The trip to downtown was usually a carefree one, most especially to students who would go to malls to hang out or buy stuff. For Yong Hwa, this was a chance of a lifetime.

He finally saw the sign of the store.

Circe.

From the outside of the store, from the glass window, one could see the antique stuff and old musical instruments being sold. It was a real antique store.

"This is it," he thought hopefully as he grabbed the doorknob.

The bell was tingling from above him when he opened the door, and the first thing that caught his eye was the black grand piano beside the counter. He came in and looked around.

"This could be a museum," he thought.

The grand piano really fascinated him, so he went there and opened the cover. Though the piano looked old, it was still slick and shiny and definitely taken cared of very well. It was not even dusty.

"I wonder where the owner is," he thought as he sat on the piano chair.

His index finger started to tap on the C bar, and the rest of his fingers started to follow. He was a guitar student, but he had played piano in his younger years. He began playing the "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano.

"Sonnim, annyeonghaseyo?" a crisp female voice greeted him.

Yong Hwa stood up and greeted the woman. She really looked beautiful that it was impossible not to fall head over heels for her.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" he greeted back. "Mianhamnida... I just love the piano."

The woman smiled as she came forward.

"I am Park Shin Hye, owner of Circe," she introduced herself. "I will be taking care of your every need."

"Ah, the owner," Yong Hwa thought. "So, she must be the witch."

Yong Hwa took the outstretched hand and bowed politely.

"I see that you are interested with the piano," Shin Hye said. 

She rattled off the price of the instrument. Yong Hwa's face became pale when he heard the price. 

"Ah, anio, I like pianos but there is no space at home," he said.

She saw the guitar bag slinging from his shoulder, so she did not mention anything about guitars.

"How about this old candelabra?" she asked him as she tapped the golden figure. "Chandeliers, grandfather clocks, rocking chairs..."

And she mentioned a lot of old instruments.

"Or you may want a sword," she said as she grabbed a sword from its scabbard.

Yong Hwa gulped when he saw how sharp the European sword was.

"They said that this was the Excalibur that King Arthur owned," Shin Hye said. 

She grabbed another sword and showed it to Yong Hwa. 

"How about this Durendal?" she asked him. "They said that the original Durendal was embedded in a cliff wall in France. But they did not know, I got it from a secret place that not even the French authorities know."

(Durendal was the sword used by the protagonist Roland in the French epic, "Song of Roland.")

Yong Hwa snickered. 

"You are really something."

He thought she was bluffing about both swords. Who would believe that Excalibur existed for real? And who would believe that she got the Durendal from a secret place?

Oh well, she was a witch. She had access to every illegal thing.

Shin Hye was the least offended as she smiled at his doubt. She was used to it, being a businesswoman.

"Well, we still have a lot of swords here, like the samurai swords here," she said as she returned the Durendal and grabbed the Japanese sword off its scabbard. "Of all the swords here, I prefer this."

Yong Hwa nodded in uncertainty as Shin Hye began her sales talk with other antique things in the store. However, the store was a bit stuffy and humid, and Yong Hwa was hungry, so he fainted.

*****

The scent of mint greeted him.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw a piece of leaf near his nose. The leaf smelled so good you would think that you can brush your teeth. It had the smell of menthol toothpaste.

"Ughhh~~~~ what happened?" he asked.

He saw Shin Hye holding the leaf and looking at him solemnly.

"You fainted," she said flatly.

She placed the leaf on the table, got a small bottle filled with foul smelling liquid, placed some in her palm, and continued massaging his arm.

"What is that for?" he asked.

"This is just oil, and I am using this as lubricant for massage," she said.

"Waeyo?"

"I am simply correcting your blood circulation," she said. "I massaged your head earlier too."

He looked at the leaf on the bedside table.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In my room," Shin Hye said.

He looked around and saw that her room was softly lit by the bedside lamp. It was clean, and the king-sized bed was comfortable that it was conducive to sleeping.

"You had passed out for an hour," she said. "I am sure your eomeoni will be worried."

The caress of the businesswoman aroused his manliness. Her touch went as far as massaging his calloused fingers.

"You really are a guitarist," she told him.

Her voice was like a spell. But, he was in love with Kahi, and he was there for his mission.

"They say you sell potions," he told her directly.

Shin Hye shot a mysterious look at him before giving a half-smile.

"Is that what people say about me?" she asked.

He was strong with his mission, so he nodded.

"You're right," she said. "I sell potions."

"So, you are a witch," he said.

"Just because I sell potions, it doesn't mean that I am a witch," Shin Hye said. "I am just knowledgeable with herbs and plants."

"But they say your potions are effective," he said.

"They are," she said, trying to sell her product.

"Then, you are a witch," he insisted.

Shin Hye smirked. "Since you insist in calling me a witch, call me Circe from now on. Park Shin Hye is my real name for real life situations, and Circe is not just a brand name. It is my codename."

"Circe," he echoed.

She assisted him in getting up.

"Do you have a love potion? Like the Love Potion #9?"

Shin Hye smirked.

"What I have is much better than that," she said. "But it is pricey."

He began to falter. "P..pricey?"

Shin Hye gave him the price for a single bottle of potion.

"I really want it," he said. "I can bargain you anything... my guitar, my allowance..."

"It is just like selling your soul," Shin Hye bluntly told him. "Do not ever bargain because the outcome of the deal might not be what you expected."

Without thinking, Yong Hwa insisted on bargaining his guitar or his allowance. The witch sighed and held his hand.

"My conditions are not that much," she said. 

She gazed at him and read his eyes.

"You don't need to bargain your guitar because you need it in school," she said. "You need to give me your time and money."

He leaned forward, very eager. As their eyes met, Shin Hye felt her cheeks warming up. He looked too gorgeous, and his smile made her want to give her away.

Giving away her professional demeanor, that is.

She stood up and got near the cupboard. She opened the cupboard, got a piece of paper, and went back to Yong Hwa. She sat back on her chair.

The next thing he knew, it was scary.

Shin Hye bit her index finger and began writing in blood. When her blood dried up, the writings became black like it had been written down in black ink.

"Does... does it hurt?" he asked in concern as he held her hand and examined her finger.

She felt her cheeks heating up again as she withdrew her hand. She was not used to having someone touch her hand.

"I only do this when customers beg to avail of the unusual potions that I have," she said. "I had only done it ten times."

No wonder Younha told him that only a few knew of her secret business. She handed him the paper, and he read the conditions written down.

* To report to duty every Saturday and render 9 hours of duty, inclusive of lunch break

* To help in selling the antiques, as well as do errands

* Not to divulge the secret business

* To pay (##### Won) everytime you report to duty

* To use the magic love potion on one person only

Yong Hwa agreed to the conditions, except for condition number 4.

"Why do I have to pay that sum?" he asked.

"Ah, but you bargained your allowance, right?" she told him. "Let us just say, you are paying for consultation fee."

"Consultation fee?"

"Ne, coz I know that everytime you will work here, you will be asking me many things, including the stuff that I am selling you," she said.

"Aish, jinjja," Yong Hwa cursed as he realized his blunder of bargaining his allowance. 

It would mean that as long as he would be working for her, he would be giving her some of her allowance.

"It's business," she replied bluntly.

He read the conditions again and agreed to sign.

"I don't have any writing materials," he said.

"I wrote it with my blood," she said. "You need to use yours to sign."

It was indeed a dangerous affair, but for Kahi, he would do anything. So he tried to bite his finger, but he could not even make a wound for himself. Shin Hye gave him a needle which he used. He pricked himself, and blood spurted out.

"Don't let your blood clot," she warned him. "Pricking yourself is painful, so don't waste your blood and prick for the second time."

It made sense to him, though. He cautiously signed his name so that he would not prick himself the second time. After signing, he gave the paper back to her. She bit herself again, and signed as witness.

"Please wait  here," she said. "Let me get the potion downstairs."

As she went out, he began to feel the creeps. He was in the world of magic where blood can be used to write. But, for Kahi, he would do anything. He lay back on bed and watched two moving pictures on the wall.

"Like Harry Potter," he thought.

This is how the first picture looked like, and he laughed at its cuteness.

"I didn't know that that witch could be so adorable and beautiful," he thought with a smile. "And she definitely have a spot for something cute."

The picture, to him, was a refuge to the creepy and weird business that this woman was running. Next to the dancing man was an animated picture of a band.

"She's a fan of them?" he asked, amused. "I have no idea that witches are also addicted to the Hallyu wave."

Nevertheless, the picture made him smile. Those two pictures were his company while waiting for Shin Hye to get back to him.

~~~~

(I made the dancing man and the CN Blue animation in Photoshop. ^_* CN Blue pictures c/o their respective owners.)

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