October 30^th 2017

“Halloween. The perfect time to sit at home and watch movies because everything is horror. There are no cheesy, stupid, romantic comedies on.” Jang Mi muttered to herself as she flicked through the channels, looking for something to watch. She opened another bag of snacks and munched on them absentmindedly until she finally found a movie scary enough to watch. She had just gotten comfortable when her phone started ringing. She groaned before glancing at the screen, her best friend’s face flashing up on the screen. “Hey, Hoseok.” She said as she turned down the volume on the TV. “Jeon Jang Mi! Are you sitting at home watching TV and eating junk food again?” Hoseok said, his voice sounding a little exasperated. She looked around her apartment, half expecting to see him hiding somewhere, it wouldn’t have been the first time. “Maybe.” She mumbled back childishly as she settled back on the couch, her eyes still scanning the room.

She could practically hear him roll his eyes through the line. “Yah, we agreed; no more moping!” he reminded her. She slumped down a little further on the couch, “I know, I know.” She replied. She heard him sigh. “Never mind, I have the perfect plan to get you out of this slump! Jimin is throwing a massive Halloween party tomorrow night!” he said, his usual enthusiasm creeping back into his voice. “I don’t know, Hoseok.” She said, picking at a loose thread in her sweatpants. “I’m not taking no as an answer! I’ll be in a taxi outside of your house at seven pm! You better be ready!” he threatened playfully. She groaned loudly “I don’t even have a costume!” she whined. Hoseok chuckled down the line at her. “It’s not even noon yet. You have more than twenty four hours! Mission ‘Find a costume’ starts now! Unless you want me to get you something?” he offered.

She bolted upright, “No thanks! I still haven’t recovered from letting you pick my costume three years ago!” she said, the memories of that embarrassing night running through her head. Hoseok chuckled loudly. “Come on. It wasn’t that bad.” He said. She glared at her phone, “Hoseok, you made me go to that stupid party as a bunch of grapes and people kept on bursting all the balloons you stuck to me! By the end of the night I was practically because all I could wear underneath those stupid balloons was a pair of green tights and a t-shirt! I was freezing, and almost !” Hoseok's laughter increased in volume through the line. “So that’s a no then?” he asked cheekily.

She rolled her eyes, a laugh making its way out of . “Yeah, that’s a no.” Hoseok's tone softened. “It’s good to hear you laugh. It feels like you haven’t laughed in forever.” He said quietly. She frowned at the phone, guilt washing over her, knowing just how much he had been worried about her since her breakup with her boyfriend, Do-Jung. “Sorry. It’s just been kinda hard, you know?” she said. “I know.” He replied softly. “But you’ll be fine. I always knew you were too good for him.” He said, making another laugh make its way out . “You're starting to sound like a girlfriend.” She said with a laugh. “Girl! Don’t even get me started!” he said, making his voice higher pitched. She burst out into genuine laughter, if there was anyone that could put a smile on her face, it was Hoseok.

“Right. I need to go shower and attempt to find a costume shop.” She said as she stood up, brushing the crumbs off of her clothes. “That’s my girl. Remember, seven pm!” he reminded her. “See you then.” She hung up and looked around at her messy living room. “First things first. I need to get this place back into order.” She shut off the TV and some music instead, picking loud dance music that would help keep her motivated. She cleared away all of the empty sweet wrappers, instant noodle bowls, and bottles that littered her coffee table, filling two garbage bags and leaving them by the door so that she could put them outside later.

She spent some time rearranging the remaining photographs and ornaments on her shelves. Up until two weeks ago, there had been several photos of her and her boyfriend dotted around her apartment, but after she found him in her bed with another woman, she had quickly thrown all of the photographs out, along with any of his possessions that he had been unlucky enough to leave behind. Once her apartment was straightened out, and every last possession of his sitting in garbage bags by the door, she felt brighter than she had since they had broken up.

She had a quick shower and got ready to go find a costume shop. She searched for the closest one on her phone and set off, making sure to throw out the rubbish bags that contained the evidence of her moping and the last of his clothing that she hadn’t thrown out. She had a spring in her step for the first time in two weeks. She knew that she still wasn’t completely over him. A year’s worth of emotions couldn’t be forgotten overnight, at least, not for her.

She followed the directions to the costume shop, stopping outside when she saw the sign. “Oh my god.” She whispered to herself as she hurried by the shop, glaring at the store. “I can’t believe it guided me to an adult fancy dress store.” She mumbled as she quickly searched online for another store. She tried two more stores, one of them only selling children's costumes and the other not having anything that caught her interest. There was only one store left on her list. She kept her phone in her hand as the map app guided her through a maze of little side streets.

“I swear if I don’t find this shop in the next ten minutes I’m literally going to paint whiskers on my face and go to Jimin's party as a cat.” She whined after fifteen minutes of wandering around small, deserted streets. Just as she was about to give up, she spotted the tiny store at the end of the road. “Finally!” she said as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She stepped into the shop, a bell sounding faintly from the back. The shop was almost too hot, the smell of incense clinging to the air. She started browsing the items on display, many of them displayed in a glass cabinet. An old man hobbled out from the back of the store, hopping up onto a spindly looking stool before smiling warmly at her. “Welcome, welcome!” he greeted warmly. She smiled back. “Thank you.” She said as she looked through some of the clothes that were hanging from a rack near the door.

“Is there anything in particular you're looking for my dear?” he asked. She shook her head. “I’m looking for something for Halloween, but I don’t have anything in mind.” she said as she wandered over to the glass display case. “Well, I have many interesting and rare items here. Take your time and look around, I’ll give you a good price.” He said, giving her a cheeky wink which made her grin. He reminded her of a shopkeeper from a game she had played before.

As she looked at the items in the case, an old-fashioned pocket-watch caught her eye. The old man noticed her look and carefully took out the watch and handed it to her. “You have a good eye my dear! This is a very special item!” he said, his voice completely serious. “What makes it so special?” she asked as she admired the symbols that adorned the watch. “This watch has to ability to turn back time!” she let out a little snort, a smile on her face. “Really?” she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice. “I could be doing with that now.” She muttered to herself. “You’ve suffered heartache recently, am I right?” he asked. Her head snapped around to look at him, barely resisting the urge to let her jaw drop at his words. He gave her a sympathetic look.

“This is just the item for you my dear. But remember, changing time doesn’t always work out for the best. You have to be prepared to deal with the consequences.” He said, not giving her a chance to ask how he had figured out that she was heartbroken. “Now, if you want to go back in time, you need to do the following, be careful not to mess up or it won't work!” he said as he took the watch from her hand. “You have to open and close this latch twice, turn the top once clockwise, then backwards twice, then finally, press in the top and hold it in for exactly three seconds.”

She smiled, impressed with his sales pitch. “Ok, you got me, how much?” she said, hoping for a decent price. He wrote a number down on a piece of paper and showed it to her, the figure being much lower than she had expected. “Are you sure?” she asked. He nodded, “You were meant to find this watch today, my dear. It was fate that led you to my shop.” She gave him a strange look and nodded as she handed over her money. He took her money before slipping the watch into a small, velvet pouch and handing it to her. “Make sure you take good care of it and it and I wish you well.” He said as he gave her a warm smile. “Thanks.” She said as she headed out of the shop. She stood outside of the shop, letting the fresh, autumn air clear her head, the warm, incensed air from the shop making her head feel muggy, the shopkeeper’s words ringing in her ears.

“Whatever, it’s just a sales pitch.” She said as she stuffed the watch into her bag and started wandering back through the many side streets, pushing away all thoughts of time travel and weird shop keepers.