#magic!bts

“What?”

“Suga, he will help you.”

You reached out for her but you just grabbed at air, “No! Mom, don’t leave!” 

“Go and ask for a wish. He…and you…”

“And what? Mom what are you talking about?” You asked, panicked, but you couldn’t hear her now and everything was spinning.

“MOM!” You cried as your eyes flew open, tears running down your cheeks.

It took a moment for you to orient yourself as you wiped the tears from your eyes.

About three months had passed since the accident, but it was still a fresh wound for you. You look around at the unfamiliar room, so different from the room you were used to for the last twenty years.

It unnerved you to have such a vivid dream, you still could feel her lingering touch where she stroked your cheek.

You then remembered what she said to you and you were puzzled by the message.

Who is Suga?

“Maybe he’s a long lost relative or something.” Your best friend, Hyelin, said and you shook your head.

“I doubt that’s what it is.”

“What did your mom meant that he’s a magician? Like the one-that-pulls-rabbits-from-hats kind of magician? They are all con artists, you know.”, She looked thoughtful as she took a sip from her coffee.

You rubbed your temples, “I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been having that same dream for a month now and it’s kind of freaky.”

“Do you think it’s a sign? From your mother?”

“Probably not.” You answered, “Maybe my mind is making up things because I miss them so much.”

Hyelin’s smile dropped, “Right, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through. I’m sorry for bringing her up.”

You smile sadly, “It’s fine, you didn’t brought her up, I did by mentioning the stupid dream. I just…it just feels weird…without them…you know? I keep waking up, expecting to smell my mom’s cooking. I keep thinking that I’m going to hear my father’s voice asking to come take our daily walk or that each knock at my door is my annoying brother coming to tease me. There’s just so much I took for granted with them, and in one moment it’s all…gone.”

There was a pause and you realize you made the conversation awkward.

“I’m sorry, Hyelin, this was supposed to be a fun meeting to cheer me up and here I am, bringing the mood down.”

“It’s fine, y/n, you don’t have to appear strong all the time.”

“Thanks, Hyelin.” You smiled and squeezed her hand, “I don’t know how I would have gotten through these months without you.”

“What kind of friend will I be if I didn’t? Now enough with the somber mood, you’re right, today was supposed to cheer you up. As your good friend it is my obligation to distract you at least for a little bit.”

You laughed, “Yeah, it’s just this dream. It just puts me in a strange mood.”

“What you need is closure.” Hyelin said and took out her laptop, “Your mind will probably not let it go until you find out the truth.”

“The truth about what?”

“Is Suga a real person? Is he or she really a magician? And finally, can they really grant your wish?”

“Hyelin, you can’t possibility think that the dreams were message that held some truth in it?”

Deep inside though, you wished it was true because then you could make the wish that can make your life right again.

“Listen, y/n,” Hyelin said as she typed on her laptop, “there’s only one way to find out: by googling his name.”

You rolled your eyes, “It can’t be that easy.”

“Never underestimate google.” Hyelin said solemnly, “Now how do you think it’s spelled?”

You gave her an incredulous look, “How am I supposed to know?”

“Fine we will go with S-U-G-A. ‘Suga…magician’.” She typed as she said those two words.

You huffed, “You’re probably going to get a sugar daddy magician or something like that.”

Hyelin laughed, “Don’t be a hater, y/n—oh wait, this looks promising!”

Curious, you peered over her shoulder and snorted.

“Wow this website is so obviously old.”

“Stop it,” Hyelin chastised, “look, it says ‘Have a wish that needs to be granted? Visit Suga, the wish-granting magician.”

“Hyelin, this is written in comic sans, how much can you trust this website? This interfacing and graphics are making my eyes bleed.”  

“Ok, but how much of coincidence is this? You get a dream for a month about a magician called Suga that grants wishes and he actually exists.”

“Uh, correction: he claims to be a magician that can magically grant wishes. Do you not see anything shady about this?”

You just couldn’t believe your friend was actually believing this bullshit website. Not to mention you are kind of peeved that the website doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2001.

“Oh my god, this gets even better.” Hyelin said, obviously not listening to you, “the address they give here is right here in Seoul! Y/N, this is obviously destiny.”

“Let me see.” Sure enough, not only the address was in Seoul, it was like a 10 minute walk from your apartment. “Wow, that’s freaky.”

“Or…fate. You have to at least check it out, y/n.”

You sighed, knowing Hyelin is persistent and won’t let this go. Plus, you were just a tiny bit curious and wanted to check this Suga out.

“Fine, I’ll go on my way home. Do you want to join me?”

“Of course!” Hyelin said excitedly, “How often do you get to meet a magician who can grant wishes?”

You decided not to not break her bubble and looked back at the screen so you can take note of the address properly. You then noticed fine print in the bottom of the screen and squinted.

“ ‘The price for a wish is your most prized possession, so be warned’—what the heck?”

“Where does it say that?”

“There”, You pointed at the screen and she squinted.

“Wow, your eyesight is good, I probably wouldn’t have caught that. It also doesn’t help that it’s yellow text on a white background…”

“Hyelin, do not realize what that means? My prized possession?That is some serious bullshit.”

“Okay, but what is it?”

“What?”

“Your prized possession?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, “I don’t know, I used to be so sure…but I lost it.”

“Wha—oh.” Her face fell, “Well it’s not like you’re going to make a wish anyway, right?”

Right, you were just going to check out if Suga is legit or not and why your mom sent you to him in a dream.

“Right.” You said, but were not so convinced.

“Plus I thought you thought it was bogus anyway.” Hyelin teased you and you laughed.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Let’s go and check this Suga out.”

Why does his name have to be so ridiculous?, you thought, it’s probably not even his real name.

“Alright lemme just pack up my laptop.”

You nodded as you finished your iced coffee. Hyelin’s phone dinged and she looked at her phone.

“Oh my god, I forgot!” She exclaimed as she started to text furiously.

“What happened?”

“My dad is back from his business trip today! We are supposed to meet him in the airport in half an hour.” She looked at you and bit her lip, conflicted.

“Hyelin, it’s fine—go to your father. I know how much you miss him.”

“But—“

“I’ll be fine going on my own, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Thank you so much, y/n! I’ll see you tomorrow then” We hugged goodbye as she ran out of the café.

You’re a little disappointed that you’re going by yourself, since this Suga guy could be a creep.

Thankfully your parents made you take martial arts classes as a child, so you know that if things take a turn for the worst you’re able to defend yourself pretty well. Not to mention that you developed fast reflects because of Jin, your brother; he loved sneak attacks and claimed he was “training you”. For what, you never knew.

You reached the building where Suga’s business supposedly resided and was surprised that it looked like a very nice office building instead of some mystic hole-in-the-wall shop with mood lighting.

Maybe it’s an outdated address, you thought, that website was old after all. Maybe some company bought the building, knocked it down, and erected this fancy building instead. You were about to leave when the doorman called to you.

“Hello miss, do you need anything?”

You blushed, knowing you looked very out of place, “Oh um, I was trying to find someone by the name of Suga but I think I got the wrong address—“

“We get that a lot, don’t worry. He should make it more clear. He’s on the 5th floor.”

You blinked, “Wait, this is the right address? Someone by the name of Suga has an office here?”

The doorman chuckled, “I hope you find what you’re looking for, miss.”

You gathered your thoughts together and gave him a smile, “Thank you so much for your help.”

As you walked to the elevator, you admired the prestige condition of the lobby. The floors looked recently polished, it looked so shiny you were afraid to make a mark on it. This was honestly the opposite of what you were expecting and was very nervous.

Who the heck is Suga? Is he making so much money scamming people that he can afford to have an office space in this building?

You entered the elevator and pushed the floor, trying to get yourself together. The door opened to a hallway with only one door. You walked up to the door and saw the sign “Suga, Magician. Monday to Saturday 4-10 PM”.

What unusual hours, you thought and checked the time, I should be fine since it’s 4:10 PM.

You didn’t know what to expect when you open the door, but it sure wasn’t a classy waiting room. Everything was so shiny, you were almost blinded by the opulence of it all. You went up to the window, but saw no one behind the counter.

Strange, you thought. You then noticed a bell in front of you and a sign that says, ‘Ring Once For Assistance’ in fancy script.

You rang it once and waited a moment. Nothing happened. You rang it a few more times and wondered if whoever was supposed to answer it heard it. You were about to ring it again when the door flew open, making you jump.

“What part of ‘ring once’ do you not understand?” The man in front of you said in a gruff voice, giving you a dark look.

The man was handsome, probably the most handsome man you’ve seen besides your brother. His glare didn’t mar his delicate features, his skin so beautiful and pale. His hair was a unique shade of mint that surprisingly suited him very well. He wore a slick business suit that obviously came from an expensive brand. 

“If you’re finished with checking me out can you tell me what you want?”, He asked with a bored tone, making you blush.

Unlike your brother, who was always joking by how attractive he looks (he even called himself “worldwide handsome”), this man just said it in a matter-of-fact way.

“Are you Suga?”

He gave you an unamused look, “Yes, are you here to wish for something?”

You hesitated, how crazy would it be if you told him your dead mother told you in a dream to visit him? Your mom said to make a wish so maybe you should just make a wish…

“Um…”

“Follow me.” Suga simply said and walked back into the room he came from. He didn’t wait up for you and went into an office. The office has a whole wall that was just windows and showed the beautiful skyline of Seoul. You stared at it in awe as he just sat down on a seat and regarded you.

“Sit down.”

You nodded and awkwardly sat down to the nearest chair, fiddling with your hands nervously as he just studied you.

“Tell me your wish, I don’t have all day.”

Suga looked so different than your stereotypical fortune-teller or shaman. For one, he looked like a business man and didn’t speak in flowery language. He was curt to the point of it being rude. He also looks like he couldn’t care less with what you had to say, his face barely showing any emotion. His voice was gruff, like he just woke up from a nap. Still, there was a certain aura about him that makes him…not ordinary.

“You can grant me anything at all?”

“Yup, just know that the price is your most prized possession.”

Fuck it, you thought, what harm can it do to tell him what you want most?

“Can you bring back my dead parents and brother?”

There was a silence and then he replied, “I don’t know what you heard before you came here but I can’t grant wishes that mess with existence, that’s more God’s area and I don’t want to get into that mess.”

You look at him in disbelief and anger, the anger mostly at yourself for letting yourself believe him. You had a tiny spark of hope that your family can be brought back to you and it just fizzled out in smoke.  

You forced yourself to not to cry, “How convenient.”

“Is there anything else instead?”

You snorted, everything else seems trivial, “What, so that you can say that you can’t do it? I can’t believe I stooped so low to ask some sham for a wish like a fucking five-year old.”

You stood up and saw that he still had that expressionless face; you hated that face and wanted to get some reaction out of him. You saw a vase next to you and pushed it, making it fall with a crash. He didn’t even flinch which made you even angrier.

“Fuck you, you’re just a fake magician, I’m outta of my mind to visit such a place.” You started to leave as you mutter, “Forget it, I hated the idea of giving up my prized possession anyway, bye.”

But you found that you couldn’t move a single step, as if you were frozen to the ground. You panicked.

“What the—“

“Wait.” 

Suga lazily got up and walked up to you as you continued to struggle to move your legs. “Coming here was your decision, but I decide when you get to leave.”

“You’re doing this! Let me go, you creep!”

“I’m sorry I can’t do that, seeing how I’m a ‘fake magician’.” He smirked at you as he threw your words back at your face and you were not amused at all.

“Let me go now, if you don’t I’ll—“

“You’ll do what?” He asked, “You don’t seem to understand your situation at all. Once someone has seen my face, they have to make a wish or…”

“Or what?” You asked and he took a step closer to you.

“Or you die.”

You started to panic. Oh my god, I can’t die. He looks like he would kill me too, he’s not bullshitting. Why did my mom send me to this psycho? Oh my god I’m gonna die—

The world started to spin and before your world turned black you just saw that jerk’s emotionless face.

You woke up saw that you were on the cold floor. You remembered what happened and realized that you fainted. You looked up and saw Suga sitting again. You tried to get up but of course you couldn’t move a muscle.

Asshole.

“Let me get up.”, you said with gritted teeth.

“Will you be civilized and not break things again?”

You looked at where you dropped the vase but saw that it was repaired without a single scratch in its original place.

“Fine.” You muttered and you were able to get off the floor. You glared at him and took a seat.

“Let’s make a deal.” Suga said and you narrowed your eyes at him, suspicious.

“What do you mean by a ‘deal’?”

Do I have to sell my soul to him or something now? Just my luck.

“Since you don’t wanna make a wish or die, give me your body.”

“W-what?” You gasped out as you crossed your arms over chest defensively, “W-what do you mean by that?”

Just what kind of sick fuck is he? I shouldn’t have listened to some stupid dream—

He smirked as he stood up and walked towards you, “What I mean—“

“—d-don’t come any closer!” You exclaimed but he simply walked passed you and opened the door.

“—is that my assistant suddenly got pregnant and resigned. You are going to be working for me starting today.”

It took a moment to process what he said.

“Wait, what? Says who?”, You walked up to him and put your hands in your hips.

“Your service ends when you make your wish.” He looked at you, “Unless you have a wish in mind—besides the one you already said, of course.”

The bastard, he knew that was the only wish you really wanted. Nothing else is worth giving up your most prized possession. Plus, you’ve seen too many movies where wishes can go horrible wrong.

“I-I—“

“Well then, it’s settled.”

“Wait! I can’t work here! I’m a busy student, I have classes—“

“Just think of it as a part-time job, I don’t work mornings anyway.”

“No—!”

Suga turned to you and grabbed your chin, “You don’t think I’ll kill you?”

You looked into his cold eyes and knew he was serious. You bit your lip and tried not to cry, “Ok, fine.”

Suga let go of your chin, “Just sit behind the desk for now and greet whoever comes in—you can manage that, right?”

You grit your teeth, “Yes.”

You were cursing him out in your head as you went to sit behind the reception desk. It’s honestly your rotten luck that you know have to work under him of all people. You looked around your desk and sighed, there wasn’t even a computer! Then again, if the state of his website is any indication he’s totally technology inept. You were organizing the highlighters by color when a door opened and a smartly-dressed older man walked in. You straightened up and put on your customer service smile as he walked up to you.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

He didn’t smile at you or greet you, “Is this the magician Suga’s office?”

You forced yourself to keep the smile as you remember that asshole, “Yes it is.”

“Is he available?”

“Let me check his schedule,” you said sweetly and looked at the planner in front of you that you knew was empty, “He is available. I’ll let you in then.”

You opened the door for him and led him to the office.

Those brand of clothes are expensive, he must be rich, you thought, I wonder what he came to wish for.

Suga was sitting behind his desk when you entered the room. He greeted the man with a handshake and you gave him a dirty look behind the man’s back, which Suga ignored.

“Do you want tea?” Suga asked the man and he said yes. Suga then turned to you, “Prepare some tea for this gentleman.”

You looked at him in shock but Suga gave you a pointed look and you gave him a gritted smile, “Sure! Tea coming right up, sir.”

It wasn’t until you left the office did you realize that he gave no indication how you were supposed to make the tea. Bastard.

You wondered through the hallway and found a kitchen. Does he live here or something? And started to go through the cabinets to find tea. Eventually you found that there was some tea that was already brewed and still hot, so you put a cup and the kettle on a tray and walked back to the office. I’m not going to serve any for that trickster.

You opened the door to find that they were in a middle of a conversation, so you were careful to be quiet.

“…wish for?”

The man spoke up, “Because of my own experiences with poverty, I’ve always been obsessed with making money, no matter the means. This was all for my only son, whom I never wanted to experience what I had to go through.”

You set the cup in front of the man and started to pour the tea, he paid you no mind. You saw that there was a photo of an attractive young guy on the table and figured that this must be the son he was talking about.

“For the sake of his future, I also went through the trouble to set him up with an acceptable match. But…without any consideration for me he went ahead and started to date a poor, unhealthy girl.”

You started to walk away, but when you mentioned that you paused. This doesn’t sound good at all.

“I’ve tried everything to separate them, but none of it worked and that’s why I’m here today. I heard you’d grant any wishes as long as it doesn’t mess with life’s existence.”

No, don’t tell me—

“So I’ll make my wish, it doesn’t matter if I go to debt—please split up my son and that horrible girl.”

You look at Suga in shock, surely he wouldn’t—

Suga seemed unfazed, “Your wish has been received. Those two people will definitely have to part.”

Does this guy have a conscious? Any morals? Your opinion of him, if possible, dropped even lower.

The man smiled, “Oh, thank you! How much do you require…?”

“I don’t take money.” Suga said simply, “But the moment your wish is granted I will take your most prized possession.”

The man looked a bit worried, “My most prized possession? It’s not money?”

“For the most part, humans live without actually knowing what’s most important to them. The most important thing to you isn’t money. The moment your wish is granted, you’ll understand exactly what that is.”

“…alright. Whatever it is, it won’t be a big deal..”

“Alright, then you need to sign the contract, I—“

You couldn’t hold your tongue for a second longer and set down the tray on the desk hard as you glared at Suga, “Why are you such an ass? Do you have any sense of decency whatsoever?” You then turned to the man, “Same goes for you, baldy—making such a thing as your wish! You should be ash—“ You felt lips move but no sound came from it. You gave Suga at dirty look, knowing that he did this to shut you up. The nerve!

Both men seemed unfazed as the man signed the contract and asked, “Then when will you…?”

“It will be granted at midnight.”

The man nodded, stood up, and held up his hand, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Suga shook his hand and the man walked pass you and left the office. You just looked at Suga in disbelief.

“You shouldn’t have interfered.”  

You snorted and realized you were able to make sounds again, “You’d really grant such a wish? You think it’s just okay to grant any wish at all?”

He didn’t even looked up at you, “I don’t have any interest in human wishes to begin with. The only thing of importance is the precious possession I receive in return.”

Of course he wasn’t human, you thought, somehow that didn’t surprise you.

But still, granting a wish that will separate two people deeply in love…

“You’re truly evil.” You simply said, “I’ll stop that wish from coming true myself.”

He finally looked up, “Are you planning to kill me?”

“W-what?”

“Once a contract is made if the wish fails to be granted I’ll die.”, he simply said, like he was discussing the weather, “I have no intention of letting you get in my way. It may not look like much, but I stake my life every time I grant a wish.”

You were not amused at all, “An idiot who banks his life on such things deserves to die.”

Suga regarded you and there was a heavy silence. He then said, “Fine, then try it. If you really think you can. Let’s make a bet. If you succeed, I’ll release you from having to work for me.”

You were wary of making a bet with him, but this was so tempting. Not only will you be helping this couple, you could be free.

“But,” Suga continued, “if you fail, then you’ll remain in my employment until I get tired of you.”

Until he was tired of me?, you thought, I can be very annoying, he’ll soon grow tired of me.

For you, it was a win-win situation. You have to at least try to help this couple, you don’t think you’ll ever forgive yourself if you don’t try.

“Deal.”

You managed to worm the address of the apartment where the son and his fiancee is living from Suga.

Gotta hurry, there’s only four hours until midnight. 

You were running to the direction of the address and slammed into a guy so hard you both feel on the floor. You sat up and looked over to see if the guy was alright but he was unconscious. Panicking, you rush over him and try to get him to wake.

“Oh shit—I’m sorry! Please don’t die, wake up!”

You heard strange sounds coming from him and paused, was that—-?

“Don’t worry,” the boy said, “This isn’t the sound of death, it’s my stomach growling.” He gave a small laugh and you were relieved that he was okay.

You then looked at his face and narrowed your eyes. 

“Do I know you?”

He frowned as he slowly sat up, “I don’t think so…”

Wait—he’s the son! He looks just like the guy in the picture! Wow, it’s my luck that I run into him here.

Before you can say anything, he gave out a cry of disappointment, “Oh no! The dinner I made…”

You looked to see what he was looking at and saw a lunch box knocked over and the food was all over the pavement. You grimaced and looked at the boy, who looked like he was a bout to cry.

“I made it just for her…and it was all the money I had left…”

His stomach growled again and he looked at you in embarrassment. 

Scrambling for the opportunity, you bluttered out, “Let me make it up to you--let me buy you some food!”

His face lit up, “You would do that? I’ll greatly appreciate it...”

You helped him off the floor and you guys walked to the nearest convenience store. 

“What’s your name? Mine is y/n.”

“Chan.” He answered.

“So, you mentioned a girl…?”

Chan lit up, “Yes! My fiancee, Jeonghwa, I love her so much. She’s a few years older than me, but I don’t mind.”

“How did you guys met?” You asked, curious. He obviously loves Jeonghwa so much, he is so animated talking about her.

“I was doing a summer internship at my dad’s hospital, my dad owns a hospital by the way, when I met Jeonghwa in the cafeteria. She was so beautiful and so sweet, I had to talk to her. It took me a while to impress her and make her see me as a man, but it was all worth it.”

“If your dad owns a hospital, how are starving now?” You asked, you can already guess what had happened though.

Chan’s face distorted to anger, “Yeah all my dad cares about is money. When he heard that I got engaged to Jeonghwa he threatened to cut me off. And when that didn’t work he kicked me out of the house and said the only way he would want to see my face again was if I broke up with her.”

You were shocked by how cruel his father was, “Wow, I’m so sorry. My parents are dead, but at least they were never like that.”

“I’m sorry about your parents,” Chan sighed, “My dad wasn’t always like this. Before my mom died he was actually really decent and actually cared about me. Afterwards though, he became obsessed with money.”

You fell silent and you paid for the food, “...Well at least I can help out in this little way.”

Chan lit up, “No, this is awesome--you didn’t really have to do this. We really appreciate it!”

You smiled at Chan’s beaming face, he was a good kid.

You guys continued to talk as you walked to the bad side of town and entered a worn looking apartment building.

“Jeonghwa, love, look—food!” Chan said excitedly as he burst through the door.  It was a small one bedroom apartment, obviously very run-down, and a beautiful but frail woman was sitting on the bed.

“Where did you get all this food?” She then noticed your presence, “And who’s this?”

“It’s a funny story,” Chan replied as he started taking the food out and preparing it. He then explained how the two of you met, “She bought all this because she felt bad, noona.”

Jeonghwa frowned, “But Chan, you caused so much trouble for someone you don’t know. You’re really…” she then stopped and looked away.

Chan stopped his preparations, “You were going to call me young again, huh?”

“No, but when you do things like this I—“

“I’m not that young, I’ll work hard to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“What..?”

“I took a leave of absence from school—“

“What? You quit school?” Jeonghwa was obviously not happy and the couple obviously forgot that you were here because they were talking quite freely.

“No, I didn’t quit, I’m just taking a break—“

“That’s basically the same thing!”

“Look, I was kicked out of home so it’s not like I can afford to go to school anymore.”

“I told you not to worry about school. I’m better now and can work, I can support us.”

“Don’t say that! You barely recovered, how can you work?”

“I don’t want you to end up like me!” Jeonghwa cried, “A loser with no job or future.”

“Don’t say that.” Chan said, grabbing her hand, “You have a future.”

Jeonghwa was crying, “I don’t want to ruin yours though.”

Her tears made Chan’s eyes start to water, “You’re not ruining my future, noona!”

“Yes, I am!”

They were getting agitated and it was one line away from it becoming a full blown fight. You panicked, what if they end up breaking up? I have to do something…

“H-hey!” You called, getting their attention, “I can take care of the food, at least until you can afford it. My family died and now I get monthly income that’s more than enough, so I can help you.”

They both stared at you, then looked at each other.

“She must have hit her head really hard when she fell.”

“We must be very pitiful, huh?”

“She’s clearly not thinking well.”

“Clearly.”  

Great, that had the opposite effect, “Look, look, I can really help—!”

They simply ignored me and Chan started to feed Jeonghwa.

“Eat this, since you haven’t eaten been able to eat in a few days.”

You kept trying to get their attention, but they seemed to be in their own little world.

No, I can’t fail…but they won’t even listen to me…, you thought.

“What about you…?” Jeonghwa asked.

Chan gave her a bright smile, “I already ate.”

Liar, you thought, if his stomach growling earlier was any indication.

Jeonghwa started to cough and Chan was instantly at her side, “Noona? Are you okay?”

She started to hug her stomach, “My stomach…it hurts…”

Chan started to panic as Jeonghwa fainted in his arms. He turned to you, “Y/N, what should I do?”

Tears started to well in his eyes and you quickly brought out your phone and called a taxi.

“We have to get her to the hospital fast.” You said and he nodded as he picked her up effortlessly.

The travel to the hospital was tense, Jeonghwa came back to consciousness but she was still feeling very weak and her stomach was still in pain.

She was carted into the emergency room and you had the task in trying to comfort Chan.

“I knew it wouldn’t last,” he mumbled, “this happiness. I knew sooner or later her sickness was going to be too much. I don’t know how I’m going to pay for this hospital bill.”

You again offered to help him, but he shook his head.

“Jeonghwa is right, it’s too much to ask for a stranger—you already did more than enough.”

Before you can argue about that, the doctor came out and Chan ran up to him.

“Well…?”

“Well the good news is that it’s nothing serious, she’s sick because you feed her such greasy food after days of not eating. But more importantly while I was running tests on her, I found out that her sickness has gotten much worse. If she doesn’t get surgery right away, she could die.”

Chan’s face fell, “But I can’t come up with the money right away…”

“I recommend you try to. Every minute is valuable.”

“But how could this be? Last time, you said she was getting better.”

“It’s perplexing to me too. It’s unusual for the patient to get worse in such a short time…”

Did Suga do this, you thought, the bastard, bringing Jeonghwa’s health into this—she could die!

You looked at the your phone and, sure enough, it was almost midnight. That son of a bitch, if she dies because of this…

You heard Chan sigh and looked up to him; he looked like he was debating something.

“There’s only one way...”

“What...?”

You noticed his father was there, and clenched your hands. Of course.

“You win,” Chan said solemnly, “If you can save her, I’ll do whatever you want. I won’t see her.”

His father smiled, “I knew you’ll come around.”

“They said she’ll get better once she gets surgery.”

“I’ll make sure she’s healed.”

“Then I’ll do it, I’ll break up with her.”

“No.” You whispered and looked at your phone. Midnight on the dot.

Chan’s father also realizes it’s midnight and he stared at his son as his eyes widened in panic, “Wait—”

Chan looked at his father in confusion, but then he suddenly collapsed. His father tried to catch him but he too went to the ground, unable to support all the weight. He started to panic.

“Chan! No, not my son!” Medics started to swarm around them and Chan’s father collapsed.

You were shook by the whole scene, which happened so quickly. You knew somehow Suga was responsible for all this and wondered if Chan ended up being his most prized possession.

I have to find Suga, you thought as you ran out of the hospital and to the direction of Suga’s office. Things can’t end like this.

You couldn’t remember when was the last time you ran this much, but by the time you reached the lobby you were really out of breath. You were able to catch your breath a bit when you were in the elevator. When the elevator door opened, you ran up to his office. Suga was resting in the couch. It seems like your entrance woke him up and he was glaring at you.

You ignored this and said, “What did you do to them?”

He simply stared at you.

“Well?” You asked, losing your patience.

“I didn’t do anything, now let me go to slee—“

He started to close his eyes when you poked his cheek, “Chan and his dad. The one who asked for the wish today—what did you do to them?”

Suga glared at you, “Don’t touch me. And I didn’t do anything to Chan. As for the father, I didn’t do anything to him, strictly speaking.”

“Then why did they both collapse? Right when the wish was granted, they collapsed.”

Suga seemed to realize that I wouldn’t leave until he offered me an explanation and let out a sigh. He slowly got up and started to walk. You followed him, confused. He walked down the hallway and opened one of the rooms. It was a room filled with vases and boxes. He went towards the middle of the room where there was a floating crystal orb. “See for yourself, they’re fine.”

“What—?”

He waved his hand and in the orb there was an image inside the crystal ball. It was Chan and his father, who was in a hospital bed. They seemed like they were talking and you heard soft voices coming from the orb. You strained your ears to listen.

“—you’re alright!”, the father grabbed Chan’s hands, as if making sure he was right there in front of him. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Chan said awkwardly, “I was starved for so long that I must’ve gotten dizzy. But what happened to you? Do you feel fine? The doctor said you just collapsed because of stress.”

The father still looked shocked, as if he was trying to process everything, “Tell me, is that girl alright?”  

Chan looked puzzled, “What?”

“Your fiancee—is she alright?”

“Y-yeah, they just finished the surgery on her and she should be recovering.”

“I’m glad that she’s doing better; you should go see her though.”

Chan looked so shook, “Wait, what? I thought you didn’t want me to see her again…”

“I know, but I while I thought you were gone I realized how silly I was being. You love her, right?”

“Y-Yes...”

“Then that’s all that matters. I was a fool before thinking that money will bring you happiness.”

“Father, I--” With tears in his eyes, Chan hugged his father, “Thank you.”

Confused at the scene in front of you, you turned to Suga.

“Why is he like that? You did do something to him after all.”

“I only took his most prized possession, as promised.”

“So then what did you—?”

“Greed” Suga answered, “Usually it’s a lie when parents say they do things in the kid’s best interest. He never did the things he did for his son, but because of his greed.”

You stood there in awe and looked back at the scene in the orb, “So what happens now?”

“Well since I took his greed away they’ll be happy, for now. But there’s always another type of greed that springs up eventually. Hopefully, he would learn his lesson by then.”

This guy, you thought, maybe he isn’t so bad after all.

“Did you plan this from the start?”

“No.” Suga simply said, “I knew his son was the most important thing so I risked my life and took the next best thing. Fortunately, it worked.”

He studied the vase labeled ‘greed’ and you have to say you were a little impressed.

“Do you do that often? Instead of taking someone special from them you take something else that can be lost?”

Suga laughed, “Oh no, I have taken souls before—see that vase?” He pointed to a vase across the room, “That’s my collection of good looking guys.”

You stared at him to see if he was joking but he was as serious as ever, “Wow, you’re sick—I definitely can’t trust you.”

And to think I was so close to thinking he was a good guy, I should have known.

Suga just smirked, “It’s probably better if you don’t. Well since you lost the bet, you’ll be working for me until I get tired of you. Which could be tomorrow, could be fifty years from now—we’ll see.”

You inwardly sighed, he’s right—I’m probably going to see him for god knows how long. The very least we can be is civil so that we don’t have such a miserable time. You held out your hand.

“I dunno if you know, but my name’s Y/N. In any case, I’m sorry I told you to die.”

He just stared at my hand and said, “Ah, yeah…”

So rude!, you thought as you awkwardly brought your hand down, “Don’t just say ‘ah yeah’. I said my name, so you’re supposed to say yours back.”

“You already know my name.”

“No, I meant your real name.”

There was a slight paused, then, “Just call me Suga. There’s a curse on my real name, so if you use it you’ll get hurt.”

Ugh, nothing can be simple with him, you thought, why do I feel like this is only the start of some cruel plan the universe had thought up for me?

“Fine, Suga.”

Hyelin gave you a glare as she held up her phone.

“You have one of these, right?”

You looked at her in confusion, “Yes…?”

“Then why did you never text or call? Are we not friends?” She demanded and you instantly felt a wave of guilt for not communicating to her the past few days.

“I am sorry, I just had…a lot on my mind. Things had been kind of hectic.”  

“Yeah, I bet. Also, thanks for telling me about your boyfriend.” Hyelin said sarcastically.

“Wait, he’s not—”

“Whatever. Why don’t you hang out with him now? Since we aren’t close friends or anything.”

“Listen, I’m sorry—” You begged.

“I don’t want to hear it, Y/N.” Hyelin said as she walked away without a single glance back.

You wanted to chase after her, but your class was about to start and you figured that she just needs space. She’ll come around. Hopefully.

The whispers continued as you entered the classroom and you saw that your usual seat was occupied. You tried to find an empty seat, but whenever you will approach, the people sitting around the chair would look at you in fear. You were about to give up when you heard a voice.

“Hey, there’s a seat next to me. Do you want to sit here?”

You walked over to the back of the classroom where a very pretty girl was sitting. She never really talked much to anyone else, so you were surprised that she spoke to you, much less offer you a seat next to you.

“Thanks.” You said as you took the seat next to her.

“Yeah, I understand your pain,” She said, her head resting on her hand, “Your life is ruined by a weird boyfriend, right? It’s the same with me…”

You scoffed, “He isn’t my boyfriend!”

“Yeah, same.” The girl said, “I rejected him over and over, but he’s like a leech. He just hangs around, wrecking my peaceful life like some evil beast…”

As she said this she grew even angrier and you wondered what this guy did to get her so worked up.

“What’s your name? I didn’t quite catch it.”

“Heeyeon.” She answered, “But that bastard keeps getting it wrong and calls me Hani. I honestly can’t take it anymore! All I want is a peaceful, comfortable life in a normal world with normal people…” Heeyeon looked at you expectantly, “You understand, right? What it feels like when normal people like us go out with weirdos? They destroy our normal, peaceful lives. The only way to achieve an ordinary life is to avoid them completely.”

You thought about Suga and how your life was never the same ever since you met him. You had to admit that Heeyeon had a point. She kept complaining about her boyfriend all throughout class though.

“Leaving them is the only way.” Heeyeon said again as you left the class.

“Hm…yeah.”

“I have to leave him.”

You wondered why she was so adamant and if she was trying to convince you or herself.

“Hey Hani!”

You both turned to see a handsome blonde man walking up to you guys, smoking a cigarette.

Heeyeon looked at him in horror, “You, you…! Are you crazy? What are you doing, appearing at this hour? Do you want to die?”

“It’s fine.” The man replied, not affected by her upset tone, “It rained today so the sun went down earlier. Hey…were you worried about me?”

You figured that this was the guy Heeyeon was talking about.

“Me? Worrying about you? Yeah right! Also, stop smoking in here!”

“Why not?” He huffed, “Half the humans here seem to be hiding in the bathroom smoking. I’ve been starving for so long, you’ve got to at least give me this.”

“Just stop it!” She took the cigarette and quickly snuffed it out.

“Hey, I just started that one—”

“I don’t care!”

You studied his strange appearance. He had such pale, clear skin and blonde hair. He also had such a unique accent…you figured it out.

“Oh, so your boyfriend is a foreigner?”

Heeyeon looked at the guy nervously as the man studied you.

“Who’s she?”

“A classmate.”

“So…fresh!” He spoke in English and you were a bit confused. Maybe I misheard him.

“H-Hi…how are you?” You said in English, hoping you weren’t embarrassing yourself.

“Your English accent is good,” He switched back to Korean, “My name is Vernon, I’m from New York. By the way, what is your blood type?”

“What?” You thought that was such a random question, “Uh, I’m a blood type O…”

Vernon perked up, “Type O? Wow, that’s my fave—ow!”

Heeyeon pulled him by the ear, “Stop that right now, you weirdo!”

“I’m only being friendly!”

“Friendly, my ass.” She hissed as she started to drag him away.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Vernon muttered and you watched her drag him out. You wondered if she thinks that Vernon is weird because he’s from New York.

Well Suga is much weirder, you thought. You then were reminded that Suga basically committed social suicide for you and fumed. But I can’t really say it’s Suga’s fault, you sighed, he wasn’t in his right mind thanks to that stupid potion…

You started to walk and heard the whispers again.

“It’s her, right?”

“Did you hear about her boyfriend? He’s a big mafia guy, really scary.”

You bit your lip to keep from snapping, yeah, go ahead and make fun of me. I’ll just ignore them. It’ll probably settle down in a few days...

“Maybe she went crazy after her family died in that plane accident.”

“It’s such a shame her brother died, he was so hot.”

“Yeah, she definitely went psycho.”

That comment made you snap and you just saw red.

I’ll show you psycho.

You walked out of the school and were surprised to find Suga leaning against a wall, holding an umbrella under his arm.

Why is he here? His appearance will only make the rumors worst.

“Suga, what are you doing here at this time?”

Suga just stared at you, “What happened to your face?”

You internally winced as you realized that you probably didn’t look to good from your scuffle, “It doesn’t concern you. Answer my question: why did you come to my school?”

“It’s raining.” He offered and you looked up at the clear sky and lifted up your eyebrows, “It was raining, but it’s stopped now.”

There was an awkward pause and you thought about what Heeyeon said earlier. They destroy our normal, peaceful lives. You looked around at the whispering students around you.

“You know, Suga, I have something to say…”

“I do too.” Suga answered.

“Really? Well I guess I’ll go first.” You took a deep breath, “That idea about us being friends? Let’s…”

“…drop it.” You both said at the same time and you were shocked he had the same feelings as you.

Wait, why does he not want to be friends anymore? I had a valid reason, but what’s his excuse?

“Oh, well that works out then.” You said with a forceful smile, “It’s nice for us to be thinking the same thing for once, right?”

But why?, you were screaming in your head.

“…yes.” Suga simply said and you couldn’t read his face at all, much to your frustration.

What did I ever do to you? How can you do this to me?

“Now,” he continued, “our contract is still valid, so until I grant your wish I hope you will continue to be my assistant. But you don’t need to come every day, once a week is fine.”

“Oh really?” You smiled wider, “Uh, okay. How nice.”

What is this feeling? Why do I feel cheated? Wait, I shouldn’t feel cheated, we were thinking the same thing, but…why do I feel like I’ve been dumped?

You studied Suga and wondered how he could be totally calm and look so normal. You tried to mirror his expression, to show him you were totally okay with this.

“Don’t feel cheated, you were faster.”

“What?”

“You spoke a second faster,” Suga said, “If anybody was dumped, you could say it was me. So you don’t have to feel cheated about anything.”

“You were reading my thoughts?” You exclaimed, feeling a bit violated.

“Those weren’t thoughts, they were more like screams. I didn’t listen to them on purpose.”

You still couldn’t help but think that it was unfair that he could listen to all your thoughts and you can’t even read his face.

“It might rain again, so take the umbrella.” Suga said, offering you an umbrella.

You took the umbrella and stared at it. Your emotions were in turmoil and you didn’t know what to do with it. What is up with him? One minute he doesn’t want to be friends and the next he’s offering me an umbrella? What does he want from me?

In a fit of anger, you threw the umbrella on the ground and stomped on it really hard; you glared at Suga’s shocked face.

I really, really hate you! Try reading my mind again, stupid!

And with a huff, you stalked away; you didn’t want to see his stupid face anymore.

With every step, your anger grew. You knew you have an impulsive personality, so you’d probably regret ending your friendship with Suga tomorrow and try to patch things up with him…but if Suga says it, he means it forever. You wondered how long he had been thinking about this.

This made your heart sank; all those memories…were they nothing for him? Was he looking for a way out this whole time?

You walked into a park and laid out on the grass. Fine, just leave me, you thought, now I don’t have family or friends. I’m alone in this world.

I’m not going to cry, you thought, I refuse to cry over him.

Instead, you decided to sing a jingle that popped into your head and hoped it would cheer you up. Yeah, I should live alone and be firm and strong, I don’t need Suga, you thought.

“Even if I’m anguished and sad I won’t cry! You should endure, endure, and endure again, so don’t cry. Let’s run through the green prairies smiling, let’s sing watching the blue skies. My name is—”

“Shut up!” You heard a voice snap and you felt someone throw a cigarette bud at you, “That song is dead wrong! If you are anguished, why shouldn’t you cry? Should you run around laughing like a crazy person?” You sat up and recognized that it was Vernon.

He went up to you, anger in his eyes, “Listen, if we’re sad, let’s not run laughing through any green prairies! Wouldn’t that make us more ridiculous? Humans are really stupid…” He sank to the ground next to you and started to sob against your shoulder; you didn’t know what to do.

“Um…Vernon…are you okay…?”

“Obviously not!” He sobbed, “Hani dumped me! Again! All because I’m a vampire!”

“Ah,” You finally understand what Heeyeon was talking about, “I guess that makes sense. I thought it was weird that she was so upset about her boyfriend being a foreigner.”

Vernon looked at you in shock, “What--? What’s with that response? Are you not afraid? Don’t you think I’m crazy and I should prove it to you? I just said I was a vampire! I feed on human blood—isn’t that surprising?”

You shrugged,” Well, not really. I’ve seen plenty of weirder things than a vampire.”

Honestly, not a lot of things can surprise you at this point. You’ve met a flower-princess-alien who healed people by being eaten, someone who died from literally being too happy, a magician who was stalked by the sun, a person from a parallel universe that loses their memory every day, a horde of people ready to kill because of their obsessive love, not to mention Suga…

Vernon frowned, “I wish Hani was more like you. She says she won’t date anyone but a normal human…which is very frustrating because in her former life she said she wanted someone special! Damn it, which one should I believe?” He said the last bit to himself as he lit another cigarette.

“Former life…?”

He didn’t seem to hear you, “Seriously, whose fault was it that I became like this? I became like this because of her.” Vernon then frowned, “Then again, it’s really that bastard magician’s fault.”

“Magician?” You couldn’t help but think of Suga.

“Yeah, a wicked wish-granting magician named Suga. I hear he’s living here in Korea. He’s the reason I’m like this.”

Ah, so Suga is behind this, you thought, why am I not surprised?

“What happened?”

Even for Suga, damning someone to become a vampire seemed a bit extreme.

Vernon scowled, “It all started 150 years ago in New York when I fell in love with Hani and proposed to her. She rejected me in the worst way and broke my heart. She said that I was very ordinary and it made me very boring and unattractive. She needed someone special and told me I could never be that. I heard about this mysterious magician called Suga who can grant your wishes so I went to him to ask him to make me special. He kept brushing me off, saying he wasn’t in the mood to grant wishes at that time. I persisted, begged him. He eventually got tired of my constant whining and told me to go to a specific street that night at midnight. Said I’ll find what I want there. I should have noticed when I saw his sinister smile. I went to the street at midnight, like he said, It was in the bad part of town, it was dark and very scary.”

Vernon frowned, obviously it was a painful memory for him.

“That’s when you were bitten?” You asked,” And then you became a vampire?”

“Yeah, that place was a vampire den. That bastard magician sent me there on purpose!”

“But you didn’t clearly define ‘special’!” You said, “That means it was your fault too..”

Wait, why am I defending that jerk? No, however you look at it, this was Suga’s fault.

“It was totally obvious what I meant!” Vernon cried, “Who wants to be an evil vampire? I was naïve, I used to faint at the sight of blood! Now I only crave blood. Hani then died young of an unknown disease. With this body I couldn’t even go to her funeral. I only was able to visit her grave at night and I even had trouble doing that. I then gave up and fell into evil ways. Unexpectedly, being evil suited me. After many years, I saw Hani’s reincarnation standing among a boatload of tourists and followed her to Korea. Still…in her former life, she hated me because I was too normal. But now, she hates me because I’m too unusual.”

Vernon ran his hand through his hair in frustration, “Just what does she want me to do? I can’t live like this anymore. So…I’m going to get revenge on the evil magician who made me this way. Just you wait—I’m going to make him pay for everything he did to me…”

You couldn’t stand Vernon bad-mouthing Suga anymore, “Stop it! Suga isn’t an evil magician. Even if it seems like he did something wrong, it was probably just a mistake. Suga has never done anything bad, not even once. Of course, he is a bit arrogant. He’s irritating and he’s always acts uncaring…but the things he takes from his clients are mostly useless things. He risked his life to grant a wish and he didn’t take things people truly need. He might seem mean, but he isn’t a bad person. I don’t know why he did that to you, but I’m sure he didn’t have evil intentions.”

As you started talking, you couldn’t bring yourself to stop. All the words kept gushing out and you knew it was a mistake to try to break your friendship with Suga. You were just upset in the moment, but you really did care for Suga.

“I’m sure he had a good reason.” You continued, “There must have been a reason…he’s my friend.”

Vernon stared at you, “I didn’t realize you knew this magician.”

“Yeah, I do.” You answered, “I’m sorry for what Suga did, but he really isn’t a bad person. I’m sure if you talk to him now he can find some way to fix this—"

“This is perfect.” Vernon said with a smile and you looked at him in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“Suga’s girlfriend is right here. This must be destiny. I can get my revenge now.” He moved closer to you and you started to panic.

“Hold up, I’m not his girlfriend—” You stammered as you backed away.

You then felt something hit you in the back to the head and you blacked out.

Shit.

“Let me go!” You cried as you struggled to break free from your bounds.

When you woke up, you found that Vernon had took you to some abandoned parking garage and tied you up. You pleaded with him and tried to get into his head that you were not Suga’s girlfriend, but he didn’t listen to you. Instead, he called Suga and told him that he had you and would hurt you if he didn’t show up. So far, there’s been no sign of Suga.

“It’s no use. You’re just a weak little human, you won’t be able to get out of those bounds.” Vernon said lazily as he turned on and off a lighter, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I just want to get back at your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” You snapped for the millionth time, but he didn’t listen to you.

“One hour has already passed, why isn’t your boyfriend here?”

“I told you, he’s a friend not my boyfriend.” You fumed, “You stupid leech!”

“Why do you keep insisting he’s not your boyfriend? Suga obviously thinks he is. He seemed very demanding over the phone.”

“No he doesn’t, you’ve got it all wrong!” You insisted but you started to panic.

Does Suga even consider me a friend? We did decide to stop being friends so how can I be sure he will rescue me? But still…he won’t leave me here to die…right…?

You refused to let your negative thoughts persuade you, “He will come. Don’t be so jumpy just because he’s a little late.”

“He’s not a little late! It’s already been an hour. I even threatened to kill you, you would think he would be here by now.”

“Well there must have been a reason.” You insisted, “Like traffic or he got a stomachache.”

Wow, those excuses sound stupid even to me, “Maybe he got into an argument with someone on the street…oh! Or he froze to death because of the cold.” Okay, it got worst.

“Or maybe he just thinks you’re as worthless as a penny rolling around on the ground.” Vernon said and you frowned.

“I told you, that’s not it”!

But it might be, you thought, you did throw his umbrella to the ground and stomped it and called him stupid. Suga has a sensitive personality, he might have gotten seriously angry. And we ended our friendship, now we’re nothing to each other. He might actually leave me here to die.

You couldn’t help but feel tears start to well up in your eyes.

I really am alone in this world, no one to help me.

The door suddenly slammed open and, to your surprise, Suga walked through it. He was quite disheveled and out of breath. You stared at him, you’ve never seen him without a nice suit so seeing him in such casual clothes in shocking. He glared at Vernon.

“Damn it, when teacher sealed your powers ten thousand years ago, did he seal your brain as well, V? If you just say ‘come here’, how am I supposed to know where ‘here’ is?”

You looked at Vernon’s shocked face and could help but snicker, “Wow, that’s  such an amateur mistake. This must be your first time kidnapping someone.”

Vernon glared at you, “Shut up,” He turned to Suga, “Okay, that was my mistake. But ‘V’? I’m not V. My name is Vernon.”

Suga looked at Vernon in shock, “What? You’re not V? Then who are you?”

“I told you! My name is Vernon!”

“Vernon…?” Suga’s eyes widened, “…ah…”

Vernon stalked up to Suga, “Do you remember now? The Vernon whose life you destroyed?”

Suga’s face went back to being expressionless, “What do you want?”

“Turn me back to a normal human.”

“…that’s troublesome. I can’t.”

Vernon walked up to you and pulled out his lighter, “Shall I light your girlfriend’s head on fire?”

You rolled your eyes, “Stupid, who would fall for a lame threat like that? Try it, go ahead.”

“Stop it!” Suga snapped and you both turned to Suga in shock, “If I turn you back into a normal human now, you would change from a 150-year old vampire to a 150-year old man. That’s why I can’t grant it. But I’ll grant you another wish, just leave Y/N alone.”

“Wait,” you said, “I thought you can only grant one wish per person. If you grant two, isn’t something bad going to happen? I’m fine, I can just untie this rope and run away.” You continued to struggle with the rope, I swear I can feel it loosening.

“And I don’t want a different wish!” Vernon added his little two cents, “Turn me back!”

“I told you why I can’t do that. If you want to get angry at someone, be angry with me. Just leave Y/N alone. Please.”

You look at Suga in shock. If you didn’t know any better, you would think Suga is pleading with Vernon. But Suga will never beg…right…?

Vernon stared at Suga and slowly went up to him.

“Fine. I accept your offer.” He held out his hand.

Suga stared at the hand, and for a moment you thought he would do the same he did to you back then and ignore the hand, but then he took it and looked at Vernon in the eyes.

“The deal is set. Whenever you want, you can have your second wish.”

“You can bet I’ll come.” Vernon said as he let go, “Now excuse me, I have someone I have to talk to.”

And with a blink of an eye, he was gone.

You stared at Suga in concern, whose nose started to bleed, “Are you alright? You told the vampire you’d grant him another wish so…”

Suga waved his hand and your ropes disappeared. Why didn’t he do this in the first place? You didn’t say this because he literally looked like hell.

“No, I’m not alright.” He groaned as he sank to the ground, “It feels as if my blood is flowing backward. But it doesn’t matter. I always knew I would have to pay a price for what I did that day.”

You looked at Suga; him appearing so casual and weak is not something you were used to.

“Why did you do that?”

Suga smiled sadly, “The person you think of as a friend isn’t always good or all-knowing. He’s just a plain magician. That say 150 years ago…I’m not proud of. I was in a bad mood. I was about to explode from overwork, I was on my way to a friend’s funeral, and he just kept whining…but there’s no excuse for what I did. I vented my anger on an innocent person and ruined his life. There is no guarantee I won’t do such a thing again the next time I’m in a bad mood…and there’s no guarantee you won’t be endangered again because of my actions. It really is better if you don’t associate with me anymore.”

You stared at Suga, contemplating his heart-felt speech. You sighed as you shrugged off your coat and draped it over him, “No, my question was why did you come out in just a t-shirt and sandals on such a chilly night? Let’s talk more at home.”

Suga clutched your coat and looked at you in shock, not knowing how to respond.

You smiled and offered your hand, “This time I’ll take you home.”

He stared at your hand and hesitantly brought his hand to yours. It was cold as always, but you didn’t mind. You helped him up and started to walk back home.

“Hey, did you notice?”

“…notice what?”, Suga asked.

“This is the first time we’ve walked next to each other.” You chuckled, remembering your frustration.

“…is that so?”

“Yeah, you used to walk ahead of me when you took me home.”

“…did I?”

“Heh, somehow, I’m feeling great.”, You smiled softly.

Suga ran out to save you. Without a coat or shoes and with his hair a mess. Just like a normal person.

We are normal people.

“Wait, so Suga is sick because he granted someone two wishes?”, Rose asked.

You sighed, “Yeah, that’s why I wanted to ask you for help…”

Rose nodded as she went to gather some ingredients, “Of course, let me make something then.”

“Thanks, Rose, I really appreciate it.”, You studied the room, “The furniture in your home is pretty old-fashioned. I wouldn’t have it pegged as your style.”

Rose sighed, “What can I do? It’s RM’s style. But I agree—it’s not really furniture fit for newlyweds.”

“Oh right, I heard you two got married.”

Rose beamed, “We did, it was a very private ceremony, just us and Suga. It was really romantic. Suga was grumpy, like always, but he seemed happy for us.”

RM and Rose just got back from their honeymoon, which is fortunate because Suga is sick now.

“Anyway,” Rose said, “about Suga. It must be so hard for him. There’s so many conditions to fulfill a wish, if he isn’t careful it might end really badly for him…”

“Conditions? You’re talking about him dying when he accepts a wish he cannot fulfill?”

“Yeah. And he’ll also die if he doesn’t take good care of whatever he gets for granting a wish.”

“Why did he even become a magician? It seems like a lot of trouble.” You wondered.

Rose shrugged as she started to mix some herbs, “Well…when our master brought Suga home for the first time…he demanded Suga to become a magician that grants wishes and said he’ll beat him if he didn’t become a magician.”

“Wow, what a psycho.” You said, “So that’s why Suga always pulls a face when someone is talking about his master.”

You couldn’t help but think that his master really reminded you of your brother. Jin used underhanded methods to get his way. And he always got his way. He can be quite the bully. Take for example, that fateful plane accident. It was originally your ticket. Your uncle unwittingly gave your family three tickets to Hawaii instead of four. Your brother had a cold so it was agreed that you would have the ticket. Jin was adamant that he got the ticket, saying he’ll be healthy by the time the trip comes around. You still refused, and he purposefully did things to pass the cold to you so you ended up being sick. So instead he went…and he died because of it.

“It was master’s hobby to bully the people he liked.” Rose shrugged, “Suga had to experience that the hard way too.”

Jin was like that too, you thought, ever since he was small. He will tease me all the time.

“Say Rose…you brought RM back to life with your magic, didn’t you?”

Rose looked at you strangely, “Yes, why…?”

“Then…would you be able to revive someone else as well?”

“That’s not possible.” Another voice answered and you turned to see RM leaning against the doorway. Rose’s face lit up.

“Ah! My dear husband is back!”

“But why not?” You asked him.

“In my case, I was revived before my soul left my body. It’s not simple if the person died a long time ago. Besides, your parents are in heaven. I can still foresee a bit, so I know. I think they wouldn’t enjoy being taken away from paradise to be brought back to life.”

“And what about my brother?” You asked, “Did he actually manage to get into heaven as well?”

Oh my god, what if he’s in hell, you bit your lip, not wanting to think about that possibility.

RM quickly looked at Rose and back at you, “Uh…I guess. So you should give up on reviving someone who’s already dead. You don’t actually plan to ask Suga for that? It would be useless to make such a wish to him.”

“I know,” you sighed, “I already asked for it when I met him for the first time. He obviously said no, that’s why I became his assistant and all.”

RM studied you, “…but certainly you will ask him to grant a wish sometime, won’t you? You can’t be his assistant forever. Any idea what you might wish for?”

“Huh?” Thinking of a wish was honestly the last thing on your mind, but you realized RM was right: you can’t be Suga’s assistant forever. It never really crossed your mind before, but now it felt strange. You’ve become accustomed to being with Suga, “No…not really at the moment.”

RM went up to you and pressed his two fingers against your forehead.

Your eyes widened as you tried to take a step back, “What are you doing?”

“I just told you that I kept some of my foreseeing powers. So I should be able to see your future wish…”

You perked up, “You can see what I’ll wish for? Please tell me! Then I’ll meet with Suga and ask for it.”

Why didn’t you think of this before? RM is so smart!

RM closed his eyes and his expression suddenly became serious.

“….no, I cannot see it. Oh well, looks like I’m getting old.” RM said, walking away, “But I do have a question for you, child.”

“What is it?” You asked, trying not to be too disappointed that he couldn’t see anything. 

“Do you have come to like Suga a little?”

You stared at RM, that’s such a strange question to ask at this time, “Sometimes when he’s all bitchy again I’d love to beat him up but…still…he’s actually quite nice and…well…yeah, I guess you could say that I’ve come to like him a bit.”

“Is that true? Then promise me one thing: when you ask Suga to grant your wish, don’t forget how much you’ve come to like him until that moment.”

You stared at RM, trying to figure him out. He is still a mystery to you, much like Suga.

“…I don’t really get what you mean, but okay. I’ll promise.”

RM gave you a warm smile, exposing his dimples, “Good…you’re a nice child.”

Rose then came up to you guys with a flask, “Here you go, Y/N, here’s Suga’s medicine. Suga should recover quickly after he drinks it.”

You took it from her and gave her a smile, “Thanks, Rose.”

“It’s no problem.” She said, grabbing RM’s hand, “It’s the least I can do after all the trouble I gave him.”

“Well, I’ll leave then.” You said and started to leave.

“Don’t forget your promise.” RM called out. He looked very serious again and you frowned.

“Yes, I will.”

This caused Suga to sit up, “Boyfriend, you had something like that? Wow.” He started to clap, impressed.

“What’s with that reaction?” You asked him, annoyed, “Is it that incredulous that I have one?”

“Honestly yes.” Suga replied, “I can’t imagine anyone putting up with you for so long. Did he just met you or something?”

“No, it’s not like that. He’s been my good friend since I was young. So he knows me, okay? I don’t know yet how he thinks of me, but I know we’ll be great together.”

“…so in other words he’s not a boyfriend but an ‘unrequited love’.” Suga said and you had to restrain yourself from strangling him.

“No, I’ll get Jimin to like me too! He just needs a push.”

Suga pulled out a cigarette packet from his pocket and took a cigarette out, “Oh, so the name of your unrequited love is Jimin?” He lit the cigarette.

“It’s not unrequited love!” You insisted, “I just haven’t been able to see him so much recently. His family moved to a farther place after high school. It’s been hard to see him regularly and since I’ve been busy here recently I haven’t been able to see him.” You sighed, “There’s so many girls after him because he’s very hot. Not that I like him because of that.” You said quickly, “but he is really hot. And cute. How can one be hot and cute? Only Jimin, I swear. He has the cutest chubby cheeks but has really nice muscles. He’s not that tall, but he’s the perfect height to hug him. And he gives such great hugs. But what I really love must about him is that he’s the nicest person I know. Really, he’s so sweet. And so genuine. He genuinely cares about people and will always help someone in need. Even in elementary school he will never break a single rule—"

“Fine, rest on Sundays now, if it’ll make you stop blabbering about him.” Suga cut you off as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

“Oh really?” You said, so excited you let the other comment slide, “Then I’m leaving!”

As he took another drag out of his cigarette, you finally noticed he was smoking.

“Wait, since when you smoke?” You frowned. Now that you notice it, the office does have a faint smell of smoke and there’s ashtrays all around the office with used up cigarette buds.

“Why do you care?” Suga murmured, breathing out the smoke, “Go on your date with Jimin.”

“You didn’t used to smoke before…”

Now that you thought of it, he started to smoke ever since that day. The day that Suga refuses to talk about no matter how many times you asked. It’s like you went one step forward and two steps back concerning him. 

“Well now I do.” Suga simply said, “Now leave before I change my mind.”

You decided to continue the conversation later as you nodded and smiled as you waved goodbye.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then.”

You texted Jimin that you were on your way and he texted back that he was already at the park. Typical, he’s always very early. You smiled at his antics. As you made your way to the park, you noticed Jimin sitting on a bench.

“Jimin!” You called out and he turned and smiled at you.

“Hi Y/--wow, is that a dress?” He looked surprised as he pointed at your outfit and you were annoyed he was reacting the same way Suga did.

“Do I really look weird in a dress?” You asked, a bit hurt, and he noticed your pouty expression.

“Oh no,” he said quickly, “it’s pretty. You look pretty in anything you wear.”

You blushed at the compliment, “Oh, thanks, you’re…”

“Hey, look, Y/N!” You saw that he was looking somewhere else now, “there’s a really pretty kid!”

You looked and saw the ugliest kid you’ve ever seen. You looked to see if Jimin was joking but he was smiling and approaching the kid. Wow, his beauty standards are something…wait, am I the same level as her? You couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.

“Ah!”

The kid squirted water at Jimin with a water gun and you sighed as you went through your purse to find a handkerchief so he can dry himself in.

“I only wanted to play with her.” Jimin pouted as you handed him the handkerchief.

“Yeah, kids these days are scary. Here, wipe it off.”

Jimin studied the handkerchief, “...Ah? It’s a handkerchief with star prints… Seulgi…”

Tears started to pour from his eyes and you panicked, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Jimin tried to wipe his tears, “Um…it’s nothing, I don’t want to bother you…”

“Clearly something is bothering you. And who’s Seulgi?”

You saw that he sobbed when you said her name.

“Did she hurt you?”

“She…was my girlfriend.”

Your heart dropped at that sentence.

“Girlfriend?” You echoed, trying hard not to start crying as well, “You have a girlfriend? For how long?”

Why didn’t he told me before that he has a girlfriend?

Jimin bit his lip, “Not anymore. She broke up with me yesterday.”

You had to stop yourself from giving out a sigh of relief. So he doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore, thank god. Wait…who in their right mind would dump Jimin? He’s literally perfect in every way.

“Why did she break up with you?”

“She said I was too nice.” He muttered.

You were shocked, “For being nice? That’s too much. What was she like?”

She sounds like a bitch, you thought bitterly.

“Well…” he smiled, “She’s really cute because she’s short. She has beautiful long hair. She has these eyes that look like stars will fall from them at any given time. I always feel the need to stand by and protect her. Her name is Kang Seulgi--her name is pretty, isn’t it?”

You felt sick as he described her to you. Is that his ideal woman?

“Yeah…it’s really pretty.” You murmured, can I even be compared to her? She’s probably as beautiful as her name.

Jimin had a determined look on his face, “If she really wants me to, then I won’t act nice to anyone anymore.”

“…you really like that Seulgi girl, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I like her a lot.”

Ouch, that hurt a lot. It’s frustrating how oblivious Jimin is of your feelings for him. You liked him for such a long time, never hid it, but he never took the hint. Now he’s talking about some other girl to you.

“If she wants me to,” he continue, “I’ll become the bad boy from now on.”

Jimin? Bad boy? You almost had to laugh. That’s the exact opposite of what Jimin is.

Before you could say anything though, an old woman approached Jimin.

“Excuse me, young man. I don’t have money to catch a ride. Could you please spare me 1000 Won?”

Jimin looked shocked and tried to look at you for support, “Eh? No, I…lady, I’m a really bad boy.”

You almost snorted, even the way he said ‘bad boy’ was cute. 

“Please, it’s only 1000 won.”

You knew Jimin wouldn’t last. He would never be able to refuse a plea from an old lady anyway.

“Lady, I’m really sorry,” This caught your attention, is he really refusing?, “I don’t really have spare change…. would you take a 10000 Won bill?”

He held up the bill and the lady snatched it, “Thank you so much, young man.”

As she walked away, Jimin turned to you, “Wait…this isn’t what a bad boy would do....”

I knew it, you thought, he’s too tender-hearted to refuse someone in need,

“I’m so confused. I shouldn’t be doing stuff like this. What can I do to make me a real bad boy? If I do nice things, Seulgi’s going to put me down again.”

You idiot, you thought sadly, I like how you are right now.

You knocked and Suga opened the door.

He looked at you, confused, “Y/N? You told me you’d be going out. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”  

You looked at the cigarette he was holding.

“Does smoking make you feel good?”

“Huh?”

You snatched the cigarette as you walked past him and put it in your mouth, taking a long drag.

“Ugh, what the hell? What is this?” You coughed up smoke, “It just stinks and hurts my throat and makes me dizzy.”

You started to feel tears fall from your eyes and you sat on the couch, “It’s not making me feel any better.”

You took another drag, hoping the second would be better than the first; it wasn’t. You coughed and continued to cry.

Suga watched all this silently and went to sit next to you.

“…you know that cigarette was mine…”

“You stingy bastard,” you cried out, “I’ll get you a new pack!”

You put it in your mouth again, intending to try a third time.

“…I had it in my mouth.” 

You spit it out and put it in the ashtray next to you.

He watched you cry, “…there’s water coming out of your face.”

“They’re called tears, you idiot!”

Why did I even come here? He’s literally the worst at comforting someone.

“…but there’s more coming from your nose.”

“Shut up,” you sobbed, trying to wipe the tears and snot with your hand; Suga just looked at you in disgust.

“Why won’t he like me?” You lamented, falling into self-pity, “Why don’t I have long, beautiful hair and have a beautiful name. Why don’t I cry stars instead of tears, and why do I have so much mucus coming from my nose?” You sniffled, “This is so depressing. Not as much as when mom and dad died, but this still hurts.”

Suga didn’t say anything, he just studied you, his face like stone.

The next thing you remember, you were waking up to an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. Panicking, you wondered what happened last night when you heard Suga’s voice.

“After you complained that the cigarette made you dizzy, you passed out.” Suga stated.

“So I slept here? In your bed? I’m so dead! Mom and dad are going to…” You then remembered, “…wait, I don’t have parents.”

“….you’re late.”

You gasped, coming to your senses, “Oh my god, today’s Monday. Crap, I have to go to school!”

Suga looked unbothered, “Your bag, your lunch,” with a snap of his fingers they appeared in front of you. “Automatic face wash.” Water slapped you face and you felt refreshed, “And fresh clothes.” You were no longer wearing your rumpled dress from last night.

You were in awe, “Wow, is this magic? This is so cool! Thank you, I’ll see you later at night.”

“Wait.” You paused at the doorway, “The thing about yesterday…I shouldn’t be putting my nose where it doesn’t belong. But if you desire something badly, you could just deal with it yourself and confess to him. Sitting around crying isn’t really like you.”

You sighed, “I’d never be able to tell him I like him.”

“Why? Because you’re afraid of rejection?”

“No, it’s not like that. I’m afraid of the opposite.” You answered, “When we were kids, I gave him a box of chocolate I made for him on Valentine’s Day. I didn’t know he had a serious allergy to chocolate. He finished the whole box because he knew I had worked hard making it. He had to be taken to the emergency room afterwards. He’s just like that, he doesn’t know how to say no. Jimin always thinks of others first. That’s why I’m afraid. He might accept me just because he doesn’t want to hurt me.  Knowing what he’ like, it doesn’t seem right to confess to him.”

“So make a wish.”

“Yeah, that would be even worse. And besides, you’d take my most prized possession.”

“That’s okay,” Suga said, “I wouldn’t accept it even if you offered it to me. You don’t have anything precious anyway.”

You looked at him in surprise, “Wha-what’s that? But don’t you have to take something precious or you could die…?”

He leaned against the doorway, “I don’t have to accept a prized possession from an ugly girl.”

Seriously?

“Are you kidding me? Don’t lie, how can you say that?” You exclaimed, “Also, I’m pretty. Very, very pretty—”

“Oh look at the time, shouldn’t you be in class?” Suga said lazily and brought his hand up.

“Ah wait, hey I’m not fini—”

With a snap of his fingers you were teleported in front of the door to your classroom. Your mind was reeling, both from the sudden teleportation and the conversation with Suga. You went into the class, but couldn’t stop thinking about it.

You debated on using a wish to make Jimin like you. You liked Jimin. So much. You know you’ll be a good match, and he likes you as well….just not in the way you want him to. You sighed, but you also knew that you couldn’t live with that doubt. Doubt about whether or not he truly loved you.

As you made your way to lunch, you thought of how strange Suga was acting. What is he thinking? Not taking my most prized possession, what’s up with that? Wouldn’t that get him into trouble?

“Wow, your lunch looks awesome!”

You were brought out of your thoughts by Hyelin, who sat next to you and was admiring the lunchbox in front of you. You didn’t realized her entrance from how distracted you were.

“Oh hi Hyelin.” You said with a smile.

“You alright, Y/N? You sound a bit off.” Hyelin  asked you in concern and you sighed.

“Remember Jimin?”

“Yes, you’re totally mad about him.”

“He…has a girlfriend. Or had.”

“Oh wow, I’m so sorry.” Hyelin said in sympathy, she knew how much you liked him, “But at least they’re not together anymore.”

You shook your head, “But he still loves her and is still going on and on about her. She literally seems perfect—how can I ever compete with her?”

“Hey!”, Hyelin said as she gave you a serious look, “You are an amazing, beautiful, kind and anyone will be lucky to have you. Jimin is literally blind, I swear. Why should you be hung up in somebody like him?”

You sighed, “I know, but it’s not something I can just turn off, Hyelin—I really like him.”

“Then don’t give up.” Hyelin said, “So what if he’s hung up over her? Help him get over her. What you need is confidence!”

You laughed at Hyelin’s enthusiasm, “I wish it were that simple, Hyelin.”

Hm, maybe that can be my wish—that everything was simple…nah, it’s too vague. Leaves Suga too much room for interpretation.

“Then make it that simple. Either try to get over him or try to get together with him, but don’t do nothing. The Y/N I know isn’t one to sit idle.”

She’s right, you thought, but what should I do?

“Okay, but seriously, your lunch looks amazing.” Hyelin said, admiring the lunch Suga gave you, “It literally looks like one from a magazine or one of those cooking shows.”

You looked at the lunch and narrowed your eyes at it, he must have made this with magic too.

“Can I have a bite from it?” Hyelin asked, “It looks so yummy.”

You decided you won’t make the wish, I don’t need magic.

“You can eat it.” You told her, pushing the lunch box to her.

She looked at you in surprised, “Really? Are you sure? Where did you even got such a cute lunch?”

“I passed by Suga’s office this morning and he gave me a spare lunch box he had.”, You lied, you couldn’t tell her that you spent the night there. Wow, that sounds worse than what it actually is.

Hyelin took a bite and moaned, “Oh my god, this is so good. He must be so talented at cooking. You sure you don’t want a bite?”

You shook your head, knowing the truth, “I’m fine. I’m going to the bathroom, okay?”

She nodded, stuffing herself with the lunch, “I’ll see you in Chem then.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” You laughed as you walked away.

 As you left the bathroom, your phone ringed. You checked the caller ID and your heart raced when you saw Jimin’s name on the screen. What could he want at this time?, you wondered as you answered the call.

“Hey Jimin, what’s up?”, you tried to sound casual. 

“Ah, Y/N…”, he sounded a little uncertain, “Can I ask you for a favor?”

You knew you’d probably do anything for him, “Yeah, what do you need?”

It couldn’t be anything bad, you thought, it was Jimin after all.

“I heard from Hyelin that you worked with a magician that can make wishes come true, is that true?”

You bit your lip, I’m going to kill Hyelin.

“Yeah but I don’t think—”

“Please, Y/N.” He begged, “I really need to meet him. There’s a wish I need to make. Please.”

You sighed, you knew you couldn’t resist him.

I don’t want to make the wish, but apparently Jimin wants magic—it’s kind of ironic huh.

You reluctantly gave him Suga’s address and Jimin gave you lots of praises and thanks. You couldn’t help but blush at that. You then realized you didn’t tell him about the prized possession part and was about to but he hung up. You were about to call him again when you realized you should be in class. You ran off, furiously texting as you were doing so.

Wait! Jimin, don’t go! He’ll take your prized possession, please reconsider!

You hoped he read the message before he made the wish.

You slammed the door open.

“Don’t do it, Jimin! No matter what kind of wish it is, you’ll lose something precious!”

You were met with the scene of Suga sitting on a chair, smoking, not fazed by your entrance.

“You’re too late. Your boyfriend made his wish and left.”

“What? Already?”

You rushed as soon as your class ended, Jimin must have immediately came here after your phone call. You walked up to Suga.

“What kind of wish did he make? And what did you take from him?”

Suga leaned back in his chair, “Don’t worry, neither his wish or the thing I took was important. And if you were going to get so upset, why did you tell him where I was in the first place?”

“That…that’s because I can’t really refuse him.” You said, blushing, “But anyway, you shouldn’t talk so carelessly about another person’s important thing. It may not be nothing to you, but it could really be significant to someone else.”

Suga closed his eyes and furrowed his brows as he leaned his head against his hand, “If you’re done talking, you can leave. Stop annoying me. I didn’t get enough sleep so I’m not in a good mood.”

You were angered at his dismissive tone, “I refuse, I’m not done talking. You’re responsible if something bad happens to Jimin.”

Suga opened his eyes, “Whatever, why don’t you run after him and see for yourself? He’s at Seulgi’s house.”

“Fine, I will.” You huffed as you made your way to the door.

“Also, when you see him this time, be sure to tell him you like him.”

“I told you I can’t say that!”

“No, you can go ahead and tell him. He’s not the same person he was before.”

You felt nervous, what kind of wish did Jimin did? He didn’t really wish to become a bad boy, right?....Right?

After getting the address from Suga, you made your way to Seulgi’s house. You heard raised voices and saw Jimin and a beautiful girl in front of the house. Wow, she really is beautiful, you couldn’t help but feel a wave of jealousy. You then looked at Jimin and almost tripped. He looks completely different. He’s wearing all black, a leather jacket, black boots--is that eyeliner? He was sitting on the steps of the house, casually fiddling with a lighter. His posture was relaxed and confident, so different from the Jimin you knew. 

In other words, he looked like a bad boy. 

You cautiously approached them and heard their conversation.  

“Who are you?”, cried Seulgi, “You’re not the Jimin I used to know!”

“Me?” Jimin smirked, “I’m the Park Jimin you dumped because I was too nice. I made a wish to become a really bad guy, and this is the result. Don’t look so surprised, isn’t this what you wanted?”

No! Jimin!, you thought in despair, you didn’t…

Seulgi looked so shocked for words, Jimin continued.

“Do you want to take over the world? We can be the bad guys. Or would you rather take revenge for the time those people made you an outcast?”

“Huh? W-what are you talking about?”

“I can take revenge on those bullies and the girl who betrayed you. You guys were in the same class in high school right? You tried being nice to her because everyone was treating her like an outsider, but you ended up as the outsider. The girl you tried to help joined the group that was bullying you. I’ll avenge you, isn’t that what you want?”

“I don’t need anything like that!” Seulgi cried in frustration, “Did I ever ask you to do such a thing?”

“Then what do you want? I’ll do it for you. I can do it for you—”

“I don’t want that! Leave me alone, I just…just…” She slid down the wall and ran a hand through her hair, “This is embarrassing. Yeah, no matter how hard I try to be bad, I’m just like my parents. As a result, I get used and betrayed by other—that’s not being nice, it’s being stupid. I’m embarrassed to be so stupid, so I try to act tough. But every time I come home, whenever I see you, I’m ashamed of myself. Still, I can’t stand the embarrassment of being stupidly nice. I’d rather be smart and bad, that’s how I want to live.”

Jimin just smiled, “Seulgi, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m going to stick by you whether you’re good or bad. Because I love you.”

Seulgi stared at Jimin and then, all of sudden, pinched him.

“Ouch! That hurts!”

“Are you back now? Back to Park Jimin, the nice guy?”

Jimin laughed, “I’ve always been the nice Park Jimin.”

“But…you were being so bad. I thought you sold your soul to the devil or something.”

Almost, you thought dryly.

“I made a wish to be the best actor in the entire world. Everything I said before was an act.”

“Wish? What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, it’s possible to have such a wish granted. I could have wished for something else, but I wanted to do something on my own. I’m not trying to make anything happen right now, I know wounds take a long time to heal. I just wanted you to say what you honestly felt. I’m not trying to preach or tell you to be nicer. I like you for being you. But Seulgi, please don’t be embarrassed anymore. A world in where people have to be embarrassed sounds so sad.”

Seulgi looked at Jimin with tearful eyes, “Jimin.”

She went up to him and gave him a tight hug. They stood there for a few minutes and you felt like a creep to see this intimate moment. You turned away to make your escape but accidentally kicked a rock, which made a noise.

They broke apart and Jimin noticed you. You wanted to sink into the ground and never come out. 

Jimin looked at you and smiled, “Oh, Y/N! How long have you been standing there?”

Too long, you thought. You felt your heart breaking for a second time and didn’t know how to respond to him.

“Why are you here?” Jimin asked, continuing, “As you see, everything went well. It’s all thanks to you…and that guy. He even helped me with the scene and suggested this outfit.”

He pointed at his outfit, which looked really good on him. Everything looks good on Jimin. 

You gave him a sad smile, “Yes, I saw everything.” You turned to Seulgi, “You…went through a lot.” You turned back to Jimin, “I guess you really like her…” You took a deep breath, fuck it.

“But Jimin…I…I like you. Can’t it be me?”

Jimin looked completely shocked. You wondered for the second time how he could be so oblivious that he didn’t even had an inkling of your feelings. He seemed conflicted and you wondered if he’s be able to say no. You didn’t know what you would prefer, being told the truth or being told a lie.

“Sorry,” Jimin simply said as he took hold of Seulgi’s hand and squeezing it, “I’m really sorry.”

You nodded, willing yourself to not cry, “I understand. See you around, Jimin.”

Without waiting for his response, you turned around and left. You started to walk and noticed that Suga was there, smoking a cigarette.

You walked together and you explained to him what happened.

“I thought about calling him,” You said, staring at the night sky, “but I’m not going to. At least for now.”

“You haven’t considered making a wish?” Suga asked and you shook your head.

“Not at all. They like each other so much, how could I use magic to break them up? And a free wish…sounds strange.”

You walked in silence.

“Oh right, what did you take from Jimin? What was important to him?” You asked curiously.

Suga held out his hand and a piggy bank appeared; he handed it to you.

“A piggybank?” You asked in shock, “How does that guy’s mind work? I don’t get him. Does this mean he’s a greedy person?”

He discarded his cigarette, “Don’t talk like that about things that are important to humans.”

Wow, he totally threw that line back at me, you thought. You were surprised he even remembered.

“This means he’s not greedy at all,” Suga continued, “He has so little greed, his most important thing is actually a gift he was going to give to someone.”

“Wait,” you said, remembering something, “was this the money he was saving since elementary school to send his parents on a trip for their 25th wedding anniversary?”

Suga nodded, “He’s the first human I’ve met like that. Jeez, I didn’t get a thing out of this.”

“So…why did you come all the way here? After I yelled at you like that…” You asked bashfully, remembering your outburst, “You know, it was partly your fault. If you had told me before, I wouldn’t have gotten so upset.”

“You started off being angry, you never gave me a chance to talk.” Suga answered, “Besides, I was tired and didn’t have the strength to argue.”

“Why didn’t you get enough sleep?” You asked, curious, “You sleep so often, how are you so tired?”

“Making lunch for you took me three whole hours.” Suga said.

 “Wait, that’s silly, shouldn’t it take you...” You realized that the lunch Suga gave you wasn’t magic. “Wait, so you made the lunch?”

“Yes,” Suga said, crossing his arms, “I wanted to try it out, making a lunch for someone.” 

You felt so insanely guilty that you gave it away but so touched that Suga did that to you. Maybe he does care…in his own way.

“Let’s be friends.” You said, “I just lost a friend and you lost one…a while ago. So let’s be substitutes for our lost friends. I’ll stop sulking about Jimin and…” you look at Suga lighting up another cigarette, “…you stop smoking.”

Suga stared at you as he put the cigarette in his mouth, considering it. He then turned around and started to walk.

“I’ll think about it.”

This guy.

“Give me a better answer!” You called to him, annoyed he left you hanging like that.

“Whatever,” he said, not turning around and holding up the cigarette, “I’ll throw this away.”

You saw him flick the cigarette to the ground and smiled.

“Hey Suga!” You said cheerfully as you walked in, “What’s the plan for today?”

So far, friendship with Suga consisted of him occasionally walking you home and you coming over on Sundays to watch movies with him. You had to admit it wasn’t as bad as you thought it’s be, though his commentary during the movies can be a little exasperating at times. 

“Come over here.”

Suga was by his desk and you noticed he was sitting behind a computer. You were amazed.

“Wow, a computer, I didn’t even know you can use one, old man.” You teased as you walked toward him.

Suga glared at you, “Funny.”

“So what are you reading?”, you asked, leaning over his shoulder.

“An email I got from a Kim Yerim, it’s very long. Why don’t you read it out loud for me. my eyes are getting tired at looking at this computer.”

You snorted as you got a chair and put it next to him, “Yup, definitely an old man.”

He flashed you another glare, “Just read the email.”

You laughed, “Okay, okay.” You turned your attention to the screen in front of you, “Wow, this really is a long email. Is this Yerim writing an essay?”

“Come on, we haven’t got all day.” Suga grumbled and you nod.

“Right, okay, here goes nothing. ‘Dear friendly magician’—” you snorted, “Have she met you?”

“Less comments and more reading.” Suga simply said.

“You just say that because you know I’m right,” you retorted, “Okay then, ‘Dear friendly magician, I really don’t like sending emails. The last time I wrote one was for a solider many years ago. I found your website by chance” ,You thought about the state of Suga’s website and felt sorry for Yerim, “ ‘and it had your email. I was compelled to write to you. You probably are wondering who I am. I’m sad, did you already forget me? I am your savior and the only person who didn’t lose something important when I made my wish.”

You looked up to Suga, who you saw had a very annoyed expression on his face, “Is that true?”

“Yes, I remember now, the brat.” He muttered, “It was about 18 years ago and I was in a…bind. Yerim, I guess her name was, was a little kid then. She found the key that will open the lock where I was trapped in a tree, but she insisted that I do something for her and I reluctantly agreed that I would grant her a wish and not take her precious possession.”

“You can do that?” You ask curiously.

“Only in special circumstances,” Suga answered, “like if someone saves my life and I’m indebted to them.”

“So did she get you out?”

“No,” Suga said, annoyed, “she just gave me the key and left, not realizing that she was supposed to unlock it from the outside; I couldn’t do anything from the inside.”

“So how did you get out?”

“Luckily a little boy came around later and got me out.”

“Wait, how did you end up stuck in a tree?”

He muttered something, but you couldn’t hear.

“What?”

“That’s a whole other story.” Suga muttered, his mood darkened.

You quickly went back to the email, “ ‘Now that I’ve refreshed your memory, I’m sure you’re happy to hear from me—’ ”

“Hardly,” Suga muttered and you had to hide your smile.

“Don’t interrupt,” you said cheekily, “ ‘I thought a long time about what wish I should make. You don’t know how painful it is, Magician, to pick one wish out of fifty thousand possibilities. Really—I am your rescuer! What’s up with only one wish? Next time, don’t be so stingy, you should be more giving!’ ”

You snorted, “She’s hilarious.”

“She’s very conceited.” Suga muttered and you had to agree with him.

“But she isn’t your savior, so she doesn’t have the wish, right?”

“That’s what vexes me the most, it still counts because I gave my word.”

“ ‘In no time, I was 16 years old. A young woman in 9thgrade, full of dreams. I’ve attached a picture of those early days so you can look at me.”

Curious, you clicked on the attachment called pretty.jpg. It opened to a very pretty teenager.

“She is very pretty,” you commented, “I can see why she’s arrogant.”

“Just continue reading so we can get this over with.” Suga said and you followed his instruction.

“ ‘Are you wondering why I didn’t already make a wish? Be patient—I’m about to tell you. Every morning, at 7:00AM sharp, when I rode the #976 bus, he was there. The first time I met him was about a week ago, when my friend was sick. I was riding the bus because I didn’t feel like walking alone. I saw him and it was love at first sight. But I knew that he had no interest in me at all. Because every time I was near him, all he did was look out the window. Of course, it hurt my pride. As you can see from the 2nd attached picture, I was the best-looking girl in town.”

You opened the attachment called beautiful.jpg and it looked like a professional photoshoot and was very high-quality. You wonder if she was a model or something.

“ ‘I couldn’t just give up, so one say I decided to start a conversation. He totally ignored me. I was so frustrated that I sort of yelled at him to hold my bag, saying it was heavy. Yelling this might have ruined my image, but my heart was pounding because it was the first time he looked directly at me. His surprised face was so cute—just like a rabbit! Involuntarily, I started to drool and that drool fell on his knee. But that was nothing? As my gaze moved to his knee, the thing that horrified me was the bag I was forcing him to hold was leaking kimchi! Really smelly kimchi! And it was all over his pants.’ ”

You couldn’t help yourself, you snorted, “Wow, she had such rotten luck.”

“She’ll be fine.” Suga simply said and you shrugged.

“Still, that was in front of her crush.”

“Just read.”

“Fine….’As I looked at his face again, the best thing I could do was to take my bag and run away as fast as I could. But I tripped and ended up flat on my face, flashing everyone my panties. There were so many people on that bus that day. Even though I felt like dying, the bus rumbled on. I was frozen in the ground, mortified and not knowing what to do. For a few minutes, total darkness was my heart’s only desire. And that moment, an unexpected solar eclipse happened. I took the opportunity and I ran for my life, leaving through a door the driver had left open. It was so dark, I had no idea where I was going. After ten minutes, I regained my senses and the sky started to brighten again. You don’t have to say it, I know how stupid my wish was. I will be remembered as one of the stupidest people in the world, right after that guy who stuck a sausage up his nose. But the saddest thing wasn’t that I missed my chance at world domination or becoming a beauty queen or becoming the richest person in the world. It’s that I will never again be able to ride the #976 bus. I won’t be able to see his cute  face. And I will never again be able to enjoy my favorite food, kimchi. Are you wondering if this is the end of my story? Maybe you should take a bathroom break. You see, it’s only the beginning…’ ”

You looked up to Suga, “I can’t believe this story is nowhere near done…”

“Me either.” He muttered.

“Is this the story of her life?” You wondered, “Is there a point to all this?”

“Just keep reading.” Suga simply said and you complied.

“ ‘And one year later I became a high school student. I had decided not to think about that terrible day anymore. I’m not the type of person to linger over old Events. Worrying about the past is just too stressful for me, plus it gave me pimples. How could anyone live like that? I decided that I could live perfectly well without a stupid wish. Because I’m pretty, talkative, smart, and a natural leader’ and humble too.” You added, “ ‘When I thought about it, that wish wasn’t all bad. Think about it: I mean, a solar eclipse? I had actually moved the moon! Astronauts? Hey all they did was leave some footprints. But me, I had moved the moon! Isn’t that awesome? Have you ever moved the moon, Magician? You haven’t have you?’”

“Do you want to take a break?” Suga asked and you nodded.

“Yeah…I feel a bit sick.”

You prepared some tea and served it for the both of you, thankful for the break. This Yerim is a bit much and your throat was starting to get dry from reading her words out loud.

“Do you know where this is going?” You asked sipping the tea.

“Nope,” he answered, “but I may have an idea. Let’s get this over with.”

You nod and looked back at the computer, “ ‘And with that self-confidence, I lived on, honest and true. At least, until that fateful day in my second year. The boy I had such a crush on, the one who saw my panties, transferred to my class. His name was Youngjae and even though it had been two years since we had last seen each other, my first feeling was not love, joy, or nervousness. It was rage. I ended up threatening him and telling him not to tell anyone what he saw and spread rumors. But he stayed quiet and ignored me, which made me even angrier. When the teacher introduced him to the class though, I learned he was mute. I felt really bad about snapping at him and decided to help him, since he might have a hard time since he’s mute. I found myself wondering what his voice would sound like, I must have still liked him, after all this time. But it was hard to get close to him. He was so popular that he was surrounded all the time. I started to get jealous. But during gym one day, some guy started to make fun of Youngjae and saying he was disabled. I couldn’t let it slide and kept throwing balls at him. That shut him up and I could tell Youngjae appreciated it. After that incident, the awkwardness disappeared and I was able to get closer to him. He’s really good at the piano, I mean really good, and he let me hear him play after school. He had such a great personality, whenever I was with him I felt happy. Yet I was always the only one making a commotion. Magician, what was I to do? I had decided to never regret the way I wasted my wish, but I couldn’t help it—I started to hate you, magician. Granting such a lame wish, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? I had finally found what I truly wanted. What I really wanted was to hear his voice…You thought that was the end, right?”

Wait, there’s more?, you thought.

“ ‘Of course I’m not done. I still have something to talk—to argue about with you, Magician.”

“Argue? What did I do?” Suga asked from the couch.

“A lot of it is really your fault,” you defended Yerim, “ how could you give something like a solar eclipse as a wish? Because of you, she lost the chance to wish for something more important!”

Suga frowned, “If something goes wrong, it’s always my fault. You have no idea…just keep reading.”

“Why don’t you read it yourself?” You huffed, a bit tired of reading out loud.

“But you have such a beautiful voice…”

Beautiful voice! Probably the first time he’s ever complimented me.

You perked up and started reading again, “ ‘Seven years passed and now the story gets worse. By then I was a successful lawyer and my reputation was growing. After I passed the test to become a lawyer, I joined a distinguished law firm and won every one of my cases.” There was another attachment called sexy.jpg and you opened it. Yerim obviously grew up and looks like a model, wearing elegant business clothes and posing like a model for the photo. You wondered if she just randomly did professional photoshoots in her life; you wouldn’t put it pass her.

“ ‘My life was going great but my family was already pressuring me to get married. My mom kept trying to introduce me to guys, but I wasn’t interested. Youngjae, who became a renowned concert pianist. By then I had known him for ten years. Sometimes I wondered what he thought of me. Because we went to the same high school and college we were very close but there was always distance between us. At time I felt like he barely noticed me—like I was as forgettable as one of the countless stars in the sky. So I decide to confess to him. That night the moon was so beautiful, the full moon makes people do crazy things. I asked him to marry me and even told my mother I was going to marry him. She disapproved, saying he was mute. But I never cared what my mother said. But there was something I didn’t consider and that was Youngjae’s heart. He wrote to me that he wanted to stay friends with me. I was upset and said some very insensitive things and I regretted it immediately. But it was already too late to recover those words. He just stared at me blankly and he turned around and left. That’s what it was. For him, I was common, like one of the countless stars in the sky. Still, just sitting there and crying wasn’t my style so I refused to give up and vowed to me like the moon, no, the sun. But I never expected what happened next. My mother informed me that she visited a magician—you—and she wished for me to marry the perfect man. Someone with lots of money, good education, perfect looks, and a great family. Worst yet, she told me that it would be granted in three months. I was horrified! I should have thrown the key into the Han River that day. I should have blocked the hole with cement. No, I should have thrown you into a tub of poo, you moronic magician!’ ”

You couldn’t help but snort at that, “I’m sorry, this is all serious and everything but…I can’t get that image out of my head.” You started to laugh.

“Maybe I should put you in a tub of poo.” Suga grumbled, but you knew that he wasn’t serious. Hopefully.

You quickly read on, “ ‘I don’t know if it was because of my mother’s wish or because I simply gave up my desire to live, but the marriage plan was going smoothly. Tomorrow, I’m getting married to the ideal person—lots of money, good education, perfect looks, a great family. After hearing about my upcoming marriage, Youngjae seemed surprised. And he told, as promised, he would play the Wedding March. Of course, that’s because he considers me as nothing more than a friend.’ “

“Just what did you do, Suga? Can you still say you’re not guilty after all this?”

“Just continue reading with that pretty voice.”

Pretty voice!

You smiled, “Tomorrow is my wedding day, you stupid magician. For some unknown reason, I can’t avoid this marriage. As of tomorrow, my life is over. After ten long years, my one-sided love for Youngjae will end. But…’ ….huh?”

“What is it?”

“ It says ‘But as of now, your famous website has ended too!’”

Suga sprung up and went to look at the computer, “What?”

“That’s what it says—”

“Go to my website and see if it’s true.”

You were about to check when the computer died. You turned to Suga, “This can’t be good.”

When you came back the next day, Suga was in a sour mood.

“Yeah, I checked your website using my computer and it’s completely destroyed. Apparently, it happened right after we read that e-mail. What happened to the hard drive?”

“I went to the repair center this morning, but they said it was a new virus and they couldn’t fix it. Everything on it disappeared—300 years worth of magic data down the drain.”

“Wow—to think those attachment contained the virus. She might be arrogant, but she’s pretty smart, hacking our system like that. But you can do everything else with your magic, but you can’t save a computer?”

You turned and saw Suga was on the phone.

“Hello, police? I would like to report a criminal.”

“Hey!” You went up to him, “What are you doing? How can you call the police? It’s not like you haven’t done bad things!”

“As I said before, I did nothing wrong.” Suga replied.

“Don’t give me that! You messed up that girl’s life!”

“Just forget about me and deliver this to Yerim as soon as possible.” He handed you an envelope, “you have to give it to her before the wedding.”

“What’s this letter? What are you planning? I don’t like this, I don’t want to be a part of it.” You exclaimed as you held the letter. Maybe it’s a time bomb!

Suga studied you, “…So this is what you call friendship.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Last time, wasn’t it you who said you wanted to be friends?”

“Y-yes, that’s right. Friends.”

“If you think of me as a friends, shouldn’t you at least pretend to believe me when I say I didn’t so anything bad?”

You were speechless and he leaned closer to you, “Even if I did do something wrong, if friendship means that you’re just going to waste a lot of time questioning me, then I don’t need friends.”

“Okay, I get it!” You exclaimed, feeling guilty, “I’m sorry! I promise to deliver it, cross my heart.”

As you made your way out, you heard Suga on the phone.

“Ah hello, I would like to report something.”

You hoped for Yerim’s sake everything turns out alright.

You rushed to the church, which was bustling. Apparently it was a high profile wedding because there were many cars and paparazzi and people. You wondered how you were going to get the letter to Yerim. You snuck through the back door while a security guard was distracted by some snooping paparazzi. How can I find Yerim?, you thought and caught sight of a woman in white pacing the hallway.

Luck must be on my side today, you thought. 

“Yerim!” You recognized the bride from the photos. She looks even more beautiful up close, how is that possible? Does she even have pores?

She turned to you, “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Not really, but I’m Suga’s assistant.”

“Who?”

Oh right, she doesn’t know his name.

“The magician.”

Her face furrowed in anger, “I don’t want anything to do—”

You brought out the letter, “Please read this; it’s important.”

“Why would I—”

“Please.” You pleaded and she huffed, but took the envelope.

Yerim tore the envelope and started to read the letter. She stood there, frozen like stone, and she looked very shocked.

“What does it say?” You asked, curious.

She gave a gasp, “I…I have to go!”

She started to run out the door.

You were confused and saw that in her excitement, she dropped the letter. You decided to read it.

To the person who never listens to anybody, Kim Yerim:

I have no reason whatsoever to be listening to your complaints. Don’t rip up this letter. And this time, read all the way through the end. First of all, I have never granted your wish. Second, I have yet to grant your mother’s wish---

You heard commotion at the church and rushed over there, wondering what Suga’s words will make Yerim do. You saw police enter the church and put the groom into handcuffs, apparently he was being arrested for marriage fraud. Oh so that’s what Suga was calling for, you thought, embarrassed. You saw Yerim was being held by and older woman, probably her mother.

“Youngjae!” She cried.

“No you can’t!” The lady said, “anyone but him! This time we were unlucky, but you can have any bridegroom you want! Why choose someone who can’t even speak?”

“Let go!” Yerim growled, “Why won’t you let go?”

“Are you going to elope with him if I let go? What’s wrong with you? Why do you want to marry a freak? What can he do for you?”

“What can he do for me?” Yerim asked.

“Right!” Her mother said, “What great things can he do for you?”

Yerim was in tears, “You want me to show you what he can really do? Youngjae! Move the moon!”

She was looking intently at a handsome young man by the piano. He looked shocked. But there was a rumble and all of a sudden went very dark. In the middle of the afternoon. You looked out the window and sure enough, there was a solar eclipse.  It was very dark and the electricity also suddenly went out. Everyone was murmuring and in the commotion, Youngjae took Yerim’s hand and they ran out of the church.

You were organizing Suga’s inbox, which was a mess by the way, when you spotted a familiar name. 

“Oh look, Yerim sent another email.” You said to Suga and he gave you a cautious look.

“Does it have attachments?”

“Thankfully no attachments this time. Want me to read it?”

“Sure, why not.” He muttered and sank into the couch.

“ ‘Dear friendly—no, honorable!—magician, I am writing an email once again. I send you 100 apologies. I will restore your hard drive and your website within the week. Thanks to your letter, I now know everything. The fact he turned back and smiled when he learned hat we were I the same high school, and that I was lively as ever. The fact that he was incredible happy when he could use his phone to send me the messages that built a link between us. The fact that he was breathless when I asked him to marry me, and he would have eventually asked me to marry him if I hadn’t spoken first.  And the fact that when my mother came to visit him and demanded him not to marry me, he would have preferred to be deaf. The fact that he loves me; he had loved me for over ten years. I now know everything. So now, it’s my turn to make a wish for him. The wish I’ve been longing to make for ten years, to grant him his voice. And after so many silent years, the first thing he said was my name. Yerim. It was as though he couldn’t believe it. He repeated my name twice, three times, as if he was saying a prayer. At that moment, the moon and sun came together to create a solar eclipse. So I don’t mind not being the ruler of the world. You granted the world’s greatest wish. We are getting married in one month. And because Youngjae can talk now, he became everything my mom ever wanted in a son-in-law, so she ended up getting her wish as well. But there’s one thing I want to know, just what did you take from my mom? She’s been acting quite strange…”

You looked at Suga in question and he responded.

“I took her vanity, which means that once again I ended up with something useless.”

“Anyway, it’s a happy ending.” You said with a smile, “Everything is great, even your website is restored. Is the hard drive fixed?”

“Yes, Yerim sent an expert technician yesterday.”

You nodded, “That’s good. But how did Youngjae end up with the power to move the moon? Was that you?”

Suga nodded, “Do you remember when I was trapped a little boy came after Yerim and actually helped me out?”

“Yeah?”

“Youngjae was that little boy, so he also had a free wish. It was he who made the wish that day in the bus.”

“Oh, so that’s how you knew that you didn’t grant her wish yet.” You then remembered something, “But really, why were you locked up in a tree?”

Suga’s expression turned sour, “Let’s talk about that some other time.”

“Oh come in, is it super embarrassing? It must be, for you to be locked up in a tree.”

Suga didn’t give a response, he just closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep.