“Yes, that’s it, Jackson! You’re going to the Olympics in no time!” The coach yelled as the fencer in white parried an attack from his opponent and stepped forward to deliver a series of attacks. A final jab won him his 15^th touch, finalizing his status as the winner of this tournament.

The fencer took off his mask, ruffled his hair and smiled, sending the crowd into a wild frenzy. Jackson Wang, 22, was one of the most talented veteran fencers in the world, being young in age and definitely very handsome. He could also very cheerful but down-to-earth, making him famous and popular like a celebrity. Almost everyone knew of the man and liked him a lot.

Jackson shook hands with his opponent and headed back to his father, who was also his coach. He was handed a towel and a water bottle with a pat on the back from his father, and tons of cheering and hooting from his teammates.

“Good job, son. Go get some rest, you deserve it.”

“Alright, dad, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow, ya?”

He headed towards the shower room, where it was empty – all the fencers were either eager to return home or to attend their celebration feasts for their victories. It was good. Jackson appreciated the silence once in a while. His body ached all over as he the shower, cold water hitting his skin. He exhaled.

It was nice to see the proud look on his father’s face as well as the joyous expressions on his teammates’ faces. It certainly felt good when the crowd cheered his name, giving him their full support. But was fencing really what he wanted to spend the rest of his life in? To be honest, Jackson wasn’t even sure why he got into fencing. His father was a coach, and he just went along with it. Although he had never voiced any complaints, he was sure that fencing was not his passion. The daily exercises and training had given him a good physique, but he did not feel the motivation and that spark his teammates had described when they talked about fencing. However, if it made his father satisfied, his teammates proud, and the crowd happy, Jackson believed there was no reason not to continue his fencing career.

If anything, Jackson wanted to try something other than fencing. He wanted to experience other kinds of activities, and a “normal life” of a 22 year old man. He had no time nor the energy to do so when his life was consumed by training on the blue mats, wearing the same white uniform almost every single day. Jackson wanted to experience love. As unbelievable as it could be, he had never been in a relationship. He really despised his current life, but being the good person trying to fulfill his different roles towards different aspects of his life, he could do nothing about it.

The fencer finished his shower and headed out of the stadium, his breaths creating small puffs of white smoke in the cold winter air. The streets were quiet too – everyone had left. He started treading through the snow-covered ground to head home, wanting to do nothing but sleep away the weekend. Just like his father said, he deserved the rest after training so hard for this tournament.

The cold was starting to creep into his bones. Jackson scolded himself for not thinking to bring warmer clothes and instead hurried through the road. A flash of headlights startled him, making him jump and land on the icy ground, but not properly. He slipped and fell backward, falling through the air in what he felt like slow motion. Somehow Jackson knew that this fall was going to be the end of him. He could see the sky rotate and tried to grab onto something to steady himself but his head, stretched out, found no anchor to steady him. His body hit the snow and the tip of the back of his head gently touch the ground, almost gracefully. Jackson was sure that his fall was majestic, and he chuckled, body on the floor and his mind slowly drifting off.

Jackson opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was passing out on the streets, but now it seemed like it was morning and it was impossible that no one would’ve found him by now. He sat up, feeling a bit constrained. He looked down and saw that his clothes had changed completely – he was now wearing a fancy but elegant black tuxedo, a white dress shirt, and a sleek black tie. Weird. Jackson looked around, finding himself lying on a couch beside the window in his own house.

“Mom? Dad? What’s going on? Who stripped me and changed my clothes?” He called out.

No one answered. He was the only one in the house. Hm.

He walked up to his room, where it was covered with awards and trophies from the various amounts of competitions and tournaments he had competed in. For now, his parents weren’t here and there was no one judging him. Jackson took a deep breath and started to sing. That was his secret passion – he had only revealed it to his best friend, Jinyoung, who encouraged him to further engage himself in musical activities. Singing was when he truly felt at ease – he felt the spark that Yugyeom had talked about when he danced. It cleared his mind and left him feeling more refreshed than ever. He loved it.

The doorbell rang. It rang softly, but just enough not to startle Jackson and to get him to open the door.

“Perhaps it’s mom or dad? Probably bringing me to another business dinner as right now I’m in these uncomfortable clothes…”

A man, looking a few years younger than Jackson, smiled the moment Jackson opened the door. He too, was wearing a suit, but it was a dark royal blue and he had a mint green dress shirt on, a greyish blue tie completing his look. Needless to say, he looked amazing to Jackson. The man also had dirty blonde hair, which was a nice contrast to his own platinum blonde locks.

Jackson quickly brought himself back to his senses. “Um, hi…? Who are you? If you’re looking for Ricky or Sophia Wang they’re not here.”

The man shook his head and had a light smile. He looked straight into Jackson’s eyes and pointed at him.

“You’re looking for… me? But who are you?” By now Jackson was absolutely confused. He was sure he had never seen such a gorgeous person in his entire life.

The man eyes twinkled mischievously as he held out his palm. Jackson watched as letters formed on the man’s skin, black lines swirling around until they formed the word “Mark” in thin wispy lines.

Jackson’s head tilted. “I’m assuming your name is Mark? What do you want from me?”

Mark nodded, his soft features breaking into another small smile. He held out one finger and beckoned Jackson to follow him, walking towards the road where a sleek black carriage was parked. Two huge black horses, manes flying in the wind were reigned, but interestingly there was no driver. A carriage appearing in this time and place was questionable, but Jackson decided to ignore it. Mark reached the side of the carriage and looked at him, waiting for him to come along.

Jackson fell into a dilemma. Since he was a child he was told not to follow strangers, but this particular stranger was intriguing and now he was already a grown man, able to make his own decisions. He guess it wouldn’t hurt anyway, besides there was a mysterious aura around Mark that made him want to find out more.

He walked over to the carriage where Mark opened the door for him. He nodded as thanks, and hopped in, seating himself comfortably on the leather seats. Mark pulled himself into the cart, sitting right across from Jackson. He snapped his fingers, and the carriage lurched forward, making Jackson fall almost right into Mark.

“So what exactly do you want from me?”