Summer 2004

“Oh c’mon Sehun, you’re really a mood killer,” Baekhyun sighed, following Sehun as they both walked through the thick forest.

“Just ask Suho to go with you.”

“Are you joking? You want me to go with that nagger?”

“Then you go alone.”

Baekhyun’s asking him an impossible favor – going to the festival in town tonight. Sehun’s satisfied with just watching the town from up the trees. Baekhyun said that he’s going to be close in contact with people because they’re fascinating.

Sehun never got near a human being ever before in his long years of existent as the spirit of the wind. He does not want to risk his life for just an adventure. One touch from a human being and he’ll disappear in the thin air.

“Please. Pretty please,” Baekhyun whined.

Sehun sighed.

“Hey! Don’t leave me!!”

Sehun’s flying from Baekhyun in his top speed. He doesn’t like being forced to do something that he doesn’t want to do.

“Oh?”

He halted when he reached the entrance of the mountain. It’s the first that he’s seeing that little girl. She was playing with a ball with her father.

The closest distance between him and a human being is from his spot right now and the spot of the house just meters away. He’s afraid that he might disappear all of a sudden when someone touches him. He’s satisfied with his life right now.

He flew to the branch that he always sits on and just watched them play. After some minutes, the man left the little girl on her own as he entered the house. He noticed that she’s staring at the tree house that was newly built. Suddenly, she started climbing up.

Sehun was sitting on the edge of the branch. He knew that something bad might happen.

“Ahhh!”

Unconsciously, he found himself flying towards her as she lost her footing.

Wind acted as a cushion for her. Sehun sighed, after holding his breath. She stood and looked around, maybe asking herself how did she manage to float just inches away from the ground. She almost had her head hitting the ground.

Sehun was frozen.

That was the closest he’s been in contact with a human being as of now. It’s a new record. She just brushed her hands and looked back at the tree house.

“Don’t climb,” he said and she looked around. She looked confused.

“You’ll fall again if you climb,” he continued.

She turned around and saw Sehun staring back at him. She stared back quietly. Sehun couldn’t believe that he’s showing himself for the first time and to a child.

“What’s your name?”

“Kang Soobin.”

Sehun crouched and stared at her as she did the same. “Do you really want to climb up there?”

Soobin didn’t even think twice before nodding her head excitedly. Sehun looked around, checking if anyone’s around. He couldn’t just go around and show his ability to anyone. He picked a branch which was lying on the ground and handed the end of it to Soobin. “Hold it,” he said and she quickly did.

Sehun stood and after a while, their feet left the ground and they were levitating. Soobin squealed in surprise. “Wow!” she exclaimed, laughing. Sehun found himself also laughing. He didn’t know that what he does everyday will be very exciting for someone like Soobin.

She let go of the branch as she made it inside the tree house. “Do it again! Do it again!” she said, jumping up and down. “Are you a magician? Please do it again oppa!”

Sehun quickly flew out of the tree house when she started running towards him, trying to grab his arm. Soobin looked disappointed when Sehun just stared at her. “Please do it again,” she whispered.

“I’ll show you something different but don’t touch me, okay?” he asked and she nodded.

Sehun held his hand and started playing with the wind – making mini tornados that Soobin started chasing in that tree house.

“Soobin!”

Sehun quickly hid himself when he heard a man’s voice calling for her.

“Dad! I’m here!” Soobin called out, waving at the man.

“Did you climb up on your own? You shouldn’t do that again. You might fall.”

“No. Magician oppa used wind and got us up here!”

“Magician oppa?” her father asked before looking around. Some weirdo might be hanging out with his daughter without him knowing. That’s just dangerous. He climbed up the tree and gout Soobin down.

“He even made small tornadoes for me!” Soobin informed. Sehun peeked from the tree when the man was carrying Soobin towards the house. She saw him and she waved her hand, smiling.

Sehun thought that maybe, just maybe, he could get closer to people like her.

Summer 2005

“What are you looking at?” Baekhyun asked, appearing out of nowhere. Sehun turned to him in surprise. Baekhyun’s wearing a flower crown and he’s holding various species of flowers. It looks like he’s going to plant some more flowers in his garden.

“You’ve been staring at that house. What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing,” Sehun replied.

“Are you not going anywhere today? Can you help me with my flowers?” Baekhyun asked while grinning.

“I’m actually busy,” he replied before walking past him.

“Oh? Who’s that little girl? It’s my first time seeing her here,” Baekhyun muttered and Sehun turned around in that instant.

Kang Soobin was out in the yard with her little kite. It looks like her father’s busy with something in the house.

“Do you know her?” Baekhyun asked, looking at Sehun when he noticed the different expression on his friend’s face.

Sehun nodded.

“Wait…She saw you, right? You showed yourself to her?”

Another nod.

“Kids like her can remember us. Look at her. She looks like she’s looking for you,” Baelhyun pointed out.

Sehun knew that. Kids are open to ideas and things that seem like impossible because their minds are yet being developed unlike grown-ups who forget about meeting spirits like himself even if a day just passed.

“Magician oppa! Are you around?” Soobin called out and Baekhyun turned to Sehun.

“What are you going to do?”

“She’ll forget me once she grows up anyway.”

“So are you going to play with her?”

“My kite’s not flying! Please come and help me!” Soobin shouted again and Sehun smiled.

“I’ll take my chances,” Sehun replied before flying away.

Baekhyun sighed.

“Making connections with people will just hurt you.”

Summer 2006

“She still remembers you?”

“She keeps calling me magician oppa,” Sehun replied with a smile.

“Once she turns 10, her memories about you will fade in an instant. She might remember you now but she’ll have no memories of you once she gets into that age.”

“I know. Baekhyun, have you ever thought of bargaining with the Ancient One?”

Baekhyun gasped before he turned to Sehun.

“Y-You’re not thinking of doing that, right? It’s way too risky.”

Sehun looked at his hand. “I always wonder how it feels to be touched. Are people’s hands warm? Or are they cold like ours? How does it feel to be remembered?”

Baekhyun sighed before plopping beside Sehun. “I always ask those questions too but bargaining with the Ancient One is just too-”

Another sigh escaped his mouth. “The success rate of such bargain is close to impossibility. I only know one spirit who was successful. After him, everyone who bargained disappeared for nothing.”

Sehun looked at Baekhyun. “Then are you satisfied with how everything’s going on? Are you going to stay like this forever?”

Baekhyun nodded. “I can’t risk my life. How about you?”

“I’m still thinking.”

Summer 2014

“She’s still not visiting? You’ve been waiting for like 8 years.”

Sehun turned away and started walking into the thick forest.

“Come on, I’ll help you with your flowers,” Sehun stated.

Baekhyun looked back at him before looking at the house. Sehun’s been waiting and looking at him waiting patiently makes Baekhyun worried. Making connections with people really just brings pain for them. At least for them, the people, they just forget everything like nothing happened.

“Suho said he’ll come too,” Baekhyun commented but Sehun did not say anything. Usually, he would snap and back out. Sehun’s not really fond of the nagging spirit.

It looks like Sehun’s really affected.

Summer 2016

“Sehun! Sehun!”

“Why?”

Baekhyun was pointing at the house with a shocked expression. “I saw her!” he shouted. Sehun got down from the tree.

“I know.”

“You know?”

Sehun nodded. “She does not remember me. She does not call me magician oppa anymore.”

“Oh, I see,” Baekhyun sighed sadly for his friend.

“So I told her my name,” Sehun informed with a small smile.

“Y-You did? So are you serious about bargaining with the Ancient One?”

Sehun nodded in reply and Baekhyun let go of the flowers that he’s holding.

“Are you sure?”

“I am. I’ve lived a long life as a spirit.”

“It’s not a sure thing.”

“It’s worth risking for.”

August 2016

He said that he’ll disappear permanently.

Did he really mean that he’s disappearing  for good?

Just like that?

He said that he’s a spirit. What the hell did he mean?

“During the late Joseon era, after the Manchu invasion…King Yeonjo and King Jeongjo…solve…factional politics…”

Teacher Go’s voice felt so distant. Soobin’s just staring outside, thinking of what really happened then. Why did it took her a week to remember everything? Why did she forget about it in the first place.

“It’s just that, human minds are fragile. Humans forget but spirits don’t. We remember every detail.”

Sehun’s right.

Human minds are fragile.

They’re forgetful.

But isn’t it weird to not remember an event that just happened?

It’s really weird.

“…an imperial library…political position of Joseon…Silhak scholars…”

Knock.

Knock.

Teacher Go stopped and Soobin heard the door being opened.

“Sorry to disturb your class teacher Go but we have a transfer student here.”

Soobin’s too focused with whatever she’s thinking that she didn’t even bother looking in front.

“Introduce yourself.”

“Hello, my name is Oh Sehun.”

Soobin’s eyes were wide open. Did she just heard that right? But there are many people whose name is Sehun. Maybe it’s the wrong Se-

She felt her heart skip a beat.

Sehun.

She felt the wind grazing her cheeks.

That necklace.

He’s wearing it.

He’s back.

Their eyes met and he smiled.

“Nice to meet you.”

Sehun’s POV

I’ve seen some spirits bargain with the Ancient One. I couldn’t understand why they would risk their lives as spirits just to become human beings.

I’ve always stayed away from people. It’s risky if I walk in their midst. With one single touch, I might disappear into thin air like ‘Poof’. Just thinking of such things makes me scared. It is scary.

Then came a little girl named Kang Soobin.

She’s the first human to whom I showed myself. I just thought that it would be harmless since she’s just a kid. Once she grows up, she’ll not remember anything about me.

Baekhyun always told me that making connections with people will just cause pain.

I understood what he was trying to say when I waited for more or less 10 years for Kang Soobin to visit again.

I don’t know why but she exudes this warmth that I never felt from anyone before.

For many years, I’ve been by living in a corner, afraid of the world that I never knew. I was satisfied with how I’ve been living for years.

People’s minds are fragile.

They forget about us.

I was actually afraid when she did not recognize me but when I told her my name, that fear was changed into excitement.

And when she called me by my name, my heart started pounding.

I felt warm when I hugged her.

There was only darkness after that.

She brought light and life to me when she called my name – when she remembered me.

Barf. I'm dying. Too cliche but whatever. LOL.