Posted: 11 June 2016, 14:00 EDT | Words: 3,573

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Washed and dressed, Kai headed for the stairs to the first floor. From the top step, he could hear the clear, precise voice of a reporter relaying the current financial conditions of South Korea – his father watching the morning news. The aroma of eggs and cooked vegetables wafted about to his nostrils. That was his mother, making breakfast in the kitchen.

As he descended, he studied the wall of frames next to him. They held family photos of his parents and sisters. But with each step taken, he saw them change right before his very eyes. Captured moments altered, inserting another person into them – him. A family of four became five. Kai saw a version of himself grow up in these pictures. From a toddler of four at the beach, building a sand castle with his sisters, to a pre-teen of eleven on a roller coaster with his father, to a teenager of fifteen dancing with his mother at Yoon Ah’s wedding, and finally, the young adult of eighteen today in a family picture with his proud parents and sisters at his high school graduation.

“Jong In,” a relaxing voice like stepping into a bath of warm water called Kai, breaking him from his faux nostalgic trance. He followed the sound to the kitchen where a woman with short black hair and dressed in a blouse and business skirt stood at the stove with her back to him. Around her waist an apron was starting to become undone.

With a hesitant step, Kai approached the stranger. No, she’s not a stranger. She’s your mother. Shaky hands reached for the strings to retie the apron. His mother turned her head back with a slight frown. Kai only now realized that this was not a usual thing for Jong In to do.

Like she was seeing him for the first time, a wrinkle of doubt and confusion took residence between his mother’s eyebrows. Eyes scrunched closed as if she was trying to suppress the pain from a headache and then flickered open a few seconds later with a pleasantly surprised smile, “Thank you for tightening my apron, Jong In,” she said. “Breakfast is almost done. Can you take the soybean paste soup and the kimchi to the table?”

Kai released the breath he’d been holding and smiled back. So sure his wish would break from acting out of character, he’d forgotten to breathe. “Sure, Mom.”

Like putting himself on autopilot, Kai let his feet walk the path ingrained into him until he reached the dining area which was in a large, open room that also encompassed the living room. His father sat not at the head, but in the side chair next to it so that he could periodically check the TV screen over the newspaper in his hands. Jung Ah, dressed for work in a button down and slacks, sat across him. She was checking something on her phone, with, as usual, her three dogs eating from their food bowls behind her chair.

Setting the two dishes he’d brought with him on the table, Kai took a seat next to his father and inconspicuously studied his profile. Gray streaked his black hair, crow’s feet sprouted from the outer corners of his eyes and laugh lines outlined his mouth. He was ten years older than his mother, but Kai thought him still very handsome and the story was that he was here because this man, unable to sire anymore children after his two daughters, had still wanted a son, even if he was not his own blood. So he and his wife had decided to visit an adoption center in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province to bring home the baby boy that was him.

His father’s head tilted towards him and again Kai saw the curious suspicion he’d witnessed in Jung Ah and his mother when they’d first laid eyes on him. It cleared seconds later when he greeted him with a quick “Morning, Son” and returned back to his paper.

“Okay, breakfast is ready,” his mother said, bringing a tray with four bowls of rice and the dish she’d been working on, grilled mackerel. She took her seat at the head.

“Thank you for the meal,” both his father and Jung Ah voiced as they respectively put down their newspaper and phone to dig in.

Kai stared at the table spread with its five vegetable dishes, a soup, and the fish. The voice within told him this was a normal meal he’d had thousands of times before, but in truth, this was his first time eating food. There were feelings one could read about and the closest it came to the actual were likening them to something else that might evoke the same emotions. Kai’s experiences as a genie had been limited. Even if he currently held a sense of hunger, taste, and satiation from the script of memories scrolling through his head, nothing could compare to the real phenomenon of consumption.

“Thank you for the meal,” Kai said belatedly as he picked up his first bite of food, a small mouthful of rice. It was soft, warm, and practically tasteless. But as he swallowed, and the simple grain settled in his stomach, tears built up in his eyes. He was eating. He was doing something every human did every day.

Overcome with joy and excitement, Kai attacked every dish and was barely able to savor all the new flavors he’d read about but could never truly appreciate – salty, sour, bitter, sweet – as he scarfed down his first meal in more than a century.

“Save some for the rest of us,” Jung Ah snipped, sliding the mackerel closer to herself.

“Slow down or you’ll choke,” his mother worriedly demanded.

“This is how a man eats,” his father proudly joked.

“Don’t encourage him,” chided Mrs. Kim.

“You know, when I eat like that, you complain I’m not ladylike, but when precious Jong In shoves food down his mouth faster than he can breathe, he’s still the apple of your eye. Way to not play favorites, Dad.”

“Jung Ah, don’t speak to your father like that.”

“She does have a point though. I am placing double standards on my children. In that case, Jung Ah, Jong In, let’s see who can eat more in one minute.”

Jung Ah had her chopsticks poised, ready for the go command.

“Honestly, you’re all adults so stop acting like children!” a fed-up Mrs. Kim cried.

This was a normal morning, Kai realized. His father, the eldest in the family, could sometimes behave like the youngest. Jung Ah, driven and accomplished, still displayed bouts of jealousy with both her siblings. And his mother, respected in her profession, still had to fight for authority and order with her family.

It started as a hiccup disguised as a cough, then chuckles behind lips pressed together to contain the food within, until finally, Kai exploded into laughter, spitting out pieces of rice, spinach, and mackerel.

Jung Ah leaned back in her seat to shield herself from the spit attack. “Dad, I think he’s gone crazy.”

“Son, are you okay?” Mr. Kim asked between pats on the back because Kai had now started choking. So this was what it felt like when food was lodged in your throat.

Scurrying to the kitchen, Mrs. Kim returned with a pitcher of water that she poured into a glass and handed to Kai. “I told you to eat slowly, but do you listen?” she chastised. Her voice was reprimanding, but her hands gentle as she held the glass to Kai’s lips and tipped up. “No, I’m just an old woman sprouting nonsense.”

“I’d like to contest that last statement,” his father quipped in, raising a finger. “I think the more appropriate statement is, ‘I’m just a woman sprouting nonsense.’ My beautiful wife looks as young as the day I fell in love with her.” He smiled crookedly.

Looking highly displeased, Mrs. Kim returned to the kitchen.

“I tried guys,” Mr. Kim dolefully said to Kai and Jung Ah, pitching his voice low so his wife wouldn’t hear. “Looks like we’ll be having a meager dinner tonight with no meat.”

Jung Ah rolled her eyes and excused herself to leave for work at an advertisement company with her three canines trailing at her heel. Young as she was, she’d already worked herself up to an assistant manager position and Kai, or rather Jong In, thought her work came second only to her dogs.

Not long after, his parents departed for work and Kai was left alone in the house. He had plans in the afternoon to meet with his friends.

On that note, Kai actually paused to let it sink in. He had friends. Plural. But what about the singular friend he’d made on his own before this fabricated life? He had made a promise to seek out Ji Won after he’d been freed were it possible. According to his house address, it was very possible, just a short bus ride away.

A glance at a wall clock in the living room told him he had plenty of time before he was due to meet his “new” friends. He owed her this much and more since she’d kept her promise to him in the end.

After a quick dash back to his room to fetch his wallet and phone, Kai was at the front door, slipping sneakers on. Jung Ah’s dogs appeared single file to sit and watch a few feet away. Their vigilant eyes never left him. Kai tried to reach a hand for them to sniff, but they started growling as soon as he was near enough to touch them.

Kai quickly straightened. “I guess the magic doesn’t work on animals,” he mumbled as he fled before their barks transformed into bites.

As well off as his new family was, Kai realized the downside of living in such a posh neighborhood. The nearest bus stop was blocks away. Most residents here drove to and from their destinations, or had drivers to do it for them. His family didn’t believe in having a driver to drive their own cars, but Kai did recall from the bank of new information still pouring into him that he usually travelled by skateboard. If he weren’t already a few blocks away from home, he’d have gone back to retrieve it.

He was bent over and breathing hard when he finally made it to the intersection where the bus stop post stood erect. Kai studied the schedules on a nearby billboard to deduce that he could take the next 114 in ten minutes to the edge of Ji Won’s neighborhood. With a sigh, he took a seat on the bench and stared at the busy surroundings. Teeming with life – old and young – Kai had observed people like this countless times before. They’d ignored him as they did now, but this time was different.

A middle-aged man sat on the other edge of the bench reading a paper. Kai turned to him and asked, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”

The man glanced briefly at Kai’s phone resting on his lap and gave him a wary look. Still, he twisted his arm to peek at the watch on his wrist and answered, “9:12.”

Kai grinned widely. “Thank you, Sir.” The man nodded and returned to his paper.

An interaction that hadn’t lasted even thirty seconds but Kai felt as ecstatic as if he’d won the lottery. He had, he realized. Billions of people in the world and any one of them could have been his master, yet he’d been linked to Ji Won, a stubborn, obnoxious brat who ended up being his greatest salvation.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of her grandfather. Was he still alive? When he reached her house, would he find her exactly as he’d left her, a crippled mess in her room? Once she saw that he was alive and human, would she hug him with relief, or shun him out of grief and anger?

The 114 bus pulled up along the sidewalk. Kai’s bench mate boarded, but Kai remained seated and the bus pulled away with his decision to see through his promise. There was no way Ji Won was ready to see him, the ungrateful genie she’d given life to in exchange for her grandfather’s.

***

Quarter to noon, Kai arrived at the café where he was to meet his friends. He was the first to arrive and decided to place his order while he waited to meet the guys he knew as Kim Young Do and Noh Se Chan.

Latte, Frappuccino, cappuccino, macchiato, he knew exactly how each was made, and he knew which ones Kim Jong In liked and disliked, but did that dictate what he, Kai, liked and disliked? He decided to test his theory out, ordering two different drinks, one he hated and one he loved.

With his two cups of caffeine in hand, Kai took a seat at an empty table and took a sip first from Jong In’s favorite – caramel macchiato. He didn’t care for it. It was heavy with all the milk and too sweet for his taste buds. He then took a sip of something Jong In disliked greatly – iced Americano. This drink he found cool and refreshing with a nice bitter touch. It turned out that the mold of Kim Jong In the wish had created wasn’t so rigid. The people around him may have been hypnotized into accepting him, but he was still his own person with his own thoughts and the ability to make his own choices.

“Hey, Jong In!”

It was Young Do, a tall boy with a lean figure and a long face, who had called his name. He and Se Chan were stepping into the establishment. Kai raised a hand in acknowledgement as they approached and took seats opposite him.

“Are you drinking an Americano?” Se Chan, a short fellow with large, black-rimmed glasses and dimples, asked. He eyed the drink in Kai’s hand curiously. “But you hate bitter drinks.” Se Chan was the type to remember details like this.

Young Do grabbed the macchiato Kai had put aside and took a sip from it. “You don’t mind if I have this, right?” He took another sip without waiting for answer.

Kai tipped a brow. Young Do’s manners always arrived a step too late, and more as a technicality than out of consideration.

Se Chan stood up and said, “Well I guess I’ll go get my drink then.”

“Get me a blueberry muffin while you’re at it,” Young Do shouted to him. He sent Kai a knowing smile. “I bet we can get him to cover for the snacks at the movies later. Se Chan would wipe our asses if it meant he can be one of us.”

As Young Do spoke, Kai saw the scenes of his school days pertaining to his friends. He and Young Do had been the two most popular boys in their school. They’d ruled the campus together, taking advantage of fellow students who wanted to be in their good graces, like Se Chan, who was the smartest in their class and had many a time let both Jong In and Young Do copy off his homework when they’d come to class unprepared.

Kai frowned. He did not like the person the talisman had made him out to be. “Let’s give the guy a break,” he said to Young Do with a threatening undertone.

Young Do returned his frown. “What’s up with you? Getting your in a wad over that Noh Ye Chan.”

The sad part was that it was he, or rather Jong In, who had supposedly come up with that nickname for Se Chan. Kai had to wonder if some algorithm had been employed to translate the person he’d been as a genie into the person he’d been as a human. He never thought himself arrogant or manipulative, but there were so few instances where he’d held possession of the talisman that he never had the chance to find out who he was as a person. Looking back on his short time with Ji Won, he wasn’t innocent of thinking himself better than her before he’d gotten to truly know her, or attempting to trick her into using her three wishes as soon as possible. His clever naming of Jung Gi Cheol seemed to have converted over perfectly intact.

Speaking of the crooked bastard, Gi Cheol entered the café with a girl on his arm who wasn’t the one he’d been with three days ago. Was this the other girl he’d been cheating on?

Young Do swiped a hand in front of him. “Hey, what are you staring at?” he gruffly asked. He followed Kai’s gaze to Gi Cheol who stood in line a few spaces behind Se Chan. “Who’s he?”

“A fraud,” Kai cryptically answered.

“Huh?”

“He’s two-timing that girl he’s with. I saw him with a different girl on Saturday at another café.”

Young Do turned back to Gi Cheol with a grin of respect. “I’d like to be friends with that guy. Find out how he does it.”

Kai couldn’t take it any longer. He was stuck as Kim Jong In, but he didn’t have to keep his attitude or his friends. “You know what,” he said, standing up, “I think you two would make a great pair, much better than you and me ever were or will be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” an offended Young Do retorted.

“It means I’m through being the dynamic duo with you.” Kai took his drink and made his way to the middle of the line where Se Chan waited.

“Hey, is everything okay?” the short boy worriedly asked.

“Better than okay,” Kai replied with a smile. “Sorry to do this Se Chan, but I don’t think I can do the movie today.”

“Oh, okay,” he answered, not hiding his disappointment.

“But I can take a rain check, right? You can call me when you want to reschedule. And to make up for it, I’ll buy the snacks.”

“Really?” Realizing the overexcitement in his voice, Se Chan cleared his throat and coolly said, “I-I mean, yeah, sure.”

As Kai strolled down the line towards the exit, he made sure to bump into Gi Cheol and spill his remaining Americano onto the unsuspecting boy’s white jacket. His girlfriend let out a small shriek and backed away while it dripped down his jeans so that it left a dark spot around his crotch area.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Kai said with exaggerated remorse.

“Do you have any idea how much this jacket cost?!” Gi Cheol seethed, stripping it off before any more of the dark brown liquid could stain his jeans.

“Hold on, you look familiar,” Kai said, feigning sudden recognition. “Weren’t you at the Megabox Theaters on Saturday?”

Gi Cheol paled and sent a furtive glance at his girlfriend. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else.”

“Yeah,” his girlfriend piped up. “My boyfriend was working that day. There was no way it was him.”

So this was “Weekend Girl” then, the one he’d been talking to on the phone in the theater hallway and blown off that day. “No, I’m sure it was you,” Kai said with an amicable smile. “I’m very good at remembering faces. You were there to see The Technicians, right? Funny thing is, I saw you again after the movie at the café across the street and you were with –” he turned to his girlfriend and his smile slipped, “oh…not this girl.”

She frowned while Gi Cheol’s eyes were wide and a sheen of sweat graced his forehead.

“Hm, I guess that girl was your sister then?” Kai innocently deduced.

“Weekend Girl” turned to Gi Cheol with a glare. “He doesn’t have a sister,” she said through clenched teeth.

Kai hid a small smile and pulled out his wallet. “Well, sorry again for ruining your clothes. Here, this should cover the dry cleaning.” He held a twenty-dollar bill out to Gi Cheol, who hadn’t noticed because he was now facing the wrath of his girlfriend. It was a loud, animated scene that attracted every customer’s attention.

Kai furtively slipped the bill into Gi Cheol’s jacket pocket and left the store with a smirk. Justice for Ji Won had been served, though it would have been better if she could have been there to see Gi Cheol getting embarrassed and chewed out in public.

Thoughts of Ji Won had Kai staring at the bus schedule posted by the nearest stop again. The 114 was on its way in the next three minutes. He could hop on it and make it to her place within twenty minutes to recount the story of Gi Cheol. Would that put a smile on her face? Possibly even make her laugh?

No, given Ji Won’s current situation, Gi Cheol was probably the last person she wanted to hear about. Or maybe the more accurate sentiment was that he, Kai, was the last person she wanted to hear from.

“I just have to give her time,” he assured himself. Time for her to recuperate. Time for whatever ill feelings she held towards him to simmer down. Time during which he would work on settling into his new life not as Kim Jong In, but as Kai. 

~//~

Author's Note