Donghae walked Jieun to the Majae cafe where he said Sulli would be waiting for her. She thanked him for the lessons  before they reached the cottage-like place.

            “this is the Majae cafe. You may not have been in here before but this is where the other majae likes to gather during their free time. You can also get your meals here.” He said.

The place looks like a simple café designed to look like a cottage or a cabin. It looks homey and cozy with a porch painted white and wooden benches. Jieun was surprised it wasn’t full of feminine things as most of the patrons are females.

            “does the magi come in here too?” Jieun asked out of curiosity.

            “they do, sometimes, but some doesn’t like the estrogen levels in the place.” Donghae laughed. Jieun could imagine. “that’s where the magi hang, the Mage bar.”

Jieun looked at the direction Donghae was pointing and saw another building slightly similar to the Majae café. The only difference is it’s obviously occupied by men because of the polished mahogany that’s used to build it. There were no benches outside and there was no porch, it looked more like a tavern from way back in Texas.

            “do you guys also like hanging around there?”

            “we do, I bet it’s packed now. some of the guys just got back from missions and I bet they’re hungry.” He chuckled.

            “I forgot to ask you earlier, can you still eat…you know, normal food?”

            “we can, but we can’t taste it. it’s like eating a rubbery paper, not really disgusting but it’s also not very good. We have to take it though when we try to look normal on missions.” Donghae explained.

            “Jieun-ah!” Sulli’s voice rang out. Jieun turned as Sulli hopped off the porch and jogged towards them.

            “annyeonghaseyo, Donghae oppa.” She smiled happily and ruffled Sulli’s hair.

            “hi, kiddo. Anyway, I’ll leave you to Sulli, Jieun-ah. Bye.” He waved and started walking towards the Mage bar.

            “bye, oppa, and thanks again for tonight.” Jieun called after Donghae who just waved again.

            “let’s get inside? I want you to meet my friends!” Sulli grinned excitedly.

The both of us walked inside and just as Jieun expected the interior looked like a coffee shop, only a coffee shop that’s also a restaurant or a very classy foodcourt. It definitely looked much bigger than how it seems from the outside.

Jieun saw the majae council sitting at the tables at the end of the room. The one she remembered named Jia saw her and she waved. Jieun waved back. Jieun then felt being pulled to the opposite direction to a group of 3 girls dining by the window.

            “hi girls, look who I brought with me.” Sulli called and pushed Jieun to sit on one of the chairs.

            “hi Jieun.” The one with long hair and white complexion said, her rosy cheeks stood out when she smiled.

Jieun stared at her. She looked really familiar.

            “have we met before?” Jieun asked. then she saw another girl with chin-length hair and chubby cheeks grinning at her. Jieun gaped; she also looked familiar.

            “not exactly but we do have the same classes.” The one with the rosy cheeks said. “I’m Suzy.”

            “and I’m Min.” the one with the short hair said. Both reached out a hand and Jieun shook it.

            “and this is Krystal.” Sulli motioned at the girl with wavy brown hair; she looked like an ice princess.

            “uhmmm…nice to meet you?” Jieun wasn’t scared or anything she just felt uncomfortable by her stare. To her surprise though, Krystal smiled.

            “hi, nice to meet you too.” She said as she shook Jieun’s hand. The latter smiled in relief.

            “are all of you maja already?” Jieun asked.

            “yes, we turned about  two months ago.” Suzy gestured to herself and Krystal Min already did last year.”

            “I guess you were sent to my school to ‘guard’ me too?” Jieun did air quotes and both girls giggled.

            “yes and no.” Min said. “we haven’t had anything to do before we turned so we volunteered to study in the same school as you so we can guard and at the same time study too.”

            “ahh…so will you stop now that you’ve changed?” Jieun asked both girls.

            “I guess we have to, this training isn’t easy.” Suzy sighed. “how about you?”

            “I plan to just take a leave and finish it after training is over. I asked Donghae oppa about it and he said the council would probably let me.”

            “sounds like a good idea.” Krystal smiled. And continued, “so you’re the girl Xiumin oppa’s been guarding.”

            “huh?” Jieun looked at her quizzically. The name rang some sort of bell but she couldn’t remember where she heard it.

            “he’s one of you guards, remember?” Sulli reminded her and that’s when it clicked.

            “oh yeah, the one who looked like he had buns for cheeks.” She smiled. The girls laughed.

            “yeah him.” Krystal said.

            “why, Krys? Still got a crush on Xiumin oppa?” Suzy teased.

            “no!” Krystal shouted defensively. “I am so over him.” She stuck her tongue out to Suzy who just laughed at her.

Sulli accompanied Jieun to the food table, which she got to admit, made her drool. Various arrays of food fit for an army spread over the long table. Steaks, chicken wings, mushroom soup, potpies, sushi everything! And it took Jieun a great deal of self-control not to go over the dessert table and take every sweet delight on it.

She finally settled on a slice of pizza, a couple of chicken legs, mashed potato and a tall glass of chocolate shake.

            “someone’s hungry.” Min commented grinning at her as she put her plate down.

            “I didn’t get to eat much the other night. I might as well pack on a bit of weight if I am to train hard.” Jieun grinned back picking the pizza and took a bite. It tasted heavenly.

            “I know what you mean, I haven’t really gotten a proper sleep ever since I started training.” Krystal said propping her head on her palms.

            “as if you don’t like it. you keep waiting to see if Xiumin oppa will come and help you guys.” Suzy teased. Krystal balked.

            “whatever Suzy, what about you and Sehun then?”

            “there’s nothing going on with them, Krys.” Sulli defended. “he’s like Minho oppa, a hyung .”

            “a hyung only for Luhan oppa.” Suzy laughed and took a sip of her soda.

            “you mean Sehun’s that trainee who Luhan helped the other night?” Jieun asked Sulli. She nodded.

            “you met Luhan oppa?” Suzy asked. Min looked up from her plate of apple pie.

            “not really. But he did help me when I got into trouble last month. He’s nice, not like that YiFan guy.” Jieun said grudgingly. She wasn’t sure but the way YiFan just nodded and left the other night didn’t seem to be too friendly to her.

The girls giggled at her remark.

            “if you DID meet him while they protected you then obviously he wouldn’t be friendly.” Min said still giggling. Jieun saw the girls exchange knowing glances.

            “you see, YiFan oppa is one of the best junior leaders among all of the magi here, I think there are only 3, Suho, Onew and him-“ Min said but Sulli cut her off.

            “no, there are five. You forgot about Yonghwa and Jonghoon oppa.”

            “oh yeah them, sorry, Sul.” Min apologized. Krystal shook her head and took a bite of her cake.

            “anyway, we’ve only heard about this from the other mage trainees but they say when he’s on a mission he sets his mind on that mission, no distractions, no diversions etc. but he takes a 360 degree turn when he’s with his friends or just hanging around.” Sulli said.

            “what do you mean?” Jieun looked at her confused and when she looked down she realized she had already cleaned her plate.

            “well, he’s ermmm… oh!” Suzy made a jumping motion in her seat. “he’s like THAT!” she said pointing out the window.

All five girls stared out as they saw six boys walking towards the Mage bar; all of the boys were laughing, playfully pushing each other and messing around; the typical teenage play.

Then Jieun saw a familiar tall figure grabbing the head of another tall brown haired guy wearing a white sweater and trapped him in a headlock.

            “he laughs?” Jieun asked in shock as YiFan laughed along with his friends, Jieun can see the black haired, Tao and baby-faced, Luhan. The other 3 though she didn’t know.

            “of course he does. He may look like a grouch but he’s nice. He takes care of his dongsaengs pretty well although a bit stricter that Suho oppa.” Suzy smiled at Jieun. “his friends call him Kris when he’s like that.”

Jieun raised an eyebrow.

            “why Kris?”

            “not really sure but I think that was his name during a mission in Canada, he spied for this huge company doing illegal arms trade and well it kinda stuck.” Sulli said. “at least that’s what my brother told me. His teammate, Jonghyun oppa was on that mission. It was so long ago I think I was only one then.” She laughed.

Jieun choked.

            “what do you mean you were only one then?” she coughed.  “you mean YiFan’s-?” she paused. “if you were just one on their first mission-“

she did some math in her head. Magi reach of age at twenty-three. Now Sulli is twenty, so that means.

            “are you ok, Jieun?” Krystal asked with more of curiosity than concern.

            “you mean, YiFan’s already 42?!” she said shocked. None of the girls looked surprised.

            “well, my brother is 39.” Sulli said calmly and shrugged. Jieun’s jaw dropped if possible, even further.

She saw Sulli’s brother Taemin and he doesn’t look 39 at all.

            “oh don’t be so surprised, girl. We stop aging at 25, it’s only normal.” Min said like Jieun’s the one who’s abnormal for thinking looking 25 when you’re actually 42 is weird.

            “I think that part needs some getting used to.” Jieun shook her head as if to get herself together.

Jieun stood a few minutes later to get a plate of lasagna with Min who wanted more pie.

            “hey, Jieun, Min and I were thinking why do you let those girls bully you in class?” Suzy asked in a low voice.

Jieun snapped her eyes up and met Suzy’s. Sulli and the others were staring at her as well.           

            “you were bullied?” Krystal’s angry voice echoed. Jieun nodded.

            “because of this.” Jieun lifted the hair that covered the left side of her face to reveal the scar that her adoptive mother caused.

Krystal’s eyes widened. Obviously, Suzy, Min and Sulli already knew. Sulli was there when I was unconscious so she’d probably have seen it, Suzy and Min were in the same class so naturally they’d know the reason why people bully her.

            “it’s not really an issue of letting them, it’s just my way of ignoring them.”

            “ignoring them? Jieun, they throw insults at you, and that’s not what else they throw.” Min said in frustration. Min and Suzy had wanted to go to her defense but they were ordered not to interact with her as she’d find out about them soon, Jieun might not take too kindly that she’d been deceived by the people she would’ve considered friends.

            “I see no reason why I should fight back.” She sighed.

            “Jieun, no matter the reason you shouldn’t let anyone make you feel bad. That’s the reason why there are so many bad people out there because they think they can bully the weak and it makes them feel powerful over them.” Krystal said trying to not sound nagging.

            “Krystal’s right. And it’s our job to protect the weak.” Jieun looked up at Sulli, then at her other new friends.

She never really had anyone to tell her that, LeeWon and Nayoung had no idea of what went on at school but they do know about the harassment she got from some of the customers at the bar.

She knew she shouldn’t be a weakling especially now that she finally found out who she really is and she will make her parents proud.

It was about 2 in the morning when they all went out of the Majae café. The others went to their training and Jieun decided to walk around a bit. It’ll be Monday in the morning and she wanted to go and file a leave of absence; well, if they permit about 5 years of absence that is.

The chilly autumn air blew past and the cold made her shiver. She remembered what SaeMi taught her so she closed her eyes and visualized a cream sweater. She felt the same tingling effect and when she opened her eyes, she smiled. She did it.

She started walking through a thin forest, it wasn’t really scary and as Donghae told her as long as she stick to the forests surrounding the palace and grounds she’d be safe. It was dark and she could now barely see where she was going. She tried to conjure a flashlight but she didn’t do it well. The only thing she managed to get was a faint light from the palm of her hand. She sighed and decided it will do for now.

She felt a stronger breeze now and she went against it knowing she find a clearing from where the breeze came from, maybe a lake or a cliff or a meadow. But as soon as she saw the edge, she realized it was a cliff. She excitedly walked towards it but a faint sound of a snapping twig made her do a double take. She wasn’t alone.

She looked around and squinted in the darkness. The light from her hands could only reach about 2 feet.

Then she heard a menacing growl from behind her and she spun to see what it was. She hurried backwards and fell as she saw what had made the noise. A huge black wolf stood there, staring at her with its teeth barred. It slowly stalked towards her, it may not look oversized but this wolf is definitely bigger that those timber wolves.

Jieun scrambled backwards trying to get back on her feet but she failed. Her heart pounded like it never did before she thought this wolf shouldn’t even be stalking her. Dongahe said no being would hurt her if she stayed within the boundaries. Was she out of bounds the? Impossible since this was only a few meters from the grounds.

            “Stop that, Tao.” The familiar low commanding voice echoed from somewhere in the forest.

Jieun looked around to see where the voice came from but again she saw no one. The black wolf in front of her stopped growling at once and sat on its hind legs. It wagged its tail and its tongue lolled to the side. The scary wolf now gone and in its place was a wolf that acted like a puppy.

Jieun stared then the wolf made a huffing sound that if it was human it would be laughing. Then the wolf changed. Its back hunched and it legs grew; its hair shrank then a few seconds later Tao appeared in its place pounding his fists on the ground laughing hard.

            “you should’ve seen…the look on your face!” he choked slightly from laughing. Jieun’s brows furrowed in irritation, Tao had scared her twice already.

            “yah! Why do you keep doing that?!” she yelled.

            “coz I want to?” he grinned his fangs showing. A part of Jieun told her that those fangs are his natural teeth; she saw the other magi and they don’t have fangs on them.

            “get out of here, Tao.” The voice from earlier said again. Jieun looked up realizing it’s coming from somewhere above them.

            “fine. You and Baekhyun always ruin my fun.” Tao pouted before he jumped on the nearest tree landing on its thick branch. Then his eyes darted to the direction of the cliff. “some brother you are.” He stuck his tongue out childishly and left. He was so fast then he was almost a blur.

Jieun walked towards the opening again then as soon as she reached the edge her breath got stuck in . The view of Mt. Shia was just dazzling. The trees, the lake below the moon that reflected the water; it was just perfect.

            “enjoying the view?” Jieun jumped at the voice and her head snapped up.

The moonlight shone upon the face of a man sitting comfortably on a branch, one of his legs was dangling. The light made his already milky skin even paler that he now looks like a ghost. The sharp features of his face finally made Jieun figure out who this person was.

            “YiFan?” she said. A ghost of a grin appeared on his face.

            “I see you remembered.”

            “it wasn’t really hard. Who could forget?” she replied flatly looking away from him. Jieun leaned on the nearest tree and sank on its roots.

Awkward silence filled the air.

            “I apologize for my brother’s behavior ealier.” YiFan said finally breaking the silence.

            “Tao’s really your brother?” she said sounding shocked. She thought it was just a brotherhood thing when Tao called him that.

            “yes, he likes to play around a lot, but he’s harmless.” He turned to Jieun and grinned again. She looked away nodding when she felt herself blushing.

            “by the way, I never got to say thank you…after what happened. Thank you, YiFan.”

There was a slight pause before YiFan answered.

            “You’re welcome.”

Silence again.

            “how long have you been guarding me?” Jieun broke the silence this time.

            “about 4 months.”

            “I bet it was boring.” She said but heard a bitter chuckle.

            “hardly, you always seem to get yourself into trouble a lot.”

            “What do you mean?” Jieun looked up but YiFan wasn’t looking at her.

            “do you know how many guys we had to beat up just so they couldn’t touch you on your way home?” his question was simple albeit rhetorical but there wasn’t any bitterness there.

            “wasn’t there only 3?”

            “no, there were a lot more. Those 3 were just smart only entering the alley after they heard you. We weren’t expecting it.” now the slight annoyance in his voice was there.

            “so you’re saying you blame what happened to me coz I wasn’t too careful on my route home?” Jieun’s voice rose slightly.

            “who would think of blaming you?” there was something off about his tone. He was curious and shocked. But Jieun thought he was being sarcastic.

            “ok, I know I am stupid using that route home but it was the closest to my place and that way I can avoid the crowded street which you must know are full of even more jackasses!” she said angrily as she stood up. “you have no right to judge me!”

YiFan stared at her.

            “no one’s judging you, Jieun-ah.” He said in a calm voice. Jieun felt a cold shiver run through her spine as he said her name. she was speechless.

YiFan jumped off from the branch and looked straight at her.

            “can I ask you something?” he said looking curious.

            “what is it?”

            “why do you hide your scar? Do you hide it coz you’re ashamed of it or do feel conscious by other people’s stares?” she furrowed her brows at his question as she misunderstood his intention again.

            “look, just because you followed me around for four months doesn’t mean you already know me coz you obviously don’t. I am thankful that you saved me but that doesn’t warrant you—“ she got cut off as YiFan gave a chuckle which irritated her even more.

            “isn’t that the point of my asking questions now? To get to know you better? To understand you?” he said. Jieun stared.

Smart , she thought

            “look we’re going to see each other for a long time so might as well not create tension.” He said reaching a hand towards her. “friends?”

Jieun looked at his hands dubiously. Then she remembered what her friends told her earlier, that YiFan’s nice and friendly.

She reached out her hand and shook his hand. As she shook she noticed how his hand almost engulfed her tiny one. She just sighed.

            “friends.” She smiled.

They both stood there for a while and just stared at the view.

            “by the way,” he said breaking the silence. “about your scar. You need not hide it.”

            “why?” Jieun asked as her hand flew to her scar. YiFan turned to her with a grin.

            “I think it’s bad .”