She huffed loudly as she adjusted her heavy backpack. “Why are there so many stairs?” she whined as she looked up at the hundred or so stairs that she still had to climb. She mumbled curses under her breath as she continued climbing. “Whoever decided to put this stupid shrine at the top of a bloody mountain was an idiot.” She grumbled. She made it another twenty steps before stopping again to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She slid her backpack off and let it land heavily on the step above her before flopping down onto the steps. “I can’t believe I need to live here for the next year.”

One week ago

“What? You can’t be serious!” her jaw dropped at her grandmother’s words, while her grandmother calmly continued knitting. “Please stop shouting dear. And I wouldn’t need to do this if you had been training properly since you got here. You’re already twenty years old and you don’t even know the basics.” She said, her eyes never leaving her knitting.

“Grandma, this stuff isn’t real.” She said with a loud sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. “You have no choice my dear. You’ll go and live at the shrine for a year. After that, we can talk about it again. Now, give me that nice pink wool so I can finish this scarf.”

Present day

She finished off the bottle of water she had brought with her, squinting up at the bright summer sun overhead. “Demons, spiritual energy… what rubbish.” She muttered as she stuffed her bottle back into her bag. “I really need to get gran checked out, her delusions are getting worse.” She said as she stood up, pulling her backpack back on and slowly making her way up the rest of the stairs.

When she finally reached the top, she let out a small cheer. “Finally!” she looked around the small shrine, surprised to see how clean it was. “I expected it to be derelict.” She mumbled as two gorgeous boys appeared in front of her. She jumped back, startled by their sudden appearance. The both bowed deeply to her, “Welcome mistress Yubin.” They said in perfect unison. They straightened up and smiled warmly at her. “Grandmother Choi said that you would be arriving today.” Said the first one. “We hope the journey was a pleasant one.” Said the second.

She nodded, “The journey was fine, but who are you two?” she asked as she noticed they were both wearing traditional robes. “We are the spirits of the shrine. We are here to assist Mistress Yubin with any tasks or questions. My name is Hobi.” Said the first. “And my name is Jimin.” Said the second. She looked at them blankly, “Shrine spirits?” she said, her patience already wearing thin. “Did my grandmother put you two up to this?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The two boys looked at each other with confused expressions, “Put us up to what? Do you mean did Grandmother Choi ask us to assist you?” Jimin asked, his head cocked to the side in curiosity as his orange hair was ruffled by the wind. “We have been at this shrine since it was built, we are here to assist the mistress of the shrine, which starting from today, is you.” Hobi said.

She cursed quietly under her breath. She remembered her grandmother saying that there were spirits at the shrine, but she hadn’t paid her much attention, blaming her eccentric behaviour on her delusions. “Ok, so you’re shrine spirits…” she said, not believing that she was facing such a ridiculous situation. They both nodded in perfect unison. “That’s correct mistress.” Jimin said brightly.

She frowned at the title. “Ok, fine. I’ll play along. But first things first. My name is Yubin, not mistress.” The boys shared an uncomfortable glance. “If this is going to work, you cannot call me mistress, deal?” the boys shared another glance before nodding hesitantly. “Good.” She said as she adjusted the straps of her backpack. The boys moved forward so gracefully it looked like they had floated over to her, but she blamed that on them talking about being spirits or whatever when she was hungry and tired. They slipped her backpack off and Hobi held it with one arm like it weighed nothing.

“Follow us, we will show you to your room then we will give you a tour of the shrine.” Jimin said as he extended his hand in the direction of her room. She followed them to a modernly decorated room, which was the complete opposite of the old style of the outside of the shrine. “It’s lovely in here.” She said as she looked around the spacious room. The two boys stood by the doorway, matching grins on their faces. “We are glad you like your room. Master Yoongi will be most pleased.” She cocked her head to the side in curiosity. “Master Yoongi? Who is that?” she asked.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to meet Master Yoongi later. He’s stepped out for the moment, but he should be returning to the shrine soon. Come, we will show you the rest of the shrine.” Hobi said cheerfully. She followed the two boys around the shrine, only half listening as she was distracted by the way they seemed to float around. She convinced herself that climbing all those stairs in the burning summer sun must have affected her eyes because there was no way the two of them were actually floating.

Once the tour was complete, they led her out to a little garden at the back of the shrine. They prepared a cold for drink for her, both of them smiling brightly at her. She looked at them warily. “Ok, you can be honest with me. I promise I won't tell my grandma, you two are actors, right? She hired you to try to convince me that the whole spiritual power thing is real, right?” she said as she finished her drink and put the glass down. The two boys exchanged looks again which made her frustrated, it was like they were communicating without having to talk.

“Mist- I mean… Yubin.” Hobi said, catching himself at the last second from saying mistress. “We are not actors. We truly are shrine spirits and you truly do possess spiritual powers.” She exhaled loudly as she stood up and started pacing. “This is ridiculous; how can she expect me to believe this.” She said angrily as she continued to pace. “First of all she talks about demons and ghosts and crap like that and expects me to believe it, no wonder my mum ran away from home! Who would want to live hearing that kind of stuff all the time? Then she forces me to come live up on this stupid shrine with these two actors who are supposed to be shrine spirits! I've never heard so much bull before.” She spat angrily.

“You know what? I’m not dealing with this. I’m leaving.” She said as she turned and stormed back towards the shrine, Hobi and Jimin's cries for her not go following her. She looked over her shoulder, not stopping as she said, “I don’t care what you say, I’m leaving!” she turned back around and walked right into someone. She let out a yelp as she fell onto her backside. She glared up at the stranger, his black hair blowing in the wind which was surrounding a pale face and his black ears…

Her jaw dropped at the sight of ears protruding from the top of his head, similar to a cat’s. “W-what the hell…” she stuttered out as Hobi and Jimin appeared by her side, pulling her to her feet as they wiped the dirt from her clothes. The black haired newcomer looked down at her with a bored expression. “So… you must be the new mistress.” He said, his tone on the word mistress showing his unhappiness at having to address her in such a manner.

“Yubin, this is Master Yoongi.” Jimin whispered in her ear. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his ears. “Y-your ears.” She stuttered out as she pointed at his ears which twitched as he grinned at her, his small fangs gleaming. “What’s the matter mistress? Haven’t you ever met a fox demon before?”