"Shuffle the card. Don't forget to take a few deep breaths and focus while doing so. It increases the accuracy of the fortune-telling."

"Done,"

"Alright, give it back to me. Now, I want you to choose any three cards from the deck. Don't think too much about it, let the cards guide you."

"Here,"

"Okay, these three cards represent your past, present, and future. Let's check the first card, your past, hmm... The Temperance?"

"Is it a bad card...?"

"Oh, no, there is no such thing as good cards or bad cards. It depends on how you'll interpret them. As for your card here, it means a change to something new. Did you go through some changes during the past months?"

"Oh! I confessed to my friend last month and we agreed to go on a second date this Saturday. How did you know that!?"

"It wasn't me, it was the card. Anyway, move on to the next card, your present, let see... It's the Empress which represents your feminine side. It means that this relationship helps pull out the feminine side of you."

"You got it right again! Usually, I'm more tomboyish, but after I confessed to my friend, I began to act more girly. Your fortune telling is amazingly accurate!"

"Move on to the last card, your future. Let's see..."

"Oh no! Isn't that the Death!? D-Does it mean that our relationship won't last!?"

"First of all, I want you to calm down, breathe in, breathe out, that's it. Now, about the card. Don't forget that this one represents your future, and the future can be changed. Let's look at all three cards together, shall we? The cards tell us that you have gone through a change and it changes you into a new person. The Death card represents your identity loss that might happen in the future. You shouldn't completely change yourself into an entirely new person. Don't forget that when your friend accepted your confession, he also accepted your tomboyish side."

"...He did tell me that he isn't used to me acting girly because it's different from my usual self. Thank you so much, Jongwoon-ssi, I'll take your advice to heart. Here, the fortune-telling fee."

"No problem! It's my job after all!"

 

 

Jongwoon sighed after he saw that the woman had already gone before running off. He was quite late now. He didn't even have time to sit and properly pack up his cards, so he did it while running. On his way, many people friendlily called out to him and he happily greeted them back. Because he was busy multitasking between waving at other people and packing his cards, he didn't see that he was running into someone. The other person saw Jongwoon but couldn't dodge him in time. They bumped harshly at each other and the tarot cards flew everywhere. Jongwoon yelped as he lost balance and stumbled backward. Luckily, the other person quickly grabbed him and pulled him back on his feet. Being in a hurry, Jongwoon didn't even look up to see who he bumped into. He hastily picked up the cards scattering on the ground and quickly apologized to the other person before running off.

 

 

"Hey! You didn't pick up this card!"

 

That person called after Jongwoon but he had long gone. He sighed in mild amusement and picked up the card lying face down on the ground. Turning it over, he couldn't help but smile when he saw what card it was.

 

 

The Lovers

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.

.

"Sorry, I'm late. You two didn't wait too long, right?"

"Jongwoon hyung! / Woonie hyung!"

 

Jongwoon smiled and braced himself for two boys jumping at him, his younger brothers Hyukjae and Donghae. Taking their hands, the three of them walked to a supermarket hand in hand with Jongwoon in the middle. Upon arrival, the two boys immediately climbed to sit in a shopping cart and let Jongwoon push them around.

 

"Hyung, how was your day? Did you have any customers?" Hyukjae asked as he put a pack of banana milk in the cart.

"Yes, I had five customers today. That's why we're going to buy extra meat!" Jongwoon happily replied and ruffled his brothers' head.

"Hyung, you're the best! You don't know how to read those silly cards but people still believe in you! I really hope that people will keep being stupid so we can eat extra meat every day!" Donghae said innocently, though his words weren't innocent at all.

 

Jongwoon frowned and quickly shushed his brother while looking around. Luckily, there was no one else in the aisle they were so his secret was still safe. He sighed and didn't forget to tell Donghae to be more careful with what he said. That was right, he actually didn't know a thing about fortune-telling. He just saw it as a way to earn easy money. Having to feed three mouths even though he was merely a twenty years old college student, Jongwoon was willing to do anything to earn money, as long as it wasn't downright illegal. Taking advantage of his psychology major, he decided to open a fortune-telling business using his psychological knowledge under a pretense of reading tarot cards. He had been successfully running his business for two years and used every Won for the sake of his little brothers only. He was lucky that his guessing was right most of the time so no one found out his secret yet.

 

 

Well, no one, except one guy who stood at the other side of the aisle where Jongwoon and his brothers were standing. He secretly followed after Jongwoon from the college to here. At first, he just wanted to return the card that that petite black hair man who bumped at him at the college dropped. However, after accidentally hearing something interesting, he decided to keep the card with him for now. He sneakily followed after the shorter man and his brothers throughout their shopping trip until they walked out of the supermarket.

 

"A con artist, eh?"

 

That person murmured to himself. He took out the Lovers card and looked at it with a mysterious smile.

 

********************

 

Jongwoon was in a bad mood.

 

Today he hadn't had any customer. Not that he didn't want to, but rather he couldn't. He just found out last night that one of his tarot cards was gone, the Lovers card. After having his brothers turning their tiny apartment over but still finding no trace of it, he immediately knew that he lost it when he bumped into someone at college. He was angry at himself for being careless which caused him unnecessary spending. Losing one card equaled losing the entire deck. No one would sell him just one single card, he had to basically buy a new deck. He wanted to save money for taking Donghae and Hyukjae to somewhere this upcoming Christmas, but he had to take some off the saving to buy a new tarot deck instead!

 

"Are you Kim Jongwoon the famous fortune-teller? Can you read my fortune?"

"Sorry, business is closed until further notice."

"Is it because of this card? The one you dropped yesterday?"

"What?"

 

Jongwoon looked up and saw a handsome man holding the Lovers card in his hand. He immediately recalled who this man was, Cho Kyuhyun, a sophomore like him but studied in the Business Faculty. He was the heir of the billionaire businessman who owned many famous department stores, hotels, and valuable estates, a person who lived in a totally different world from him.

 

"Who'd have thought that young master Cho also takes an interest in fortune-telling? Thank you for returning my card, by the way, you literally save my life."

"No problem, so, will you read my fortune?"

"Sorry, I have to pick up my brothers and I'm running late now. How about tomorrow?"

"How about I go with you?"

 

Jongwoon didn't get a chance to protest as Kyuhyun casually held his wrist and dragged him to a parking lot. They came to stop in front of a luxurious black car that he didn't know its brand, though he knew that he couldn't afford it even if he worked for another ten years. Finally finding a chance, Jongwoon politely took his hand off.

 

"Wait, why do you want to go with me?"

"Didn't you say that you're running late? That's why I'll drive you to your brothers' school. Where are they again?"

"I get that, but why?"

"If you keep asking questions like this, then we'll be late for real."

"Urgh... Fine! But just so you know, you're the one who offers the ride so don't expect any gas fee from me."

"A gas fee?" Kyuhyun laughed, "Jongwoon, do I look that lame in your eyes!?"

 

Jongwoon shrugged and opened the door to sit on the passenger seat without waiting for the owner of the car. Kyuhyun chuckled as he stepped into the driver seat, his eyes shining with mirth.

 

*****************************

 

Donghae and Hyukjae stared suspiciously at a stranger who stood beside their older brother, a cool black sports car parking not far behind them.

 

"Jongwoon hyung," Hyukjae said in a very serious tone, "How many times have I told you not to follow a stranger anywhere, did you forget it?"

"Woonie hyung," it was Donghae's turn now, "You shouldn't follow a stranger no matter how good looking he is."

"I like your brothers," Kyuhyun whispered to Jongwoon and chuckled softly.

"It seems that I have to be more strict with your tv time, seeing how those soap operas rotting your brains," Jongwoon said deadpanned.

 

He sighed tiredly as he watched Kyuhyun introduced himself to his brothers. After swearing again and again that he wasn't some suspicious guy, Donghae and Hyukjae finally stopped calling Kyuhyun a creepy hyung. Knowing that their hyung was safe, the kids excitedly ran to see Kyuhyun's car.

 

"Kyuhyun hyung, can I touch your car?" Donghae asked with puppy eyes.

"Go ahead," Kyuhyun smiled.

 

Donghae and Hyukjae happily walked around the car and touched every part they could touch, their eyes shining with admiration. Sighing again, Jongwoon pulled his brothers away from the car before turning to Kyuhyun.

 

"Thanks for driving me here. We'll go now."

"Huh? Where are you guys going?"

"Supermarket! We'll buy something for dinner. Will hyung go with us?" Hyukjae asked excitedly.

"What? No, he won't go wi-"

"Sure, I have nothing to do anyway."

"What? Bu-"

 

Before he got to protest, Donghae and Hyukjae had already climbed into the back seat. Jongwoon couldn't do anything but stand there dumbly.

 

"What're you doing Jongwoon? Get in the car."

"...Well, whatever,"

 

He shrugged and got in the car. While he was busy checking the safety belt on his brothers, he didn't notice that Kyuhyun was staring at him with a fond smile.

.

.

.

.

At a local supermarket, as usual, Donghae and Hyukjae immediately climbed into a shopping cart. However, Kyuhyun volunteered to be the one in charge of pushing the cart instead of Jongwoon. While they walked past a row of freezers full of meat, Hyukjae stared at the shelf with a longing stare before looking up to ask his brother.

 

"Hyung, you don't have any customer today, right?  So... No meat for today then...?"

"What do you mean by that?" Kyuhyun spoke up before Jongwoon got to shush Hyukjae.

"Because we have to save money for mine and Hyukie's tuitions, we can only have meat on the day that hyung earns extra money from his fortune-telling business," Donghae answered with a sad smile.

"What!?" Kyuhyun looked scandalized, "No wonder the three of you look so thin! I know, go ahead and pick whatever you want, not only meat but anything, I'll pay for them."

"No," Jongwoon spoke up and stopped his brothers from putting a pack of Wagyu meat in the cart, "Kyuhyun-ssi, I'm touched by your concern for our well-being, truly, but we're a stranger, you have no reason to do this. Most importantly, we may be poor, but we're not a beggar. Don't mistake us as one."

 

Hearing their brothers' words, Donghae and Hyukjae sadly put the Wagyu meat back to its shelf.

 

"Well," Kyuhyun shrugged, "Who said I won't ask for anything in return?"

 

Donghae and Hyukjae happily put the Wagyu meat back into their cart.

 

"Even if you said that, I don't have anything I can pay you with."

"Of course you have, didn't you promise to read my fortune?"

"Yes, I did say that, but the fortune-telling fee doesn't even cost half of this meat!"

"Just think of it as I pay you in advance for the future sessions."

"What!? Are you crazy!? Just how many times do you want me to read your fortune?"

"As much as possible, I hope,"

 

Kyuhyun said while staring at Jongwoon dreamily. Seeing the way Kyuhyun looking at their brother, Donghae and Hyukjae happily put three more packs of Wagyu meat into their cart.

 

*******************************

 

At the end of their shopping, the bill almost reached one million Won. Jongwoon almost fainted too when he saw the number. Seven hundred thousand! He had to do the fortune-telling for about thirteen years to pay it off! Alas, he didn't have the heart to tell his brothers to put those snacks back to their shelf. At least his brothers were smart enough to pick mostly foods that could be kept for a long time. Due to the mountain of shopping bags, he had no choice but had Kyuhyun drive them home. But it didn't end there because Kyuhyun insisted that he had dinner with them. Looking back to everything Kyuhyun did for them, he had no choice but to welcome the rich heir into their tiny apartment.

 

"Sit anywhere you want, though there isn't much choice to choose from..."

"Thank you for having me here."

 

Kyuhyun sat on a couch and looked around curiously. Jongwoon's apartment was a small room that had everything in one room: a single bed by a window opposite of a wardrobe, beside the bed was the couch he was sitting on and a small coffee table which were opposite to a medium size tv, to his left was a kitchen section where Jongwoon and his brothers were putting the groceries away, at the doorway were the bathroom and a built-in cabinet. The entire place was smaller than a broom closet at his house. He truly couldn't imagine how one young man and two nine years old boys living here.

 

"Woonie hyung, I think we forget to buy pepper. We can't season steak without that, right?"

"You're right, wait here, I'll go to the convenience store and buy a small bottle for now. Don't bother Kyuhyun-ssi too much while I'm gone."

.

.

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As soon as Jongwoon was gone, Donghae and Hyukjae came to stand in front of Kyuhyun with their hands on their waists, trying their best to look intimidating.

 

"Well, Sir, I believe we have something very important to discuss," Hyukjae said using the most serious tone he could utter.

"You're trying to get into Woonie hyung's pants, right?" Donghae said looking as serious as Hyukjae.

"Who teaches you that vulgar word? Did Jongwoon know about it?" Kyuhyun frowned in dissatisfaction.

"We heard it from our classmates at school, just promise us that you won't tell hyung about it, pretty please?" Donghae cutely begged.

"Anyway, are you or are you not doing that?" Hyukjae repeated the question.

"Well, saying that I try to get in his pants is a bit too extreme for now, but I admit that I'm interested in your brother." Kyuhyun shrugged.

"Hmm... You seem like a good person, I'll give you a go then. Being rich is a plus too." Donghae sagely nodded to himself.

"So, you guys give me a green light because I'm rich? You're very honest to what you want, aren't you?" Kyuhyun chuckled.

"We can't help it, we just want Jongwoon hyung to live comfortably for once. He has already sacrificed so many things for us to live happily."

 

Kyuhyun got curious after he saw Hyukjae and Donghae's sad smiles. Unable to keep his curiosity to himself, he asked the boys to tell him about their stories and how did the three of them come to live together by themselves. Donghae and Hyukjae looked at each other in hesitation, but soon nodded at Kyuhyun and began to tell him about their stories.

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.

.

.

"You might have noticed already that we aren't related by blood, none of us. We grew up in the same orphanage and Woonie hyung took us to live with him when he reached eighteen and was kicked out of the orphanage. The three of us were abandoned by our parents since when we were very young. Being eleven years older than us, Woonie hyung has always taken care of us like a real brother so we really love him and followed him everywhere."

"For some reason, no one wanted to adopt Jongwoon hyung, and I mean it, no one. On the other hand, there were people wanting to adopt me and Hae-ah all the time. However, they all only wanted to adopt one of us, not the three of us. So, whenever someone wanted to adopt either Hae-ah or me, we always behaved badly so they would change their minds. That was how we were able to stick together. Jongwoon hyung had been doing many part-time jobs since he was in middle school to save money. As soon as he reached eighteen, he bought this apartment and adopted both of us."

"It's difficult for most of the time, but we're happy all the same. It's especially difficult for Woonie hyung, bills, rent, tuitions, foods and whatnot. So many things require money but so little way to earn it. Woonie hyung doesn't want to take up more part-time jobs because he wants to spend time with us. That's why he comes up with the fortune-telling business even though he knows absolutely nothing about for-"

 

 

"Lee Donghae!"

 

 

Hearing a voice belonging to neither of them, they turned to where the voice came from and saw Jongwoon standing in front of the door looking startled, a small plastic bag in his hand.

 

******************************

 

"What did my brother tell you?"

"Apparently everything, your story at the orphanage, how you come to live together, and how you're actually a con artist."

"...You are going to call cops on me, aren't you?"

"What!?" Donghae shouted in panic, "No! Please don't take Woonie hyung from us!"

"You stupid fish!" Hyukjae cried, "Look what you have done! Now they'll take Jongwoon hyung away!"

"I'm sorry Woonie hyung! It's my fault!"

 

Donghae cried and hugged Jongwoon tightly, following closely by Hyukjae who also cried like a baby. Jongwoon smiled sadly and hugged his brothers back. As they were passionately bidding a farewell to each other, Kyuhyun who couldn't hold it anymore finally laughed out loud.

 

"Calm down! No one will have to say goodbye to anyone today!"

"You won't call cops on me?"

"Why would I? Besides, who will read my fortune if a cop gets you?"

"You know that I'm faking it but you still want me to read your fortune?"

"Not entirely fake though," Kyuhyun shrugged, "I asked around before approaching you. You have quite a good reputation, did you know that? It doesn't matter that you know how to do your stuff or not, in the end, you do listen to people's problems and give them advice, that's what matters to me."

"...You really are a weird person, Kyuhyun-ssi."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Most importantly, stop calling me like that already! Aren't we practically a partner in crime now?"

"Fine, if you insist, Kyuhyun,"

"That's a million times better."

 

 

 

Kyuhyun's smile was so bright it almost blinded his eyes. At the same time, for some reason, Jongwoon was confused as to why his heart suddenly skipped a beat faster.