For Cassiopeia97 + daniseu

Fern 

Hayoung was a good girl and she knew it. She went home directly after school, she rarely went out on the weekends and she always obeyed what her parents said. It was not like she planned to be this way, she just was. However, she was getting fed up, and in her last year of high school, she finally had her rebellious streak kick in, sort of. She only did what she knew she wouldn't get in trouble. For instance, she was planning to go out on Friday night without her parents’ permission. She was going to Myungdong. She was going to spend some money and she was going to eat as many servings of ddukbokki as she wanted. She had everything planned out. She would pretend to go to bed. By 8pm her parents would already be in their room and ready to sleep because they had an early appointment every Saturday to go to the markets. She would leave at 8.30pm and then take the bus to Myungdong and then when she got there she would do anything she wanted. She was already feeling excited with the mere thought of going out.

When Friday night came and she got to Myungdong she had this inexplicable feeling within her. She was free and she felt like she could breathe. She wasn't thinking about doing her chores or finishing off her homework, she was just free. She wandered around and marvelled at the night stalls and soon spotted what she was after: a food stall. She sat down on one of the stools and ordered two servings of ddukbokki. She scoffed them down as quickly as possible then ordered two more servings. When she had checked her watch it was only 9.45 and so she got up and went around to the other stalls and bought some socks and other little accessories. As she was going to the bus stop to go home, she came across one of the street performers; a magician.

The first thing she noticed was that he was very good at what he did and her eyes were currently focused on the card trick that he was doing. She watched as he correctly picked out the card that a little boy had initially chosen and watched as the boy jumped up and down, clapping his hands with joy. She went up to him, and he turned his wand into a flower, which she identified as a fern, and then he presented it to her. She gladly accepted and as she looked up to thank him, the only magic that she felt was at the pit of her stomach. The magician was actually a young man, with blonde hair tossed to the side under his top hat; he had a Cheshire grin that was plastered on his face and twinkling eyes. Hayoung was no longer mesmerized by the magic tricks, but she was mesmerized by the magician himself.

When she looked down at the flower in her hand, her eye caught a glimpse at her watch. It was now 11pm and she needed to get home. She quickly bowed to the magician and then caught the first bus home. She snuck back in at quarter to 12, got dressed into her sleepwear and hopped into bed. She picked up the fern that the magician gave her and stared at it, letting the light from the moon illuminate it. She fell asleep with the flower against her chest and a smile on her face, dreaming of the mysterious guy whose eyes she couldn’t forget.

After that night, Hayoung’s late night sneak outs became more frequent. She would have the front row seat, and even if there were other people around, she thought that he only looked at her. After the fifth visit, he wasn’t in his usual spot. Thinking that he just might not have been performing that night, she turned around to go home, but after taking a few steps, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She couldn’t mistake those eyes and that smile. It was definitely him. He may not be wearing that stereotypical magician’s costume or have a bag full of tricks within his reach, but he was wearing a nice polo shirt, a fedora hat, some dark skinny jeans and a backpack on his back, and she knew it was him.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You’re not performing tonight?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“You see, I only perform on Friday and Saturday nights and today is Tuesday.”

“But the other times I was here…they were on a Tuesday and you were performing.”

“The first Tuesday you were here, I performed by chance. Then, you kept coming back and I had to see you. That was the only way. But then, after your last visit, I thought, why not just ask her out on a date instead of having to put on an act?”

“So, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then my answer is yes. I would love to go on a date with you.”

“Now?”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

They began to walk down the streets of Myungdong, until Hayoung stopped him.

“Wait! Before we go on a date, shouldn’t we introduce ourselves?”

“That’s right…my name is Sehun. Oh Sehun. And if you were wondering, I’m 19 years old.”

“Wow! It’s like you read my mind! My name is Hayoung. Oh Hayoung. I’m 18 years old.”

“Wahh…we have the same last name…are you sure we’re not related or something?”

“I don’t know. If we were then us going on a date would definitely be weird.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Eat?”

“What’s your favourite food?”

“Ddukbokki!”

“Call!”

He led her over to one of the stall and they ordered some food, and got to know each other more.

“Why were you here the first time?”

“I was trying to do something that I usually don’t do. I was trying to rebel in some way, I guess…”

“From what?”

“From my seemingly perfect image…”

“The good girl?”

“That’s me…”

“So you snuck out that Friday, walked around here at night by yourself, saw a really cute guy doing some magic tricks and couldn’t resist coming back over and over again?”

“That’s about right…”

“Interesting….”

Sehun pretended to scratch his imaginary beard.

“Enough about me…what about you? Why do you like doing magic tricks?”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of like a hobby. It’s also good to pick up the ladies…”

“So you were just trying to pick up some girls and I was the only one that took the bait?”

“I was joking. I just like magic.”

Their orders arrived and Hayoung dived into eating them.

“Wow you really like them?”

“I love these things!”

“Mani meogo, then…”

They were silent for a while, and were enjoying each other’s company. When they both finished their food, Hayoung had to leave, but not before they exchanged phone numbers. It was getting late again. Sehun walked her to the bus stop. They waited for ten minutes before they saw an approaching bus.

“I guess I should let you go now…”

“Wait…”

“Yeah?”

“I have one question before you go…”

“What is it?”

“What’s magic to you?”

“Anything that is unexpected.”

“Like?”

“Like meeting the girl of my dreams on the streets of Myungdong. Now that, that is definitely magical…”

He beamed her a smile as she returned it. The bus stopped and she got on. He watched her walk into one of the seats and then open the window. He was about to wave her goodbye when she stuck her head out.

“Same time next week?”

“I’ll be here waiting…”