"God, Soonyoung I don't need you to set up a blind date for me. I'm perfectly fine at the moment," Jihoon craned his neck to hold his phone between his head and shoulder while he pushed the door to the café open. The aroma of coffee hit him as soon as he entered and he smiled as he took in a deep breath, coffee would be a great way to pick up his day. Healing café was small, by the looks of it, and relied heavily on regular customers to keep their business going. When Jihoon walked in there were only a few customers sitting in the vintage chairs drinking their coffee yet there still seemed to be a warm buzz around the café. Aside from the pretty vintage chairs and tables, that Jihoon figured cost a fortune, there were also shelves of books lining a wall in the café filled with what seemed to be vintage books. There was music playing in the background but Jihoon could barely hear it over the hum of the café, customers were chatting and the staff were busy behind the counter doing God knows what.  

"But you seem like you need to be dating. Like look at your life Jihoon, you're stuck in a job you find boring and absolutely hate plus you're living in that dingy apartment. You need something fun and exciting in your life. I can't always be your source of happiness," Soonyoung's voice was distant on the phone and Jihoon could hear a little commotion in the background – he was probably at his apartment and had put Jihoon on speaker. Jihoon walked up to the counter and stared at the menu – all the drinks had odd names. 

"Don't flatter yourself. You aren't my only source of happiness. Coffee manages to make me just as happy as your friendship, maybe even happier because it doesn't set up blind dates for me." His words set Soonyoung off into a speech about how Jihoon wasn't living the life he deserved and how he desperately needed to escape it and how dating would be the perfect way to do that. Jihoon tuned out as soon as he had begun talking, taking the phone away from his ear to turn to the barista at the counter who had been patiently waiting for Jihoon to get off his phone and order. After staring at the drinks on the menu for about two minutes more (Soonyoungs speech if it was anything like his other speeches would be long) he had absolutely no idea what to order and opted to ask the barista.  

"What's the best drink in your opinion?" Jihoon looked at the barista who looked up at the menu.  

"Well I can't say I've ever tried anything on the menu if I'm being honest with you," the barista leaned forward and whispered to him over the counter. Jihoon gave him a weird look – what barista hasn't tried the coffee of the café they work at?  

"Uhm well then I have no idea what to order. I don't suppose you can just make me a flat white?" Jihoon gave a little smile as he asked, hoping he could just get a simple coffee. The barista gave him a knowing smile back.  

"I can do that but just don't tell my boss. So that'll be 4000 won. Card or cash?" the barista pressed some buttons on the machine. 

"Cash," Jihoon held out the money and handed it to the barista, as he handed the money over his fingers briefly brushed the baristas and he felt a little shock. He withdrew his hand quickly rubbing his hand a little when it tingled from the shock. The barista didn't seem to react at all and Jihoon questioned if he had only felt the shock. The barista handed him his receipt and Jihoon made sure to not touch the barista accidentally again.  

"Okay, you go find a seat and I'll mix up your magic potion and bring it to you," the barista spoke in a sing song tune. Jihoon laughed at his joke about the coffee being a magic potion and walked off to find a seat.  

Jihoon scanned the café and opted for a seat at the back near the bookshelves and way from the prying eyes on any other customers. As he took a seat he brought the phone back to his ear ready to still be hearing Soonyoung lecture him but instead he was met with silence – had Soonyoung cut the call? 

"Hello? Soonyoung? You still there?" There were some scrambling sounds like someone was running and had that been the sound of a toilet flushing in the background?  

"I'm still here. Unlike you who thought ordering your coffee was more important that listening to my speech," Soonyoung was a little out of breath as he spoke and Jihoon chuckled. 

"Like I said coffee doesn't try and set me up on blind dates," Jihoon leaned back in his seat and scanned the café finding nothing interesting then diverted his attention to the bookshelf.  

"Okay fair enough but let me ask you one thing is it fun drinking coffee by yourself in a café?"Jihoon frowned, it really wasn't fun but that didn't matter.  

"That doesn't matter Soonyoung. The fact is that I don't want to date right now and I definitely don't want you setting me up on blind dates. I just want to focus on working my ty job and living in my ty apartment," Jihoon looked away from the bookshelf, that seemed to hold a lot of weirdly named books that Jihoon had never heard of before, when he heard the sound of a cup being placed down onto his table. "Soonyoung my coffee is here. I'll talk to you later. Just don't set up any blind dates please?" Jihoon heard Soonyoung sigh but his friend reluctantly agreed before they said their goodbyes and hung up.  

Jihoon turned around and saw the barista from earlier placing down a muffin. Jihoon was about to protest when the barista spoke, "It's complimentary. There aren't going to be many customers today and if we don't sell all of these they get thrown out and go to waste," Jihoon nodded and smiled. 

"Thank you..." Jihoon leaned forward a litte and looked at the baristas name tag. "Joshua." Jihoon beamed at him and Joshua smiled back. 

"No problem. Here at Healing café we try to improve everyone's lives in our own little ways," Joshua gave Jihoon one last smile before walking away with a sly smile on his face. Putting his phone down on the table Jihoon looked at his coffee and muffin knowing his day would be a bit better once he had finished them. What he didn't know was that his day was going to get exponentially better in more ways than one.  

-------- 

Once Joshua was back at the counter he sat on the counter and watched Seungkwan and Seokmin clean around the coffee machine smiling to himself. It was only when Seokmin turned to clean the cashiers counter that he noticed Joshua smiling like a weirdo.  

"What are you so happy about?" Seokmin looked at him suspiciously, knowing he must have done something. 

"Ohh nothing. Just improved another customers life," Joshua replied letting his voice trail on. Seokmin narrowed his eyes at him and stopped cleaning.  

"What did you do?" He looked at Joshua expectantly, a hand on his hip. Joshua laughed a little which caught Seungkwans attention.  

Seungkwan turned and saw the situation, "Okay what did Joshua do this time?" 

"Why must you make it sound like I did something bad? I just improved someones life which is what we do for a living, remember?" Joshua jumped down from the counter and moved to clear some dishes off of tables nearby. Seokmin and Seungkwan left their work of cleaning and followed him.  

"I know that's our job but what did you specifically do?" They huddled close to Joshua as he moved around the café picking up dirty dishes, earning more than a few weird looks from the customers in the cafe.  

"It wasn't anything bad. I just gave a customer a potion that would take him to a reality where he lives a good and happy life," Joshua picked up the last dirty dish before walking to the backroom and putting the dishes in the sink. Seokmin and Seungkwan stood frozen for a minute before they hurriedly followed him in a panic.  

"You what?!?" They both exclaimed when they were face to face with Joshua again. Joshua flinched, shocked by their reaction and nearly dropping a cup.   

"I gave a customer a potion that would take him to a reality where he lives a good and happy life. I'm a genius, right? It took some work but I managed to mash together a few potions to get my desired potion. Of course, don't worry I followed the alchemy of it all perfectly!" Joshua smiled proudly. Seokmin and Seungkwan stared at him blankly.  

"Uhm Joshua this is a big problem. You just a person who has only known this reality into an entirely different reality that they've never known. That person is going to be so confused," Seungkwan tried to explain the problems to Joshua but Joshua shook his head. 

"This person really needed this. I felt it. So, I think it might be a shock at first but he'll get used to it because after all it will be the life he's always wanted,"  

"Yeah but it's not real. The reality you created is only temporary so sooner or later that person is going to end up back in his old life. In this reality you created there will be people this person has only ever known or dreamt of so that means there will be people who aren't real. What happens if in this alternate reality you created that person gets attached to someone who isn't real?" The smile on Joshuas face fell replaced by a frown. He hadn't thought his plan through thoroughly and now he might have created a mess that would make a persons life worse.

It was Joshua, Seokmin and Seungkwans jobs to help the people with the magic they had but the people who came through the door usually only needed small amounts of help – only really needed little increments of faith, hope, love and happiness. But this one customer had walked through the door and Joshua had felt someone in desperate need of help and he had impetuously given the potion. Joshua gasped.  

"We can't let him leave. If he leaves then he enters the alternate reality and this café will be his only tie to this reality until his reality fades away," Joshua quickly ran from the backroom and straight to where he remembered the customer sitting. Instead of finding the customer all he found was an empty cup and plate with a generous tip. Joshua sighed and walked backed to his two friends. He sheepishly smiled and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to hope he comes back here at some point. But look on the bright side he left a generous tip!" 

---- 

Jihoon had downed the coffee as fast as he could and munched on the muffin quickly, knowing he needed to get back to work soon. On the way out, he saw the barista who served him and the other baristas huddled together in what seemed like a serious conversation. Jihoon wanted to tell the barista he had left a tip but didn't want to disturb the conversation happening. Jihoon looked back into the café one more time before he opened the door and stepped out.  

Stepping out of the café Jihoon was blinded by a blinding white light, assuming it was the sun. He shut his eyes, used his hand as protection and stumbled out into the street. After a few seconds he removed his hand and blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the light once again. Shaking his head once he looked around finally able to see. Everything was oddly brighter but Jihoon passed it off as his eyes not being properly adjusted. The street was also oddly empty not something you'd see often in Seoul but he didn't focus on that point for too long because he looked at his watch and cursed, he was going to be late coming back from his break. He broke into a run passing people by so fast that they all seemed faceless – when had the street become so busy and full?  

Too busy thinking in his own head Jihoon didn't realise he had bumped into someone until his was on the floor and he was groaning. Why did this have to happen when he desperately needed to get to work? He heard a groan that wasn't his and he looked in the direction it had come from. On the floor in front of him was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. If he were so inclined to he would have called him the definition of a greek god on a good day. The stranger he had bumped into had black hair, pale skin and the reddest lips Jihoon had ever seen. They were so eye catching and enticing. Jihoon couldn't stop staring at them. They looked even better when they were moving – wait – they were moving!  

"...are you okay?" Jihoon managed to catch the last part of what the beautiful stranger was saying and realised he had missed the stranger apologising even though he should have been apologising.  

"I'm fine just a little bruised but I should apologise to you. I was distracted and wasn't looking at where I was going. Are you okay?" Jihoon lowered his head as he apologised. If he wasn't so wrapped up in his thoughts he wouldn't have made someone fall and he also wouldn't be so late back to work. The stranger laughed, a melodious laugh.  

"I'm completely fine. Just spilled a little coffee on my jumper but that’s nothing. Don't worry," the stranger stood up, dusted off his jeans and looked at the coffee stain on his jumper. Jihoon stayed on the floor looking up at the stranger in awe – he looked so tall from where he sat on the floor. He was somewhat embarrassed he was the reason the stranger had coffee spilled on his jumper. In his dazed stupor he didn't notice the stranger hold out his hand but when he did he grabbed it and the stranger pulled him up with so much force that Jihoon ended up against his chest. He laughed nervously and moved away from the stranger as quickly as he could without seeming weird. "I'm Choi Seungcheol," Jihoon finally had a name for the glowing Adonis. 

"I'm Lee Jihoon," Seungcheol gave him a huge smile and Jihoon was sure his heart skipped a beat. He was almost distracted by Seungcheols blinding smile but upon seeing the watch sat on Seungcheols wrist he remembered that he still had to go to work and was now very late. "I really need to go. I'm so sorry again. Uh I'll have to make up for the coffee stain at later date. Sorry again!" Jihoon apologised one last time before speeding off the now empty street, leaving Seungcheol alone to stare as he ran off. 

---- 

By the time Jihoon arrived at his work building he was out of breath and his legs felt like jelly. Jihoon bent over and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath before going into work. Once he had finally caught his breath he walked into the building. It felt off walking in – the door that Jihoon usually struggled to push open was so much easier to push open, the usually busy lobby was empty except for the receptionist and where had that weird stain on the floor gone??? 

"Hey Haeun, where is everyone?" Jihoon approached the desk, leaning over to talk to Haeun the receptionist. Haeun looked at him confused.  

"Who are you?" She looked up at Jihoon, her hand reaching for the phone. "Do you have an appointment?" Jihoon looked at her, lost as to why she was pretending to not know him.  

He laughed in disbelief, "Did I miss an email or something? Did April Fools come early and I'm on the receiving end of the joke?" 

"I'm sorry, sir. Who are you?" Haeun questioned him again, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. Jihoon looked at her incredulous – he couldn't believe she was carrying the joke on so far.  

"Haeun, come on. It's me Jihoon. I've worked here for like two years now and I greet you every morning." Jihoons voice raised a little as he spoke, starting to get a little impatient. He was already late for work and this was just starting to inconvenience him. Haeun gave him a hard look and picked up the phone. 

"Sorry sir I don't know you. I think you should leave. If you refuse I will call security." Haeun put the phone to her ear and began to press numbers in. Jihoon didn't know what to do besides leave. As he walked out he didn't understand what was going on. Maybe Soonyoung would know.  

Once out of the building Jihoon set off down the street in the direction of where his apartment was situated. While walking he pulled out his phone and called Soonyoung. After a few rings his best friend picked up, "Hellloo!" 

"Hey," 

"Whatcha calling me for? I thought you were busy with work today?"  

"Yeah that’s what I thought as well but when I went to work they wouldn't let me in!" Jihoon threw his hands up, frustrated, as he walked. 

"Huh? That's weird. Don't you own the studio? Why would they not let you in? Why would you just not let yourself in?" JIhoon stopped walking and tilted his head. 

"What are you on about? What studio?" Jihoon could feel his frustration building up. Just what the was going on? 

"Your music studio? You know where you produce music?" Jihoon could imagine the look Soonyoung would probably give him. But he just couldn't understand what was going on. Since when did he have a music studio?!? Having his own music studio where he could produce music was a dream to him – a dream he could never achieve. "Why are you acting this way Jihoon? You should know all of this. Are you okay?" Jihoon could hear the worry in his voice and shook himself out of his thoughts. Everything seemed the opposite of how his actual life was. 

"Uh I'm okay. Just a little out of it, I tripped and I'm just a little disorientated. What's my address again?"  

"Are you sure that you're okay? Why wouldn't you know your address?"  

"I'm fine. Could you please just give me the address?" Jihoon snapped, his patience was waning.     

"I'll text it to you." 

"Thank you. I've got to go now. Bye." Jihoon hung up before Soonyoung could even say bye back. A minute later he got the address along with a string of emojis that spelt out that Soonyoung was worried and wanted answers later.  Before going home Jihoon knew he needed to get answers. His life was fine, normal, average before he went into that café. He needed answers and he had a feeling he would get it at that café.  

---- 

Walking back to the café was surreal. Everything just seemed better. The streets were cleaner, the sky was clear, the sun was brighter and he was sure he could hear birds chirping – you could never hear birds chirping in Seoul over the noise pollution. Every person he passed had a smile on their face although there weren't many people on the street. Just vague faces that all seemed oddly familiar and when he wasn't focusing on his surroundings the streets crowded up like usual ad people passed by in a blur. It was the ideal life but it just wasn't his life.  

Jihoon stood outside the café staring up at the sign. Healing café. The place where they tried to improve every customers life in some way or the other. Just what had they done to him? Walking in Jihoon was once again hit with the strong smell of coffee and the soft hum and buzz of the café. Usually this would be a source of happiness for him but this time it just brought a foreboding sense of dread, like he was about to get bad news.  

At the sound of the bell that signified a customer walking through the door Joshua, Seokmin and Seungkwn looked up from the work they were doing. Joshuas jaw dropped and he almost let out a sigh of relief when he saw Jihoon walking towards the counter.  

"Seokmin, Seungkwan! It's him!" Joshua hurriedly called out and almost jumped towards the counter. Seokmin and Seungkwan quickly joined his side and smiled at Jihoon as he approached the counter.  

"Good afternoon I would like to know what the hell you did to me?" Jihoon spared no time getting to the point knowing by the looks on the baristas faces that they had done something. Joshua let out a nervous laugh.  

"Funny story," Joshua let out another nervous laugh but Jihoon didn't look amused. "Actually, not that funny of a story. Uhm, I may have kind of sort of given you a potion that would take you to a reality where you live a happy and good life. Oh, and magic is real." Joshua spoke really fast while Seokmin and Seungkwan smiled nervously at Jihoon. Even though Joshua had spoken fast Jihoon had understood every single word and was totally, utterly confused. Magic was real? And he was in an alternate reality? What was going on??? 

"I'm sorry, what???  Magic is real? And you did what?" Jihoon rubbed his head. He could feel a headache coming on and this was too much for him to handle.  

"Yes, magic is real," As if on cue to prove his point Joshua touched an empty coffee cup and in front of his eyes the cup filled up with tea. Joshua looked at the cup, "Huh, I was going for a flat white cause that’s what you ordered last time but I guess tea," he felt the cup and frowned. "I guess cold tea is okay. Sorry, I'm still learning this magic business and I haven't really got some spells down. Potions are a breeze though." Joshua smiled at Jihoon who looked back at him with wide eyes. Maybe Joshua had hit him with too much information at one time. 

"Okay maybe you said too much at one time. Let's take him to sit down and talk," Seokmin walked around the counter, took Jihoon by the shoulders and directed him to a table in the café. Jihoon just let him direct him to the table and make him sit down, too in shock to do anything himself. Seungkwan began to make a cup of tea, without magic much to Jihoons relief, and brought the cup of tea to the table.  

"It's chamomile tea. It should calm you down a little and help with the headache," Seungkwan said as he put the cup down. Jihoon wondered how Seungkwan knew he had a headache coming on. "I know because I can sort of feel it slash hear your thoughts." 

"Seungkwan don't freak him out even more," Seokmin gave a pointed look to Seungkwan and he muttered a sorry. After Jihoon had had his chamomile tea he felt calm enough to finally ask questions. Magic wasn't something he could easily wrap his head around but after seeing magic being done right in front of him he couldn't not accept it. Jihoon took a deep breath in.  

"Okay, magic is real and you gave me a potion that took me to a different reality?" Jihoon spoke slowly and the three baristas nodded. "Okay, I don't care about the magic. I just care about leaving this reality. Can you please get me out of this reality?" Jihoon asked and the three baristas looked at each other. Jihoon felt that dread in his stomach.  

"We're working on it," the barista, Seokmin, said. Jihoon didn’t understand.  

"What does that mean?"  

"It means that we don't know how to reverse the potion Joshua gave you," Seokmin tried to soften the news with a smile but it didn't work.   

"What do you mean you can't reverse it? It doesn't seem that hard!" Jihoon exclaimed. This was magic they were talking about – anything was possible. 

"It's not that easy. Joshua mixed three potions together to make your potion and we usually don't do that kind of alchemy. Magic is simple. I can fill this cup with coffee and easily take that coffee away just as easily because it's just magic," Seokmin gave a demonstration, filling the cup and draining it just as easily. "Now potions are made by alchemy. Meaning it's not just magic so the laws are different. Things become much more complicated and we need to safely figure out a way to reverse the potion. So, I'm sorry for now you're stuck in this alternate reality until we can reverse everything." At Seokmins explanation he felt sick. How long would he be stuck in this reality? What if they never reversed the potion? He'd never get his old like back.  

"Oh no! Don't worry, this reality eventually fades away. This reality is made up of the things you know. So, things you've seen in dreams and people you know and things you've seen. Don't get too attached to anything in this life because it will fade. This café is the only real thing so when things start to fade, if we don’t reverse the potion by that time, come here," Seungkwan read his mind and answered his worries. It was unnerving but Jihoon guessed he would have to get used to it. 

"So, go on then. Go and live this fake happy life. Enjoy it while you can!" Joshua smiled at him cheerfully as if he hadn't done anything wrong. Jihoon wanted to slap that smile off of his face but when he saw the smile of the two other baristas he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe living a fake happy life wouldn’t be so bad. 

If there are mistakes im sorry. I write at like 3am so mistakes are common.I should really get a beta reader and stuff to help me out with writing. 

Part two will be out soon!