"Really, now?" Seokjin smirks. "Then, I hope you know enough to understand that if Choe Y/N fails her test, I'll be turning you into a pig. And I'll have you know that I'm craving bacon tonight."

"Thank you, Namjoon," you say, eyes sparkling as you look at the beautiful locket in your hands. "Thank you so much."

He waves your gratitude away. "That little thing? It isn't nearly as pretty as your own locket right there." The kind man smiles. "You know who it's for... He'll be here to get you any second now."

Your ears perk up. "He...? As in...?"

The windows rattle and the wind blows hard outside the small cottage.

"Ah, there he is right now," Namjoon says. He stands up, opening the door. Outside, standing in all his glory, in his dragon form, is Jimin.

You cry his name, running out of the cottage to hug him. "Oh, Jimin..." you breathe, nuzzling your face against his soft mane. "You're okay."

The dragon purrs, nuzzling you back gently with his nose.

"The two of you should go now," Namjoon says. "I'm afraid my brother will be waiting for you when you get back."

"Seokjin...?" you question, eyebrows twisting.

The dragon grunts in agreement.

All too soon, you're waving goodbye at Namjoon, wanting to promise to visit but knowing that you'll likely never see him again. "Goodbye!" you call. "Thank you!"

The kind man watches you leave, watching and watching until the two of you disappear from his sight in the sky.

You smooth Jimin's mane before holding onto his horns, loving the feeling of the wind against your cheeks. It feels like you're soaring without any boundaries, any limits. But the blueness of the sky, the white clouds almost remind you of being underwater.

Suddenly, you feel breathless, head reeling and eyesight turning blurry. There are glimpses of visions. Your necklace drowning in the depths of a deep lake. You reaching fearlessly into the waters to retrieve it. Being out of breath. Drowning. A mysterious, serpent-like figure saving you. Your locket clutched tightly in your hand. Holding a shiny, silver horn in the other. Being returned safely back to shore.

You gasp from the memories. "Oh my god," you breathe. "Jimin... I just remembered something... I... I remember... I think I was six... But I used to go down to this lake all the time... It's dried up now. They built apartments in its place, which is a pity. But I just remember dropping my locket in the water and the waves taking it away from me... I almost drowned trying to get that necklace back. But you... you're the one who saved me. And that lake... that lake," you say, closing your eyes to help the memory come to you faster. "It was... It was called Lake Park!"

Jimin's large, round dragon eyes widen.

You gasp when his scales begin to fly away from his serpentine body, leaving the human Jimin behind—all in his flowing navy robes. You're afraid for a split second that the two of you will plummet to your deaths but Jimin's still miraculously able to fly.

"Y/N!" he laughs happily, holding your two hands each in his own. "You remembered! You remembered my name." He lets out another pretty laugh. "I'm Park Jimin," he says. "God of a lake that no longer exists. I remember now—all thanks to you! Why I felt so lost... Why Seokjin was able to take advantage of me. I didn't have a home to return to—not with my lake dried up."

"Park Jimin," you breathe. "God," you laugh. "It has such a nice ring to it. I mean... you're actually a god. I should stop saying that."

Jimin's eyes sparkle, and he tugs you close, your noses touching. "Say whatever you want, Y/N," he says. "We're all free now."

You kiss him, savoring the way his plush lips move against yours. "I need to give you your necklace, now," you whisper against his mouth. "And we'll have it engraved with your name."

"You're amazing, Y/N," he gasps, moving in to kiss you once more.

"And so are you," you breathe, smiling against his lips.

"They're here!" Taehyung yells. "They're here!" He points at you and Jimin, floating down to the ground, hand in hand.

Seokjin pushes a couple of his workers out of the way to see the two of you upfront. A bridge separates the businessman from you and Jimin. The two of you begin to walk across it together. It's just like the first night that you had here, except you're no longer afraid. Your twin necklaces—the one around your neck and the one around Jimin's—sparkle brightly in the sunlight.

"There is one final test you must pass, Choe," Seokjin says. His eyes narrow as he gestures behind to lines and lines of... pigs. "I'll let you go, burn your contract and even let your step-siblings go if you can complete one simple task."

"Yes?" you say, smiling as you squeeze Jimin's hand. "And what would that be?"

"Identify your step-siblings from these hogs," Seokjin grins. "Then, I'll let you go. You have just one chance."

Jimin almost steps out. "How dare y—"

"A deal's a deal," Seokjin says, holding out his hand. "You gave me your word as did I."

Your brows knit together. The pigs look all the same to you, which hurts to admit. But there's no way you trust yourself to choose any two pigs to be your step-siblings. Not when the stakes are this high.

"The test is unfair, Seokjin," Jimin says. "You've designed it to make it impossible to succeed."

But you take another look at the pigs. And it begins to dawn on you. "It's okay, Jimin," you say, resting your hand against his chest. "I think... I think I know the answer."

Even Seokjin looks shocked at your words. "Y-You do?!"

You shrug, smiling softly. "Seokjin, you can only control the people whose names you've stolen," you say. "Jimin knows his full name. As do I. But my contract also bound my step-siblings, didn't it? In that case, I'll say it for them." You look the businessman straight in the eye. "Let Lee Sejin and Lee Suji go."

The contract—your contract—that Seokjin had been gripping so tightly in his hand bursts in flames. Subsequently, the rows and rows of pigs that had been held in a small pen reveal themselves to be spirits. Then, in the corner of the crowd, you spot your step-siblings, huddling together, looking scared and confused.

You nearly cry from relief. The crowd behind you cheers, Taehyung and Hoseok being especially loud in showing their support.

Seokjin shakes his head, scoffing. But even he has to admit his losses. The man walks up to you, straightening his suit, and he offers to shake hands with you. Without hesitation, you take it. "You're a fine businesswoman," Seokjin says. He still looks like he's in disbelief. "And I have to admire your intelligence."

"Thank you," you say, smiling. "You're an intelligent businessman as well..." you trail off, looking between your puzzled step-siblings and a proud-looking Jimin. You swallow, a million thoughts flying through your head at once. "I just want one wish."

"I suppose I owe you that much," Seokjin hums. "So, your wish?"

"I... I want to stay here," you say, "in the spiritual realm. But I want you to return my step-siblings safely... And... And I want all traces of myself erased in the real world."

Jimin grips your arm, looking at you with a shell-shocked expression. "Y/N!" he whispers sharply. "Are you sure? I thought you always wanted to go back."

You shake your head. "I found my calling," you say. "And it's here."

Seokjin nods. "That's not too hard to complete. Done and done."

Your eyes glisten with happiness and you can't help yourself from jumping out and giving Seokjin a big, warm bear hug. He seems shocked at first but succumbs to your affection. "Thank you," you say. "Thank you, Jin."

The usually intimidating businessman is at a loss for words. "Y-You're... You're welcome," he says, staring at you in awe.

You walk back just to grab Jimin's hand. "I know just where we should live!" you say. "It's the perfect spot and still somewhere in this realm too."

Jimin leans down to kiss your forehead. "Ah, and where would that be?"

You grin. "Let's fly over there and see, shall we?"

Seokjin watches as the two of you fly away, hand in hand, your lockets shining like two glistening stars in the daylight. He wonders if he'll ever see you and Jimin again.

Seokjin's barking orders as usual, but this time, he's careful to add the occasional "please" and "thank you's." It's something that he's picked up with time. Something that he's trying to implement to his managing style.

"They'll be here any second!" he yells. "Did someone get the fleece towels? Get it right away!" he yells. "Please!" he adds with haste.

Everyone is excited today at the bathhouse.

After months and months of staying away, you and Jimin have finally made reservations! For some reason, Seokjin feels giddy. A lot has changed since you decided to grace your presence in the spiritual world. And he has you to thank for completely revolutionizing his business. He wonders how you and Jimin are doing. If the two of you would even let him call you two his old friends. But he hears you've become a much kinder, selfless soul. You and Jimin have resided in a small island cottage in the middle of the calm ocean waters, where the grass is always green and a large maple tree offers you all the shade you can ever want. The two of you help guide the lost souls on the train to their new destinations—wherever that may be. It's a thought that brings so much closure to Seokjin's mind.

"They're here!" Taehyung shrieks. "They're here!"

Seokjin's the first one to run down, bowing his head to greet you and Jimin.

The two of you look beautiful in your matching white hanboks with indigo ribbons decorating them. Your hands are intertwined in each other's and there's a merry sparkle to both of your skins. Seokjin's not sure if you even need a bath.

"Seokjin!" you cry, reaching out to hug the man. "Hey, long time no see!"

Seokjin and Jimin exchange brief handshakes.

"The place looks so nice," you gush, slipping off your shoes and tugging Jimin into the familiar place. "We already met up with Hoseok and we're super pleased to see that you gave him those cute sootball workers! He won't have to do all the heavy lifting by himself anymore. Oh! And I saw the ads outside," you laugh. "I see you're still implementing my systems?"

Seokjin nods. "Of course."

"Oh yeah, and Joon told us to tell you 'hi,' " Jimin smiles. "He wants you to visit down by Swamp Bottom. Or he can always come up here if you're busy."

"No, no, I'll make time for my brother," Seokjin says. "I'll visit him in a few days."

"Well! That's settled." You clasp your hands. "Now, where's the lavish bathtub we ordered?"

You and Jimin share a bag of M&M's together, something that the young god managed to salvage from a little trip to the human world. The bathtub is almost like an endless pool, and the view of the ocean at night is dazzling.

You lean into Jimin's bare chest, munching on a red M&M and staring out into the sea, admiring the way the waves undulate so peacefully.

"Do you ever miss the human world?" Jimin whispers. "Do you regret erasing yourself...?"

You sigh, turning around to stare at his face. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"I just wish I was better to the people who cared about me," you admit, cheeks flushing. "I wasn't the most... agreeable person, you know? I wish I had been better to my step-siblings... and my mother... and my father... Even my stepmother."

Jimin leans in to nuzzle your nose against his. "Hey," he says. "But you're angelic to the people you care about now."

You giggle, letting the warm water soothe your skin and basking in Jimin's undivided attention. "I learned a lot. That's what happened."

Jimin smiles. "And you taught me too," he says. "You taught everyone around you what you learned." The man gazes out into the dark sky lit by the twinkling stars and shy moon.

"Oh, come on," you laugh. "You're making me sound like a goddess." You follow his line of sight, admiring the darkness and serenity of the night.

"Who knows?" Jimin whispers. "Maybe one day..."

"One day I'll become a literal god?" you laugh. "I don't know what I'd do with that power. I like myself as who I am already. Plus, I have you to magically do my laundry, don't I?"

Jimin laughs. "You know what? I like you the way you are too."

The two of you sit in the tranquil silence, letting the warmth of the waters encompass your bodies, and your golden lockets intertwine together, sparkling in the starlight.