▬ Chapter 20: Confession ▬

The room was filled with laughter and upbeat music as genies and their new clients busily mingled with each other. It was another day for celebration and after two months of signing a contract with Woohyun, Minji has now experienced her welcoming into the Infinite family. Since it was also the mark of Dongwoo’s first month of the contract, he gladly became her for the night. Both of them were happily chatting by the bench with other clients from various places in Seoul when the Superior’s voice boomed across the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, genies and newly signed clients!” he animatedly announced, “All of you already know me as the Superior of the genies, Lee Sungyeol, when you were summoned here a few days before this event. It’s another day for celebration as we welcome more members into the Infinite family!” The crowd cheered. “We are all in the same place and even though we might not be connected in any other way except for your one-on-one client-genie contract, just know that we are a family, an Infinite family, so please make yourselves comfortable.”

Two men came onto the stage and stopped on opposite sides by the Superior. Each was holding a yellow basket with both hands and they stood expressionless. The crowd noticed that they looked alike with only their hair color and design being the distinguishing factor.

“As commemoration, Daeryong and Soryong will be handing out some genie goodies to our clients. You should have met either one of them when you were first summoned here so don’t be shy when they go to you. They may look unapproachable on the outside but they’re as sweet as pineapples on the inside.”

The twins both scoffed in unison, “You’re saying unnecessary things again.”

“See? What did I tell you? Shy pineapples~”

The crowd laughed at their antics and after a few moments, Sungyeol motioned to die down the noise with his hand.

“Feel free to stay for as long as you like and again, welcome, everyone!” Spreading his hands into the air, the room was suddenly raining confetti and the music resumed.

“Wow~”

“So pretty!”

“But not as pretty as you,” Dongwoo heard his genie comment to the lady beside him. She had on eyeglasses which had the infinity symbol engraved on each side which marked that she was a fellow client.

“Someone’s having fun,” he chuckled while whispering to Minji and she giggled as a response.

Without missing a beat, their new friend Anna who had earrings as her mysterious object inquired, “Hey, are you two going out? Both of you look cute together!”

With an awkward laugh, Dongwoo replied, “No, we’re just friends.”

“Aw, and here I was about to ship you two!” their other friend Hareum who had a silver infinity-styled headband squealed.

“Wait, I’ll be back! I saw new food being placed!” Anna energetically motioned to the three before she left.

“Hold on. My genie is waving me over,” Hareum signaled a wave to the lady across the room with the matching headband as acknowledgment.

Leaving the two alone for the time being, Minji looked around hoping to find her genie. The moment that she was teleported into the genie’s realm, Woohyun told her that he needed to report something to the Superior so he left her in the care of Dongwoo.

“Missing him already?”

Minji’s heart began to beat faster after hearing his comment.

She heard from Dongwoo how frantic Woohyun got the moment he realized that Niel took her hostage. He also embarrassingly confessed that although he didn’t want to go into the abandoned building because he’s not fond of scary things, Woohyun didn’t even think twice and was the first one to walk in. He was also more than ready to take on Niel the moment he saw what happened to her. Upon knowing this, Minji didn’t know what to feel or do anymore when she’s with Woohyun. She felt her heart beat three times faster than before after that incident.

“J-Just trying to see if I can find him.”

“He’s probably hiding somewhere, afraid that his fangirls might chase after him.”

Minji sighed. Yes, she still doesn’t know much about Woohyun except his popularity. Maybe she was waiting for him to tell her personally or maybe she was just afraid that she might feel more attached to him if she knew. “Oh, right.”

The man beside her laughed, “Don’t worry. As a man, I can guarantee that he only has eyes for the people he loves.”

Love?

“You love him, don’t you?”

Minji grew confused, “This isn’t love, though. It’s probably a new illness that hasn’t been diagnosed yet since I haven’t had my appointment with my doctor. Plus, relationships are forbidden, remember?”

Dumbstruck, Dongwoo stared at her for a moment and sighed.

Judging from her clueless expression, she really doesn’t know? He laughed to himself as he found her face endearing. This girl. She’s too adorable. That Nam Woohyun is lucky.

“Tell me then, what do you feel when you’re with him?”

She thought for a moment before clenching her fists on top of her lap. She bowed her head in embarrassment before she continued, “He makes me feel weird. My heart either stops or beats faster whenever he’s near me especially when he looks at me in the eyes. I somehow find it intimidating. If you call this love, then why don’t I feel this way with my parents, bodyguards, or Mr. Jang? I love all of them. The same goes for you and Sunggyu.”

Ouch. Rejected.

Another awkward laugh came from Dongwoo, “That is because you feel a different kind of love for him. You want to be with him every single minute. You feel a missing piece inside of you when he’s not around but when he is, it’s as if you feel like the world has stopped and it’s just you and him. The feeling of happiness overwhelms you when he looks at you in the eyes and your heart automatically beats as a signal. You might feel shy and nervous around him yet something feels comfortable when you talk to him. At least that’s what’s supposed to happen for the most part.”

She looked at Dongwoo and her eyes widened. He described what she felt perfectly and was surprised. She’s never felt this kind of love before and now she was left speechless. Is he a mind reader?

“How did you know?”

Dongwoo softly gazed at her, “Because that’s what I feel when I’m next to you.”

Before Minji could process what he said and respond, a hand appeared in front of her with a small gift-wrapped box.

“Your commemoration piece,” two voices said in unison.

Both of them looked up to see Daeryong standing in front of Minji and Soryong standing in