“Just how long are you planning to take cleaning the house? Mom’ll be back any minute, you know!” Sunggyu snapped irritably at his step-brother whom was on his hands and knees as he hastily scrubbed the floor. Sunggyu scoffed at the sight and spun on his heel, his arms crossed as he requested his other brother’s presence.

 

“Howon! Howon, where are you? Get over here!” he called impatiently. Loud, frantic footsteps could be heard from the stairs, their owner reaching the bottom to glare furiously at his older sibling.

 

“What do you want, hyung? And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Hoya?”

 

“Tell me as many times as you want; it doesn’t mean I’m going to start doing it.” Sunggyu stated with an amused smirk before turning his attention back to the pitiful mass still cleaning the floor. Hoya followed his gaze and quickly frowned.

 

“Still cleaning the floor? But mom-”

 

“Yes, I know, Howon; I was just telling him that. Can you imagine what’ll happen if she comes home and this place isn’t spotless? Thank god this is the last thing that needs to be done; I don’t feel like hearing that woman nag incessantly for no reason,” Sunggyu explained, his nose scrunched up in distaste. Hoya only gave him a sideward glance.

 

“Really? I would’ve thought she’d be speaking your language…” he muttered sourly to himself. Sunggyu snapped his head over to him, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

 

“What was that you just said?”

“Nothing. You must just be hearing things again—being old will do that to you,” Hoya replied with a devious grin. Sunggyu snarled at him while Hoya just laughed happily. His laughter came to a quick end, however, when the unmistakable sound of a key entering a lock and a handle turning reached their ears.

 

“He’s not done, hyung! What do we do!?” Hoya hissed, his panic seeping into his voice slightly. Sunggyu seemed completely unfazed as he stared calmly at the door.

 

“Calm down, Hoya. I’ve got this under control. Just make sure you don’t say anything stupid. Better yet, just shut up.”

 

Hoya glared at the cocky smile that had made its way to his older brother’s face, but they both completely sobered up as soon as the door was finally open and their mother was staring at the three of them in disapproval.

 

“Sunggyu,” she started calmly, her voice lacking any kind of emotion. The pure coldness of her tone caused both brothers to shiver slightly, though their step-brother never even looked up from the floor. “Didn’t I say that this house needed to be cleaned by the time I got back? And why is Myungsoo the only one working?”

 

“Yes you did. And we wanted to make sure that that was the case, but Myungsoo insisted that he do all the work. We wanted to help, really, but he kept talking about how he was the only one who deserved to look good in your eyes,” Sunggyu lied easily. Myungsoo didn’t even look up from his duties, too used to these types of situations.

 

Their mother frowned and cast a concerned glance over to her youngest son.

 

“Is this true, Myungie?” she cooed gently, her sweet tone causing her eldest sons to cringe. Myungsoo glanced up then, his gaze as cold as his mother’s tone had been just moments prior. He didn’t need to look at his brothers to know that they were glaring hotly at him, just daring him to say something that went against what they’d said.

 

“…It’s true. I just wanted to prove you still have good reason to tolerate my presence in your life. I apologize,” he murmured. His step-mother’s eyes softened as she walked over to him, bending over and turning his head so he was facing her.

 

“You know that there’s no need for you to take on such big burdens for a reason as silly as that; I already love you as if you were of my own blood and I always will,” she cooed once more before wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug. Myungsoo chose not to move, instead staying completely stiff in the embrace. Hoya and Sunggyu only continued to frown at the interaction between the youngest and their mother, not appreciating it at all.

 

It was quite obvious that Myungsoo was their mother’s favorite. He was her late husband’s only son and she had always been trying to make a good impression on him while the man had still been alive, wanting for Myungsoo to love her as if she were his own mother. It meant that she’d focused most of her attention on him and consequently ignored her two very jealous sons. Lacking both a father and a mother, they had grown cold and quickly started to hate Myungsoo despite the fact that he’d done nothing to deserve it.

 

When Myungsoo’s father had died, he and their mother had comforted each other in their grief. Hoya and Sunggyu had felt no way in particular about the man’s death, as they hadn’t cared for him much in the first place and had found his demise unfortunate at best. But their mother began to cling to Myungsoo even more than before, her obvious favoritism towards him making them sick. So whenever they got the chance, they would take their anger and frustrations out on the ‘cause’ of those negative emotions, using both physical and emotional means. And yet, no matter what or how much they did, it didn’t make their mother love Myungsoo any less or them any more.

 

“I know, mom. Thank you,” Myungsoo muttered as his step-mother finally released him. She backed away and stood, turning to gaze in disapproval at her eldest children once more.

“You two know better than that! You should’ve just started helping anyway! Where has your sense of humility gone? For the rest of the week, you two are grounded.”

 

“Wait, what!?” Hoya cried in outrage. “No mom, you can’t be serious! Please, just—can’t we at least still go to the party!?” There was no point in trying to argue about the fact that she was grounding two men older than twenty; it was one of those ‘you live in my house, you abide by my rules’ types of things.

 

“Yeah, mom! We were just trying to respect our little brother’s wishes anyway! We shouldn’t be punished for that!” Sunggyu insisted.

 

The expression on their mother’s face turned pensive then, as if truly considering their pleas.

 

“Why should I?”

 

“Because this is Sungjong’s party! They’re throwing it for him to celebrate him turning 18!” Hoya practically wailed. His mother simply lifted an elegant eyebrow, her interest piqued.

 

“Sungjong, huh?” she asked lightly, Hoya nodding once in agreement.

“Alright, alright. You can go to that party since I know for a fact that you two both have some sort of weird crush on him or something and it would absolutely kill you to miss it…” she started, slightly exaggerating their desire to attend the party.  Hoya and Sunggyu grinned to each other, only for their mother to hold up a hand. “Not so fast! I’m still upset! You can go to this party, but only if you bring Myungie along with you! You’re always leaving him out of everything. I know he’s the youngest, but you two should try to get along with him better! AND, once you’re back from the party, you’re still grounded. Understood?”

“But Myungsoo prefers being by himself!” Sunggyu reminded persistently. Hoya nodded in agreement once more.

 

“It’s true; in high school, Myungsoo always sat by himself, staring into nowhere. Being at a party would just make him uncomfortable.”

 

For once they weren’t lying: Myungsoo was actually extremely uncomfortable and awkward at social events. He didn’t mean to be, but socialization didn’t come easy to him. Even when he did manage to strike up a conversation with someone, it didn’t last long before their interest in him faded and they moved on to someone else, once again leaving him alone.

 

“Doesn’t matter. If that’s the case, this’ll be good for him. Stop trying to weasel out of this and just accept the terms before I change my mind,” their mother stated with a light glare.

 

Hoya and Sunggyu nodded solemnly, resigning themselves to their fate. Of course they weren’t planning on actually taking Myungsoo, but as long as their mother didn’t know that, all was good.

 

“And you’d better really take him with you, because if I find out you didn’t…” she trailed off threateningly, her eyes trained in a hard glare.

“We will, we will. Just stop nagging us already!” Sunggyu huffed, hitting Hoya after he heard him murmuring something about him and his mother ‘being on the same wavelength when it came to being a nag.’

 

“Hmph, fine. Enjoy your last day of freedom while you can, boys,” she stated somewhat evilly. She then strode over to Myungsoo, ruffling his hair a bit with pride, and made her way upstairs—presumably to her room. The two eldest sons quickly turned their attention towards Myungsoo once more, and Hoya was quick to lift the youngest up by the collar of his shirt.

 

“What was that little stunt you just tried to pull?”

 

Myungsoo frowned, glancing down at the fist curled tight around his collar before looking back into Hoya’s furious eyes.

 

“All I did was go along with the plan that you guys came up with. I was only trying to be convincing.”

 

“More like trying to get us in trouble and make yourself look like some sort of damsel in distress if you ask me,” Hoya growled, suddenly shoving the youngest away and watching with unmasked amusement how Myungsoo ungracefully tripped over his own two feet and fell onto his .

 

“Not that it matters,” Sunggyu stated coldly while staring intently at his finger nails, “It’s not like you’re actually coming to the party. Of course, I’m sure you already knew that—right, momma’s boy?”

“Oh, what?” Myungsoo asked with a smirk as he staggered back up to a standing position. “Are you jealous?”

 

Sunggyu’s eyes flashed with unrivaled fury as he lunged at his step-brother, only to be held back by a now smirking Hoya.

 

“Settle down, Gyu Gyu; mom wouldn’t want you leaving even the slightest bit of dirt on her cherished pet. Now you listen here, Myungsoo: I thought about it, and you are going to come to the party, but only for a few seconds—to show your face in case mom decides to ask if anyone’s seen you there. You’re going to leave immediately though. I don’t care what excuse you come up with but under no circumstances are you allowed to stay.”

 

“Maybe he can spend his time talking to the animals again,” Sunggyu snickered, finally having calmed down from his previous angry fit. Myungsoo offered him an unamused smile before rolling his eyes and kneeling back down to the ground, grabbing his rag and proceeding to clean the floors once more.

 

“I get it, okay? Make sure you don’t get in trouble but make sure I don’t stick around to cramp your style.”

 

“Glad you understand,” Hoya stated snidely as he mockingly patted Myungsoo’s shoulders twice before turning on his heel. Sunggyu glowered at Myungsoo momentarily before purposefully grinding the bottom of his shoe on the ground, scuffing the floor a bit.

 

“Make sure you get that up too, alright? After all, we wouldn’t want mom to stop having ‘a good reason to tolerate your presence in her life.’” He and Hoya shared a snicker before making their way upstairs. Myungsoo groaned and ran a hand through his hair; he was really tired of his brothers’ .

 

“I wish they would just leave me alone…”

 

Just as he’d started to get back to cleaning, he was shocked when a cloud of sparkling dust appeared in front of him, almost blinding him and causing him to sneeze nonstop. He was startled when a hand roughly covered his mouth, and the only reason he didn’t scream was because it seemed as if his voice seemed to somehow be gone completely when he tried.

 

As the man removed his hand from Myungsoo’s mouth, Myungsoo began to panic and immediately tried to speak, only for still no words to come out. He grabbed desperately at his neck, feeling warm tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

 

So first his step-brothers got to rule and ruin his life, and now not only was he unable to talk but he was probably about to be murdered by some serial killer who liked to make an entrance with pixie dust? What had he ever done to deserve such a fate?

 

“Hey, sorry about the whole ‘taking away your voice thing’; I just don’t feel like causing an unnecessary commotion. And before you ask, I’m a special type of wizard. I’m here because I heard you make a wish and granting wishes is one of my duties,” the stranger explained awkwardly. “If you promise not to scream, I’ll give you your voice back, okay? And look, I’m doing this as a favor to you because no one will be able to see me anyway; they’ll just think you’re crazy.”

 

Myungsoo nodded and a few seconds later was ecstatic to hear his voice again, testing it out by humming a little tune. He then turned a guarded look towards the stranger who seemed pretty unfazed by this whole thing.

 

“Okay, who are you?” Myungsoo asked skeptically and the other man settled him with a withering look.

 

“Didn’t I literally just go over this? As I said, I’m a type of wizard. But if it’s a name you’re looking for, you can call me Sungyeol. And, again, I came because you made a wish.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Myungsoo asked indignantly, a displeased frown on his face. “I never made any wishes.”

 

“Oh, but you did,” Sungyeol assured with a confident look. “In fact, I can quote you. You said ‘I wish they would just leave me alone…’ The ‘they’ referred to your two older brothers, I assume.”

 

Myungsoo stared at the man with surprise and a bit of respect, a look that gave Sungyeol much pride.

 

“So is that still what you wish for? I’m giving you a second chance since people usually don’t mean their first wish since they don’t think it’ll come true and end up regretting it.”

 

“How many wishes do I have?” Myungsoo asked curiously rather than answering the question straight away. Sungyeol gave a thoughtful look before shrugging.

 

“Unlimited, I guess. But there are a few drawbacks. For one thing, there are certain things that can’t be wished for. Another issue is that I only have but so much magic per day which means that depending on how big the wish is, it’ll use up more or less of my magic accordingly. So basically, depending on how much magic I have left after granting a wish, I may need to wait until the next day to recharge and grant any more.”

 

“Well that’s certainly…different,” Myungsoo provided thoughtfully. “What can’t I wish for?”

 

“You know, the standard things: no wishing for more wishes—which would be really pointless in this case—no bringing people back to life, no time warping…it’s easier to just figure it out as you go, to be honest,” Sungyeol stated casually as he took the liberty of dropping himself onto one of the living room’s comfy seats.

 

“Okay…well…in regard to your question earlier, I really would like my brothers to leave me alone. I don’t want them to die or anything, I just want them to…not bother me,” Myungsoo explained slowly to a nodding Sungyeol.

 

“Understood. I guess that could work out pretty well for that party you’re headed to tonight, right? You won’t have to leave if you don’t want to…”

 

“Parties aren’t really a big deal to me,” Myungsoo said with a shrug. “I don’t really mind not going, but at the same time, I know going will piss off my brothers; therefore, going is a must. I just don’t want them to go out of their way trying to make me leave.”

 

“That’s a rather strange request, Myungsoo, but I like it. I kind of like you, actually; you’re interesting. Here, let’s start off by getting you looking all nice and dapper,” Sungyeol said with a laugh. He wiggled his fingers, little sparkles flowing from the tips and drifting towards Myungsoo, circling around him in a swirl of light before dissipating all at once. Myungsoo looked at the mirror Sungyeol effortlessly conjured up for him and was pleased with what he saw.

 

“I’m kind of disappointed that this isn’t a formal party; I’m sure you would’ve looked really good in a suit. Oh well. But—oh! There’s one more thing I should probably tell you about my magic. As I told you before, I only have a certain amount every day, but it resets back to 100% after the clock strikes 12. The amount of magic I have depends on my rank and type; I’m only level 5, so my power limitations and restrictions are more noticeable.

 

“Another one of those limitations is that any enchantments I cast goes away when my powers reset at 12, so the effects can only last if they’re the person’s true will at that point. The previous effects of my magic can be influential on their thought process, but there’s no guarantee of anything either way. That being said, you may want to try leaving the party before then so your brothers don’t go ape since I doubt they’ll have such a change of heart,” Sungyeol explained helpfully.

 

Myungsoo nodded at all the given information, suddenly feeling excited about how the day was progressing. He then glanced at the digital clock on his dresser, excited that it was almost time to start heading to the party.

 

“Do you think you could come with me? You know, just in case a need a little help,” he asked hopefully. Sungyeol rolled his eyes but nodded, knowing he didn’t really have anything better to do anytime soon anyway.

 

A few minutes later, Hoya and Sunggyu trudged down the stairs, ready for the party. They didn’t ask about when Myungsoo had gotten the opportunity to change, but he supposed that was because of his initial wish for them to leave him alone. He walked to their car with a pep in his step and had kept that pep even up to the point where Sunggyu was ringing on the doorbell to Sungjong’s mansion. As the doors opened, Myungsoo had been amazed at all the lavish, high class items and furniture inside, suddenly wondering just who this Sungjong was that his brothers were constantly gushing over. He hadn’t really been paying attention to anything until now, including what the outside of the mansion looked like, and now he was awe-stricken.

 

Myungsoo was often the type to get lost in his own little world, not paying much attention to things other people cared so much about, and that included topics about popular people in the area like Lee Sungjong. But once Myungsoo landed his eyes on the young man of the hour, he immediately understood the reason for his popularity: he was beautiful. His hairstyle perfectly complemented his face, the bangs of which hung just over his eyes and emphasized them wonderfully. His figure was slender and petite, which was made easily seen by his intelligent choice in clothing. His smile seemed to light up the room and made Myungsoo’s heart beat just that much quicker. It was then that he was suddenly hyper aware of his second wish for the night.

 

“Sungyeol, I want him to fall in love with me.”

 

“Sorry, buddy, but no can do. We can’t manipulate extreme emotions like love and hate—not directly, anyway. But what I can do is make him think of you a lot and in a positive light, which could lead to some pretty good results, I guess. That good enough?”

 

Myungsoo nodded eagerly, unable to tear his gaze away from the beautiful boy.

 

“…I can’t do it now though. Something like that requires a lot of magic—a whole day’s worth, in fact. I can do it after 12 though. I know that’s kind of late but you should try to get his number or something so you can keep talking to him,” Sungyeol continued and Myungsoo nodded absent-mindedly.

 

“Do you at least have enough magic right now to give me the courage to talk to him? I don’t think I can do it on my own…” he trailed off in embarrassment.

 

“I don’t think that’ll really be necessary considering he seems to be headed right this way,” Sungyeol stated with amusement, the emotion growing when he noticed how freaked out Myungsoo was becoming. So, channeling a little magic into his hand, he placed it comfortingly onto Myungsoo’s shoulder and whispered into his ear.

 

“Relax…”

 

And as if under an enchantment—which, in fact, he was—Myungsoo could immediately feel his fear leaving his body as Sungjong approached him.

 

“Hello there,” Sungjong stated with a soft, pretty voice that seemed to fit him perfectly. Myungsoo grinned back charmingly, mentally thanking Sungyeol for his much needed assistance. “I don’t think I’ve ever met you before. I’m sure I would’ve noticed someone as attractive as yourself.”

 

“The feeling is likewise,” Myungsoo replied smoothly, paying no heed to the daggers being aimed at him from the other jealous guests at the party.  “I’m disappointed that I’m only meeting someone as pretty as you right now rather than earlier.”

 

Sungjong elegantly raised a hand to his mouth to hide his giggles, and Myungsoo found the action quite cute.

 

“But looks certainly aren’t everything…?” Sungjong trailed off, obviously waiting for Myungsoo to offer his name.

 

“Myungsoo. Kim Myungsoo.”

 

Sungjong offered him a quick smile before continuing on.

 

“Yes, there’s much more to me than a pretty face, and I’d very much appreciate if you would remember that.”

 

“Of course, of course. So please do tell me more about yourself, Sungjong, so I can get to know the man behind the face,” Myungsoo relented easily and the other male seemed more than impressed.

 

The two began to talk, a natural conversation starting between them as they continued sharing more and more details about themselves with one another. Unfortunately Sungjong still had a party to host which meant he couldn’t completely ignore his guests, so occasionally he would take some time to mingle with the others, though he always came back.

 

As the night continued, the clock creep closer to midnight and Myungsoo knew he was pushing his luck by continuing to stay and knew he needed to head home. Sungjong was currently entertaining his brothers among all the guests at the party, and as much as Myungsoo wanted to say goodbye, he knew he didn’t have the time. Fortunately the two had exchanged cell phone numbers during their talk, so Sungjong would only be but a simple text away. Not to mention, as soon as midnight struck, Sungyeol would use his powers to make sure Sungjong’s thoughts were primarily on him for an entire day.

 

For once in Myungsoo’s life, things were really looking up.

 

As he made his way outside, knowing that going home with his brothers wasn’t even an option, he was stopped by a sudden tug on his sleeve. He turned his face to see a cute girl smiling sweetly at him, and he could only wonder what she wanted.

 

“Sorry to bother you, oppa, but I’ve been wanting to talk to you all night. You were hanging out with Sungjong oppa a lot though, so I never got the opportunity.”

 

Myungsoo nervously bit his lip, knowing that the time was only creeping closer and closer to 12. He wouldn’t really have minded talking with the girl, but he didn’t feel like explaining why his clothes and hair  suddenly changed right in front of her eyes as soon as the clock struck 12.

 

“You seem like a nice girl, really, but I need to go. I’m kind of in a hurry.”

 

The girl frowned, still not willing to let go of his sleeve. “Are you saying you don’t have time for me?”

 

“That’s not really the way I would phrase it, but yeah, I guess.” Myungsoo tried moving away from her grip but found that the girl was much stronger than she seemed. Even when he tried pulling away at full strength, the girl didn’t budge at all.

 

“I’m sorry, but do you know who I am?” the girl asked with forced sweetness now, one of her eyes twitching slightly. Myungsoo stopped trying to pull away and really looked at her, but no names came to mind.

 

“Sorry, I don’t. I really need to go now though, so if you’d please just let me go now-”

 

“My name is Min Hannah. If the name doesn’t mean anything to you, let me let you in on another thing: I’m a wizard.” The color slowly drained from Myungsoo’s face as he realized the predicament he was in and he pulled a little more desperately at his sleeve.

 

“I decided to grace this party with my lovely presence because I was bored, and it turned out that you were one of the only interesting things there. I spent the whole night being respectful to the fact that you were preoccupied and now that I only ask you to spare a few seconds, you disregard me like this? Well as I said, I’m bored, and I also don’t appreciate the fact that you didn’t know who I am by my name alone. Therefore, I think I’ll exact a little revenge. Nothing too bad though, I promise; I’m not that heartless,” Hannah assured. Myungsoo, now scared out of his wits, decided to just take off his shirt in an attempt to get away from her since she didn’t seem to want to let go of his sleeve any time soon. He started to run only to stop just as soon as he’d started, his body feeling like it was being paralyzed by some external influence. He wished Sungyeol were here to help him, but the wizard had wandered off somewhere during the time he’d been speaking to Sungjong and he had no idea how to contact him.

 

“Uh, uh, uh, there will be no escaping me, Kim Myungsoo. Now listen closely: as your punishment for failing to entertain me, I’m going to turn you into a koala. The only way you can turn back to normal is if you somehow get someone to fall in love with you, and let me tell you that whoever that is is one creepy mofo. I mean, can you spell ? Anyway, if you can’t get them to fall in love with you within 3 months, you’ll still turn back into a human but you’ll have a completely different face, meaning no one will recognize you and you’ll most likely have to start your life all over again. See? Bad, but not too bad,” Hannah said with a satisfied smirk before snapping her fingers.

 

The next thing Myungsoo knew, he was the size of a koala and he was sitting on the lush grass outside Sungjong’s house. Hannah fluttered her fingers at him in salutations before turning back to the house with a look of boredom and re-entering the party. As she disappeared, Sungyeol reappeared, a regretful expression on his face.

 

“I’m sorry, Myungsoo, but that Hannah girl…she’s a higher class wizard than I am and a different type as well. I’m not going to be able to break her spell so the only way to do so is by following the conditions she set. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to do what I can for you. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do anything today since I used up all my magic making Sungjong think of you as soon as the clock turned 12,” Sungyeol explained with a hesitant smile towards the end of his words.

 

And Myungsoo appreciated his effort, he did, but that didn’t excuse the fact that he was now a ing koala.

 

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Any questions you have that you feel like won't be answered in the story? If so, ask away. If not, please look forward to the next (and last?) part. Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes I may've missed while editing.

Thanks so much for the support with comments, subs, and upvotes everyone! I greatly appreciate it.