That night, she was presented with the most delicious meal she had ever eaten. Hobi and Jimin told her that Yoongi had prepared her dinner for her, which she found odd. “He obviously doesn’t even like me, why would he prepare all this food… oh my god. It’s poisoned isn’t it?” she said as the threw her spoon back onto the table, her eyes wide with panic. Hobi and Jimin held in their laughs. “Master Yoongi wouldn’t do that to you.” Hobi said confidently. “Grandmother Choi would kill him if he were to hurt you.” Jimin added as he picked up her spoon and handed it back to her.

She reluctantly took the spoon from him and started eating again. “Then why did he cook all this stuff?” she said indicating the table that was practically groaning under the weight of all the food. “It’s probably because he isn’t aware of your tastes yet. He probably made so many different dishes to find out what you like and dislike to eat.” Hobi said as he refilled her drink for her. “He could have just asked rather than going to all this trouble.” She mumbled as she continued eating until she had eaten her fill.

That night she lay in her new room, her backpack lying in the corner. She had been too full and tired after eating to bother unpacking. She thought over what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Part of her wanted to believe that it was all some kind of crazy dream. That she’d wake up tomorrow in her own bed, with no fox demons or shrine spirits around her. But a small part of her had already begun to accept that what was happening was real, and that her grandmother was not crazy. She rolled onto her side and exhaled loudly before finally succumbing to the call of sleep.

The next morning, she was woken up by the loud, synchronized voices of Jimin and Hobi wishing her a good morning. She looked at the time on her phone and groaned loudly, pulling her blanket over her head to block out the bright, morning sun. “What the hell you guys.” She whined. “It’s six am!”

“Time to get up!” Jimin said way too cheerfully for her taste as he pulled her blanket off her bed. “Come on sleepyhead. Master Yoongi is already waiting for you in the garden.” Hobi said as he placed a tray of food next to her bed. She sat up reluctantly, her eyes still half closed as she yawned loudly. “And why is his highness waiting for me at this time in the morning?” she asked as she grabbed the glass of orange juice from the tray. “For your training.” Jimin said as he threw open her window, letting the cool morning air enter her room, making her shiver in her short pyjamas.

“Training? Surely that can wait until a more decent hour?” she whined. Hobi and Jimin exchanged glances. “It’s probably better if you hurry. Master Yoongi gets particularly cranky in the morning.” Jimin said, his voice a whisper, as if afraid to be overheard.

“Who is cranky in the morning?”

Jimin and Hobi stiffened and turned to see a ruffled looking Yoongi in the doorway. “No one! No one is cranky Master Yoongi!” Hobi said as Jimin hid behind him. Yoongi sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yah, how long do you expect me to wait for you? Get your out of bed and in the garden in ten minutes or you’ll have to clean every floor in this shrine by hand.” Yoongi threatened as he wandered away from the doorway. Jimin and Hobi released synchronised sighs of relief.

They hurried Yubin out of bed and into the garden. She had just enough time to pull on a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a hoodie. Yoongi was waiting for her in the garden, wearing similar sweatpants and a too big t-shirt. “Ok. So first, we have to start with the basics, since it seems that you know nothing about your abilities.” He sat down on the grass, indicating her to do the same. “Every living thing in this world and the demon world have a certain level of spiritual energy.”

“There’s a demon world?” Yubin asked, interrupting him. Yoongi glowered at her and she gave him an apologetic look. He cleared his throat before continuing. “For most people, their level of spiritual energy is quite low, so even if they were aware of it, they wouldn’t be able to manipulate it. However, there are people, like you, who have a much higher level of spiritual power. It gives you certain abilities, for example being able to see the spirits of the shrine.”

“You mean that if some random person came to this shrine they wouldn’t be able to see Hobi and Jimin?” she asked, looking over at the two boys who were currently hanging up the laundry behind Yoongi. He nodded, “Exactly. Only someone with a high level of spiritual energy can see or hear them. For a lot of people, high spiritual power is heredity, just like with you. Each woman in your family always gives birth to a girl, passing on their spiritual energy to their child. They still retain a certain level of that power, but it is always passed on to their child.”

Yubin nodded, for some reason she found Yoongi’s words fascinating. Her grandmother had tried to tell her similar stories when she had moved in with her, but she had never taken her seriously, something which she now felt immensely guilty about. “Do only girls get this heightened spiritual power?” she asked. Yoongi shook his head, “No, men can also have high spiritual power. It’s just the case with your family that it’s only the females. There are plenty of priests out there with amazing spiritual power.”

“So apart from being able to see the shrine spirits and throw herb baskets, what else should I be able to do?” she asked. Yoongi was pleased to see that she was finally gaining some interest, although he would never admit it. “There are many things you will be able to do, but first you will need to learn how to access your spiritual power. If you try to use it without being able to control it, you could end up hurting yourself or the people around you.”

She nodded, a determined look on her face. “Ok, then how do I learn to control it?” she asked, a note of excitement slipping into her voice. “Meditation.” Yoongi said as he readjusted his position. Her smile faltered a little. “Meditation? You mean sitting crossed legged with my eyes closed and humming?” Yoongi shook his head. “There's much more to it than that. I told you yesterday that your powers are linked to your emotions. The stronger you feel; the more power you will be able to harness. You need to learn how to control your emotions, and to learn how to access the power hidden within you.”

“This doesn’t sound like as much fun as I thought it would.” She mumbled. “I never said your training would be fun. Now sit up straight.” He said, indicating her to copy his pose. “Now close your eyes. Take deep breaths in and out.” He instructed. “Clear your mind. All you should be focusing on is your breathing. Focus on how the air feels as it fills you up then slowly leaves.” She followed his words, feeling completely ridiculous. After a couple of minutes of breathing, her mind began to wander to other things and as if he sensed it, he rapped her knuckles with a small stick that he had apparently pulled out of nowhere.

She cursed at him, her eyes flying open as she rubbed her hand. “What the hell?!” she shouted. “You were losing focus. Concentrate.” He said sternly. She rubbed her hand for a few more seconds before closing her eyes once more, trying to even out her breaths. “Slowly. You’re breathing too quickly.” Her hands clenched into fists as she bit back a retort. “Deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” He instructed. She heard him move and she instinctively tensed, half expecting him to hit her again. “Relax.” He said, his voice now sounding from behind her.

She slowly relaxed her shoulders, her breathing finally the way Yoongi had instructed. She felt his hands on her sides, adjusting her posture. Her breathing quickened at the feeling of his warm hands on her waist. “Concentrate on your breathing.” He commanded. She screwed her eyes shut as she tried to even out her breathing, but having him so close that she could feel his breath ghosting over her skin was proving to be quite distracting. “Breathing.” He said, his voice right by her ear. She flinched away from him and she heard him exhale loudly.

“Honestly, how hard is it to simply control your breathing?” he muttered. She turned around to yell something but was shocked when his face was only inches away from hers. Her words died in as she noticed how gorgeous he looked with the early morning sun shining from behind him, making his black hair and ears practically glow. She turned away from him and cleared , “Shut up. I’ve never done this before.” She mumbled. Yoongi exhaled loudly again and continued correcting her posture.

She tried her hardest to keep her breaths even but the image of Yoongi’s face was burned on the inside of her eyelids.  After another hour of having her knuckles constantly abused by Yoongi’s stick, her nerves were beginning to fray. It was getting harder and harder for her to concentrate. It didn’t help that Yoongi was not patient at all. “All I’m asking you to do is sit straight and breath, a toddler could do this better than you.” He said angrily as he sat in front of her. She huffed and straightened out her stiff legs. “If you'd stop yelling at me I wouldn’t be finding it so hard!”

“Don’t blame me because you are unable to concentrate. Humans today, they have no attention spans. They’ve all been spoiled by TV and smart phones.” He grumbled. Yubin felt her anger grow at Yoongi’s words. “Look! I didn’t ask for this. Any of this! A week ago I was living a perfectly normal life! But now I’m here, away from all my friends, in the middle of nowhere being told that I have to learn how to meditate and control my spiritual energy, which I didn’t even believe was real until yesterday I might add. And you’re getting pissed at me because I’m not perfect straight away?” she yelled. Yoongi gave her a deadpan look which only made her angrier.

“This is ridiculous.” She said as she tried to stand, her legs still stiff from having them crossed for so long. “Where do you think you're going? We’ve barely even started with your training.” Yoongi said as he rose to his feet. “I need a break!” she yelled. Yoongi crossed his arms over his chest, “You’re never going to get anywhere with that attitude.” Yubin turned to him, ready to give him a piece of her mind when the same herb basket from yesterday appeared out of nowhere and smacked Yoongi squarely in the face.

Yoongi let out a yelp of surprise while Yubin snorted with laughter. “Serves you right!” she yelled as she stormed off. Yoongi threw the basket to the ground as he watched Yubin disappear back into the shrine. Hobi and Jimin appeared by his side. “You shouldn’t be so mean to her Master Yoongi.” Hobi said as he began picking up the herbs that now littered the ground. “She is dealing with a big change and a lot of new information.” Jimin said as he bent down to help Hobi. “I know.” Yoongi muttered as he looked back up at the shrine, a small feeling of guilt settling in his stomach